I only have FOUR physical books lefts on my nightstand from my 2022 TBR pile! I definitely can manage finishing those in December. I'm already excited to start on my 2023 pile - there are some good ones! I did okay this month. I thought I would get more audio in since I had to drive to Minnesota and back, but I jammed to music the whole drive both ways. Perhaps on my December drive! Though I am running out of audiobooks to listen to...
Book #159 of 2022: That Weekend by Kara Thomas (3/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 29 June 2021
Three best friends, a lake house, a secret trip - what could go wrong?
It was supposed to be the perfect prom weekend getaway. But it's clear something terrible happened when Claire wakes up alone and bloodied on a hiking trail with no memory of the past 48 hours.
Now everyone wants answers - most of all, Claire. She remembers Friday night, but, after that...nothing. And now Kat and Jesse - her best friends - are missing.
What happened on the mountain? And where are Kat and Jesse? Claire knows the answers are buried somewhere in her memory. But as she's learning, everyone has secrets - even her best friends. And she's pretty sure she's not going to like what she remembers.
About two-thirds of the way into the book, the twist was made glaringly obvious, which made the remainder of the book kind of irrelevant. I think they should have revealed what happened differently, because while the first two-thirds were interesting, the last third felt irrelevant because we knew what happen and what was continuing to happen was kind of dull.
Book #160 of 2022: Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Memoir
🗓PUBLISHED: 1 November 2022
“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.”
So begins the riveting story of acclaimed actor Matthew Perry, taking us along on his journey from childhood ambition to fame to addiction and recovery in the aftermath of a life-threatening health scare. Before the frequent hospital visits and stints in rehab, there was five-year-old Matthew, who traveled from Montreal to Los Angeles, shuffling between his separated parents; fourteen-year-old Matthew, who was a nationally ranked tennis star in Canada; twenty-four-year-old Matthew, who nabbed a coveted role as a lead cast member on the talked-about pilot then called Friends Like Us. . . and so much more.
In an extraordinary story that only he could tell—and in the heartfelt, hilarious, and warmly familiar way only he could tell it—Matthew Perry lays bare the fractured family that raised him (and also left him to his own devices), the desire for recognition that drove him to fame, and the void inside him that could not be filled even by his greatest dreams coming true. But he also details the peace he’s found in sobriety and how he feels about the ubiquity of Friends, sharing stories about his castmates and other stars he met along the way. Frank, self-aware, and with his trademark humor, Perry vividly depicts his lifelong battle with addiction and what fueled it despite seemingly having it all.
To be completely honest, my 4-star rating is PROBABLY a little biased because I love Matthew Perry. 3.5 is PROBABLY a more accurate rating. But that’s beside the point.
The title of this book is, however, VERY accurate. Perry spoke very heavily about friends (both the show and his), former lovers, and mostly addiction. Addiction to smoking, addiction to drugs, and addiction to alcohol. I knew he was an addict, but I didn’t realize the disease manifested so early in his life, and I didn’t realize how severe it was and the additional issues it caused him.
The biggest issue I had with this book was the editing. More than once I would read a sentence and think, “I swear I already read this sentence in the last paragraph.” Obviously the themes are very consistent throughout the book, but it felt like the language was identical more often than it should have.
Book #161 of 2022: The Partner by John Grisham (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Legal Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 1997
They watched Danilo Silva for days before they finally grabbed him. He was living alone, a quiet life on a shady street in Brazil; a simple life in a modest home, certainly not one of luxury. Certainly no evidence of the fortune they thought he had stolen. He was much thinner and his face had been altered. He spoke a different language, and spoke it very well. But Danilo had a past with many chapters.
Four years earlier he had been Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a prominent Biloxi law firm. He had a pretty wife, a new daughter, and a bright future. Then one cold winter night Patrick was trapped in a burning car and died a horrible death. When he was buried his casket held nothing more than his ashes. From a short distance away, Patrick watched his own burial. Then he fled. Six weeks later, a fortune was stolen from his ex-law firm's offshore account. And Patrick fled some more. But they found him.
