I know, I know! Another entry abt books so soon? Well, no one is more surprised than myself. One month down and I've made it to the 50% mark of my annual reading goals list! Now, I know there are folks who tend to crack into the 100s year in and year out. However, keeping things as pressure-free as possible when it comes to reading means having a goal of 10 books/year. It's low enough that I can feel confident in achieving it.
In any case, I can now pat myself on the back for cracking open 5 books (huzzah!). OTOH, I DNF'd 2 and had a rather tepid reading experience with the remaining 3. So, in terms of enjoyment, January fell wayyyyy short.
All 5 books are mystery/thrillers whose plots involve all kinds of terrible things up to and including sexual assault, animal harm, etc. In AO3 terms, this post is a Creator Choose to Not Warn type of thing.
I DNF'd
* The Obsession by Nora Roberts - This is a standalone romantic suspense novel that starts at level 10. It begins with the female protag (then 11 y.o.) discovering that her father is a serial rapist and killer. She helps her father's latest victim escape. Time goes on and, after another tragedy, the now adult female protag has a successful career in photography. She buys a big house somewhere in Washington state and focuses on renovating it.
I'd picked this one up based on a strong recommendation from Bookslikewhoa on YouTube. IIRC, this novel was among her fave by Roberts.
Unfortch, once the female protag starts renovating her 10-bedroom house (per what I remember, it'd been a B&B at some point?), the plot detoured into a lot of the minutiae of renovating: from securing a contractor to drawing plans, etc. And, like, okay, I'm sure there are readers who deffo had a good time with all of that. That wasn't me. Starting Chapter 6 and going until Chapter 12 (which is where I returned the book to the library), the suspense was replaced by stories abt refinishes, valances, etc. ON TOP OF THAT, the male love interest (a mechanic who is best friends with the contractor working on the house) was a jackass from the second he met the female protag.
* The Search by Nora Roberts - Yes, I'd borrowed two books by this author. Again, based on Bookslikewhoa's passionate rec. FTR, her tastes and mine are close enough, so I didn't think it was such a big deal.
ANYWAYS, this one starts with a woman who lives on an island. She works as a dog trainer AND volunteers in search & rescue with her three lovely dogs. One day, some dude (he builds furniture) shows up asking her to help him with his rambunctious puppy. And, before you ask, yes, he's something of a jerk. But the female protag interacts with him in a no nonsense way. MOVING ON, this one afternoon, a sheriff deputy shows up to give the female protag a head's up abt a copycat killer being chased by the cops.
It turns out that the female protag was the only survivor of a stalker and serial killer who'd murdered 13 or so other women. After a rather grisly tragedy, she helped the authorities send the killer to jail. And now, the dude has gotten an apprentice while behind bars.
Now, this story wasn't bad. OTOH, once again, the suspense took a back seat to endless chapters abt dog training. Not gonna lie: all of the doggies had distinct personalities, acted v. cutely at time. My problem was that I wanted less of the training and more of the suspense. In any case, I stopped reading at abt Chapter 13 and skipped over to the last two chapters.
If someone wants to read this book, I must give a STRONG
description of a past animal death.
Having DNF'd 2 of Roberts' books, I've made the decision to stick to her J.D. Robb series. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Finished but didn't have THAT GREAT of a time
* Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena - This was the first book I read in 2024 and now I'm wondering if there was a monthlong curse attached to this novel. Cuz wow was it wayyyy off.
The story begins with a woman breaking up with the guy she's been having an affair with. They're both married. He's a doctor and she's a nurse at the hospital he works at. They're also neighbors (for extra messiness, I guess?)
Feeling out of sorts, the doctor dude decides to head home. It's the middle of the afternoon, he'll have a few hours to process the breakup w/o his two children or wife around. HOWEVAH, when he gets home, he find his 9-y.o. daughter sulking (she'd been sent home for some reason.) They get into an argument, he slaps her hard enough for her to fall to the floor. She gets up and glares at him.
Fast-forward to 2 hrs later when the girl's 12-y.o. brother calls their mother to tell her that his sister is missing...
From there, the story becomes abt the search for the missing girl, everyone trying to keep a lid on their own secrets, and the police going abt interviewing pretty much every single character.
OTOH, it was fairly interesting due to people lying for the worst reasons (and then getting caught). OTOH, there was a 1-2 combo that occurred 2/3 into the book that frustrated me to the point of hate-reading the book to its bizarre ending.
In vague terms, readers get to find out who was the Main Villain + the truth abt what actually happened the afternoon when the girl went missing.
IN spoiler terms, I had a v. difficult time with
the actual MASTERMIND was the 9-y.o. girl. TL;DR: she'd befriended an older woman who was in love with the girl's father. On the afternoon she'd been slapped by her father, she'd gone over to the older woman's house and asked her to help her punish her father. The older woman had agreed cuz she realized the girl's father was a bad person or something.
So I was there making WTF faces at my tablet. In addition to that, I had to then sit thru not only the police following a million clues that were never going to lead anywhere, but also see ppl accusing each other. It was rather tiresome.
ANOTHER PROBLEM I HAD WITH THIS BOOK had to do with the characterization of two neurodivergent characters. For a book published in 2023, the two characters were depicted in an extremely ableist way. So I gave this book 1 star.
* Small Game by Blair Braverman - I'd been super hyped up by this one based on how much I've enjoyed Braverman's nonfiction writing as well as her twitter posts abt her dogs. ANYHOO, this book was abt a woman (who had been brought up by her hardcore survivalist parents) being one of 6 participants in a Surivor-like show set in the mountains. "Something bad happens" and then the female protag has to figure out how to make it out alive.
The book had v. uneven pacing, the suspense wasn't on the page, the "something bad happens" thing was actually a v. weird thing that's never explained, and then it has one of the WORST endings ever. The main reason why I stuck with it was the writing. Braverman can really write; it's a shame this book amounted to 0 plot with random moments of grossness, body horror, and extreme animal harm (at times). Part of me wonders what would've had happened if this author had gotten a better plot development editor cuz this was a glob of a novel. I gave this book 1 star as well.
* While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams - Yes, it's the same Stacey Abrams who ran for Governor of Georgia back in 2018. This is her first fiction book under her own name (she's published several romantic suspense novels under the Selina Montgomery nom de plume.)
This book is abt a Black woman who works as the 2 clerks for a US Supreme Court judge. The story kicks off after the judge ends up in a coma and the woman finds out that she's got a complete power of attorney. In addition to trying to work out WHY she was named PoA AND fending off the judge's estranged wife, the woman also investigates a really big conspiracy that goes all the way to the US White House.
FWIW, if you like political thrillers, this might hit the spot. Abrams writes abt legal maneuvers, political protocols, etc in an approachable way. The action scenes are great. Oh, and the protag was a sympathetic, street smart character.
That said, there's a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of passages abt chess and genetics. I felt those things slowed down what was already a really meaty plot, ymmv. The Big Bad was a total buffoon? IDEK.
FTR, the book ends with a soft cliffhanger of sorts (w/r/t the Big Bad), but I understand that's addressed in the second novel (which, thankfully, has already been published.) Had this book not had that much convos around chess and the whole genetics thing, I'd probably give it a 3. I gave it a 2.8 instead. In the end, I'm planning to eventually pick up the second novel at some point next month? I also want to read this author's other books (the romantic suspense ones).
Soooo, yeah, January was whatever it was. IDEK at this point.
Right now, I'm reading:
* Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie - Classic mystery. This one is a re-read (which I don't count toward my yearly goals. I know some folks add those, etc.)
* Pack of Lies by Charlie Adhara - M/M urban fantasy suspense. I had to return this one to the library at the 50% point. Just got it back today. It's pretty solid so far!
