December, 2023
December 3rd, 2023, 2:33 p.m. - I liked the advice column stuff more than I thought I would
50. Opinions (Roxane Gay)
Up next: Mother-Daughter Murder Night (Nina Simon)
December 12th, 2023, 5:52 p.m. - This was not as light as I expected
51. Mother-Daughter Murder Night (Nina Simon)
Up next: She's Nice Though (Mia Mercado)
December 17th, 2023, 6:43 p.m. - Mia Mercado wants a twin. That might be me
52. She's Nice Though (Mia Mercado)
Up next: Bring Me Back (B.A. Paris)
December 24th, 2023, 3:06 p.m. - Russian dolls
53. Bring Me Back (B.A. Paris)
Up next: The September House (Carissa Orlando)
December 31st, 2023, 2:29 p.m. - Needs must when the devil drives. Also, the 17th Annual Year-End Book Round-Up!
54. The September House (Carissa Orlando)
Up next: Black River Orchard (Chuck Wendig)
I broke 50 again this year – woo-hoo!
1. The Family Game, Catherine Steadman
The best: Wrong Place Wrong Time; The Last Word; The Quiet Tenant; Starter Villain; Congratulations, the Best Is Over!; The September House
Should've skipped: Dark Corners
The most memorable/impactful: The Quiet Tenant, Opinions
Favorite characters: Bob Keller (Every Last Fear and The Night Shift), Bogdan Jankowski (The Thursday Murder Club and sequels), Jack Masterson (The Wishing Game), Emma Carpenter (The Last Word), the dolphins (Starter Villain)
Least favorite characters: Leo Johnson (The Woman in the Library), Barbara Gibson (We Lie Here)
Book that most lived up to its hype: The Thursday Murder Club
Book that least lived up to its hype: I Have Some Questions for You
Book I was looking forward to that didn't disappoint: Quietly Hostile
Book I was looking forward to that did disappoint: City Under One Roof
Books I'm most looking forward to in 2024: Somewhere Beyond the Sea (T.J. Klune), Relight My Fire (C.K. McDonnell), Shadowheart (Meg Gardiner), The Book of Love (Kelly Link), whatever Richard Osman's next book is
Memorable quotes: "'Ehm,' said Hannah again, because her brain had decided it had had enough of all this, put up the 'gone fishing' sign and left for the day." (The Stranger Times)
"Sometimes an end is just a cleverly disguised beginning..." (One for My Enemy)
"You are simply a little lost, Donna. And if one is never lost in life, then clearly one has never traveled anywhere interesting." (The Man Who Died Twice)
"What he doesn't realize: That you know, now, that the world isn't just a place where things happen to you. That you can happen to the world too." (The Quiet Tenant)
As usual, Gay gave me a lot to think about. I liked the variety of topics she covered and how it wasn't all heavy stuff. Gay's writing is always so accessible and straightforward.
I thought this would be similar to Richard Osman's books, so I was surprised, but not disappointed. I would definitely read a series with these characters.
We have so much in common that we're basically best friends already. We can eat snacks together and cuddle her dog and talk about how failing to say "thank you" makes us physically ill. It'll be awesome.
Other than a stretch in the middle where very little happens and I was desperate for any kind of action, I'd give this a solid B. Good pacing outside of that section, an excellent red herring I fell for, and a kind of bonkers ending that I had a hunch about.
Like the Addams family, this book was creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky, and, at least at the end, altogether ooky. I loved it.
2. The Stranger Times, C.K. McDonnell
3. This Charming Man, C.K. McDonnell
4. The Bandit Queens, Parini Shroff
5. The Villa, Rachel Hawkins
6. City Under One Roof, Iris Yamashita
7. The Woman in the Library, Sulari Gentill
8. Don't Fear the Reaper, Stephen Graham Jones
9. Just Like Home, Sarah Gailey
10. The Twyford Code, Janice Hallett
11. I Have Some Questions for You, Rebecca Makkai
12. Wrong Place Wrong Time, Gillian McAllister
13. We Lie Here, Rachel Howzell Hall
14. Reef Road, Deborah Goodrich Royce
15. What Have We Done, Alex Finlay
16. Every Last Fear, Alex Finlay
17. All the Dangerous Things, Stacy Willingham
18. Love Will Tear Us Apart, C.K. McDonnell
19. One for My Enemy, Olivie Blake
20. The Night Shift, Alex Finlay
21. Quietly Hostile, Samantha Irby
22. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Benjamin Stevenson
23. What Lies in the Woods, Kate Alice Marshall
24. Alexandra Petri's U.S. History, Alexandra Petri
25. The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman
26. The Eden Test, Adam Sternbergh
27. The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman
28. Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo
29. The Wishing Game, Meg Shaffer
30. The Bullet That Missed, Richard Osman
31. Night Will Find You, Julia Heaberlin
32. True Biz, Sara Nović
33. The Only Survivors, Megan Miranda
34. Blood Will Tell, Heather Chavez
35. Before She Finds Me, Heather Chavez
36. Mister Magic, Kiersten White
37. Dead Eleven, Jimmy Juliano
38. The Last Word, Taylor Adams
39. After That Night, Karin Slaughter
40. The Last Devil to Die, Richard Osman
41. Dark Corners, Megan Goldin
42. The Quiet Tenant, Clémence Michallon
43. Starter Villain, John Scalzi
44. Congratulations, the Best Is Over!, R. Eric Thomas
45. Just Another Missing Person, Gillian McAllister
46. Please Be Advised, Christine Sneed
47. Burn the Negative, Josh Winning
48. The Other People, C.J. Tudor
49. With a Kiss We Die, L.R. Dorn
50. Opinions, Roxane Gay
51. Mother-Daughter Murder Night, Nina Simon
52. She's Nice Though, Mia Mercado
53. Bring Me Back, B.A. Paris
54. The September House, Carissa Orlando