Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Fall 2019 TBR

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is: Books On My Fall 2019 TBR. My list is comprised of ARCs, anticipated fall releases, and a couple others that I’m hoping to just be able to make time for soon.

1. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

2. The Burning Shadow (Origin #2) by Jennifer L Armentrout

3. Lake Season (Bluebell Inn Romance #1) by Denise Hunter

4. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

5. Marriage on Madison Avenue (Central Park Pact #3) by Lauren Layne

6. The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters

7. Endgame (Fawkes and Baxter #3) by Daniel Cole

8. The Plus One by Sophia Money-Coutts

9. Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower

10. The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

What are you reading this Fall?

Review: Hangman (Detective William Fawkes #2) by Daniel Cole

Synopsis from Good Reads:

How do you catch a killer who’s already dead?

Eighteen months have passed, but the scars the Ragdoll murders left behind remain.

DCI Emily Baxter is summoned to a meeting with US Special Agents Elliot Curtis of the FBI and Damien Rouche of the CIA. There, she is presented with photographs of the latest copycat murder: a body contorted into a familiar pose, strung up impossibly on the other side of the world, the word BAIT carved deep into its chest.

As the media pressure intensifies, Baxter is ordered to assist with the investigation and attend the scene of another murder to discover the same word scrawled across the victim, carved across the corpse of the killer – PUPPET.

As the murders continue to grow in both spectacle and depravity on both sides of the Atlantic, the team helplessly play catch up. Their only hope: to work out who the ‘BAIT’ is intended for, how the ‘PUPPETS’ are chosen but, most importantly of all, who is holding the strings.

Ragdoll was my favorite book of 2017 and I have been anxiously waiting for the follow-up ever since. Though the American release date is not for a couple more months, I won a giveaway for a book of my choice and was very excited to see I could get a UK edition of Hangman. While it didn’t quite live up to all my expectations, it was a well-written, engrossing mystery.

I’m going to get what I didn’t like about it out of the way first. You know how some people say “religion in a book ruins it for me”? Well, I am kind of the opposite. A strong Anti-God theme and mocking religion can ruin it for me. The book basically starts out with a character saying there is no God and it really just started me off on the wrong foot with the story. Any mention of God or religion throughout the book was condemning and I found it kind of offensive. While I wouldn’t say the atheism was a strong theme throughout the plot or anything, it was kind of brought up several times and I have to say it diminished my enjoyment a bit.

I thought the overall mystery was well-done. It was methodical and intriguing and suspenseful. Cole did a good job of making the atmosphere very tense and – at times – creepy. There was still some of the dark humor I appreciated from Ragdoll, but I didn’t think it was as funny as the first book.

After the events of Ragdoll unfolded, I really didn’t know how this William Fawkes series could continue. Hangman shifts focus to really shine the light on Baxter. I kind of hated Baxter in the first book and I have to say I don’t really like her any better here. She is smart and determined, but she’s deeply paranoid, self-centered, and abrasive. She is an interesting character, but it was kind of hard to care about her. Thankfully, my dear, sweet Edmunds was back, too. I absolutely adored him in the first book and continued to in this one. I also really enjoyed the introduction of CIA Agent Rouche. He was quirky and sad and I kind of loved him.

Overall, I did enjoy Hangman. I really like Cole’s writing and how he can mix humor in with such dark subjects. I liked the mystery and most of the characters. While I was offended by the mocking of religious beliefs and it did lessen my enjoyment a bit, it didn’t all out ruin the book for me. The very ending really has me looking forward to what will happen next.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Reviewing the Unreviewed: April 2018

I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing for whatever reason. Some because I wasn’t impressed. Some because I didn’t have the time. Some I just wasn’t feeling it on whatever particular day I finished. Reviewing the Unreviewed is my monthly post where I share my few thoughts on all the books I didn’t formally review.

Moonshot by Alessandra Torre. Read March 30-31. (Yes this was in March, but my Reviewing the Unreviewed: March posted before I finished this). 3.5 Stars. 