* Real Easy by Marie Rutkowski - Another mystery. This one is centered around a sex worker investigating a coworker's disappearance.
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In any case, I can now pat myself on the back for cracking open 5 books (huzzah!). OTOH, I DNF'd 2 and had a rather tepid reading experience with the remaining 3. So, in terms of enjoyment, January fell wayyyyy short.
All 5 books are mystery/thrillers whose plots involve all kinds of terrible things up to and including sexual assault, animal harm, etc. In AO3 terms, this post is a Creator Choose to Not Warn type of thing.
I DNF'd
* The Obsession by Nora Roberts - This is a standalone romantic suspense novel that starts at level 10. It begins with the female protag (then 11 y.o.) discovering that her father is a serial rapist and killer. She helps her father's latest victim escape. Time goes on and, after another tragedy, the now adult female protag has a successful career in photography. She buys a big house somewhere in Washington state and focuses on renovating it.
I'd picked this one up based on a strong recommendation from Bookslikewhoa on YouTube. IIRC, this novel was among her fave by Roberts.
Unfortch, once the female protag starts renovating her 10-bedroom house (per what I remember, it'd been a B&B at some point?), the plot detoured into a lot of the minutiae of renovating: from securing a contractor to drawing plans, etc. And, like, okay, I'm sure there are readers who deffo had a good time with all of that. That wasn't me. Starting Chapter 6 and going until Chapter 12 (which is where I returned the book to the library), the suspense was replaced by stories abt refinishes, valances, etc. ON TOP OF THAT, the male love interest (a mechanic who is best friends with the contractor working on the house) was a jackass from the second he met the female protag.
* The Search by Nora Roberts - Yes, I'd borrowed two books by this author. Again, based on Bookslikewhoa's passionate rec. FTR, her tastes and mine are close enough, so I didn't think it was such a big deal.
ANYWAYS, this one starts with a woman who lives on an island. She works as a dog trainer AND volunteers in search & rescue with her three lovely dogs. One day, some dude (he builds furniture) shows up asking her to help him with his rambunctious puppy. And, before you ask, yes, he's something of a jerk. But the female protag interacts with him in a no nonsense way. MOVING ON, this one afternoon, a sheriff deputy shows up to give the female protag a head's up abt a copycat killer being chased by the cops.
It turns out that the female protag was the only survivor of a stalker and serial killer who'd murdered 13 or so other women. After a rather grisly tragedy, she helped the authorities send the killer to jail. And now, the dude has gotten an apprentice while behind bars.
Now, this story wasn't bad. OTOH, once again, the suspense took a back seat to endless chapters abt dog training. Not gonna lie: all of the doggies had distinct personalities, acted v. cutely at time. My problem was that I wanted less of the training and more of the suspense. In any case, I stopped reading at abt Chapter 13 and skipped over to the last two chapters.
If someone wants to read this book, I must give a STRONG
warning for
description of a past animal death.
Having DNF'd 2 of Roberts' books, I've made the decision to stick to her J.D. Robb series. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Finished but didn't have THAT GREAT of a time
* Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena - This was the first book I read in 2024 and now I'm wondering if there was a monthlong curse attached to this novel. Cuz wow was it wayyyy off.
The story begins with a woman breaking up with the guy she's been having an affair with. They're both married. He's a doctor and she's a nurse at the hospital he works at. They're also neighbors (for extra messiness, I guess?)
Feeling out of sorts, the doctor dude decides to head home. It's the middle of the afternoon, he'll have a few hours to process the breakup w/o his two children or wife around. HOWEVAH, when he gets home, he find his 9-y.o. daughter sulking (she'd been sent home for some reason.) They get into an argument, he slaps her hard enough for her to fall to the floor. She gets up and glares at him.
Fast-forward to 2 hrs later when the girl's 12-y.o. brother calls their mother to tell her that his sister is missing...
