I thought about bailing because it‘s such a slooowww burn in the beginning. I wanted a faster pace. However, there is a point where it clicked for me and I couldn‘t read fast enough. Is it a thriller? A ghost story? Horror? It‘s sort of all three, with a mystery thrown in. I love the way Tremblay captured the anguish of Tommy‘s mother in the days after his disappearance-the “not knowing” nearly did her in. Great work by one of my favorites.

#Galleybrag!!! I‘m so excited for this approval from NetGalley! Ms Newman‘s books are terrifying and fast-paced and so much fun to read!

On sale: August 13, 2024

Really enjoyed this! It took turns I wasn‘t expecting and kept me on my toes throughout. That‘s what I want in a mystery-thriller.

I read somewhere that someone mentioned not flipping ahead thru the illustrations and I wholeheartedly agree. It‘s definitely better to come to each one blindly. There are a lot of them and they‘re fantastic! I tried the audiobook but quickly abandoned it because I wasn‘t getting to see the illustrations.

Sunday morning, my favorite ☕️🐾

I have one pup snuggled up on my right side and one pup snuggled up on my left side. I have a book and some coffee, and my house is nice and quiet. It‘s a good time over here.

Currently 2/3 thru Hidden Pictures! Enjoying it!

I loved this, cover to cover. Although I think the first half is the best, featuring Frankie‘s time in Vietnam and her experiences there as a combat nurse. The second half dealt with her return home and the years after. I know it‘s fiction but it‘s also based on fact. And I had no idea about most of what happened in this book. I‘m astounded.

Lots of emotion in here. Not as much as Hannah‘s previous books, but man oh man, this was a good one.

My first by St James. I really liked it! The offending highway had a deliciously creepy atmosphere and I loved that Eddie and April got sucked into a crime on their honeymoon. I loved the paranormal aspect too. The only thing that felt a little off-kilter were the parts concerning the police and the explanation for everything. That part was so-so. But the rest of the book was a lot of fun! I‘ll read more by this author 🚙

Rescued a puppy yesterday, started a new book this morning!

#dogsoflitsy

I loved every second of this one. It‘s Lydia‘s first person account of her struggle as half-vampire/half-human. More than anything, she wants to experience eating human food, but her vampire body will not allow her this. The whole book is comprised of her thoughts and then her actions in response to her thoughts. A very quiet, very introspective, strange little story. So good! I chose it because I love books about vampires and books about food.

I chose to read this because I love books set in the Colonial time period and this one takes place during The Starving Time at Jamestown in the early 1600‘s. It‘s not a romance by definition although the Ellis‘ romantic feelings for Jane are prominent for half of the story, then it takes a solid turn to horror. The end is pretty dark, but this is understandable as The Starving Time was awful for both the native population as well as the settlers…

I listened to this one chapter at a time and I loved it from start to finish. The author and her husband buy a home in serious disrepair and she details their road to renovating it over the course of many years. My husband and I are one year into remodeling our own home, and I felt kinship with the author in some instances and shock at some of their financial decisions in others. I particularly loved the history of houses and rooms she included.

Oh man, this was something unexpected! I love the movie but I had no idea the book went so much further. Annie Wilkes is terrifying! This one had me gasping and holding my breath with some of the crazy scenes with Annie terrorizing Paul and others 🪓🔥 🐀💉

Also, about the audiobook: I listened to it here and there and at first, I hated it. Sounded boring! But as I kept listening, narrator Lindsay Crouse started sounding just like…

I knew when I saw this cover, I had to read this. It just called out to me. The fork‘s shadow is just so creepy and compelling. And that‘s how this story was. It‘s popcorn horror, and I loved it. The pacing was fast, the story was crazy, and I would have read it straight thru if I‘d had the time.

I agree with other Goodreads reviewers that get a big Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe-Moss was clearly a fan of that story. I‘ll read more by him.

Sunday morning puppy snores 💤 with my book and coffee. My favorite time of the week!

I‘ve tried so hard to create characters and images in my head for this story. But no matter how hard I try, after seeing the movie many years ago, I can still only imagine Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes and James Caan as Paul Sheldon. #readingStephenKing

Heck yeah!! Started it this morning!! I‘m so excited to finally be reading Misery!

