Halloween Round-Up

I used to LOVE reading Halloween picture books and sharing them here and in storytimes and in videos, but that was almost a decade ago (what?!) and I was a completely different person. Now I'm the type of person to share a round-up post of Halloween books, so here we are! 

(I'm sure there are awesome Halloween picture books that have come out in the last few years so please share some recs in the comments!)

Trick Arrr Treat: a Pirate Halloween. 2015. Leslie Kimmelman, pictures by Jorge Monlongo. I’ve heard some people say that pirates are a trend in children’s literature that’s gone on a little too long, but they haven’t worn out their welcome with me! This book is especially enjoyable because it’s a realistic depiction of children going trick or treating on Halloween night. Picture books have the freedom of being far-fetched and imaginative, but that makes it all the more interesting to read a realistic Halloween book for kids. The rhymes in this book make it great to read aloud, and the illustrations are gorgeous.

It’s Raining Bats and Frogs. 2015. Written by Rebecca Colby, illustrated by Steven Henry. A young witch is trying to make sure the Halloween parade runs smoothly by casting spells to change the raindrops into other things. This is a silly story that you can make more engaging by letting the kids guess and identify the different items that start raining down on the parade.

Hedgehug’s Halloween. 2013. Created and illustrated by Dan Pinto, written by Benn Sutton. Hedgehug and his friends are going to a Halloween party, but Hedgehug can’t find a costume that fits his quills! This is a cute story of costume trials and errors. It’s fun to let your kids identify what costume Hedgehug tried and ruined, as well as ask them to guess what costumes would work well for a hedgehog!

Welcome to Monster Town. 2010. By Ryan Heshka. This book is better for older readers who can compare Monster Town’s “day” (which is night) to how we live. It’s also good for parents, with some clever jokes that might be over little kids’ heads. The illustrations are gorgeous, colorful, and enjoyable for all ages! It’s not too spooky, because though various ghouls, goblins, and monsters are depicted, they’re inviting and friendly, not gory or creepy.

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by J. Elizabeth Mills, illustrated by Ben Mantle. This book is pretty simple because everyone knows "The Wheels on the Bus", but the spooky twist is really fun. Make sure your kids sing along with this new version! There's also a counting element to the song that makes it enjoyable as a book - you can point out and count spooky things in the illustrations.

Shivery Shades of Halloween: a Spooky Book of Colors by Mary McKenna Siddals, illustrated by Jimmy Pickering. Reviewed in this Halloween video.

Monster Trucks by Anika Denise, illustrated by Nate Wragg. This is a re-read for us, but it's been a favorite the past few weeks. This one will be reviewed in my Halloween spotlight post!

Hedgehog's Halloween by Benn Sutton and Dan Pinto. Cute book about Hedgehug's trouble finding the perfect costume. This book will be reviewed in more detail on my Halloween spotlight post!

Trick or Treat, Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Dan Hanna. We always look forward to Pout-Pout Fish books, but this one was a bit disappointing. The story was very short, and Pout-Pout was a minor character, so there wasn't too much recognition for younger kids. Kids who have loved all of Pout-Pout's books might like the inside jokes of finding hints of Pout-Pout in the pages, but there's not enough to really carry the story.

 The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky by Jory John and Pete Oswald. Who doesn't love the Bad Seed and his friends? In this book, he's grumpy that no costume seems to suit him. It's Halloween night and everyone else looks amazing, so he decides that he has to cancel the holiday. Everyone is so disappointed, but with a little help, the Bad Seed realizes that Halloween is a chance to have fun. Once he lets go of his bad mood, he's able to find the perfect costume. Can you guess what it is?

Pick a Pumpkin by Patricia Toht, illustrated by Jarvis. This fun picture book tells the story of Halloween traditions like visiting a pumpkin patch, carving a Jack-o-lantern, and trick-or-treating. The rhymes make the story nice to read aloud, and there are natural pauses built in where your kids can guess what comes next. The illustrations are gorgeous and depict diverse children.

Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex. This is a parody of Goodnight Moon, with a little monster boy saying goodnight to various creepy things around his tomb. I'm not a big fan of the original Goodnight Moon (I know, gasp! What kind of mother am I, etc) but I do like this version with monsters and creepy crawlies added in. I really like that Michael Rex has made the illustrations look classic, like they could have been the original illustrations.

The Runaway Mummy by Michael Rex. This is by far my favorite out of these parodies. I love The Runaway Bunny in its original form, so I was really looking forward to the spooky adaptation. A boy mummy is trying to leave his mummy behind by changing into a sea serpent, gargoyle, and more, but his mummy always changes into something else to be near him. This one has a really great twist ending that made me chuckle, making it my favorite of the parodies.

Mother Ghost: Nursery Rhymes for Little Monsters by Rachel Kolar, illustrated by Roland Garrigue. I love creepy rhymes, and twists on Mother Goose rhymes are always engaging because most kids know what the original rhyme is, so they can appreciate the satire. My son and I read this all the way through, then talked about our favorites and went back to re-read them. I could see using these as quick breaks for use in the school library, though. They're fun to read aloud and can be shared without having all of the students sit and listen to an entire story. It'd be fun to recite them before and after books during the week leading up to Halloween.

Here are some Halloween storytime ideas. And check out more reviews in these videos:

Don't forget to share some recs in the comments!

Monthly Round-Up: September 2025

Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King. This was my first Laurie R. King book and I’ve already requested more from the library. I love her writing style and this story really pulled me in. The time jumps were well done and both storylines intrigued me, which can be rare for me in a dual timeline book.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham. I really liked the tangled storylines in this book. I never would have guessed the ending, so that was satisfying. The twists felt earned also, not just thrown in to shock the reader. I like Willingham’s writing style and will read her others.

She's Up to No Good by Sara Goodman Confino. This was a random read thanks to a Kindle ad, but the writing style was effortless and pulled me in immediately. Evelyn’s storyline was my favorite; I found Jenna a bit frustrating in terms of her indecisiveness and lack of personality. 

Edam and Weep by Linda Reilly. These are truly cozy for me, which made the extreme overuse of the word “garbed” (like 5-6 times in the whole book, which seems excessive for a rare word, especially with 3 in the first several pages and 2 on one page!) really stab my brain. Still thought it was a good book to keep the series moving though.

Lockdown by Laurie R. King. This is my second King book and I still really like her writing style, and liked all the assorted POVs throughout the day. However, the ending really ruined it for me. This WAS written in 2017, so I’ll give it some grace considering how much more commonplace school shootings have become these days. But the idea of nothing really happening once he’s shooting AND the kids taking down the shooter just had me rolling my eyes. It’s not that I don’t believe it, necessarily, I just hope it’ll never happen that way considering how terrible it could have turned out. I know, I know - it’s fiction, but it’s too real these days so it didn’t land for me.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham. This is my second Willingham book and I really liked it. I thought I had the twist pegged (well, down to two possibilities) but then it was something different, and then something different, and even though one of my possibilities was technically right, the way I’d thought of it was wrong, so I loved how this kept me guessing. The final image was also a beautiful ending, and I appreciate that it wasn’t a 100% happy or even satisfactory ending.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. This was a re-read for me because I want to watch the movie on Netflix but didn’t remember enough. I remembered loving it in 2015 - 5 stars, rave review, the works. But re-reading it now, after the ways the country has changed since then, raising a son and seeing how Finch acts with Violet, being so pushy… It didn’t sit right with me. I know it’s not the point of the book but the way he kept going after her, making comments about wanting to kiss her and all that, really rubbed me the wrong way. Is it supposed to be ok because of his mental illness? Or because she eventually gave in and fell in love with him? I don’t think so. I see him as manipulative and pulling her into his orbit just to leave and fuck her up even more. Sure, he’s depressed and trying to feel things, but I just can’t stomach it in the current climate. I compare the book and movie here.

