✔Okay, so the dirt on Tim “the tool man” Taylor…eww. Yeah just eww.
✔On Tommy Lee –the more I learn about Tommy Lee, the less I like him.
✔Also…she really loves her sons and animals.
✔Overall, it was entertaining…but nothing earth-shattering…but that‘s okay.
✔She had a tendency to sound like she was just reading the book to us, you would think since it‘s her story she would have put more feeling into it.

3½⭐
On the surface this is a trash story with even trashier characters, I mean seriously, are the rich really that bored…but something about its air of WTF-is-going-on-here drew me right in and kept me listening. In retrospect, it was all so surreal…I really don‘t quite know what I think about it.

The narration was fantastic...

Low Pick 3½⭐
This freaking amazing cover just kept drawing me in…until finally I caved and listened to it. While I didn‘t love it, I did like certain aspects of it quite a lot. All of them happen in the last quarter of the book and I can‘t give those away, so that‘s all I‘m going to say about that. The only reason this is labeled “ya” is because the MCs are in high school…that‘s it. Otherwise, it is decidedly adult because of the graphicness.

4¼⭐
I liked it quite a bit but I wasn‘t blown away by it. My favorite aspect was the setting. I‘m from Michigan and I‘ve been to the Upper Peninsula a few times, we have ridden (SxS riding) through a lot of the forests up there. All the places that she name-drops in this book are actual places that I‘ve, at the very least, driven through.

My FEBRUARY #bookspinbingo board is all set. I've already finished Good Rich People😲

I've got a couple of big books in there that I'm breaking up into 2 squares...hopefully, that will give me more incentive to tackle those big books on my TBR. Technically, ACOTAR is a re-listen but this time around I'm listening to the “Graphic Audio“ which is different than the original recording that I listened to before. 🤞 that I'll like it more this way!

JANUARY RECAP
17 Books Total | 152 hours listened | 5 DNFs

THE FIRST TIME I DIED - 3½⭐
NEVER COMING HOME - 3⭐
MAYBE SOMEDAY - 5⭐
BRIARDARK - 3½⭐
SHE'S GONE - 4⭐
STAY AWAKE - 4⭐
ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS - 5⭐
THE INFLUENCER - 2¼⭐
THE LOCKED DOOR - 2½⭐
YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME - 3½⭐
YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS - 3⭐
REGRETS ONLY - 4½⭐
THE FINAL HUNT - 3¾⭐
PLEASE JOIN US - 3½⭐
THE SNOW - 2¼⭐
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER - 4¼⭐
BENT HEAVENS - 3½⭐

Here is my list for #bookspin for February.

@theAromaofBooks

My final board for #bookspinbingo for January 2023.

#bookspin & #doublespin both completed.
4 Bingo's
5 DNF's (Thank you for Listening, Out of the Fire, Cul-de-sac, Home or Away, and Abandon) yes...I abandoned a book titled Abandon...lol 😆
14 Books finished from my board plus 2 that I couldn't fit on here since I used all my free spaces. I was being moody with my books the last few days.

Still a solid month!

@theAromaofBooks

3½⭐Almost a Pick...but not quite
You could call it a slow burn or you could call it boring and there were times when both of these were actually true. It reminded me too much of The Collective which I also had mediocre feelings for. Only the last 10% was exciting, especially since I didn‘t see that twist coming at all…it stepped up this 3-star story to a 3 and a half stars.

2¼⭐This has 5 books, each being novella length but they are all available on Hoopla on Audio. This was rather bleak…as if the constant blizzarding snow in July wasn‘t enough…there is also some kind of wraiths afoot. I wasn‘t a fan of the banter between the characters, it was seriously eye-roll-worthy. Plus his constant foreshadowing where he literally told you what was forthcoming was frustrating and because of this, I'm stopping at book #1.

3¾⭐
Okay, so this book didn‘t necessarily shine in the mystery department but it was a fairly intense ride, nonetheless. I was totally engaged throughout, which was something because I‘ve been dnfing books left and right so far this year. My only issue was the final reveal at the very end, it was a tad unbelievable with how everything played out…but it was easily overlooked in the name of entertainment.

4½⭐
This was chocked full of secrets, drama, and murder…seriously everyone has secrets in this. The author took all these elements and made them into a rather engaging story. Sometimes a whole lot of drama can feel eye-rollingly overdone, but not so in this. I highly recommend it for when you feel the need for some fun in your thrillers.

3⭐
I really enjoyed this author's debut book No One Will Miss Her, and I wish I could say the same for this…but I really can‘t. It felt like it was floundering to have an actual story until the last quarter of the book. It was supposed to be gothic but it was really just an old house with the wind howling through it. The story did pick up near the end and it was even kind of good…but the rest of it was boring.

3½⭐
This is one of those stories where while I was in it, I thought it was fairly good. But once I sat down to write something about it…I realized there were a lot of aspects that didn‘t quite work. That being said it did have a genuine portrayal of Postpartum anxiety, although it was rather repetitive with it all of its intricacies. Also, the secret, the one that the book blurb hints at on the cover, was really unnecessary to the story, overall.

2¾⭐I don‘t get how this has so many 5-star ratings. I don‘t know if it was the narrator or the mediocre writing…but I really wasn‘t into this. It wasn‘t so horrible that I couldn‘t finish…but it almost was. The ending was its only saving grace…I didn‘t see that coming at all. Despite my issues, I will give this author another try with her latest, The Housemaid, which everyone is raving about to see if she will work for me.⬇⬇⬇

5⭐
Another winner from Stacy Willingham. Her debut, A Flicker in the Dark, from last year is easily one of my top books for 2022. So I have no doubt that this one will probably be in my top books for this year. The pacing is on point with the way that she alternated the timelines to get all the reveals in at just the right moment. I found this to be basically unputdownable or unstoppable if you want to get technical.

4⭐
The constant tedious repetition of her waking up and not remembering what the heck is going on really got on my nerves. But then again, with that being said…it was a wholly original plot for a thriller. But by the end, when everything clicks into to place, I was left feeling rather satisfied with the story overall.

4⭐This was a super quick engaging listen that I finished in a day. My only qualm was how the author was always beating around the bush, so to speak, with most of the reveals, like I just wanted to tell them to spit it out, already. In real life, people don't dance around the truth like that, not if they are really wanting to tell you something. Eddie Lopez was killing it with his narration.

3½⭐/Soft Pick
I want to say that I loved this since the atmosphere, and the characters were both on point. Unfortunately, I was left confused most of the time. Basically, I think this is a story that‘s supposed to leave you feeling lost but I was a little too lost…since I couldn‘t keep my head in the story with the different POVs all being voiced by the same narrator. It would have been easier to keep straight if there had been a second narrator.

5⭐ | Reread on Audio.

I still love this book…and I know there are a lot of people who hate this book because they can‘t get past the cheating. This story is about so much more than cheating. Maybe those people haven‘t had the right…or in this case…wrong, life experiences to feel what Coho is trying to impart with Ridge & Sidney‘s story. Sometimes life is messy and sometimes love is even messier.

Okay…first off, the plot was sorta bonkers…like the whole premise seemed to be overly elaborate for what it was trying to accomplish. Second, the characters lacked depth, although…it is difficult to give your characters depth when you‘re killing them off left and right. Lastly, the ending was rather ambiguous…like WTF?. Overall, I just didn‘t connect with this…maybe it was a little too much Y for YA, since I tend to prefer the opposite of that.

3½⭐
There is something about this story that just missed the mark for me; it relies heavily on the supernatural elements for the mystery-solving to even work but then it keeps sweeping those same elements under the rug like they couldn‘t possibly be true🤷. That coupled with the blah characters left me feeling like this was just okay…but others have really enjoyed this, so I think I‘m in the minority here.

Between a Pick and a So-So
Chandler is my second favorite character from the show F●R●I●E●N●D●S (My fav is Monica), so I was really interested in his story. Did it live up to everything I wanted it to be…not exactly…but that‘s okay. Although, after listening to this, I have to say I like Chandler way more than Matthew Perry. He was a little too “woe is me” with his addiction, and then a little too full of himself with his fame.

Overall, this was good, despite the overabundance of sex scenes that felt out of place in a thriller. I liked the heroine even if she was a tad naive. I wholeheartedly hated the characters that deserved the hate, especially Taylor. But seriously, she went from “my Daddy‘s going to take my inheritance away” ⇦said in a whiney voice…straight to “I‘m going to kill him”, with almost no qualms once her friend suggested it.

My JANUARY #bookspinbingo list.

#bookspin = Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
#doublespin = The First Time I Died by Jo Macgregor (which I will finish tomorrow)

4½⭐
When it comes to ghost books you never know if they are going to work for you or not. This one may have worked better than any others that came before it. I‘ve never rooted for ghosts this much. If you‘ve ever liked a book with ghosts and would also possibly like them mixed up in a murder mystery…then I can‘t recommend this book enough.

I really liked this super engaging story…the air of mystery surrounding whether these characters are actually vampires or something else had me glued to my phone, listening. At first, I thought this was YA…since the girl on the cover looks so young, but I can safely say that this isn‘t YA. All in all this book really surprised me with how much I liked it.

NARRATION
🎙️ Jeanette Illidge 📣 She was really quite good!

Here is my final board for #bookspinbingo for 2022. (Faded covers are the ones I didn't get too)

I did pretty well. 4 Bingo's and I finished both of my spin books.

#bookspin = Beneath Cruel Waters (DNF)
#doublespin = Five Survive (3 stars)

I'm still trying to post reviews...if you can call them that.

New Year...New Bookspin Bingo List.

Here it is...my first #bookspinbingo list of the new year.

@theAromaofBooks

3¼⭐
I didn‘t realize this was by another (having listened to the Butcher and the Wren recently) True-Crime Podcaster until I was about halfway through. I might‘ve passed on this book altogether if I had. Although this one was marginally better…instead of a total cliffhanger ending, it had an ending that just needed more closure. While I found the story overall to be kinda meh, I still feel she has potential as a writer.

3¾⭐
➨The epic finale with the Swimmers (Aliens)
➨We‘re getting the band back together and we're going to kick some alien ass…
This was the perfect ending for the Breakers Series. It was rather fulfilling, giving the reader just what was needed. It was a little longish…but I thought that was true for all the books. They do tend to go on and on sometimes. I also wasn‘t a fan of the alien‘s POVs in this book…too difficult to decipher.

Slammin‘ good book! I actually liked this even more than I did Amen Maxine. Faith Gardner…you can keep the Jolvix Episodes coming because I love these books.

NARRATION
🎙️ Millie Anne Shipe & Ryan H. Reid 📣 At first I wasn‘t sure how I felt about Shipe but she eventually grew on me. Reid was super good…his voice was chef's kiss.

I was so into this book…it was just what I needed…right when I needed it.

Narration by🎙️ Maria Liatis, Max Meyers, Chelsea Kwoka, Angel Pean 📣 The narration was really quite excellent.

4½⭐
This book was really quite good. The middle was a tad slow-ish but other than that it held my attention and stirred my emotions, plus that ending…didn‘t feel like it came out of nowhere with a bunch of crazy twists. The author kept things real and captured the tumultuous times with candor and heart.

Did you know there's this cool app that you can make these calendar pics of what you read for the month. It's called bookmory and it's available on Android...so I assume it's also on Apple. This is what I've read so far this month.

3¾⭐This felt more like a history lesson wrapped in a story…when it should have been more of a story wrapped in a history lesson. Despite that…I did enjoy it because the history lesson was a much-needed one. I really didn‘t know the depth that these women went through to get us the right to vote. It was enlightening and made me feel a little humbled for any time I skipped exercising my right to vote…which I did often in the past.

3¾⭐
Towards the end, the reveals were coming fast and furious…and I had a hard time keeping up and keeping it all straight. And while they eventually got to be a bit over-the-top…they were nonetheless entertaining. There‘s also a lesson or two on the dangers of putting yourself out there for the world to see.