#readingStephenKing

Quite good, a lot of fun to read! I love vampire stories so I was thrilled about this one from Tudor. I loved the police procedural aspect. I loved the characters both good and bad. I loved all of the secrecy and twists. I especially loved the snowy, cold, remote atmosphere of this fictional Alaskan town. I do wish Tudor had leaned in to the vampire aspect a bit more but it‘s still a very solid story with fun vampire lore. I need more from Tudor!

Sunday morning, sitting with my pup, my favorite time to read ☕️

I saw this recently on @Reggie‘s feed and couldn‘t wait to grab it and read it myself. I loved Tudor‘s The Drift so I can‘t wait to really dig into this one. Just started it, only a few chapters in.

I feel like vampire books were trendy for a while but they sort of fell off of publishing lists. Hoping they‘ll come back!! I loooove a good vampire tale.

Twisty and fun, with short chapters to keep the pace moving fast. I was completely shocked by the big twist at the end! I knew it was coming and I was still shocked.

“And the Tower is closer.”

This is the story of how Roland meets Eddie and Susannah, who will accompany him on his quest to find The Tower. I loved the parts with Roland and Eddie, especially in the first half of the story. Nervous, suspicious, addict Eddie, who along with Roland himself has a deadly encounter with a drug kingpin that reminded me of a violent mob movie. A ton of fun to read.

Up next #readingStephenKing: Misery!! I‘m so excited!

I have loved this book since childhood when my teacher read it to our class, one chapter a day, just after lunch. Years later, I read it to my children, one chapter a day, before school in the mornings. For some reason, I picked it up yesterday and read it straight thru again in Serial Reader.

Delightful, as always. A forever favorite. Digital reading is fantastic, but I missed having the illustrations from the print copy, which are so perfect.

Saturday afternoon with my reading buddy 💤

#readingStephenKing #dogsoflitsy

I read along with my BFF who is enrolled in an American Lit class and had to write a paper on it. The reading is easy, but the story is complicated and thought-provoking. In a lot of ways I really understand Edna and her thoughts, but in some ways I feel like her feelings of hopelessness make her careless with herself and those close to her.

Reminds me a lot of Anna‘s POV in Anna Karenina (my favorite!) but Anna K is by far the superior story.

Super short story in which a former slave has to face her fears and cross open fields and head back into the bayou after trauma and fear paralyzed her years ago. She does this to save the life of her former owner‘s child, whom she loves.

I‘m proud of her for facing her fears and doing something that was so difficult. A few hopeful pages, very nice. This story is included in a collection of Chopin‘s work that I‘m reading, featuring The Awakening.

My first time reading it!! Just started it today. I‘m so excited to be on this journey 🙌🏻

#readingStephenKing

Oh man, this was so good. I love the way Heller depicted a healthy male friendship and respected that deep relationship as Jess and Storey navigated the stress and uncertainty of a looming civil war. There‘s a wonderful found family aspect as the two come across a lonely 5 year old child and helps her try to find her parents and dog. Introspective and hopeful while also tense and evocative. And beautiful nature writing. My first by Peter Heller.

#currentlyreading via NetGalley and Knopf. Two long-time best friends emerge from an off-grid hunting trip in the woods to find that Some Big Thing has happened. They‘re not able to navigate roads or bridges. No cellphone service. No people, animals, cars anywhere. I can FEEL their dread and fear because at the halfway point, I still don‘t know what happened either.

It‘s riveting. I feel a delicious tension right alongside these characters.

This one shares some things with Ms Ryan‘s other books: a group of women having to be resourceful against the backdrop of WW2. In this case, when part of the library is destroyed after bombing by Nazis, they take the surviving shelves and books underground and set up there. The characters are plucky and likable, and they find an inner strength while dealing with awful circumstances. My favorite is still The Kitchen Front, but I loved this one too.

I‘m trying so hard to meander thru this book to drag it out, but it‘s so hard! I ADORE this author‘s books and am always so impatient while waiting for each of her new books to come out. Her stories tend to feature women being resourceful during WWII, when things were being rationed or banned, but she is always able to write such humor, light, and levity into the stories so they don‘t feel heavy at all. Really loving this so far #currentlyreading

This was a lot of fun! A dark and twisty serial killer story. I thought I had it figured but I was wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️ Anytime I wasn‘t reading, I was thinking about the story. And whenever I was reading, the pages turned fast. I definitely want to read more by Hillier.

