Book Review - Wolfsong by T.J. Klune

Title: Wolfsong (Green Creek # 1)
Author: T.J. Klune
Genre: Fantasy/ LGBTQ/ Romance
Published: 2016
 
Description: Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.
 
Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road. The little boy who talked and talked and talks. Ox found out later the little noy hadn’t spken in almost two years before that day, and that he belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.
Ox was seventeen when he found out the little boy’s secret and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.
 
Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.
 
It’s been three years since that fateful day, and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.
 
Review: I’m not much of a fantasy reader, but when I picked up T.J. Klune’s “The House in the Cerulean Sea” two years ago, I fell in love with his writing and it ended up being my favorite book I read that year. I loved his characters, the found family trope, everything really. Because it’s set in a realistic world, but has fantasy elements, it was a lighter type of fantasy book.
 
“Wolfsong” is the first book in the Green Creek series. Also a fantasy book set in our world, this time with people who can turn into wolves. It’s an LGBTQ book, “The House in the Cerulean Sea” also had this theme, but in “Wolfsong” is much more present. And because the romance is so overpowering, I didn’t quite like it that much. Aside from the romance, it’s a really good book, I very much enjoyed it. With romance in fantasy books, I often feel like it gets cringy. Which I felt here too.
 
I often feels like a YA novel, but it is clearly an adult novel. Because there are some really graphic love scenes in “Wolfsong”. And I’m not a very big fan of that. I prefer fade-to-black love scenes more, I really don’t need all the details.
 
One thing T.J. Klune did, was create great characters. I really loved reading about Ox and his new found family, the Bennetts. And his love for Joe was beautiful, but as stated before, the romance is a bit cringy at times. It sometimes felt a bit like the “Twilight” books, but with more wolves instead and likeable characters. I’m not really doing “Wolfsong” any justice here, because it is much better. But the romance gave me “Twilight” vibes.
 
The Green Creek series has three more books. And even though I did not love this book as much as I hoped I would, I’m still interested in the rest of the series eventually.
 
Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Review - Good Grief

Director: Dan levy
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Dan Levy, Ruth Negga, Himish Patel, Luke Evans, Celia Imrie, David Bradley, Kaitlyn Dever, Arnaud Valois
 
Description: When his husband (Luke Evans) unexpectedly dies, Marc’s (Dan Levy) world shatters, sending him and his two best friends (Himesh Patel, Ruth Negga) on a soul-searching trip to Paris that reveals some hard truths they each needed to face.

Review: A cozy Christmas party with friends turns into a tragedy when Marc’s husband Oliver is killed in a car accident. Slowly trying to come to terms with the loss of Oliver, he is supported in this by his two best friends, Sophie and Thomas. But after a year, Marc discovers that Oliver had met someone else and was secretly renting an apartment in paris. Looking for answers, he takes Sophie and Thomas to Paris.

Marc’s grieving process is the focus, but you don’t spen an hour and a half watching a sad character. He is also angry with Oliver, and because the widower himself has told some lies, the friendship with Sophie and Thomas comes under pressure. Because friendship is such an important part of “Good Grief”, it never becomes a depressing film and story remains very hopeful.

Dan Levy, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel have a fine chemistry and as a result it seems as if they have known each other for years. The mutual banter between the friends also keeps the film lighthearted and in the sharp dialogue you can see that Levy, who also wrote and directed the film, is a comedian. But he understands that “Good Grief” is a serious drama and never lets the humor dominate. There is a good balance.

I expected this movie to have more enthusiastic reviews, I really loved this movie. I loved Dan Levy. And I hope he will star in more movies that he wrote and directed himself.

Rating: 4/ 5

Book Review - Murder by the Seaside by Various Authors

Title: Murder By the Seaside (Vintage Summer Murders)
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle, Cyril Hare, John Dickson Carr, G.K. Chesterton, Anthony Berkeley, Michael Innes, R. Austin Freeman, G.D.H. & M. Cole, Edmund Crispin
Genre: Mystery/ Short Stories/ Crime
Published: 2022
 
Description: It’s the heights of summer. As the heat shimmers on the pavements and holidaymakers depart for the coast, tempers begin to rise and old grudges surface. From an impossible murder on a remote Cornish beach to a coastal honeymoon gone horribly wrong, it’s not just a holiday that’s on people’s minds… it’s murder. In ten classic stories, you’ll find mayhem and mysteries aplenty.
 
