Deep Thoughts...

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Reads That You Will Think About Long After The Last Page…

All Sinners Bleed - S.A. Crosby

Small Mercies - Dennis Lehane

Lessons In Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus

We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker

Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

11/22/63 - Stephen King

No Two Persons - Erica Bauermeister

Brooklyn Crime Novel - Jonathan Lethem

Babel – R.F. Kuang

World Running Down - Al Hess

Family Meal - Bryan Washington

The Future - Noami Alderman

The Women - Kristin Hannah

Hestia Strikes A Match - Christine Grillo

Tom Lake - Ann Patchett

Count Of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

Blind Assasian - Margaret Atwood

In The Name Of The Rose - Umberto Eco

A Gentleman In Moscow - Amor Towles

Circus Circus...

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Step Right Up..for the magic, for the fear!

Carnivale Of Curiousitites - Aimee Gibbs

First Bright Thing - J.R. Dawson

Circus Train - Amita Parikh

Pantonmine - Laura Lin

Hide - Kiersten White

Bacchanal - Veronica G Henry

Joyland - Stephen King

Caraval - Stephanie Garber

Circus Of Wonders - Elizabeth Macneal

Wonder Show - Hannah Barnaby

The Immortal Circus - A.R. Kahler

Nights At The Circus - Angela Carter

Ladies Of The Secret Circus - Constance Sayers

Full Tilt - Neal Shusterman

Freeks - Amanda Hockling

Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Stardust - Neil Gaiman

Carter Beats The Devil - Glen David Gold

Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norell - Susanna Clarke

Zero Days - Ruth Ware

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Zero Days - Ruth Ware

Thriller

Rating: 8/10

It would be hard to dispute that Ware has a knack for writing propulsive plots and casting them with female protagonists that you will root for. And her latest does not disappoint, especially when you layer on the technological angle to the story. Jack and her husband are penetration specialists, people who find ways around company security systems. After their latest job, she gets home to find her beloved husband brutally murdered. Soon she will be both on the hunt and the hunted!

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I Only Read Murder - Ian & Will Ferguson

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I Only Read Murder - Ian & Will Ferguson

Mystery

Rating: 7/10

Miranda, once known for playing the crime solving church pastor she was cast as on television, has hit hard times. No matter how flagrantly she ignores this fact at every opportunity. Now she finds herself in the thick of a real life mystery, so to speak. A cozy whodunnit chock full of quirky characters, imagine a murder mystery set on the series Corner Gas or Schitt’s Creek. Pure Canadiana!

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I'm A Fan - Sheena Patel

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I'm A Fan - Sheena Patel

Fiction

Rating: 8/10

In the last few years, I have seen an influx of books that are willing to tell stories that are brave enough to forgo niceties, cast unlikable characters, and mine the depths of messy and disturbing lives. This is one such book. Our narrator is unnamed and possibly unhinged. The narrative itself is vitriolic, tortuous, fractured and a perfect fit for the story it sets out to tell. A story I recommend you read!

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Thirteen Storeys - Jonathan Sims

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Thirteen Storeys - Jonathan Sims

Horror

Rating: 8/10

All that remained of Tobias Fell at the end of the night was a blood-soaked penthouse. It must have been the scene of a brutal murder, right? But where is the body? And why can no one identify any of the multiple people spotted leaving the scene of the crime. Each with what could be described as a small body bag in hand. To find out you will need to read thirteen brilliantly crafted horror tales first. Not exactly hard work!

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I Will Find You - Harley Coben

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I Will Find You - Harley Coben

Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

What I am about to describe to you will sound utterly implausible. The weight of the disbelief you will have to suspend is mammoth. And that my friends, is the sheer, unadulterated fun of this book! Five years ago, David was convicted of the brutal murder of his three-year-old son. Today he discovers his son might not be dead after all. What’s a father to do?

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Where The Dead Sleep - Joshua Moehling

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Where The Dead Sleep - Joshua Moehling

Thriller/Fiction

Rating: 7.5/10

I love an eerie small-town narrative, rich with furtive behavior and morally ambiguous characters. And it’s in these places where that saying, you never really know your neighbours, comes to roaring to life. Add in a small town sheriff trying to escape some big city drama and I am all in! Suspects and shenanigans aplenty will keep the pages turning on this read.

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Death Of A Bookseller - Alice Slater

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Death Of A Bookseller - Alice Slater

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 7/10

To call this book profoundly creepy would likely be an understatement. Roach is a disaffected, true crime obsessed bookseller that develops a disturbing preoccupation with a colleague. A colleague whose life was turned upside down by the murder of her mother. Which leaves Roach practically salivating with excitement. Hence the creepy comment.

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The Only One Left - Riley Sager

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The Only One Left - Riley Sager

Horror/Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

Kit is a disgraced home health care worker desperate for any job she can find. Soon after she arrives at Hope’s End, aptly named as it turns out, she is trying to justify a quick exit. It seems her new patient may be guilty of murdering her family, and she’s not talking. In Sager’s latest she brilliantly teases out threads and heaps on diversions in ways that will leave a reader delighted even if their own detective skills are put to shame!

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Killer Queens...

