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.

 

 

 

September 2023 Monthly Challenge

 

September was the month of Stand-Alones

Challenge: focus on standalones this month and see how many you can read.

 

When it comes to standalones, there's a plethora of suspense thrillers out there. I read quite a few of them for this challenge and enjoyed it immensely. I also included our book club read, my 'pick it for me' book, and the book I read for NetGalley because they are standalones. There were three that I didn't finish, because they ended up not being my cup of tea, but I was really happy to finally get a chance to read these. I've included the list of what I read below that links to the books on Goodreads if you want to know more about them. I'll be doing some reviews over the next month of what I've been reading. I'm happy to say that I discovered an author that I really like through this challenge, Karen Clarke.

My Best Friend’s Secret by Karen Clarke

Arkhangelsk by Stephanie Merritt

While You Sleep by Elizabeth Bonesteel

My Husband's Secret by Karen Clarke

214 Palmer Street by Karen McQuestion

The Librarian by Valerie Keogh

The Woman at Number 19 by J. A. Baker

The Android's Dream by John Scazi

My Sister’s Child by Karen Clarke

Generation Ship by Michael Mammay

 

More book mail!

I received this beautiful copy of Spirit of the Wood by Kristen Britain from the publisher in the mail today. This novella is a part of her Green Rider world and is captain Mapstone's backstory. The novella includes several pen and ink illustrations done by the author. I'm really looking forward to reading this! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My special edition copy of The Sword of Kaigen has arrived!

 

The beautiful box it came in.

 

 

 

 

 

Signed bookmark.

The other side of the bookmark.

Other swag items, patches and a sticker.

The dust cover, absolutely beautiful!

 

 

 

Sprayed silver edges.

The naked hardcover.

Front end-papers.

Back end-papers.

My Best Friend's Secret by Karen Clarke

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong language

 

When Rose’s old friend Elise suddenly arrives on her doorstep having just escaped a controlling marriage, she offers her a place to stay. But Elise wants more than a safe refuge, she wants Rose to help her get her daughter back, so that she can truly start afresh with five-year-old Daisy safely in her arms. Every little girl needs her mother, after all. Ready to insert herself into Elise’s old home, Rose gets a job as a teacher, home-schooling Daisy. But when Rose is asked to take the little girl and bring her to Elise, she gets cold feet… Elise’s behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic, and Daisy’s father is far from the monster described… Will Rose take Daisy and return her to her mother, or is the real danger closer to home? Who should she trust?

 

This is the first book I've tried by this author and it won't be my last. One thing I really liked about this story is how likable the main character was. She was at turns foolish and smart, which I felt was a little inconsistent but possibly realistic. Sometimes we all do foolish things. What I really liked about her, is that she had a conscience, and genuinely loved the little girl, Daisy that she was in charge of. 

There was a lot of deception in this book and it took a while to unravel what was happening but I started to put the pieces together and figure everything out at around the 60 percent mark. Even though I figured it out, I still wasn't quite sure if I had gotten it right until I got close to the end. I was actually surprised at how accurate my guesses were. That didn't ruin the book for me though. I will say that I'm not sure I care how things ended up with Elise.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the pace and author's writing style, and it kept me reading until late at night.

September 2023 Reading List

I'm planning on reading eight books in September. Two of them are just books I decided to read on the spur of the moment because I had Hoopla borrows that were about to expire at the end of August, and I didn't want them to go to waste. Mostly, I'm looking forward to just reading whatever I decide I'm in the mood for, but there are a few that are scheduled reads for book clubs, the 'pick it for me' thing I'm participating in, NetGalley, and my ongoing Hercule Poirot read.

 

For NetGalley I'm reading Generation Ship by Michael Mammay.

