Small Town Feeling

Beartown by Fredrik Backman is the first of a trilogy that I hope to continue reading. I finished this first book a couple weeks ago, so names are fuzzy.

Beartown is very good at one thing: hockey. Events build toward a huge championship game. We meet several important characters, including various townspeople, team coaches, the club manager and his family along with many of the players. Each has their own important part to play.

When the club manager’s daughter accuses the star player of rape, the entire town seems to turn against her and her family. Events unfold leading to the court’s decision. The town may not ever be completely the same.

I couldn’t help but connect certain parts of Beartown to my own small town, and I am compelled to find out what awaits each character.

Hive Mind

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala is a sci fi murder mystery.

I was pulled in by the dramatic start. Mars’s twin sister violently accosts him in the middle of the night before they take a deadly plunge over a stair railing. The fall kills Caroline, and leaves Mars wanting to figure out what could’ve driven her to such drastic behavior.

He knows it has something to do with the exclusive camp that she attended every summer and the untouchable girl group there- the Honeys. Mars decides to attend again even though he had a terrible experience there years earlier as a gender fluid camper.

The camp, known as The Aspens, is full of secrets. Mars is able to discover more about his sister, and in doing so, finds out way more than he could ever have imagined about his family and himself.

Crime Creeps Closer

This will be a two book, one post entry since I finished the final two books of Holly Jackson’s trilogy: Good Girl, Bad Blood and As Good As Dead.

Good Girl, Bad Blood follows Pip on the case of another mystery. This time her friend Connor’s brother Jamie has gone missing. Pip works the case with the same tireless devotion and eye for detail as she did with the Andie Bell case. She finds out that Jamie was being catfished by someone with a huge agenda. It all comes crashing down with a murder that profoundly changes Pip.

As Good As Dead is my favorite of the three books. Pip is horribly traumatized after witnessing Stanley Forbes’s murder in book two. Added to this are the mysterious threats against her. It is these very threats that pull her into her final case. The case starts as an attempt to exonerate a man wrongfully accused as a serial killer. Meanwhile, the real killer has set his sights on Pip. This case almost kills her while also making her part of the case. Pip is forced to use all her true crime knowledge to outsmart the system. Making a mistake can cost her everything. Everything comes full circle in this final book which makes it a satisfying finish to the series.

Seeking Truth

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is first in a trilogy.

Pippa decides that her senior year capstone project will investigate a murder case from five years earlier. She feels that the alleged murderer, Sal Singh, was too kind to ever commit murder. He also took his own life amidst the investigation. His family have been outcasts in their town ever since. Pip suspects foul play.

Readers are drawn into her investigation. She befriends Sal’s brother Ravi and they work to solve the case together. The suspect list includes friends, a drug dealer, police and a news reporter. Pippa carefully documents her interviews and observations. She knows she is getting close when she starts receiving threats. She builds an incredible case until eventually discerning the actual story.

This book will greatly appeal to any mystery fans. Pippa is a strong, intelligent character who you can’t help but root for along the way.

A Different Realm

Layla by Colleen Hoover is a love story with a spiritual twist.

Leeds and Layla meet and fall in love at her sister’s wedding. Their relationship progresses quickly until coming to a turning point after Layla almost dies in a terrible accident. Leeds decides they should revisit the bed and breakfast where they first met in order to get their spark back. It’s here that Leeds meets another woman, Willow. The problem is that Willow is a spirit that seems attached to the house. She has no memory of who she was before or why she ended up there.

Leeds makes contact with someone on a supernatural chat board to help him figure out who Willow really is. The answer is surprising and seemingly impossible to overcome.

Family Curse

The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker is a story of a deadly family curse.

Sylvia is a famous artist with a hidden past. She was formerly Iris Chapel, one of six daughters to the famous firearms dynasty.

The story traces how Iris’s sisters each faced an untimely death as soon as they either married or found a first love. Nobody cared to heed their mother’s warnings, and eventually she was committed to an asylum for her forebodings. Iris was the only one to believe her mother, and almost followed her mother’s path to be treated as mentally ill.

Readers are left to ponder whether the family is truly cursed in love or cursed because of the family business (or maybe something else entirely). Most importantly, how does Iris escape this fate?

Bonding with the Babysitter

Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan is a relaxing read, like sitting with girlfriends for a long chat.

The story pivots back and forth between college senior Sam and new mother Elisabeth’s points of view. Sam is hired to help care for Elisabeth’s son Gil while she tries to get back into writing after her family’s move from Brooklyn to suburbia.

They develop a close friendship which blurs lines with each other’s personal lives. There are many topics, such as adapting to a new residence, financial struggle, pregnancy, friend/significant other relationships and familial conflict. This all builds toward a surprising fallout.

Characters are well written and mostly likable. The story reminds us about the fragility of relationships during our lives.

Move to the Light

Me Moth by Amber McBride is a story written in narrative verse following the terrible accident that killed Moth’s parents and brother. Moth is the sole survivor.

Moth lives a solitary existence with her aunt. She is basically unseen and she prefers it that way until meeting newcomer Sani. Sani and Moth connect and run away together. Their interests in music and the arts (Moth was a dancer) bond them. The writing exudes this artistic ethereal feeling as readers travel along with Sani and Moth.

There is a blending of Moth’s Hoodoo upbringing by her grandfather and Sani’s Native American culture. All comes to a startling conclusion when Moth realizes her truth and more about Sani’s special gift. His gift was also his illness, until meeting Moth.

This book stands out because of its unique approach and meaningful word choice.

Clutch Opportunity

Counterfeit by Kristin Chen is a story of a good girl gone bad.

Ava Wong is a corporate lawyer turned stay at home mom to her emotionally turbulent toddler Henri. Her husband is a very busy surgeon, leaving Ava and nanny Maria to care for the home front.

Ava’s former college roommate Winnie (who dropped out due to a scandal) suddenly gets in touch. Winnie slowly reels Ava into her counterfeit purse business which did very well, until they get caught.

The story is primarily told from Ava’s point of view as she explains the whole process to the female detective who infiltrated their scam. Is it possible for Ava and Winnie to pull off the ultimate story in order to outsmart the law and their high-powered bosses?

This is an engaging read that kept me turning pages until its end.

Keep Guessing

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is my final 2023 high school Nutmeg nominee!

Avery was down on her luck and living in her car when a handsome guest summons her at school. She is asked to partake in billionaire Tobias Hawthorne’s will reading. It turns out that she is is his primary heir which shocks his two daughters and four grandsons.

She now owns his massive estate and possessions including his nonprofit organization. Avery gets close to a couple of the brothers as they attempt to decipher clues left in Tobias’s letter to each brother. They hope the clues will lead to Tobias’s reason for choosing someone he never met as his heir. Throughout this mystery are challenges that Avery must face as an overnight billionaire.