The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Halloween is almost here.  When we were kids we had the best time trick-treating.  Our neighborhood was extremely safe and kind of off on it's own, so my parents let us go out with friends.  We visited so many houses for candy.  During this time kids wore plastic masks that had elastic around the back.  I remember one year, I went as Dracula.  I carried a tape recorder that played spooky music, which I tried to hide under my cape.  I'm certain nobody knew where it was coming from.  I was obviously being followed by my own personal orchestra.  I also remember it being cold.  Nothing wrecks a well planned Halloween costume like your mom yelling to wear your winter coat as you head out the door.  One year it even snowed, I don't mean flurries, I mean snow on the ground.  Yep, when the tv tray was set by our front door with a huge bowl filled with candy, you knew fun was on the way, cavities too.

I recently read The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling.  I am consistent, if nothing else.  I just thought this book sounded like a cute romantic comedy and would be a nice break from thrillers.  Turns out Erin Sterling is the pen name of Rachel Hawkins, author of the thriller The Wife Upstairs, which I enjoyed.  The Ex Hex is the story of Vivienne and Rhys.  Vivi and her cousin accidently put a curse on Rhys, which messes up everything.  Life in their small Georgia town was picturesque but as Halloween approaches odd things are beginning to happen.  

This book is fun, not rocket science, just plain old fun.  It's not too long, at just over 300 pages, and is a breeze to read.  The dialog is quite funny.  Some of it spattered with profanity, so if that offends you steer clear.  I promise, this book may not have you on the edge of your seat like my beloved thrillers, but it will have you laughing until the very last page.

Next time you buy yourself a six dollar pumpkin latte, pair it with this book for the full fall treatment.  FYI, the book is a far better bargain.

A Slow Fire Burning by Paul Hawkins

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Have you ever been on a boat?  Don't look at me that way, lots of people in land locked areas haven't had the opportunity to do their best Gilligan impersonation.  Despite living on the coast, my experiences are limited. My in-laws had a boat for a short time.  The one time hubby and I went out on the water with them and a terrible thunder storm started.  With lightening striking all around us, my mother-in-law made a break for it trying to get us to safety.  If you've never sat on the back of a boat, going way too fast, over other people's wakes, bouncing off of the ledge your sitting on and realizing at that very moment that you're positioned exactly over the propeller....well, let's just say....don't!  Also, when we were kids, going to the Jersey shore, we took the Cape May Lewis Ferry.  It was their last trip of the night because of a storm rolling in.  The water was rough and our seats, though inside, looked out over the ocean.  First there is no ocean, then lots of ocean, then no ocean.  Yeah, we were bobbing up and down like one of those glass woodpecker things old people used to put on their desks for relaxation.  Relaxation my fanny, I almost puked my guts out! Boats and I obviously don't get along.

I recently read A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins.  Sound familiar?  Yep, this is the author that wrote the famous book which inspired the subsequent movie The Girl on a Train.  I loved that book.  It had such suspense.  Not only was the scene the main character observed unreliable but so was the woman watching from the train.  It was well played, keeping up the tension and constantly pointing the eye of guilt in different directions.  I wish the same were true of the new book A Slow Fire Burning.  The title certainly does this novel justice, it's slow and sadly, disappointing.  Had it been another writer, it might have been okay...and just okay.  However, given what we know what Paul Hawkins is capable of, I feel let down.  This is the story of a man who is murdered on the houseboat that he lives on.  There are several characters that could be involved. The problem is none of them are likable...which matters to many readers.  For me, not so much in a thriller so I could be okay with that if they were the slightest bit interesting...which they aren't.  Then the story evolves way too slowly and there are just no big twists.  No suspense, no tension, no twists.  How is this a thriller?  

Now, as always, I remind you that I am a housewife that hasn't sold any books so take my opinion with a grain of salt, half an onion, a dash of pepper and call me in the morning.  Seriously, this book is rated four starts and editors pick on Amazon so you may love it.  For me, reading lots of thrilling thrillers, this was slow, boring and just disappointing all around, it is a hard no.  Pass completely. 

All this talk of getting sea sick is making me need a distraction.  Book anyone? 

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Hello everyone.  I hope you're enjoying a nice day.

