A belated Merry Christmas to you all! I hope your holidays have been festive and cheery and filled with love.
So, last month I hit my goal of 75 books for 2024 (I actually surpassed it). However, that doesn’t mean I stopped reading! And since I did complete a few more books, I decided I needed to post a reading challenge update for December, as well.
Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop (Emmeline Duncan)
Rating: 3/5
The Quiet Tenant (Clémence Michallon)
Rating: 5/5
Nothing More to Tell (Karen M. McManus)
Rating: 4/5
Mother Dear: A Slasher Novel (Ivy Tholen)
Rating: 3.5/5
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I read 80 books in 2024. Some bad, some good, some absolutely memorable and definitely re-readable! I guess I’ll see y’all back here for the Goodreads Reading Challenge 2025!!!
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!!! I hope y’all enjoyed your holiday, however you chose to celebrate it. Next stop: Christmas!
I have achieved my reading goal for 2024. Surpassed it, actually, and have three more books I’ve started. I may not finish those, though, because I like to reread the Harry Potter series this time of year.
Here are the books I completed in November.
Finale (Stephanie Garber)
Rating: 4/5
One of Us is Lying (Karen M. McManus)
Rating: 4/5
One of Us is Next (Karen M. McManus)
Rating: 4/5
One of Us is Back (Karen M. McManus)
Rating: 4/5
Good Girls Don’t Die (Christina Henry)
Rating: 1/5
Thanksgiving Day Massacre (Brian G. Berry)
Rating: 3/5
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I am currently reading The Quiet Tenant (Clémence Michallon), Nothing More to Tell (Karen M. McManus), and I’m still working on Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop (Emmeline Duncan).
It has been a doozy of a month, and not in a good way. That’s very unfortunate, since October is typically my favorite month of the year. I still found time to read, though. I’ve been on a streak of interesting books, but I actually had one that I quit without finishing. The story was shaping up to be okay; however, the author couldn’t leave their personal opinions about racism out of the equation – which is fine to an extent, I just don’t need to read about it once every freakin’ paragraph.
Here are the books I did finish in October. I’m in a rush as I write this, so I will rate them but won’t bother with a short review.
Rune (Christopher Fowler)
Rating: 4/5
The Only One Left (Riley Sager)
Rating: 5/5
The Dead Children’s Playground (James Kaine)
Rating: 4/5
As someone who is from Alabama, I had to read this novel that focused on the stories surrounding Maple Hill Cemetery and the Dead Children’s Playground. Let me tell you – it did not disappoint.
The Cotton Candy Massacre: Part Treats (Christopher Robertson)
Rating: 5/5
Buried in a Good Book (Tamara Berry)
Rating: 4/5
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I am currently reading One of Us is Lying (Karen M. McManus), Finale (Stephanie Garber), and Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop (Emmeline Duncan).
It was a pretty good month for me, as far as this challenge goes. I read eight books, but I’ve gotta be honest: I’m not sure I retained much from any of them. Lol. I’ve just been so tired lately. I work a lot, then I have free time and try to maintain some semblance of a social life, along with carving out an hour here and there to do other things I enjoy (blogging, writing short stories, reading).
Being an adult is a total scam.
Anyway, this month’s update is going to be brief. I’m not going to bother with even a short “review.” I’m simply going to share what I read and my ratings. Enjoy!
The Dead Key (DM Pulley)
Rating: 4/5
The Nightmare Man (JH Markert)
Rating: 5/5
Sinister Summer (Colleen Gleason)
Rating: 3/5
Candy Coated Murder (Kate Bell, Kathleen Suzette)
Rating: 2/5
The Collector Series (Dot Hutchison)
Rating: 5/5Rating: 5/5Rating: 4/5Rating: 4/5
I will encourage y’all to check out The Collector series – The Butterfly Garden, The Roses of May, The Summer Children, and The Vanishing Season. I devoured them. The characters were well-written, funny and sarcastic and so very human. The stories were dark but sprinkled with hope and a silver lining each time. I absolutely adored these books.
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I am currently reading Rune (Christopher Fowler) and The Only One Left (Riley Sager).
August was a bit of a slow month for me. I finished seven books. To be fair, I probably could have read more if I hadn’t spent so much time wading through Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. But I digress. I’ll talk more about that below.
Circus of the Dead: Book Two(Kimberly Loth)
Rating: 3/5
I rather enjoyed the way Loth used the first book in this series to develop her characters because I am actually quite partial to slow builds (if done right). However, Circus of the Dead: Book Two went into hyperdrive. Everything moved so quickly, and in my opinion, Loth didn’t dedicate enough time to the story. It was like…BAM!…Callie can do magic and is going to take on Samuel? And everyone sides with her? I don’t know. There is some plot construction missing here. I am going to try the third book, but if it’s as lacking as this one, I will not finish this series.
Murder Mystery Book Club (Danielle Collins)
Rating: 4/5
Y’all know I’m a sucker for cozy mysteries, so I decided to read a summery one, given that it is August. Murder Mystery Book Club was a cute story with likable characters. There were definitely some liberties taken in regard to how involved with the homicide case Eva was allowed to be, but still, this was a fun book.