The Author‘s Note in the back of the book mentions that Hillier‘s other books are standalones set in the same fictional world with a few crossover characters-sounds fun!

I started listening to this earlier today and it grabbed me right away. I think I‘ll fly thru it if it continues to be twisty and dark.

January LaVoy is narrating and she is fantastic.

This is the final book in the Haven Point series and I have loved every second I have spent with the characters in this small, Idaho mountain lake community. These books have been comfort reads for me over the last couple of years, and I plan to promptly find another of Thayne‘s series to read in the same vein as this one. No stress in these stories-just a lovely setting, a group of people that I wish were my own friends and family, and dogs.

Reminded me of The Talisman in terms of style and setting, although I think The Talisman is way better. I loved the beginning but feel like some parts dragged a bit from about halfway-point on. I read somewhere that he wrote this for his daughter, and it definitely has a younger feel to it. Overall I did like it, but wasn‘t as excited about it as I am about some of King‘s other masterpieces.

Up next #readingStephenKing: The Drawing of the Three!!

I did not meet my #AwesomeApril goals! My goals:

• finish The Eyes of the Dragon ✔️
• finish Summer at Haven Point ❌
• read 1-2 NetGalley books ❌

The reason I didn‘t read more is because my twin girls graduated from Lees-McCrae College this weekend and I spent every minute soaking in the festivities and celebrating them. Who can blame me for failing to meet my reading goal? I‘m not even mad about it.

Thank you to @Andrew65 for hosting!

I‘m so excited to be joining in for #AwesomeApril! My goals:

• finish The Eyes of the Dragon
• finish Summer at Haven Point
• read 1-2 of my NetGalley books

My family will be in the NC mountains for most of this week due to my twin girls‘ college graduation up in the NC mountains. Hoping to find some good reading time with a pretty mountain backdrop amongst all the graduation festivities.

Thank you to our fabulous host @Andrew65!

I love love love Stephen King‘s fantasy stories. This one has a feel like The Talisman, but it also feels sort of medieval. I‘m not quite 1/4 in but enjoying it so much already. I can tell he must have had a lot of fun writing it, which makes it fun to read. #readingStephenKing

I was so excited to read this because I loved Finn‘s first book so much. And this one is great too, just a little different than The Woman In The Window. It reads almost like Knives Out for about the first half-kooky, comedic mystery-then is a slow burn thru the middle, with a fast-paced thriller-y end. The twists were great, and I love Finn‘s nods to classic mysteries and noir. I never would have predicted the ending. A fun read. A pick from me!

Sometimes baking makes me nervous. I‘m not sure why. I‘m much better at regular cooking. But let me tell you, this sweet potato cornbread from The Savory Baker was easy and my husband LOVED it. My first time making it! The recipe called for baking in a cast iron pan, but I wanted to make muffins instead. I also made some honey-cayenne butter to spread on them and oh my goodness *chef‘s kiss*

I love America‘s Test Kitchen cookbooks #mtcookbook

Last night‘s dinner! #mtcookbook I love this cookbook. I use it sometimes when I need a fun finger food type dish to take to a gathering or when I want to make something quick and easy. This is by the makers of those “quick hands” videos on social media. (I call them quick hands because I have to keep pausing and rewinding to catch all the ingredients, oven temp, bake times, etc.) Anyway, this was a delicious and easy meal to make after work.

This was such a good book. Beautifully written, but dark. I read the entire thing in a few hours yesterday. An apocalyptic event has turned most of the world into chaos and violence, but the Amish community lives on as normal since they don‘t rely on electricity, computers, modern conveniences. When the world runs out of food, the Amish continue to thrive, life as normal. They try to help peacefully, while staying within the rules of their Order.

This story is less “psychological thriller-y” than I expected based on other Freida books I‘ve read. Less twisty. Charlotte is shot by someone and suffers brain damage with loss of function on her left side. As she goes thru rehab to recover function, she works to solve the mystery of who shot her. I enjoyed reading about her rehab and relationships there, and I loved the medical aspects of the story. Charlotte‘s story was heartbreaking at times.

