Book Review: Home Before Dark

Haunted houses make for great subject matter and let me tell you what … Riley Sager crafted one scary house in his latest release. This might be my favorite by him yet! I am slightly annoyed at myself for waiting so long to read it.

A woman, Maggie, is shocked to learn that she inherited this old estate called Baneberry Hall when her father died. She only knows of it from a tell-all book her father wrote about their experience living there for a few months when she was a child. She had no idea he still owned it since they never returned there after fleeing in the middle of the night years ago. The book her father wrote, called House of Horrors, is included within this present-day story of her returning there to renovate it. She believes her father lied about everything that happened there so he could make a fortune from the publicity. Of course, you know what happens next…she starts experiencing the exact same things her father wrote about. You see, the first family who owned the mansion died there in a violent murder-suicide. People of the town believe it is haunted by their spirits but Maggie isn’t so sure.

The tension in this book builds slowly but it’s worth the wait. I was shocked several times throughout the story. It’s not what you think! I love gothic thrillers, like Haunting of Hill House and Turn of the Screw, and this ranks right up there in quality. If you’re looking for something with ghosts, family secrets, a creepy old house, and a little bit of fear (ok maybe more than a little bit) then put this on your TBR.

What I’m reading and listening to

I only finished one new book during the weeks of February 24 – March 8, 2020.

You Are Not Alone (2020) – The latest release from co-authors, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, didn’t wow me like their other two books.  It must be super hard to come up with new, unique story lines in this age of psychological thrillers. As more and more competition enters the market, you need to create stories that stick with the reader and make them want to talk to their friends about it. I didn’t get that feeling while reading this. It could be due to the fact that I read so much but I found the story line to be unbelievable and the characters to be annoying. The writing quality is still above par so I won’t discourage anyone from reading their work – just maybe start with The Wife Between Us or An Anonymous Girl. 

I’ve been listening to a lot of great podcasts the past couple weeks! Here’s the rundown:

• Radiolab
  • Breaking Bongo 7/10 stars
• Science Vs.
  • Pandemic 10/10  Would Recommend!
  • Coronavirus 5/10 stars
  • Gentrification 4/10 stars
  • Chiropractors 6/10 stars
  • Obesity 6/10 stars
• Room 20 – Episodes 4-6 in the series 6/10 stars
• Brought to You By…
  • Episode 20: Does Panera Care 8/10 stars
  • Episode 21: Crocs, From Punchline to Fashion line 8/10 stars
  • Episode 22: Martha Stewart in the Middle 8/10 stars
• One Great Book 5/10 stars 
  • Rules of Civility
  • The Snow Child
• Stranglers – series 8/10 stars
• To Catch & Kill – series 10/10  Would Recommend!
• Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football, Inc. 10/10  Would Recommend!
• Your Own Backyard – series 10/10  Would Recommend!

Ratings explained:

• 1-5 stars = Meh…
• 6 stars = I liked it but it may not appeal to everyone
• 7 stars = Universally appealing
• 8 stars = I liked it a lot and will probably recommend it at some point
• 9 stars = I loved it and will definitely recommend it
• 10 stars = Must listen!

What I’m reading and listening to

I haven’t posted in a few weeks so this post will cover February 9 – 23, 2020

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

My February book club selection was a re-read of a favorite thriller from last year. It is sure to mess you up (in a good way) trying to figure out who the villain is. Told by a woman in a coma who is very unreliable, the story challenges you to pay attention to every detail. Is she dreaming? Is she lying? Does she have multiple personalities? Throw in a bunch of other people who seem a little “off” and you have a legit psychological thriller!

 

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

I’ve been working on this book for about 3 weeks. It is really good; I just decided to read multiple books at the same time and it isn’t getting my full attention. It’s a memoir that reads like fiction. I love this kind of stuff. She’s funny, smart, and makes me feel like less of a train wreck. Oh, and I hear it is being made into a TV series with Eva Longoria and ABC!

 

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

This is a sweet little book of which I received an advance copy from NetGalley. (It is coming out in March.) It’s not my favorite genre to read but I like to keep an open mind and try everything. This is one of those sad, emotional stories about a girl who lost her fiancee in an accident but it’s also sweet because it wouldn’t be a romance without a heartwarming alternate life story. I don’t understand the point of these kinds of books but I guess it’s inspiring to people who have been through the same thing? Sorry, but it’s not my jam.

