ginasbookreport

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Cozy Mystery / Mystery Read This If You Love: Clue / Fans of C.C. Benison’s Father Christmas Mystery Series “…rosemary for remembrance.” Rosemary Barton died at her own birthday table. A year later, six people gather at the table again this time with an empty spot. Rosemary’s complicated relationships have a habit of bringing out the most passionate side of people. Did one of them kill her? Will there be more bodies at the table? This is the final book in which Colonel Race is featured and this time he is without his friend Poirot. Race puts his MI5 training to work in order to solve this mystery. I read Sparkling Cyanide  as part of the #ReadChristie2023 read-along. The April prompt of poison was a perfect fit for this little novel. 

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dannie Walton Publisher: 37 Ink an imprint of Simon & Schuster Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Literature / Fiction / Historical Fiction Read This If You Love: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow / Razorblade Tears “The backbone dropped out.” The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a tour de force of a novel. This historical fiction book is told in the oral history style and details the series of events that brought together and ripped apart the rock duo of Opal Jewel and Neville Charles. As journalist S. Sunny Shelton conducts her research to write the novel, she discovers the ugly truth of racism, discrimination, lies, and gut-wrenching heinous behavior. At its core, this book peels back the layers of what it means to be a black woman in the United States—even if you are a celebrity. Opal takes the brunt of the harsh criticisms regarding events, even though her actions were on the side of right and others were despicable. Opal is

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott Publisher: Anchor Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Fantasy / Science Fiction Read This If You Love: Neil Gaiman books / American Gods “Kill the lantern, raise the ghost.” My husband and I read Thistlefoot  as a buddy read, so you will see here our individual reviews.  Gina’s Take on Thistlefoot Bellatine and Isaac Yaga live in a mirror world of our own that possesses mystical happenings and powers. Estranged from one another, Bellatine is more comfortable with her carpentry and quiet life and Isaac is a shapeshifting nomad. All that is until they receive an inheritance from a distant ancestor. An inheritance that also comes with being pursued by the Longshadow Man. What does he want and just how dangerous is he?  Thistlefoot  is a dark fairy tale combined with folklore and mixed with modern fantasy. Nethercott masterfully crafts a fantasy world against which she paints the picture of our generational connections to ancestors. While bo

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz Publisher: Atria Books an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Horror / Thriller Read This If You Love: Stacy Willingham or CJ Tudor novels “Let this be a lesson to everyone. If you’re going to do stupid shit, do it well. Don’t be lazy enough to be caught so easily.”—Roza Vallo Writing a book might be the easiest part of this retreat. Publishing is a dangerous sport, but attending an immersive writing retreat with your idol could just prove to be deadly. Alex spends her days tolling away in publishing, mourning the falling out with her best friend, and battling writer’s block. When the opportunity presents itself to attend a writing retreat with her favorite author and idol, she can’t pass that up. Roza Vallo is known as a brilliant writer with strong feminist motivation. What could go wrong? Well, like they say…”Don’t meet your idols.” I have a theory about why some people hate this book while other

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati Publisher:  Sourcebooks Landmark Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Literature / Fiction Read This If You Love:  Madeline Miller’s Circe , Susanna Clarke’s  Piranesi So Leda’s daughters,  two lethal brides,  will twice and thrice wed.  One will launch Greece in a thousand ships,  her beauty the ruin of her land,  and the men sent to rescue her  will come back ashes and bones.  The other, the queen hell-bent on revenge,  will rise in the house of Mycenae,  loyal to those who revere her,  savage to those who oppose her. If you are a fan of mythological retellings, Clytemnestra is a book you shouldn’t miss. In other stories, she is Helen’s sister and Agamemnon’s wife, but in this book, Clytemnestra takes center stage. Told through her eyes, we follow her life of being a huntress, warrior, mother, murderer, and queen. While woman are often depicted in classic mythology as having little agency and meek players in a bigger story, Clytemnestra is a fie

The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (translated by Ho-Ling Wong) Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Second in the House Murders series Read This If You Love: Locked Room Mysteries / The Decagon House Murders “The night was drawing to a close. A night that had toyed with them. It was only at dawn that finally, the bizarre culmination of all that had happened in the house would become apparent.” Every year, Fujinuma Kiichi hosts a gathering in honor of his father Fujinuma Issei—the acclaimed painter. This year, however, is different. All the usual guests gather at the Mill House to view the collection of Issei’s works. Suddenly, there are multiple dead, someone missing, and a theft—all while a typhoon rages outside. They are all trapped. A year later, they once again gather and this time around a mysterious uninvited guest is there to uncover the truth.  The Mill House Murders  is a classic locked-room mystery and the second in the House

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin Publisher:  Ballantine Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy Read This If You Love: Blake Crouch The Ferryman is a dystopian novel of speculative fiction. Prospera is an island created by the Designer where people can live long and fulfilling lives. When their embedded monitors fall below 10%, they are ferried to the Nursery where they are renewed and their memories are cleared away. They restart a fresh life back in Prospera. Proctor Bennett is a ferryman who guides citizens through the retirement process. He has dutifully done his job with gentleness. But, something is off for Proctor. He has dreams…an unheard of thing in Prospera. His own monitor is starting to unexplainably alter. Then, he is called out to retire a man and it doesn’t go according to protocol. Something is amiss in Proctor Bennett’s world. What is happening around him? What is happening to him?  This novel is layer after layer of crafted storytelling. The worl