David

I had no idea what the book was about as I never read the synopsis.
Based on the artwork and the title, I thought it had a sci-fi element (it does not).
I even went to buy a copy at Bookstar but it was SOLD OUT...when does that ever happen?
It also won the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction.
With all that, I figured it must be amazing!
Ehhh...it was good. I cared about the characters (game developers) and their decades-spanning relationship.
But it didn't knock my socks off.
Had I learned that a secret highway here in L.A. actually existed, I would have given it 5 stars.

Michael Ausiello's moving and heartfelt memoir about love and loss. I laughed, I cried...I have a new appreciation for Smurfs.

I may have gone through a few tissues.

Ok...many.

Taking place a few years after the Mexico War of Independence, a young woman marries a wealthy politician and moves with him into the family hacienda. A hybrid of “Rebecca”, “The Thorn Birds” and “The Haunting of Hill House”, Isabel Canas brings us this gothic horror story about family, greed, revenge and the extent one will go to retain power.

I don't usually read YA, but I had heard great things about this book.
Incredibly creepy and disturbing, it seems much too intense for middle grade kids, it's target audience.
That said, this was a quick and engrossing read.
If you have an aversion to insects, especially wasps, find another book.

Just when you think nothing fresh can be brought to the Zombie genre, along comes this book.
Interesting examination of what is reality and how we are affected by what we “believe” to be true.
While I didn't exactly love this novella, I did enjoy it's fresh take on a familiar genre.

Its 1922 and a young woman named Sarah Piper gets hired as an assistant to a ghost hunter investigating a haunting in a small English village. The ghost named...yup...Maddy Clare committed suicide in real life and now is hell bent on vengeance and its up to Sarah and the ghost hunting team to solve the mystery.
Not my favorite of St. James's books as the mystery wasn't that hard to figure out and the romantic interludes were too many and felt like filler.
This was one of her earlier books and while it's not bad, it's nowhere near as good as her more recent ones.

This would have been 5 stars but I guessed the major plot twist by page 20, so...
If you're looking for a Halloween read this may be the book for you!
On a dark and stormy night, a dysfunctional family gathers at the isolated home of their matriarch to celebrate her 80th birthday, which of course is on...Halloween!
And then things...happen.
While a bit far-fetched, this nod to Agatha Christie, this is a fun & scary mystery with twists & turns galore.

“Miracles are not without their price, my darling.”
Another creepy page turner from Jennifer McMahon!
A story with dual timelines (1929/ 2019) set in a secluded area in Vermont, centering around two sisters, a mysterious house with an eerie pool that may or may not be haunted.
Aside from a couple of unresolved plot points, this beautiful, haunting and nostalgic tale is definitely worth reading!

A thought provoking sci-fi thriller about a man who, not by his own choice, has his genetics upgraded which enables him to do things he never could do before. And everyone lives happily ever after because, really, what could possibly go wrong?

Another irresistible page turner from Julie Clark! I knocked out the first 200 pages in one day as I could not put this down. While it didn't have as many twists and turns as I was expecting, this story of two women, one a con artist and the other a reporter, definitely kept me entertained and eager to see how this tale of righteous vengeance played out.

3.5 stars
As a lifelong fan of the Universal Monster canon (especially, Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney), I was excited to read this fictionalized take on the days leading up to the making of Frankenstein. Junior Laemmle wanted to make the movie, his father and founder of Universal, Carl Sr., didn't. Luckily Junior won out. The story dramatizes the battle between father and son as well as the two actors (Karloff and Lugosi) vying for the role of the Monster. While minor real life details irked me (i.e., Chaney is buried inside an unmarked tomb inside a mausoleum, not on a grassy hillside), the author did a good job of bringing old Hollywood back to life (see what I did there?), but unless you are a fan of the Monster genre, you might be hard pressed to enjoy it.

First published about a decade after her death, this felt like I was reading Marilyn Monroes's personal diary. In it she recounts her early childhood, her views on men and women, the industry and it's inability to take her seriously as an actress, her one-sided “feud” with Joan Crawford (my favorite part), her marriage to Joe DiMaggio and abruptly ends around the time she married Arthur Miller.