Growing up in upstate New York had many advantages, one of them was fall.  Not only is the heat gone and the air crisp, but the sweaters come out and so does high school football.  I've already admitted I was a band geek, and yes, before someone asks, I did go to band camp.  No, we didn't do anything that you're currently thinking of.  Anyway, if you'll get your mind out of the gutter I'll continue my story.  Our school band was huge 670+ people.  We had professional drill writers and did a different halftime show each week.  I attended every single football game at home and away.  While sitting in the stands many kids would go to the snack bar, not me though.  We had these tall fuzzy hats (we had to shampoo them), when I say tall, I mean at least 10 inches.  My dad made me put apples in my hat for a snack.  During the whole pregame I would feel apples rolling around on my head.  Actually, weekly pummeling by apples might explain a lot, my sisters would definitely agree.  My dad was proud of the apples, he picked them himself...hundreds of them...McIntosh.

I recently read Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty.  This is the story of the Delaney family.  Stan and Joy have four adult children.  The family owned a famous, Wimbledon winner producing tennis school.  Sadly, Stan and Joy have decided it is time to retire and because none of their children want to continue the school, they are forced to sell it.  Now the family struggles with their new life both being free of the constant game of tennis and missing it dearly at the same time.  One late night there is a knock at the door and a strange young woman appears who has been beaten and is desperate for help.  She, Savannah, becomes a bit of a project for the newly retired couple.  Their children, however, aren't so sure of Savannah's intentions. When Joy goes missing, fingers start pointing in every direction.  

This is book is being sold as a thriller.  If you have read even a small number of thrillers and are expecting one here, you'll be very disappointing.  Instead, I think the reader is getting classic Liane Moriarty, a family drama with a mystery thrown in.  While this book is a chunky 464 pages and may have been able to have been cut down some, the story is easy to get invested in and a bit addicting.  Despite its length I never found myself wishing it would be over sooner.  While not like Nine Perfect Strangers, if you're a fan of Truly Madly Guilty or any of Moriarty's earlier books, you'll be very comfortable here.  Interesting and enjoyable from start to finish AND a must for tennis lovers.

Until a year ago my sister still played tennis with her wooden racket from about 1972.  People kept stopping her offering her money for it.  I'm surprised my brother-in-law didn't offer them my sister and her racket as a package deal.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Are you a big game player?  Video? Board?  My family loved games.  My dad loved cards, specifically Tripoley.  My mom enjoyed card games, but was also a fan of board games and she loved video games.  My mom went out and bought an Atari when they first came out.  Now my niece works for a gaming company.  We played games outside, tag, red light green light, red rover.  Stop laughing youngsters, I know I'm dating myself but you don't know how you're missing out.  We even played games in the pool.  We'd run off the diving board while someone threw us a ball.  The point was to catch it after leaving the diving board but before hitting the water.  Of course, there was the infamous Marco Polo, then the diving games where you had to retrieve things off from the bottom of the deep end.  No we didn't throw chairs in, there were real, weighted game pieces made for pools.  I feel a bit like Dorothy telling the scarecrow he was her favorite, as I think of all our games our absolute favorite was cannonballing my mom who was floating around the pool reading a book.  We would send tremendous splashes of water over her sunglasses and soaking the pages of her novel.  She got even, she started buying thin little romance novels, second hand for a nickel so she didn't care about our antics.  Spoil sport.

I recently read Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney.  This book is a domestic psychological thriller.  The story is about a married couple that go away for a trip to try and save their marriage..  The wife writes a letter to her husband every year on their anniversary and never lets him read it, until now.  I can't say anything else.  First of all, after finishing it I immediately demanded my husband read it and he's smack in the middle.  Also, I guess I wouldn't want to ruin it for you either (read like Eeyore).  Kidding, but seriously, this book is a wow.  It has a huge twist and I want you to be very surprised.  It's full of atmosphere, unlikeable characters, and questions galore.  It is quite the thriller.  The twist was so massive I was smiling for an hour that the author "got me", I never saw it coming.  Neither will you.  This book is not a game, it's the real thing.  Read it, you won't be disappointed.

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

Last year I kept looking for all the new books to crowd the Christmas market.  There were very few.  Boy, publishers are making up for it now!  I have a ton of books that I've read and haven't had a chance to review and, even better, a huge stack of just released books to read.  It's thriller heaven!

I recently read The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell.  This is a story that moves toward a common ending on two different timelines.  A few years ago, two young people go missing. Kim, the mother of the missing young woman, has never believed that her daughter would leave her family behind, as many suppose.  Kim is certain that something evil has happened to her teenager.  In the more current time, Sophie, moves into a cottage provided to her boyfriend as he heads a local college.  At the garden gate of their new home, Sophie finds a sign that says "dig here".  What she finds is significant in so many ways and, of course, links the two stories.  As Sophie works to discover the mystery of the "dig" sign, we see the past of the two teenagers going forward.  At the end, we discover how they are linked and solve the mystery of the odd happenings in this college town.  

