Welcome to Litsy!

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookADay2023

My December #Roll100 is Black Eyed Susans (number 9)

It will be interesting to mix in with my Christmas fluff 😂

Hurray for final girl books! Compelling, perfectly paced, delving just enough into the legal and forensic details to fascinate; NOT focused on the monster, 'final girl' gets a life; a number of truly decent characters, with a sprinkle of decidedly villainous ones. I appreciate that the whole book can be read as an argument against capital punishment. Quality red herring. Just enough twistiness for gullible ol' me.

Current favourite description of 'creative mess':

"The kind of desktop where passion is screwing organization and nobody's making the bed."

When the imagery makes you giggle:
"She revels in dragging Charlie ONE EYEBALL AT A TIME, away from her iPhone..."

Another great listen from Julia Heaberlin!

While I correctly guessed the killer‘s identity early on, I gave a tiny ratings boost for a surprise twist at the end. Overall, this mystery was lackluster. Read my full review here https://debbybrauer.org/#blackeyed-susans

This is from my December TBR list for #WinterGames2021 #TeamGameSleighers @StayCurious

#WrapItUpReadathon @keys_on_fire

I have wanted to read this forever and I enjoyed it. It was a really fast read, which is what I kind of needed. You definitely didn‘t have to think too hard.

Only two more squares checked for #Jennyis30 - highlighted in green!!

@jenniferw88

Any thoughts on these books?? #LMPBC #GroupD

@babyruth2510 @bookwormjillk @Professional_Book_Dragon

So here are six options for #GroupL - kind of a random batch!! Will say The Poppy Wife is listed at just over 400 pages, so I understand if that one needs to be off the table. I also have about 300 more choices if these all look terrible 😆
@hes7 @Jerdencon @Chili

⭐️⭐️⭐️

US state challenge: Texas (6)

Well, this story was okay.

It moved very slowly and lacked the suspense I enjoy and hope for in a psychological thriller. But most of the book wasn‘t terrible. It just felt more like I was reading a drama. It certainly had interesting aspects and I was especially fascinated by all of the forensic science details.

I didn‘t really love the flow of the book and I thought the ending was a bit cheesy.

Starting this one while traveling home from our vacation/road Trip!

This is a fast-paced listen that I really enjoyed! It falls apart a bit at the end, but for the most part is a solid story with a polished audio performance! Great for getting in some #AudioColoring! And a good listen as I start getting ready to compile all my spooky reads (and listens!) for next month!

A visit to the #dollartree resulted in this #bookhaul .

A powerful plot with interesting characters and themes but sadly with a disappointing ending. I also felt it was slightly too long which means I'm scoring the crime story “Black Eyed Susans” 3 stars.

As usual there's a full review of this book up on my blog 📚

As a 16-year-old, Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive amid a scattering of bones, with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan,” the nickname given to the murder victims because of the yellow carpet of wildflowers that flourished above their graves.
I read this one about a year ago. #memory #readingresolutions

#Flowers
#HopIntoSpring

I‘ve got to get to these books!! 🌹🌼🌻🥀🌷

I‘m so ready to plant my zinnias!!!! These are my first roses this season 🌹

I got off work early yesterday so I stopped by the Goodwill... I only $10! I planted some Black-eyed Susans last year and they were beautiful!!! The book on the right is for a sweet litten friend 😘 Goodnight friends!! 😴🌙🌝

#flowercover #marchinbooks
Before reading this I had no idea these were actual flowers!

Sadly a DNF for me. I got about 100 pages in over a week or so (slow for me) and then the next 50 pages were like wading through thick sludge. I think the construct of the novel is what got me. As our protagonist Tessa looks back on her childhood she‘s blocking events out, as you might if you were left for dead by a murderer, but sadly Heaberlin keeps us at such a distance we don‘t connect and I sadly stopped caring and just got a bit bored. Oops.

A little Sunday morning suspense reading #Sundayreading

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌻🌻🌻🌻 I am usually disappointed when I pick up thrillers because I either figure out who did it too early or it's a complete gore fest for no discernable reason other than shock value. This, however, was a pretty solid story with an interesting ending. Overall, it was a good use of my time.

