“A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, The Silent Companions is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect—much like the companions themselves.”

Sorry I had to delete the other post about this book. I noticed I had the right cover but the wrong author. Oops!

“From the beloved hosts of the hit podcast I've Had It, an honest, irreverent and inspiring guide to overcoming life's unexpected challenges and finding joy, stability and humor in today's chaotic world, for fans of Big Friendship and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.”

This wasn‘t a terrible book, it was just meh. I love Alex Finlay but this wasn‘t his best.

In the glow of their children‘s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families gather over dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids―five residents of Campisi Hall―never show up to dinner. (Listening to audiobook.)

“Beckett Bowery never thought she‘d return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett‘s parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere else—until a tragedy her senior year ended with two local men dead, and her roommate on the run, never to be seen again…”

Another great Logan MacRae novel!!

I may come back to this later. I don‘t like how it‘s written. I don‘t particularly care for books that are written as letters to other people. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is a novel of moral and emotional depravity. It‘s a disturbing and ultimately damning portrayal of a decadent society. Aristocrats and ex-lovers Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont embark on a sophisticated game of seduction and manipulation to bring amusement to their jaded lives. Merteuil challenges Valmont to seduce an innocent convent girl. He is also occupied with the conquest of a married woman. Consequences are deadly.

“In the heat of a blistering summer, Aberdeen‘s police are struggling: half the force is off sick, leave has been cancelled, someone‘s firebombed a hotel full of migrants, and there‘s a massive protest march happening this Saturday. With officers dropping like flies, DI Logan McRae is forced to juggle cases and run a major murder investigation with a skeleton staff until the top brass can arrange back-up from other divisions.”

It wasn‘t great but it wasn‘t terrible. Just good enough to finish.

“From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.”

Finally! I‘m finished. I‘ve had so much going on in my life lately, I could only spend so much time reading. This is a good book; it‘s a slow burn, but it gets so much better toward the end. And the ending? Wow!

“A read-in-one-night suspense thriller narrated by a compulsive liar whose little white lies allow her to enter into the life and comfort of a wealthy married couple who are harboring much darker secrets themselves. For the millions of us still chasing those gone girls, this is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Lucy Foley, and Laura Dave.”

“In this timely and deeply personal true crime memoir, acclaimed journalist, author, creator of the True Crime This Week podcast, and former Boy Scout James Renner, explores the dark side of an American institution, its pervasive culture of sexual abuse, and the traumatic—even deadly—repercussions of its long-buried secrets.” UPDATE: I had to switch to Audible because the print is too small. 🙄

I hadn‘t touched the book in a month. I picked it back up today and finished it. It‘s not a 5 star- it‘s a bit drawn out - but it is a really good book. The ending… chef‘s kiss!

I haven‘t touched this book in 4 weeks. It‘s not because I don‘t like it. I think I‘m punishing myself since my husband passed away. I read 150 books last year; this year I‘ve read 5 so far. It‘s like if I would‘ve spent more time with him instead of reading. We were always in the same room, but…I don‘t know.

This is my #goodreadsgiveaway”. Can‘t wait to dig in. I love Peter Swanson!

Just bailing for now. I have new books that have arrived that I want to read right away. Love RuPaul!! ❤️

“From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date--a deeply intimate memoir of discovery, found family, and self-acceptance. The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag.”

This is a must-read. If I could have I read it in one sitting. It is a rollercoaster ride that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

This is my #BOTM read for February. It‘s “an addictive thriller about a new mother‘s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?”

I‘ve read a lot of Freida McFadden‘s books and have loved every single one. This one, however, was almost a complete dud. I almost DNFd it several times, but I like to finish what I start. The twist at the end is the best part of the book, and that‘s just meh. Read at your own peril.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn‘t realize she‘s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

All I can say is it was just okay. The reveal kind of fell flat.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

Finally finished! I hate that it takes me so long to finish a physical book now. 🙁 Anyway, this book was fantastic! I finished the last half yesterday. I graduated from high school in ‘83 so this brought back some memories. But, OMG! What a story. When I did finally pick it up again, I couldn‘t put it down. This book is sooo creepy. You absolutely have to read it.

Not nearly as good as the first two. The storyline wasn‘t too bad but the characters were kind of flat and there was no real build up to the end. It definitely wasn‘t thrilling and the ending fell flat. #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView

Cecilia has it all. The house on the beach. The cute figure. The beautiful baby. But she‘s a long way from perfect. She‘s let me into her gorgeous house as her nanny because she‘s on her own, she needs a little help with her baby daughter. She barely notices me. But I see everything. It's a shame that she doesn‘t have my powers of observation. If she took some time, she might just recognize me. I‘ve been following her for a while, after all.

