Today's TTT prompt—Top Ten Books That Defied My Expectations (books you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving, books you thought you'd love but didn't, etc.)— is a good one, but I'm just not feeling it. Even though it's early September and it's still a million degrees outside, I'm gearing up for some cozy Fall reading. To me, that means mysteries, mysteries, and more mysteries! Yes, I read this genre throughout the year, but it just seems especially suited for the cozy/spooky season. Maybe that's why there are so many intriguing-sounding ones still to be published this year. I'm going to highlight ten up-and-coming mystery/thrillers that I want to read.

First, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our host, Jana, some love. If you want to join in the TTT fun (and you do!), all the details are there.

1. The Darkness Surrounds Us by Gail Lukasik (releases today!)—With the Spanish flu wreaking havoc on her Chicago home, nurse Nellie Lester needs to get out of town. She takes a job at a crumbling mansion on an isolated island in Michigan, hoping for a new start and to find answers to her mother's mysterious past. Not only does the place feel haunted by her mother's presence, but the discovery of the previous nurse's dead body proves there's something very sinister going on. Can Nellie figure out the island's deadly secrets before it's too late?

2. The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson (available September 19)—During a Gilded Age party at her family's castle in New York's Thousand Islands area, a young girl goes missing while her father lies dead in the smoking room. Seventy-five years later, a mysterious girl arrives on the island, prompting the owner of the island to look into the old mystery. What really happened to Poppy Pendleton?

3. Death and the Sisters by Heather Redmond (available September 26)—This opener begins a new historical mystery series starring a teenaged Mary Shelley, her stepsister, and Mary's future husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. When Mary discovers a man—who happens to be Percy's classmate and rival— dead in her home after a party, she and her cohorts use their collective smarts to solve the murder. 

4. The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok (available October 10)—Because of China's One Child Policy, Jasmine Yang's infant daughter was snatched away from her. Now in New York City without a penny to her name and on the run from her controlling husband, Jasmine is on a desperate hunt to find her stolen child. A wealthy publishing executive, Rebecca Whitney has the perfect life—including an adopted Chinese daughter. When the lives of these two very different women collide, it causes both to question everything they both know about identity, motherhood, and the true meaning of family.

5. What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim (available October 10)—A year later, the Kim Family is still baffled and devastated by their matriarch's mysterious disappearance. When they find the dead body of a stranger in their backyard, they're even more shocked, especially since he's carrying a letter addressed to the missing woman. Who is the unknown man? And what does he have to do with Sunny Kim? Where is Sunny and why did she vanish?

6. Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (available October 17)—It's 1875 and Lydia Weston is a professor and anatomist at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. When the body of a dead chambermaid is found in a Philadelphia river, a supposed suicide, Lydia becomes suspicious. Following clues on the corpse and in the dead woman's diary, she sets out to discover how the young woman really died.  

7. People to Follow by Olivia Worley (available October 31)—"In Real Life" is a hot new reality show that takes ten well-known teen influencers to a Caribbean island where they will completely unplug for three weeks of televised, non-filtered living. When the production crew fails to show and one of the influencers dies violently, the remaining nine find themselves stranded in a remote paradise with a killer. 

8. Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James (available November 7)—The Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed by volunteers who are also Tinseltown stars, is the place to be in 1943. Aspiring playwright Annie Laurence hopes to make enough of a splash there to get the murder mystery film she's written produced. When a hated film critic is killed at the Canteen, Annie joins a group of amateur sleuths to figure out who murdered her.

9. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (available November 14)—When a man's dead body is found in the iced-over Kennebec River in 1789, the local midwife and healer is called upon to examine the corpse. A keeper of her town's secrets, Martha knows the dead man is one of the possible perpetrators of an alleged rape that happened several months ago. As both crimes are investigated, her small town is torn apart by scandal and prejudice. What will the truth do to Martha, her family, and her community?

10. The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski (available December 26)—As the heirs to a copper fortune, the Van Ness siblings are constantly in the spotlight. They gather yearly at a luxury winery for the R&R they all desperately need. This year, their vacation is beset with the usual family drama as well as a torrential rainstorm and a shocking murder. Whodunit?

