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

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin: Sunday Salon

 The title of this book  made me choose it, and I'm not disappointed so far.

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin

Published May 1, 2021, Lake Union Publishing

Genre: contemporary fiction, humor

Source: ebook 

Three women are off in a broken down camper, driving cross country on an errand for their friend Karen, who is undergoing cancer treatment. The goal? Bring back Karen's beloved diabetic Great Pyrenees dog from LA to her bedside in Wisconsin. Karen's ex has already shipped the unwanted giant dog to a rescue center in Utah and the three women must travel to Utah, find the dog and bring him to Karen, who needs him as her therapy pet. The dog needs insulin shots regularly, so putting him in a crate in the belly of a plane, to fly to Wisconsin, is out of the question. 

What's the novel's interest besides this unusual quest? The three women are not compatible, two of them are barely talking to each other, and the third is a new LA friend who has hopped on for the ride. But their getting along is crucial on the trip. The situation calls for either comedy or tragedy and the book is hilarious so far.

What book is keeping you up this week? 

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

Book Beginning: Hanging Falls, a mystery by Margaret Mizushima

 

Hanging Falls by Margaret Mizushima, August 10, 2021, Crooked Lane Books

Genre: mystery in a series, police procedural

Murder stalks the rugged Colorado high country--and sends officer Mattie Cobb on a quest to uncover the darkest secrets from her past (publisher)

Book beginning:

Friday morning, mid-July

A stitch in her side plagued Deputy Mattie Cobb as she jogged uphill, telling her that her level of anxiety and this form of exercise didn't mix. Running in the Colorado high country around Timber Creek had soothed her for years, but not today. Her mind kept jumping back to the one thing that made her so...well, she'd have to say frightened, excited, and nervous all at once. 

Page 56:

"In Colorado you can possess a small amount of marijuana for use in your own home, but it's against the law to smoke it in a national forest." Mattie recited the code, watching his face fall. 

Would you read on?

Memes: The Friday 56. Find any sentence that grabs you on page 56 of your book. Post it, and add your URL to Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.