Currently Reading or Finished - 2025

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm reading The Phoenix Crown, but I'm almost done and I'm starting Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice today.

[Kristine]

I am listening on audio Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman and Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine both find pretty enlightning about healthcare and treatment based on being a woman and/or a POC.

I am reading The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Buried Too Deep by Karen Rose

[Kristie, Moderator]

I just finished Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice .

My review

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm starting Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave tomorrow.

[Christine]

[Lynn, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "I'm starting Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave tomorrow."

I still haven't got around to reading any of these. I was really interested when the first one came out but then I kept seeing more and more people say the series goes downhill which put me off a lot.

How are you finding the rest of the series?

[Kristie, Moderator]

The series is good if you like slapstick humor. There are a lot of potty jokes, dead bodies being moved, and just generally very unrealistic stuff. It's something you would pick up if you are in the mood for something that is just entertaining without being serious.

There was a little bit of a love triangle in a couple of the earlier books, but fortunately it was resolved. I didn't love the path the series was taking (mafia connections aren't my thing) and had decided not to read the last two, but ended up doing a buddy read with some friends. I liked this last one more. It was a little less slapstick and there was character development and growth.

I think the series is about 3.5★ for me overall. I'd be ok if she wrapped it up with the next book, but it seems like a series that may go on and on because a lot of people love it.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Second Chance Season by Emily March

[Christine]

[Kristie, Moderator]

- My Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave review

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm currently reading Ward D, which I'm not loving as much as I hoped to. The narrator is very clearly unreliable.

I'm also reading Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love. I just started, but it seems like it will be a cute, sweet read.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Good Half Gone by Tarryn Fisher

[John]

I am reading currently Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

[Paula]

I just finished reading IF I WERE YOU by Lynn Austin. I was totally into this book! Two friends had to cope with WWII. They joined the British service together driving ambulances.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White

[Christine]

[Susan]

I have finished reading The Storm Sister.
This is the second book in the Seven Sisters series. It is set in Norway and Leipzig across three time spans. It focuses on music, particularly Grieg's music for Peer Gynt and sailing. I thought that there was a lot of sadness in this book however I enjoyed it. I gave it 4 stars.

[Christine]

[Christine]

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Body Brokers by Brian Cuban

[Kristie, Moderator]

Since my last update (Feb 23) I have been reading a lot. I finished the two books I was reading at the time, Ward D and Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love. I also read Death on the Nile, Play Dead, A Few Rules for Predicting the Future: An Essay, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Once There Were Wolves, and A Piece of the World.

I am currently reading Summer Romance (hope to finish today) and Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Next up for me are Legends & Lattes and an early copy of Nobody’s Fool. Nobody’s Fool is the second book in a series. I haven't read Fool Me Once yet, but I've been told Nobody’s Fool can be read as a standalone. I will likely just end up reading them in reverse order.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Ambulance Chaser by Brian Cuban

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Girl Death Left Behind by Lurlene McDaniel

[Christine]

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called New Jersey Haunts by Elias Zwillenberg by Elias Zwillenberg

[Kristie, Moderator]

I finished Legends & Lattes and Nobody’s Fool today. Both really good books.

my Legends & Lattes review

my Nobody's Fool review

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm going to start Parents Weekend and something else, but I'm not sure what just yet.

[Christine]

[Kristie, Moderator]

I ended up starting Mastering the Art of French Murder. So far, it's ok.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh

[Christine]

[Christine]

[Rosalyn]

The "amateur sleuth podcast/book" trope has become more prevalent in books lately, what with rise of the true crime phenomenon, but what makes this book stand out is the added layer of emotional and personal stakes the main character Jane has in the investigation, and by extension, the author, Ashley Winstead. The death of Jane's father and the resulting emotional spiral that follows plays a big factor in her decision making throughout the story. Similarly, the death of Winstead's father was partly the impetus for her writing this book and choosing this topic (which I'll get into later in this review, I have THOUGHTS).

the GOOD: What starts as a distraction from Jane's grief morphs into...

full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...