From there, the story becomes abt the search for the missing girl, everyone trying to keep a lid on their own secrets, and the police going abt interviewing pretty much every single character.
OTOH, it was fairly interesting due to people lying for the worst reasons (and then getting caught). OTOH, there was a 1-2 combo that occurred 2/3 into the book that frustrated me to the point of hate-reading the book to its bizarre ending.
In vague terms, readers get to find out who was the Main Villain + the truth abt what actually happened the afternoon when the girl went missing.
IN spoiler terms, I had a v. difficult time with
the fact that
the actual MASTERMIND was the 9-y.o. girl. TL;DR: she'd befriended an older woman who was in love with the girl's father. On the afternoon she'd been slapped by her father, she'd gone over to the older woman's house and asked her to help her punish her father. The older woman had agreed cuz she realized the girl's father was a bad person or something.
So I was there making WTF faces at my tablet. In addition to that, I had to then sit thru not only the police following a million clues that were never going to lead anywhere, but also see ppl accusing each other. It was rather tiresome.
ANOTHER PROBLEM I HAD WITH THIS BOOK had to do with the characterization of two neurodivergent characters. For a book published in 2023, the two characters were depicted in an extremely ableist way. So I gave this book 1 star.
* Small Game by Blair Braverman - I'd been super hyped up by this one based on how much I've enjoyed Braverman's nonfiction writing as well as her twitter posts abt her dogs. ANYHOO, this book was abt a woman (who had been brought up by her hardcore survivalist parents) being one of 6 participants in a Surivor-like show set in the mountains. "Something bad happens" and then the female protag has to figure out how to make it out alive.
The book had v. uneven pacing, the suspense wasn't on the page, the "something bad happens" thing was actually a v. weird thing that's never explained, and then it has one of the WORST endings ever. The main reason why I stuck with it was the writing. Braverman can really write; it's a shame this book amounted to 0 plot with random moments of grossness, body horror, and extreme animal harm (at times). Part of me wonders what would've had happened if this author had gotten a better plot development editor cuz this was a glob of a novel. I gave this book 1 star as well.
* While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams - Yes, it's the same Stacey Abrams who ran for Governor of Georgia back in 2018. This is her first fiction book under her own name (she's published several romantic suspense novels under the Selina Montgomery nom de plume.)
This book is abt a Black woman who works as the 2 clerks for a US Supreme Court judge. The story kicks off after the judge ends up in a coma and the woman finds out that she's got a complete power of attorney. In addition to trying to work out WHY she was named PoA AND fending off the judge's estranged wife, the woman also investigates a really big conspiracy that goes all the way to the US White House.
FWIW, if you like political thrillers, this might hit the spot. Abrams writes abt legal maneuvers, political protocols, etc in an approachable way. The action scenes are great. Oh, and the protag was a sympathetic, street smart character.
That said, there's a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of passages abt chess and genetics. I felt those things slowed down what was already a really meaty plot, ymmv. The Big Bad was a total buffoon? IDEK.
FTR, the book ends with a soft cliffhanger of sorts (w/r/t the Big Bad), but I understand that's addressed in the second novel (which, thankfully, has already been published.) Had this book not had that much convos around chess and the whole genetics thing, I'd probably give it a 3. I gave it a 2.8 instead. In the end, I'm planning to eventually pick up the second novel at some point next month? I also want to read this author's other books (the romantic suspense ones).
Soooo, yeah, January was whatever it was. IDEK at this point.
Right now, I'm reading:
* Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie - Classic mystery. This one is a re-read (which I don't count toward my yearly goals. I know some folks add those, etc.)
* Pack of Lies by Charlie Adhara - M/M urban fantasy suspense. I had to return this one to the library at the 50% point. Just got it back today. It's pretty solid so far!
* Real Easy by Marie Rutkowski - Another mystery. This one is centered around a sex worker investigating a coworker's disappearance.
