I Let You Go - Clare Mackintosh

                           New Author

I chose Clare Mackintosh as my new author because I had heard many good things about her,   not because of her last name.  Lol.  Besides, she spells it wrong,  just kidding!!!!

This was an easy read  with a twist that I did not see coming and what a twist it was!!

The story starts with a 5 year little boy being killed by a hit and run and Jenna Gray's life is forever changed.   The story is told by the police working the case and Jenna who ran away from the boy's death. 

The first part of the book is a little slow but the second half takes off.  I will definitely look for more books by this author.

                                 Cockroaches - Jo Nesbo

                                       Series


Second in the Harry Hole series,  on my way to reading the much acclaimed "The Snowman"!!

A Norwegian ambassador is found in a sleazy motel in Bangkok  with a knife in his back.  This murder needs to be solved quickly and quietly,  so Harry Hole is sent from Norway to Thailand .  Harry,  I am learning,  doesn't to  anything quietly. 

Harry uncovers many reasons and many suspects for this murder but also finds a lot of opposition from the higher ups.

A good crime mystery but too many foreign names and places for me.  I kept getting lost.   I am liking getting to know Harry Hole and look forward to our next adventure together in "The Redbreast".

                   Forgotten Garden  -  Kate Morton

                                  "M"  -  Author

Cassandra's grandmother,Nell,  passes away and leaves Cassandra the deed to  a cottage in England.   That starts Cassandra on a journey to learn more about this mysterious cottage that her grandmother never talked about and the discovery of many family secrets.

This is told in 3 voices,  Nell, Cassandra and Eliza, as it travels through many time periods.  Kate Morton does this seamlessly.

Many twist and turns and surprises will keep you turning the pages,  it did for me.

A quote I like from this book......"You make a life out of what you have,  not what your are missing"

The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

New Author

Once Upon a Book Club - June 2018

A little mystery, a little romance, a little statement on domestic violence and the foster system.  Little enough that the book really didn't grab me fully. English which is often a drier read with words and places unfamiliar to me.

I enjoyed meeting the characters; the endearing Archie and the troubled Loveday, but I didn't get attached to them.

Not a bad read, just not an overly remarkable one.

Quotes:  "Idiot that I was, I liked that he liked me.  I should have known better.  In retrospect, I think that maybe he didn't like me much beyond the fact that I was talking to him about him and what he was interested in."

                              The Retreat  -  Mark Edwards
                                    New Author

"You should be careful what you believe !"

There is a legend of the Red Widow that kids tell each other at bedtime, around campfires, or just to scare each other.  The Red Widow takes young children and eats their souls.  She needs a child every 35 years. That time is approaching and Lily goes missing.!!!!

Now, 2 years later,  Julia , Lily's mom,  has opened a writer's retreat. Max, Suzi, and Lucas are her first guests and Lucas becomes interested in the disappearance of Lily. Once he starts looking into what happened 2 years ago,  strange things start happening. 

Mark Edwards is a new author on my TBR and he really kept my interest in this page-turner thriller.  I will definitely look for more of his books.   Enjoy this read,  but don't read it at night !!!!! 

                                   The Glass Ocean

                     Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
                                     (Historical Fiction)

2 time periods,  3 women.
Sarah , in 2013, is researching her family history for a new novel she is trying to write.  Her great-great-grandfather was a steward on the Lusitania.  She finds a connection with a family named Langford and travels to England to meet John Langford , whose great-great-grandfather was also on the Lusitania.  They start digging in the family archives and discover some hidden family secrets.

In 1915, we meet Tess and Caroline, who are both on board the Lusitania.  Caroline is a first-class passenger who is questioning her marriage  and Tess is second-class passenger who is a thief trying to steal something from Caroline. 

There is intrigue, espionage, and romance in this novel.   However,  I find it difficult to classify it as a true historical fiction.  For me,  I need more historical facts than the time and place in which a novel takes place.  Also,   I do not enjoy romantic love stories, which this book had too much of. 
But still an enjoyable read. 

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

Debut Novel

Once Upon a Book Club
January 2018

Accolades to A.J. Finn for an astounding debut.  We become acquainted with alcoholic, agoraphobic, Anna, and from the onset we are absorbed with finding the answers to this alluring mystery.

You will become agoraphobic yourself, as you will not want to put this book down to leave the house.  Finn's past and present plot lines keep the reader riveted; often times holding your breath as the Hitchockian drama plays out. 

Now excuse me as I go refill my wineglass...

Quotes:  "...check the clock on the wall: 10:10, a waxed mustache on its face."

"Outside, a light snow began to shake down, frail little kamikaze flakes smiting themselves against the windows."

"I'd been prepared to share the whole story, to decant myself..." [pretty creative writing as she is an alcoholic, get it??]

Okay, so I may not have finished my A to Z Challenge....yet!  BUT, I (Couscous) did reach a milestone on our blog!  I've hit 100 books of my toppling book pile!!!!  Woot! Woot!