3⭐Ugh…first off, I don‘t like Emma Galvin as a narrator. When she talks it sounds like she is super congested. I was so disappointed when I noticed that she would be narrating…cause I know how I feel about her. Add to that the imaginative yet wildly implausible plot…and I wasn‘t really into this. Basically, it had a good set-up with an intense atmosphere, a middle that struggled, and an ending that really makes you have to suspend your disbelief.

4⭐As someone who is only an occasional reader/listener of Star Wars Books, I found this to be quite good. It did get bogged down in the middle but overall I can‘t help but ship the romance between Han & Leia...I think I love their banter most of all. Although it was hardly all romance, there was some action, too. It also had some possible foreshadowing as to the reason that Han & Leia aren‘t together in subsequent movies.

2¾⭐
This did not work for me. When it wasn‘t feeling bogged down by melancholy it was either painfully dull or overly dramatic. But…the biggest disappointment was the ending. It was super frustrating not getting an answer to the most important question; the one driving the whole story. Or...I totally missed what was driving the whole story.

This is how my #bookspinbingo board is shaping up for December.

#doublespin = Five Survive (which I'm currently listening, too) by Holly Jackson
#bookspin = Beneath Cruel Waters by Jon Bassoff

I loved the little circles on CloakNQuill's board so much that I'm putting them on my board now, too.

@CloakNQuill

🦃NOVEMBER RECAP🦃

My DNFs were Dark Circles & The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (fantasy just isn't working for me, anymore)

My favs for the month were He‘ll Be Waiting by Liz Alterman, The Favor by Nora Murphy, and It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover.

My Favorite Cover goes to After We Were Stolen and The Favor.

Here is my board for November for #bookspinbingo.

Not bad 4 Bingos. Row 1, Row 3, Column 2, and Diagonal (top left to bottom right).

Finished my #bookspin - Metropolis by B.A. Shapiro.
Finished my #doublespin - Relapse by Edward W. Robertson

One DNF...Dark Circles by Caite Dolan-Leach which I didn't DNF until halfway through.

Not a bad month at all.

@theAromaofBooks

Whoop, whoop...This is my December Bookspin List!!!

@theAromaofBooks

4⭐
This is my favorite of the books that have come after the original 3 breakers books. I‘m pretty sure I liked it as much as I did because Raina is the focus. Raina is such a badass, and I‘ve missed being in her headspace. Things are definitely gearing up for a big finale showdown. I‘ll have to listen to the final book (Blackout) sooner rather than later.

4½⭐
What a stunning debut this turned out to be. At first, in the beginning, I was thinking…where could this be going; then something happened that I was totally not expecting. From that point on I was hooked. This one is best to go into blind…although the synopsis doesn‘t give too much away…so you might be good if you‘ve already read it. It also has a main character whose name is Leah…I‘m a sucker for a character with my name.

2¼⭐
Mostly a Pan but I went with the So-So because at least we got closure. I think I had a clear idea about where I wanted the ending to go. But, that's not the way it went. Also, something happened near the end, involving one of the kids that I couldn‘t see happening. Overall, an entertaining series of books...as long as you can suspend your disbelief...especially on this last one.

5⭐If you‘re thinking that this is YA…so it can‘t be any good or you don‘t like the memory loss trope, so you‘d rather skip it…I can honestly say that you‘d be missing out. Because…it was actually quite good. I found this title after listening to this author‘s latest release, The Perfect Neighborhood. I requested it & a few days later my library bought it...so I dropped my planned book and listened to this instead & I‘m not disappointed that I did.

4¼⭐This deals with both life in a cult & life after escaping it. There‘s also a mystery involved with a fire that happened at the compound and was the catalyst that enabled the 2 characters we follow, Avery & Cole to escape the cult. Once rescued, Cole returns to his birth family, & Avery is left feeling scared, alone, & confused. ⬇⬇⬇

3¾⭐
You are dropped right in and the story hits the ground running and I was left floundering to keep up with it. Don‘t get me wrong, the premise is super good but I wanted more. The ending came way too quickly and I was like…wait, what…is that the end? But...if you like a short story format that has disturbingly clever new tech involved then this should totally work for you.