Sauces are one of my favorite things to make, and I couldn‘t resist a copy of this for use in my kitchen. The book is smaller than my other cookbooks-I love the size! The recipes in here are easy and accessible, the pictures are bright and beautiful, and I love the suggestions on what foods to pair the sauces with: chicken, steak, tacos, dessert, etc. My favorites so far are the Romesco and Mojo Rojo sauces, which are red pepper-based. #mtcookbook

I took an early lunch break in my car so I could finish this one ASAP because I‘ve enjoyed it so much. I flew thru it. The short chapters made for great pacing and I loved the flashbacks. I loved Evie‘s POV: her lying and thievery was a blast to read. Huge shoutout to her sidekick Devon, who was my favorite character. Lots of fun twists. I see why it was hyped so much when it came out, although that hype is what made me wait so long to read it.

Two-thirds thru. I‘ve inhaled this one. Really enjoying it!

Oh man, I loved this! It reminded me A LOT of Alma Katsu‘s The Hunger which I LOVED. Rather than horror, I would call it a historical western supernatural thriller. Loved the MC Adelaide with her mysterious trunk, loved wondering what was in it. Loved the found family and camaraderie Adelaide built with other lone women out in MT. These women all seemed bogged down with identities-I don‘t think the story needed that. BUT the slow burn across-

I‘m not sure what I thought I was getting into, but this was…not for me. I did finish it though, so theres that. I feel like it is possible to write about taboo or “naughty” subjects if there is enough substance or angst to go along with it, but this didn‘t have that.

I think I got sucked in by the pretty dress on the cover. Has happened to me before. I can‘t think of anyone I would recommend this to 🤷🏻‍♀️

I grabbed the LP edition from the library to give it a try and MY GOSH it‘s just like reading used to be for me. I‘ve had a tough time reading regular print for a while, even with strong reading glasses. I‘ve always felt bad even considering LP because I feel like some readers need those books more than I do.

But, friends, I think I‘ve now arrived at the place where LP is what I will check for first at the library. My eyes feel so appreciative.

I finally finished IT! It‘s pretty standard King: lots of details and perfect characterization building up to a point where all the small details from the beginning come back around, and a less-than-stellar ending. Probably the scariest book I‘ve ever read. I think the part at the end with Beverly and all the boys could have been left out, because WHY? Y‘all know what part I mean.

Next up #readingStephenKing: The Eyes of the Dragon!

Fun to make! “Five-Ingredient Honey Butter Beer Bread” from pg 69 of the tagged book, which I LOVE. I love making quick breads and this was super quick: 5 mins to prep (maybe less) and 35-40 mins to bake.

• I used a glass bread dish, so added time for a total of 55 minutes bake time.
• Will add a pinch of salt next time since salt isn‘t one of the 5 ingredients.

My family inhaled half the loaf before I could even snap a picture 😂 #mtcookbook

I‘m so excited that I finally made it over 1000 pages in my #currentlyreading!! I‘m at the point now where I absolutely can‘t stand having to put the book down or turn the audiobook off to do things like work my job, take a shower, or go to sleep. I‘d love to be able to finish IT this week!

My progress: page 1037/1477

Also: anyone else love reading in your car? I just love it for some reason 🤷🏻‍♀️

#readingStephenKing

I really enjoyed the #MarvellousMarch readathon and am thrilled that I met my goals!

My goals:
1 - make it to the halfway point of Stephen King‘s IT — I made it to 2/3 thru! ✔️
2 - read and review at least one NetGalley book — Hedging Your Bets by Janye Denker ✔️

Can‘t wait until the next readathon! Thank you to our host, @Andrew65!

This was good, not necessarily ground-breaking but that‘s okay. I chose to read it because of the gardening theme and I enjoyed all of the gardening-talk in here. It‘s a slow burn, low on the spice. I enjoyed the small town sense of community surrounding Gillian and Noah and the rest their friends.

It was great for to me to read something like this while also reading Stephen King‘s IT: it was less intense, less stressful, not at all scary.