This was…wild. I was in the middle of this when I started watching the 1st episode of the new season of American Horror Story and thought “wow, this sounds familiar” 🤣. Lo and behold the season is based on this book, and I can see why they would do that because this has that horrific, off the wall feel of the show. It wasn‘t groundbreaking but was twisty and odd and I really enjoyed the ending! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Another great readathon for #scarathlon ! Thanks @Read4life ! From Read4life:

Link to the StoryGraph reading challenge:
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/
1a6c6849-6a7b-4e5a-82ba-22ad90ad8a7e

Regular #Scarathlon points apply. Please use the #Falling4Books hashtag & tag @Read4life

Here‘s my #bookspinbingo / #scarathlon October TBR list ready to go!! So excited for the month to start! I had to cross some stuff out to update the list for newer finds (I got a little excited and started making the list weeks ago 😆) but hopefully it‘s readable.

Heads up #scarathlon participants! This collection of Amazon Original short stories released today and not only sound amazingly creepy but look to be a great way to add lots of points! Some great names in here and both the ebook and audiobook are free to prime members. #skeletoncrew

Here‘s my #scarathlon watch list! These 10 are just the start of what I plan to watch but I thought they were a good representation of the truly scary and scary adjacent mix I‘m planning. I truly like it all! #skeletoncrew I‘ll share my spooky book TBR tomorrow!

I‘m going to try to participate in as many readathons as I can next month and this one sounds like a perfect one for me! I think I‘m going to try to read 31 pages every day (I don‘t think I can read 32 books in a month but pages seems doable 🤣). Thanks for having the readathon @Catsandbooks

Here‘s my #scarathlon bucket list! I can‘t wait for October to begin so I can start making points for team #skeletoncrew !

I finally got a bingo on my September #bookspinbingo board 🥳👏🎉🙌🏻!!!

This was a soft pick for me. I love a juicy neighborhood drama but it didn‘t really stand out from other similar books. It was hard to keep the various characters in order (there were quite a few) and they were all kind of unlikeable but to be honest I never really need to like all the characters to enjoy the book. It did keep me entertained on my long drive out of town this last week so I give it that. 🌟🌟🌟

Hello #skeletoncrew !

1. My perfect Halloween would be cool, windy weather with the windows open so I can hear all the kids running around trick-or-treating outside and see the leaves falling all around them (which never happens because I live in the land of no seasons - Central Florida 😜).
2. Why Halloween of course!
3. Definitely horror - something to really get under my skin and scare me.
4. I‘m really looking forward to watching lots of ⬇️

I feel like I might have outgrown Jennifer Weiner‘s stories. When her first book came out I was in my 20s and really related to the story. As she expanded her character range out to mothers with young children and on I grew at a similar speed. I haven‘t read anything from her in a few years and I have to say I found the characters in this kind of annoying and immature. And the secondary plot involving a girl on the bike trip felt like it ⬇️

I LOOOVVVVEEEE Alice Feeney‘s novels! They are always so twisty and twisted and just an interesting and often disturbing look at the human experience. What makes a good person vs. a bad person? Does doing something bad make you a bad person, and vice versa? While I can‘t say this was my favorite of her books, and while it wasn‘t hard to figure out most of the twists, it was still a truly wild ride and I enjoyed every minute! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Mary Pat Fennessy is…a…BADASS! A twisted up, angry, and violent woman living in the twisted up, angry, and violent world of South Boston in the 70‘s, she decides to take matters into her own hands when her daughter goes missing on the same night a young, black man is killed nearby. She refuses to backdown even when she‘s told in no uncertain terms to let it go and chaos ensues. Set against the desegregation of Boston schools the story ⬇️

This was bonkers! A short story sequel to The Perfect Child, which was also 🤯, we see what the psycho little girl from the first book turned into as a young adult. Truly chilling even though I would have been happy with a more fleshed out, full novel. Quick, disturbing listen! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I love historical fiction, especially stories that are unlike the typical standard form, and this was definitely that (at least for me). The way these doctors treated “hysterical” women was just plan gross…using them for their own research, wants, and whims. I really enjoyed the ending, though, and thought it was an interesting look at women taking life into their own hands in a time where it was hard to do so. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

After reading and really enjoying the author‘s debut adult horror novel, Hide, I was really excited for Mister Magic! It wasn‘t really what I was expecting - I was assuming there‘d be more horror and less cult - but I ended up liking it even better for it. That isn‘t to say this wasn‘t creepy…there were quite a few points that were downright terrifying…but it was also touching and I loved the poignant ending. Just a really good story! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I completed my Goodreads reading challenge and didn‘t even realize it until today 🤣! I love seeing that little “Completed” ribbon each year 🤗!!

