TJ Newman is a master at telling great stories with a backdrop of unthinkable but possible man made catastrophes. She makes you care about the characters that are going through the disaster, and the writing is so fast paced that you feel you have to finish the book in one sitting if possible because you have to know what will happen.

The setting for Worst Case Scenario is a nuclear power plant where a plane has just crashed after the pilot had a heart attack. The power plant is in a small town with only one fire truck and the highway to the town is closed from a large car crash, so it will be hard for help to get there. The nuclear disaster could be worse than either Fukushima or Chernobyl as far as impacts to the country and the people.

The audiobook was awesome. The narrator (actor Joe Morton) did a great job on the regular reading plus there were lots of radio transmissions that sounded amazing. I love it when audiobooks do that. It helps with the realism and makes you feel like you were there. I think I could listen to him read anything.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the chance to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion. I’ve already listened to it twice in two days.

I’m always happy to read books that are re-tellings of well known stories from the female’s perspective, especially mythology related stories. This one was no exception!

I grew up watching the 1981 Clash of the Titans on VHS as many times as my parents would rent it from the Curtis Mathes, which was what our town had before Blockbuster was a thing. That movie portrays Hera as very cruel and unforgiving. I also love with the Percy Jackson series, so I had a pretty good knowledge of the stories from all the other perspectives.

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing all of the stories related to Hera from her perspective to help hear why she might have made some of the decisions she made. It definitely gave me empathy for Hera that I had never had before.

Trigger warnings for rape/abuse but that should be obvious if you have read any Greek mythology before.

The narrator Naomi Frederick did a great job of helping give an empathetic voice to Hera. I can’t wait to see what other retellings Jennifer Saint comes up with in the future.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

This gave Mean Girls vibes mixed with Truly Devious/Nancy Drew/Harriet the Spy. Kerry and Annie are on the outside of the cool group when they are approached by the leader to help investigate who is sending her scary DMs. Then a very strange murder happens and she asks them to investigate that also.

I enjoyed the friendship between Annie and Kerry.

I think I might have liked it better if I had read the book instead of listened to it, because the audiobook narrator’s accent was just difficult for my American South ears to completely comprehend at all times, especially if I was also multitasking. I don’t usually have this issue and I listen to a couple of hundred audiobooks per year.

Special thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for an audiobook copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

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This was extremely difficult to narrow down to a top 10 but here is my stab at it.

Thanks @rev.alicia.reads for the template.

• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
• All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr
• The Murmur of Bees Sofia Segovia
• Sparks Like Stars Nadia Hashimi
• Rules of Civility Amor Toles
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zavin
• Echo Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel
• Crying in H Mart Michelle Zauner
• Turtles All The Way Down John Green

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was another fun story told in transcripts from group texts and message boards. There is/may have been a disappearance at a small college masters arts program. We have to figure out what happened based on reading all of the messages, which are often contradicting. So who is lying?? Who is spying on who?

I have worked with several of these types of people so it was interesting to see how they acted this scenario. So realistic that they were all of different ages/stages of life.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication Date 9/10/24

Maureen Johnson proves once again that she’s the queen of YA Mystery.

Poor Marlowe accidentally burns down her parents friend’s cottage on a first date. To get away from her intense embarrassment, she takes a job as a tour guide on an island where some mysterious deaths occurred in the 1930s. I absolutely loved Marlowe’s internal dialogue – so real for us socially awkward types. 🥰

Very good modern twist on/homage to an Agatha Christie book called Crooked House.

I stayed up until 2am to finish this one, which I rarely do anymore.

Special thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the advanced e-reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

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20 books for June

• What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust (Flavia de Luce, #11) Alan Bradley ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• If Something Happens to Me Alex Finlay ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Unwedding Ally Condie ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants Ann Claire ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story Ann Rule ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Steel Kiss (Lincoln Rhyme, #12) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Skin Collector  (Lincoln Rhyme, #11) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder Kerryn Mayne ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Not So Perfect Strangers L.S. Stratton ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Midnight Feast Lucy Foley ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Eruption Michael Crichton ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• Horror Movie Paul Tremblay ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Nine Lives Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Eight Perfect Murders Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Kind Worth Killing (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #1) Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Kind Worth Saving (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #2) Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• A Talent for Murder (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #3) Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Queen of Poisons (Marlow Murder Club, #3) Robert Thorogood ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Salem’s Lot Stephen  King ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• Pet Sematary Stephen  King ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

*Secret Stuff Book Club: Stephen King Summer 2024 pick*

This took several days for me to get into but it turned out alright. Very interesting to see how he revisited several things that originated in this book in later stories. I’d need to re-listen to figure out what all of them are but I lost track of how many times I thought Oh that’s like IT, or Needful Things, or several other books.

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This book has multiple timelines and switches the POV, so you have to really pay attention on the audiobook to know who is talking and where you are in time. But I was able to stay on top of it and I thought it was very well done.

In the earlier timeline, there’s a Mean Girls/Saltburn vibe with the cool/rich girl taking on a new poor/uncool girl and the existing friends/relatives making a big deal about how she’s just the latest in a string of people that she latches on to. The Mean Girl is especially mean and her friends/family are possibly even worse?

In the current timeline, the Mean Girl is opening a new luxury resort on the family property and it’s opening weekend, so everything has to be perfect. But local myths/legends start to threaten the perfection, and all of the guests aren’t who they appear to be. And then a body is discovered…

Great ensemble cast on the audiobook.

Lucy Foley is a must listen for me.
Special thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for the advanced audiobook copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

US Publication Date 6/18/24

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The third book in the Marlow Murder Club series does not disappoint. Judith, Suzie and Becks are back trying to solve a new mystery when the mayor of Marlow is poisoned at a town council meeting. This time they are officially invited to be civilian advisors from the police, so that helps them investigate more easily. I love how their friendship has grown in each book.

My favorite quote from Judith, “Imagine being corrigible”. 😆

Nicolette McKenzie does a fantastic job at narrating these.

Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy of the audiobook edition in exchange for my honest opinion.