May Round-Up

Love by the Book by Jessica George. I love that this book focused on friendship rather than romantic relationships. Really refreshing. It took me a minute to get into it because I wasn’t sure if the two POVs were the author and her book or two separate characters - but that’s on me, because sometimes I like to jump in without the summary biasing me, so this WAS mentioned on the inside flap - I just ignored it. Once I caught onto the POVs, I fell in love with the characters.

The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas. I heard Cuevas speak at a Sisters in Crime webinar and knew I needed to read her books just based on what she shared and her personality. This was the first, but I’m definitely going to read more. Funny, unique, and touching without feeling like too much in any direction. I read this in a day and am ready for the next!

The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas. I loved the start of this book with the mysterious disappearances and Nestor’s backstory, plus how he communicates with animals. However, it felt like the witch hunt stretched on too long and then wrapped up super quickly, and I wasn’t able to envision a lot of the final battle scene - which might just be a me problem, and I’m not the target audience! But it was not as good as The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto in my opinion.

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser. My mom recommended this one after she read it. It was interesting overall but pretty slow and repetitive in parts. I felt like there was a lack of emotion overall, considering it dealt with infidelity and divorce and falling in love.

Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta. I feel like this was a Kevin Wilson idea written by Tom Perrotta. I always love a new Perrotta book, so it was satisfying from that angle, but I feel like the weirdness and drama could have been pushed a bit more. Overall, I think there wasn’t much to the story, it was pretty character-driven, but we also weren’t allowed to get too close to the character, so I feel like this was kind of a jumping-off point for my imagination to do the rest and make it more interesting.

Cuba in My Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas. I could NOT love this book more. It’s my third Cuevas book but easily my most favorite. I love that it’s a straight-forward book with no magical elements (though she does that so well) because that keeps the reader’s focus on the truth of the history shared in this book. I feel like everyone should read this, especially Americans right now, because it’s sounding more and more realistic, even as so many people claim something like this could never happen here. I’m going to get my kid to read it, and I really think parents and kids should read this together to learn about history and talk about current events.

Terminal Human Velocity by Christina Olson. My poetry book this month. I’ve read this one before (in 2018) but kept wanting to come back to it because I loved so many lines back then. It was wonderful to see what stood out to me this time, in contrast, since it’s been several lifetimes since then. And isn’t that the beauty of poetry?

She Didn't See It Coming by Shari Lapena. I always rate Lapena’s books 3+ stars and this is no exception. It kept me turning pages and I enjoyed how it seemed like there were both too many explanations/suspects and none at the same time. Great double twist as well.

A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette. Read for Cozy Mystery Book Club - watch the discussion here. I thought this was a cute and certainly cozy mystery. The mystery didn’t feel too pressing overall, but my favorite part was the ice cream flavors anyway, ha. But the writing was effortless to read and I loved the female friendships so I’m definitely going to continue this series.

Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano. I felt like the last Finlay book was a bit slow and uninteresting and wasn’t sure I’d continue the series, but this was calling to me from the library shelf and I’m glad I picked it up. I thought this one was way more fun (and funny) and felt truer to the spirit of the early books.

Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel Revised and Expanded Edition by Hallie Ephron. My writing book for the month. This was really helpful and made me rethink a few things about my current WIPs. I love that it had interactive exercises and worksheets to download to get the most out of it. Definitely one to revisit often - it felt like a course I’d taken.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. My son read this for school and recommended I read it, too. After a bad experience with a mythology class in high school, I wasn’t sure the story appealed to me, but I gave it a try and really liked it. From a writer’s POV, I definitely see the Saves the Cat story beats here. It kept me turning pages and I’m going to read the second and third and try to catch up with my kid.