All About My Reading Week-Great New Books to Discover

It was a great couple of weeks for reading! Took our youngest daughter to college so it was a bit chaotic, but things are calming down a bit now and I’m trying to get back in the swing of reading/reviewing/blogging.

This post contains affiliate links, please see disclosures for more detail. I voluntarily reviewed complimentary copies of the books mentioned, all opinions are my own.

What I Read:

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

I rated this book 4 stars
Totally twisted book in a very good way.
Lots of hidden secrets and surprises, I figured out a bunch of it before the twists were revealed, but that didn’t make it a bad thing, it just made me anticipate how the author would write the scenes to reveal them.
I liked the scenes in prison at the beginning, they helped to give Geo more depth and made her more interesting. The ultimate conclusion is satisfying.
Hillier is an imaginative writer, and the Seattle setting is perfect for the story.
Highly recommended for mystery/suspense/thriller readers.

Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey

I rated this book 2 stars (but don’t let my rating sway you away, tons of people loved this book)
I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did. The plot holes were just too much for me in the end.
1. The book is partially set in my hometown of Longview, WA. Its portrayal was quite generous and not very realistic, so that made the book automatically less believable overall.
2. There are so many things that just could not happen, most of all the ending. There’s just no way that would ever fly in this real world, technologically advanced society. But there were way too many things throughout that were just beyond believable.
3. The contrast between Sarah and Amy is too stark. Sarah is nearly “perfect” and Amy is “grotesque”. Amy has no redeeming qualities and Sarah (other than her loss of Ethan) has everything going for her. It made me root for Amy to get her life together and Sarah to fall apart.
4. There’s no way that a five year old would just automatically turn into a perfect angel the minute she got away from her terrible mother. You mean she NEVER threw a tantrum? Sarah’s patience ALWAYS won out and she never ever got frustrated and burned out? How nice for her, but no.

I did like the moral dilemma portrayed in the story, it does make the reader think–is it ever ok to break the law if it is the best thing for a child? But then how do you know that it is really the best thing and not just your limited perspective? This would make a great book club read!

Believe Me by JP Delaney

I rated this book 4 stars
Loved the twists in this book. They were fast and furious throughout, and literally until the end you do not know exactly what is happening. I really enjoyed the ride! Definitely don’t give up when things get slow (which they do at times) because just when you think you have it all figured out, then things change up again.
Highly recommended for readers of psychological suspense.

From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein
I rated this book 3 stars
In general, I liked this fascinating look at what it’s like to work as a stenographer for the President. I was captivated by the details about her travels and the different people she met and came into contact with. It made me much more aware of how many staff members in any number of positions it takes to make a presidency function. This isn’t any secretive insider information, but the anecdotes are charming.
Her personal life was a bit too much for me to take. Her cheating, lying, and overall questionable behavior made me really question her vehement hate of Trump when he took office. I didn’t see her choices as being any more righteous than his, although she tried to make it seem like she was just caught in a wave of emotions she couldn’t resist so we weren’t supposed to judge her?
This isn’t a book I would have normally picked up (although I do like memoirs) so I’m grateful to the publisher for sending it to me and breaking me out of my comfort zone a bit.

Lies by T.M. Logan

I rated this book 4 stars
This was a definite page turner! The title says it all- you absolutely don’t know who is lying, and if you have a suspicion that someone is lying, you definitely don’t know why. This book kept me up reading late into the night because I just had to find out what was going on, and when I did, I was pretty surprised. The ending twist summing everything up was surprising and intriguing, exactly what I’m looking for with a psychological suspense book.
I don’t want to give too much detail because I don’t want to give anything away. I really dislike the trope of someone being falsely accused of something and scrambling around to prove their innocence, but in this case I will give the author props because it didn’t bother me as much as it usually does. I still could have done without it, but it worked within the confines of this narrative. #liesbook

The Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

I rated this book 4 stars
Quick read, very reminiscent of an Agatha Christie type book. A group of strangers stranded at a hotel in the middle of nowhere, no power, ice and snowstorm raging. Someone dies.
The cast of characters is large and difficult to keep straight at first, but the multiple points of view help the reader to get to know the various characters. It was fascinating to see how they get more paranoid and frightened (I sure would) the more things that happen and the less sleep they are getting. This is a great mystery, fully explained at the end and will really appeal to those who like this genre. I have enjoyed Lapena’s other books and will continue to read them in the future.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

I rated this book 3 stars. It had been languishing in my To Be Reviewed pile for WAY too long, so glad I finally got to it.
I liked this book, but it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be. I called the big twist before it happened and then it was just a regular adventure novel from that point forward, nothing really surprising.
It’s a good story overall with some intriguing concepts, I love the general idea of a multiverse and the problems it could create if we could travel between them. The characters are engaging, but I thought the Amanda character was wasted, could have popped back in later and added another dimension to the tale.
Overall, this is a good example of Crouch’s work and I will continue to read more.