If stories being told in dual timelines bother you, this may not since the times are so close together. If you are a fan of Lisa Jewell, I don't think you'll be disappointed by this book.  While perhaps the beginning could have been a smidge shorter, it really works to explain the relationships in the story and in true Jewell fashion, to direct us to one "who done it" theory only to change the readers view repeatedly.

This book grabs your attention and after establishing the characters, moves very quickly to the shocking end.  As always, very enjoyable.  One warning, if you just sent junior or junior-ette to college maybe put this off for a few months.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Hello everyone.  I hope you are staying cool in the soaring temperatures.

When I was a kid, we looked forward to two things, Christmas and vacation.  As really young kids, we would go to "the shore" and visit Cape May, New Jersey.  If you've never been, it's charming without lots of high-rise hotels but smaller family run resorts.  The neighborhoods are close by and filled with Victorian houses.  There is a boardwalk and it was my dad's requirement that we get up every morning at the crack of dawn and ride bicycles.  We even tried a bicycle for two one time, that was a complete disaster!  My aunts, uncles and cousins would also go to Cape May so not only was it a wonderful vacation but nice to spend time together.  As we got to be teenagers, Cape May was too relaxed for us and we all went to Myrtle Beach with lots of miniature golf, amusement parks and t-shirt shops.  The first time I ever played Pac Man was in Myrtle, we had chicken pox in Myrtle, and most notably while walking on the beach right next to me, my sister got pooped squarely on the head by a seagull in Myrtle.  I'm still laughing today.  What?  It's funny!   We were a bit away from our hotel and she had to walk back like that...I may or may have not laughed hysterically the entire way.   Also, on vacation I met some wonderful friends who I am still in contact with to this day...literally decades later.  Vacations are good.

I recently read People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.  In the past I reviewed Beach Read by the same author.  I acknowledged that it was a romance and in general they aren't my thing (although I've read some great ones).  Beach Read seemed like it was trying to have a more involved story but compared to thrillers it was just too slow for me.  Still, I admitted that I wanted to watch this author as she could make me a romance reader.  I was so anxious to read People We Meet on Vacation to see what Emily Henry had in store for us.  I'm glad I did.  This story is about two friends, Poppy and Alex, who have gone on vacations together for years and about how their friendship has evolved, often because of the time on these trips.  The pacing is far superior to Beach Read and the dialog will have you laughing from beginning to end.  Sometimes sweet, sometimes serious and thoughtful, this book is perfect for your summer trip or anytime you need to brighten your day.  I am thrilled for Henry to have started to really bridge that gap between generalized fiction and romance.  I cannot wait for the next one.

Things to pack: bathing suit, beach towel, sunscreen, People We Meet on Vacation, and if you're my sister...shower cap to wear on the beach...just in case.

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

Hello everyone.  I hope your day is wonderful so far. 

The world has changed from the Covid virus. While being necessary to stay home many people have found it annoying.  Hubby and I are homebodies, so it hasn't been very difficult.  Wait, the constant cooking has been trying, worse yet the mountain of dirty dishes eating at home all the time creates.  Given that people have lost everything including people they love, dishpan hands seems like something to celebrate. Everyday I am crushed seeing the news and unendingly grateful for being able to stay home.  

I recently read 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard.  This is the story of two people, Ciara and Oliver, that meet at the very beginning of the pandemic and begin dating. Knowing that a quarantine is coming, and that they enjoy each others company, they decide to move into Oliver's apartment to weather the storm.  Told in differing time periods and from different perspectives the reader is left to answer two questions.  When police discover a single dead body in Oliver's apartment, who is it and what happened.  

Going into this story I was afraid it would concentrate too much on the virus.  To be honest, I've been reading up a storm because I want an escape not a reminder of the real world. However, 56 Days uses the quarantine as a vehicle to throw the characters together, it doesn't dwell on it.  The jumping timelines and narrators didn't bother me, but it rarely does.  If you dislike it, this isn't the book for you.  The story was interesting.  I have a bit of a complaint about the writing.  Some of the sentences just don't make any sense, if they do, they are awkward and have to be deciphered.  I really don't want to have to bring my Little Orphan Annie Decoder Pin to figure out what a book is saying.  Now, this occurred only a couple of times and in the first forty pages or so.  I just wonder why an editor didn't find it a stumbling block while reading too.  While I don't think this author has the smoothest writing style in general, her books are still interesting.  Obviously, I wouldn't want every author to write in the same way so I'll definitely read more Howard books.