I love Abbi Waxman and her style of humour. I think this is the first step she‘s taken into more of a mystery and it was great! It was zany but also touching with a fun cast of characters. Maybe we‘ll see them again soon!?!

Finished this early in the morning right before it was set to expire!

This was such a journey. I went into this fairly blind and I think that was a good thing. It was real and raw and doesn‘t hide the ups and downs of a seventy-year marriage.

This was fantastic! I could really feel the Broadchurch vibes coming through. There are a lot of characters to keep straight and that did catch me early on but once I figured out who was who, I was off to the races. And the way it all came together was very satisfying.

Catching up on reviews… Listened to this back in June/July as I prepped for our September hiking trip.

This dragged for me. While I usually love books that follow a few different characters and then bring them together towards the end, we were so long with each storyline that by the time we got back to one we had seen before, I had forgotten SO MUCH of it.

Not for me. I found it uneven and repetitive and walked the wrong side of the line in balancing those unfamiliar with Rebecca and those who love it. Also, the chapters from The Wife were so bad. Like so, so bad.

Roll 58 for Roll 100

I figured out the who fairly early on (maybe half way through?) but the why was a complete surprise for me. I loved the premise of solving your own murder and I liked how things wrapped before the epilogue - I thought that was very smart of Jackson. But this isn't for someone who needs to like the people they are reading about - this is just unlikeable character after unlikeable character after unlikeable character.

Eh, this was fine but I expected more.

My #bookspin for October

Terry Fallis is not only an auto-buy author but also a move-it-up-to-the-top-of-the-pile-when-I-get-it author. This was a fun new direction for his storytelling, I really enjoyed his take on a thriller that maintained his trademark humour. I hope we see more of Norval, I think this would make a great series!

Had a delightful time listening to Terry Fallis talking about his new novel, The Marionette. He‘s just as delightfully dry in real life as he is in his books

I‘m not surprised this took me over a year to get through - it is dense! But I really enjoyed how it put Mary and Elizabeth side-by-side to give more context for how and why their relationship was the way it was.

My fourth book finished in my #finishwhatyoustarted readathon

Great news, @PuddleJumper you‘re #SnowedIn! But you‘ve got books!!
The Kamogawa Food Detectives - Hisashi Kashiwai
The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton
Like Real People Do - E.L. Massey
The Eye of the North - Sinéad O‘Hart
The Snows of Weston Moor - Benedict Brown
The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett
The First Yule - T.J. Green
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi - S.A. Chakraborty
The Murder Next Door - Sarah Bell
Vicious - V.E. Schwab

This was really lovely. I wasn't sure about listening to the audio but the narrator for Sybil was excellent. There was such a good balance of long-standing relationships that had their ups and downs with one-off letters - the letters to the authors had me in stitches sometimes! It was just so well done and I will be watching for more from Evans.

I love reading other people‘s mail.

It was so lovely to spend time with Jane again but as I got towards the end, I got quite sad.

I started this in 2022 and finally finished it as part of my #finishwhatyoustarted readathon

This took me a minute to get into but by the end, I was just enchanted by the cast of sweet, quirky characters, the magic of the inn, and the story of Sera trying to get her magic back. I'm generally not a fan of fantasy but this was exactly what I needed right now and I'll need to add more cozy fantasy to my stacks!

First book finished in my #finishwhatyoustarted readathon and one of my picks from #trappedinaspookyhouse

My favourite Sager to date. I love the train, I love the 1950s timeframe, I love the locked room mystery, I loved where the twists & turns of the plot took us!

Page. Turner.

Gillian McAllister has a gift for coming up with the most interesting plots and then telling them in unique ways. The first chunk of this is just so gripping and then you jump to another point in time and this "where can this be going?!" and then you find out and you are just here for it.

One of my #CastTheDie books (that I did actually read in October!)

The first 10 pages or so were really hard to get through for some unknown-to-me reason. I wasn't sure if I could stick with it! But then it took off and I really sunk in. I like the meta, fictionalized non-fiction style that Mott uses and I really like how he beautifully ties things together.

Quirky and charming and sweet and unpredictable and funny and just an all around delight

I would love to see this performed live! (because I'm not really a fan of reading plays...)

So I quite liked this - but I did expect a little more to happen. Once I settled into the style of the book, it was hard to put down. Zippy is such a sweet, naive young woman and my favourite parts were when she was working with her customers. I would love to revisit her and see where she is in five years!

This is such a sweet little mystery, it's perfect with a cup of tea and a blanket and an open afternoon. I haven't read Sampson before but I may need to take a peak at her backlist.

WTF. How is it November?? My November #BookSpin list looks suspiciously like October‘s but whatcha gonna do?

It‘s time for the #finishwhatyoustarted readathon to clear out whatever you need to get finished before the end of the year! I was hoping to start strong and finish something this weekend but I just got a notification from the library that 3 holds are in and I still have six in the house so I should prolly work on those!

My #AlwaysFullyBooked planner arrived!! This is the first year I‘ve gotten the light cover and I‘m so delighted with it! It‘s taking all my self-control not to dive in now and start setting it up.

Well, I meant to post this stack last week but I had to start a couple more books so I had lots of choice for my #finishwhatyoustarted readathon. Some of these were started in 2022!!! 🙈

Do you also have a few in-progress books or challenges you want to focus on finishing for the rest of the year? Join me!

This was fun but nothing amazing. I did enjoy Kausar‘s reveal of how things went down at the end but overall, the book felt long and I had a hard time getting into it.