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham. This seemed different from Willingham’s other books and was unbearably slow in many places for me. I felt like the flashback scenes were repetitive - each felt exactly the same and I felt like I was drowning in that swamp, too. And the current time was also really slow and seemed to reiterate the same ideas over and over. The last fourth was good though, and I was glad it didn’t wrap up in the way it seemed like it had been chugging toward the whole book.

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox. This reminded me of Big Little Lies overall, with the unknown dead person established right away, then multiple POVs building up to what happened, with all of them being possible suspects and victims. Even the twist with one of the male characters reminded me of Big Little Lies, but I’m not mad about it. It was an interesting book that pulled me in and entertained me, so I’d read more by this author.

The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one besides time travel. I saw it on a “New Releases” newsletter and wanted to give it a try. I’m glad I did. It was really interesting, the idea of memories stored in a library, plus who would want to destroy them and why. And, since it dealt with some WWII history, it seemed especially relevant today, unfortunately. I love how everything twisted together. The ending was a bit too pure for me because I think there should have been a bit more disruption based on everything that came before, but it didn’t ruin it. Full post here.

Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham. This was my least favorite Willingham book. All the characters were annoying and the question of what happened wasn’t compelling enough for me to care. I pushed myself to finish it and felt like everything that happened in the last fourth of the book was just thrown together for drama.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. Re-read 9/23/2025. I read this countless times as a kid and several times as an adult and always love it. Blume effortlessly captures the tween voice. I re-read it this time because I’d just watched the movie and thought it stayed pretty true to the book, but wanted to check myself. It really did! I think it’s one of the best book-to-movie I’ve seen. Full post here.

The Perfect Boyfriend by Ava Roberts. This had a great concept and the twist made it more unique than other AI romance books I’ve read, but that’s the only good thing I can say about it. The writing was AWFUL. I was hoping the twist was that ALL the characters were AI based on how they talked and thought, but instead I’m just thinking (hoping) the book was AI-generated. It was the most bland, flat book I’ve ever read. The characters were all different versions of the same person - I genuinely couldn’t tell the mother and daughter apart. There was no emotion, no depth to any of them. Think your husband’s cheating? Eh, that barely makes an impact and is totally swept under the rug. But making a smoothie? Two paragraphs, please! There was no rhyme or reason to what concepts were expanded on and what was glossed over.

Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews. Read for the September Cozy Mystery Book Club. I love culinary cozies and have a secret dream of opening a bakery despite not being an amazing baker myself, so I loved Lyndsay’s character. I feel like a lot of things were repeated: the bakery smells, the support and closeness of the family, the suspects and their motives. I don’t think things need to be spelled out that much. And there were a lot of relatives introduced very quickly that didn’t play big roles in the story, but I do understand that might be setting things up for later in the series. Overall, the book pulled me in and gave me the clues I needed to solve the case along with Lyndsay, so I liked it and would read more of this series. (This was my initial review. After the book club discussion, I changed my tune a little. See my full post here.)

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume. Along with Margaret, this is one of Blume’s books that I re-read most in childhood. I loved Sally because I also imagined stories and acted them out while playing and I hadn’t seen that represented in a book until I read this one. Something made me think of it recently and I wanted to re-read it. It still held up and was really engaging to me. Full post here.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay. I love a good thriller but this one didn’t quite do it for me. There was an interesting premise but the missing students were so flat that I didn’t feel the suspense of needing to find them. The focus was more on the parents’ drama (and almost all were cheating, yawn) and while that was interesting, it wasn’t the point of the book, so wrapping up the case at the end felt more like a reminder that THIS is what I should have been paying attention to. I felt like the students’ POVs inserted periodically came later when the author possibly realized the story wasn’t enough about them going missing, because they seemed really random and a bit heavy-handed about what had happened in the past to get them to this point.