In this riveting, stand-alone novel from Michael Mammay, author of  Planetside,  the beginning of a new human colony must face tyrannical leaders, revolution, crippling instability, and an unknown alien planet that could easily destroy them all. In 2108, Colony Ship  Voyager  departed Earth for the planet of Promissa with 18,000 of the world’s best and brightest on board. 250 years and 27 light years later, an arrival is imminent. But all is not well. The probes that they’ve sent ahead to gather the data needed to establish any kind of settlement aren’t responding, and the information they have received has presented more questions than answers.

 

 

 

For book club this month we picked The Android's Dream by John Scalzi.

 A human diplomat kills his alien counterpart. Earth is on the verge of war with a vastly superior alien race. A lone man races against time and a host of enemies to find the one object that can save our planet and our people from alien enslavement...

A sheep.

That's right, a sheep. And if you think that's the most surprising thing about this book, wait until you read Chapter One. Welcome to The Android's Dream.

 

For the mystery book club we are reading Feint and Doublecross (Tournament of Shadows #4) by Tilly Wallace. I'll be caught up on this series after this.

An unexpected move could place Sera in check…or will it be checkmate? A strange beast stalks unfashionable Southbank, taking victims in a horrific fashion. Naturally the Mage Council sends Sera to track the supernatural killer. With few clues as to whether the man was targeted or if it were a random crime of opportunity, Sera casts a remembrance spell that brings to the surface a similar crime.

 

My 'Pick it for me' book for this month is Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth Bonesteel. I've been wanting to read this book ever since I read her Central Corps series.

Head peace officer Anya Savelova believed her people, living on a hostile planet in the ice-bound city of Novayarkha, were the last of humanity.

Until the day she learned they weren't.

When a starship from an Earth thought long dead appears in orbit over her world, Anya imagines an explosion of possible futures, offering her people the freedom to transcend the limiting environment of the planet they'd thought was their last refuge. In the starship's crew, Anya finds creativity, diversity, innovation-all things the colony has had to inhibit to survive.

Seeing her world through the eyes of the starship crew makes Anya look closer at her city's inconsistencies, oddities she's always been told to ignore. But the harder she pushes at the pieces that don't fit, the more her government perceives the strangers as a threat. There are secrets in Novayarkha, hiding in plain sight, that the strangers can't possibly understand-and Anya's drive to uncover them risks shredding the fragile web holding together everything she's ever known and loved.

The Hercule Poirot book for September is The Hollow. 

Agatha Christie’s classic, The Hollow, finds Poirot entangled in a nasty web of family secrets when he comes across a fresh murder at an English country manor.

A far-from-warm welcome greets Hercule Poirot as he arrives for lunch at Lucy Angkatell’s country house. A man lies dying by the swimming pool, his blood dripping into the water. His wife stands over him, holding a revolver.

As Poirot investigates, he begins to realize that beneath the respectable surface lies a tangle of family secrets and everyone becomes a suspect.

 

Other books I want to read-

 

I'm still in a super heroes mood after finishing Super Powereds, so I decided to try Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne. 

Everybody in Chicago has a “superhero sighting” story. So when a villain attacks editorial assistant Gail Godwin and she’s rescued by superhero Blaze, it’s a great story, and nothing more. Until it happens again. And again.

Now, the media has dubbed her Hostage Girl, nobody remembers her real name, and people are convinced that Blaze is just Gail’s boyfriend Jeremy in disguise. Gail’s not so sure. All she knows is that when both Jeremy and Blaze leave town in the same week, she’s probably doomed. Who will save her now?

 

 

 

While You Sleep by Stephanie Merritt  

It begins, they say, with a woman screaming . . .

On a remote Scottish island, the McBride house stands guard over its secrets. A century ago, a young widow and her son died mysteriously there; just last year a local boy, visiting for a dare, disappeared without a trace.

For Zoe Adams, newly arrived from America, the house offers a refuge from her failing marriage. But her peaceful retreat is disrupted by strange and disturbing events: nighttime intrusions; unknown voices; a constant sense of being watched.

