Category: Books Page 18 of 158

Saturday Miscellany—3/1/25

On March 1, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

I’ve barely been online this week, so I’m very glad that A Literary Escape and Pages Unbound posted some highlights from the month for me to glean from—I’d have enjoyed their posts regardless, but they helped bulk up this post.

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet The Ascendance of the Book Ladder: The history of a totally necessary invention—We all want one, why not learn a little about them?
bullet Little Free Library Study Reveals Benefits for Book-Impoverished Communities —No one will be (should be) walking away from this study saying, “Who’d have imagined this?” But it’s good to see someone finding evidence.
bullet Face Value: Translating Divergence—”Clare Richards underscores the significance of D/deaf, disabled, and/or neurodivergent writers and translators presenting their community on their own terms.” (as interesting as they are, I need to stop reading pieces from this site, it’s doing unhealthy things for my TBR)
bullet When Books Invade (But Make It Friendly)—This is one many of us can relate to, I expect. Particularly the first paragraph under “Why Read?.” Just from reading her historical book last year, I had the idea that Nadya Williams and I belonged to the same tribe. This is one more bit of proof.
bullet Taking the “Shoulds” Out of Reading—I really don’t auto-post everything Molly Templeton writes, it just feels like it. Worth the read for the last ‘graph alone (but the prior ones are good, too)
bullet Psychological Thrillers Are Finally Giving Middle-Aged Women Their Due—”[N]o one is pushed to the brink like a menopausal woman. And no one can fight for her life like her either.”
bullet Embrace Graphic Novels
bullet The Health Benefits of Reading Every Day
bullet About Community and the Future of the Narratess Indie Sale
bullet How to break up with Amazon as a Book Lover—It ain’t easy, so here’s some help
bullet If you’re not ready to do that yet, What Are Kindle Points & How Do You Use Them?
bullet The Classics: Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen in Verona, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Romeo and Juliet

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet I didn’t post about any books, but I talked about the releases of: Dorothy Parker Drank Here by Ellen Meister and Canary by Duane Swierczynski

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet His Truth Her Truth by Noelle Holten—Unreliable narrators in a domestic psycholigical thriller from one of this reader’s favorites. My March is pretty much planned already, but I’m going to squeeze this one in somehow.
bullet title by soandso—”a podcast producer agrees to host a new series about modern dating—but will the show jeopardize her chance at finding real love?” I don’t know that this would’ve popped up on my radar if Alan Sepinwall hadn’t been talking about it, but If he vouches for it, that’s good enough for me.
bullet The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton—”Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?” Go read the link for the whole blurb

Thriller – This or That

By HCNewton

On February 28, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Thriller - This or That

Thanks to it being named The Write Reads’ Blog of the Day, I read February Reading Challenge: Dive into the World of Thrillers with “This or That” a few weeks ago, and instantly spent too long thinking about it. I know the post called for social media posts or comments to reply, but I decided to go for this instead. I thought I’d work in some recommendations along with my answers, but I have 143 pages of posts about this genre and that’s just too much to sift through.

Still, the prompts got into my head and I had to get something out.

1. Psychological Thriller or Action-Packed Thriller?

A good psychological thriller will keep me on the edge of my seat and jumping at shadows like everyone else. But I typically prefer the action-packed thriller—as long as there’s some depth to it, some decent psychology to the action and/or characters. Mindless action and destruction can be fun for a little bit, but they’re ultimately dissatisfying. By the same token, a bit of action goes a long way to improving a psychological thriller.

2. Unreliable Narrator or Detective Protagonist?

I won’t turn up my nose at a well-written unreliable narrator (or do I?). But Detective Protagonists are what got me into reading, sustained me when I really didn’t have time or resources to really read fiction, and—as anyone who’s spent 5 minutes looking at this site knows—I still read an unhealthy amount of Detective Novels. No contest.

3. Slow-Burn Suspense or Fast-Paced Plot Twists?

I honestly can’t decide—I’ve argued with myself for a few days over this. I really can’t choose. I probabaly read more Fast-Paced reads with good twists, but a Slow-Burn can be so satisfying that I don’t want to discount them. (as long as the slow-burn is actually burning, and not just meandering). This one’s a coin-toss.

