Welcome to Litsy!

I picked this up because I love Singh‘s romances, but I was a bit disappointed. The characters weren‘t as rich and deep as I‘m used to from her, and I couldn‘t connect with them in a way that engaged me with the story. The plot was okay, for a mystery thriller, but no real surprises in it, either. The romance element felt forced and ultimately unnecessary. I guess, you could tell it was a first foray into this genre, and I just wasn‘t sold on it.

Another soft pick for me:
The main character goes back to her hometown in New Zealand after her husband's death only to get involved in a missing person's case. I highly enjoyed the setting but I do admit that some parts were a little slow for me. However, trying to figure out who the bad guy was kept me hooked.

#BookspinBingo #2 #doublespin
@TheAromaofBooks
#foodandlit2024 #NewZealand @Catsandbooks

New Zealand night:
Made a New Zealand inspired lamb dish with various potatoes along with white wine.

https://www.spoonforkbacon.com/herb-crusted-leg-of-new-zealand-grass-fed-lamb/

#foodandlit2024 #NewZealand
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

My first book of 2024 (finished earlier this week) which has been on my bookshelf for years!

I enjoyed it overall. I felt a little disappointed that the “secrets” from 14 years ago weren‘t really anything that secret at all, or that linked to the missing person. But I liked the pacing and the mystery, despite what felt like a rushed ending!

#Roll100

Nope. Predictable. And when it‘s not predictable it‘s trying way too hard to throw you off. No subtlety.

Next read.

Set in New Zealand, this should have been atmospheric. So much death in such a vibrantly lush place, but no. The pacing was off and the villains were sign posted. It was ok but not great.

I chose this book from a list of #sunshinenoir titles because I needed something for #booked2023 and had a long flight coming up. Not something I would have read otherwise, it was a good choice for a plane read. It kept my attention and didn‘t require much of me. I do also love a New Zealand setting. Otherwise I found it difficult to care much about either the characters or the mystery.

This mystery is set in a remote village on the New Zealand coast. The author did a great job of weaving the landscape and weather into the story and making almost every character seems like a plausible suspect. It kept me guessing!

These townies drink a lot of coffee.Like a LOT of coffee.☕️🤪

@julesG @Leniverse @CGainor3 @TrishB @squirrelbrain @Oryx @RaeLovesToRead @scripturient @Cathythoughts @Susanita @rockpools @Caroline2

This was a competent thriller set in an atmospheric cove. I was in the mood for a thriller and it was good to get back into the genre.

I did find that there were fair chunks where very little happened and that the characterisation was a bit 2-D.

I was wavering between 3 and 4 stars, and what swung it was that the ending I had come up with in my head was more twisty and exciting than the actual ending! 😅

⭐⭐⭐ 3 stars, not bad

A real page turner, and very visual. I can definitely picture it as a mini-series. The prose is a bit clumsy at times and it's a bit bleak in an "(almost) all men are bastards" kind of way, but I greatly enjoyed joining the MCs in suspecting everyone and squinting suspiciously at red herrings. Often I feel annoyed by crime books because I either solve it too quickly or it's written to be impossible to solve. But this was done just right.

Not only did I start the book club book in time, I also finished it. I enjoyed this - I don't read masses of crime books, I'm just a dabbler, and will bail if I'm not into it, but I liked this one. It did remind me of Jane Harper - the antipodean setting, small towns, and home comings. I've recommended it to my mum, crime book devourer.

I enjoyed this. A thriller set in a remote New Zealand community. A missing young woman. A returning local. And a damaged cop. Plus a LOT of secrets.

Look forward to (not) talking about this with #gladstonerds in a couple of weeks!

Look at me, starting a book club book in good time

@julesg @susanita @RaeLovesToRead @squirrelbrain @trishb @jenniferw88 @rockpools @scripturient @Leniverse @Cathythoughts @Caroline2

Quick review: I liked this. It was hard to put down. I wasn't surprised by who did it, because I had figured it out beforehand (but I was only marginally quicker than the MCs).

Really liked the setting.

@rockpools - the audiobook has all the accents and the nicer cover

#Gladstonerds @squirrelbrain @TrishB @Oryx @Caroline2 @scripturient @Leniverse @jhod @jenniferw88 @Susanita @CGainor3 @RaeLovesToRead @Cathythoughts

I‘m really enjoying this crime novel set in New Zealand. I like your cover better though @julesG

And I‘d be enjoying it even more if it was printed in a nice sensible point 12 font that I could actually read.

#ᵀᴵᴺᵞᵀᴱˣᵀᴵˢᵛᴱᴿᵞᴬᴺᴺᴼᵞᴵᴺᴳ!

#GrumpGrumpGrump!

About 40% in.

I'm reading the #Gladstonerds #BookClub book long before our next meeting. Must be the summer heat. 😁

@Susanita @squirrelbrain @Oryx @rockpools @jenniferw88 @Caroline2 @Cathythoughts @TrishB @scripturient @Leniverse @jhod @CGainor3 @RaeLovesToRead (whom did I miss?)

Tonight is the library‘s summer reading showcase, so I‘m trimming the deadwood from my TBR list to make room for new treasures. This book is not one that I‘m moving; in fact I hope to read it soon. Ish.

Another #sunshine book 😎
#bigjunereadathon

A good read, not suspenseful but quietly interesting. The back stories added another depth to the characters and although there were no great shocks or surprises it kept me turning the pages - figuratively, I listened to the audiobook.

I have read some of Nalini's paranormal romances which are great fun. This is her first foray into crime writing. Very enjoyable and captures life in a remote community well. Golden Cove is awash with old rivalries, people with troubled histories and a sociopath or two!

