Taylor Fenner's Blog, page 17
June 17, 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books on My Summer 2024 To-Read List
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
10 Books on My Summer 2024 To-Read ListThis week’s TTT is about the books we plan to read this summer. I’m trying to read more books I own and use my library’s digital services more to save money so some of these are newer and some are older…
1. Inheritance by Nora Roberts2. The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy3. The Vacation Rental by Katie Sisi4. The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent5. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley6. The Resort by Sara Ochs7. All the Blood We Share by Camilla Bruce8. Games for Dead Girls by Jen Williams9. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley10. One House Left by Vincent Ralph What books do you want to read this summer?
June 16, 2024
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 17 June 2024 and WWW Wednesday – 19 June 2024
This week I’m linking up to It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? Hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date and WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words!
#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
WWW Wednesday was created by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was taken over by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. To participate answer the 3 W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
I’m about halfway through this audiobook and I’m enjoying it! I like that this author always creates main characters that are writers themselves.
The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis
I’m almost finished with this one. It’s been a great read and is definitely giving me the itch to travel as I soak up the setting!
Recently Finished:Do Not Open by Kiersten Modglin
As an author myself, this book definitely gave me the creeps. Luckily as an author I’m pretty much invisible but this definitely sends a chill down my spine thinking about obsessed fans.
Reading Next:The Resort by Sara Ochs
I picked this one up last week and I’m planning to read it next. I’ve seen it a lot on bookstagram and I’ve been wanting to read it for a while.
What are you reading and loving this week?
June 15, 2024
The Sunday Post: Movie Nights, Bridgerton, and Commissioning Art
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.
Movie Nights, Bridgerton, and Commissioning ArtHey Book Blogger Friends! Happy Sunday! How was your week?
As I settled into my normal routine this week I also made time for season 3 part 2 of Bridgerton. I enjoyed it for the most part. Did you watch? What did you think?
Friday night I also went to see Firebrand, which released this week and stars Jude Law as King Henry VIII and Alicia Vikander as Katharine Parr. I thought the acting was great and the costumes better than other Tudor era shows and movies I’ve seen but what started out as a couple historical inaccuracies took a wide turn into WTF at the end. I guess this is the feminine rage reimagining of Katharine Parr? 
Finally, with It Rose From the Ashes back with my editor for the final proofread and the cover reveal coming up on June 28th, I commissioned an artist to do art of my main characters! It’s my first commissioned art for any of my books, the artist I’m working with has an amazing style, and I’m so excited! She’s set to begin in early August!
Last Week on the Blog:
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 10 June 2024 and WWW Wednesday: 12 June 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Wishes
Can’t Wait Wednesday: We Used to Live Here
Audiobook Review: Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 17 June 2024 and WWW Wednesday – 19 June 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books on My Summer 2024 To-Read List
Can’t Wait Wednesday: Look in the Mirror
Physical:Bookmarked From Other Book Blogs: First Line Friday – Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (Budget Tales Book Blog)
June 12, 2024
Audiobook Review: Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
Blurb:In the aftermath of the mysterious death of their lead singer, the young members of a now-legendary British acid folk band hole up at Wylding Hall, an ancient English country house with its own dark secrets. There they record Wylding Hall, the album that makes their reputation – but at a terrifying cost when Julian Blake, their new lead singer, disappears within the mansion and is never seen again.
Now, years later, the surviving musicians and their friends and lovers – including a psychic, a photographer, and the band’s manager – meet with a young documentary filmmaker to tell their own versions of what happened during that summer. But whose story is the true one? And what really happened to Julian Blake?
My Review:Daisy Jones and the Six meets The Haunting of Hill House in this eerie, folksy story that is an audiobook must-listen.
A year or so ago I read Elizabeth Hand’s latest, A Haunting on the Hill – the only authorized sequel to The Haunting of Hill House. I was so excited but the book left me feeling meh. When I heard about this book I knew I had to check it out. And I’m glad I did because it was everything I was hoping for from A Haunting on the Hill and didn’t get.
Told through interviews in the style of Daisy Jones and the Six we go back to the 1970s and meet a folk rock band who were holed up in Wylding Hall, a Tudor-style home in the English country side to record their second album.
Lead singer Julian Blake is an odd duck. Musically gifted of course, but definitely into the unseen world of the occult. We watch him devolve as his band mates, manager, and friends recall their time at Wylding Hall leading up to his mysterious disappearance.
Wylding Hall is an eerie place and Elizabeth Hand describes it so well I felt like if I closed my eyes I could see it through the characters eyes. From the beak less birds to the hill in the woods and the doors that were at times locked and then open with no one having a key… like I said, this was all the eerie creepy vibe I was expecting from the Hill House book. I have a feeling the author tried her hand at getting that vibe with Wylding Hall, which was published in 2015 before penning A Haunting on the Hill.
Overall this was a strong 5-knife read. Definitely an audiobook I will return to when I want to relive the creepy experience. While this book is also in eBook and hardcover, I strongly suggest listening to the audiobook for the immersive experience.
My Rating:
5 of 5 Knives!