Review: “Murder by the Seaside” is a short story collection, filled with ten murder mysteries set during the summer, written by classic authors. These stories were not specifically written for this collection, because this was released in 2022.
 
While the seaside is the red thread through this collection, it’s not that present in all the stories. I don’t read classic novels often, so of all the authors that had stories in this collection, Arthur Conan Doyle was the only author I had read from before. The rest were all new to me.
 
There were a few stories I particularly liked. “Weight and See” by Cyril Hare is a story about a woman that was found dead in her house, with a blow to the head and no forced entry. I enjoyed the simplicity of this story, with the detective going over all the evidence he has in the house. “The Furies” by Michael Innes follows the death of Miss Pinhorn, a wealthy woman that wasn’t very loved by people. I felt a lot like a “Knives Out” type of story. “Error at Daybreak” by John Dickson Carr follows Bill, who is visiting his friend at his beach house and he sees him collapse. And he believes he was murdered. This story had a fun twist. But my favorite story was “Razor Edge” by Anthony Berkeley, where a woman reports her husband missing after he went swimming and didn’t return. They find a body, which is identified as his and they questions is: was his drowning accidental or was it murder? We follow the autopsy closely and it felt like an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. These stories really stood out. The Sherlock Holmes story, “The Boscomb Valley Mystery” by Arthur Conan Doyle, was also enjoyable. The rest of the stories were pretty forgettable, rating them from 2 to 3 stars.
 
I expected this book to be as good as it was, with some really good stories, some average ones and some I didn’t really care about. It’s easy to read, even though it’s more classic writing and slower paced, but because the stories are so short, you really fly through.
 
Rating: 3/ 5

80s Movie Review - Witness

Director: Peter Weir
Genre: Drama/ Romance/ Thriller
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 1985
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Earl W. Wallace, Lukas Haas, Josef Sommer, Danny Glover, Brent Jennings, Alexander Godunov, Jan Rubes, Viggo Mortenson, Patti LuPone

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 4: A FILM FROM THE 1980S
 
Description: While protecting an Amish Boy (Lukas Haas) - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother (Kelly McGillis), a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.

Review: We meet Rachel, who has just lost her husband. Together with her son Samuel, she lives in an Amish community. She is going to visit her sister and while waiting for their train in Philadelphia, young Samuel witnesses a murder. Detective John Book comes in and has to find out what Samuel saw. When he realizes, a cop was involved and even the man at the top can’t be trusted, John has to go in hiding. While protecting Rachel and Samuel, he takes refuge in their community.

I believe “Witness” is an underappreciated and overlooked movie. It’s a highly suspenseful thriller where the contrast between the city and the quiet and sober life of the Amish runs like a thread. The drama gets a bit woeful at times, but Harrison Ford’s brilliant, non-verbal, acting fills the gaps flawlessly.

I really enjoyed this movie, I never hear anyone talk about it.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Book Review - It by Stephen King

Title: It
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
Published: 1986
 
Description: Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a pace as hauntingly familiar as your hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real…
 
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.
 
Review: Of all the books I read by Stephen King, I can surely tell that “It” has left the biggest impression on me. It’s one of the scariest books I have ever read.
 
Seven teenagers, living in Derry, Maine, all face their biggest fears and it still haunts them as adults, when all but one has left Derry. When, after 27 years, that thing they feared the most is back, they all return to Derry to face it once again.
 
The book has two timelines that run together, they intertwine; When they were teenagers and that of them as adults. And there is no other author that can flesh out a character as well as Stephen King. Seven characters actually. Seven characters you get to know so well, you come to love, you understand, you sympathize with. Each character gets King’s personal attention, he put so much effort into all of them.
 
Most of Stephen King’s books are slow paced, because he takes his time to describe everything and everyone in extreme detail. And to be honest, King’s books are the only ones I can really appreciate it from, because slower paced books or slow burns are not my favorite. But because King’s storytelling qualities are of such a high level, it doesn’t bother me.  
 
“It” is first and foremost a horror novel, but it is also a coming-of-age story. Childhood fears, friendships, losing innocence, learning about the cruel world, growing into adulthood. These are themes that the book revolves around. And that are also recurring themes in King’s other books.
 
There is this one particular scene in the book, very disturbing given the age of the seven kids, that even Stephen King knew would never make it to the screen. And it didn’t, not in the mini-series nor in the two-parter directed by Andy Muschietti. Which is understandable. This scene seems an extraordinarily strange scene. But given the theme of the book, it entirely fits. With this, Beverly forges together the blood bond they agree on as children. I’m not going to spoil this scene, but if you know, you know.
 
“It” is a very long book, but also a perfect one. I never really could say what my favorite Stephen King was, of the ones that I’d read. But “It” is that book now.
 
Rating: 5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Fantastic Fungi

Director: Louie Schwartzberg
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 81 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Brie Larson (Narrator)

Description: “Fantastic Fungi” is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion years ago.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 3: A DOCUMENTARY ON A TOPIC YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT
 
Review: Who would have thought that a documentary about fungi would be the highlight of my week?
Every once in a while you stumble upon a hidden gem on Netflix. “Fantastic Fungi” has changed my view on nature forever.

You have animals and plants. The organism in between is the mushroom. Or rather, fungi. A mushroom is just a small part of the fungus, similar to an apple on an apple tree. There are countless species, many of which have yet to be discovered. We also still only know half the applications for both medicine and solving environmental problems. The documentary is a journey of discover into this underexposed part of nature.

Did you know that the largest living organism on Earth is fungus? And that trees communicate with each other through fungal threads, which have an even more complex structure underground than our brains? Also, in “Fantastic Fungi”, scientists agree that the evolution of our brain has been accelerated by nature’s magical mushrooms, and that many religions originated because of the. There are mushrooms that clean up oil spills. Not to mention the antibiotic penicillin. And this is just the top of the underground network of fungal threads connected to all living things on earth.

The documentary combines time-lapse cinematography, CGI, nature footage and interviews focusing on the biology, environmental roles and various uses of fungi. “Fantastic Fungi” features scientist such as Paul Stamets (mycologist) and authors Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone and A drew Weil. They make the viewer aware of the beauty, intelligence and solutions mushrooms can offer in medicinal, therapeutic and even environmental issues.

I was utterly amazed while watching this documentary and never thought fungi were this important.

Rating: 4,5 / 5

TV Show Review - Fool Me Once

Season: Mini Series
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Mystery
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2024
Starring: Michelle Keegan, Adeel Ahtak, Richard Armitage, Emmett J. Scanlan, Marcus Garvey, Joanna Lumley

Description: Widowed mum Maya (Michelle Keegan) is disturbed by an image of her late husband captured on her toddler’s nanny cam.

Review: In six years, Netflix has unleashed seven mini-series based on a Harlan Coben bestseller on the world, and with “Fool Me Once”, there’s now an eight series. By now we know what to expect, and the format is working.

The series is based on the novel “The Imagination”, that was released in 2016. Michelle Keegan plays Maya, a veteran of the war in Iraq who has just buried her husband Joe. A few weeks later, she sees Joe on a newly installed nanny cam.

“Fool Me Once” lacks tension and is overall pretty predictable. It has some surprises here and there and the series is still enjoyable enough to finish all 8 episodes. But I think I will forget most of this series in a few days. 

If you like Harlan Coben books and enjoy the previous seven series, you will probably have fun with “Fool Me Once”.
 
 

 

 

Book Review - The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Title: The Obsession
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Genre: Thriller/ Young Adult
Published: 2021
 
Description: Nobody knows Delilah like Logan does. Nobody. He makes sure of it by learning everything he can through her social media and watching her through a hidden camera he has trained on her house. Some might call him a stalker. Logan prefers to be called “romantic”.
 
But after Logan sees Delilah do something bad on the camera, he realizes there’s still more about her to discover. His sweet, perfect Delilah isn’t so perfect at all.
 
Delilah knows she should feel guilty for what she did, but all she feels is free. Except Logan won’t let her forget what she did.
 
Review: We meet Logan, a popular high school boy, kind, athletic, friendly. But he can also get obsessive. He had his eye on Sophie, he was in love with her, he loved her more than anything. Sophie just didn’t return that love. When Sophie dies, Logan continues to obsess over her. Until he meets Delilah, who looks a lot like Sophie. Logan wants to know everything about Delilah. Because to him she is perfect.
 
Delilah lives with her mother. After her father died, he mother remarried a cop. A man who, at first sight, was going to be a loving husband and stepfather for the two of them, turned out to be a controlling and abusive brute. And Delilah and her mom are constantly undermined by him.
 
When Logan finds out about something that Delilah has done, he traps her into a relationship with him.
 
Logan is your typical obsessive stalker. But he is so naïve and does not see how terrible the things are he is doing. He is a creep. And Delilah learns that very early on in the story. But Delilah is yet again being controlled by a guy, after Logan sees her do something bad. At first, I understand why Delilah goes along with Logan’s requests, because she doesn’t want the secret to get out. But eventually I felt annoyed about everything. I couldn’t stand both Delilah and Logan, for different reasons, but I just couldn’t put up with them.
 
That twist, of what Delilah does, early on the book, was quite surprising. I was interested and felt like this was going to be a book filled with twists and turns. But that never happened. There are twists and reveals, but I didn’t really care for any of them. There is, for instance, this subplot about this person supplying school kids with drugs, which they are investigating. When this person is revealed it felt so ridiculous. Surprising, but so dumb. And this investigation eventually becomes the main case for this detective, who was on a much more serious case. But this case we somehow never hear off at one point. It’s just dropped, when the detective did suspect certain things earlier on in the story. This made no sense. And the ending was just very underwhelming, rushed and abrupt.

I did not like “The Obsession”. I considered DNF’ing a couple of times, but because the ratings for the book were fairly high, I expected it to have some great, surprise ending. I unfortunately never got that.
 
Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Review - La Sociedad de la Nieve

Director: J.A. Bayona
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 144 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Enzo Vogrincic, Rafel Federman, Simon Hempe, Santiago Vaca Narvaja, Andry Pruss, Agustin Pardella, Carlitos Paez
 
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 2: A FILM IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH OR DUTCH
 
Description: The flight of a rugby team crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world’s toughest environments to survive.

Review: On Friday, October 13^th 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, bound for the Chilean capital Santiago, crashed into a glacier in the Andes, miles away from civilization. On board were 40 members of a rugby team, close friends hailing from the capital, Montevideo. For the survivors of the crash, seventy-two days followed on a snow-white mountaintop with nothing at all. They were stuck but did not give up. this retelling is a tribute to their resilience.

Directed by J.A. Bayona (also know for “The Orphanage” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), took the right turn and removed all opportunities for sentiment: no romantic vistas, no philosophical reflection or heightened sensationalism. By concentrating on the raw and factual reality of the plane crash, this narrative of the plane crash cleverly concentrates on the passengers.

Those passengers, all still in shock from what happened, crawl out of the plane wreckage as best they can and quickly get to work. They distribute the food supplies that consist mostly of small snacks. They decide to turn part of the plane into a place for the wounded, where two doctors-in-training still try to nurse them. The deceased passengers they lay firther in the snow. They make a large cross with suitcases, put on many layers of clothing and explore the area. After three days, where they still felt optimistic, everything gets even worse.

The story is told from the quiet but courageous twenty-five-year old Numa, who cares that his friends don’t just give up. they miss their families and want nothing more than to return home to finally hug their parents. Numa and his fellow passengers are played incredibly naturally, realistically and lovingly. The history of their friendship and the naturalness of their togetherness is clearly palpable. The actors impress.

Despite the incredible hardship and hopeless situation, there is always someone who, despite the reality of their circumstances, is still determined to get their friends out. This film shows that friendship can be a source of resilience.

Rating: 4/ 5

Book Review - The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Title: The Hunting Party
Author: Lucy Foley
Genre: Thriller/ Mystery
Published: 2018
 
Description: During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands. The perfect place to get away and unwind themselves.
 
They arrive on December 30^th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world. Two day later, On new Year’s Day, one of them is dead.
 
