Thursday, August 21, 2025

The Flatshare

 Fiction by Beth O'Leary

Tiffany Moore is desperate to find a new place to live in order to get away from her terrible ex-boyfriend, but she really doesn’t have enough money for anything decent, especially in London. She ends up signing on to a strange flat sharing agreement with a man called Leon, wherein she gets the flat’s single bedroom on nights and weekends, and he occupies it on weekdays from eight am to six pm. 

Theoretically the two of them will never see each other. But the reader can guess that they definitely will …

This was a lovely little straight romance with great characters. I will look for more by this author!

ONE AND A HALF THUMBS UP

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Corpies

 Fiction by Drew Hayes


I'd call this a parallel novel in the "Super-Powered" book series. (see below for the last one of those)

In this book, Owen Daniels (whose sons Herschel and Roy are main characters in the Super-Powered novels) decides to come out of his self-imposed exile and rejoin the world of superheroes. But after so long out of the game, the only team who is willing to take him is a group of Corpies, supers who offer services for corporate hire.

As I would expect from this author, this was a really good story.


I also read recently by this author: Super Powereds Year Four

Monday, August 18, 2025

The Choice: Embrace the Possible

 Nonfiction by Dr. Edith Eva Eger


In 1942 Dr. Eger was a Jewish teenager in a town on the border of Czechoslovakia and Austria. Her father was a talented tailor and her mother and two sisters were accomplished musicians. Then suddenly the Nazis were in power and the family was shipped to Auschwitz. In 1980 Dr. Eger is a respected psychologist in El Paso, Texas. This book is about what happened to her in between.

It's a very moving story and also she has practical advice about overcoming trauma.

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Postern of Fate

 Fiction by Agatha Christie



In this book a pair of over-seventy-year-olds try to solve a mystery almost as old as they are. They take a long time to do it, and the journey is not very interesting. It is probably the worst Agatha Christie book I have read. Still, Mrs. Christie's books are usually so good that I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

I also read recently by this author: By the Pricking of My Thumbs

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

The Thicket

 Fiction by Noelle Ihli


The Thicket is a Halloween attraction in an Iowa cornfield; they have a corn maze, carnival rides, and "haunted" cabins. But what happens if a real-life killer uses the haunted area as his hunting ground?

This is an exciting story that's basically a horror movie in book form.

 I also read by this author: Ask for Andrea

Monday, August 11, 2025

Behind Her Eyes

 Fiction by Sarah Pinborough


Louise is a single mother and a medical receptionist who meets a cute guy in a bar one night  and feels an instant attraction. Then it turns out that the cute guy is David, the new doctor at her work, and he's married. THEN she makes friends with his wife Adele and generally gets way too involved with both of them. 

These are weird and unpleasant people, but the story is definitely exciting. There are some unexpected elements that stretch belief, but the twist ending is a real surprise!



Saturday, August 9, 2025

Always Watching

 Fiction by Chevy Stevens


When Dr. Nadine Lavoy meets a new patient called Heather in the psychiatric ward where she works, she hopes to help the young woman heal after a failed suicide attempt. But then she discovers that Heather has been traumatized by a local "healing center" that sounds an awful lot like a cult. What's more, the cult leader sounds way too much like Aaron Quinn, a man who led a commune that Nadine's own family had briefly joined when she was a teenager. But it couldn't be the same guy, could it?

This was an exciting thriller from several years ago and I will look for more by this author.