Morning, book friends!  I'm up far earlier than I need to be.  I really, really should be doing laps at the gym right now, but alas, I'm still exhausted after yesterday's adventures, which included:

When I was a new mom, I had a recurring nightmare about losing my baby.  In the dream, I ran from infant to infant, frantically scrutinizing each of their faces only to realize, to my utter horror, that I had no idea what my own child looked like!  How could I rescue my baby if I couldn't even recognize them?  It was a terrifying thought.  

In Until I Find You, Rea Frey takes these common parental fears to a whole new level, creating a story that is decidedly unnerving.  It centers around Rebecca Gray, mom to 3-month-old Jackson.  As a recent widow and a new mother, Bec is battling grief, exhaustion, stress, and loneliness.  To add insult to injury, she has a degenerative eye disease, which led to the dissolution of her career as a professional cellist and has now robbed her almost wholly of her vision.  Desperate to prove her independence, Bec soldiers on, but her life is not an easy one.  

Bec thinks she's just being paranoid when she gets the odd sensation that something is not quite right.  She feels as if someone is watching her.  At home, things seem to have been disturbed the slightest amount.  A friend dismisses Bec's fears, urging her to get some rest.  She does, but when she awakes and goes to retrieve her son from his crib, she finds another baby in his place.  Sure she's going crazy, Bec checks again.  Even though she's never seen Jackson's delicate features clearly, she's positive this is not him.  A mother—even a blind one—knows her own child.  Doesn't she?  Bec has no family and her friends can't be certain whether the baby is Jackson or not.  So many infants look so alike, after all.  There has been so much upheaval in Bec's life that, really, who can blame her for becoming a little...overwrought?  Not caring what anyone else thinks, Bec plunges ahead, getting the police involved in the baffling situation.  Everyone might believe she's insane, but she's determined to find her son.  No matter what.  Is the baby in Bec's house Jackson?  If he's not, who is he?  And where has Jackson gone?

Like I said, it's a chilling premise.  It leads to an intriguing mystery, which kept me turning pages, wanting to know what was going to happen next.  True, I didn't find Bec, who's whiny and victim-y, super likable.  Still, I sympathized with her.  I did see the story's big plot twist coming, which was a little disappointing.  More so is the fact that it's totally far-fetched, which made it feel less than satisfying.  All things considered, then, Until I Find You was just an okay read for me.  It's engrossing, but I didn't love the characters and the ending irritated me.  Bummer.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Remember Mia by Alexandra Burt and The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

It's tough to describe The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton because it's so many things at one time: a historical novel (that doesn't concern itself overly much with accurate period details), a mystery, a swashbuckling pirate adventure (that's actually kind of slow), and a monster-y campfire tale.  There are also hints of romance, philosophy, and just plain ole drama.  The book's back cover copy describes it best:  "Shirley Jackson meets Sherlock Holmes in this chilling thriller of supernatural horror, occult suspicion, and paranormal mystery on the high seas."  That about covers it.

The story takes place in the year 1634 on a vessel called the Saardam, which is on an 8-month sea voyage from Batavia to Amsterdam.  On board is Sammy Pipps, the world's greatest detective, who is being held in the ship's brig for a crime he may or may not have committed.  Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard Arent Hayes. When strange, otherworldly things start happening aboard the ship, spooking the passengers and crew, they look to Pipps for answers.  Since he's not readily available, it's up to Arent and Sara Wessel—a noblewoman healer—to figure out what's going on.  When people on board start falling victim to an unseen killer, Arent and Sara find themselves hunting down a murderer.  Between them and Pipps, they've got more than enough smarts to catch the culprit, but what if it's not exactly of this world?  Could a demon really be responsible for all the horrible happenings on the Saardam?  Or is a more human evil to blame? 

