Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is: Cover Freebie. You can pick any topic related to book covers. In celebration of my 20th blogiversary this week, I'm going to highlight the covers of the first ten books I reviewed here at BBB. As always, this fun event is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

On August 7, my little blog will turn the big 2-0. Twenty! I can't believe it. Although I'm living in the same house I was living in back in 2006 (we moved back in in 2021 after living elsewhere and renting it out for 14 years), a lot has changed in my life since then. Two decades ago, I was a 30-year-old stay-at-home mom juggling the needs of a husband and three young children. Life was chaotic, not leaving me tons of time to read or relax in any way. I needed a creative, stay-sane strategy to survive. Book blogging did that for me. Now, I'm half a century old, I have four mostly grown children (my baby turns 18 in a few months) and one grandbaby. Life is generally calm, leaving me with oodles of time to read. It's never been a perfect life, but it's always been a good one. Being part of this beautiful book blogosphere has made it even better. Thank you for hanging here with me, whether you've been around since the early days or you just started following me. I don't know how long I'll keep this gig going, but for now, I'm enjoying myself, so I'll carry on.

Oh, and I was curious to see who the first person to comment on my blog was and if they were still hanging around the book blogosphere. I'm thrilled to give a shout out to Lindsi over at Do You Dog Ear? Her blog is still going strong. Thanks a bunch, Lindsi, for your support!

Homicide detective Gwen McDaniel is in desperate need of a new start. Her career is over, her marriage is on the brink of collapse, her personal life is in shambles, and her mental health is suffering. On a whim, she buys an old fixer upper in a quaint seaside town in Maine, intending to distract herself with the challenging remodel. A well-respected physician in Baltimore who will now be practicing routine family medicine, Steven McDaniel is not best pleased with the situation, but he's willing to go along with his wife's plan if it will right their upended lives. What happened in Maryland needs to stay in Maryland; if they stay under the radar, not calling attention to themselves, they should be able to put the past behind them and build a satisfying enough life for themselves in their new home. 

From the moment Gwen steps into the house she purchased sight-unseen, however, she knows she's made a terrible mistake. She was aware of some of the home's disturbing history, but not all of it. Now, she's hearing phantom baby cries in the night, smelling scents that aren't real, and seeing things that shouldn't be there. Is her new home haunted by the ghosts of all those who have died there? Or is Gwen experiencing another mental break? Steven believes the latter, but she's convinced what's happening to her is all too real. Something awful happened in the house. Gwen knows it and she won't rest until she finds out what. Even if it costs her everything, which it very well might...

I hadn't heard of Jessica R. Patch until her newest thriller, The Girl Upstairs, was published in April. After that, her name seemed to be everywhere. The book was receiving rave reviews from my favorite Christian fiction bloggers and beyond. I'm very much in favor of the "clean" thriller vibes associated with Patch, so I knew I wanted to give her latest a go. Expecting a novel that was Christian and clean, I was actually quite startled by this book's content. While The Girl Upstairs is clean in that it has no profanity (not even Bible swears) or described sex/spice, it's still a dark and disturbing read. More like a mainstream thriller than a Christian one (although it does have light religious content). I like this explanation by Patch that she published on her Facebook page:

"Confession time: I'm a Christ-follower who writes disturbing, unhinged, dark, twisty suspense...I'm not writing a Bible study with a body count. I am writing stories about light in the darkness, the fight between good and evil, and characters who discover that hope isn't dead—even when everything around them says otherwise."

That's a great description of The Girl Upstairs because while it's definitely gritty and sinister, it's also wildly hopeful in the end.

A big part of the unsettling nature of the book is its atmospheric setting. Its small-town, insular community should feel quaint, but, through Gwen's eyes at least, it comes off as claustrophobic and sinister. The village's obsession with Halloween only adds to the ominous vibe. Add in a creepy old house with a troubling history, ghostly whispers lingering around every corner, and you've got yourself an eerie, hair-raising atmosphere that had me jumping at every sound my own (unhaunted) house made.

Gwen is a complicated heroine. She's obviously hurting, which makes her sympathetic, but she's also prickly and obsessive, which means she's not always likable. Since Patch reveals her back story very slowly, Gwen remains a mystery throughout most of the book. It's difficult to know if the strnage things she is experiencing in her new house are real or imagined, whether she's in her right mind or seeing/hearing things because of mental health issues. I like thrillers that keep me feeling wrong-footed, always guessing, and this one does that well. Gwen did grow on me, even though she's not a warm and fuzzy character. Still, I definitely wanted her to find answers and overcome her many demons.

The plotting in The Girl Upstairs is skilled, with gradual reveals that ensure the story remains tense and suspenseful throughout. While I saw the truth about Tara coming from a mile away, there were other twists that caught me unawares. I had a lot figured out by the end of the book, but definitely not eerything. The final scene surprised me, bringing the story to a very satisfying conclusion. Even though The Girl Upstairs is on the longer side for a thriller, there was enough going on in the tale to keep me riveted. I whipped through the book in a day-ish, always wanting to know what was going to happen next.

Although this book isn't the easiest read, due to its subject matter, I enjoyed it overall. The writing is tight, the plot is propulsive, the characters are interesting, and the light-conquers-darkness theme is hopeful and, ultimately, uplifting. The Christian elements are there, but they're subtle and not at all preachy, which is how I like my religious fiction, especially the edgier kind. 

