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#ReadTheUSA
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

Five years ago a high school senior disappeared. Although her body was never found, police decided that she was murdered by her boyfriend, who committed suicide a few days later. However, Pip - who is now a high school senior herself - has never believed that the boyfriend was the murderer. With the help of the boyfriend's younger brother, she sets out to reexamine the evidence. I really liked the format of this book, with parts of it Pip's notes⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) some in the form of transcripts of people she was interviewing, and other sections just regular third-person narration. It did drag a little in the middle, but I really did want to find out what happened and I liked the way the different pieces of evidence kept shifting the pointing finger. While the ending did make sense on the whole, I was actually convinced that it fit the personalities of the characters. There were also a few things ⬇ 3w
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) I found kind of unbelievable/a big stretch. But on the whole, an enjoyable YA thriller, and I'll probably pick up the sequel soon.

This was a #TrappedinaHauntedHouse pick (thanks @Charityann !!) and also my list to read for the #AcquiredViaLitsy challenge @MatchlessMarie - it was gifted to me as part of the #Bestof2021Swap by @kellyann28 back in - you guessed it - January 2022!

#HauntedShelf #DeadSerious @OriginalCyn620
3w
See All 7 Comments
TheSpineView Awesome! 3w
OriginalCyn620 Me and my youngest love this series, but I agree that some things are a big stretch! 3w
MatchlessMarie Awesome! It seems to have a similar vibe to One of Us Is Lying series by Karen M McManus which I really enjoyed. 3w
Catsandbooks 👏🏼🐦‍⬛🧡 3w
58 likes1 stack add7 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
The Obsession | Nora Roberts
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Pickpick

Another soft pick. This one starts strong with 12-year-old Naomi discovering that her dad is actually a serial killer and rescuing his latest victim. It's super creepy. Adult Namoi has changed her last name and tried to put her past behind her. She's a successful and somehow stupidly rich photographer and purchases a very rundown but beautiful old house in Washington state. That's where this book got muddled. I actually didn't mind the ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) “boring“ parts with her shopping for stuff for her house, painting, getting to know the neighbors, etc. But Roberts tries to introduce a second serial killer into the story and it just didn't mesh. The story needed to be either more focused on this killer or less, because I honestly just found him a distraction from the pleasant little romance story we had going on lol

So, a fine one-off, but not one I'll reread.
(edited) 5mo
68 likes2 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. | Neal Stephenson, Nicole Gallan
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Pickpick

Since I actually finished this 700pg book, you would think that I would have strong feelings about it. But I weirdly don't. There's a lot here that I enjoyed. It's a time-travel book, which isn't always my thing, but it's handled here in a way that actually did (mostly) make sense to me. I actually enjoyed the format, which is a mixture of journal entries from various characters, plus other documents, notes, transcripts, etc.

This book was ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) just tooooo long. There are a lot of sections where nothing is really happening. Part of this is kind of the point, how this little organization gets caught up in so much red tape and government bureaucracy/bloat, so I get it... but it still makes for some boring reading in various sections. There's a lot of action right at the end, which weirdly made this entire book feel like it was a big long prologue for book two. Like it doesn't ⬇ (edited) 5mo
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) end on a cliffhanger or anything, but it kind of felt like “we've got the band back together and now we're off to take on the world... and this book was all the story of how we got here.“

So a soft pick here, and the sheer length makes me hesitate to recommend it. I do have book 2 from the library and may get to it... someday haha

#Roll100 @PuddleJumper
#WickedWords - Shakespeare @AsYouWish
#ReadtheUSA - MA
#BookSpinBingo
5mo
53 likes2 stack adds2 comments
blurb
julieclair
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My #SeasonalCozies pick for May is The Cornish Wedding Murder, because our wedding anniversary takes place in May, and we will be visiting Cornwall! 💍👰🤵‍♂️🇬🇧

 @OriginalCyn620 and @CoffeeNBooks have already posted their Mother‘s Day themed picks, and @Read4life is continuing with the Calendar Murder Mystery series. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else will be reading!

julieclair For those interested, the link to the optional StoryGraph Challenge is https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/eea8f8fe-5afb-495b-8c57-9c1c5be... 6mo
Librarybelle Still thinking about mine! 6mo
PathfinderNicole I‘m doing this one! 6mo
See All 15 Comments
kspenmoll @PathfinderNicole Thanks for this suggestion- sounds like a fun mystery! I think I‘ll join you. 6mo
kspenmoll My wedding anniversary is May 18! 6mo
Avanders Oooh and yay! Have fun!! 😄 6mo
Crinoline_Laphroaig What fun! I think I have Memorial Day cozy stacked. 6mo
ElizaMarie My anniversary is May 22nd 💜🩷🩵 6mo
BookmarkTavern Happy anniversary! 🎉🎉 6mo
JessieKB Happy happy anniversary!!💗💗 I must get back on track this month 🙃 6mo
julieclair @PathfinderNicole @kspenmoll May Day Murder sounds like fun! I haven‘t heard of that series - The Wiccan Wheel. Hope you enjoy! 6mo
julieclair @kspenmoll @ElizaMarie Mine is May 23 💖 We will all be celebrating this month! 🥂 6mo
julieclair @sblbooks That one looks fun. I need a Montana book for #ReadTheUSA. Stacked! 6mo
36 likes15 comments
blurb
Librarybelle
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#LittenDetectives : we‘re two weeks away from our next #NancyDrewBR discussion!

Questions will be posted on the 15th!

