The Night We Lost Him - Laura Dave

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The Night We Lost Him - Laura Dave

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 7.5/10

Nora and her estranged brother Sam have one thing in common; they believe that their father’s death wasn’t an accident, they believe something nefarious was at play. And there is no shortage of suspects; a competitor whose attempt at a takeover failed spectacularly, one of his three ex-wives or his business partners who are most definitely keeping secrets. The question is whether they are their own, or his.

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Sociopath:A Memoir - Patric Gagne - Top Book Pick!

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Sociopath:A Memoir - Patric Gagne - Top Book Pick!

Memoir

Rating: 9/10

The author is a sociopath. She has offered her story because she feels it’s essential to illustrate the truth no one wants to admit, that darkness is where you least expect it. Despite the discovery at a young age that she made people uncomfortable, she isn't the serial killer some thought she would be. She is not any kind of killer. She is a wife, a mother, a friend and a therapist. Brutally self aware and honest. My thoughts on this read...wow. Just wow.

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Evocation - S.T. Gibson

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Evocation - S.T. Gibson

Fantasy

Rating: 8.5/10

The devil knows his name. As a teenager, David was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his occultist father. Years later, as he approaches his thirtieth birthday, the Devil comes to collect on an ancestral debt. Desperate times call for desperate measures, forcing him to reach out to his ex-boyfriend and his wife for help. It's been awhile since I found occultist delights like Tarot cards in a read, it was a blast!

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Oh, The Drama...

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Familial(ish) Sagas Of The Fictional Kind…

Finding oneself part of an ideal family or friendship must be a kind of harmonic bliss. The traditions! The matching sweaters! The heart to hearts! But where’s the fun in that? Write about such euphoric contentment and you’re at risk of putting people to sleep. Where’s the misbehaving parent, the pesky sibling, the friend who sucks you into their drama, the crush you love from afar, the drama queens and the bad boys who keep readers turning pages? The spectacle and the discord that propel the plot forward? Right here, that's where!

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Hurricane Blonde - Halley Sutton - Top Book Pick!

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Hurricane Blonde - Halley Sutton - Top Book Pick!

Noir Fiction

Rating: 9/10

Salma, a promising child actor, now spends her days as a guide for the Stars Six Feet Under tour, leading leering fans through star studded streets to the places where actresses of the past met their untimely, and often macabre, ends. A dark and gripping noir that is both a scathing indictment of the cult of celebrity and a brutal unpacking of long kept secrets. So much more than a tragedy about a woman who met a grisly end, it’s also a profound exploration of grief and love.

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Cascade Failure - L.M. Sagas - Top Book Pick!

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Cascade Failure - L.M. Sagas - Top Book Pick!

Sci-Fi

Rating: 8.5/10

Reader, strap in and hold on! Remember the cult favourite television series Firefly? From the first page to the last, you will be rooting for this messy and lovable found family. A space adventure with a motley crew of ragtag misfits and outcasts that is absolute genius. Full of snarky banter, wickedly wacky fun, and moments that will hit you right in your soft places, read this. You can thank me later.

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Do You Believe In Magic...

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Books With A Touch Of Magic…

Carnivale Of Curioustites - Aimee Gibbs

Spitting Gold - Carmella Lokis

Joyland - Stephen King

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

Circus Of Wonders - Elizabeth MacNeal

Wonder Show - Hannah Barnaby

Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Carter Beats The Devil - Glen David Gold

Caraval - Stephanie Garber

First Bright Thing - J.R. Dawson

Nights At The Circus - Angela Carter

Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Stardust - Neil Gaiman

Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon

The Prestige - Christopher Priest

Magic - William Goldman

Bacchanal - Veronica G Henry

Circus Train - Amita Parikh

The Magicians Lie - Greer Macallister

Binge Fiction...

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Read Like It’s A TV Show…

We Solve Murders - Richard Osman

A Grim Reapers Guide To Catching A Killer - Maxie Dara

Hitchcock Hotel - Stephanie Wrobel

Nightwatching - Tracy Sierra

Kill For Me Kill For You - Steve Cavangh

The Last One At The Wedding - Jason Rekulak

In The Blink Of An Eye - Jo Callaghn

First Lie Wins - Ashley Easton

Middle Of The Night - Riley Sager

Bang Bang Sisters - Rio Youer

I Will Ruin You - Linwood Barclay

The Trap - Ava Glass

The Winner - Teddy Wayne

The Ascent Adam Plantinga

No Road Home - John Fram

Many Lives Of Veronica Hawkins - Kristina Perez

Vacancy In Room 10 - Serephina Nova

The Night Of The Storm - Nishita Parekh

The Party - Natahsa Preston

Make Believe...