The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscence about the past. But after a decade, the wight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amir the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.
 
Now one of them is dead.. and another of them did it.
 
Review: Friends Mark, Emma, Miranda, Julien, Nick, Bo, Samira, Giles and Katie hadn’t been together in a while. Now they got the chance to celebrate New Year’s Eve and spend four days together. Emma, Mark’s girlfriend, had arranged everything and hopes her friends will enjoy their stay in and around the modern glass lodge managed by Heather and gamekeeper Doug.
 
Most of them have known each other since they studied at Oxford, while Emma feels like she’s never really going to fit in because she only joined afterwards, because of her relationship with Mark. One of the POV’s we follow is hers.
 
Miranda is the ‘it-girl’ of the group. The beautiful one, the one that lights up the room, the one that everyone wants to be, the one who is fearless, the one who has everything. In college, she had a stalker, but she never told her friends that she feels she is still sometimes followed. She is the second POV.
 
Katie is the third POV, the only single person in the group. She is the quiet one. Katie is also Miranda’s best friend, but somewhat distant lately. But Katie also has some secrets. The other two POV’s are from Heather, the hostess of the lodge, and Doug, the gamekeeper. Doug’s chapters are the only ones told in the third-person, the others all in first-person.
 
We jump back and forward in time, from the days before New Year’s and after the holiday. It’s very easy to follow. The book started good, I was intrigued. The setting is amazing. A snowy, secluded Scottish lodge is a perfect setting for a mystery thriller story. But after that first chapter, not a lot happens in these first 200 pages. Just everyday drama between a group of old friends. People who have secrets, talking about having secrets, but not mentioning what they are. We don’t know who was killed yet. That last part I don’t really mind, it builds up the tension. But author Lucy Foley dragged this out way too long.
 
After about 200 pages, there are some twists and turns. All but one were not very surprising and I around this point I predicted who was murdered and who did it. I didn’t really like any of the characters and aside from the ones whose point of view we follow, we don’t really get to know any of them very well.
 
Even though the setting is perfect for suspense, it eventually wasn’t enough to make this thriller exciting. I believe this is Lucy Foley’s thriller debut. Her later thrillers, “The Guest List” and “The Paris Apartment” I enjoyed a lot more.
 
Rating: 2,5/ 5

Oldies Movie Review - The Wrong Arm of the Law

Director: Cliff Owen
Genre: Comedy/ Crime
Runtime: 94 minutes
Year: 1963
Starring: Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins, Davy Kaye, Nanette Newman, Bill Kerr, Ed Devereaux, Reg Lye

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 1: A CLASSIC BLACK-AND-WHITE FILM
           
Description: In London, Australian gangster disguised as Bobbies rob the local criminals, making the panicked British mobsters seek an alliance with Scotland Yard in order to eliminate the foreign competition and return things to “normal”.

Review: I love Peter Sellers. Of course his role as clumsy detective Clouseau in the “Pink Panther” series is iconic, as are his multiple roles in “Dr. Strangelove”. And the underrated movie “The Party” is so hilarious. In “The Wrong Arm of the Law”, Sellers plays a crime boss, who hides behind his salesman image. His team of thieves is currently very unsuccessful, because they themselves are being robbed by a group of criminals who impersonate cops. This causes for a lot of hilarity.

Even though the idea behind this sounds really funny, it never reaches the level of comedy and satire as the aforementioned movies. It has some funny moments, but it’s not as memorable. If it weren’t for Peter Sellers, it wouldn’t stand out.

Rating: 3/ 5

2023 Reading Wrap-Up

With the start of 2024, I’m looking back on my reading year. It was a great reading year, 2023. I exceeded my reading goal, read amazing books and was introduced to new authors and genres. Here are my 2023 reading stats (thanks to StoryGraph).

I read 72 books, when my goal was 30. I read 26.257 pages. The first book of the year was The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. A book picked by my dad as my first read of the year. Was a bit disappointed in it. My last book of the year also ended up being my favorite read of 2023: The Only One Left by Riley Sager.