4. Domestic Thriller or Crime Thriller?

I can enjoy and really get into a solid Domestic Thriller, one of my favorites so far this year is one. But Crime Thrillers are really my thing, part of that is their similarity to a good Detective novel. But it’s more than that—whether it’s a jaded criminal, a newbie criminal (who very likely won’t be around long enough to get jaded, a normal person having the worst day of their lives (whether or not they made a bad choice to put themselves there), or something beyond the typical Crime Thrillers—I can read those all day.

Go read the original and weigh-in there.

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WWW Wednesday—February 26, 2025

By HCNewton

On February 26, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

I’ve hit a run of not-great books lately. Nothing horrible, just books that I wanted more from. I’m sure that streak is about to end, but for now, getting through them (in the hope I’m about to be proven wrong) is such a slog. It actually saps some mental energy

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan	Good Material by Dolly Alderton, read by Arthur Darvill & Vanessa Kirby

Ryan’s latest adventure is both more-of-the-same (but it’s still fresh enough to keep working) and I-can’t-believe-she’s-doing-this. In short, I’m enjoying this–it’s possible I’ll have just finished this about the time this posts–I imagine I’ll be pretty satisfied about now.

I don’t know why I’m still listening to Good Material, I have to say. Andy is very likely the least likable protagonist I’ve come across in months. And I’ve read/listened to books with murderers and assassins as the main characters. Andy is just a whiny man-child whose stand-up had better be a lot funnier than his narration. I’ve yet to see any reason for this story to be told–or what the story is, really. Maybe it’s the narration by Arthur Darville, and my subconscious recognized him and kicked in the loyalty he’s earned from screen roles (the rest of my brain caught up as I was putting this post together). Also, I’m at 56% and have yet to run into Kirby (and was surprised to learn I’m supposed to).

What did you recently finish reading?


Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade, read by John Pirhalla

I’m so glad that I finally finished Snow Crash (although you could argue that Stephenson didn’t actually finish it, he just stopped writing). A lot of it fell flat, but when it worked? It was so money, baby…

Similarly, there were some really good starts to short stories in Passageways, but few of them delivered on the end (or middle, too often).

I’m not sure that I’m going to muster up the energy required to say much about Johnny Careless, it’s a thing I listened to. I wouldn’t rail against it, but I’m sure not going to encourage anyone to give it a shot.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski	Dead Money by Jakob Kerr, read by Rachel Music

For years, all I’ve needed on a cover is “Nick Kolakowski” to want to read it. But I know that most of you need more than that to get convinced–okay, this is a modern PI noir set in the seedy side of Hollywood–where so much of the best PI noir from the last 100 years comes from. I expect this to be fast, furious, and a little unnerving.

Yeah, Dead Money was in this spot last week, too. But I decided I wanted a genre break, so I put it off. This debut thriller still looks pretty good to me.

Is February ending on a high note for you?

Saturday Miscellany—2/22/25

By HCNewton

On February 22, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet 10 Book Displays I’d Love to See at the Public Library—I’ve honestly never stopped to think about this kind of thing (don’t think I’m going to start, either, but I’m glad someone does)
bullet Golden Rules of Reading—Mind Your Manners in the Bookish World—somehow slipped by me last month
bullet This follow-up/expansion on a point is also worth your time: Don’t Yuck My Yum—Why We Need to Stop Shaming People’s Tastes (also, I’m just enjoying saying “don’t yuck my yum”)
bullet Love Story or Romance: Is There a Difference?
bullet Toxic Love Affairs in Literature—I’ve only read two of these, and (unusually for me) am very glad that’s the case. Good writing really does get us to accept some lousy/creepy/skeevy behavior, doesn’t it? (as if Humbert Humbert alone wasn’t proof of that).
bullet A Few of My Childhood Favorites—A nice stroll down memory lane. I didn’t discover Caddie Woodlawn until my kids read it, but it’s nice to see it getting some love. I’m pretty sure I’d have read that one more than anything about the Ingalls clan if I found it at the right age.
bullet (Some) Indie Book Recommendations—Rebecca Crunden has put together a good-looking list here
bullet The 10 Best Self-Published Books I’ve Ever Read—Seplls and Spaceships has featured a lot of Self-Pub books.
bullet Genre Focus: LitRPG—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club is back with another focus on a Fantasy Sub-Genre, this time, it’s all about LitRPG. I probably know less about this one than any other type of Fantasy, so I really need this.
bullet …Featuring Justin Marks
bullet …Featuring David Dalglish
bullet …Featuring BardLyre
bullet …Featuring SerasStreams
bullet …Featuring CT Phipps
bullet February Reading Challenge: Dive into the World of Thrillers with “This or That”—ew…tough choices

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
bullet Gemini Cell by Myke Cole
bullet Plus One by Christopher Noxon—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
bullet And I noted the releases of: Half the World by Joe Abercrombie; Department 19: Zero Hour by Will Hill; and Shoot This One by Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Three books I never got around to buying or reading. oops.