Farilane (The Rise and the Fall #2) by Michael J. Sullivan. I've been wanting to read this for a while. I've had it on my kindle since before it was published last year. I can't wait to finally read it! 

Some truths are dangerous, certain secrets best concealed, and one story never should have been written at all.

Being an unwanted twin in the imperial line of succession, Farilane becomes a scholar, an adventurer, and—in a time when reading is forbidden—a hunter of books. Her singular obsession is finding the mythical Book of Brin, a tome not just lost but intentionally buried. Although she is respected and beloved by the Teshlor Knights, not even their legendary skills can protect her, for what she finds is more dangerous than what she sought.

 

That's it! I'm looking forward to another month full of reading, and seeing what other books I end up being in the mood to read.

August 2023 Wrap-Up

August was a great month of reading. I only have one book that I'm still working on, The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg. I was looking forward to reading this one because we are doing a buddy read with the author, but other books have gotten in the way, and so far after five chapters it's not compelling me to pick it up the way her other series did. So, I'm taking this one slow and will get back to it soon.

I got all my other planned reads done.

 

A Beautiful Disguise (The Imposters #1) by Roseanna M. White ended up being one of my favorites out of all the books I read this month. See my review of this one here.

 

 

Shadow Schemes (Tournament of Shadow #3) by Tilly Wallace was good, but pretty much more of the same. Not a lot of plot progression for the series, but I do like how things are going with Sera and Hugh. 3 of 5 stars.

 

I really liked Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot #23) by Agatha Christie. There was a sad element to it because the case he solves is an old one and not much can be done to right some of the wrongs. 4 of 5 stars.

 

The Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War #1) by T. Kingfisher. It was enjoyable but not what I was expecting. See my review of this one here.

 

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn ended up not being as good as I hoped, but it wasn't bad. See my review of this one here.

 

Dragon and Liberator (Dragonback #6) by Timothy Zahn was the last book in the Dragonback series. I enjoyed this series and liked the way things were wrapped up in this book. 4 of 5 stars.

 

I also ended up reading quite a few other books this month that were not on my list. 

 

First there was The Olympian Affair (The Cinder Spires #2) by Jim Butcher. I really enjoyed this book and am so glad that Jim Butcher finally wrote it. See my review here.

 

Next, I decided to listen to the last two Philip Marlowe books I had on Audio. Playback by Raymond Chandler and Poodle Springs by Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker. I liked Playback a lot. I think Poodle Springs is my least favorite of all the Marlowe books, but it's also the one that Chandler didn't finish, and was finished by Robert B. Parker. I wasn't a fan of Parker's first Spencer For Hire book when I read it, so I think I probably just don't care for his writing in general. I don't know how much of the story was already written before Parker took it over, but I just didn't like the overall story. I gave Playback 4 of 5 stars, and Poodle Springs 3 stars.

 

Next I read the Setback (The Birch Creek Ranch #7) by B. E. Baker. This one ended up getting published a little early, so I had a copy sooner than I thought I would. I very much enjoyed this book. See my review here.

 

After The Setback I decided to listen to the sequel to Clockwork Boys, The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher. I reviewed this book together with Clockwork Boys.

 

I actually started Tsalmoth by Steven Brust at the end of July and I took it slowly and made my way through it a chapter at a time. It was a really casual buddy read and no one rushed through it. I liked that I was able to take my time with it and just pick it up when I felt like it. I enjoyed it, but I didn't feel compelled to pick it up all the time and I'm not sure why. As usual for this series, I enjoyed the humor and Vlad's way of telling the story. 3.5 of 5 stars.

 

 

And finally, I got to finish out the Super Powereds series by Drew Hayes with Super Powereds: Year 4. All of the books in this series have been long, but this one is super long at 60 hours and 37 minutes. I listened at 1.5 speed so it went by a bit faster, but it still took me several days to get through this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this series, even though the books are really long, and probably could have been edited down, I didn't mind it because it was so entertaining. I'm going to miss these characters. 4.5 of 5 stars.