I 100% want to read more from Patch, although I'm not much for romantic suspense, which is what most of her previous books are. I'll be reading The Other Sister for sure. After that? I could be convinced to give romantic suspense another try. With the right author, maybe it won't be so bad...

Readalikes: Hm, I can't really think of anything. Can you?

To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of The Girl Upstairs with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.

Today's TTT prompt is a fun one: Top Ten Books I Had to Have IMMEDIATELY But Still Haven't Read. I feel like this describes pretty much every book on my shelf! No titles came readily to mind, though, so I think I'm going to go a teensy bit rogue and spin the topic a tad. 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

I don't know if it's the excessive heat we've been experiencing here in Arizona, or the fact that I've been on Bookstagram (follow me @blogginboutbooks) a lot trying to beef up my presence there, or what, but I've been on a bit of a book buying spree. The last thing on Earth I need is more books and, yet, I just can't help myself. I'm contemplating a serious book ban in 2027! At any rate, here are the last ten books I have purchased, in no particular order:

1. Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy—This deceased Irish author has long been a favorite. Published in 1982, Light a Penny Candle is my favorite book by her. I've been wanting to reread it, but my library has limited copies and the wait times are lengthy, so I decided to just buy a copy for myself. I'm excited to reconnect with it. 

The story is about a long-time friendship between two women and the circumstances that now threaten to tear them apart. 

2. The Stargazer of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt—It seems like I've heard nothing but good things about this book. The swashbuckling story about a young woman who stows away on a merchant ship sounds like tons of fun. Into my shopping cart it went!

3. You Had Me at Bigfoot by Nancy Campbell Allen—I've read and enjoyed a few of Allen's books. Described as Nancy Drew meets Scooby Doo, her newest novel sounds like a joy. It's a cozy mystery about a reporter and a photographer who are on assignment to cover a society wedding. Whispers of a missing maid and Bigfoot sightings turn what was sure to be a humdrum story into something much, much more exciting.

4. Murdoku: 80 Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles (Volume 1) by Manuel Garand—This is a Bookstagram Made Me Do It purchase. Someone posted about these fun puzzles for mystery lovers, and I had to give them a try, although I actually haven't done it yet. Soon, I hope.

5. The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff—Everyone seems to be raving about this novel, which is about a family whose lives are turned upside down after their house burns in a fire. Forced to move in with relatives temporarily, the strained situation causes them to reckon with their rocky relationships and family secrets. It's a family saga that is supposed to have it all: humor, heartbreak, and healing.

6. The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer—Have you seen the gorgeous sprayed edges on the paperback version of Rimmer's newest novel? They are BEAUTIFUL. How could I resist buying a copy for my bookshelf? Spoiler alert: I couldn't.

The novel concerns a woman who returns to her family's crumbling mansion intent on restoring it to its former glory. Within the walls, she discovers a mysterious book that tells a tale that is eerily similar to her own. As these factual and fictional worlds collide, old family secrets are revealed, changing the woman's life forever.

7. The Mad Wife by Meagan Church—The Kindle version of this historical novel is only $1.99 on Amazon. I've been wanting to read the book, so I coughed up two bucks and made it mine. The story is about a 1950s housewife who works tirelessly to keep up the perfect house, marriage, and life. When a new woman moves into the neighborhood, she becomes fixated on the newcomer, sure that the woman is hiding dark secrets. Her obsession with her neighbor soon has her questioning her own life and sanity.

8. The Girl Upstairs by Jessica R. Patch—I've heard that Patch writes clean thrillers, which I'm very interested in. My library doesn't have any copies of this one, her newest, so I had to take matters into my own hands and buy a copy. It sounds intriguing. The story is about a former homicide detective who moves to an old house in Maine to rebuild her life and marriage. As she and her husband renovate the home, she notices some strange things about the place. Convinced that something terrible happened in her new home, the detective begins an investigation that will reveal some shocking truths.

9. Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu—I blame this purchase entirely on Ethan over at A Book A Week. His review made it sound too good to pass up. When I saw it displayed at the checkout at Barnes & Noble, it felt like a sign from the book gods that I needed to buy it. Bad things happen when you ignore the book gods, so...

The book has a simple premise: on an ordinary day in small-town Massachusetts, everyone receives an emergency message warning that a missile is incoming and they must find shelter immediately. The residents all have different reactions to the news, some of which will lead to devastating consequences when a second message arrives telling them it was a false alarm. What would YOU do if you thought your demise was imminent? How would your actions affect things if it turned out to be false?

10. Count My Lies by Sophie Stava—This one was an impulse buy from my local indie, Changing Hands Bookstore. Sloane Caraway is a consummate liar, spinning tales to make her ordinary life seem more exciting. When a young girl is stung by a bee at the park one day, Sloane professes to be a nurse and removes the stinger. Impressed, the child's handsome father hires her to be his daughter's nanny. As Sloane becomes immersed in the lives of this wealthy family, she begins to suspect that she's not the only one lying about her life. Her employers are hiding dark secrets about their seemingly perfect lives.

There you go, my last ten book purchases. Have you read any of them? What did you think? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.

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.

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 gardaí 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.