Month: April 2023

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Only Survivors

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda

First line: Our house, like most things, came down to luck.

Summary: Cassidy has spent the last ten years reuniting with classmates who all survived a tragic accident leaving only nine survivors. But this year Cassidy has decided she does not want to relive the worst night of her life again with the other survivors. That is until she receives a mysterious text announcing the death of one her classmates. As soon as she arrives she notices that this year is going to be different. Everyone seems a little more on edge. And it appears that someone is going to talk to the press about that night. But who?

My Thoughts: I love Megan Miranda’s books normally but this one felt a little disjointed. I could never really feel a cohesiveness to the plot. It seemed as if several different threads were running through it but not creating the suspense I usually feel during her stories. There was a storm. People are watching them. Some of the survivors are disappearing. Strangers are becoming friendly. So many things were happening rather than one thing tying the story together.

And I quickly figured out or guessed one of the big reveals. It seemed rather obvious from the start but maybe I read too many of these novels now to be shocked. However, the final reveal was not what I was expecting so that’s why I gave it 3 stars. It was still a fun book and kept me interested but it was not nearly as good as All the Missing Girls which was told in such a unique fashion that I always recommend it for anyone looking for a good twisty thriller.

Monica’s Musings: What Happened To You?

What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey

“So I’m not crazy?” “No. Your brain is doing exactly what you would expect it to do considering what you lived through.”
― Oprah Winfrey, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

Summary: Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Here, Winfrey shares stories from her past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the book, she and Dr. Perry focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it allows us to understand our pasts to clear a path to our future—opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven powerful way.

My Thoughts: This book has something for everyone, and I highly recommend it! You absolutely should go with the audiobook for this one. Oprah narrates it along with Dr. Perry, and it is almost like listening to an in-depth podcast. There are scientific facts tied to real-life examples and experiences that keep you interested while also helping you better understand the concepts.

The discussions of the brain were well-done and easy for a layperson like me to understand. I appreciated the wide variety of stories Oprah and Perry shared that illustrate the impact trauma has on a person. Everyone has a reason as to why they are the way they are, and this is a good book to start digging deeper into that.

What’s Ashley Reading?: Hallowe’en Party

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

First line: Mrs. Ariadne Oliver had gone with a friend with whom she was staying, Judith Butler, to help with the preparations for a children’s party which was to take place that same evening.

Summary: At a children’s Halloween party, a young girl named Judith, mentions that she had once witnessed a murder. While no one believes the girl, she is found later drowned in an apple bobbing tub. Famous detective, Hercule Poirot, is called in to find the girl’s murderer as well as to discover who committed the murder Judith claimed to see years before.

My Thoughts: After recently hearing about the upcoming Hercule Poirot movie, A Haunting in Venice, starring Kenneth Branagh I decided it was time to get back into the world of the famous detective. However, the title of the book and much of the plot seems to differ. I will be interested to see how they use the plot of Christie’s novel to create the movie.

Like many of the Poirot novels I have read I found this one filled with twists and suspicious characters. As the detective dives deeper into the dark history of the village he finds a pattern that could easily be tied to the death of the young girl. There were many disappearances and deaths that it was hard to keep some of it straight. Hallowe’en Party was a fun read as most Agatha Christie novels are. While not my favorite Poirot book it is worth a read, especially if you are looking forward to the upcoming movie.

Monica’s Musings: The Woman in the Library

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

“I am a bricklayer without drawings, laying words in sentences, sentences into paragraphs, allowing my walls to twist and turn on a whim…”

― Sulari Gentill, The Woman in the Library

Summary: In every person’s story, there is something to hide…

The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation, and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

My Thoughts: I loved the idea of this clever mystery within a mystery.

The main character Freddie is an author who is writing a fictional story about what is happening in real life. The way reality played alongside the fictional story in a unique format had me intrigued from the start. There is a lot to unpack in this book. Murder at the library, people bonded by a scream, another murder or two, a manuscript, and many interesting turns!

The whole time it had me double guessing myself and swaying my opinion of the murderer’s identity. I found myself wanting to read more to find out who it was! It was fun to guess along with the characters as they tossed around theories. Overall I enjoyed this one, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a murder mystery to solve as the story develops.