Sunday Salon: Cozies and a Thriller

Booking the Crook by Laurie Cass, July 2, 2019, Berkley

Booking the Crook

Theme:
Librarian Minnie and her rescue cat, Eddie, solve crimes while they cruise around in a bookmobile in a town in Michigan. (publisher)

Bewitched and Betrothed

Bewitched and Betrothed by Juliet Blackwell, June 25, 2019, Berkley

Theme: In San Francisco, a family reunion keeps witch and vintage storeowner Lily Ivory on her toes as she prepares to walk down the aisle. (publisher)

Harry's Trees

Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen, June 12, 2019, Mira Books

Theme:  When his wife dies suddenly, Harry leaves his job and his old life behind and makes his way to the remote woods of northeastern Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains, determined to lose himself. But some people he meets there change his life for the better. 

Red Metal

Red Metal by H. Ripley Rawlings IV, July 16, 2019, Berkley Books

Theme: A Russian military strike against Europe could change the balance of power in the West. A stunningly realistic view of modern warfare from a battlefield commander  (publisher)

What books are on your reading list this week?

Memes: 

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

Sunday Salon: Guidebook for Couples; Historical Fiction; Reviews

Trouble the Water, a novel by Rebecca Dwight Bruff, July 4, 2019, Koehler Books

Trouble the Water

Inspired by a true story, Trouble the Water is about risking everything for freedom. Born a slave, Robert Smalls commandeered a Confederate arms ship from the Charleston harbor, and with the woman he loved and a small crew of other slaves, delivered it to the Union Navy. After the war ended Smalls was able to purchase the house in which he and his mother had been enslaved, and he became one of America’s first black legislators. (publisher)

Let's Do Us by Charly Ligety and Les Starck, June 11, 2019, Harper Design

Let's Do Us
A pair of playful and romantic twin guidebooks created specially for couples to help them talk about the difficult yet important issues that will affect their relationship and their future. (publisher)

Finished reading:

Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, August 14, 2018, G.P. Putnam's Sons. Source: personal copy

This coming-of-age novel had me in tears. Wonderfully developed characters and an unusual, to me, setting in the North Carolina swamps. A book for lovers of nature and stories of adolescents enduring extremely trying circumstances. Some parts of the plot are hard to see as completely realistic, but it makes for an excellent story of strife, survival, and accomplishment. Five stars.  

I've recommended this novel to our library book club which meets the first Thursday each month. 

 The Last Time I Saw You by Liv Constantine, May 7, 2019, Harper

The Last Time I Saw You (review ARC from the publisher) is a thriller set around the unexplained murder of a wealthy woman, Lily, the mother of Kate, a heart surgeon. Kate is reunited at Lily's funeral with a childhood playmate, Blaire, who also knew and loved the charming and generous Lily.
   

There are many suspects for the crime, and Blaire, a successful detective author, sticks around, supposedly to help her friend Kate solve Lily's murder. There are unexpected twists to the story that I found improbable and unbelievable, though it did help to prolong the suspense in the plot. I gave the book three stars.  

Currently reading:

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames,  May 7, 2019,  Ecco Press

In this stunning debut novel, a young woman tells the story behind two elderly sisters’ estrangement, unraveling family secrets stretching back a century and across the Atlantic to early 20th century Italy (publisher)

What books have you been reading lately?
Memes: The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Stacking the Shelves. 

Sunday Salon: Domestic Drama, Suspense

Domestic drama and books of suspense

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones, June 11, 2019, Minotaur Books

Genre: domestic suspense

(A) wife, her husband, and the woman who is supposedly her best friend.

Murder She Wrote: Murder in Red by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land

Publication: May 28, 2019, Berkley Books

In what appears to be medical malpractice, Jessica learns her friend was actually a victim of something far more sinister.

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok, June 4, 2019, William Morrow
Genre: suspense, family drama
In one Chinese immigrant family, the book explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge.

The Last Train to London

The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton, September 10, 2019, Harper
This historical novel centers on the Kindertransports that carried thousands of children out of Nazi-occupied Europe in WWII—and one brave woman who helped them escape to safety.

The Chestnut Man

The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup, Sepember 3, 2019, Harper
Genre: police procedural, thriller
A madman is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a matchstick doll and two chestnuts. 

Gravity Is the Thing: A Novel

Gravity Is the Thing: A Novel by Jaclyn Moriarty, July 23, 2019, Harper
Genre: contemporary fiction
A single mother's search for happiness. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes:

The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  Stacking the Shelves. Also visit The Sunday Salon hosted by ReaderBuzz, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading by Book Date. and Mailbox Monday 

Sunday Post: Murder on the Left Bank by Cara Black

I finished reading Murder on the Left Bank by Cara Black, published June 19, 2018, Soho Crime, the 18th in the Aimee Leduc Investigations series set in Paris. I was not disappointed in this new book and love that the author includes so much of Paris in her novel. People, places, streets, atmosphere are all here and would mean a lot to those who have walked these streets in that great city, and mean so much more to those who want to visit and travel in the main character's, Aimee's footsteps. 

A notebook holding secrets from the WWII past of Paris is stolen, and people are being killed by those who want to find and destroy the notebook's damaging evidence. Aimee makes it a point to follow up on these murders and find the incriminating evidence, even while putting her baby in harm's way. A mixture of danger and suspense blends the personal and the professional life of private investigator Aimee, as she goes about her duties while following her deep sense of justice. A five star READ.

Tahoe Skydrop, the 16th in the Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller series, will be published August 6, 2018 by Thriller Press. Thanks to the author for a review copy. Review will be coming soon. I'm enjoying the book right now!

I haven't yet decided which of my library books and TBR books I'll tackle next. There are several on my ereader too that I have started andwant to finish!

What books are you reading this week?
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. Also, Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews