September 2023 Wrap-Up

For September I ended up taking a huge detour into suspense thrillers, in part because of the monthly challenge, but also, because that was what I felt like reading. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and didn't get to read two of the books on my list, Farilane by Michael J. Sullivan, so I've bumped it over to my October reading list; and Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne. I'm not sure when I'll get around to reading this one yet.

I had three DNFs this month and they were-

 

While You Sleep by Stephanie Merritt

 

I only got a couple of chapters into this and I realized it's not for me. I thought it was going to be a gothic suspense with some romance, but somehow I missed that this was erotic. Just not my kind of book.

 

The Woman at Number 19 by J. A. Baker

 

This was just not what I was looking for. I thought the story was going to be a little different and I just couldn't get into it. It could have been because it felt darker than I was in the mood for. Maybe I'll try it again later.

 

 

 The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

This was the book club read for this month and it just wasn't for me. I'll add a few more thoughts on it when I make my book club post.

  

Now for the books I finished-

 

My Best Friend's Secret by Karen Clarke

 

I started out in the mood for a suspense thriller and I stayed in that mood for pretty much the whole month. I was really wanting to read this one after I saw it, and I've discovered that I like this author a lot, even though I solved every one of her mysteries that I read pretty early on in each book. See my review here. 

 

 The Hollow (Hercule Poirot #24) by Agatha Christie

  

3.5 of 5 stars. The mystery was good but the characters were very unlikable.

 

 

My Husband's Secret by Karen Clarke

 

4 of 5 stars. I was itching to pick up more of this author's books and I jumped right into this one. It didn't disappoint.

 

 

The Librarian by Valerie Keogh

 

3 of 5 stars. This book was good but from the title I expected to be in the library a lot more. There were some good twists in the book, but I figured them out ahead of time. There were also a few things I found hard to believe.

214 Palmer Street by Karen McQuestion

 

3.5 of 5 stars. This was a very compelling book, and although I had a few issues with it, I plan on trying another book by this author.

 

Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth Bonesteel

 

3 of 5 stars. This was a little disappointing for me. I found it very slow moving and boring at times. What I thought would be a very mysterious story ended up taking it's time to get to the core of the mystery. Ultimately, once I got to the end there were no surprises. I found it pretty obvious what was going on.

My Sister's Child by Karen Clarke

 

4 of 5 stars. Another great book from this author!

Feint and Doublecross (Tournament of Shadows #4) by Tilly Wallace

3 of 5 stars. I'm caught up on this series and I'm actually glad for now. For me, it's been a bit lackluster compared to the Manners and Monsters series. My two biggest issues is that there is not enough plot progression happening, and the main character thinks too much like a modern-day woman for the time period. Wanting things to change is one thing, but her thought processes are too modern, and she would know what is considered proper and improper in that time period without her friend having to tell her. Caring about that is another thing entirely, but she would know.

 

Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega #4) by Patricia Briggs

 

4 of 5 stars. I finally got back to my reread of this series with the hubby. Originally I gave this 3 stars, but after the reread I'm bumping it up to 4.

 

Generation Ship by Michael Mammay

 

3 of 5 stars.

This was not as compelling as his Planetside books, but interesting in some ways. I didn't care for all the political machinations, and in the end, there was only one character that I ended up liking. I'll add more of my thoughts in my review.