June 11, 2024
Can’t Wait Wednesday: We Used to Live Here
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released.
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Adult, Horror/Thriller, Standalone
eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 320 Pages
June 18, 2024 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Blurb:Get Out meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit.
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.
As soon as the strangers enter their home, uncanny and inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?
Why I Want to Read This Book:This sounds like the perfect set up for a horror movie and book. If a stranger came to the door saying they used to live there and wanted to look around for old times’ sake, would you let them in? I know I sure wouldn’t! (And not just because the last owner of my house is dead and it was a doctor’s office before that… I’ve got enough ghosts hanging around!) But when the visiting party’s child goes missing and ghostly things start happening? I’m riveted. Plus if they’re making a Netflix movie and Blake Lively (one of my favorite actresses) is in it then I simply must check out the book. Hopefully the library waitlist isn’t too long!
Will you be checking this book out? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?
June 10, 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Wishes
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish WishesThis week’s TTT is about books on our book wishlists. My Amazon wishlist can be found here.
1. Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona
2. Spookily Yours by Jennifer Chipman 
3. The Family Plot by Megan Collins
4. Forever Crushed by Amber Paige
5. A Ghost of A Chance by Brittany Kelley
6. The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
7. Butcher & Blackbird by Brynn Weaver
8. The Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson
9. The Last One by Will Dean
10. The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani
What books are on your book wishlist?
June 9, 2024
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 10 June 2024 and WWW Wednesday: 12 June 2024
This week I’m linking up to It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? Hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date and WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words!
#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
WWW Wednesday was created by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was taken over by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. To participate answer the 3 W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
I just started this short audiobook last night and I’m enjoying it. I didn’t realize it was set in Charleston, but bonus! It kind of reminds me of a gender-swapped Misery so far.
Crossroads by Devney Perry
I’m just starting this one. It’s the June pick for the Probably Smut Book Club Box.
Recently Finished:Wylding Hall by Elizabeth HandI felt kind of meh about this author’s “official sequel to The Haunting of Hill House – A Haunting on the Hill,” but this one! Whew! Now this was what I had been expecting! Daisy Jones and the Six meets The Haunting of Hill House and you really must listen to it in audiobook! I loved it!
Clueless at the Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield
I just finished this one this afternoon and I loved it!
Reading Next:The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
Ok, I’m not sure if this is my next read since there’s still over a week until it releases but it’s a priority read once the audiobook hits my audiobook app on the 18th.
What are you reading and loving this week?
June 8, 2024
The Sunday Post: Editing, Hiking, and Back to Routine
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.
Editing, Hiking, and Back to RoutineHey Book Blogger Friends! How was your week?
I got the line edits back from my editor for my next book, It Rose From the Ashes so I’ve been working on the corrections all week hoping to get them done before I head back for my first full week back to work this coming Tuesday. My editor has been so supportive and her changes make the story even richer. I also finalized the blurb and set up the cover reveal!
Yesterday I went for a nice hike at High Cliff State Park here in Wisconsin and took the Indian Mound Trail which has burial mounds that were built 1000-1500 years ago. It was also a gorgeous day for a hike!
Meanwhile, Friday was my first day back to work post gallbladder surgery. (boo!) Luckily I have the weekend off and I go back for my first full week back on Tuesday.
Recently on the Blog: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 27 May 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read
Can’t Wait Wednesday: Middle of the Night
Can’t Wait Wednesday: The Midnight Feast
Time Travel Thursday: 6 June 2024
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 10 June 2024 / WWW Wednesday: 12 June 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Wishes
Can’t Wait Wednesday: We Used to Live Here
Audiobook Review: Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
I received my preorder of Fragile Sanctuary at the beginning of the week.
eBook:I’ve been wanting to read this one so I picked up the ebook after reading the sample.
June 5, 2024
Time Travel Thursday: 6 June 2024
Time Travel Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Budget Tales Book Blog where readers take a look back at what they were reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and compare it to what you are reading now.
6 JuneThe Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
One year ago today I was just finishing the audiobook of this one, which I loved the twists of!
Currently Reading:
Today I’m almost finished with my reread of Dead Eleven!
Comparison:One thing these two have in common? I listened to both of them in audiobook. While they both have a mystery at its core, Dead Eleven is more sci-fi horror where The Wife Upstairs is a thriller.
Have you read either of these books?
June 4, 2024
WWW Wednesday: 5 June 2024
WWW Wednesday was created by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was taken over by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. To participate answer the 3 W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
This is a reread for me. I’m listening to it in audiobook this time to give it a little more depth.
Clueless at the Coffee Station by Bee LittlefieldThis is written by an author friend I follow on Instagram. I started it last night and it’s super easy to get hooked on!
Recently Finished:Hooked by Emily McIntire
This was an okay read. I was mostly in it for the spice. The writing wasn’t fantastic nor was the plot, but was that really why I was reading it? I don’t think so, so we’ll let it slide.
Reading Next:The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas
I borrowed this one from the library’s Hoopla last month and it’s due next weekend (June 15).
Have you read any of these? What are you reading this week? What books are on your summer reading list?
