It’s been a hot minute.
Truly I have not had a lot of time over the past two years to read my books, but lately I have been playing catch up. I have managed to squeeze in some quiet reading moments soaking in the lavender Epsom salts of my tub or else in the bubbling jets of my hot tub!
I can’t wait to share some of my reads over the past 3 months.
An Unwanted Guest
by Shari Lapena
This was my most favorite of the three I will share today, An Unwanted Guest.
From the moment that I opened the first page I knew I was into a book I was going to love. This was one of the best I have read in a while.
As the book opens, each character is being introduced as they are all arriving at the same destination. I could not help but feel I was entering into an Agatha Christie story and I could not wait to see what was to unfold.
The characters were all given their unique characteristics, flaws, fears, hopes, etc. but of course, the complete hand was not dealt. With every turn of the page, I was surprised, suspicious, and trying to figure out who was behind what was happening at that moment.
I love a thriller and to me this had all the makings of one. I think it would be a great movie. I am one that is typically hard to fool. I pick up on the clues along the way and like a good detective, I am rarely surprised by who done it. But I have to say in this case I was all over the place suspecting this one and that and in the end, I was wrong.
I had been hesitant to pick up and begin reading because the cover said author of “The Couple Next Door.” My memory of that was that it was too easy of a story line and I was left thinking it was a bit of a waste of my time. But this writer has come a long way since that story and many people loved that novel as it was.
I am not one to spoil the read, so I purposefully leave out details as much as I think I can and still give you my recommendation. It has been about 3 months since I read it, but my recollection is that it was not filled with foul language, there were no deeply sexual scenes and no graphic content.
If you love a “who done it” this one is a sure bet. If you read it come back and give me your thoughts in my comments. You can link directly to the amazon store through the photo or the title above. I linked the hardback simply because of the shape of the image but it is available in kindle, audio, paperback as well.
The Hypnotist’s Love Story
by Liane Moriarty
Wow. This was a roller coaster of a read. It was a refreshingly fresh story. I had never read about a hypnotherapist’s life before. The need and desire for love along with all of the rejection and pain was front and center in this book. The main characters were few so it was easy to follow. The depths and layers of past memories, family hurts, life, loss and death all pull three lives together to weave something that is fascinating, at times scary and yet based on the main character’s patience and talents, often beautiful.
I think I had this 440 page thriller down in two or three days, so that says a lot. When I end up staying up until 5 am because “I’m almost done”, well you know it is a page turner. It was like binging on Netflix or Hulu. I wanted to read the next chapter (or see the next episode).
There was so much lovely humanity in this book, it churned up emotions in me and at times had me wondering if I could be as compassionate given the same circumstances. But of course it is fiction, I smile.
This evidently was written prior to “Big Little Lies” and was every bit as good. So give it a go and let me know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below, but don’t please ruin it by spilling the beans.
The New Husband
by D. J. Palmer
Let me be perfectly honest here. I picked this book up and read probably the first 2 chapters at least 4 to 5 times. I simply could not get into it over and over again. I was so tired of rereading the same pages, but because I could not get into it, I had to reread just to remember what I was reading.
I literally was going to give the book away and for some reason took it into my bath and got past those first few chapters and to a place where I got connected. From there on, it was not only smooth sailing but in the end, I had to finish it in a late night binge.
A husband vanishes suspiciously and is finally declared dead with no body and his wife moves on, along with her two children. That is the set up of this story. She also has two very close friends who pop in on a regular basis.
Over time, red flags appear in all sorts of ways from the children to the new husband, your antenna begins to rise.
Until a reveal fairly late in the book brings a surprise that I would have not dreamed up, I had my thoughts going in a few directions.
Definitely movie material, but I think it would be rated at least R for subject matter. There was a little language, but rare. There was one descriptive intimate scene the book would have survived without. In my opinion, I think publishers must strongly suggest to an author you must put that in because it did nothing for or against the book, purely gratuitous. In a movie it would also have some violent scenes but nothing more than you might see on an LMN channel.
In the end, do I recommend? I am iffy on that. It took me so long to finally read past the beginning and get to the meat of it. Had someone told me that, I likely would have gotten it read the first time. At the end of it, I was pleased I had pushed through. So I will leave you to make your decision based on that review.
That is all of the books I am reviewing.
I am currently reading
I loved The Other Woman, maybe I never reviewed that one I will have to check. So once an author gives me something I love, I always return for more. How about you?
What are you reading now?
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