A great second book in Kaira Rouda‘s Family Secrets series. I love how she uses the unreliable narrator in these books. It makes the book even more of a mystery. Paul Strom; he‘s a narcissistic sociopath. #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView

I don‘t want the perfect marriage. I want revenge…If you had met me a year ago, you wouldn‘t have noticed me. A beautiful woman, but a struggling nobody in a tiny apartment, invisible…Meeting Paul changed that. Now here I am in Paris. I smile at my handsome husband, my eyes shining in the candlelight, my huge diamond ring sparkling on the white tablecloth. Other women look at me in envy. They see a couple completely in love.

They‘re wrong.

Another Bob Hoon delight. He always seems to find a way to get himself in trouble, and this time is no different. I love this character and his sister, Berta. They‘re both cranky, foul mouthed individuals and I can‘t get enough of them.

All Bob Hoon ever wanted was a good whisky, and some peace and quiet.

But, when Hoon hears that his friend and MI5 agent, Miles Crabtree, has gone missing in the United States, he is dragged back into action once more.

The hunt leads him to the Florida Everglades, and into conflict with the violent locals, the terrifying wildlife, and a Sheriff with a sinister agenda of his own.

Another great novel from Ms. McFadden. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who the killer is. Let me tell you; the reveal will blow you away. I highly recommend this book.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. But finally, she hits the jackpot. Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet. Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

OMG! This book was waaaayyy too long. The author could have had a good book if it had been cut in half. There was just too much talking, whinging and unnecessary sound effects. I hope the next one in the series is better. #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView

Detective Constable Angus MacVicar has just landed his dream job – transferred out of uniform and assigned to Oldcastle‘s biggest ongoing murder investigation: Operation Telegram, hunting the 'Fortnight Killer'.

Every two weeks another couple is targeted. One victim is left at the scene, their corpse used as a twisted message board. The second body is never seen again.

A group of students encounter a supernatural terror while on a road trip through Appalachia in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the “unforgettable and scary” (Harlan Coben) Chasing the Boogeyman.

This was probably the best book in the series. There were a lot of twists and turns and a really surprising ending. #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

I lost the love of my life and my best friend on Tuesday evening. He was very ill and at home on hospice care. He passed very peacefully. I can truly say that becoming his wife was one of the best things I ever did. I have a giant hole in my heart. 💔😢 Because of this, my reading status may drop precipitously for a while. I‘m sure I‘ll be back to usual eventually.

After a terrible construction site accident severs Edgar Freemantle‘s right arm, scrambles his mind, and implodes his marriage, he faces the ordeal of rehabilitation, all alone and full of rage. Renting a house on Duma Key—a stunningly beautiful and eerily undeveloped splinter off the Florida coast—Edgar slowly emerges from his prison of pain to bond with Elizabeth Eastlake, a sick, elderly woman whose roots are tangled deep in this place.

This book is sooo slow. I‘ll probably finish it some other time but life‘s too short and there are too many other books to read.

A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .

Another great book in the Will Trent series. Will and Sara are on their honeymoon at a vacation lodge in North Georgia. On the first night, they hear a blood curdling scream for help. They discover the manager of the lodge who‘s been stabbed multiple times. She gives Will a message for her son before she passes. This is another book where I figured out who the killer was very early in the book. #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it‘s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night.

A murderer in their midst

Fifteen years ago, Sara Linton‘s life changed forever when a celebratory night out ended in a violent attack that tore her world apart. Since then, Sara has remade her life. A successful doctor, engaged to a man she loves, she has finally managed to leave the past behind her. Until one evening, everything changes. Sara battles to save a young woman who‘s been brutally attacked. But it becomes clear that the assault is uncannily linked to Sara‘s.

I‘m only bailing for now because I have COVID and I‘m too exhausted to read a physical book. I‘ll come back to it later.

Investigating the killing of a prisoner during a riot inside a state penitentiary, GBI Agent Will Trent is told by an inmate who claims that he is innocent of a brutal attack of which he has always been the prime suspect. The man insists that he was framed by a corrupt law enforcement team led by Jeffrey Tolliver and that the real culprit is still out there—a serial killer who has systematically been preying on women across the state for years.

Awe and exhilaration—along with heartbreak and mordant wit—abound in Lolita, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsession for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America.

Most of all, it is a meditation on love—love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.