ginasbookreport

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf a division of Penguin Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Literature / Fiction Read This If You Love: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow “When you love someone, you sign up for the whole thing.” Rachel is 21 and trying to figure out life when one pivotal year changes everything. The year is 2010 and the setting is Ireland where we follow the complex relationships between Rachel, her best friend James, and her professor. What events will butterfly effect out and how will it all end? This is a poignant new novel that I was drawn to by a praise quote from the author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow . Both books fit in the same literary fiction vein and both tackle coming of age stories mixed with societal issues and complex adolescent to adulthood relationships. While I didn’t feel The Rachel Incident  to hold the same level of nostalgia (largely due to the fact that I was the same age as the

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman Publisher:  Minotaur Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Mystery / Thriller / Domestic Thriller Read This If You Love:  Shari Lapena novels “I have crossed paths with many women like Blair. They exude the confidence that must come from never having been deprived of anything…” Sam and Alexis buy their dream home in an upscale DC neighborhood full of massive homes and even more massive bank accounts. Soon enough, they discover their home is a money pit of renovations and the neighborhood is full of troubles, too. Neighbor Blair’s husband Teddy ends up dead off the trail that runs along the houses. On maternity leave, Alexis finds herself trying to hold together her crumbling marriage and house while paranoia and fear is building around her. Who killed Teddy and who is next?  This is a fast little domestic mystery novel that will make for immersive poolside reading. An examination of our perception of society gets tossed with a whodunn

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding Publisher: Minotaur Books an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Thriller / LGBT Read This If You Love: Tana French novels “Maybe it was just one of them, or maybe it was all of them together; maybe it wasn’t any of them at all.” On the eve of the millennium, seven women gather in a decrepit room and in the middle is a severed head. Who is the man? Why did each of these women have motive? And who actually killed him? Speak of the Devil is a police procedural crossed with a gruesome revenge murder mystery. Detective Inspector Nova Stokoe finds herself enveloped in the investigation and what she will find is much more than just a murder.  I really enjoyed this mystery thriller and found it to be super atmospheric and a page turner. The author weaves a tale full of the land minds of trauma that women are exposed to throughout our lives and she does so through layered story telling. Extra kudos for s

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni Publisher: Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Thriller Read This If You Love: Dan Brown / Stephen King / Alex Michaelides “But struggle has the power to purify things.” Mike Brink has a super power…the power to see, solve, and create puzzles. He is the Puzzle Master. After Mike suffered a football injury, his brain altered and he became one of the few suffering savant syndrome. He is happy to occupy his mind with puzzles and taking care of his little dog. The powers that be have other uses for his mind, and Mike is launched into an action-packed quest to solve the greatest puzzle ever known to humanity.  It’s sooooo easy to see why this book is being billed as Dan Brown’s The De Vinci Code meets Alex Michaelides’s The Silent Patient sprinkled with the supernatural of Stephen King. That’s not just a good marketing tag, it’s incredibly accurate! I might add that fans of the shows Supernatural and Westworld  will also enj

Nonna Maria and the Case of the Stolen Necklace by Lorenzo Carcaterra Publisher: Bantam an imprint of Random House a division of Penguin Random House LLC Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Cozy Mystery Read This If You Love:  Miss Marple fans “Lies can always be presented as facts, Captain. And if told well, they are easier to believe. The truth is much more difficult to uncover.”  Nonna Maria is a fixture on the island of Ischia. She is a trusted friend to the island residents and her powers of deduction make her an ally to Captain Murino. It’s tourist season and the island is bustling and the weather warm. All is ideallic, save for a dead body and a missing necklace. Can Nonna Maria solve the mysteries? What a fun read! This book came at just the right time for me when I was finding my normal dark mystery twisted books to be too dreary. Nonna Maria and the Case of the Stolen Necklace  is a cozy mystery with charm and a setting that has you itching for a seaside vacation—minus t

All the Queen’s Men by SJ Bennett Publisher: William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Cozy Mystery / Mystery / Historical Mystery Read This If You Love: The Windsor Knot / Agatha Christie “She felt close, but not quite there yet. She had a murderer in mind, and a victim. But they refused to meet.” A missing painting, a dead body in Buckingham Palace…the Queen is on the case. Rozie works with the Queen to investigate the death of a palace employee who received poisoned pen letters. Rozie is receiving similar letters with seething racism. Can Rozie and the Queen solve all the mysteries and just how is it connected to a missing, yet valuable, painting? Ruth Ware described this book as “ The Crown meets Miss Marple.”  All the Queen’s Men  is a light mystery and is the second in the Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series. While I enjoyed the book well enough, I found it a bit slow and not as interesting as The Windsor Knot . On a side n

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett Publisher: Picador Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Literature / Fiction Read This If You Love: The Windsor Knot “Once I start a book I finish it. That was the way one was brought up. Books, bread and butter, mashed potato—one finished what’s on one’s plate.” Queen Elizabeth II stumbles upon the traveling library that stops at the castle each week. This sets her off on a journey of reading. Much to the disappointment of her handlers, she changes her daily habits to fit her reading and wants to chat about books and recommend them. This isn’t the Queen they are used to and can manage.  The Uncommon Reader  is a short novella about the love of books and reading. I wanted to love this little book, but I just didn’t find it to be for me. Although I enjoyed the message of the book, the plot lacks in movement. Like the fictional Queen’s quote above, I finished the novella that was on my plate. Now, I will say that the end has a punch to it. “Books are