Finished then immediately read it again. The story of two isolated families on the Wyoming frontier, 1876. After Substance Webber is caught with Cora Bemis down by the river, Cora‘s husband kills him, then goes to prison for the murder. Facing a long winter without menfolk to do chores on the farms, the two families move in together to help one another survive the harsh frontier. The tension, isolation, and heartache is SO GOOD. It ends hopefully!

This is one of my favorite #Advent devotionals. Short daily snippets of Dietrich Bonhoeffer‘s letters to his fiancé, sermons, and other works from when he was imprisoned for speaking out against and resisting Hitler. So peaceful and so much to unpack in his words.

Cute small-town holiday #romantsy. The way Livi and Guy meet and fall in love is fun but unlikely 😂 so I had to suspend my disbelief. When I read holiday stories, what I want most is the Christmas to come through, a lovable cast of characters, and a HEA, and this story has all of that. Not my favorite of all the Christmas stories because Livi‘s attitude sometimes, but definitely a pick. Love the message about helping those in need.

My current read and it is fantastic!! ☕️ I love love love pioneer stories and this one begins in the 1880‘s.

I stayed up late last night and got up early to finish this one!! It‘s so good!

Will Trent is a great investigator and the unconventional ways he collects evidence and solves crimes is methodical and fascinating. This case involved the murder of a wealthy teenage girl, and there were a ton of twists and surprises. This is one of my favorites out of all of the Karin Slaughter books I‘ve read. I‘m energized to keep going with the series ASAP!!

Listening to this one while I‘ve been prepping and making dinner. I am HOOKED.

Also, the beginning of the audio has an introduction by Karin Slaughter herself that is super-spoilery for the second half of the Grant County series, but is fascinating!! She talks about Jeffrey from Grant County and Will Trent from this series, and some of the ways they‘re alike and different.

I loved the new Denise Hunter book! I was smiling and happy when I finished this story. Her books are some of my favorites to reread and I‘m already impatient for the next book in this series. In particular, this one has a past and present dual timeline that had great connections and common themes. So good!!

I just flew through this novella, #4.5 in the Kate Burkholder series. Kate and John are on vacation, but they can‘t resist working on a local missing persons case while they‘re out of town for the weekend. Kate and John definitely deserve a vacation after the last few intense cases they‘ve solved. It made me smile that as much as John wanted to relax, Kate wanted to interview witnesses. Loved it!! Can‘t wait to grab the next book in the series.

Kate Burkholder series #4. This series is so great. Kate Burkholder is the perfect combination of flawed individual and dedicated police chief. She collaborated with Agent John Tomasetti on a case involving multiple missing Amish teens. The case kept getting bigger and bigger, with increasing suspense. Just when I thought the case was solved, a massive twist was thrown in, and I can‘t wait to see how it plays out in future installments.

Today is my birthday 🎂 🎁 and I‘ve been reading all day!

My rainy day #fridayreads!! I love the Kate Burkholder series.

This is the first book in the Mage Wars trilogy portion of Mercedes Lackey‘s long Valdemar series. I desperately wanted to love it but I struggled with the choppy narrative and the pacing. I enjoyed the characters: different creatures work with humans to fight a war between two powerful mages. This book is more about the character relationships than anything else. I didn‘t care about the action scenes at all-the war plotline was super boring.

Jude Deveraux writes some of my favorite historical #romantsy settings with her castles and knights etc. I really loved: the characters, the setting, and the social structure of fictional Lanconia. I didn‘t love: the way these characters assumed so much and didn‘t communicate well, and the strange turn the plot took near the end with a neighboring kingdom. Overall, I enjoyed reading this one but definitely not as much as A Knight in Shining Armor.

I loved Red. I had to work extra hard to *not* be annoyed by Chloe, and honestly I‘m not entirely sure that the ending was enough for me to like her. (I need to think about how I feel about her, which is very telling.) Chloe has unending chronic pain. Red has anxiety and baggage from a past relationship.

Unpopular opinion: I liked it but I‘m not head over heels in love with it. Hard to focus on/enjoy the #romantsy parts with so many other issues.

Met my goal with plenty of time to spare! Yay!! 🎉

I‘ve been holding out on starting this book since it is Rachel‘s last. Her books and speaking have been so, so important to me over the past several years. I was raised in a strict Pentecostal household and church. She was raised similarly. So I feel not-so-alone when I read RHE‘s stuff.

I‘m reading along and discussing with a real-life friend. Buddy reads are such a treat!!

The beginning started a little bit slower than my last two Jude Deveraux reads but it has finally picked up!! #romantsy

Another super cute Christmas story by the author of Christmas Camp, which I loved. It‘s just like I expect a Hallmark movie to be, with lovable secondary characters, a great setting, a ton of Christmas spirit, and a happy ending. The dog in the story, Dasher, is a complete JOY on the pages 🐶

I love love love Karin Slaughter but this one was almost too much for me. There are some great twists and turns in the story and the pacing is fantastic. But WOW. Very gritty and graphic.

#scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

I‘m reading while I‘m eating some of my husband‘s delicious chili 🌶📖🙌🏻

#scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

This is the prequel to Pretty Girls, a very quick read. The MC here is (I think) one of the missing girls from Pretty Girls. It was frustrating to see this example of how some violent crimes like rape aren‘t often front-page-worthy but other crimes easily make the headlines.

I‘m heading straight into Pretty Girls next. It has been unread on my shelf for ages.

#scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

Kit finds out that her sister Josie didn‘t actually die in a terrorist attack fifteen years ago like everyone thought, so she sets out to track her down. The story takes its time unrolling, but that‘s because there is backstory all throughout. I liked these characters and the New Zealand setting a lot, and the story kept my interest all the way through. I‘ll read more from this author; this was my first of hers.

Great to finally meet Kay Scarpetta!! Patricia Cornwell is a trailblazer for other authors wanting to write crimes, forensics, procedurals 🙌🏻 Scarpetta reminds me slightly of Sara Linton from K. Slaughter‘s Grant County Series. This is an okay thriller, compared to some more present-day series that I love. Outdated in terms of technology, language (😳), and taking care of a child but a solid female-driven crime story nonetheless.

Hello weekend!! 📖🍨

#currentlyreading #TeamSlaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick

My current read: an anthology of shorts by some great suspense-thriller authors. Narrated by Cassandra Campbell. (I just added this audio to my kindle copy for $1.99-I‘m so happy about that audio price!)

#TeamSlaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick

I liked it, but it did not make me want to stay up late to finish. The main storyline with the mystery takes place in 1929, but there‘s a huge chunk in the middle with Maisie‘s backstory, her time as a nurse during WWI, and how she ultimately ended up solving mysteries. Love the characters, especially Maisie and her dad. I was surprised by how heavy the end of the story was and I still feel that heaviness, even though I finished last night.

I loved it, of course I did. Karin Slaughter writes tough-to-stomach crimes but she cares deeply for her victims and is so great at layering and depicting her female characters. I loved getting to know Will Trent and can‘t wait for more of him as this series progresses.

(I‘m glad to finally be reading this series after Grant County left me with a big hole in my heart.)

#TeamSlaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick #TriptychBuddyRead

I finished the chapters for this week but I REALLY want to keep going!! #TriptychBuddyRead

#TeamSlaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick

I enjoyed reading this so much! I wasn‘t at all creeped out-it isn‘t that type of mystery-thriller. What I loved about this one was how doggone suspenseful it was!! Short chapters made it a fast-paced read, and I loved every reveal. My first Ellison book, but if her stories are like this, I totally want to read more of her work.

#TeamSlaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick

I love getting up before everyone else to spend a little while reading. This lite mystery is perfect for late night and early morning ☕️📖

I‘ve read a huge chunk of this today and the level of suspense I feel makes me want to keep at it until I finish. This is my book club‘s selection for October. I tried to start it about a week-ish ago but didn‘t make it past the second chapter before I was done with it and stopped. But for some reason, I‘m really clicking with the story since I restarted it today and I‘m eager to see how it all plays out.

#TeamSlaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick

Quick snapshot of my (many) current reads:

Triptych for the #TriptychBuddyRead • Lie To Me for my book club this week • The Winter Sea because it‘s overdue at the library • Maisie Dobbs because I wanted to read a cozy mystery (although I‘m not sure it is?)

Anybody read any of these? 🙋🏻‍♀️

#currentlyreading #TeamSlaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick

Joaquin Phoenix was outstanding as Joker!! His dancing and laughing was chilling.

I saw it yesterday and I‘m still thinking about it. Still talking about it. An incredibly dark movie. No superheroes in this one. Think hard before taking your young person to see it. I want to see it again while it‘s at the theater.

#TeamSlaughter @Clwojick #scarathlon

I‘ve been curious about this one for ages!! A quick read with short chapters-I loved that. The MC, Dr. Theo Cray, is a super-smart and nerdy scientist. I loved all of the science and nature in the story. HOWEVER for all of his smarts, Theo is not very bright. I kept thinking he should stick to the science and research and stop trying to solve criminal cases. The story required so much suspension of disbelief.

#scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

A family travels from Oxford to a snowy Aspen resort for the wedding of youngest daughter, Rosie. I identified SO strongly with mom Maggie in moments when she was honest about getting older and adjusting to life without her daughters at home, as my girls will leave for college before too long. There are some really funny scenes in here. I loved it. Sarah Morgan is one of my top favorites.

#christmas

Waiting outside for my teenagers while they‘re in Debate Club, I finished this short story featuring my favorite game warden, Joe Pickett. Joe finds a body frozen in a local reservoir. This is his effort in getting the body out of the water and then finding out how she got there in the first place. Classic CJ Box-I loved it!!

This is one short story from Box‘s suspense thriller collection.

#scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick
1 pt for posting

Third in the Kate Burkholder Amish mystery-thriller series. I love these books because the author makes writes hard-hitting crimes and investigations. This one started a little slower than previous books, but about halfway thru there was a major plot twist that quickened the pacing for me. Lots of twists and turns in the second half. I really liked it!

#scarathlon @Clwojick
2 pt #TeamSlaughter + 1 pt for the post = 3 pts

Every year I bookmark movie lists for Halloween. “31 Nights of Halloween” is one of my favorite TV events every year. DO YOU SEE how many times Hocus Pocus is coming on this month??!!

Which spooky movie or Halloween movie is your favorite? Doesn‘t matter if it is on this list or not-I‘m making myself a list of options. 🎃 🧟‍♀️ 👻 🧛‍♀️

#scarathlon @Clwojick @TheReadingMermaid #teamslaughter

I signed up for #scarathlon at the last minute yesterday! 👻🧛‍♀️🎃

This will be my first read for #TeamSlaughter. #3 in the Kate Burkholder series. I love this series!! I‘m about half thru and hope I can get finished (or closed to it) tonight while my daughter is at fencing practice.

@Clwojick @TheReadingMermaid

One of my favorite bookish things is when Sarah Morgan writes about snowy resorts at the holidays!! It was in the 90‘s here today-so hot!! This one helps me remember that cooler weather is coming soon 🙌🏻

#currentlyreading

Another great Joe Pickett novel. This is the fourth in the series, where Joe is trying to find out who is mutilating animals out in the Wyoming mountains. As always, I love all of the nature and animals in the story. And the way Joe loves his family so much and tries his hardest to be a genuinely good game warden working among other corrupt law enforcement officials. I already have the next two books ready to read 🙌🏻

(The audio is so great!!)

I can‘t find words for how good this book is!! My heart raced all throughout and it was more thrilling since it seems so possible.

>>I was CONVINCED that Karin S couldn‘t write better books after finishing the Grant County series. I was too heartbroken to start the Will Trent books right away. So I skipped every Will Trent before this one and just jumped right in here. Now I HAVE to go back and re-start with Will Trent #1. She is the very best!!

I‘m listening to the fourth Joe Pickett book today while my husband reads the same book in paperback. We rarely end up reading the same books at the exact same time, so this is super fun for me 😊

The audiobooks in this series are some of my favorites. David Chandler is a GREAT Joe Pickett.

A medieval Montgomery/Taggert #romantsy by the one and only Jude Deveraux!!!

I adore the castles and knights and horses etc in the story. This is a high-born Lord that marries a lowly baron‘s daughter; there is instant attraction but the real romance builds over time and with plenty of challenges. Lord Ranulf says some things that make me roll my eyes, but I think the way he talks to Lyonene is probably appropriate for the time setting.

My husband and I have been listening to S•Town while on vacation and we‘re almost finished!! I‘m hanging on every word😮

This is my first crime podcast. (At least, I think it is a crime podcast?) Anyway, can y‘all recommend more like this one??

My family is on vacation in the cutest bear-themed cabin in the mountains of NC!! A few days off has been a long time coming for my family and all I want to do is hike a bit and read a lot.

Also, I‘ll read anything Karin Slaughter writes. She‘s the best.

I‘m nervous about starting this one, which is what has kept me from picking it up before now. Opinions I‘ve seen range from the “don‘t read this if you love the Little House books” to “one of the best books I‘ve ever read” and I‘m terrified that it‘ll destroy everything I love of Little House and Laura Ingalls Wilder. (But I hope not!)

This one gets a so-so from me because the structure was disappointing to me and to my entire book club. One member said she read the chapters in reverse order, from the end of the book to the beginning—I wish I‘d thought of that!! I also feel like I want a little bit more info about some of the characters at the end. Good story, and thought-provoking, but I didn‘t absolutely love it.

My book club had a fantastic discussion about this one!!

I love the setting, both time and place: a coal-mining community in Ohio, 1925. Lily and Marvena have both suffered losses-a murdered husband and a missing daughter. These losses may be connected.

This is a very nice historical mystery. The pacing is steady, but not too fast, and I was very surprised by the end!! I just saw that the author is writing another book in this series, and I‘m so ready for it!!

#minotaurbooks

My current read, also my book club‘s selection for this week. I‘m not even halfway thru it, but I‘m sure this will be a lively and engaging discussion.