Literary Sleuths & Such...

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“Just One More Thing”…

I have wonderful memories of watching television mysteries with my mom. Sunday nights were must-see TV, hobnobbing with Jessica Fletcher as she ambled into yet another murder in her quaint hometown. Thursdays were all about Columbo, our eyes were riveted to the boob tube in stupefied fascination as the seemingly bumbling detective laid it all out. The chagrin of the dastardly culprits as they were unmasked by either of these genius sleuths was priceless. Is it any surprise that love translated to books? Enjoy a read that celebrate sleuths of all kinds!

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5 Year's Worth Of Books & Reading...

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5 Top Book Picks Across 5 Fav Genres Over 5 Years…

September 7th, 2023 will mark the 5th Anniversary of Cracking The Spine.

Over these years I have shared an abundance of content with my readers. Profiling 1,500+ books through innovative and in-depth features as well as reviews of the books I have read during this time. To honor this moment of celebration, I will share my five-fav reads in the last five years under each of my five-fav genres.

I hope you have found as much joy in my bookish wanderings as I have in sharing them! More to come…

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An Exploration Of Science Fiction...

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Pull Of The Stars…

For as long as most of us have been alive, we have looked up at the stars and dreamed of the remarkable. Visions of sprawling and distant worlds, parallel universes, artificial intelligence, unearthly creatures, and concepts we would be hard pressed to put a name to have tumbled through our minds. Recent offerings in the genre are limitless, bringing to the page the fantastical as well as the futuristic. Fans are ravenous and the last few years have offered up an unprecedented level of satiation for that hunger.

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A Wonderland Of Fantasy Fiction...

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Tell Me A Story…

At the very least, books are meant to ignite our imagination.  That spark, when given full reign is arguably the most transformative and revelatory capacity we as humans have access to. And no genre wields this influence more fully than Fantasy. Authors in this category regard a sheet of paper empty of words as a blank canvas on which to paint unfathomable universes. So reader, allow me to lead you into the language of dreams.

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Books Set In A Circus Or Carnival

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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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A Very Inconvenient Scandal - Jacquelyn Mitchard

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A Very Inconvenient Scandal - Jacquelyn Mitchard

Fiction

Rating: 7.5/10

This author crafts stories that are as heartwarming as they are heartbreaking, expertly guiding us through the complexities that emerge within families. Her latest packs an emotional punch, delivering a page turning family drama that explores the consequences of loyalty, deception, jealousy, scandal, and fraught family dynamics. And the big secret that the scandal in the title is referring too, its a doozy!

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Master Mind Games...

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Books That Keep You Guessing…

Anna O - Matthew Blake

Yellowface - R.F. Kuang

The Busy Body - Kemper Donovan

My Murder - Katie Williams

Kill For Me Kill For You - Steve Cavanagh

Last Murder At The End Of The World - Stuart Turton

The Fury - Alex Michaelides

End Of The Story - A.J. Finn

A Talent For Murder - Peter Swanson

The Split - Kit Frick

Assassins Anonymous - Rob Hart

First Lie Wins - Ashley Elston

One Of The Good Guys - Araminta Hall

Not By Blood - Chris Narozy

He Started It - Samantha Downing

Blood Sugar - Sascha Rothchild

No One Will Miss Her - Kat Rosenfield

Woman In The Window - A.J. Finn

For More Reads Like This, Check Out…

Master Mind Games

Books Set In The Art World...

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Artsy Lit…

Curse Of Pietro Houdini - Derek B. Miller

The Lost Van Gogh - Jonathan Santlofer

The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte

Fake - Erica Katz

The Art Forger - B.A. Shapiro

Chasing Cezanne - Peter Mayle

The Last Mona Lisa - Jonathan Santlofer

The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova

The Violin Conspiracy - Brendan Slocumb

Loot - Aaron Elkins

Girl With The Botticelli Eyes - Herbert Lieberman

The Raphael Affair - Iain Pears

The Gauguin Connection - Estelle Ryan

Loving Frank - Nancy Horan

The Cabinets Of Barnaby Mayne - Elsa Hart

The Art Thief - Michael Finkel

Con/Artist: Life & Crimes Of The World’s Greatest Art Forger - Tony Tetro

Hot Art: Chasing Thieves & Detectives In The World Of Stolen Art - Josh Knelman

For More Reads, Check Out…

Literary Compositions

If You Prefer Your History In Fictional Form...

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Historical Fiction Reads…

The Women - Kristin Hannah

Warm Hands Of Ghosts - Katherine Arden

Table For Two - Amor Towles

James - Percival Everett

The Widow Spy - Megan Campisi

Homecoming - Kate Morton

The Last Russian Doll - Kristen Loesch

The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell

The Starlet Letter - Julie Mathison

The Spectacular - Fiona Davis

The Sin Eater - Megan Campisi

The Puzzle Master - Danielle Trussoni

Essex Dogs - Dan Jones

Hotel Of Secrets - Diana Biller

Strangers In The Night - Heather Webb

A Gentleman In Moscow - Amor Towles

The House With The Golden Door - Elodie Harper

L.A. Confidential - James Ellroy

For More Historical Fiction…

Now & Then

Yellowface - R.F. Kuang - Top Book Pick!