Short chapters for the win! I really liked how this book was written. I liked how it was told mostly through Ty’s 1st person, but occasionally shifted to Chase and also some other little snippets. I loved that the chapters were so short. It made reading this kind of lengthy book not seem long at all. I did start out liking Ty and Chase, even though the age difference was a bit uncomfortable. She was 17 when they first met, but turned 18 not too soon after and he was 5 years older. However, as the book goes on there is So. Much. Cheating. It really took my enjoyment of the book way down. I liked that there was kind of a twist in who the murderer was, but the reasoning behind it I didn’t feel made much sense. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and did mostly like the characters, but I dropped my rating down from 4 stars because there is never an excuse for cheating.

Awaken: 90Days with the God Who Speaks by Priscilla Shirer. Read January 1-March 31. (Yes this was in March, but my Reviewing the Unreviewed: March posted before I finished this). 4 Stars. 

There are a lot of things I decide to do on January 1st that I give up on later that month. Thankfully, that didn’t happen with this devotional. I committed to reading it daily and I actually did it. My spiritual life and relationship with God has been lacking a lot over the last couple of years and I feel this book definitely helped. I still have a long ways to go, but I feel on the right track. As for the book itself, I thought it started out a little run-of-the-mill, but as we got further into it, I found the lessons went a little deeper and I learned more. I would definitely check out other books by Priscilla Shirer.

Co-Wrecker (Binghamton #1) by Meghan Quinn. Read March 25-April 1. 3 Stars. 

I always think Meghan Quinn books sound funny, but wasn’t sure they would be for me since they also sounded pretty sex-centered. Having finally read one, I think I can safely say that I won’t be reading any more from her. While I thought the story was ok and did kind of like the characters, there was way too much graphic content for me to be able to take the book seriously. I also thought Andrew started out so awkward and sweet and quickly turned into someone really crude and was kind of hard to like at times because of it. I almost DNF-ed the book a couple of times, but I was far enough into it that I figured I might as well finish it. So why is this getting 3 stars? I’m giving it an extra star because it did make me LOL several times.

Infinity + One by Amy Harmon Read April 1-3. 4 Stars. 

Amy Harmon always writes such beautiful books, but I think she needs to work on the blurbs. For some reason, I never think that any of her books sound good, based on the synopsis, but I’ve really liked everything I’ve read by her and this was no exception. I loved the characters and the romance and the writing. It did drag a little bit towards the middle, but for the most part the character development made up for the slower pace. I also got a little frustrated with Bonnie’s refusal to be responsible and have a conversation with anyone (namely the authorities) about the legal issues. I felt it was really selfish, especially considering Finn’s past, when the whole thing could have been cleared up so easily. Other than those couple of things I really enjoyed this one and definitely recommend it.

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. Read April 5-8. 3 Stars. 

I thought this started and ended well, but dragged a lot in the middle. I was underwhelmed with the underwater scenes and description (in one there’s talk about wiping away someone’s tears and I just don’t understand how that could happen underwater…). I kind of liked how awful both of the main characters could be. This was not nearly as romance heavy as I thought it would be, so it was kind of a nice change of pace from most of the YA Fantasy I’ve read. I liked it enough that I would probably check out more from this author, but I don’t think this is one that I would want to re-read.

The Dreamer (Dreamland #1) by E.J. Mellow. Read April 8-9. 3 Stars. 

I think if I had read this a couple years ago I probably would’ve really liked it, but I think now my tastes have kind of changed and I have a little higher standards, so I thought this was good, but not great. I thought it took too long for things to get explained and when they were, they were still kind of confusing. It’s kind of a different love triangle that the norm, but I still didn’t care for it. The characters were ok, but I never fell in love with any of them. I am interested to see what happens, so I’m going to try to get to the other books before my Kindle Unlimited subscription is cancelled.

The Dreamcatcher (Dreamland #1.5) by E.J. Mellow. Read April 10. 3 Stars. 

This didn’t really give me much more insight into Dev or his world than I got from the first book. It wasn’t bad, though.

Ninja Girl by Cookie O’Gorman. Read April 12-14. 3.5 Stars. 

This was pretty cute. I liked how Snow was the one doing the saving/protecting, even if I thought hiring a teenage girl to be a bodyguard was a little unbelievable. I liked Snow and Ash and their relationship. I thought the rest of the characters were a little underdeveloped, though. And just like in Adorkable, the best friend character brought the story down a bit. Min-Lee was supportive of Snow for the most part, but I thought her not only staying friends with the mean girl that constantly made fun of Snow, but insisting Snow hang out with her as well was pretty awful friend behavior.

Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon. Read April 14-15. 4 Stars. 