This (or last) Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Not Marriage Material: Not a Romance Anthology edited by Sue Bavey—”In this non-fiction anthology, twenty authors and poets celebrate the ones who got away and the ones they were lucky enough to get away from. These relationships may not have ended in marriage, but they have provided us with entertaining stories.” I can’t believe I forgot to mention this last week, especially as I helped spread the word when she was looking for submissions. It does look like a fun way to spend some time.
bullet Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow—”The year is 1986. The city is San Francisco. Here, Martin Hench will invent the forensic accountant–what a bounty hunter is to people, he is to money–but for now he’s an MIT dropout odd-jobbing his way around a city still reeling from the invention of a revolutionary new technology that will change everything about crime forever,” the PC. I really need to start reading Doctorow, he says for (at least) the 13th year running.

WWW Wednesday—February 19, 2025

By HCNewton

On February 19, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

How is it that January seemed to be 450 days long, and we’re over halfway through February in maybe 6 days? It just makes no sense…

I wasn’t able to translate the holiday into extra reading–or furniture buying (not that I was thinking about it, but what else are you supposed to do with Presidents’ Day?). I did get some quality time with some family members, so I’m not complaining at all. And wherever this paragraph was headed, I lost my path. So, let’s just get on with the WWW Wednesday.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade, read by John Pirhalla

Last week, I said that I’d tried Snow Crash a couple of times before–I’m pretty sure that if I’d read another chapter or two, I wouldn’t have stopped. This is fun.

Passageways is an uneven, but interesting, collection that I should have wrapped up by the end of the month.

Wade’s first novel has promise, and still has a few hours to make me a fan. But it has to overcome a couple of serious deficits (and odd switches between 1st and 3rd-person narration that I don’t understand).

What did you recently finish reading?


Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire	Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us by George Zaidan

McGuire’s latest was duly impressive. I need to come up with another 200+ words to express that by the end of the week. But that’ll do for a start.

Zaidan’s book is a great mix of information, cynicism, analysis, careful explanation, and goofy humor. Highly recommended.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan	Dead Money by Jakob Kerr, read by Rachel Music

It’s the third adventure for Morgan Carter. I’m looking forward to seeing how she goes about this creature hunt.

I apparently have another debut thriller on deck. Hopefully, this one makes a better first impression.

Are you in the middle of something good right now, or are you waiting for something to convince you it’s worth your time?

Captivating Character of January: Maggie Dunn née McCormick

By HCNewton

On February 18, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Connie at Reading Ladies has started a new monthly feature, Most Captivating Character of the Month. It didn’t take me too long to decide who would be my choice for January, Maggie Dunn from Don’t Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp.

In my original post, I said:

You can tell from the beginning that she’s smart. She’s driven. She’s brave (at least in the face of some things…like dying). She loves her family. She’s gone through a lot. She’s pretty funny. (probably pretty, too, but that’s not that important, especially when you see the world through her eyes). You later learn what a good friend she can be and why she was elected.

Now, like a parfait, or an onion, or an ogre—Maggie has layers. I’m not going to talk about those layers because you need to discover them for yourself. But she has them—and you keep learning about those layers as the book continues. Each layer—for me, anyway, and I predict for most readers—got me to like her more as a person (pretty frequently) and as a character (always). Is there a difference? Sure—one extreme example (that doesn’t apply here, but gets my point across) would be Dr. Lecter. Fantastic character, but not someone you’d want to hang out with.

A Little More About Her:

In High School, she was a high-achieving student and occasional pot smoker. Until her mother died, and then the smoking increased (and maybe she dabbled in some harder drugs). But she stayed high-achieving and went off to college, becoming a prosecuting attorney in her home town (which brought her back into contact with her dealer, among others).

Along the way, she married a doctor and had two children. She’s popular in the town, thanks in part to her family’s very popular restaurant, her public service, and, well…many things. So she’s now in her first term as the mayor.

The more we get to know her (as I suggested above) we get to see many of the layers and layers underneath the glossy and impressive surface. Many of these layers will make you like her, some will make her relatable and keep her from being too good to be true. And other layers, well, it’s captivating character of the month–not admirable character of the month.

