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Showing posts with label Mary Kubica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary Kubica. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Top Ten Tuesday: The Ten Books I've Read So Far This Month
You know that saying about old dogs and new tricks? I've been a book blogger now for 20 years (my blogiversary is in August) in which time I have basically ignored Bookstagram. (I haven't even tried BookTube or BookTok.) I've always told myself that when book blogs go away, so will I. However, in the name of adaptability and keeping myself on publishers' radars, I've been trying to beef up my Bookstagram presence, even though I am no kind of photographer, videographer, or creative content creator. I know my way around Canva, but that's about it. It's been a bit rough and, honestly, I'm not sure this old dog can really learn new tricks. For now, I'm giving it a shot. If you have an account on Bookstagram, especially one that needs a little love, let me know and I'll give it a visit. I would love it if you would return the favor: https://www.instagram.com/blogginboutbooks/. I follow back as long as you don't use a lot of profanity or post content I find offensive. As for mine, it will be all books, no drama!
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
Today's TTT prompt is a great one—Top Ten Books That Live In My Head Rent-Free—even though my mind is drawing a blank on it. I mentioned that I'm old (turning the ripe old age of 51 this year), so it shouldn't surprise you that my memory is declining rapidly. Even my favorite books are foggy in my mind. To make things easier on myself, I'm going to go rogue and do an easier topic: Top Ten Books I've Read This Month. In addition to being old, I'm also lazy, okay? LOL
As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top Ten Books I've Read This Month
It just so happens that I've finished exactly ten books so far this month. Here they are in the order I read them:
* Hyperlinked titles will take you to my Goodreads review of each book.
1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke—This odd little novel was a book club pick, chosen by a woman who adores it. None of the rest of us could quite understand why because we all thought it was confusing and weird. The writing is undeniably vivid, even lovely in places, but man, it's a strange read. Not at all my kind of thing.
The story is about a man who lives in a dreamlike world in a building with endless, empty rooms. Only one other living person exists with him. As Piranesi observes and examines his lonely existence, he begins to understand that there's more going on than meets the eye. What is this world? How has he come to be here? What is his purpose? He's determined to find the answers to his now-burning questions.
2. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie—Published in 1993, this is the first book in Crombie's popular, long-running Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery series. In this series opener, readers are introduced to Kincaid, a Superintendent with Scotland Yard, who is taking a reluctant holiday at a time-share bed and breakfast in the Yorkshire countryside. His vacation is interrupted when the hotel handyman comes to a suspicious end. The local constabulary aren't the brightest bobbies, so Kincaid steps in to help. He knows a murder when he sees one and he will solve this one, with or without help from the locals.
Although A Share in Death is definitely dated and rather slow-moving, I enjoyed it overall. I plan to keep reading the series.
3. The Silent Ones by Anna McPartlin—This Irish crime novel is set in County Kerry in 1980. Mary Shea is one of only a few female gardaà in the country, and the solo one in her quiet coastal town. Her presence is barely tolerated by her male colleagues, who harangue her with sexist jokes and catcalls, demands for tea, and thinly-veiled threats. It's only when she discovers the body of a murdered newborn on the beach, prompting the arrival of a major crimes team from Dublin, that Mary starts to earn some respect. To the astonishment of the local lads, Matt Foley, who heads the investigation, actually wants to hear Mary's opinions. When he makes her his right-hand woman, she feels seen for the first time, in spite of her colleagues' lewd suggestions and insinuations about just how closely the two are working. Mary only cares about helping Matt find out who hurt the tiny baby. It's a horrible, harrowing case that will challenge and try her, causing her to question not only her job choice but her own instincts as a garda and a woman.
Even though The Silent Ones is a heavy, depressing read, it's also atmospheric and engrossing. I blew through it in a day because the story is so compelling. This is the first book in a planned series; I can't wait for the next one.
4. It's Not Her by Mary Kubica—This murder mystery revolves around two related families who go on vacation together at a lakeside resort in Wisconsin. Although the place turns out to be a dive, Courtney Gray is determined to make the best of it, especially for the kids, two spiky teenagers and their lovable younger sisters. There's already tension in the ranks when the unthinkable happens: Courtney's brother and sister-in-law are brutally murdered in their cottage and their teenage daughter is missing. Mouthy, rebellious 17-year-old Reese quickly becomes the police's primary suspect, but Courtney refuses to believe her niece could be capable of such a heinous crime. As the police search for answers and Courtney launches her own investigation, hidden secrets come to light, leading to a shocking conclusion to a puzzling case.
I didn't end up loving this thriller, but it definitely kept me reading. It's an engrossing, twisty page turner.
5. Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti—This zippy YA mystery is about a group of teens who go camping in the woods at the behest of Maylee Hayes, a glossy, self-obsessed social media influencer who never does anything that makes her look less than her glamorous best. Like camping. When Maylee dies mysteriously during the trip, the kids are taken to the police station for questioning. Through transcripts of their interviews with the cops, each person tells a different story about Maylee, the kids' relationships with one another, and what really happened in the woods.