Just a couple of days ago this was my five star predicition. Well my predicition was good.I missed the days when I would devour a book in one day, and I'm so glad this was the one of those. Full of despicable characters, suspense through the entire book, twists, narration, everything was put masterfully. And the ending smacked me right in my face! Pick, pick, pick!!! 4.5/5 ⭐
#fallintobooks

This book is perfect for the #livetotell! I loved how the book focus on how she copes with her trauma instead of focusing on what happend to her. #augustgrrrl.

Finished this one this AM. Pretty engaging and I liked the twist at the end. It dragged in places and also I didn't love the wimpy main character. But overall entertaining and good for audio.

#BookNBrunch! Fried egg sandwich with melted cheddar & mozzarella cheese, with extra-crispy sausage hash & tots, and lemon seltzer. Yum! 😋 This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats 🍳

My kindle has given up the ghost and since I can't take one on the plane anyway I have decided to go old school for my holiday reading - I raided the charity shop for this lot and have realised that they don't look particularly holidayesque, might need to find something more cheery to take along. Any suggestions more than welcome. I will be sitting by a pool for a week trying not to let my Scottish skin burn 😳

Returning these to the library... unread. Why do I always, always borrow more than I could possibly get through?

Happy Mother's Day! Bad moms often make good fiction, especially in the suspense & mystery books that I that I enjoy, but the single mom & crime survivor in this book is an exception. The original crime is brutal, but it's also a story of mistrust & teenage judgement set against pitch-perfect descriptions of Texas. #strongsinglemom #survivor #pageturner #Texan

So somystery

This one is screaming from my bookshelf "READ ME!!" Hush hush baby, soon you'll have my full attention ? #TBR

Great book! I really like that i was not about the crime bit about the psychological consequences. And i really did not see that ending coming!

I am so extremly busy that it is taking me ages to go through this book. I am half way and so far i like it. Even though they don't discuss much about what happened to tessie it is still a very heavy book. Not something you want to read if you want an easy, quick to read book.

Thus actually surprised me. I ended up really loving this mystery novel, even though I read it while I was in a massive reading slump. 🙈

When you really need to study but all you want to do is read another chapter

I'm currently in a reading slump I think, but I am hoping this one will get me out of it! 😁

My february TBR pile

Oh, this was a good one! This book kept me wondering until the last page. Tessa went through the most horrible nightmare, but by the end I was wondering if it had really happened, if she was crazy, or if somebody she knew or loved could have done this to her. I'll be looking for more from Julia Heaberlin!

Some good deals on Book Outlet right now! This was one of my favourite thrillers last year.

Today Croatia,my country, became the first ever Free reading zone country in the world. During the whole month of December, we can read for free anytime and anywhere. Good for us!😄👏 #freereadingzone #croatia 😄

Some 'light' reading!😄

I read this for book club and thought it might be too scary, but it was #betterthanexpected and now I'm reading more thrillers. #novemberland

This was just okay. A little slow and the ending wasn't really satisfying. Another one that compares itself to Gone Girl.

This is somewhere between so-so and a pick for me. I found it super creepy (sometimes in a fun way, other times not so much), and the writing is engaging. But the ending was fairly predictable—this isn't always a deal-breaker for me, but since it wrapped up so swiftly I didn't feel like it really paid off, and there were no secondary twists that made things more interesting. Great characters, though!

Next up in my audio queue!

Read my review of Black-Eyed Susans on my blog: https://novelsandnonfiction.com/2016/11/07/just-read-black-eyed-susans-by-julia-...

I waited about 250 pages for something, anything, to happen in this book. For a novel that calls itself a "novel of suspense," It never caused me to grip it's pages in anticipation. The mystery itself isn't tied up well in the end (nor introduced well in the beginning). The conclusion felt expected and cliche. I appreciate the author's attempts at graceful language and characterization, but, ultimately, this fell short for me.