Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Body Double – Tess Gerritsen

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591907| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Dr Maura Isles stared at the corpse in the car, at the face illuminated by Rizzoli’s flashlight beam.

It’s me. That woman is me…

Maura Isles deals with death. As a pathologist in downtown Boston, she has seen more than her share of corpses. But never before has the body on the medical examiner’s table been her own.

There can be no denying the evidence though. The dead woman is her mirror image right down to the most intimate physical details. Even more chilling is the discovery that they share the same birth date and blood type.

Then a DNA test confirms that Maura’s mysterious double is indeed her twin sister, and suddenly an already bizarre murder investigation becomes a disturbing excursion into a past full of dark and deadly secrets.

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My thoughts:

“Filled with secrets and mystery that is unraveling into a believable and realistic plot, but without all that gory stuff that is so popular.”

This series is only getting better and better. I threw myself over this one right after I finished the third book and now I feel the need to throw myself over the fifth book to. That is how good this series has turned out for me. This is just another fantastic continuation in the “lives” of Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles and I’m in love. And wow what a plot. Filled with secrets and mystery that is unraveling into a believable and realistic plot, but without all that gory stuff that is so popular.

The story line is not at all like the ones in the TV series and it was perfect. You get to know new things about the characters that has been changed when writing the TV series and that made me even more attached. We also get to follow Isles the most of the time and even though I’m not as huge fan of the book Isles as I am for the TV Isles i enjoyed it immensely.

It is a real page turner. The ending took me by total surprise, fitting but not what I would have wanted. It only fueled my need for more and not surprisingly, I threw myself over the fifth book to. Damns this is good.

 

 

TBR

To Be Read – June

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I’m really excited for my June To Be Read list. I have some good books here which I have high expectations for. Hopefully not to high. Three books that are continuing in series I follow and three books who are stand alone. The genres are a large mix between humor, contemporary, romance, chick lit, fiction, mystery, New adult, horror, thriller, sci-fi, and suspense.

june.JPG

Liane Moriarty is a name I have seen circulating in the bookish community the last few years and this one “The Husband’s Secret” is the one I feel I want to use to introduce Moriarty to me.

The Risk by Elle Kennedy is the second book in Briar U series. I usually love Kennedys books so I do not expect anything less.

The Promise by R.L Mathewson is the tenth book in her Neighbor from hell series. I love her books but lately they have been somewhat “flat”. I hope “The promise” will bring the honor back.

Luna and the Lie. Don’t know much about it more than I love Zapatas books and I don’t even have to read the Synopsis to know I want to read her work.

Code Zero. The sixth book in the Joe Ledger series and staring my bookish boyfriend. He has finally found some happiness and I do hope Maberry didn’t throw in another curveball.

The Breakdown. A book I have had on my bookshelf for far to long now. I feel it will be an angst filled book but I did bought it so once in a time I did want to read it. Now is the time

What are you planing on reading in the month of June?

Monthly summary

May Summary

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monthlysummery2

I have had a great reading month. Started off with an little reading slump which I overcame and then it was book after book. 🙂

Favorite book this month: Couldn’t choose one due to that I have two favorites this month. Folk med ångest by Fredrik Backman and Through the fire by Katie Ruggle.

Least favorite book this month: Mort – Terry Pratchett

Number of physical books: 5
Number of e-books: 4
Number of audiobooks: 3
Total pages: 3478.
Female authors: 6
Male authors: 4

32951240Blindsided – Kaylea Cross
Pages: 162 Published: 2016
Genres: Romantic, suspense.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 6 in The titanium security series.
23164983Hollow city – Ransom Riggs
Pages: 428 Published: 2014
Genres: Fantasy, young adult, fiction
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 2 in The Miss Peregrine’s series.
9267091Death note – Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata
Pages: 392 Published: 2003
Genres: Manga, graphic novel, fantasy.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Volume 1 in The Death note series.
6671931Sizzle – Julie Garwood
Pages: 320 Published: 2009
Genres: Romantic, suspense, contemporary, mystery.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 8 in The Buchanan and Renard series.
43601208Folk med ångest – Fredrik Backman (English review)
Pages: 347 Published: 2019
Genres: Contemporary, fiction.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
42833687Things my son needs to know about the world – Fredrik Backman
Pages: 173 Published: 2012
Genres: Non-fiction, humor, funny.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
36297706The deal of a lifetime – Fredrik Backman
Pages: 78 Published: 2017
Genres: Contemporary, fiction.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
38353681Sugar – Jessica Gadziala
Pages: 236 Published: 2018
Genres: Contemporary, romance.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 12 in The Henchmen MC series.
51ZgfQcxO0L._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_Spellbound – Margit Sandemo
Pages: 255 Published: 1982
Genres: Historical, fiction, fantasy, romance.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The legend of the Ice People series.
828352Mort – Terry Pratchett
Pages: 316 Published: 1987
Genres: Fantasy, fiction, humor.
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Death series, Book 4 in the Discworld series.
32257The Sinner – Tess Gerritsen
Pages: 419 Published: 2003
Genres: Crime, mystery, thriller
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in The Rizzoli & Isles series.
36748616Through the fire – Katie Ruggle
Pages: 352 Published: 2018
Genres: Contemporary, romantic, suspense.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 4 in The Rocky Mountain K9 unit series.

 

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense

Through the fire – Katie Ruggle

Book Chick2 Comments

36748616| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Kit Jernigan despairs of ever fitting in with her new tight-knit K9 unit. They’ve been through too much to open their arms to a stranger―and as mysterious fires begin raging across Monroe, she can’t convince them to trust her long enough to catch the woman she knows is responsible.
Wesley March, local fire spotter, knows Kit is right, and he’s willing to help her prove it. But the more time they spend together, the closer they get…and the more danger they’re in. A member of the K9 unit’s inner circle is determined to get revenge―no matter who gets burned in the process.
This time, it’s personal.

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My thoughts:

“I’m In Love!”

I’m in love. I love Wes! He is one of the best characters I have read about in a really long time and Ruggle have finally produced a book with the content and stability of a five star rating. I have not been shy with my thoughts about the Rocky mountain K9 unit series. After the grand slam of Search and Rescue (which I loved) I was expecting the same caliber with also this series. Which we didn’t receive in my opinion. But the fourth and last book just blew my mind and it was a perfect ending for the series and I could not have expected more.

Wes is a character who is super smart but has almost little to no social skills and is really uncomfortable with people due to that he have problems with interpreting them. He reminds me a lot of the character Don Tillman from the series with the same name, written by Graeme Simison except that Wes is not clueless when it comes to love. He just has troubles knowing if his feelings is reciprocated or not. Kit is the perfect female character for him and them together makes the sparkle fly. There is nothing fast in their relationships and they take their time, which makes it even more perfect. I often think the romantic aspect of a book is going forward to fast. I want substance and I certainly got it.

The plot of the story is also great. We have some final unraveling in some stuff and it was a lot of tension which made it even more captivating. I literally could not stop reading. It all mixed together with what I know from the three books before and the excitement for now, made it a reading journey I cannot stop ravaging about. I’m so happy I continued the series even though I was not a huge fan.

I feel a lot more exciting to continuing books written by Ruggle and she has started a new series. Let’s she was she is bringing on. 😀

Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Sinner – Tess Gerritsen

Book Chick1 Comment

32257| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Not even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the cloistered convent lie two nuns–one dead, one critically injured–victims of an unspeakably savage attacker. The brutal crime appears to be without motive, but medical examiner Maura Isles’s autopsy of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister Camille gave birth before she was murdered. Then another body is found, mutilated beyond recognition. Together, Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that strikes close to home–and toward a dawning revelation about the killer’s identity too shattering to consider.

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My thoughts:

“I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to fall for the series, but I finally did.”

What a great book. This was so good. Best one so far in the series. And now that I’m finally starting to not compare the books to the TV series, I enjoy it even more. I couldn’t wait with the fourth book so I threw myself over that one just seconds after I was finished. That is how good this was. That is how invested I’m starting to be in the “lives” of Isles, Rizzoli and all the other characters.

Crime and mystery is always a genre I feel at home with. It was the first type of books I loved in my early teenage years, long before I found romantic suspense and I love when authors can bring in something “new” in a genre where it is pretty much the same in different colors every time. And I love this series. It is down to earth with no excessive, over the top, murder cases. It feels realistic, believable and captivating with all that secrets unraveling. And all that personal life, Oh it is just so well balanced together and beautifully done. I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to fall for the series, but I finally did.

Fantasy/Paranormal · Fiction/Science Fiction · Humor/Funny

Mort – Terry Pratchett

Book Chick1 Comment

828352| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.

After being assured that being dead was not compulsory, Mort accepted. However, he soon found that romantic longings did not mix easily with the responsibilities of being Death’s apprentice…

 

 

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My thoughts:

“The one thing I really like is the way Pratchett have brought up such an difficult topic as death in a way that was easy and not frightening.”

This is my first encounter with the Discworld universe and the numerous writings of Sir Terry Pratchett and to be honest, I’m quite confused and this was not an easy review to write. I have read some reviews due to my mixed feelings and several has mentioned that Mort may not be the best book to start with due to that Pratchett’s writing style still was in development and the Discworld was not yet fully realized. Other felt just as confused as me, but also said that this should not affect our opinion of Pratchett and to be open minded for reading more of his books in the future.

Mort, the book about a boy who became Deaths apprentice, is a highly praised book all over the world and by readers in all ages. And it breaks my heart that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted. I really, really wanted to like it but I just didn’t feel the magic other readers was talking about. It had a promising beginning with intriguing characters and a nice story. It was witty and clever, but did not affect me as much as I was expecting and it took me some time and effort to get into it.

The writing style is easy, and I can see why it fits readers in so many different ages and cultures. The one thing I really like is the way Pratchett have brought up such an difficult topic as death in a way that was easy and not frightening. However it was just not enough for me.

 

Classic/Historical · Fantasy/Paranormal · Fiction/Science Fiction · Romance

Spellbound – Margit Sandemo

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51ZgfQcxO0L._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Winter 1581: a deadly plague outbreak robs sixteen-year old peasant girl Silje of all her family. Homeless, starving and shepherding two abandoned children, she stumbles out of the corpse-strewn streets of Trondheim on Norway’s northern coast.

Heading desperately for the warmth of the mass funeral pyres blazing beyond the city gates, she encounters in the shadowy forest one of the infamous Ice People, a fearsome, strangely captivating ‘wolf man’. He offers help – and she feels irresistibly drawn to him. But what is the terrible fascination? And where will it lead?

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My thoughts:

“It is a great start on a series who will take place over several centuries.”

This is probably my third or fourth reared of the first book in the Legend of the Ice People series. A book series, written by a Norwegian author and published in 47 parts. Yes. It is 47 books in this series and myself have not read more than eleven. Now I’m fortunate enough to have found and bought the whole series in hardcover. They do not print them anymore, not in Swedish at least, so second-hand was the only option. So now my challenge is to read all the 47 books. It will probably take me a couple of years but one day I will make it.

It is an historical fantasy about The Ice People who have a curse riding through the generations. The first book is about Silje and her travels in the plague ridden part of the Norwegian mountains where she meets some of those people and one of the cursed ones. She is strong and a motivated character in a way that you can relate with her. We meet some of the ground laying characters and gets to know the history and story of the Ice People. It is a great start on a series who will take place over several centuries.

It is easy to read and it have been translated to English. How easy it is to get hold of the books, i do not know, but they must exist out there somewhere if you are interested.

 

Romance

Sugar – Jessica Gadziala

Book Chick1 Comment

38353681| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Sugar had known a lot of women in his life. But he’d never met anyone quite like this mermaid-haired, tattooed, pierced, smartass woman named Peyton who made it clear she didn’t want anything from him except as many orgasms as he could give her.

So what was he supposed to do when he realized he did want more? How was he supposed to get this woman who was so committed to non-commitment to take a chance on him? Or convince the loansharks and ex-armed robbers that loved her that he was worthy? All the while trying to figure out how a dead man from his past had somehow come back to life… and why he was coming for him…

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My thoughts:

“So overall I may be a little too generous with the rating, but even though I did not like it as much as the others, I still enjoyed it.”

12 books! 12 books I have so far read in the Henchmen series, and a number of others from the same universe and I love it and I love Gadziala. I love her characters and her easy way of writing but I have mixed feelings for this one. I freaking love Sugar and Peyton and the fizzy chemistry between them. Sugar is cool and layback while Peyton is… well she certainly wins the first price in craziness and is all over the top at all times. But I think the biggest problem with the book is the fuzzy plot. Nothing really happens until like 90% in, and that is over long before it even started. Kind of anticlimactic when you get all that build-up but no real release. It felt rushed and a few parts was kind of boring and in the end there are a few things that didn’t make sense. I will however not dive into that pit of thoughts due to spoilers.

I was just expecting more. Specially sine Peyton belongs to both Mallick and Rivers family, kind of, and I thought the V thing would escalate but that was completely “dead”. So overall I may be a little too generous with the rating, but even though I did not like it as much as the others, I still enjoyed it. And that makes the difference.

Contemporary · Fiction/Science Fiction · Shortstory

The deal of a lifetime – Fredrik Backman

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36297706| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn’t your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he’s taken a life but he won’t say whose—not yet.

One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She’s a smart kid—smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.

As the man tells his son about this plucky little girl, he slowly reveals more about himself: while he may be a successful businessman, idolized by the media and his peers, he knows he failed as a parent. Overwhelmed by the responsibility of fatherhood, he took the easy way out and left his wife and little boy twenty years ago to pursue professional success. Now he is left wondering if it’s too late to forge a relationship with his son, who seems to be his opposite in every way—prizing happiness over money, surrounded by loving friends in a cozy town where he feels right at home.

Face to face with the idea that something is missing, the man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of the little girl in the hospital bed. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so, he seeks him out and tells him this story…

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My thoughts:

“Short story”

Sad story about the meaning of life, the choices we take and the people they affect. Filled with love, hate, happiness and sadness. All emotions crammed onto not even 100 pages. I’m glad it was as short as it was and my Fredrik Backman craving I have had the last days is finally saturated. And now I have officially read every book Backman has published so far and he is still one of my absolute favorite authors.

 

Humor/Funny · Non-fiction/Biography

Things my son needs to know about the world – Fredrik Backman

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42833687| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Things My Son Needs to Know About the World collects the personal dispatches from the front lines of one of the most daunting experiences any man can experience: fatherhood.

As he conveys his profound awe at experiencing all the “firsts” that fill him with wonder and catch him completely unprepared, Fredrik Backman doesn’t shy away from revealing his own false steps and fatherly flaws, tackling issues both great and small, from masculinity and mid-life crises to practical jokes and poop.

In between the sleep-deprived lows and wonderful highs, Backman takes a step back to share the true story of falling in love with a woman who is his complete opposite, and learning to live a life that revolves around the people you care about unconditionally. Alternating between humorous side notes and longer essays offering his son advice as he grows up and ventures out into the world, Backman relays the big and small lessons in life, including:

-How to find the team you belong to
-Why airports explain everything about religion and war
-The reason starting a band is crucial to cultivating and keeping friendships
-How to beat Monkey Island 3
-Why, sometimes, a dad might hold onto his son’s hand just a little too tight

This is an irresistible and insightful collection, perfect for new parents and fans of Backman’s “unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness). As he eloquently reminds us, “You can be whatever you want to be, but that’s nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are.”

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My thoughts:

“Irresistible and funny.”

After I finished “Folk med ångest” I was in the need for more. Just more from Backman. First I thought about maybe a reread but decided on to “finally” read that one book I thought I would never read. I have no kids and actually do not like kids that much. So I just thought it was not for me. But oh boy, oh boy this is one irresistible and funny book no matter if you have kids or not.

I can’t relate to the stuff Backman writes about off course due to not have my own kids, but It did make me appreciates my Saturday mornings a lot more and that I can come and go as I want without worrying about poop, pressure and constant fear is certainly a freedom parents no longer have. It makes me appreciate my childless situation and gave me a future glimpse into what may be stored for me in the future. And even if nothing is going to be easy, I hope it will be just as great.

Parents are heroes for sure.