They All Had a Reason: A rumor. A secret. A lie. A murder. (Michele Leathers)
Rating: 3/5
I don’t have much to say about this book. It was readable. With the characters being teens, They All Had a Reason had its fair share of angst and focused a lot of the social hierarchy, but I did like the main character, Charlotte, and the twist was pretty interesting.
They All Had a Secret: A betrayal. A deception.A tragedy. A murder. (Michele Leathers)
Rating: 2.5/5
Not as readable as the first one. I didn’t care for the characters, though Bellany is a very determined young woman, and you kinda have to admire her every-woman-for-herself attitude. I don’t believe, however, that I will be continuing this series.
Episode Thirteen (Craig DiLouie)
Rating: 4.5/5
I am a big fan of the found footage genre, but I’m not a lover of the paranormal – I prefer slashers – so I hesitated to even read Episode Thirteen. Now, though, I’m very glad I did. I enjoyed the way it was written as a collection of emails, texts, descriptions of raw footage, and journal entries. The character development was very well-done, and each individual had a redeeming quality or two, which made them all likable if not downright relatable. DiLouie did a great job creating atmosphere, and the whole vibe was just…eerie, from start to finish. I would highly recommend adding this to your TBR list.
The Graveyard Thief (Danielle Collins)
Rating: 3/5
I will repeat my praise of the characters, and the need for a willing suspension of disbelief on how far into these cases Eva is being permitted to go. However, I did find something I disliked and could not ignore. Collins repeatedly created situations where Eva would have a conversation with someone, but the content would not be included at the time and would be revealed later in order to not give away the main twist too soon. If you are writing from this character’s point-of-view, even in the third person, you follow everything they say/do. The way Eva figured stuff out was excluded so as not to give away the answers and the plot twist – because the twist wasn’t a strong one.
Ghost Story (Peter Straub)
Rating: 2/5
Okay. This is a difficult review for me. Overall, the story in Ghost Story was a good one. It was definitely creepy. It was also well-thought-out, and Straub had a solid plot with basically zero holes. But oh, my God, did it have to be so LONG?! My attention wandered quite a bit, to be honest, and by the time a point was reached, I didn’t really care anymore. This may be the only instance in which a movie is better than the book it’s based on.
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I am currently reading The Nightmare Man (J.H. Markert), The Dead Key (D.M. Pulley), and Sinister Summer (Colleen Gleason).
My pace slowed a bit in July because this past month has, frankly, kicked my ass. It seems it should be the other way around, right? What better way to escape from stress than to curl up with a good book? Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way for me. I still managed to finish five books, though, which put me at my goal of 50 reads for 2024 – so I changed my goal to 75.
Five Total Strangers (Natalie D. Richards)
Rating: 3.5/5
I enjoyed Five Total Strangers, except for the initial premise. Honestly, why would Mira accept the ride from a stranger? I understand the circumstances were exceptional, and she was desperate to get home, but I just can’t wrap my head around her decision, especially once she saw that Harper had invited others along as well. Willingly suspending my disbelief, however, I sank into this story and I must admit, it kept me guessing until the end.
Christmas Presents (Lisa Unger)
Rating: 4/5
I found Christmas Presents at our local library. It was a good read and definitely held my interest, but the story jumped from high point to high point without a lot of buildup or description of the progression between these major events. Don’t get me wrong: the way things unfolded made sense! The book just needed a little more descriptive filler to bridge the gaps between each event meant to carry the story forward. Plus, I had figured out the twist… When an author pointedly skates over a character too much, it becomes obvious that s/he is going to play a relevant role.
Rules for Vanishing (Kate Alice Marshall)
Rating: 4/5
I liked everything about Rules for Vanishing except the end. The concept of a ghost story and a childhood game being real, of this road to a different reality and each gate bringing about a new horror, was intriguing. Marhsall’s writing was superb, and all of the dark imagery was portrayed expertly. I was particularly creeped out by the town and the house. (The spiders and the lady will the bells were just…eerie!) However, the fact that this became a possession/exorcism story was rather anticlimactic, and the open ending was not my favorite. Sometimes, not spelling things out works to add to the spooky atmosphere, but in this case, I wanted a definite resolution.
Grandma Got Run Over By a Demon (Olivia Jaymes)
Rating: 3.5/5
While I am rather fond of Ravenmist and its cast of unique characters, Grandma Got Run Over By a Demon took a bit of an odd turn. I’m not even bothered by the events themselves, it just seems Jaymes rushed through some things that are important. I don’t want to include any spoilers, but come on – how do you make a trip to Hell a passing mention? This is the first instance I have been displeased with, though, so I will continue with this series. It’s just fun and quirky and humorous, and I’m not ready to give up on Tedi and the others yet.
A Dark Lure (Loreth Anne White)
Rating: 4.5/5
I loved this book! As someone who favors horror/thrillers, A Dark Lure marked basically all of my boxes: a serial killer with a penchant for hunting and gory postmortem rituals, a survivor who is pretty much a badass, a romance that doesn’t overshadow the plot, and an intricate web of twists and turns that all tie in neatly and grant the reader a catharsis at the end. I would highly recommend you adding this to your TBR pile if you enjoy mysteries, suspenseful thrillers, and/or horror novels.
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I am currently reading Ghost Story (Peter Straub) and Circus of the Dead: Book 2 (Kimberly Loth).
Mostly Music 