What character would you name for last month?

Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

Week 2 Check-in: I’m Reading Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society

By HCNewton

On February 15, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

No change since last week…other than the calendar (yes, I’m still reading every day!). So, consider this a reminder that I’m doing this and that I’d appreciate some support!

No one is a fan of cancer. I daresay there’s no one ambivalent toward it.* We’ve all had our lives, the lives of family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and even pets devastated by it in one form or another. Fighting cancer, researching better ways to fight it, preventing it–all are laudatory ends. So, I participated in this fundraiser last year on a lark—I’m pretty much going to read every day anyway–let’s see if I can earn some money for a good cause, right?

But this year, it’s personal. Last year, four people in my family dealt with cancer in some significant ways. Three of us seem to have dealt with it successfully—we’re not unscathed, but aside from follow-up tests, we’re pretty much done with it. One member of the family is undergoing treatment now, and we all have high hopes, although the road is a bit bumpy. So it’s not a lark this time, and I’m going to talk more about it than I did last year. (I probably should’ve taken it more seriously last year, but it’s too late to do something about that now).

So please, friends and readers, Donate. Every little bit helps. So, please, chip in. And watch this space as I fill in this calendar (and hopefully, the thermometer). Week One has brought a couple of more donors, making good progress at the goal. I’ve also chatted with some others who are planning to donate–which warms the cockles of my heart. Thanks for the support!!

I’ve heard there are some glitches, and it seems like a particular social network is being invasive while trying to pay. If you want to help and don’t want to deal with that, send me a message and we’ll work something out!

Here’s a quick glance at my month’s reading to date.

* As soon as I typed that, I could imagine someone objecting to that characterization. But I’m going to pretend to have faith in humanity and keep the sentence.

Saturday Miscellany—2/15/25

By HCNewton

On February 15, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

It’s not often that I have a theme for these posts (outside of year end wrap ups, but even then…), but boy howdy, no one seemed to talk about anything else this week (outside of a certain SF creep or two).
Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Is That a Familiar Feeling?—”Rosalind Harvey explores the complex emotional and professional terrain of literary translation, weaving together attachment theory, career precarity, and the unseen labor of bringing words across linguistic borders.” (which feels like a lot to cover, but Harvey does it well)
bullet THE BEST OF THE BEST- My Favourite Books of All Time—How anyone could accomplish a Herculean task like this is beyond my ken. A good list, for sure (including a prodding to get to one book that’s been sitting on my shelf for too long)
bullet Twisted Love: 7 books with vampires (that aren’t Twilight)
bullet Five Signs You Might Be Crushing on a Book—If I had time for fan-fic, I’d likely have experienced all of these. Otherwise, yeah, I’ve had several crushes (every year of my life)
bullet Books with Relationships for People Who Don’t Love Love: 2025 Edition—We don’t get all gushy and swoony this week. Jodie plays the Scrooge to keep us from it.
bullet What Literary Love Story Are You Destined To Have? (A Valentine’s Day Personality Quiz)—I’ve never read my personalisty type, but Mrs. Irresponsible Reader has a well-read edition. Probably a good sign for me.
bullet Dating App Profile For Book Characters—No offense to anyone, but this might be my favorite of the week.
bullet A Few of My Favorite Literary Couples

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet I had exactly one post for the week in 2015, in which I mentioned the release of Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells (a book that I never got around to picking up)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Annihilation Aria by Michael Underwood—has been re-released. I’d call this Underwood’s criminally-underselling space opera, but I tend to describe all of Underwood’s work as “criminally-underselling”, and I hold all of you responsible. This story about space archeologists, found family, and alien cultures is absolutely something you should read.
bullet Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett—everyone’s favorite dryadologist gets plunges into the intrigue of a Faerie Kingdom.
bullet Retreat by Krysten Ritter with Lindsay Jamieson—I’m semi-curious about this, becasue of Ritter’s previous novel more than because of this premise. But props to Ritter/the Publisher for crediting the ghostwriter.

(people still say, “props to ___” right? Fellow Kids, tell me that’s still a thing)

Highlights from January: Lines Worth Repeating

By HCNewton

On February 13, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations

Highlights from the Month

The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory by Thomas Fuller

Desire is a tree with leaves, hope is a tree in bloom, enjoyment is a tree with fruit.

Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire

Romantic love is not required to live a full and happy life, my seedlings,” Father had told us, watching carefully to be sure we took his message to heart, “but if you cannot love one who loves you truly in return, find friends, find companions, find people who will tell you the truths you cannot carry and unveil the lies you cannot see. Most of all, cleave to each other, for you will be the only sure support you have in all this world.

The force of their wanting cut channels in the world.

You’re his child because parentage is so much more than blood. Parentage is showing up and being present, is love and learning and compassion and care.

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

Svetlana forced herself to nod. She could never quite overcome a lingering prejudice against the comet miners. They were too brave, too courageous. Svetlana thought that the only kind of person you wanted anywhere near any part of a fusion motor was someone with a strong aversion to risk.

Cowards were exactly the kind of people you wanted around nuclear technology.

“You could give scheming lessons to Machiavelli,” Parry said.

“I did. He flunked.”

Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland

When he smiled, Dobbin recognized him by his missing front teeth. Hildir had lost them in an unfortunate accident involving too many drinks, a frying pan, and a gelatinous cube.

On nights like this, he wondered if he could ever truly give it up. The traveling, the exploration, meeting new people, and experiencing the hidden treasures of Aedrea. To settle down in one place for the rest of his life trapped in a cage…

Then again, wasn’t that what books were for? He could live a hundred lives and still sleep in a warm bed at night.

“We’re adventurers. We make our living doing stupid things.”

“You can lead a griffin to the mountains, but you can’t make it fly.”

Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes by Moshe Kasher

Once at the mechanic, you find out what the problem is. Busted transmission, engine failure, acute cirrhosis. That knowledge is VITAL. Without it you cannot move forward. But that knowledge doesn’t fix the car. It only makes the fixing of the car possible.

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

The world was so old and exhausted that many now saw it as a dying great-grand on a surgical table, body decaying from use and neglect, mind fading down to a glow.

Lark laughed. It was her habit when delighted to rise lightly on tiptoe as if forgotten by gravity.

Why do this to yourself you say, and I reply Why not?

As enemies go, despair has every ounce of my respect.

He was suspected of wisdom but it’s a tough thing to prove …

The Innocent Sleep by Seanan McGuire

Love is a knife forever suspended an inch from your heart, and if it falls or you stumble into it, you can all too easily find yourself impaled and bleeding.

Like every other baby I’d seen, he looked nothing like his parents, and more like the unpleasant blend of a salmon and a drowned human.

From a great enough height, even water may turn into a weapon.

(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)

WWW Wednesday—February 12, 2025

By HCNewton

On February 12, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

It’s the 43rd day of the year, also known as February 12. And you know if I’m resorting to counting the days, I don’t have a lot to say by way of introduction. So let’s just get on with it.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	The Greatest Nobodies of History: Minor Characters from Major Moments by Adrian Bliss

I just started the ARC for the upcoming InCryptid novel from McGuire, and am eager to see what kind of mess was left after the last book.

1.5 years after I was given this short story collection by Becky Lyles, I’m done putting it off.

This book by Bliss is an interesting mix of humor and history (heavy on the former, but informed by the latter). Love the concept, if nothing else.

What did you recently finish reading?


Anxious People by Fredrik Backman	Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, read by Barton Welch

Backman’s Anxious People was hilarious, touching, sobering, heart-warming, and wise.

I appreciated going through Stevenson’s book again, I was able to better appreciate the structure, the way he set everything up, and so on without being distracted by all the twists, turns, and reveals.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Long Past Dues by James J. Butcher, read by James Patrick Cronin

Snow Crash is the selection for the SciFi Book Club this month–somehow, I’ve yet to make it past the first third of the book in the decades I’ve spent trying, as much as I’ve enjoyed that third. That streak ends soon.

I remember being thrown by the way Butcher’s second novel ended. It’ll be good to revisit this and to see how he laid the groundwork for it.

Category: Books Page 18 of 158

1. Psychological Thriller or Action-Packed Thriller?

2. Unreliable Narrator or Detective Protagonist?

3. Slow-Burn Suspense or Fast-Paced Plot Twists?

4. Domestic Thriller or Crime Thriller?

Go read the original and weigh-in there.

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Is February ending on a high note for you?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Are you in the middle of something good right now, or are you waiting for something to convince you it’s worth your time?

In my original post, I said:

A Little More About Her:

What character would you name for last month?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Do you have a date with a book for St. Valentine’s Day, or are you going for something more conventional?