There you are, ten upcoming mystery/thriller novels I want to read. Which Fall releases are you excited about? If you did today's prompt, which books defied your expectations? I'd truly love to know. Leve me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

It's December 1st.  Can you believe it?  Even though 2020 seems to be lasting for eons, there are only 31 days left in the year.  Inconceivable!  I don't know about you, but I'm scrambling to figure out how I'm going to finish everything I need to do before 2020 disappears forever.  My house is only half decorated for the holidays, I've got Christmas cards to address and mail (I did print them early, so at least that part's done), there are presents to buy, a house to clean, preparations to make for my son's wedding on January 2, a mountain of laundry to tackle, etc.  Despite my never-ending to-do list, what's really on my mind is how I'm going to finish out my reading year.  Priorities, amirite?  My goal was to read 200 books in 2020 and I'm only 30 away.  I read over 30 books in October, so reaching my goal is doable, if not probable.  We'll see.  

What would I like to read in December?  Good question.  I've still got a list of middle grade novels to read for my Cybils judging gig as well as a number I need in order to finish up a few reading challenges.  Then, of course, there are a bunch I'd like to get to just for fun.  *Sigh*  So many books, so little time ...  

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is Books I'd Like to Re-read.  Since I'm not much of a re-reader and I actually posted about this topic in September, I'm going to be rebellious today and focus instead on the Top Ten Books I Want to Read Before 2020 Ends.  If you want to join in the TTT fun, hop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the info.

Top Ten Books I Want to Read Before 2020 Ends  

1.  The Loop by Ben Oliver—I don't read much sci-fi, but I need a book featuring robots or AI characters for the PopSugar Reading Challenge.  This YA novel, about a teen boy incarcerated in a futuristic prison run by robot guards, sounds compelling.

2.  Beauty and the Baron by Joanna Barker—I enjoyed Barker's 2018 debut novel and have been meaning to pick up another by her ever since.  Beauty and the Baron, the first installment in her new fairy tale retellings series, sounds like a light, fun read to enjoy in December.  It will also fill the "Retelling" prompt for the Nerd Daily Reading Challenge.

3.  Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham—Earlier this year, I read The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman, a MG novel about two young girls whose lives change forever after the explosion at Chernobyl.  The setting was intriguing, making me want to learn more about this historical event.  Midnight in Chernobyl gets good reviews and fulfills the "Genre You Don't Usually Read" prompt for the Booklist Queen Reading Challenge.

4.  The Woman Who Spoke to Spirits by Alys Clare—This Victorian mystery novel just sounds fun!

5.  Christmas Day in the Morning adapted by David Warner from the original story by Pearl S. Buck—I received a copy of this book from the publisher a month ago.  It's a slim holiday story about a man looking back on the gift that brought Christmas joy back into his life.  

6.  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—Speaking of re-reads, this is the only book I revisit every year.  It's a quick read but one that always moves me and gets me into the Christmas spirit.

7.  Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Mid-Life Crisis by Ada Calhoun—I've been fascinated by sleeping and dreaming ever since I was a nap-resistant child.  These days, I can barely make it through the day without a midday snooze, although I often have trouble sleeping at night.  I'm interested to see what Calhoun has to say on the matter.

8.  The Power of Ritual: How to Create Meaning and Connection in Everything You Do by Casper ter Kuile—I was looking for a good motivational book to pump me up for the new year and I came across this one.  Not only does it sound inspirational, but it will work nicely to fulfill the "Self-Improvement Book" prompt for the Booklist Queen Reading Challenge.

9.  Lockdown by Peter May—I enjoy May's books, so I definitely want to make time for this one, which was published 15 years ago but just re-released.  It's a murder mystery set against a familiar background: a city in quarantine because of a deadly virus that's creating a worldwide pandemic.  Even though I'm tired of living in a pandemic, I still find them fascinating to read about.

10.  The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim—I've heard good things about this novel, which features a woman who visits her mother in L.A.'s Koreatown only to find her mom dead in a suspicious manner.  In her shock and sorrow, the daughter begins looking into her mother's death, which leads her on a journey of discovery into her mother's past as a Korean War orphan trying to make her way in California.  I'm definitely intrigued!   

There you go, ten books I want to read this month.  What are you planning to read in December?  How are you doing with your 2020 reading goals?  What do you think of my choices?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.