If I hadn‘t started this last night as I was falling asleep, it would have been a one-day read for me. I love Janice Hallett, I‘ll read anything she puts out. I had a couple of good snorts of laughter throughout this and while I understand why people thought the first half kinda dragged, I enjoyed the repetitiveness. The one-star reviews killed me.

Yikes. I‘ve just realized I have an unreasonable number of half-read books that I‘d really like to get read before the end of the year. Feeling the same? Join me for a #finishwhatyoustarted readathon starting Nov 1.

It doesn‘t need to be half-read books. Maybe you are behind on a challenge or some buddy reads? Make whatever you like of it!

I‘ll post my stack later this week when I‘m brave enough to put all the books in one spot.

A total page turner. There is such a good twist that just throws everything you think you know into complete disarray. In retrospect, it‘s so obvious but I didn‘t see it coming!

My #DoubleSpin and Roll 47 for #Roll100

Wow. This book is devastating.

My August #BookSpin

A one-day vacation read that was a perfect vacation read! I did see almost all of it coming but it was still fun to watch everything unravel. And this was my first Sally Hepworth, shockingly! Need to read more

Roll 30 for #Roll100

This was my pick this year for #mummydaughterbookclub and we all really liked it. It gave me some Secret History vibes early on, which I loved, but then it turned into its own interesting story. I hope Knight writes more!

Great reading while you are on vacation! This was light and cute and easy. There were a few things that felt weird based on my experience travelling in Italy (you can‘t get to Pompeii from Rome that quickly…) but I‘m willing to suspend disbelief for some murder froth.

My June #DoubleSpin

Reading during our rest day on the Tour Du Mont Blanc!

The framing of Claudia Lin wanting to become a detective like her favourite fictional detective was such fun! And adding the family dynamic gave this an extra bit of dimension that bumped this from an okay book to a really good one. Looking forward to the next in the series!

Book 5 for #14Books14Weeks, way past when the challenge ended, as per my usual approach to this challenge 🤪

While I‘m terribly behind on posting, I‘m actually doing okay at keeping up with reading my #BookSpin picks (bingo is another story…) so let‘s see if I can keep it going!

Haven‘t even looked at my September #Roll100 books so obviously, it is time to pull three more off the shelf. I‘m just not feeling two of these three. Definitely will be focusing on my #trappedinaspookyhouse books!!

After Book 2, I wasn‘t sure I wanted to keep going with this series - it was just too similar to Book 1. But this was felt like part of the series but different enough, I didn‘t feel like I was reading the same book. I really enjoy how Swanson starts with the characters that‘ll just be in the current book and then brings in recurring characters. It works for me.

My second book finished for #TurnThePage
#SeriesLove2025
Roll 46 for #Roll100

I had no idea how Swanson was going to turn The Kind Worth Killing into a series but he pulled it off! I think he did follow the template of the first book a little too closely but still a good read - and nice to get more backstory on Kimball

#SeriesLove2025

Ooh, this was good! I love that Swanson didn‘t stick to the typical thriller with a twist formula. I didn‘t love the narrators for the audio but the plot kept me listening.

#SeriesLove2025

Blech - I stuck with the awkward and overly dense writing to see how it resolved and frankly, the end wasn‘t worth it. It was really difficult to reconcile the culprit with the person you were getting to know, it just didn‘t feel like they were the same person. And frankly, the characters all felt the exact same, I had a lot of trouble keeping them straight.

First book finished for #TurnThePage and my August #DoubleSpin

My list is ready for #CastTheDie, even if my TBR is not ☺️

Thank you @Bookwormjillk for hosting the #TurnThePage readathon! I‘m going to try to finish my in-progress ebook, my library book and two shortish books from my TBR. Fingers crossed!

What a page turner!! The tension Abdullah creates on literally every single page is so good. Everyone is so unlikeable in the best possible way and she just nails how anything can get twisted around for either good or bad.

Though I do need to remember to not get American copies of British books. Neighbor? Miles? Ugh.
(Although the American title is way better!)

Roll 41 for #Roll100

Oh no, @bekakins - you escaped the masked killer but now find yourself locked in when the door to the library slams shut behind you! Luckily, the shelves are stocked with books that intrigue you to keep you company while you‘re #trappedinaspookyhouse.

Wow, what a gut punch that last 1/3 of this book is! I would have loved to spend twice as long with these characters, but alas, the story wrapped up.

I could have done without the podcast transcript at the end but otherwise, this was top notch! I love how Gentill put everything together and I liked that I had a strong inkling but hadn't figured everything out when things started coming together. This is everything I wanted in an Orient Express mystery!

OMG, how is it September? I‘m travelling most of the month so don‘t imagine I‘ll get much reading done - #bookspin or otherwise. Oh well!

A one-day read for me. I really enjoyed the section from Lilian‘s POV. Jet‘s was okay. I didn‘t like Ryan‘s - but likely because I just didn‘t like him, even at the beginning. There‘s a lot of tough stuff in this book but it was beautifully written.

What a romp! Rich people problems plus a bit of a mystery? Sign me up! This was on track to be a fabulous summer read but, the pace really slowed at the end and the spark of romance between Jia and Darius felt inconsistent.

Oof, Vermette has this incredibly ability to just rip your heart out while also making you so hopeful for everyone you meet. That being said, POV changes A LOT and you only get slivers when you want a chunk. I‘d have preferred more time with fewer characters.

Roll 81 for #Roll100