Book Review: The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Summary:  The New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife returns with a triumphant new novel about New York’s “Swans” of the 1950s—and the scandalous, headline-making, and enthralling friendship between literary legend Truman Capote and peerless socialite Babe Paley.
 
Of all the glamorous stars of New York high society, none blazes brighter than Babe Paley. Her flawless face regularly graces the pages of Vogue, and she is celebrated and adored for her ineffable style and exquisite taste, especially among her friends—the alluring socialite Swans Slim Keith, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Pamela Churchill. By all appearances, Babe has it all: money, beauty, glamour, jewels, influential friends, a high-profile husband, and gorgeous homes. But beneath this elegantly composed exterior dwells a passionate woman—a woman desperately longing for true love and connection.
 

Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher:  William Morrow


Summary:  First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

recently #finishedreading #theswansoffifthavenue by #melaniebenjamin . i wanted to know more abt the literary slap back #Capote gave Ann Woodward. the Swans spilt that tea to Capote & Le Cote Basque, 1965 is rumored to be why Ann topped herself. i'm not sure abt genre here. #fiction #bookstagram #historicalfiction #books #reading #bibliophile


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some #crochet assembly line action needs to commence. #crochetersofinstagram #coffeeandcrochet #crochetgram #yarnwithcoffee #onmyworktable #onmyhook


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Book Review: Take the Fall by Emily Hainsworth

Take The Fall by Emily Hainsworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher: Blazer + Bray


Summary:  Fear grips the residents of Hidden Falls the night Sonia Feldman and her best friend, Gretchen Meyer, are attacked in the woods. Sonia was lucky to escape with her life, but Gretchen’s body is discovered at the bottom of a waterfall. Beautiful, popular, and seemingly untouchable, Gretchen can’t be gone. Even as Sonia struggles with guilt and confusion over having survived, the whole town is looking to her for information…could she have seen something that will lead the police to the killer?

At the top of the list of suspects is Gretchen’s ex-boyfriend—and Sonia’s longtime enemy—Marcus Perez. So when Marcus comes to Sonia for help clearing his name, she agrees, hoping to find evidence the police need to prove he’s the killer. But as Gretchen’s many secrets emerge and the suspects add up, Sonia feels less sure of Marcus’s involvement, and more afraid for herself. Could Marcus, the artist, the screwup, the boy she might be falling for have attacked her? Killed her best friend? And if it wasn’t him in the woods that night…who could it have been?

Book Review: The Skeleton Garden (Potting Shed Mystery #4) by Marty Wingate

The Skeleton Garden by Marty Wingate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Alibi


Summary:  USA Today bestselling author Marty Wingate’s Potting Shed series continues as expert gardener Pru Parke digs up a Nazi warplane—and a fresh murder.

Texas transplant Pru Parke has put down roots in England, but she never dreamed she’d live in a grand place such as Greenoak. When her former employers offer Pru and her new husband, former Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse, the use of their nineteenth-century estate while they’re away for a year, she jumps at the chance. Sweetening the deal is the prospect of further bonding with her long-lost brother, Simon, who happens to be Greenoak’s head gardener. But the majestic manor has at least one skeleton in its closet—or, rather, its garden.

Book Review: Maestra by L.S. Hilton

MaestraMaestra by L.S. Hilton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher: Zaffre
A shockingly original thriller - the launch title of Zaffre, the new fiction imprint of Bonnier Publishing Fiction

Judith Rashleigh works as an assistant in a prestigious London auction house, but her dreams of breaking into the art world have been gradually dulled by the blunt forces of snobbery and corruption. To make ends meet she moonlights as a hostess in one of the West End's less salubrious bars - although her work there pales against her activities on nights off.

#finishedreading #theskeletongarden by #martyWingate it's another great installment to the #pottingshedmystery #bookseries #cozymy #bookstagram #bibliophile #netgalley


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Book Review: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Summary:  From the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutz’s latest blistering thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride!

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it...

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

Book Review: The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3) by John Joseph Adams

The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)The End Has Come by John Joseph Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Broad Reach Publishing
Summary:  Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm. 

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild. 

THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH tells their stories. 

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME focuses on life after the apocalypse. 

#finishedreading #thepassenger by #lisalutz yesterday. Idk exactly how to classify it gere-wise but it was a page-turner. I expected a more shocking denouement (I figured out the "big" surprise) but I'll blame my mehs on me & not the story. Blue gave me all kinds of #AliceMorgan from Luther feels & that was awesome #bookstagram #bibliophile #fiction #novels #books #goodread #simonandshuster


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Book Review: The End is Now (The Apocalypse Triptych, #2) by John Joseph Adams

The End is NowThe End is Now by John Joseph Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Broad Reach Publishing
Summary:  Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm. 

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild. 

THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH will tell their stories. 

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, The Apocalypse Triptych is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME explores life after the apocalypse. 

THE END IS NIGH is about the match. THE END HAS COME is about what will rise from the ashes. THE END IS NOW is about the conflagration. 

Book Review: The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych, #1) by John Joseph Adams

The End is NighThe End is Nigh by John Joseph Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Broad Reach Publishing
Summary:   Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild. THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH will tell their stories.

Blew through #theapocalypsetriptych over the weekend. Shorts by authors I was already familiar with but also discovered some new to me to seek out especially #tananarivedue #sciencefiction #bookstagram #shortstories #shortfiction #bibliophile #books #fiction #bookseries #apocalypticfiction #booktrilogy #johnjosephadams


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Book Review: The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee

The ExpatriatesThe Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher  Viking
Summary:  Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all.