Soft pick. This is a strange little book of very short horror and horror-adjacent stories. They're intriguing, but often only just enough to give you a taste of a creative premise. I think they're supposed to be patterned on creepypasta, since the title story is a pretty well-known one. A fun, quick read but it did kind of leave me wanting.

T Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon is one of my favorite authors, hands down. Her books are always a delight, even as they are often (at least the horror novels) creepy and disturbing. What Moves the Dead, a re-envisioning of the Fall of the House of Usher, is no exception. I'll never look at hares the same way again. Loved Easton and ka manservant, Angus, and the inestimable mycologist, Miss Potter. There's a sequel coming next year and I can't wait!

Sallow Bend has been looking forward to the yearly carnival's arrival, but when two girls from the small town go missing and strange things start happening, both the carnival employees and the townspeople's lives are in danger. This isn't the first time in the town's history that such a thing has happened either...

Loved this audiobook! Full of twists and turns and I had my heart in my throat a couple of times. Great spooky summertime horror.

A pick overall because I found the book very accessible and readable, but I did get a little tired of the author name-dropping the various Shark Week shows he's appeared in. YMMV 🤷‍♀️ A good book for someone who's interested in the world of sharks, but doesn't want to do a deep dive on science 🦈

David Ash is a skeptic sent to investigate (and disprove) a haunting at Edbrook House on behalf of the Psychical Research Institute. Once there he finds a strange family of unsettling characters who seem to be playing dangerous games of their own with him—games which may cost David his life.

A fun, spooky read! Fast paced, mysterious, and the type of book where the reader knows something is Not Right before the protagonist catches on. 👻🏚️

Read a couple of Star Trek novels & actually enjoyed both quite a bit!

Mindshadow sees Kirk's Enterprise defending an agrarian world against raiders, dealing with spies aboard the ship, & coping with the effects of a brain injury Spock receives while planetside.

Nightshade features Picard & co trying to end a planetary civil war, but things get complicated when Picard is accused of murder and Worf has to act as both ambassador and detective.

A group of friends venture into the Paris catacombs to try and find the woman whose video camera was found on a previous trip, and which recorded what sounded like her murder. They soon find that the miles of tunnels under Paris hide a lot more than old bones.

A decent horror novel, if a little...cliché is the word for it, I guess. Some errors and typos, but they didn't bother me too much. Overall, I enjoyed it without being blown away.

Listened to this one on audiobook, which worked really nicely because the chapter length was just about the amount of time I usually was able to spend listening. Covers a fascinating array of topics, ones you don't often hear about because they're "gross" or otherwise unusual.

Spent my Saturday curled up with my first Karin Slaughter. I've tried her before, but this one really clicked for me and I'll definitely be getting more!

I found both detectives to be really fascinating characters and there were moments that had my heart in my throat. Fast-paced, tightly-plotted—couldn't ask for a better weekend read for me.

Stopped in at goodwill while I was out today and hit the motherlode of (mostly) vintage Andre Norton novels! Now I just have to figure out how to get all these stickers off without messing up the spines 🤦‍♀️

The search for a serial killer takes an unexpected turn when the victim of a traffic accident turns out to be the man the police are searching for. As they race the clock to save his final victim, more and more twists pop-up in the investigation.

It took me a bit to get into this one, but by the end I was eager to see where this thriller was going to end up. There's more in the series and I'm intrigued enough to give them a read too!

"The magnificent cruise liner Queen Charlotte was about to leave on her maiden voyage from her berth on the Hudson River."

Secrets, false identities, expensive jewelry, and murder on a luxury cruise! Fun so far, can't wait to read more this weekend.

#FirstLineFridays

I'm not a fan of Patterson's tbh. But taking him out of the picture and reviewing this book with the assumption that it was largely Barker's hand on the pen, I'm giving this a thumbs up. It was fast-paced, twisty, and kept me coming back to the page asap the whole time I was reading. There is some sketchy handling of mental illness, which I'm happy to elaborate on if anyone is curious, but it was a good thriller overall. Content warnings below ⤵️

Revisited an old fave from my childhood this weekend! While I'm no longer in the target age range, I still enjoyed this nostalgic read.

Spoils from yesterday's bookstore trip. I don't get to go there as often as I like, so it's an extra fun treat when I do!

Just noticed both these books are written by an author named Craig.

Fun, fast-paced, and full of facts about animals and their habitats! The information packed into the book fits very organically into the story, which is about a family filming the first episode of a reality show where they help wild animals. Definitely a recommended read for kids who are interested in nature, and there are two more books (so far) after this one.

This book was S-L-O-W. Guess I put too much stock in the title & expected something thriller-ish. Instead, this was a slow meander through the life of a weaver on the cusp of independence who decides she might want to know a little more about her parents' strange deaths. The second to last chapter has a sudden uptick in pace, a twist I saw coming, and then over. I mean, I read the whole thing, but it could've been so much more.

I borrowed this from the library on a whim and it was actually pretty fun! Treasure hunting super couple Sam and Remi are hot on the trail of what looks like pirate booty, but may actually be connected to a king's long-lost treasury. Dangers abound, of course, as they jetset around the world, getting help from their friends and racing to beat an unscrupulous millionaire to the treasure's hiding place.

My current read. It's a broad survey that covers a number of different cults. Some seem a little out of place to me, especially some of the historical ones, but I guess they all fit the general definition—it just varies in how extreme the cults are. Personally, I would've focused with more depth on a fewer number overall, though.

My first Lisa Jackson novel, probably not my last! This fast-paced thriller about a serial killer in New Orleans is apparently part of a larger series, but I never felt like I was out of the loop or anything like that. The main characters made some questionable decisions at times, but overall I enjoyed this book.

(There's some potentially triggering content involving sexual violence, fyi. I would be happy to elaborate if anyone wants details.)

Though it takes a bit for the plot to really get going, the story was interesting enough that it carried me through the slow parts. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this #mystery and glad I gave it a shot.

Features a missing college student, suspicious peers and professors who may or may not be involved, a former journalist turned unofficial PI, and dinosaur bones. 🦖🦕

Nothing for a cold drizzly day like a good murder #mystery 🕵️‍♀️