Sharing the Stories

I'm extra grateful this reading month for Spring Break and the chance to get lost in great stories. Lots of audiobooks thanks to libro.fm 🎧 and Libby.   Mysteries continued strong with two additional titles from the Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French . I'm loving following characters from one book to another and seeing them change, know their backstories, and figure out the mysteries together. Broken Harbor #4 The Secret Place #5 #murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil a Lincoln Nominee for 23-24 was my additional mystery. I wanted to like the story but honestly, I found it hard to follow at first, the characters were predictable, and overall the story wasn't anything new or engaging. Realistic Fiction and Romance made a comeback this month with titles I had on my TBR list and a few surprises. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt was on my TBR and a book club option. While it started to slow it quickly got a hold of my attention. With a strong resemb...

February was a month full of international mysteries. All my audiobooks, courtesy of Libro.fm and Libby were excellent mysteries. And almost by accident, all my  paper books were mysteries as well, with the exception of Kindred by Octavia E. Butler a time travel sci-fi tale that was capturing and thought-provoking.  I continued Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series with #2 The Likeness  and #3 Faithful Place . Each book gives the reader an in-depth perspective on a detective introduced in the previous books. While you could read them out of order it helps to better understand the characters to go in sequence. Each book revolves around one main mystery/murder but there are so many underlying stories to shape the main character's experiences, personalities, motives, and behaviors.   Nick Brooks's first novel Promise Boys is a mystery set in a private school run more like a military academy. Our main characters find themselves in detention with no alibi when the...

 When girls from a prestigious boarding school start to fall ill with a mysterious illness everyone is reaching for answers. From environmental reasons, obscure diagnoses, and even the school's religious origins.  However, sometimes the simplest explanation is right in front of us. And sometimes the past can merge with the present to give us answers. This book was the perfect mix of mystery and historical fiction. The suspense builds up leaving you wondering if the simple explanation is actually the right one. 

  “Because for every way the world tries to kill us, it gives us a way to survive. You just gotta find it” (p. 24.)   Cash certainly knows about  “the world trying to kill you” or at least hurt you. His whole life has felt like one loss after another, one hurtful moment after another. But he has found a way to survive, a way to have hope, and even small moments of joy with the good in his life. His Papaw and Mamaw, who stepped in and are helping raise him, Delaney “Red” his only friend and local genius, their quiet little Tennessee town, the river, and the moments sharing stories on their front porch.   When life doesn’t give you many opportunities you must take the ones that are offered to you. Even if you don’t think you deserve them.  So when Delaney discovers a rare form of penicillium that gets them both full rides at an elite boarding school, Cash will have to decide to leave his safe place in order to become the person he’s supposed to be.  This...