At 480 pages, The Devil and the Dark Water isn't a swift read.  It's slow in places, but overall, I found it both engaging and exciting.  I enjoyed the main characters, who are a likable bunch even if one of them has motives that are not exactly pure.  The story's supernatural (or not?) element kept me on my toes, making me question what exactly our heroes were hunting.  What I most appreciated about this novel, though, is its examination of the devils in all of us.  If you're the kind of hist-fic reader who must have all the details exactly right, you might want to give this one a miss.  Turton admits he didn't worry much about those himself, hoping the reader would let go of the fuss and just enjoy the yarn.  You know what?  I did exactly that.

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

You may have seen my post on Saturday commemorating the 15th anniversary of Bloggin' 'bout Books' creation.  Celebrating that milestone has made me feel super old, let me tell you!  You know how they say the memory is the first thing to go as you age?  Apparently that's true because I just wrote a whole post on the first ten books I reviewed on this blog.  As I was adding pictures of the books I read 15 years ago, I was shocked to see that I already had photos of all of them saved in my computer.  Weird!  I was minutes away from clicking the "Publish" button on my post when the déjà vu really kicked in.  A quick search of BBB revealed that I had written a post on the exact same subject only two short years ago!  Oh, boy.  I think it's just that kind of day—the Mondayest Monday I've ever Mondayed, except that it's Tuesday!  How's your day going?

Since I did a Top Ten Tuesday list about secondary/minor characters not that long ago (well, 2013), I wasn't going to repeat the topic.  Now that I'm out of other ideas, though?  I'm going to go ahead and stick to today's prompt.  Hopefully, I can come up with ten.

Before we get to that, though, two things: (1)  Be sure you go to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our TTT host some love.  If you want to hop on the TTT party train (and you do!), you can get all the details there.  (2)  I mentioned my blogiversary above.  To thank all my readers for being so loyal and awesome, I'm hosting a giveaway for one book of your choice (up to a $20 value) from Book Depository.  The store delivers worldwide, so the contest is open to international readers as well as those in the U.S.  Yay!  The giveaway will close on August 21.  Right now, there are very low entries, which means a greater chance of winning.  Definitely take a few minutes to enter to win a book on me.  All the info is in this post.

1.  Molly Weasley (from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)—Since there are so many fun side characters in the HP series, I could do an entire list of favorites just from those books.  I featured several in my last list, so I'll just do Molly this time around.  She's such a warm, bubbly, caring character that it's impossible not to love her.  My sister adores her so much she named her Beagle puppy after Molly!

2.  Skinny Slidell (from the Tempe Brennan series by Kathy Reichs)—Good ole Skinny is no one's favorite detective, except maybe mine.  He's a grumpy slob, but he's also hilarious and loyal.  I missed him in The Bone Code, the newest installment of the series.

3.  Ruth Zardo (from the Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny)—A mad, foul-mouthed poet who talks to ducks, Ruth is impossible not to like.  At least in fiction.

4.  Atticus Finch (from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)—I love lots of characters from this novel—my favorite book of all time—but calm, wise, level-headed Atticus is my favorite, after his daughter Scout.

5.  James Laurence (from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott)—Although he may appear to be a crochety old man, Mr. Laurence has a heart of gold.  He's generous, protective, and kind, a true friend to the March Family. 

 6.  Mrs. Bennett (from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)—What's not to love?  She's hilarious!

7.  Juliet Brody (from the Amish Candy Shop Mystery series by Amanda Flower)—I guess I just find loud, demonstrative, busybody mothers funny because here's another one.  Juliet wears outrageous outfits that are perfectly matched with those of her pot-bellied pig while she bustles about bossing people around and matchmaking.  

8.  Josh Derwent (from the Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey)—Detective Derwent is another gruff, no-nonsense cop who's really just a softie underneath.  

9.  Lavender Lewis (from Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery)—This imaginative, whimsical woman is a perfect kindred spirit for Anne.  Her antics make me laugh.

10.  Albus Dumbledore (from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)—I'm running out of ideas, so back to HP.  Professor Dumbledore is wise, patient, kind, and powerful (but in a humble way).       

There you go, ten secondary/minor characters who I love to read about.  Who are your favorites?  Which do you think deserve more love?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.