At 700+ pages, one should get immense credit for creating a propulsive At 700+ pages, one should get immense credit for creating a propulsive page turner such as BLONDE. A hybrid of fact and fiction, Oates has crafted a mythic & poetic story about Monroe from her innocent and heartbreaking beginnings, through the sexist and misogynistic studio system, and to the well-known tragic end. Through it all, Oates dispels the misconception of Monroe as just another “dumb blonde” and shows the intelligence and ambition of Norma Jean.

A wholly unique experience when it comes to the narrative style and execution of Tremblay's latest release. However, there's a lot of internal dialogue going on (it is presented as a memoir...no, it's a novel...no, it's a memoir!) and not a lot seems to be happening. But because I love Tremblay, I wanted to finish it. There's a few creepy moments and some fantastic LOL one-liners and barbs by the person (who I won't name) marking up the book in red ink.
But ultimately, in the end, it just didn't do it for me.

If you are a “Monster Kid” like me or a child of the 70's (um...also me) then look no further for your next read! Taking place over two parallel time lines, this is a gripping tale of a child abducting monster, a creepy old institution, and a monster hunter trying to piece it all together...and nothing is as it seems!
And as an added bonus, I have a favorite new author in Jennifer McMahon!

For Pride month I picked this classic which I had never read. A moving examination of repression, internalized homophobia and the resulting consequences in 1950's Paris.

3.5 stars for me.
The story of two brutal murders set 15 years apart. One takes place in a Blockbuster video (remember those?) and the other in an ice cream shop.
My issue was that there were a ton of characters that all had the same “voice” which made it difficult to discern who was who. Although, this could just be a “me” issue. Lots of red herrings in addition to what felt like incomplete storylines that left more questions than answers.
That aside, it's a page-turner!

If you read Bugliosi's Helter Skelter and think you know what happened on that tragic night in August 1969...you don't.
A blistering exposé that shows the lengths Bugliosi went to in order to create the narrative we've all come to believe as the definitive truth while also examining the various elements & events that were conveniently overlooked.

At 622 pages, I thought this would be a slog to get through but I couldn't have been more wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this book that weaves 3 different stories over 3 different timelines. A love letter to stories, libraries and our own humanity and how they are all interwoven within each other.

I can see why people like this book but it just wasn't for me. I felt the characters took certain risks that made no sense with an ending that was a bit anti-climatic.
Oh well.
Next!

Wonderful coming of age/mystery from debut author Brendan Slocumb.
A stolen $10 million dollar Stradivarius belonging to a Black violinist frames this coming of age story about overcoming racism & prejudice while pursuing a career in the world of classical music.
I loved this story. However, I initially felt many of the incidents of racism were overblown and almost cartoonish...then I read the Afterword only to learn, sadly, that they actually happened.

After a school in Tennessee banned the book, I went out and purchased my own copy.
This was the first graphic novel I've ever read (or as my husband teasingly would say, “How's your comic book?”, to which I would reply, “Oh, are you referring to my Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel? It's amazing!”).
With Jews depicted as mice and Nazis depicted as cats (sorry cat lovers!), this heartbreaking memoir about a son's quest to document his father's experience in Nazi occupied Poland deserves all the accolades.

All the stars!
It's a shame it took me 3 years to finally get around to reading this page turner, but I'm just glad I finally did!
A story that examines the relationship between fathers and sons....oh, and serial killers.
There were moments that were truly frightening where I found myself holding my breath! And yet, there were moments that were extremely poignant that had me drying my tears.
A must read!

The fact that the Road of Bones itself is (tragically) a real location where Soviet prisoners perished in the bitter cold and would be buried right there on the very road they were building lends an additional layer of creepiness to this story. Such is the backdrop for this tale about a documentary TV producer and his pal who head to Siberia to explore the reportedly haunted Road of Bones.
Nothing good happens. Lots of weird encounters. And it's f#*^ing COLD!
A quick, fun and scary read.

I LOVED Needless Street but was underwhelmed by this one. That's not to say it's bad, I just didn't find it as engaging, but I was invested enough into the story that I wanted answers!
I was about 50% of the way into the book and I still had no idea what was happening in this super bizarre tale about a dysfunctional family. I didn't find it particularly scary, but rather disturbing and quite gross (Maggots!). The fictional story within the story seemed unnecessary and the cliffhanger ending was annoying. Trigger warnings for child/animal abuse.