My September #bookspinbingo board!! I feel really good about getting at least one bingo this month 🤞

This was….deliciously twisted! My Goodreads account says I read this a few years ago but I have no memory of it. And how would I forget something so unsettling and depraved? There is some serious trauma and mental illness going on here (trigger warnings galore) and I really enjoyed (enjoyed? Not really sure that‘s the right word) watching all the pieces fall into place. I really wish Gillian Flynn would write more books! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

My finished #bookspinbingo board for August! Soooo close to a few bingos 😫!!!

I actually finished this a few days ago (so goes on my August #bookspinbingo board 🫣) and really liked it! Was it terrifying? No. But it was unsettling and would have definitely terrified me if I was a kid….I mean who wouldn‘t be scared by their worst nightmares appearing? I really liked how the author combined this with the very real terrors (racism, mental health issues, death and grief, etc) these young characters were going through. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

My #botm pick for September!!

I have always been a huge fan of Sarah Pekkanen‘s writing. Her earlier women‘s fiction books are some of my favorites. However, I‘m starting to think I might just not be a fan of her thrillers. To be honest I don‘t find them that “thrilling”. In Gone Tonight we find out pretty early on why the mother has been lying and keeping things from her daughter and after that it dragged on too long for me. I found myself skipping a good amount of it ⬇️

In Camp Zero we get to see a near future almost destroyed by climate change from the perspective of three people (well, two people and a third group). It was a little slow for me at first but it definitely picked up and I loved seeing how each of these perspectives came together and the intrigue and survival brutality that I wasn‘t expecting. There‘s a feminist spin to it I also enjoyed. Interesting and unique for sure! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

So excited for all of these reads for September‘s #bookspinbingo !! Hopefully I get to a bunch of them!

Oh how I wanted to like this book! The cover and premise just made me pick it up at the library. Then I started reading 😳. Now, I know this is YA and therefore it‘s going to be written for a possibly younger audience, but I‘ve actually come to really enjoy YA horror/thrillers and this just doesn‘t stack up to others I‘ve read. The dialogue was cringy and the writing just felt needlessly juvenile. And the ending 🤬🤷🏼‍♀️. Just not for me. 🌟🌟

While I didn‘t enjoy this quite as much as The Guncle (which I LOVED) I still really liked it. The characters are somewhat unlikeable individually but work well together as a whole, and the narrator (the author himself) is amazing….I would listen to him read anything! The ending had me misting up, just like in The Guncle, and I love the way the author combines comedy with touching sadness. I‘m excited for what the author writes next! 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

This is the 1st book by this author I‘ve read/listened to and it definitely won‘t be the last! It presents a part of history I didn‘t know anything about and it was both fascinating and unbelievable to think what these women had to put up with/go through. I will say I think my interest might have floundered some if I was reading the print version of this, but the audiobook was wonderful! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This started out so good….90s horror nostalgia, possible haunted movie set/house, a monster with needles for fingernails….☑️➕! Each chapter was relatively short and ended with some form of mixed media related to the filming at the heart of the story, whether that was part of an article, screenplay pages, or something similar. It did start feeling a little long and I wanted it to just move along to the conclusion, but to be honest the ending ⬇️

I‘m not a big romance reader but this was really good and not at all what I was expecting. It‘s really, really funny and gives a behind the scenes sort of view of a particular late night sketch comedy show and what it might really look like to date a super famous celebrity. That being said it also dealt with more serious topics, like Covid sickness and insecurities, and I liked this more well rounded, imperfect approach to relationships. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book hit me in all the right places! The attention given to that spectacular magic we can only get from reading books as children, mixed with the very realistic and often terrifying world so many live in, was so touching. And while there‘s a romantic element of sorts it isn‘t over done or too sappy. This is a bittersweet/sweet and somewhat sappy story and it was exactly what I needed even though I didn‘t know it. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Well I started this audiobook thinking I was going to love it! Strong female lead, depraved and terrifying killer, what isn‘t there to love? Then the main character moved back home and it all fell apart for me. In comes the romance with a truly misogynistic love interest (he literally starts making decisions for her when they are barely dating, and when she complains he tells her to deal with it 🤬🤯) and a town where the police chief is best ⬇️

Another great premise for a book, with the added deliciousness of a horror element! What would you do if your child and/or the other children in their preschool class developed a taste for blood? Well, if you‘re anything like the mothers in this book you‘ll protect them, lie for them, and even indulge them with the hope that this too shall pass. I loved how the author also introduced the very relatable themes of possibly losing one‘s identity ⬇️

The title of this book is perfect because literally EVERYONE is lying! I mean things get MESSY…in the best possible way 😆. I can‘t think of one character, save the brother of the girl that goes missing, who isn‘t the worst possible version of themselves. Regardless I enjoyed the drama and the journey and really enjoyed the twist to the last few sentences. 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

My #bookspinbingo board for August!! Soooo excited!