The Ex-Wives Club by Sally Hepworth. I love Hepworth’s literary fiction/early books, but her venture into thrillers hasn’t landed as strongly for me. This was a quick short story but again, I found the lack of depth keeping me at arm’s length. I didn’t care about any of the characters and while the premise is interesting, it felt more like reading a news story than a short story or novella.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. Going in, this one felt too familiar, like maybe I had read it and DNF before? But I couldn’t find proof of that, so I figured it just seemed similar to other YA true crime/cold case/podcast type books. I stuck with it and got completely obsessed. I thought one of the murderers was incredibly obvious and was surprised they weren’t a suspect all along, but the other took me by surprise. The ending was perfect and definitely made me eager to read the rest of the series.

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. Second books usually feel like a placeholder between the first and third of a trilogy but this one held its own. I thought it was a really good mystery and I love how it pulled in some details from the first book that hadn’t even registered for me. For a teenager solving crimes the police can’t (or won’t), I feel like this is realistically written, especially considering emotions Pip feels after all she’s been through.

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson. I thought this was a really satisfying end. The first third or even half maybe was VERY repetitive with what Pip was thinking and feeling regarding her trauma. I get that what happened is major and will change a person but for the sake of fiction, I think it could have been cut and handled better. It felt like Jackson was trying to meet word count with those sections. However, how Pip evolved feels really natural and I think the ending was just right.

The show was a slog for me to get through. I'll be honest and say movies are really hard for me to focus on. I usually wander away, either physically or mentally, about 30 minutes in. But shows, somehow, are easier for me to focus on. That wasn't the case here, though. Maybe because I'd already read the book and really enjoyed it, so I knew the story and the suspense didn't work on me?

Also, while I thought all the actors were just-right picks for the characters, Pip seemed a bit young in her actions on the show. In many scenes, it seemed like she was just bumbling along, stumbling upon things rather than following clues and leads like she did in the book.

Monthly Round-Up: August 2025

The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia. Interesting premise and kept me turning pages. The twist wasn’t that shocking, but I also didn’t expect it. It almost seemed a bit over the top, but overall I think it worked.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I started reading this one in the library as soon as my hold came in and finished it the next day. Full review here.

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson. Interesting premise but not my favorite of Jackson’s so far. I feel like the sentence structure got really repetitive and left me skimming a bit because everything felt too in Jet’s head and the thoughts were redundant. Full review here.

Five Survive by Holly Jackson. I think A Good Girl's Guide to Murder might be it for me re: Holly Jackson because I wasn’t impressed by Not Quite Dead Yet or Five Survive. I like the premise of both, and if they were each about 200 pages max, I think they’d be amazing. Full review here.

Woman on the Verge by Kim Hooper. This book had me hooked from the beginning. I love Hooper’s writing style. I picked up on two of the POVs fairly quickly and loved how that worked out. Once the diary came into play, I spent a portion of the book 90% sure Elijah and Nicole were half-siblings. His mom was a feminist professor, her mom left to pursue education… I was actually really interested in how that would play out, so the true resolution was a letdown. It felt like a cop out, like it was all just a dream. I don't think the real cause and "solution" were handled very realistically either. Overall, the writing made this book stand out to me. The way the author addresses caring for aging and dying parents, grief, mothering, mothering a husband, etc. It was all so spot-on and made me feel really understood. I’ll seek out more from her.

The Dime Museum by Joyce Hinnefeld. The Dime Museum is one of those rare collections that somehow manages to feel both expansive and deeply intimate. Each story stands beautifully on its own, yet as the book unfolds, you realize you’re also being drawn into something much larger: an intricate mosaic of intersecting lives. Read the full review here.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. Re-read this because I wanted it fresh on my mind as I read the second Lo Blacklock book. It wasn’t as bad as I had started thinking of it over the years (lumping it in with The Girl on the Train) but it didn’t stand out as very interesting, thrilling, or suspenseful to me on a re-read, either.

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware. This was better than Cabin 10 in my opinion, but it took about ½ the book to make me think so. The beginning was really slow and I was worried it would just be a strange re-hashing of the first book because the same characters popped back up. Even the overall storyline seemed really similar, but since it focused on the same woman, I guess that can be excused. I wouldn’t re-read it, and I wouldn’t read a third Lo Blacklock book, but it was probably a satisfactory sequel for those who wanted it.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. I’m not a romance reader but I’ve appreciated the escape of Emily Henry books, so I figured I’d read this one and see what it was about. But oh my Taylor Jenkins Reid!! What was this??? Full review here.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark. I’ve read three other Julie Clark books and loved them and, as a ghostwriter myself, I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, the best part about it was the design on the page edges. The story was boring and never grabbed me, so it seemed to slog through. The twists were somewhat revealed through other POVs before they had a chance to make a big impact, so the whole book felt rather dull to me. However, one I didn’t like compared to three I really did… I’ll definitely give her next book a chance and hope for the best.

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong. This book gave me Shannon Olson and Melissa Bank vibes. Those books that are ambling thoughts, not a truly cohesive narrative, no definite ending, but you're so glad to be along for the ride. This book was especially poignant, with strong emotions relating to family, relationships, aging parents, and just being human. Full review here.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. This was recommended to me after I reviewed the Winston Breen series, which involves figuring out puzzles to solve a larger mystery. I liked the layers of mystery to this book: who was the “wrong” person, who was Barney Northrup really, who was the murderer, then the other mysteries that came up throughout the story. Full review here.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

I’m not a romance reader but I’ve appreciated the escape of Emily Henry books, so I figured I’d read this one and see what it was about. But oh my Taylor Jenkins Reid!! What was this??? It seriously felt like a poor imitation of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with a bit of the reporter aspect (and reveal) of Daisy Jones and the Six thrown in for good measure. And I know Taylor Jenkins Reid isn’t the first or only person to tell a story in interviews or have that type of twist, but the similarities are just really strong and, the nail in the coffin, is that it wasn’t done well. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a master at creating realistic characters you care about, even if they’re awful people. The emotion tethers you to the story. Well, Henry didn’t have that emotion, her characters were flat and boring, and the romance was lukewarm at best. The will-they, won’t-they wasn’t that strong and the side story with Alice’s mother issues seemed tacked on after the fact.

Also, this is incredibly petty, but the title gave me great big beautiful Tr*mp vibes. Why not pick any other title that actually gives you a sense of the story instead of something so general and bland? Oh wait, I guess that does fit the book...

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I've read everything by Taylor Jenkins Reid and always love her characters more than anything else. I feel like she dives so deep into these characters they become real people. And that was certainly true here. Even the side characters felt like real friends now hovering at the edges of my social circle.

I started reading this one in the library as soon as my hold came in and finished it the next day. I love Reid’s approach to humans and connections and thought this was really well done. The astronaut aspect was interesting to me but I’m not big into space so if there were any issues there, I didn’t notice - I was here for the relationships. And she does them so well, and makes them feel so complete. Even though the story covers a lot of time, I felt like there were enough details to make it feel like a satisfying, complete story I could get invested in. 

Light spoilers ahead...

The Dime Museum by Joyce Hinnefeld

The Dime Museum by Joyce Hinnefeld

I reviewed Joyce Hinnefeld's novel in stories for MicroLit Almanac - read it here!

The Dime Museum is one of those rare collections that somehow manages to feel both expansive and deeply intimate. Each story stands beautifully on its own, yet as the book unfolds, you realize you’re also being drawn into something much larger: an intricate mosaic of intersecting lives.

Monthly Round-Up: July 2025

I thought it would be fun to start doing monthly round-up posts. I used to do a series of the picture books we read each week but that was tough to maintain, and now, sadly, neither my child nor I read many picture books. And I try to spotlight many of the books I read each month, either because they're awesome and I want everyone to read them, or because I have problems with them and need to vent - ha! But the idea of just... sharing all my reviews here in addition to Goodreads and the StoryGraph sounded nice, so here we go...

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. As someone who is not a fan of contemporary unreliable narrators, I was eager to read a classic with an author doing it right. And what a masterclass this is! Even knowing the twist, it was such a delight to read and pulled me right in. Since I did know the twist, I also got to carefully inspect how Christie made it all happen. Dedicated post about Roger Ackroyd here!

See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles. I was incredibly interested in this book when it was a family running a restaurant and how that might be embarrassing for the kids as they grow up, but once the dead child came into play, I was out. Maybe I’m just stubborn because in my MFA workshops, we were always taught to not to start with a dream and not to use dead/dying babies/children. It felt like a grab to be really emotional and powerful and just fell flat for me. It was a struggle to finish this one because I felt like the potential story just devolved into sadness and grief for this kid who was already overly cutesy and unrealistic when he was alive.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict. Agatha Christie’s disappearance has fascinated me and I was eager to “learn” more about it through this fictional depiction. I love how it was handled with the different timelines and how that was structured, especially considering how it came together at the end.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. This was a re-read for me, but I’ve thought of the series so often since I read it in April 2016. When the author recently died, I knew it was time to read it again! I loved this first book so much. It’s wild to me that I originally read it before Covid, and now we’ve been through that and are possibly on the cusp of who knows what in the world… so it was really interesting to re-read it through that lens of what we’ve been through and what’s right around the corner. Series posted about in full (original read and re-read) here.

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I’d previously read this series so I had vague memories of book two, but it really took me aback on a re-read for it to be a totally different set of characters in a totally different place, but experiencing the same time period. Once I got into it, I appreciated the drastically different interpretation of what happened, and it was well-written in terms of what happened to these characters, but I still think it’s an interesting choice that the writer used the same time period for a second book, even knowing that they’d come together at a later time in the third book. I guess it was easier to write a full second book about the different characters instead of trying to cram all the backstory into the book where he meets Miranda.

The World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I liked how this one brought together the characters from the first two, and while I didn’t care for how religious the second book was, at least it fit the characters. It seemed like everyone was forcibly religious in this book, even though Miranda and her family didn’t seem that way in the first. Not a big deal, maybe just passage of time and the author’s views changing so she put them in the book more? Either way, I think this was a really logical next step for the series.

The Final Episode by Lori Roy. I found this while searching Kindle Unlimited books to read during my free trial and the synopsis caught my attention. I really loved the writing and the way the story was told. I liked that I was never completely sure if I was “watching” slightly fictionalized episodes of the show or truly living what each episode showed from the characters' POVs as it happened. It doesn’t matter either way, but I thought it was an interesting way to think about what each option might have skewed in terms of the truth.

All Fours by Miranda July. I’m still thinking about this one… definitely going to write something longer about it in my September substack once I get my thoughts around it (and turning 40).

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. Going in, this one felt too familiar, like maybe I had read it and DNF before? But I couldn’t find proof of that, so I figured it just seemed similar to other YA true crime/cold case/podcast type books. I stuck with it and got completely obsessed. I thought one of the murderers was incredibly obvious and was surprised they weren’t a suspect all along, but the other took me by surprise. The ending was perfect and definitely made me eager to read the rest of the series.

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell. I was drawn into this book because the premise was already so twisted that I knew the end had to make it even more so. It did, and I wasn’t totally sure what was coming, so that was enjoyable.

Kill Joy by Holly Jackson. This was a cute short story but I don’t think it added much to my appreciation for what I’ve read of the series so far. Not necessary to read overall, not awful to read, just… there.

Forever… by Judy Blume. This was a re-read (for the thousandth time I’m sure) because I want to watch the Netflix show and compare and contrast them. I think this really held up and honestly, I love it even more now as an older woman and parent. I think it does a great job of showing a realistic relationship and that sex doesn’t always lead to pregnancy and that breaking up isn’t the end of the world. Dedicated post comparing the book and the show here!