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Femme Fatales…

Bright Young Women - Jessica Knoll

My Husband - Maud Ventura

Chain Gang All Stars - Nana Kwame

Misery - Stephen King

For Your Own Good - Samantha Downing

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

How To Kill Men & Get Away With It - Katy Brent

No One Will Miss Her - Kat Rosenfield

Girl A - Abigail Dean

First Day Of Spring - Nancy Tucker

Dear Child - Romy Hausman

Goodnight Beautiful - Aimee Molloy

Darling Rose Gold - Stephanie Wrobel

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides

Blood Sugar - Sascha Rothchild

Plain Bad Heroines - Emily M. Danforth

Queenpin - Megan Abbot

Noir..

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Dark & Edgy Fiction…

Age Of Vice - Deepti Kapoor

Titanium Noir - Nick Harkawy

Scorched Grace - Margot Doughy

Hurricane Blonde - Hailey Sutton

Don't Know Tough - Eli Cranor

Bullet Train - Kataro Isaka

Heaven's A Lie - Wallace Stroby

Confessions - Kanae Minto

Eight Detectives - Alex Pavesi

Diary Of A Murderer - Young-Ha Kim

The Good Son - You Jeong Jeong

Blacktop Wasteland - S.A. Crosby

Bad Monkeys - Matt Ruff

Velvet Was The Night - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Out Of Sight - Elmore Leonard

Smila’s Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg

Strangers On A Train - Patricia Highsmith

The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet

The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M.Cain

Coming Of Age...

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In The Ways Of Misfits..

Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

The Pallbearers Club - Paul Tremblay

The Book Eaters - Sunyi Dean

This Story Is A Lie - Tom Pollock

Mary Jane - Jessica Anya Blau

Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin

My Best Friends Exorcism - Grady Hendrix

Of Vengenance - J.D. Kurtness

The Institute - Stephen King

The Verifyers - Jane Pek

We Sold Our Souls - Grady Hendrix

Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime - Mark Haddon

The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab

The Agathas - Kathlee Glasgow & Liz Lawson

Ten Thousand Doors Of January - Alix E Harrow

To Kille A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Know Is Not The Time To Panic - Kevin Wilson

The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton

Winter's Bone - Daniel Woodrell

Hidden Pictures - Jason Rekulak (Replay)

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Hidden Pictures - Jason Rekulak (Replay)

Horror

Rating: 9/10

A creepy as hell and wildly inventive ghost story that delivers a read perfect for the heat of long summer days or the early chill of fall. Fresh out of rehab, Mallory takes a job as a nanny for five-year-old Teddy. A sweet boy with a vivid imagination and a love of drawing. As the drawings Teddy brings down after his daily quiet time grow steadily more sinister and unsettling, Mallory begins to wonder what she has gotten herself into!

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Pandora's Jar: Women In Greek Myths - Natalie Haynes

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Pandora's Jar: Women In Greek Myths - Natalie Haynes

Mythology

Rating: 8/10

Going into this book, you may think you know all there is to know about mythology, but you will find yourself enthralled by the plot twists and delighted by the audacity of women who have long been relegated to supporting cast. A tenet of readers far and wide is that stories, and the language used to form them, are emblematic of the times in which they are written. And the stories that writers revisit are transformed a little with each retelling. And thank goodness for that!

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The Lie Maker - Linwood Barclay

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The Lie Maker - Linwood Barclay

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 7/10

When struggling novelist Jack Givins is approached by the U.S. Marshals with a lucrative job offer, one that will utilize his talent for crafting fiction, he somehow manages not to be astonished by the coincidence. You see, when Jack was just nine years old, his father, a hitman, entered the witness protection program, leaving his family behind. And Jack’s new job? Creating meticulous back stories for people about to enter the program.

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Circus Circus...

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A Backstage Pass To A World Of Wonders…

There's one fantasy that doesn't get old even as we do: running away with the circus. Escaping to a place where you can inhale the mouthwatering scent of cotton candy and fresh popcorn, behold dazzling lights that turn night into day, be held captive by impossible feats of magic, and surrender yourself to a place of vast spectacle. Bring a spark of extraordinary into your everyday life with these incredible books that will sweep you away to the dark and glamourous world of carnivals and circuses, where nothing is as it seems. A setting ripe for literature as any I can imagine.

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Suburban Dicks - Fabian Nicieza

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Suburban Dicks - Fabian Nicieza

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 8.5/10

Ryan Reynolds, star of Deadpool and countless other films and beloved Canadian, has endorsed this book. And yes, I am shamelessly name dropping in the hopes that it drives traffic to my website. Cast with two extremely unlikely and highly memorable amateur sleuths, this book is a wild ride from start to finish. An absolute blast worthy of some of your summer time!

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Not By Blood - Chris Narozny

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Not By Blood - Chris Narozny

Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

When Tina gets a call from her brother in the dead of night, it seems like all the others that have come before. He’s holed up in some stash house and needs his big sister to come to the rescue. But when she gets there, he is nowhere to be found. There is a dead guy, and it doesn’t look like natural causes. Just as she’s about to dial 911, she gets a text that reads “Shhhh…”

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