The Villa was my favorite of this author‘s books so far! A story within a story within a story with lots of twists and misdirections I just couldn‘t get enough. My only “complaint” was the tendency for betrayed characters to place the blame fully on one person while wholly forgiving another (it happens a few times). I always hate that and find it too convenient for the narrative. But other than that it was an interesting story! 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

While this audiobook started out somewhat slowly and, as an audiobook, was a little hard to follow as it switched between four characters, once the wonderful madness began it didn‘t really let up. It‘s both a family drama and a monster story, which I love! Definitely unique and like nothing I can remember reading before. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

My #bookspinbingo list looks a lot like last month (with a few newer additions at least) but what can you do, I‘m a slow reader 🤣🤷🏼‍♀️!

This novel was exactly what I wanted and exactly what I needed! If you, like me, LOVE slasher movies, especially summer ones, you will enjoy this. It‘s bloody and twisty and full of the unpredictability and unreal abilities common to this sort of story. I‘ll admit the twists aren‘t too hard to figure out (other than the main one…I don‘t know how anyone could have guessed) but the characters are endearing and I really loved the ending. 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

I somehow missed reading these stories when I was a kid but I love the movie adaptation. I had no idea that these stories were a collection of folk stories/urban legends and not original stories from the author, which I found somewhat disappointing as I‘d actually already heard a good amount of the stories before (the calls coming from inside the house, hook hanging on the car door, etc). I also felt like many of the stories just sort of end ⬇️

I‘ve enjoyed most of Ruth Ware‘s books but this was just ok. It really wasn‘t that surprising or twisty and at the end I just felt like “yeah, ok, that makes sense 🤷🏼‍♀️”. No shock or excitement like I typically want when I turn that last page. Worth a listen but nothing particularly special here. 🌟🌟🌟

I know a lot of readers are sick of WWII fiction but I personally love it! Just give me a compelling story that has even the smallest twist I haven‘t read before and I‘m probably hooked! I haven‘t read a story centered around the Red Cross “Donut Dollies” before but I found it fascinating. I loved that it was raw, gritty, and bittersweet at times. I also loved the author note that explained how personal the story was for his family. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The 4 books I ordered during Prime Days! I got all 4 for $23 (I had a $15 off $30 deal to use during Prime Days and all of these were deals). They came a little banged up but being such a good deal I don‘t want to complain. The V.E. Schwab is a special edition with a built in ribbon bookmark which I love!

This novel was a great mix of romance, comedy, and heart. I absolutely loved the two main characters and their screwball, endearing myriad of family and friends. I also thought it was interesting to see one of the main characters have to battle with a pretty bad case of social anxiety (I think that was the main issue he was working with…I listened to the audiobook so couldn‘t go back and reference it). My only real “issue” with the story was ⬇️

From this nail-biting first paragraph to the very end the tension in this story does not let up. The author did a great job of describing everything, making you really feel like you are there with the characters (which, for those in the plane, was terrifying for me as I‘m claustrophobic 😨). Somehow it‘s also a very character-driven story and you really start to care about these people and all they‘ve been through. Great summer read! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Finally remembered to open my #botm box 🫢! Really excited for the Sager and Williams books….now just need to find time to read them!

I love just about any story set in the stormy, dark, and dreary Scottish Outer Hebrides as it‘s the perfect setting for mysteries and murders. This was a twisty mystery dealing with trauma, mental illness, family dynamics, and even a little possible reincarnation thrown in. I‘m usually really good at figuring stories out but this one threw me for a few loops, which I love! Really enjoyed the audiobook narrators as well! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book would be perfect for a book club (or horrible depending on those in the group since it can be a contentious topic). I thought the author did a really good job showing the different sides to this complicated issue. I can‘t say that I particularly related to or agreed with either main character as they both made bad choices but I could understand why they thought they should do what they did. Well written and thought provoking! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

So the premise of this book is great, and I loved the maybe first half of the book as it dealt with the chain and what each link had to do to keep it going. Then we find out who‘s behind it/how it started and it fell flat for me. It wasn‘t shocking, it was just 🤷🏼‍♀️. There‘s also a drug addiction element that just felt unnecessary and didn‘t add anything. The narrator was good, though! 🌟🌟🌟

Oh my god, using the #botm app was PAINFUL 😣 🤬! It took me like an hour just to get it to work, then it kept stalling when I tried to ship my box. I‘m glad I checked my email before trying to ship from a different device because one of the times I pressed the button must have gone through without it showing on the app 🤦🏼‍♀️. Either way I guess it worked and I‘m excited for my choices (although I only picked Dark Corners as it was a main pick).