I’m not sure I had read this one before! I just assumed I had read all of Grisham’s books, but I didn’t remember this one at all! (Which isn’t saying much, I could have read it 15 years ago). I know Patrick was technically in the wrong, but I rooted for him until the very last word of this story. I knew it would end the way it did, but I was still so intrigued as to how Grisham would get there.
Book #162 of 2022: Girl, Forgotten (Andrea Oliver #2) by Karin Slaughter (3/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Police Procedural/Suspense
🗓PUBLISHED: 23 June 2022
A small town hides a big secret.
Who killed Emily Vaughn?
A girl with a secret. Longbill Beach, 1982. Emily Vaughn gets ready for the prom. For an athlete, who is smart, pretty and well-liked, this night that should be the highlight of her high school career. But Emily has a secret. And by the end of the evening, that secret will be silenced forever.
An unsolved murder.
Forty years later, Emily’s murder remains a mystery. Her tight-knit group of friends closed ranks; her respected, wealthy family retreated inwards; the small town moved on from her grisly attack. But all that’s about to change.
One final chance to uncover a killer.
US Marshal Andrea Oliver arrives in Longbill Beach on her first assignment: to protect a judge receiving death threats. But, in reality, Andrea is there to find justice for Emily. The killer is still out there—and Andrea must discover the truth before she gets silenced, too.
I read the Pieces of Her (the first book in this series) earlier this year and watched the Netflix show. I liked the first book better than this one, but they were both enjoyable. I liked that this story connected to its predecessor in storyline, and not just the main character. I’m curious if they’ll add another season to the show, and if they do if it will correspond to this story or not.
Book #163 of 2022: Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon (3/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 24 May 2022
Lucas Forester didn’t hate his wife. Michelle was brilliant, sophisticated, and beautiful. Sure, she had extravagant spending habits, that petty attitude, a total disregard for anyone below her status. But she also had a lot to offer. Most notably: wealth that only the one percent could comprehend.
For years, Lucas has been honing a flawless plan to inherit Michelle’s fortune. Unfortunately, it involves taking a hit out on her.
Every track is covered, no trace left behind, and now Lucas plays the grieving husband so well he deserves an award. But when a shocking photo and cryptic note show up on his doorstep, Lucas goes from hunter to prey.
Someone is on to him. And they’re closing in.
The main character of this book was so unlikeable that it made it REALLY hard to get into. Eventually I was engaged enough that I continued/finished it, but I really struggle with reading books when I don’t like the character(s).
If you read any further, there may be spoilers….I liked how this ended. After finishing, I realized it was the only ending that could have been written that I would have been satisfied with since I disliked the main character so much. Honestly the ending of this book brought it up from two stars to three.
Book #164 of 2022: Mirror’s Edge (Imposter’s #3) by Scott Westerfeld (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: YA Dystopian
🗓PUBLISHED: 6 April 2021
Rafi’s return to the city of her birth isn’t going to be an easy one. She and her love Col must surge on new faces and bodies in order to infiltrate Shreve by dropping from the sky and landing undetected. Rafi’s sister Frey - no longer a twin in features, but still a twin by birth - is waiting with a rebel army outside.
Are the sisters on the same side...or are they playing to their own agendas? If their father is deposed from Shreve, who will take control? And what other forces may be waiting in the wings?
Mirror's Edge is another brilliant blockbuster from one of the greatest speculative writers YA fiction has ever seen, set within the world of Uglies...and about to converge with Uglies in a spectacular way.
I really enjoyed the first two books in this series when I read them last year(?), but I’m only just getting around to reading the second two. Only the first two had been published when I started the series, and knowing there would be four books, I wanted to read them together.
This was the third book in this YA series, and though it’s not A LOT that happens event-wise, it’s action packed. Also, I LOVE how the book ended and if I hadn’t been ready to pick up book 4 right after, I certainly would be now. This series has been so fun to read.
Book #165 of 2022: Youngbloods (Imposters #4) by Scott Westerfeld (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: YA Dystopian
🗓PUBLISHED: 5 April 2022
Frey has spent her life in a family of deceivers, a stand-in for her sister, manipulated at her father's command. Free from them at last, she is finding her own voice - and using it to question everything her family stood for.