Podcasts I’m listening to:

• Criminal –  Ep. 129: Panic Defense; Ep. 132: Herrin Massacre; Ep. 133: Red Hair, Gold Car
• Throughline – America’s Opioid Epidemic
• Oologies – Diabetology, Chiropterology (BATS)
• Radiolab – Man Against Horse, Silky Love
• Dope Labs – 023: Don’t Pass the Corona
• Reply All – A Stranger Says I Love You
• American Innovations – Valium – Parts 1-3
• Crime Junkie – Laci Peterson – Parts 1-2
• Room 20 – Episodes 1-3

Platform used: Spotify

Book Review: Sometimes I Lie

WHAT. THE. HELL. I don’t even know what to say. This book was so twisted. From the beginning, the narrator tells you that she lies so you know going into it that nothing is as it seems. The story unfolds gradually in alternating “now,” “then” and “later” snippets, making you second-guess your theories over and over again.

The story starts with a woman in a coma who can hear everything being said in her room. (That alone is a horrifying thought!) She has no memory of an accident but she keeps hearing pieces of the story and grows more and more frantic as the story develops. It jumps back to the days leading up to the accident, which foreshadow many possible explanations as to what might have happened. These snippets are the ones that really create confusion because we only get the third person narrative so we have to make our own conclusions. Then there are portions of a childhood diary of one of the main characters interspersed throughout the book, which provide some pretty disturbing details, and create a much more sinister vibe.

I love a book that can keep me guessing. (I don’t read thrillers to not get shook up a little bit!)  BUT. THE. END. What kind of mind f*@kery is this? I have re-read it three times and still don’t know what happened. I can’t get into the details because I don’t want to give it away but I promise you this is one of the BEST twists in a book that I’ve ever read.

Book Review: The Woman in the Window

Somehow I never got around to reading The Woman in the Window last year when everyone else was singing its praises. It’s not that I didn’t want to read it, I just had other books keeping me busy. (Which, let’s be honest, I always have a list a mile long waiting TBR.) My spot on the library wait list came up last week and 36 hours after picking it up I had finished! It would be an understatement to say it is a page-turner. It was hard to put down, what with the short chapters (some less than 2 pages) packing suspense in every sentence. By the time I had finished, I was shocked; I couldn’t believe I had already reached the end in almost one sitting!

From the outside, the premise sounds like it’s going to be a copycat of the Girl on the Train but it is so much more edgy.  This is a story about an agoraphobic woman who, for reasons unbeknownst to us, is unable to leave the house. Instead, she drinks wine and watches old black and white movies in between playing online chess and talking to other agoraphobic people in an online community network. She has a penchant for watching her neighbors come and go through her windows. When a new family moves into the vacant house across the garden, she finds herself particularly drawn to them.  (yada yada yada…drama ensues) The fascinating part for me is in the way the story gradually builds tension. You know something is off but you can’t tell what it is or where it’s coming from. This is the best type of suspense! Remember watching The Sixth Sense? …The way you felt when the big shocker was revealed at the end? That’s exactly how I felt after reading this book.

A.J. Finn’s writing is bold and smart; I haven’t read something that caused me to get this excited since Gone Girl. I just remember reading Gone Girl and thinking, “this is going to be big.”  Big it was, and it started a whole new trend. Everyone for the next several years tried to duplicate the type of story that would shake up the market again. It hasn’t been done. Until now. Finn knocked it out of the park! I am going to be recommending this often, I’m sure. 5 stars!!

 

Book Review: The Silent Patient

The Silent Patient has been hyped as the debut novel of the season by Goodreads. My review after finishing it: It wasn’t bad. I thought it was a very interesting idea for a thriller, but the execution was a bit slow.

A woman is in an asylum after being convicted of killing her husband. She has not spoken a word since she was found standing by his dead body. A psychotherapist obsessed with her case purposely gets on at the asylum, hoping to get the chance to work with her and get her to talk. Ok, sounds intriguing, right? Well. The story takes forevvvvver to develop. It was like watching a tennis match – back and forth they went while I sat waiting for the grand slam (major twist). I will say that the build up to the grand finale was addicting. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough; I kept thinking, “This is it. It’s finally going to happen.” But the author stretched it out for a lot longer than I liked and I thought there wasn’t much substance. The upside: The chapters are short. You can breeze through this book in a day or two, depending how much time you have.

The ending is being hailed as one of the best plot twists in recent history. It is shocking but I figured it out about halfway through (if he hadn’t drug it out I probably wouldn’t have caught it.) I had too much time to think about it. Because of the slow execution I would probably call this a suspense novel rather than a thriller. I still gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. Michaelides definitely has what it takes to be the next breakout thriller author. This is his first novel, but he is already a successful screenwriter. I didn’t hate the book; I just wasn’t as blown away as everyone else. Please give it a try and see what you think. I am definitely in the minority on my reaction.