Tell Me What Really Happened is a fast-paced, intriguing mystery that kept me buzzing through the pages. It's predictable, but entertaining. The transcript format gives the story a fresh feel. Incidentally, if you're doing the 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge, this book fills Prompt #3 (Written Without Quotation Marks) nicely.
6. Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister—McAllister's newest tells the story of a chef who flies to Texas from her home in London to spend two weeks camping with her teenage daughter, who has been in the U.S. attending a music camp. The next morning, Simone wakes up in their AirBnB to find her daughter missing. In her bed, she discovers a burner phone with a message saying that Lucy has been taken. If Simone wants to see her again, she must perform a series of dangerous tasks. If she contacts the police, her daughter dies. Desperate, Simone follows the instructions. Things quickly go from bad to worse, leaving a frantic mother running for her life, doing everything she can to save her daughter.
McAllister is one of my auto-read authors and her books are usually hits for me. Caller Unknown, though, just seems totally far-fetched and unbelievable. I couldn't put it down, true, but it was still just an average read for me.
7. Red Rising by Pierce Brown—This YA sci-fi/dystopian novel is the first in a popular series. It stars Darrow, a hotshot HellDiver who lives in an underground mining colony on Mars. As a lowly Red, his duty is to risk his life harvesting valuable helium-3, an element needed to make Mars and other planets livable for those who are stranded on a dying Earth. Despite his daily sacrifice, he lives in a brutal, impoverished community where Reds are never allowed to get ahead. When a series of tragic events offers him the unbelievable chance to lead a Red rebellion by going undercover as a rich, privileged Gold, he takes it. Proving himself brings him to the brink of death, but he has to endure it to accomplish his task of ushering in the rising of Red.
Red Rising is a bit confusing and slow at first, but once I got into it, I enjoyed it. It's a little too similar to The Hunger Games for me, though. I wanted more originality. Still, I liked it for the most part and plan to read on in the series.
8. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman—This series opener was one of my favorite reads of 2024. It's typical Osman—upbeat, funny, clever, and entertaining—although I enjoyed it more than The Thursday Murder Club. It's a cozy read that stars a bodyguard who ropes her homebody father-in-law into helping her and her fiery new client solve a string of puzzling murders. I wanted to reread We Solve Murders in preparation for the forthcoming sequel, and it was just as fun to read the second time around.
See my full blog review here.
9. We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman (available September 15, 2026)—Stepping back into the world of We Solve Murders was so delightful! Although I didn't dig this sequel quite as much as I did the first book, I still enjoyed it a great deal.
In this outing, the main characters from We Solve Murders have set up their own private detecting agency, which is, sadly, not getting any business. When a small-time British criminal living in Italy contacts them about the murder of his bodyguard, Amy, Steve, and Rosie hop on Rosie's private jet to meet with him. Another bodyguard is killed, then another. Someone is obviously sending a warning to the criminal, but why? And who will be next? When one of the detectives' close friends is targeted, solving the case becomes even more critical. Whodunit?
10. We Don't Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry—I've heard the sobering statistics about the disparity between media coverage of missing Black and brown people vs. their white counterparts, but I'm not sure I've ever read a book on the subject. This novel sheds light on that disparity. It's about a journalist who's cleaning out her late grandmother's home when she discovers a photograph of an aunt she never knew she had. She's even more shocked when she finds out that Aunt Carol was one of six Black teenaged girls who went missing from the same Raleigh neighborhood back in 1965, never to be seen again. Turns out, their disappearances were hardly investigated by the police and received no coverage in the newspapers. Incensed by the injustice, the journalist vows to find answers for the families of the Raleigh Six. In doing so, she uncovers dark family secrets that leave her questioning everything she knows. At the same time, she's struggling with questions about her identity as a sister, a daughter, a wife, a career woman, and a potential mother.
Although We Don't Talk About Carol is a heavy read, it's also an important, absorbing, and surprisingly hopeful one. It's a solid debut. I'm looking forward to seeing what Berry does next.
See my full blog review here.
There you go, the ten books I've read so far in July. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What books live rent-free in your head? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.
Happy TTT!
Tuesday, May 01, 2018
TTT: The Early Bird Gets the ARC
One of the perks of being a book blogger is gaining access to books before they become available to the general public. This is especially exciting if a book's written by a favorite author and/or is creating lots of early buzz in the publishing world. While ARC availability/distribution has changed a lot over the years I've been blogging, I still get a fair amount of them, which is one of the things that keeps this gig exciting! I'm not the only one whose greedy little heart beats triple time at the thought of hot new ARCs on my doorstep, as is evidenced by today's TTT topic: Top Ten Books I'd Slay a Lion to Get Early.
Before we get to that, though, make sure you head over to That Artsy Reader Girl to get the low-down on this fun weekly meme. You're definitely going to want to make your own list every week and join in—it's always a good time, I promise! It's a great way to spread the love throughout the book blogging community while adding to your TBR mountain chain (because you can NEVER have enough reading recommendations, amirite?).