What I Added to my TBR:

The Hiding Place by C.J. Tudor, Releases March 2019
From the back cover:
Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang–the betrayal, the suicide, the murder–and after what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn’t have a choice. Because judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe’s sister is happening again. And only Joe knows who is really at fault.

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with former friends who are none too happy to have him back in town–while avoiding the enemies he’s made in the years since–is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to that abandoned mine where it all went wrong and his life changed forever, and finally confronting the shocking, horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn’t the day his sister went missing.

It was the day she came back.

Sweetpea by CJ Skuse, Releases November 27, 2018

The last person who called me “Sweetpea” ended up dead…
I haven’t killed anyone for three years, and I thought that when it happened again I’d feel bad. Like an alcoholic taking a sip of whiskey. But no. Nothing. I had a blissful night’s sleep. Didn’t wake up at all. And for once, no bad dream either. This morning I feel balanced. Almost sane, for once.
Rhiannon is your average girl next door, settled with her boyfriend and little dog…but she’s got a killer secret.
Although her childhood was haunted by a famous crime, Rhiannon’s life is normal now that her celebrity has dwindled. By day, her job as an editorial assistant is demeaning and unsatisfying. By evening, she dutifully listens to her friend’s plans for marriage and babies while secretly making a list.
A kill list.
From the man at the grocery checkout who always mishandles her apples, to the driver who cuts her off on her way to work, to the people who have it coming, Rhiannon’s ready to get her revenge.
Because the girl everyone overlooks might be able to get away with murder…

She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge, Releases January 2019

On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and the youngest of the group—Aurora Jackson—is delighted to be allowed to tag along. The evening starts like any other—they drink, they dance, they fight, they kiss. Some of them slip off into the woods in pairs, others are left jealous and heartbroken. But by morning, Aurora has disappeared. Her friends claim that she was safe the last time they saw her, right before she went to sleep. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found.

Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. Back in 1983, as a young cop in their small town, he had known the teenagers—including Aurora—personally, even before taking part in the search. Now he’s determined to finally get to the truth of what happened that night. Sheens’s investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead, and all of them profoundly changed forever.

Grace After Henry by Eithne Shortall, Releases March 2019

When her fiancé, Henry Walsh, is killed in a freak biking accident, Grace feels like she’s lost her own shadow. For five years, they’d been inseparable: five years of the most rollicking, soul-finding love Grace thought any two people could share. In his absence, Grace picks up the pieces of her life: She moves into the dream house they bought together, she returns to work as a chef, she watches TV with her nosy elderly neighbor, but through it all she’s ever aware of the Henry-shaped hole in her life.

Until his long-lost twin brother knocks on her door.

Andy is Henry, and yet he’s not quite. Newly arrived in Dublin on his own search for answers, he makes Grace’s loss feel both greater and smaller. Soon Grace isn’t sure if she’s learning to let go or becoming desperate to hold on. Filled with a warm and zany cast of characters all searching for a sense of home, Grace After Henry is a funny, tender, and bittersweet story about love, loss, and second chances.

What’s Up Next to Read this Week:

Current Read:

If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin

Late one night in the quiet Hudson Valley town of Havenkill, a distraught woman stumbles into the police station—and lives are changed forever.

Aimee En, once a darling of the ’80s pop music scene, claims that a teenage boy stole her car, then ran over another young man who’d rushed to help.

As Liam Miller’s life hangs in the balance, the events of that fateful night begin to come into focus. But is everything as it seems?

The case quickly consumes social media, transforming Liam, a local high school football star, into a folk hero, and the suspect, a high school outcast named Wade Reed, into a depraved would-be killer. But is Wade really guilty? And if he isn’t, why won’t he talk?

Told from a kaleidoscope of viewpoints—Wade’s mother Jackie, his younger brother Connor, Aimee En and Pearl Maze, a young police officer with a tragic past, If I Die Tonight is a story of family ties and dark secrets—and the lengths we’ll go to protect ourselves.

Up Next:

Reclaiming Raven by Mary Holt

Murder, even in self-defense, is a preemptive act. Raven Balback’s obsessive husband demands she return to their marriage. The frightened woman, partially paralyzed from her last encounter with him, flees. Unable to locate his wife, Cole burns the buildings that sheltered her in the past and endangers lives. Raven must decide whether to sacrifice herself for strangers or grasp for a life free of her vows.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

The Rules of Blackheath
Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m.
There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.
We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.
Understood? Then let’s begin…

***

Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others…

So what books have you read recently? Which ones have you added to your TBR piles?