Since this was Amy Harmon’s first book, I kind of expected it not to be as good as all of her others. Of course I was wrong. It was beautiful and emotional and thought-provoking and I loved it. I loved the characters and all they went through. Even though it starts out with an uncomfortable age difference, there weren’t any lines crossed. I also love the way that Harmon can weave faith into the story so effortlessly that even people who often say “religion ruins a book” for them don’t mind it.

Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin. Read April 15-18. 2 Stars. 

It pains me to say this, but I found Paper Ghosts to be a big waste of time. Full review to come next month.

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier. Read April 20-21. 4 Stars. 

Wow. I hardly know where to even begin with this. Jar of Hearts is the kind of book that you’re almost afraid to say you enjoyed because of how dark and twisted it is. But it’s one of the best books I’ve read in awhile. Full review to come next month.

My Sister’s Intended (Serendipity #1) by Rachael Anderson. Read April 19-22. 3 Stars. 

A sweet and clean romance. Though the characters were likable, I had a little bit of trouble becoming invested in the story and almost decided to DNF it. I’m glad I decided to finish it, though, since the last couple chapters were pretty enjoyable. I also really love the cover of this one.

I Wanna Text You Up by Teagan Hunter. Read April 23-24. 3.5 Stars. 

While I liked Let’s Get Textual a little better, I enjoyed this one, as well. I really didn’t care for Zoe in the previous book, so I was a little hesitant going into this one, but she did eventually grow on me. I liked Caleb, as well. I didn’t like that they were into each other so immediately. I wish there was a little more build up – especially since Caleb is the ex-boyfriend of Zoe’s best friend. (Speaking of best friend, I loved that we got to see a little more of Zach and Delia! I would’ve loved even more of them.) Overall, this was a fun and quick read and I might need to check out more from this author.

Hangman (Detective William Fawkes #2) by Daniel Cole. Read April 25-28. 4 Stars. 

Ragdoll was my favorite book of 2017 and I have been anxiously waiting for the follow-up ever since. Though the American release date is not for a couple more months, I won a giveaway for a book of my choice and was very excited to see I could get a UK edition of Hangman. While it didn’t quite live up to all my expectations, it was a well-written, engrossing mystery. Full review to come.

My Blog’s Name in Books

I saw this tag over on Fictionophile not too long ago and thought it looked fun. The basic rules are to use your current TBR list (no cheating!) to spell out your blog’s name. This might take awhile, folks.

S

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

T

Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering

E

Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5) by Lisa Scottoline

P

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

H

Hangman (Detective Williams Fawkes #2) by Daniel Cole

A

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

N

Nearlyweds by Beth Kendrick

I

It’s Always the Husband by Michele Campbell

E

The Echo Killing (Harper McClain #1) by Christi Daugherty

‘S

Silent Scream (D. I. Kim Stone # 1) by Angela Marsons

B

Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

O

One Small Thing by Erin Watt

O

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

K

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

R

Rolling in the Deep (Rolling in the Deep #0.5) by Mira Grant

E

Each Little Lie by Tom Bale

V

Visions (Cainsville #2) by Kelley Armstrong

I

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

E

The Ever After by Sarah Pekkanen

W

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

S

Still Me (Me Before You #3) by Jojo Moyes

Do we have similar books on our TBRs? Did you find anything you wanted to add to yours?

Feel free to tag yourself if you’d like to play.

Favorite Mysteries and Thrillers

This week on Good Reads is Mystery and Thriller Week, so I thought I’d celebrate by sharing some of my favorite books from the genre (links go to my reviews).

 

Sharon Bolton is one of my very favorite authors and all of her books I’ve read have been great, but my two favorite books by her (and just favorites in general) are Daisy in Chains and Now You See Me (Lacey Flint #1).

The Imogen Grey series by Katerina Diamond is fantastic. Be forewarned that they are pretty dark, but they are so worth it!

Ragdoll (Detective William Fawkes #1) by Daniel Cole. This book completely lived up to the hype and I am dying for the next in the series.

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin. A different take on the serial-killer novel, smartly written, and just look at that cover!

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen totally lived up to the hype for me. I thought I had it all figured out, but that twist completely got me.

Lies She Told by Cate Holahan. The story within a story really worked for me and I loved this.