Tally was once the most famous rebel in the world. But for over a decade, she's kept to the shadows, allowing her myth to grow even as she receded. Now she sees that the revolution she led has not created a stable world. Freedom, she observes, has a way of destroying things.
As the world is propelled further into conflict and conspiracy, Frey and Tally join forces to put a check on the people in power, while still trying to understand their own power and where it belongs.
With Youngbloods, master storyteller Scott Westerfeld decisively brings back his most iconic character and merges his Impostors and Uglies series into a breathtaking tale of rivalry, rebellion, and repercussion.
Ah, what a good ending to this second quartet. I’m a little sad the series is over, but really want to re-read the first series now. I wasn’t sure I liked how the story was going for the majority of it, but even though I felt that way, it was still a good read.
Book #166 of 2022: Near You by Mary Burton (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 13 April 2021
Forensic psychologist and single mother Ann Bailey has joined forces with Montana Highway Patrol officer Bryce McCabe. An expert in untangling the motives of depraved minds, Ann is tasked to help solve the mystery of two murdered women doused with gasoline and set aflame.
It’s not hard for Ann to be reminded of the charismatic Elijah Weston, who served a decade in prison for arson—a crime that nearly cost Ann her life. Elijah may have been exonerated, but the connection to these rage killings is impossible for Ann to ignore. One of the victims has been identified as an obsessed Elijah groupie. Elijah has obsessions, too. Ever since Ann returned to town, he can’t take his eyes off her. And as a mother with a secret, she’s the perfect victim for an infatuated psychopath.
The deeper Ann and Bryce’s investigation goes, the nearer they get to each other and to danger. After another murder hits close to home, Ann fears a clue is hidden in her own past. Only one thing terrifies her more than the reveal of her long-held secret. It’s that the secret itself has put Ann into a killer’s line of fire.
This was the second book in a series, which I didn’t know when I started it. In hindsight, I wish I had read the first book before reading this because it would have helped in knowing the back story of the main character, but it’s not absolutely NECESSARY.
I had a hard time getting into the book to start. I paused to read two other books in a series and was really invested in them, so it was hard to switch back to this one. That being said, once I sat down to actually read it I was anxious to find out what happened next. I half figured out the mystery not too far into the book, but needed until nearly the end to clarify my wonderings.
Also, the book is FREE with Kindle Unlimited.
Book #167 of 2022: They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 4 August 2020
In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems.
Freshman year Jill's best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.
Now, it's Jill's senior year and she's determined to make it her best yet. After all, she's a senior and a Player--a member of Gold Coast Prep's exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill's year. She's sure of it.
But when Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham's innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year start to crumble. If Graham didn't kill Shaila, who did? Jill vows to find out, but digging deeper could mean putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy.
Okay, this was a good one. Bookstagram recs don’t always live up to the hype for me, and while I’d agreed with that statement for this story, I would still recommend it. I had the murderer pegged from the beginning, but I still really enjoyed the story in learning why they did it, and watching Jill uncovered who it was. The downside of the story was that is was incredibly unbelievable. Of course it’s a fictional story, but I prefer fiction that’s at least sort of realistic.
Book #168 of 2022: All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 16 August 2022
You can’t ever know for sure what happens behind closed doors.
Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the infamous case of January Jacobs, who was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist. But she’s always been haunted by the feeling that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.
When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle after he is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she feels like she’s walked into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembers—genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under circumstances eerily similar to January’s. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and to solve January’s murder once and for all.
But the police, Natalie’s family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could January’s killer still be out there? Is it the same person who took Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night twenty years ago?
Every part of this dialogue here is a spoiler, so if you haven’t read the book yet, continue reading at your own risk.
Once they had “revealed” the killer, I was annoyed. I thought it was a stupid choice because it was too random of a person. I was annoyed that it wasn’t who I thought it would be. Except then the story continues and it WAS at her person I thought it would be, which made a much better story.