I read most books and pages in July, which was the month of the Summerween Readathon. Which also happened to be the first Readathon I ever participated in. Even though I choose shorter books for this Readathon, I eventually ended up reading 9 books that month, 5 for the Readathon. In December I read the least amount of pages, end of the year struggles I guess. In January, March and November I read the least amount of books. It was 5 each, which is still a good amount for me.

To no surprise, thriller was my most read genre this year. It’s my most beloved genre and the one I lean towards most often. Second was mystery. This is often paired with thriller. I tried out horror, crime and literary as well this year. Next year thriller and mystery will still be my main focus, but I want to read more horror, science fiction, non-fiction and historical fiction. 

“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott was my longest read, and also my only reread of the year. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson was the shortest book I read. I loved both. 

I spend an average of 8 days on each book and the average amount of pages of the books I read was 358. “Night of the Mannequins” was the quickest read, I listened to this audiobook in a few hours in one day. “The Deep” by Nick Cutter took me the longest. This book I brought on my vacation to Italy/ Sicily this year, where I didn’t read that much. I eventually did finish it on my trip.

My most read authors were Peter Swanson, Grady Hendrix and Holly Jackson. From Jackson I had read before, Hendrix and Swanson were new-to-me-authors (and with that new favorites as well). There were a bunch of new authors I explored this year, such as Freida McFadden, Lisa Jewell, Simone St. James, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Nick Cutter and Paul Cleave, among many others. I also revisited some authors:  John Marrs, Riley Sager, Alice Feeney, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Ruth Ware, Alex Michaelides, M.J. Arlidge and Richard Osman.

Of all the books I read, the average rating was a 3,9, which is a pretty good average. I didn’t have a lot of 2 stars or lower, which proofs it was a good reading year for me. My most given rating was 4 stars. And I rated 16 books with 5 stars. Among them was the one reread I had.

Even though March was one of the months with the least amount of books, it had the highest average rating, with a 4,4. All books I read that month were a 4 star or higher. My year started off with an average of 3,4 in January, the only month I didn’t have a 5 star read. And in July I read the most pages, since it was the month with the Summerween Readathon and I ended up reading 9 books in total for that month.

Based on popularity on StoryGraph, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is the book that is shelved the most. This also happens to be the highest rated book, overall, by the users on StoryGraph. “Whatever It Takes” by Paul Cleave is the least shelved book. I enjoyed both books.

Based on moods and genre, “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott stood out, since it’s very different to what I normally read. Other ‘odd ones out’ were “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville, “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller, “Daisy Jones & the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, “The Push” by Ashley Audrain and “Heroine” by Mindy McGinnis. Not all were a success, but the majority of these ended up being books I loved. I do want to read more of Taylor Jenkins Reid books and dive into more classics like “Moby Dick” in 2024.

I’m not a big series reader, but I apparently did read 15 books that were part of a series. The series I read this year, that I will not be continuing were the Fawkes & Baxter series (“Ragdoll” by Daniel Cole), the Hampton Murder Mysteries series (“Death on Windmill Way” by Carrie Doyle) and The Family Upstairs series (“The Family Upstairs” by Lisa Jewell). I finished the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series by Holly Jackson this year. I read “Good Girl, Bad Blood”, “As Good As Dead” and the prequel “Kill Joy” in the series. The first book I read last year. The series I want to continue in are The Marlow Murder Club series (“The Marlow Murder Club” by Robert Thorogood), The Henry Kimball & Lily Kintner series (“The Kind Worth Killing” and “The Kind Worth Saving” by Peter Swanson), the Helen Grace series (“The Doll’s House” by M.J. Arlidge), The Housemaid series (“The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden), the Whispering Pines series (“Whispering Pines” by Heidi Lang & Kati Bartkowski), the Robert Grimm series (“Hex” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt) and The Thursday Murder Club series (“The Bullet That Missed” by Richard Osman). “Little Women” is also a first in a series, or duology actually, which I didn’t know. I’m not sure if I want to read the second book.

I only DNF’ed two books this year: “Aunti Poldi and the Sicilian Lions” by Mario Giordano, which is part of the Aunti Poldi book series, and “Killers of a Certain Age” by Deanna Raybourne. I wasn’t invested in either one of the books and didn’t want to continue on reading them. I have no interest in ever picking them up again or giving them another try.