Sunday Salon: A New Genre of Books with "Girl" in the Title

There ought to be a new genre of mystery books titled: Girl Books, as there are now so many adult thrillers with "girl" in the title. I decided to look for them and have started reading and rereading. 

The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons, I read in March 2018, according to my Goodreads list. I cried then while reading it, and am crying now!

 My goodreads review: 

I don't remember crying so much while reading a book! The protagonist Lily grabs at your heart and doesn't let go. The author writes in dramatic superlatives, be warned - great love, great tragedy, great illness, great addiction, and an intriguing mystery of a missing girl, Lily's roommate. Enjoyed the excellent storytelling and characterizations in this book and looking forward to other novels by the author.   

Other Girl Books, mystery and non-mystery, I've found on my Kindle: 

I could go on listing for a while...What Girl Books have you read?

 

Why So Many Books Have 'Girl' in the Title by Emily St. John Mandel, an article printed in the October 31,2021 Time magazine, gives an overview of current and future book titles. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon  

The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith

 From my bookshelves:

The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith, October 2016, Simon Schuster

Genre: WWII historical fiction, romance

The setting is Venice during the time of Mussolini in WWII, the German occupation of Italy during and just after the war, with the various partisans and their politics. Holding all this together is a love story between a simple fisherman and a girl he found floating in the lagoon, feigning death for her safety.

I learned a lot more about Italy during the war and the role of Il Duce, who changed sides during the war and who was shot by partisans at the end.

Book beginning:

Without a moon, small islands disappeared and Venice sank into the dark. Stars, however, were so brilliant that Cenzo felt drawn to them, even as mud oozed between his toes. The faint report of church bells carried over the lagoon, from farms drifted the smell of manure, and once or twice he caught the tremolo of a German gunboat plowing the water.  

Page 56:

"The SS is raiding hospitals. It makes no sense,"  Cenzo said. 

Would you read on? 

Memes: Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add to the Linky at Freda's Voice

Book Club Pick: The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica, February 18, 2020, Park Row

Genre: psychological thriller

This novel is for next month's library book club, which rarely schedules thrillers. Someone at the library must have really liked this book! 

My goodreads comments: 

The mystery had me guessing till near the end, when I saw the only solution to the questions the story presented. So the ending was not a total surprise, but to have so many bad guys in the picture was different. 

This interesting psychological thriller had many serious themes: PTSD, child abuse, family dysfunction, mental illness, and of course, murderous individuals. 

For a book tour:

 A Mother's Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha. I've finished the first two of many stories:  tales of war and the aftermath of war. 

Other reading: 

I have numerious ebooks on my reader, but these days I prefer to read paper books from the library. 

I'm also not getting used to the cooler weather. I'm not ready for flannel pjs as yet! 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon 

Sunday Salon: Suspense in Colorado and in Morocco

 

The Guide by Peter Heller, August 24, 2021, Knopf

Genre: thriller set in Colorado

Source: library book 

My comments: 

A thriller set in modern days, in an isolated area of Colorado, where the very wealthy go for R & R and for fly fishing. Our main character, Jack, is the assigned guide for a famous young singer, Alison, whose only interest is in enjoying the lodge and its amenities for fishing during her week-long stay. 

The two get into deep waters, however, when they suspect there is something more sinister going on at the lodge than harmless outdoor recreation, and they risk their lives trying to find out the problem, and to fix it.  

Nature lovers will enjoy the author's prose and descriptions of the surroundings, the canyon, river, forests, and fly fishing itself. They will also get pulled into the story that becomes more complex and compelling, as time goes on, than a leisurely time on the river. 

Next on my reading list:

Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews, Matrch 2, 2021, Little, Brown & Co.   Genre: suspense   Source: library book 

I almost didn't borrow this book because I thought the title was unimaginative and the cover too subtle. But then I glanced at the book blurb and thought the novel was just up my alley. A case of an assistant assuming an author's identity during a trip to Morocco. Just enough suspense to get my attention. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon 

Sunday Salon: My Mailbox

My mailbox has begun to see some action again!

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland

Published June 1, 2021; Simon & Schuster

Genre: historical fiction

Source: Wiley Sachek Publicity

Over the course of one summer that begins with a shocking tragedy, three generations of the Adler family grapple with heartbreak, romance, and the weight of family secrets in this stunning debut novel (publisher)

My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura

Publication: January 11, 2022, Soho Crime

Genre: literary noir

Source: advance uncopyedited edition from Soho Press

With My Annihilation, Fuminori Nakamura, master of literary noir, has constructed a puzzle box of a narrative in the form of a confessional diary that implicates its reader in a heinous crime. (publisher)

People Like Them by Samira Sedira

Published July 8, 2021, Raven Books, Bloomsbury

Genre: psychological suspense

Source: advance uncorrected proof, won from France Book Tours

(I)ntense psychological suspense novel inspired by a true story about a couple in an insular French village whose lives are upended when a family of outsiders moves in. (publisher)

I browsed the first pages of Florence Adler Swims Forever and am captivated. It will be first on my list after my current reads are done. 

Nakamura's noir fiction is a favorite of mine, so I'm pretty happy to have  My Annihilation. Insular French villages always capture my interest, and so does People Like Them. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon 

The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley: Book Beginning

 

The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley, August 1, 2021, Atlantic Books

Genre: stories set in Tokyo.  Source: library book

Book beginning:

Tattoo

Kentaro held the cup of hot coffee to his lips and blew at the rising steam. The back office of his tattoo parlor was dimly lit, and the light from his laptop screen gave his dirty white stubble a blueish hue. Reflected in his glasses, a long list of links on an open webpage scrolled up slowly. His hand gripped a Blutooth mouse, the buttons covered with greasy finger marks...

Page 56:

Street Fighter II (Turbo)

The screen froze, went white, then displayed two words.

GAME OVER

"What the hell!" I beat the side of the machine with my fist. "Come on."

Comments from readers...interlocking stories of cats, Tokyo, loneliness and redemption. (David Mitchell, via Twitter) 

The Cat and The City is a love letter to Japan and its literature.... He is also very clearly a man with a great tenderness for cats. (Rowan Hisayo Buchanan)

Would you read on?

The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Sunday Salon: Novels with Widows and a CIA Agent

 New reads from the library:

An Ambush of Widows by Jeff Abbott,  July 6, 2021, Grand Central Publishing

Genre: psychological suspense

About: two widows delve into their husbands’ deadly and dangerous secrets—as they try to protect their own.

The women, who know each other only because their husbands were killed in the same location, join to find the secrets behind the murders and to protect their families. 

The Last Tourist by Olen Steinhauer, March 24, 2020, Minotaur Books

Genre: political thriller

About: This is the fourth book in the CIA agent's, Milo Weaver, series. Milo is hiding out in Western Sahara when a young CIA analyst arrives to question him about a series of suspicious deaths and terrorist chatter linked to him.

This detailed, complex book takes some time to get into and to read, but seems worth it. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon