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review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

Fifteen years ago, Emma's three cabinmates at summer camp disappeared in the night without a trace. Em is still haunted by that event. When the camp's owner decides to reopen the camp, she invites Em to come as an art instructor and Emma agrees, wondering if this could bring her the closure she needs. But of course instead things get really scary haha As with the other Sager books I've read, when I got done I still had a few questions, but ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) while I was reading it I was completely engaged. The pacing is great, and despite not being sure what Emma was holding back as a narrator, I still liked her.

#HauntedShelf #DeadSerious @OriginalCyn620
#SpookyEdition (Ghost) #AfterDarkBingo #BodyCountBingo #Pumpkaboo (Large) @PuddleJumper
#AtoZ @Texreader
#31by31 (20/31) @Catsandbooks
#Spookoween @TheSpineView
#LongNightsReadathon @Bookwormjillk
#BookSpinBingo
2mo
TheAromaofBooks This one is on its way to you @bookandbedandtea !! Hope you and @Jerdencon enjoy it. 😁 I mailed it yesterday, so technically during the month I was SUPPOSED to mail it, which has to be a first for me 😂 2mo
OriginalCyn620 Love Sager! 🖤 2mo
TheSpineView Fantastic! 2mo
DogMomIrene Loved this one too! 2mo
48 likes5 comments
blurb
PuddleJumper
Untitled | Unknown
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No bingo for #atoz This was really hard! I had so many S books

@Texreader #HauntedShelf #Flerken

Laughterhp The A to Z bingo was hard! 2mo
Texreader So close! Yes I had a lot of “s”s too 2mo
20 likes2 comments
review
Bookwormjillk
Stepford Wives | Ira Levin
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Pickpick
TheSpineView Fantastic! 2mo
OriginalCyn620 🖤🖤🖤 2mo
dabbe I read it this month, too! I found it almost too close to home in today's still-patriarchal culture. 😱 2mo
See All 6 Comments
Bookwormjillk @dabbe exactly 2mo
Catsandbooks 👏🏼👻🧡 2mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2mo
48 likes2 stack adds6 comments
blurb
TheAromaofBooks
Untitled | Untitled
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An old Scholastic Book Club book from 1935 that isn't in the database. Another soft pick, this was perfectly fine but somewhat boring fare. A brother and sister at the seaside on vacation meet up with a local boy with a semi-tragic backstory involving a lost inheritance. In the end, they find the long-lost will and happy endings are handed out all around. There's birdwatching, too, so I probably would have loved this when I was younger haha

Bookwormjillk 😻😻😻 2mo
OriginalCyn620 Cute kitty! 😻 2mo
See All 12 Comments
TheSpineView Awesome!❤️🐾❤️ 2mo
PuddleJumper 😻 😻 2mo
Texreader ❤️🐈‍⬛❤️🐈‍⬛ 2mo
Gissy 😻🖤🖤🖤 2mo
Ruthiella 😻😻😻 2mo
AnnCrystal 💕😻🐾💝. 2mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
Catsandbooks Sweet kitty! 🧡🐈‍⬛ 2mo
CatLass007 😻🐾🐾🐾 1mo
61 likes12 comments
review
Bookwormjillk
Dracula | Bram Stoker
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Pickpick

Loved this book. I‘m so glad my vampire aversion didn‘t keep me away. I should have known the #hashtagbrigade wouldn‘t lead me astray (except for when they do but we still have fun #thebros)

Thanks @BarkingMadRead

#31by31 @Catsandbooks #spookoween @TheSpineView #LongNights #PromptMaze @TheAromaofBooks #BookSpinBingo #AtoZ @Texreader

TheSpineView Fantastic! 2mo
BarkingMadRead Hooray!!! 2mo
Texreader It‘s in my top two favorite books! So glad you loved it!! 2mo
See All 8 Comments
Cuilin I surprisingly loved it too. And yeah #TheBrosBrokeUs 😝 2mo
mcctrish Oh #thebros will live in infamy but I honestly laughed so much over the time we spent slogging through that 2mo
dabbe #thebros #infamyforever 😂😂😂 2mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2mo
Catsandbooks 👏🏼👻🧡 2mo
72 likes8 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
The Last Close Call | Laura Griffin
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Pickpick

A traveling book that I was supposed to read in September, whoops. This one was borderline so-so for me, mainly because the two MCs were inconsistent and kind of annoying. Also it felt like the overall message in the end was that in the nature vs nurture debate, you can't escape nature (more details in the spoiler), and I didn't care for that. However, the use of forensic genealogy was intriguing and I enjoyed the secondary characters.

TheAromaofBooks The criminal in this one is a serial rapist. He was given up for adoption by his 16-year-old birth mother. At the end, you find out that she had gotten pregnant because she had been raped, and there is this overall vibe that the reason this guy was a rapist was because his dad was a rapist, and that was just the way it had to be, despite him being adopted and raised in a loving home. This isn't stated explicitly, but combined with the fact that ⬇ 2mo
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) after they capture the criminal the reader never gets any explanation/viewpoint from him at all - we never find out what his motivation was, if something triggered him to start this, why he left Texas for five years, why he came back, whether or not his girlfriend was remotely suspicious, etc. NOTHING. So all we're left with is “his birth father was a rapist so“ and that just didn't sit well with me. 2mo
See All 13 Comments
TheAromaofBooks @Jerdencon @Bookandbedandtea - FOR REAL I am also going to finish my pick for October and then mail them both to Paula before the end of October 😂 I would be interested to hear if you had any thoughts on the nature vs. nurture aspect of this book - was that just me reading too much into it?? 2mo
PuddleJumper 🎉🎉 2mo
Jerdencon @bookandbedandtea honestly I do believe nature plays a part (I work as a school psychologist so seen this happen) - kids are raised in a wonderful home but still have issues BUT I‘ve also seen the other side of it too - think it‘s one of those mysteries of life and genetics. Also my books will be in the mail beg of next week! (edited) 2mo
OriginalCyn620 🖤🖤🖤 2mo
bookandbedandtea @Jerdencon @TheAromaofBooks I did feel this leaned a little hard on nature because I've always wanted to believe nurture weighs heavier in that balance. I'll send my books out next week as well. 😄 2mo
TheAromaofBooks @Jerdencon @bookandbedandtea - It seems like nature has to play a substantial role because, like Denise said, you see kids raised in lovely homes and still turn out troubled. Just looking at myself and my five siblings (including one adopted) all raised by the same parents, but all really different as adults, it's obvious that nature is there haha But it felt weird that the conclusion was kind of “oh his birth dad was also bad, that explains why ⬇ 2mo
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) this guy was also bad“ without any real nuance or exploration of other influences/aspects of the bad guy's life. Anyway, it was an interesting book and I didn't dislike it, but I felt like the ending dragged out kind of purposelessly haha 2mo
bookandbedandtea @TheAromaofBooks I think you have a good point, Sarah, about the lack of nuance regarding the bad guy and that more explanation about him would have made for a better story. I could have stood for more if that and less of the romance between the leads. 2mo
Jerdencon @bookandbedandtea I agree about the romance part 2mo
Catsandbooks 👏🏼🦇🖤 2mo
56 likes13 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Mehso-so

I know going into it that this type of romantic suspense is going to need me to gloss over a lot of ?!?!?! moments to make it work, but this book was really pushing the limits haha Pretty ridiculous on the whole, but sometimes that's what you need. A long while back someone gave me a box of random thrillers/romantic suspense, and this was one of them. Mildly entertaining, but off to a new home now.

#HauntedShelf #DeadSerious @OriginalCyn620

50 likes5 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
The Willows in Winter | William Horwood
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Pickpick

The first book read for my #BirthdayBashReadathon was a bit of a random choice - a sequel to The Wind in the Willows, written by not-the-original-Willows-author. I'm always somewhat leery of people piggy-backing off of someone else's work, but I think Horwood makes it work. It's obvious that he has a great deal of love and respect for Grahame's original characters, but says he was always a bit saddened by the ending of Willows, which reassures ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) the readers that Toad was “indeed an altered Toad.“ Horwood says he could never believe that a rascal like Toad could ever be completely reformed, and from that thought, this book was born. It's a soft pick for me, and I'm perhaps able to be more generous with it because while I like Willows, it isn't a heart-book for me, so the fact that Horwood doesn't *quite* get the tone right doesn't horrify me haha The pacing is a little uneven ⬇ 2mo
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) but for the most part this is a warm, respectful sequel to a beloved children's classic. Horwood went on to write three more books about the Willows characters, which I seem to have collected over the years, so I'll hopefully be reading them this year as well.

#HauntedShelf #DeadSerious @OriginalCyn620
#SeriesLove2024 #Spookoween @TheSpineView
#100YearsofBooks #192025 (1993) @Librarybelle
#WickedWords (Winter) @AsYouWish
#AtoZ @Texreader
2mo
See All 8 Comments
Librarybelle Oddly, I‘ve never read The Wind in the Willows! 2mo
PuddleJumper 🎉🎉 2mo
TheSpineView Excellent! 2mo
OriginalCyn620 🖤🖤🖤 2mo
Catsandbooks 👏🏼🐈‍⬛💜 2mo
54 likes8 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
Hideaway: A Novel | Nora Roberts
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Pickpick

Soft pick. I liked the main character and her close family ties, but this book was very slow paced, and the motivation of the bad guy just never really made a lot of sense. I get it that revenge is a dish best served cold... but sheesh. Nice for a one-off read, but this one is headed to the giveaway pile.

#HauntedShelf #DeadSerious @OriginalCyn620
#ReadOrDonate @julieclair
#AtoZ @Texreader
#PromoptMaze
#BookSpinBingo

54 likes4 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

While not my favorite Poirot, this one does involve Mrs. Oliver (although not nearly enough of her haha). I still haven't decided whether or not the ending is a bit of a cheat. Soft pick.

#HauntedShelf #DeadSerious @OriginalCyn620
#SpookyEdition (Fiendish) #BodyDouble #Pumpkaboo (Medium) @PuddleJumper
#CozyReads @Bookwormjillk
#AtoZ @Texreader
#Spookoween @TheSpineView
#31by31 (8/31) @Catsandbooks
#PromptMaze #BookSpinBingo

OriginalCyn620 🖤🖤🖤 2mo
PuddleJumper 🧡🖤🧡 2mo
TheSpineView Fantastic! 2mo
Catsandbooks 👏🏼🐦‍⬛💜 2mo
57 likes4 comments