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. Second books usually feel like a placeholder between the first and third of a trilogy but this one held its own. I thought it was a really good mystery and I love how it pulled in some details from the first book that hadn’t even registered for me. For a teenager solving crimes the police can’t (or won’t), I feel like this is realistically written, especially considering emotions Pip feels after all she’s been through.

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson. I thought this was a really satisfying end. The first third or even half maybe was VERY repetitive with what Pip was thinking and feeling regarding her trauma. I get that what happened is major and will change a person but for the sake of fiction, I think it could have been cut and handled better. It felt like Jackson was trying to meet word count with those sections. However, how Pip evolved feels really natural and I think the ending was just right. Separate post about the book series and TV show coming soon!

You Must Be New Here by Katie Sise. This one was tough for me to get into. I couldn’t keep the narrators apart initially, and even later on I couldn’t really remember who was who - I kept forgetting who Clara’s kids were and some of Sloane’s history got muddy for me. Overall, it was an okay read, but I feel like the biggest twist was Ben and Harper being siblings instead of married. The whodunnit was pretty obvious from the start.

The Last Pebble by Alex Horne. I love Alex Horne, the Horne Section, his adult books, what I’ve seen of Taskmaster, and this book came highly recommended from a friend. It was an interesting concept for sure, but I think it would have worked better as a novella instead of being as long as it was. It got a bit wordy and I think some children would lose interest with the wordiness and slow pace, then several major reveals all crammed in at the end. I would definitely read another children’s book by him, though.

The Final Episode by Lori Roy

The Final Episode by Lori Roy

I found this while searching Kindle Unlimited books to read during my free trial and the synopsis caught my attention. I really loved the writing and the way the story was told. I liked that I was never completely sure if I was “watching” slightly fictionalized episodes of the show or truly living what each episode showed from the characters' POVs as it happened. It doesn’t matter either way, but I thought it was an interesting way to think about what each option might have skewed in terms of the truth.

Spoilers ahead...

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

I love Kevin Wilson’s books and was lucky to get to see him at a bookstore talking about this latest novel. He has such a unique approach to his story ideas and fleshing them out. And then such an amazing way of putting these concepts into words.

I kept flagging certain lines that opened my eyes to how and why I (or other people) think and feel certain ways. It made me feel like I was getting to know these new people on such a deep level - not just the kids, but also their mothers. And then the dad… wow.

When the overall story concept was introduced, I had no idea how it would be resolved. Would they never make it to the dad? Would he be impossible to find? Would he be a jerk? Would he run away? I thought of everything except what actually happened, and it was perfect. It didn’t feel like a rip-off.

I think this might be my favorite Kevin Wilson novel yet, and that’s saying a lot. I think I'm actually going to re-read all of his books this summer.

Check out other posts about Kevin Wilson from the blog:

Favorite Adult Books of 2015

Best Adult Fiction Read in 2019

Kevin Wilson

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

A friend recommended this book when I said the most “fantasy” I really read was parallel universes and time travel. This book was perfect for me!

I loved the magical apartment and how it pulled Clementine and Iwan together. I love that the threads of how they encountered each other were clear right from the beginning because it really helped up the tension of what would happen between them in the end.

The writing was so descriptive that it totally pulled me from reality - one of my favorite things about reading fiction, but not every author can pull it off. I also really loved how Poston wrote about the foods Iwan prepared and what they meant to him and Clementine. I think she really nailed the friendships you develop with coworkers, too.

Soft spoiler potential ahead...

The only thing... just to be nitpicky... is that I wish there was some hint of what Clementine was going to do next. Not everyone is defined by their career but it was so important to her throughout the book that I wish she'd even thought of an option or two isntead of making it seem like she was just going to be with Iwan and travel. Although, maybe there will be a sequel and I'll get my answer.

I read Geekerella years ago and will definitely be reading more Poston soon!