I ALMOST think it would have been better without the epilogue. I like the vague way the story ended without you knowing what would finally happen. That being said, I do think what happened in the epilogue was important, it just maybe seemed a little too long-winded? If the author hadn’t included it, we’d never know why January’s killer did what they did, and it wouldn’t make sense not to know. So I’m not sure how to feel about the epilogue. On one hand it was needed, on the other it seemed to be too much.
Book #169 of 2022: Breaking Bailey by Anonymous (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: YA
🗓PUBLISHED: 4 June 2019
Bailey welcomes a fresh start at the prestigious boarding school, Prescott Academy, far away from the painful memories of her mother's death and the unendurable happiness of her father and his new wife. She expects rigorous coursework and long hours of studying - what she doesn't expect is to be inducted into the Science Club, a group of wealthy and intelligent students who run a business cooking up drugs in their spare time.
Suddenly, Bailey has everything she's ever wanted, including a sweet and handsome boyfriend named Warren, the brainy lead chemist in the Club. But as she wades deeper into the murky waters of their business, Bailey finds herself struggling to reconcile her new lifestyle with moral dilemmas she just can't ignore.
Can she have it all without breaking?
TW: Drug Abuse
I love these books because they remind me so much of my favorite, Ellen Hopkins. I’ve read this whole series, so even though I KNEW how this would end, I was hopeful it would change. I feel like the ending for this could have been so good, but the author took the easy way out to keep “on theme” with the rest of the series which was disappointing. The story was so engaging (though infuriating at times), but the last two pages let me down because they continued the trend.
Book #170 of 2022: The Perfect Son by Lauren North (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 13 August 2019
When Tess Clarke wakes up in the hospital the day after her son Jamie's eighth birthday, she's sure of these things: She's been stabbed, her son is missing, her brother-in-law and her grief counselor are involved. But no one is listening to her.
After her husband, Mark, died suddenly in a terrible accident a few months earlier, the only thing keeping Tess together is Jamie. As they struggle to make sense of their new life without Mark, they find joy in brief moments of normalcy like walking to school and watching television together. Life is hard without Mark, but Tess has Jamie, and that's what matters.
But there in the hospital, confused and surrounded by people who won't listen, Tess’s world falls apart. To save her son, she must piece together what happened between Mark's death and Jamie's birthday, but the truth might just be too much for her to bear.
This was a random thriller I picked up from the book store this summer. I’d never heard of the title, nor the author, but I figured I’d give it a shot.
I knew something not-obvious was happening, because there were too many unanswered questions that weren’t addressed. I guessed the ending before I got there, and I think that could have been prevented if some of those questions had possible answers, rather than just having been skipped over.
That being said, the final twist was a good one, and I loved how the book ended!
Book #171 of 2022: The It Girl by Ruth Ware (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 12 July 2022
April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.
Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead.
Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.
Ware is a pretty well-known thriller writer, though I haven’t read much by her. I feel like I had read one or two and they hadn’t lived up to the hype so I stopped trying.
I’ve begun to run low on audiobooks on Libby that are also on my TBR list, so I decided to try another one of hers. I’m glad I did! I really enjoyed this one!
I liked that there were a lot of options as to who the murderer could be. I was SO SURE I knew who it was from the beginning, but BOTH my predictions ended up being wrong. I guess that’s a sign of good writing! (Or maybe just a tired brain?) Either way, I really enjoyed the story.
Book #172 of 2022: You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 2020 March 3
Shay Miller wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is increasingly lonely.
Until Shay meets the Moore sisters. Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better. Shay would die for them to like her. She may have to.
I had listened to another Hendricks book last month, and was reminded how much I enjoy her thrillers, so I immediately borrowed two more!
This story was a little bizarre and made me so mad at times. I definitely got irrationally infuriated when some events took place and my jaw dropped at a couple of the twists. I was SO nervous that the story wasn’t going to end how I wanted it to, which may have been good for a literary perspective, but I like a nice wrapped up ending.
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means when you purchase something through that link, you're helping support this blog (and my reading addiction!) at no additional cost to you!*
(Summaries are from Amazon, but all reviews are my own!)
Reading Challenge: 172/120 books read in 2022
You can find previous book reviews here and add me on Goodreads here!
No comments:
Post a Comment