Julia Bartz is making a niche for herself of writing psychosexual thrillers with unhinged main female characters and sapphic undertones, and I am here for it! Bartz's background as a psychologist showed out in full force, with much explanation of technical terms and ethics in psychotherapy. What sets this apart from her previous book, The Writing Retreat, is the more pronounced transformation and catharsis our main character Thea experiences after the ordeal, which elevates the story from being just a "I survived a dangerous situation" to "this made me confront my toxic traits, unresolved trauma, and whole personality".

I dock a star because...

full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...





The chapters are super snappy and all end on cliffhangers, which made the pacing quick and fun. However, I guessed the culprit pretty early into the book, and the red herrings weren't really red herrings as they'd be discredited right away. I did like that this book focused more on the parents and their different personalities, I preferred....

full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...





For such wild events and people being featured, I became more and more disinterested and impatient as I read on; this story dragged on way too long. The whole book was spent waiting for the main characters to discover what the reader already knew. If there are no crazy plot twists like Jewell's last book, None of This Is True - a 5 star book! - then please at least maintain some mystery.

Some of the decisions or characterizations just would not....

full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...





This book is blockbuster fun; you have an origami-loving serial killer, a Hollywood hotshot on trial, the various colorful personalities of the jury, and last but not least, the quick and sharp lawyer Eddie Flynn to lead the helm. Like Cavanagh's other book, Witness 8, half of the book is told from the perspective of the villain. You'd think much mystery or suspense would be lost, but....

full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...



If I see Candice Millard on a book cover, I pick it up, that simple. As always, Millard propels the story forward with drama and action, while including much needed and appreciated historical and social context of that time. She makes astute analyses about Churchill's personality, his belief in his personal destiny, and how both determine his actions. I chuckled more than a few times while reading actually; Churchill is such an amusing man. I don't mean that condescendingly, it's just that he's so pompous but at the same time, not malicious at all. He says such grandiose things about himself with zero shame LOL. The thing is, he has the intellect, bravery, and daring to back up his claims, so people were and still are simultaneously exasperated and begrudgingly impressed by him.

Fun adventure featuring a daring and resilient young Churchill, but I don't know about....

full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...



Pensive, insightful vignettes of Parisian life from all socioeconomic, age, and gender perspectives. Donoghue moves between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class cabooses, which are essentially their own worlds, as we peer into the minds of affluent diplomats, starving artists, optimistic students and cynical anarchists. Although none of the characters directly talk of the cultural development or events or movements of the time, Parisian Belle Epoque is referenced in every sentence. Medical discoveries, technological advancement, cafe culture, Impressionism, the conflict that is found from the blending of social classes, are all discussed through the intimacy of everyday conversations, where through the course of this short novel, strangers become not quite friends, but recipients of each other's confessions; the idea that since you'll likely never meet again, you are more truthful to the other than you'd be otherwise.

There is no plot; it's rather....

full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Christine]

[Christine]

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Dead Med by Freida McFadden

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Brain Damage by Freida McFadden

[Christine]

[Christine]

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show by Bethany Joy Lenz

[Kristie, Moderator]

I just finished The River We Remember. It was a slow build, but I thought it was very well-written and a really good story.

I am now starting Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister. This will be my first book by this author.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I also finished Parents’ Weekend and thought it was a fun read.

- my Parents’ Weekend review

[Kristie, Moderator]

I am now also starting The Man Made of Smoke.

[John]

Reading Dissolution by Nicholas Binge.

[Vicki Willis]

Kristie wrote: "I just finished The River We Remember. It was a slow build, but I thought it was very well-written and a really good story.

I am now starting Famous Last Words [..."

I really enjoyed [book:Famous Last Words|212421066]. I am excited to see what you think of it.

[Roxann]

I just finished reading Sunrise on the Reaping. I loved the Hunger Games trilogy. This book about Haymitch Abernathy was fabulous. Reading his backstory put the finishing touches on the Hunger Games for me.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Crash by Freida McFadden

[Kristine]

Christine wrote: "I’m reading a book called The Crash by Freida McFadden"
Christine, How is it? Freida McFadden I find some of her books really twisty and fast reads and others just don’t get into at all.