You Suck (A Love Story) by Christopher Moore

Guilty Pleasure

2018 A to Z Challenge - Y

I had limited "Y" books on my shelf, so was glad that I had this one to get back to quirky and fun, Christopher Moore!  This is the 2nd in his vampire love story trilogy.  A far cry from Twilight or Anne Rice novels!

It did have his offbeat wit but I didn't enjoy nearly as much as some of his other books (Fluke, Stupidest Angel) which truly do make me laugh out loud.  This one only garnered a few chuckles from me.

I will have to read the 3rd one though (Bite Me) to find out what happens to Tommy, Jody, Abby Normal and the Animals!

Quotes:  "Will my brain always be like this? I mean, will I get any smarter, or is that stuck in time, too?  Well, yeah, but that's because you're a man, not because you're a vampire."

"You're the one with almost an MBA,...You should know what to do.  They don't cover what to do with a dead hooker,...That's a whole different program.  Political science,  I think."

                              The Bat  -  Jo Nesbo

                                      Series

I chose this book because I heard a lot about the book "The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo and since it was part of a series,  I had to start with the first book of the series.   Unfortunately,  I was a little disappointed but I am intrigued with Harry Hole and will continue with the series.

Anyway,  we first meet Harry Hole, a detective from Norway, in Australia.  He was sent there to help solve the murders of several young blond girls.  It is a good mystery "who-done-it" with maybe too much Australian folk-lore used as fill-in.   And maybe because I don't know much about Australia, I was lost quite a few times.  There was also a lot of back information on Harry,  sort of like we needed to get to know Harry real quick.  But like I said,  I am intrigued by Harry and will read the next in this series called,  "The Cockroaches". 

                               

And......we have a DRAGON!!!

Bookworm successfully completed the 2018 A to Z Challenge!!  Reading all 26 books in 9 months!!!!

Way to go!!!!  Couscous is right behind her.

Stay tuned as we gear up to tackle next year's challenge!!!

UPDATE:  Couscous finished the Challenge!!  With a couple weeks to spare!!!

            The Virgin Blue - Tracy Chevalier
                      Historical Fiction

This was Tracy Chevalier's first novel.  It is considered historical fiction because it mentions the religious wars in France in the 1600's.

 The story is told in 2 voices,  one of Isabelle Tournier who is suspected of witchcraft because of her red hair and her belief in the Virgin Mary during those 1600's religious wars.

The second voice is Ella Turner, who goes to France with her husband and discovers her family ancestors and a connection to the Tourniers of the 1600's.

To me, this novel was more of  literary fiction than historical .  I enjoyed the first half to two-thirds of the book,  but was put off by the way the book wrapped up at the end.

This was also my last book to read in the "A to Z Reading Challenge by GingerMom..   This was a fun way to read book off of my bookshelves.   Thanks to GingerMom and the #2018atozchallenge

        Last Girl Seen  -  Nina Laurin
                            DEBUT

This was not the shocking, psychological thriller that I was hoping for.
It was a good book and kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next.

Lainey was kidnapped 13 years ago at the age of 10.   Now another girl has disappeared.  The girl's parents reach out to Lainey because they think it is the same man who took Lainey 13 years ago.

 Lainey is a broken soul and takes pills just to get thru the day and to help ease the nightmares. So is she helping or hurting the missing girl's case. 

I did figure out one part of the story but there were several twists and turns that I did not see coming.   All in all, it was a good read.
           

A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn

Series

Another Chet and Bernie; another tail of mystery told through Chet's eyes and nose.  Chet's not as funny the 5th time around with his surprising tail wagging and forgetfulness.

The redundancy of Chet often makes me zone out and actually miss some of the mystery plot line.  Basically I'll just be glad when I've finished this series (though #9 is being published next year (2019) after a 4 year hiatus - UGH!)

Red Sky in Morning by Paul Lynch

Debut Novel

2018 A to Z Challenge - R

This book took a little bit of getting used to at first.  Because of the prose, the lyrical writing style of Lynch, it is not a fast moving book and because I have lists and lists of books that I need to get to I probably jumped into this with an expectation of a quick read.  Once I settled down, Huppidy hah!, I found myself really enjoying Lynch's writing.

I found myself comparing it to what I remembered of On the Road by Jack Kerouac, but with the addition in Red Sky of a nasty villain that provides some suspense in the book.

It is worth reading the author's interview (found in the edition I read - 2013 ISBN9780316230261) as he explains the idea behind the book and some real life facts that I will not divulge as I do not want to give away the ending.

The book may not be for everyone, with the prose style it feels like the plot ambles along, there is some foul language and there are no quotation marks to set off speaking parts.  But for me, while it wasn't my favorite book, Lynch does have 2 other novels that I will considering reading in the future.

Quote:  "...he was auditioning ideas of talk man to man that would settle things."

"Evening loitered then draped itself upon the sky."