ginasbookreport

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier Publisher:  Minotaur Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Mystery / Thriller Read This If You Love: Jar of Hearts “She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes.”—Billy Joel Paris Peralta comes to in a bloody bathroom with her famous husband dead beside her. Did she murder her husband? She can’t remember. Secrets are nothing new to Paris and she can’t afford to have any of them uncovered. Murdering her husband is the least of her worries. Ruby Reyes, known as the “Ice Queen,” is being released from prison and she knows all of Paris’s secrets. They are on a collision course and the podcast host of  Things We Do in the Dark is digging into it all, as well. The book is divided into a few different parts to isolate the individual stories until they combine. I found the Paris sections to be riveting and the podcast/Ruby sections dropped my interest level. While I understand the structure, perhaps having more shorter sections wou

Play the Fool by Lina Chern Publisher:  Penguin Random House / Bantam Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 Genre: Mysteries/Thirlller Read This If You Love: Cozy Mysteries When Katie’s friend Marley goes missing, the tarot card reader’s senses go on high alert. She sets out to find who has committed nefarious acts against her friend. Katie finds herself in equally awkward and dangerous situations along the way. Can she psychic her way to solving the disappearance? Told through flashbacks to Marley and Katie interactions and present time, broke the flow a bit, but it was still an interesting read with a surprising amount of humor. The chapters in present time with Nico and Officer Jamie were witty and stronger storytelling. The Jamie and Katie dynamic really drive the second half of the novel. The book is packed full of interesting and colorful characters that lead it to be more cozy mystery and less crime novel. My personal favorites were Jamie (duh) and Owen. If this continues on

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes Publisher:  Dutton (audiobook) Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Psychological Thriller / Mystery Read This If You Love:  Riley Sager / Lisa Jewell / Three Pines tv series “If she was delusional, then she wasn’t in danger.” Maya watched as her friend dropped dead in the presence of a mysterious man named Frank. Years later, Frank resurfaces when another woman dies suddenly near him. Maya sets out to understand what is happening…paranoia, bad luck, or murder?  The House in the Pines  was a book I picked up (via audiobook from the library) because it was a Reese’s Book Club pick. While I typically really enjoy the books selected for that group, this book was not for me. I kept wanting the book to be something different…more horror or mystical. It instead skirts the edge of magical realism, or does it? The payoff just wasn’t there for me in the end of the story. If you are looking for more of a psychological thriller, I really enjoyed Lisa Jewell’s

American Mermaid by Julia Langbein Publisher:  Doubleday New York / Penguin Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Fantasy Read This If You Love: A WILD ride of a book Decisions happen sometimes without being made precisely. This book is wiiiiillllldddd . One minute it is a humor novel, the next it’s a feminist story, then a statement on the environment. The characters are colorful…some you love and some you love to hate. I feel certain that American Mermaid will be memorable for many years to come. Definitely a unique novel. I literally had moments where I said out loud, “What am I reading!?!” Then, I was like…but I REALLY like it? It was so out there and I can’t wait to see what a wider audience thinks. (Side note: I was drawn to American Mermaid  based on an endorsement quote from Madeline Miller. Miller authored two of my all-time favorite books, Circe and The Song of Achilles . If you haven’t read those, add them to your tbrpile.) Penelope is a teacher in Connec

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas Publisher: Avid Reader Press, a division of Simon & Schuster Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Literature / Fiction Read This If You Love: Fiction with depth  “It felt like both life and beyond life.”   Where to start?!? Vladimir  has been referred to as controversial, subversive, and provocative. I found it to be a novel of great depth with thoughtful (yes, controversial) fictional discussion of agency versus power and manipulation. If you come to this book looking for a contemporary romance, it is not the right book for you. If you are looking for a sophisticated and well written debut novel that is thought provoking, grab a copy of Vladimir  now. Our narrator is a 50-something English professor at an upstate New York college. Her husband has been accused of having sexually inappropriate involvement with many of his former students. No surprise to his wife, as they’ve long had an open marriage. But, just because she is okay with it, does that

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell Publisher:  Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc. Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Cozy Mystery / Mystery Read This If You Love: Agatha Christie / The Great British Baking Show  / Maid by Nita Prose “It is something else, too, an escape of sorts, a glimpse into a simpler way of being where people are kind to one another…” Betsy, described as an icon—the Julia Child of baking, is the host of Bake Week , which is filmed at her family estate of Grafton in Vermont. In this cozy setting, we meet the new season of contestants and crew. What could go wrong as they bake up breads, pies, and other tasty treats? More than recipes are being cooked up during the new season of Bake Week . Every person has a reason why they are at Grafton, but not all of the drama is in the baking tent.  Well, I don’t think you can get more cozy mystery than the setting for this book. It’s a light mystery full of loads of baking references. I consumed this in

All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay Publisher:  Ballantine Books an imprint of Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Mysteries/Thrillers Read This If You Love: Defending Jacob / legal thrillers & mysteries Omnia mea mecum porto  I’ve been waiting for a new book from Landay for ages. Defending Jacob  was a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, and it sticks out in my memory for how consumed I felt while reading it. (Side note: I don’t always go with the concept that the book is always better than the movie/TV show. However, in this case, the book is SO superior to the TV series.) Landay has done it again! I couldn’t put this book down. When Phil, an author struggling for a topic for his next novel, reconnects with his old school buddy, Jeff. Phil finds himself delving into his friend’s family mystery that centers around a mother who vanished one day and has never been found. Jeff’s lawyer father, artistic sister, and not-present brother round out the fami

The Final Curtain (Piper Greene Exeter Mysteries #2) by Lara Bricker Publisher:  Independent Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Cozy Mystery Read This If You Love:  C.C. Benison Mysteries / The Maid “…old secrets did have a way of turning deadly.” —Piper Greene The Final Curtain is the second book in the Piper Greene Exeter mystery series. The first book is Dead on Deadline and while you don’t have to read them both to follow the storyline in the second one, I would recommend reading them in order. This is a very fluffy and light cozy mystery series—lots of quaint town descriptions, mentions of yummy foods abound, and the characters are all full of quirks.  We are back in Exeter, New Hampshire with our favorite nosy journalist, Piper Greene. Not even a few pages in and she’s done it again…stumbled upon another dead body. The colorful townspeople are in a hubbub over another murder in their little village and Piper is on the case. Will she uncover the truth of why the man was mur