In the meantime, @lauraisntwilder shared info on a video game based on last month‘s book on Shadow Ranch: https://store.steampowered.com/app/572740/Nancy_Drew_The_Secret_of_Shadow_Ranch/

lauraisntwilder I'm excited for this one! It's the only one I remember reading as a kid. 😊 7mo
Librarybelle @lauraisntwilder 😁❤️❤️ 7mo
Ruthiella Ready! 👍 7mo
See All 21 Comments
DebinHawaii I‘ve got to go grab my library hold this week. Can‘t wait! 🤗 7mo
BarkingMadRead Woohoo!! I‘m ready!! 7mo
DGRachel I don‘t think my library hold is going to be available on time (I‘m #3 and check outs are for 21 days), but I‘ll check on it again next week and buy the ebook if need be. 7mo
Roary47 That game looks fun! I‘m ready to read another fun mystery. I hope it‘s located somewhere I can claim another #ReadtheUSA 7mo
dabbe @DGRachel I'm in your exact same boat! 🤩 7mo
Librarybelle I hope it‘s a good one, @bookandbedandtea @Roary47 ! 7mo
Librarybelle Hope you‘re able to get it from the library @DGRachel @dabbe ! 7mo
Bookwormjillk @Roary47 ha! I was thinking the same thing! 7mo
Read4life I picked up my copy from the library Thursday so I‘m ready to go. 7mo
PurpleyPumpkin Just waiting for my library hold. Fingers crossed that it comes in soon!🤞🏽 7mo
Librarybelle Hopefully it comes in soon, @PurpleyPumpkin ! 7mo
CogsOfEncouragement My local library branch doesn‘t have this one, just put in my request for one of the copies in the system. Looking forward to another BR! 7mo
Librarybelle @CogsOfEncouragement Hope you get it soon! 7mo
45 likes21 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Mehso-so

I ended up feeling pretty ambivalent towards my pick for this month's #ReadorDonate challenge. There are a lot of positive reviews for this one, but I found the pacing to be slow and never particularly warmed towards the characters. I never felt a sense of urgency, or like time was running out or that something bad was going to happen. Just... oh, your husband isn't who you thought he was. I guess we should find who he really was. Oh. Awkward. ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) The End. I personally didn't care for the sad ending, either, even though it technically worked.

So far, this challenge for me has been read AND donate, but that's working, too 😂

@julieclair

#ReadtheUSA - Texas
#BookSpinBingo
7mo
julieclair I have been wishy washy about whether to read this one. This review has helped me decide. Not reading it, lol. Happy donating! 7mo
TheAromaofBooks @julieclair - It gets a lot of positive reviews on GR, but it just didn't work for me. Although I may just be in a mood, because I'm noticing a lot of “soft picks“ and “so-so“ reads on my page this month 😂 7mo
See All 11 Comments
julieclair I think I might be in the same mood, lol! 7mo
SpellboundReader @TheAromaofBooks - Are you doing the #ReadTheUSA as an ongoing challenge or a yearly challenge? I'm curious as I just added a similar post, initially using a different tag. I've been working on my USA challenge for years. Wishing you the best of luck with yours. 🤗 📚 7mo
SpellboundReader @TheAromaofBooks - I think I answered my own question, as I just found the original post by @aperfectmjk from January. Sometimes there are so many different tags on Litsy that it's hard to keep track. 😃😬 7mo
TheAromaofBooks @BeeCurious - I do it every year just because it's a fun and easy thing to track, but wasn't aware of their being an “official“ challenge this time around haha You're right, there are so many different tags and craziness going on around here that it can be hard to keep track!! 7mo
SpellboundReader @TheAromaofBooks Thanks so much for answering and have fun with the challenge. I'll pay more attention to the books you list for the #ReadtheUSA tag. 🙂
Here's the link to the post by @aperfectmjk , just in case anyone else is interested for the remainder 2024 or 2025. https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2688730
One never can plan too early for reading challenges here. 👍
(edited) 7mo
SpellboundReader @DebLovestoRead - I thought you might be interested in this post and challenge, if you didn't already see it. 7mo
Deblovestoread @BeeCurious Thanks for the tag! 💜🌸💜 7mo
TheAromaofBooks @BeeCurious - Thank you for the link!! 7mo
61 likes11 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

A soft pick for the first #BakerStreetIrregulars buddy read. I liked the concept and the characters, but the pacing was all over the place. This definitely had “first book in a series“ vibes (hopefully it is!!), with a lot of character introductions. So many different mysteries meant that some things felt glossed over in the end. However, all in all a fun read, and I would definitely pick up a sequel.

dabbe I'm halfway through and agree with you 💯! 8mo
BookishMadHatter This is the first Patterson book that's interested me in forever. The concept is making me curious 8mo
66 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
julieclair
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Pickpick

I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy mystery! Thanks to @Read4life and @DebinHawaii for making me aware of it. Book 2 in a series. I haven‘t read Book 1, and that didn‘t matter. Set in a book-themed Manor hotel, which is hosting a Valentines week conference featuring Romance authors. Very fun, and the mystery kept me guessing.
#SeasonalCozies #ISpyBingo #Pantone2024 #SeriesLove2024 #ReadTheUSA (Virginia)

TheSpineView Awesome! 8mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 8mo
DebinHawaii Glad you enjoyed it! I liked this one much more than the first & will go one to the next soon! 8mo
See All 7 Comments
julieclair @DebinHawaii I think I‘m not going to bother with the first book, since you and @Read4life both gave it lukewarm reviews. I‘m just going to go on to Book 3, at some point. 8mo
Read4life Like @DebinHawaii said, this one was much better than the first. I‘m glad you enjoyed it. I will also read book 3 at some point. I agree with skipping book 1. 8mo
julieclair @Read4life 👍😉 8mo
Andrew65 Excellent 🎉🎉🎉 8mo
35 likes7 comments