I would be remiss to have a list about my favorite mysteries without including a book by one of my favorite authors, Linwood Barclay. I really enjoy his Promise Falls books and The Twenty-Three really stood out for the panic-inducing atmosphere the book starts out with.

Another favorite author I need to mention is Karin Slaughter. I really love her Will Trent series, as well as her standalone titles.

Ok, I’m going to stop myself here because I could go on and on with this topic. If you want to find some more great mystery titles, I am going to refer you to my favorite Mystery blogger: Annie @ TheMisstery. Several of the books I mentioned above I discovered because of her. I feel like almost every blog post she writes results in me adding another book to my TBR.

And lastly, I’m going to leave you with this fun little game that is over on Good Reads. What is the name of your mystery novel? Mine is The Stalker on Flight 42. 

What are some of your favorite mysteries and thrillers? What was the title of your mystery novel?

End of the Year Survey: 2017

This End of the Year survey was created by The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Number Of Books You Read: 134
Number of Re-Reads: 5
Genre You Read The Most From: Mystery/Suspense

1. Best Book You Read In 2017?

(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2017 release vs. backlist)

Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton, Ragdoll by Daniel Cole, Making Faces by Amy Harmon and Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg. I gave all these books 4.5 stars and I can’t pick between them.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. I thought this looked adorable and had so much potential, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. Didn’t think it would be my cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

I can’t think of a book that I really pushed on people this year. I recommended Sharon Bolton to just about everyone, but I’m not sure if anyone actually read anything of hers because of me. 

 5. Best series you started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017?

Started: The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

Sequel: The Secret by Katerina Diamond

Ender: The Song of David by Amy Harmon

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017?

Sharon Bolton, Amy Harmon, and Elizabeth Eulberg

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I’m going to go with The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue again. I don’t read a lot of Historical Fiction these days or LGBT+ books.

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

I read a lot of thrilling and unputdownable books this year, but I think the most action-packed/fast paced would be Don’t Let Go by Harlan Coben.

 9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton bc I just got it for Christmas and am itching to read it again.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017?

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills. She always has the best covers.

11. Most memorable character of 2017?

David Drucker from What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017?

Nothing really stands out, but probably anything by Amy Harmon.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017?

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? 

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg. My first book by Eulberg and I discovered a new favorite author.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2017?

From Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren:

I try to ignore the pressure to be coupled up, but it’s everywhere…There’s my own biological clock, quietly yet persistently ticking away…But of course there’s that niggling voice suggesting I not care about any of it, that maybe I should give in and buy the cats instead. The problem is that I don’t like them. I may be a terrible married person someday, but I know for sure I would be an even worse cat lady.

“Evie?”

“Sorry…I was just trying to figure out whether I could still be a crazy cat lady without the actual animals.”

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?

Shortest: Winging It by Cate Cameron

Longest: Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

How I did this: Went to my read books on Goodreads and sorted by page number and just looked for what I knew I read this year that was the shortest and longest.

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Lark and Tiras from The Bird and the Sword, Evie and Carter from Dating You/Hating You, and Lacey and Josebury from the Lacey Flint series.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Declan and Rev from Letters to the Lost

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins

21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Now You See Me by SJ Bolton (AKA Sharon Bolton). It wasn’t really a personal recommendation, but I saw a review on The Misstery. Many books I’ve read and loved this year came from Annie.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017?

I loved Matt from Always You by Denise Grover Swank.

23. Best 2017 debut you read?

Ragdoll from Daniel Cole

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware. Did not like the book, but she really knows how to set a scene!

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017?

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

   

The DS Imogen Grey series by Katerina Diamond. More people need to read this!!

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Making Faces by Amy Harmon.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017?

The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

The Lying Game

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017?

I can never answer this question. There’s been so many.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2017?

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins. Sometimes the worst books make for the most fun reviews.

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

Convince me to buy a Kindle (I think it’s also the only discussion post I wrote)

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I went to three author events: Linda Castillo, Karin Slaughter, and Lisa Scottoline.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017?

Linda Castillo remembered my name at her book signing from previous book signings. Also, I’m counting this as blogging life, I finally got to meet Brandie from Running on Words and Wine!

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Going through long periods of time where I had no patience for romance or contemporary novels. Also, personal life issues put reading on hold a lot of the time.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Most viewed of the year was the review for Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo that I wrote a couple years ago, but the most viewed from 2017 content was the review for Fallen Heir by Erin Watt.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

All of them 🙂

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Not really a discovery, but I finally bit the bullet and got a Kindle Paperwhite.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I did the Good Reads Challenge and surpassed my goal of 100 books.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018?

Maybe not number 1 priority, but I still need to read Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)?

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

There’s not really one on my radar right now.

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2018?

Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi – the continuation of the Shatter Me series.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018?

Be more consistent on writing reviews for non-ARCs.

6. A 2018 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

The Wife Between Us

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Books of 2017

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is: Top Ten Favorite Books of 2017. Here are mine, in no particular order (all links go to my review – Yes, I actually wrote proper reviews on all of these books!):

1. Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

2. Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton

3. Making Faces by Amy Harmon

4. Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

5. Now You See Me by SJ Bolton (AKA: Sharon Bolton)

6. Dating You/Hating You by Christian Lauren

7. Lies She Told by Cate Holahan

8. The Secret by Katerina Diamond

9. One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

10. When It’s Real by Erin Watt

What are some of your favorite books you read this year?

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I’ve Read Because of Blogging

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is: Books You’ve Read Because of Booktube/Blogging/etc. I’m going to try to keep this to books I’ve read this year.

1. Now You See Me (Lacey Flint #1) by SJ Bolton (aka Sharon Bolton). As with many books in this genre, I read this book because of Annie @ The Misstery.

2. Making Faces by Amy Harmon. There is so much love for Amy Harmon in the blogging community that I had to finally check her out and now I understand. I’m pretty sure I first heard of her through Brandie @ Running on Words and Wine and it was Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse who let me know when this book was up for request on NetGalley.

3. Ragdoll by Daniel Cole. Again, it was Annie’s review that made me read this one and I loved it.

4. The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle. I kept seeing this book all over the book blogs so I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype for me. I did like that ending, though!

5. Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker. Another book that was everywhere that didn’t quite live up to the hype for me.

What books have you read because of the blogging community?

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag: 2017

I’ve seen this tag around a lot recently and was thinking about doing it and then I was tagged by Raven over at Dreamy Addictions (go check her out!). Thanks Raven! Feel free to tag yourself if you’d like.

Best Book You’ve Read Yet in 2017.

   

I can’t pick just one, but the 3 books I have rated the highest are: Daisy in Chains, Making Faces, and Ragdoll

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2017.

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab. I thought this was a good ending to the series and I liked it MUCH more than the previous book.

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To.

Strange the Dreamer. I got it once at the library, but wasn’t in the mood for it. I then won it in a giveaway so I definitely need to read it.

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year.

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills.

Biggest Disappointment.

  

Final Girls by Riley Sager and Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh.

Biggest Surprise.

Now You See Me. I had never read anything by this author before and when I read this it pulled me out of a book slump and completely consumed me.

Favorite New Author.

Sharon Bolton (aka: S. J. Bolton)

Newest Fictional Crush.

Carter Aaron from Dating You / Hating You

Newest Favorite Character.

Lacey Flint and Mark Joesbury.

Book That Made You Cry.

Making Faces by Amy Harmon.

Book That Made You Happy.

When It’s Real by Erin Watt

Favorite Book to Film Adaptation.

I am wracking my brain and I don’t think that I’ve watched any. I saw the first episode of the Big Little Lies tv series (and then my free HBO expired) and thought it was ok, but it did not live up to my expectations.

Favorite Post You Have Done This Year.

Convince me to Buy a Kindle because you all did, in fact, convince me to buy a Kindle.

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year.

I’ve only actually bought three books this year and I am honestly not a fan of any of their covers.

What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year.

Lucky in Love by Kasie West

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

Blind Spot by Dani Pettrey

Feel free to tag yourself if you’d like to participate

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I’ve Read In 2017 So Far

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish , is: Best Books You’ve Read In 2017 So Far. Books 1-3 are the ones I’ve given 4.5 Stars to and all the rest have 4. It was hard to narrow down which 4 star reads would make the list, but I went for the ones that are the most likely to be re-reads in the future.

1. Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton

2. Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

3. Making Faces by Amy Harmon

4. Seeking Mansfield by Kate Watson

5. Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter

6. Now You See Me by Sharon Bolton (aka SJ Bolton)

7. I Found You by Lisa Jewell

8. Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren

9. The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond

10. When It’s Real by Erin Watt

What are your best books of 2017?