A Few Recent Books I've Read (no spoilers)

I've been reading a lot lately, ever since I decided to quit trying to get through a book I wasn't interested in. It's a popular book ('Such a Quiet Place' by Megan Miranda), so I kept hoping it would get good. I made it through half of the book, but I just couldn't get interested in it and I basically quit reading because I just didn't feel like reading that book. I decided it's stupid to waste my time reading something that I'm not even enjoying--there are millions of books out there to read--so I just didn't finish.

I like to read on the treadmill; I just increase the font size on my Kindle a little and I can read it easily. I wish I had a tiny remote to turn the pages rather than tapping the screen, but it works just fine. And when I'm reading something really good, I have a much easier time talking myself into getting on the treadmill!

Anyway, I usually forget about books almost as soon as I'm done with them. I recently finished three, so I wanted to write down my (brief) thoughts about them before I forget.

'The Woman in Cabin 10' by Ruth Ware  (mystery/suspense/thriller)

This one is about a woman who goes on a business cruise ('cruise' is a loose term here; it's a very small ship that has about a dozen cabins). Her first night there, she thinks she hears a scream from the cabin next door and then something being dumped overboard; when she looks over the side, she believes it's a woman's body.

Naturally, she reports what she heard/saw, but nobody believes her because there wasn't anybody assigned to that cabin and nobody appears to be missing from the ship. She tries to piece together everything that happened that night so she can find the woman who was murdered.

I gave this book four stars. It definitely kept me guessing and each time I thought I was right, I discovered that it wasn't the answer. I didn't end up predicting the big twist, which is a good thing--I like it when I'm actually surprised. This one kept me turning pages quickly.

'My Darling Husband' by Kimberly Belle (mystery/suspense/thriller)

In late 2020 when I was walking five miles a day, I listened to a LOT of audiobooks. And I really liked Kimberly Belle--I listened to three of her books in a row: Stranger in the Lake, The Marriage Lie, and Dear Wife. So, I chose to read 'My Darling Husband' when I saw it was available in my library system.

It's about a well-known restaurant owner/celebrity chef that is in a ton of financial trouble. His wife doesn't know they are in debt or anything about all the people to which he owes money. His wife, 6-year old son, and 9-year old daughter are taken hostage inside of their home by a masked intruder. He is given instructions and does his best to carry them out. Meanwhile, his family is being held at gunpoint.

I actually started it yesterday and finished it today--I couldn't stop reading! I only gave it three stars, however, because I did predict the ending much earlier than I would have liked. And it was driving me crazy that the wife took so long to figure it out! It was written from the viewpoints of the husband, the wife, and the intruder; I love when books are written from multiple points of view.

'Final Girls' by Riley Sager (mystery/suspense/thriller)

I LOVED this book. I actually gave it five stars--which is extremely rare for me, especially for a suspense novel. I usually reserve five stars for books that are powerful enough to stick with me for a very long time. While this one wasn't "powerful" in that sense, I couldn't think of anything about it to criticize--I thought it was really good!

A "final girl" is basically a girl who avoids getting killed in the case of a mass murder--the only survivor when everyone around her is killed. The protagonist in 'Final Girls' is a "final girl"--ten years prior, she went to a cabin with her friends and everyone was killed, except for her. She was injured, but made it out alive, making her a "final girl". (As you may or may not know, I love slasher films/books, so this one sounded really good to me)

She connects with a couple of other final girls and is surprised when one of them shows up at her apartment, unannounced. They'd never met in person, but the timing wasn't coincidental; the third final girl in their trio recently took her own life. The protagonist invites the other girl to stay at her house so they can get to know each other, and as they learn more about what happened to their friend, things aren't adding up.

I'm not making this sound very interesting, but if I write too much, I'll give away possible spoilers. I put bits and pieces together throughout the book, but I couldn't figure out how everything worked until the "big twist" moment--and then all the pieces fit together so well. When I added it to Goodreads, I couldn't think of anything I'd change about the book, so I gave it five stars.

I just downloaded two books from the library that I'd had on hold: 'His & Hers' by Alice Feeney and 'Have You Seen Me?' by Kate White. 'His & Hers' was on hold for a while, so I'm going to start with that one.

First, though, I have to catch up on responsibilities since I spent half of yesterday and half of today reading! ;)

I keep forgetting to post the "random fact of the day"... here are the last two days'. I found both of these interesting!