I’ve been on a reading tear lately – and I’ve been TOTALLY remiss in blogging all my reviews. So here we go… a great big, gigantic reading roundup of ALL the new books I’ve read lately! Let’s go!
–Marissa
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood basically ruined me for other books for like a week. It was SO good, y’all. SO good…but it isn’t for everyone. Wavy is a little girl growing up in abject, horrid circumstances, and the only ally she has in the world is a tattooed bike named Kellan. Their evolution as two people is just dark and beautiful and amazing and un-put-down-able. Definitely one of my favorite – if not my favorite – book of the year.
Mischling by Affinity Konar is a tough read, but an important one. Stasha and Pearl are twin girls of mixed heritage – known as “mischling” – who are made a part of Dr. Mengele’s zoo in Auschwitz. This harrowing novel is about their survival, their bond, and the aftermath of the Holocaust. You’ll see this one on a LOT of “best of” lists…
The Highlander by Kerrigan Byrne is the third in Byrne’s Victorian Rebels series, and she is rapidly becoming one of my favorite historical romance authors (right up there with Tessa Dare, Eloisa James and Sarah MacLean!). I love her flawed characters, her emotional writing, her witty moments and her happily-ever-afters. I dug this one as much as the others!
Girl Underwater by Claire Kells pulled me in and didn’t let go until the last page. Avery is a normal 19-year-old student on her college swim team, on her way home for the holidays. But when the plane crashes in the Rockies with few survivors, we are taken on a back-and-forth journey between what happened in the wilderness… and what happened after. I couldn’t stop reading this one! So good!
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue is an upcoming release, and takes place in 1850s Ireland. Anna is a young girl who has apparently lived, for FOUR MONTHS, without any food. Religious miracle or hoax? English Nurse Lib is assigned to watch the girl and try to solve the mystery, but gets entangled in the story herself. A different, but compelling, read!
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware is just a dandy suspense novel that took no time to start and finish! Lo is a journalist assigned to be a passenger on a new luxury yacht for her travel magazine, but the first night on board, she hears a splash – and sees a woman drop into the sea below. But the next day she finds… no one was assigned to that cabin. Dun, duh, DUN! A good summer page-turner!
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena is another quick suspense novel. A dinner party goes terribly wrong when a crime is committed right under the nose of Anne and Marco Conti. But who is to blame? This one shifts suspicion left and right until you reach the finale!
The Sixth Idea by PJ Tracy is the latest in the “Monkeewrench” series from mother-and-daughter writing duo Tracy, and is another great addition to the series about crime solving and technogeekdom. Be sure to start with Monkeewrench – it’s great!
Siracusa by Delia Ephron has been everywhere this summer. Two couples (and the daughter of one of them) travel to Italy for a vacation, and let’s just say these two couples have no business vacationing together. 😉 Betrayals, mysteries, martial woes and romance all weave together tighter and tighter until the shocking finale. I wanted to love this more than I did, but it was still a speedy summer read!
I also read Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter (it was small and strange and weird) as well as All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker (took me a bit to get into it, but then it was a page turner!). What have you been reading lately, friends?
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