Saturday morning reading

I really liked this mystery. I‘ve only ever read Singh‘s romance books. This was set in New Zealand and very atmospheric. The descriptions of the landscape was really great. Anahera comes home after 9 years away and a young girl goes missing. I couldn‘t stop listening to this book.

Such a good mystery! I‘d recommend it.

My plans got cancelled. 😔 At least now I‘ve got time to finish A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE tonight! 70 pages to go.

I‘m over a hundred pages in and I haven‘t even considered bailing! Fingers crossed I‘ve broken this troublesome I-don‘t-like-anything streak.

Please note, also, my frozen lemon sour cream pie in a golden Oreo crust. It‘s one of my better ideas.

I started A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE over breakfast. I‘ve heard the crime is way too predictable, and I can see that shape coming into focus, but so far I like it more than any other non-audiobook I‘ve started in August. That‘s something.

I abandoned three books last week, all after I‘d read a substantial chunk, so I dunno how I‘ll fare with the stuff on my #weeklyforecast. I do know I‘d like to try:

• an early Kit Rocha dystopian
• Nalini Singh‘s first thriller
• an historical romance set in medieval Wales

We‘ll see if any of them sticks.

On audio, I‘ll reread THE KINGDOM OF GODS by N.K. Jemisin. At least I‘ll enjoy THAT, if nothing else.

I wanted to love this. The setting was fabulously atmospheric, but the story itself dragged and there were elements that were annoyingly repetitive. You can feel Singh‘s roots as a romance writer in the broken people attracted to each other angst, which would be fine if the chemistry felt believable. So much of this felt wooden and forced. I was also troubled by all of the older men salivating over a 19 year old girl.

“Regret, Will realized, had a taste. Poignant and acrid.”

Part 2 of my birthday haul are these books, that have been on my wish list for a while!

Nalini is one of my favourite authors, I love any science-y book about monsters or non-fiction about folklore, and since the series came out I have been hearing a lot about A discovery of witches :)

#GiftBooks #Monsters

I really want to read Dune, but I have a feeling, based on its enormous size, that it‘s going to require a level of concentration I just don‘t have right now, so I‘m heading into this one instead. Hoping to get in a couple of chapters before sleep claims me. #AprilofAusma #AZKrecommends

I‘m not mad about the sunshine for today‘s walk.

It was okay. It's not my genre, but it's by one of my favorite authors. The writing was great, as usual, but this one wasn't for me.

#BookishBingo: Borrowed from a digital library
#Pop20: By a WOC

Some of my #AprilTBR (ebooks not shown)

#sunshine
#bookspin
#authoramonth
#bookclub
#MMDchallenge

#BloomingBibliophiles

Miriama, beautiful and brimming with life, has disappeared while off on a run. Will, a talented cop exiled to a small town he has grown to love, fears the worst. Anhera has returned to her home town, pursued by tragedy. These two interesting characters find each other while trying to stop a killer.

Set in New Zealand, the author‘s home which is, she says, “lovely and dangerous and beautiful.” (p. 344).

Highly recommended mystery.

12 Books total this month
🎧 7 audiobooks
📚 5 books
🏛 9 library books
#bestofFebruary #Feb2020

So I was a bit nervous going into this because I love Nalini Singh romances and this is a mystery, but why didn‘t I just have faith in her amazing writing and storytelling? It was a good book, mainly because the cultural and setting references were interesting, new to me and interwoven into the story. I thought I knew who “done it” but I was wrong.

4 books read this week
2 🎧 & 2 📕
2 library & 2 owner
1 from #mtTBR
#bookreport

I‘ve always loved Singh‘s writing but couldn‘t really get into her Psy/Changeling series so I was really excited for this book! It did not disappoint! A wonderful suspenseful novel with a hint of romance set in the bush of New Zealand.

I just love the writing in this book.

This cover 😍

I thought this was awful, it reminded me why I stopped reading Singh‘s other series, I don‘t think she‘s a very good writer. I wanted to see if a different genre made her better but, shocker, it didn‘t. 👍🏼👍🏼

A new genre for this author, and very enjoyable. Though I guessed The Who-done-it fairly early the journey was very entertaining. I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator was excellent, great accent work as this takes place in New Zealand. I definitely recommend! #mystery #suspense

Compulsively readable, this mystery is set in a tiny town on the west coast of New Zealand. I couldn‘t help but remember my own trip there while reading the beautiful descriptions of the wilderness and culture. Points of the plot were a bit unbelievable in the end, but I still loved the well-drawn characters and fast pace of the action. It reminded me a bit of The Dry and also The Great Alone. (Pic from 2014. 💙)

Small-town suspense set along the wild, western coast of New Zealand. A demoted cop with anger management issues and a widow returning home after discovering her husband had cheated team up to solve the murder of a local young woman. Is her death linked to the disappearance of three female hikers 15 years before? Is there a serial killer living among them? A gripping, atmospheric read.

Stellar library #bookhaul again today :)

If the story is a bit formulaic—woman who escaped her small town for bigger & better things returns, there‘s a disappearance & suddenly secrets old & new unravel + a mysterious, brooding new policeman—that‘s ok, the formula is well executed (ha). While the pacing is slow to start, only really kicking into gear about halfway in, the sense of place will leave you wanting to visit New Zealand. This is a good beach/trip/weekend mystery read.

I have a few minutes before our first class so I‘m going to start this one and spend a few minutes on the West Coast of New Zealand before the day gets going.

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway so I‘ve got a book to read and review this weekend. Yay! A big thank you to Berkley and Penguin Random House for the book. I‘m looking forward to reading it!

I‘m just twenty five pages in and already hooked.