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Fantasy In Fiction…

Fairy Tale - Stephen King

The Carnivale of Curiosities - Amiee Gibbs

Babel – R.F. Kuang

Strange Beasts - Susan J. Morris

Stardust - Neil Gaiman

Assistant To The Villian - Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn – Mark Lawrence

Swordcatcher - Cassandra Clare

Divine Rivals - Rebecca Ross

Cinder - Marissa Meyer

One Dark Window – Rachel Gillig

These Violent Delights – Chloe Gong

Evocation - S.T. Gibson

How To Become A Dark Lord & Die Trying - Django Wexler

These Dead Prophecies - Andrea Tang

Cursed - Marissa Meyer

A Tempest Of Tea - Hafsah Faizal

The Bone Season – Samantha Shannon

We Love The Nightlife - Rachel Koller Croft

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We Love The Nightlife - Rachel Koller Croft

Horror

Rating: 7.5/10

A vampire story set in the Disco era? I am so here for it. Judge me all you want, I loved Disco. Joyful and effervescent songs…what’s not to love! Amber should have known the party wouldn’t last when Nicola, her maker, casually suggested killing her husband. She made her promise not to harm him. Spoiler alert, vampires lie. I include a suggested Disco Playlist, go ahead and use it, I won't tell.

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Things Don't Break On Their Own - Sarah Easter Collins

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Things Don't Break On Their Own - Sarah Easter Collins

Fiction/Thriller

Rating: 8/10

When Willa arrives to a dinner party thrown by her first love, she has no reason to think it will anything other than an ordinary evening. She could never have predicted that this innocuous gathering would be the thing that would turn her world on its axis. Decidedly it turns out to be anything but ordinary…

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I Need You To Read This - Jessa Maxwell

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I Need You To Read This - Jessa Maxwell

Mystery

Rating: 7/10

Since arriving in New York to escape a past only alluded to in the early stages of this novel, Alex has lived a quiet life. When she stumbles across the advertisement to replace the famous, presumed murdered, advice columnist Dear Constance, Alex takes the plunge. Then our story really begins! I loved the way the author incorporated Dear Constance letters, some likely written by Alex herself. Maybe.

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Escape Velocity - Victor Manibo

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Escape Velocity - Victor Manibo

Sci-Fi/Mystery

Rating: 8/10

Think Knives Out meets Die Hard, set on a luxury space resort. Admit it, you are intrigued. With a cast of flawed and fascinating characters and plot awash with scores to settle, secrets will not stay buried, and deception will not be outrun. Whatever veneer these characters are holding on to will be eradicated in short order. Gotta love the uber rich...

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You Must Remember This - Kat Rosenfeld

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You Must Remember This - Kat Rosenfeld

Thriller

Rating: 7/10

As a fractured family gathers at the Mansion at the center of someone(s) inheritance, there are plenty of secrets and lies hovering around. Their matriarch's fractured mind caused her to set out on an iced over lake not solid enough to hold her, plunging her to her death. Feels just a smidge convenient no? As the saying goes, you can't pick your family...

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Coming Of Age Novels...

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Who I Want To Be When I Grow Up…

Coming of age stories are not just for the young…they resonate at all ages and stages of a life, and to this day I hold a reverence for these narratives. It’s been proven across centuries that they are rich fodder for good literature. My hunger wasn’t for the stories of the normal rites of passage, it was for discovering my hidden superpowers or for being the sole person capable of saving the world. For seeing things and doing things that adults couldn’t begin to fathom. And in these reads, my dreams, and maybe your own, are realized!

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Boys In The Valley - Philip Fracassi

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Boys In The Valley - Philip Fracassi

Horror

Rating: 8.5/10

This author deftly and unflinchingly has the reader confront the worst of their childhood fears, whether they want to or not. He masterfully pens deep-seated menace on every page. Imagine The Exorcist meets It vibes and if that’s not your jam, move along. I don’t know what is says about horror fans that we love a demonically possessed child cast in our fiction...but here we are.

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