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Yellowface - R.F. Kuang - Top Book Pick!

Fiction/Satire

Rating: 9/10

Juniper is a fledging writer, ravenous with ambition. When her bestselling author friend Athena chokes to death one night when they are hanging at her fancy schmancy apartment, Juniper steals her just-finished masterpiece. A masterpiece she hasn’t whispered a thing about to anyone. Did I mention she is also an unabashed liar. Flat out, bald faced, deluded and narcissistic, she even manages to fool herself. Seriously, she cannot help herself. A brilliant read!

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The Quiet Tenant - Clemence Michallon

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The Quiet Tenant - Clemence Michallon

Thriller

Rating: 7/10

Aidan is charming, objectively handsome, and always willing to lend a hand. But behind the meticulously fabricated veneer, he’s also a kidnapper and serial killer. While we all have reason to shy away from the “serial killer” novels, which have seen a resurgence of popularity in the last year, this one delves a little deeper than most. What is, at a glance, a twisted premise, is in fact a novel that raises unexpected moral considerations.

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Paradox Hotel - Rob Hart

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Paradox Hotel - Rob Hart

Sci-Fi

Rating: 9/10

January is head of security at the Paradox Hotel, a luxury locale where trillionaires stay when travelling to and from different time periods. With a big summit planned to determine the new owner of the hotel, she struggles to keep herself in the here and now while juggling a maelstrom of complications that arise. The hotel is losing bits and pieces of past events, almost as if history is dissolving. And she herself is unstuck, a little like Alice In Wonderland. And then there’s the body in a room that doesn’t exist. What’s a girl to do? Well, this girl’s not telling!

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Call Me Hunter - Jim Shockey

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Call Me Hunter - Jim Shockey

Thriller

Rating: 6/10

When a manuscript written by a man who calls himself Hunter arrives in the mail, Nyala never expected to be lured into the story of a man intent on bringing down an elite society of operatives and killers that have controlled the worlds treasures and artifacts for hundreds of years. The fact that he has addressed her by name, that he is unwavering in his assurance that she has a part to play, that’s just another mystery she sets out to unravel.

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Walking With Sam: A Father, A Son & 500 Miles Across Spain- Andrew McCarthy

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Walking With Sam: A Father, A Son & 500 Miles Across Spain- Andrew McCarthy

Memoir

Rating: 8/10

If you go into this book by actor Andrew McCarthy thinking you are going to leave with some juicy celebrity gossip, you will be dissatisfied. What you will get is an intimate, funny, and deeply poignant memoir that invites you along on a trek of discovery for a father and son as they navigate a new way to connect as adults. Within moments of setting out on day 1 of this ambitious, arduous, and potentially profound walk, Sam informs his dad that he is about to get so sick of him. 34 days to go.

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The Best Minds: A Story Of Friendship, Madness & The Tragedy Of Good Intentions - Jonathan Rosen

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The Best Minds: A Story Of Friendship, Madness & The Tragedy Of Good Intentions - Jonathan Rosen

Memoir

Rating: 7.5/10

A haunting and deeply nuanced reconstruction of the forces that led the authors closest childhood friend, Michael, from the heights of brilliant promise to the psychiatric hospital where he has lived since killing the woman he loved. It is in many ways the authors reckoning against his own inaction in the face of his friend’s schizophrenia. The book painstakingly illustrates the entanglement of madness and genius. Brilliantly written!

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Sleuths & Such...

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“Just One More Thing”…

I have wonderful memories of watching television mysteries with my mom. Sunday nights were must-see TV, hobnobbing with Jessica Fletcher as she ambled into yet another murder in her quaint hometown. Thursdays were all about Columbo, our eyes were riveted to the boob tube in stupefied fascination as the seemingly bumbling detective laid it all out. The chagrin of the dastardly culprits as they were unmasked by either of these genius sleuths was priceless. Is it any surprise that love translated to books? Enjoy a read that celebrate sleuths of all kinds!

Read More

Mystery: A Seduction,A Strategy, A Solution - Jonah Lehrer

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Mystery: A Seduction,A Strategy, A Solution - Jonah Lehrer

Microhistory

Rating: 9/10

A standout book that provides a deconstructed exploration of why puzzlement is integral for the mind. Illustrating key principles through examples set by artists, athletes, musicians, writers, magicians, salesmen, and geniuses. Pursuing explanations of the things that confound us; one hit wonders, sport statistics and predications, the misleading threads laid down in novels, the art forgery’s, the cracking of cyphers, the feint and flourish of a magical illusion. The author tackles them all with a nerdish brilliance that left me longing for more!

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