On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down
On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down. In fact, on every day in history something happened, though a lot of it was pretty boring. Once you look up everyone’s birthday, I don’t see the value of this book. The entries don’t link together into some overarching story. You canContinue Reading
Murder on the Christmas Express
Murder on the Christmas Express has all the tropes that I enjoy in a locked room (train in this case) mystery. A holiday, a birth, an abusive marriage, snow, etc. are all here. So why was it such a struggle to read? Too many characters and almost all were moreContinue Reading
’Twas the Bite Before Christmas
It ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas when all through the house, people were reading this book, even my spouse. It was this great legal thriller about mobsters, you see. My husband loves gang stories, and its court scenes for me. It’s the twenty-eighth book in the Andy Carpenter series andContinue Reading
Parasocial
A former television star has an evening go quickly from bad to worse in the new graphic novel, Parasocial. Luke Indiana is at a comics convention signing autographs and posing for fan selfies. His evening soon descends into a cat-and-mouse thriller between himself and his “number 1 fan”. I wasn’tContinue Reading
Mrs. Pargeter’s Patio
Mrs. Pargeter is back after a six-year absence! Of course, she has found a body under her back patio. She uses her shady, but beloved, dead husband’s contacts to dig up information about who was murdered and why. Oh, did I mention that Mrs. Pargeter’s Patio is a humorous cozyContinue Reading
Surely You Can’t Be Serious
Surely You Can’t Be Serious? An entire book about the (arguably) funniest movie ever, Airplane? By its creators? Sign me up (and feel free to call me Shirley)! There hasn’t been a book about the making of Airplane before and now there is. Yay! Admittedly, it is better to watchContinue Reading
The History of the Adventure Video Game
I have been playing adventure games since the very first, appropriately entitled Adventure, game appeared in the 1970s. The History of the Adventure Video Game describes every adventure game from that first game to current narrative games like What Remains of Edith Finch and the Strange Colors series. I loveContinue Reading
The Witches of Bone Hill
Two sisters, each with their own problems, come together to accept a large inheritance from an unknown aunt. However, they get much more than wealth. The Bone sisters’ mother ran away from her wealthy family at a young age to the hard-scrabble life that was all the family memories thatContinue Reading
Dead on Target
Private detective Agatha Raisin once again crosses swords (or in this case, arrows) with Detective Chief Inspector Wilkes in the 34th entry is this enchanting cozy mystery series. In Dead on Target, Agatha finds a body near a village fete. It’s the house-rich, cash-poor and maid grabbing landowner, Sir Godfrey.Continue Reading
Glitch, Vol. 1
In Glitch, Vol. 1, a Japanese exchange student sees dark shadows on his first day in a new high school. On the way home after picking up his younger sister, they both see the same shadows. There are relieved that if they are both seeing it, it must really beContinue Reading
The Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is a historical hard-boiled police procedural novel that includes family drama and addresses a lot of buzzy topics like politics, racism, passing, and how the rich are treated differently. The story is set in 1944 in a fashionable hotel where a politician is murdered but has flashbacksContinue Reading
Dreambound
Every once in a while, a book grabs you by the throat and sucks you into the story. It happened to me as a child with Alice in Wonderland and more recently with The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Dreambound is my latest magical realism obsession. Journalist Byron’s twelve-year-old daughter, Liza, ranContinue Reading
Soberish
Most alcohol interventions require abstaining from drinking forever. Interested in reducing your drinking but not stopping forever? Turn to Soberish. I’ve never read a book like this before so I can’t comment on its originality or innovation. However, Soberish is a good self-help guide for controlling your alcohol intake. ItContinue Reading
Hemlock Island
Hemlock Island begins with an intriguing, but not very original, premise. Laney has recently divorced her husband, Kit. She refused alimony but agreed to keep the remote private island where they lived. Unfortunately, she cannot maintain such an elaborate estate on her teacher’s salary. She has been renting out theContinue Reading
Hide: The Graphic Novel
“Fourteen competitors. Seven Days. A thirty-minute hiding window given at the dawn of each day. Gameplay continues until dusk…” So, begins Hide: The Graphic Novel, which is set in an abandoned amusement park in a cellphone free zone. One winner gets $50,000…but what happens to the losers? A gripping plotContinue Reading
The Stranger Upstairs
A bestselling author, therapist, and social media influencer decides to document her renovation of a house where a tragic murder occurred. Unfortunately, a shattering marriage and the slow unraveling of her long-buried family secrets threaten both the project and her life. Will the madness of the house’s former murderous familyContinue Reading