I have to say first off that I wouldn't actually slay a lion for the following books because (1) I'm not into animal cruelty, (2) I'm a pretty big wimp (Simba would eat me long before I got anywhere close to him), and (3) I'm not that desperate. I wouldn't be above begging for the following, though:
Top Ten Books I'd Slay a Lion to Get Early
1. The Witch Elm by Tana French (available October 9, 2018)—Although details have been pretty hush-hush, Book Riot swears the Irish crime novelist's newest will be appearing in early October. Supposedly, it's a standalone (French's first) about a boy (man?) who discovers a skull on his family's land while he's in town taking care of his uncle. Honestly, I don't care if it's about how grass grows, I want to read it!
2. The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton (available October 9, 2018)—Publishing on the same day as the above, is Morton's newest. I adore everything I've ever read by her, so naturally I'd be stoked to get an early copy of this one, which appears to follow a similar dual-timeline plot as all her other novels.
4. The newest from Kristin Hannah—Yeah, yeah, I know Hannah just barely published The Great Alone. I loved that book and The Nightingale, so I'm anxiously waiting for her next big, immersive novel. I snagged an early copy of The Great Alone, so I'll keep my fingers crossed ...
5. Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko (available May 8, 2018)—I had no idea there was another book in this fun series coming out until I got an email offering me an early copy of it. Score! It's on its way to me as we speak and I'm super excited. If you haven't read Choldenko's excellent middle grade series about life as a kid living on Alcatraz during the 1930s, you really should.
6. A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs (available August 21, 2018?)—It feels like I've been waiting decades for this one to come out and it looks like the wait isn't over yet. Reichs just announced that, because of health issues, she's going on sabbatical and won't be releasing the book when planned. Bummer. I have to see what happens next to Tempe Brennan, my favorite forensic anthropologist, so an early copy of this one would be especially awesome!
7. In Her Bones by Kate Moretti (available September 4, 2018)—This one certainly sounds intriguing! It's about Edie, a woman who becomes obsessed with the families of her serial killer mother's victims. When Edie is accused of murdering one of them, she launches a desperate search for the truth in an (probably futile) effort to clear her name.
8. When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica (available September 4, 2018)—Kubica's latest is about a woman whose social security number raises some surprising red flags. As she tries to figure out what's going on, insomnia plays with her mind making her wonder what is true and what is not. ARC, please!
9. The Second Life of Ava Rivers by Faith Gardner (available August 28, 2018)—I've read a few books with this premise, but I still find it fascinating: a person who disappeared as a child returns suddenly as a young adult, leaving their family with more questions than answers. I'm in!
10. White Elephant by Emily Raymond (available December 4, 2018)—This one's a heartwarming holiday tale about an intense white elephant gift exchange in which an ugly vase, which was once used as a murder weapon by one of the participants, comes up for grabs. Who added the vase to the exchange? What do they know? I was just kidding about the "heartwarming" part, but still, this one sounds compelling. I'd be happy to find an early copy in my mailbox!
So, there you have it, ten books I would be stoked to receive early. Which ARCs are you most coveting right now? For which others should I be begging my contacts? Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor.
Happy TTT!
Monday, June 20, 2016
Compelling Psychological Thriller Also Sad, Depressing
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Heidi Wood can't resist a stray. The 37-year-old works for a non-profit, collects feral cats, and smothers her only child in plenty of unwanted motherly attention. She's always wanted more children, so when Heidi spies a disheveled young woman at the train station cradling an equally unkempt baby, her heart goes out to them. At first, 16-year-old Willow refuses to let Heidi help her or baby Ruby, who's suffering from a bad cold made worse by exposure to Chicago's inclement winter weather. When the teen finally gives in, Heidi brings both of them to her home. The other Woods are horrified. Who is this stranger invading their already crowded apartment? And what of the wailing baby to whom Heidi is forming an unhealthy attachment? Nothing good can come of sheltering them, not in Chris Wood's mind. But his wife insists. After all, who would be cruel enough to toss a sick baby and her worn-out young mother back onto the cold, mean streets? Certainly not Heidi.
As mother and child continue their stay, secrets about Willow's past slowly come to life. The more Heidi learns, the more disturbed she becomes. She'll protect Ruby at all costs. But what will be the price for her devotion? Her family? Her sanity? Her life?
Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica tells an engrossing story about one woman's obsession with getting that for which her heart has always yearned. It's a twisty tale, compelling, but also sad and depressing. While all the novel's characters are sympathetic, none are particularly likable. This fact made the read feel less fulfilling for me. The plot definitely kept my attention, though. Overall, then, I liked this one just didn't love it.
(Readalikes: Reminded me of How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language (a couple F-bombs plus milder expletives), violence, sexual content, and disturbing subject matter (child abuse, spousal abuse, sexual abuse, etc.)
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
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