About books – Page 7 – Derby Public Library's Blog

Monica’s Musings: The Locked Door

The Locked Door by Frieda McFadden

“Dad always says that if you’re going to do something wrong, at least be smart enough not to let anybody see you do it.”
― Freida McFadden, The Locked Door

Summary: Some doors are locked for a reason…

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement. Until the day the police arrived at their front door.

Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.

As long as they don’t look in her basement.

My Thoughts: Freida McFadden is an author who is becoming increasingly popular on BookTok. It is exciting to give trendy authors a try to see what all the fuss is about! This was the audiobook my husband and I chose to listen to on our way to Denver. We both found the story very interesting, and it made the time go by!

It was fun to pause and discuss our theories of “whodunnit”. It was fast-paced and hard to put down. Lots of red herrings to throw you off track and keep you guessing until the final twist. We finished this just as we were pulling into Denver, and neither of us guessed correctly how it would end! Although, I would say that the story wrapped up a little abruptly. It would have been better if the plot did not have so many storylines and if we could delve into more details, especially on Nora’s childhood.

*Available on Libby

What’s Ashley Reading?: A Twisted Love Story

A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing

First line: Wes can’t get the song out of his head.

Summary: Wes and Ivy have a deep relationship. They love each other beyond words. But at times they also hate each other with a fierce passion. In their on-again off-again relationship they have damaged property, taken revenge and called the cops. But during one of their breakups they did something that they refuse to discuss. However, a police detective is digging into their past and it may lead to the darkest night of their lives. Can they stay together through everything? Or will this finally destroy them?

My Thoughts: The characters and their relationship was a disaster in this book! I could not believe how these people acted towards each other. No one was likeable. There is not someone to really cheer for. It is just a big train wreck. But I did think that some of the petty things were pretty ingenious.

I don’t know how to feel about this book. It is a domestic thriller dealing more with personal relationships than anything else. There are flashes back to times during Wes and Ivy’s past relationships that gives us a look at their troubled history which leads to the night that changed everything. Much of the reasons behind the drama was spurred on by them. If they hadn’t been vengeful then it would not have led to other events. It just seemed to be a cycle and became repetitive. But then the story just comes to an end. I didn’t feel like there was a real conclusion. I just did not like it as much as some of Downing’s other books.

FYI: Abuse, assault and violence.

Monica’s Musings: Forever, Interrupted

Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

“Sweetheart, I’m telling you, you love someone like that, you love them the right way, and no time would be enough. Doesn’t matter if you had thirty years,” she tells me. “It wouldn’t be enough.” ― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Forever, Interrupted

Summary: Elsie Porter is an average twenty-something, and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met—and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted, will make you laugh, make you cry, and remind you that there’s more than one way to live happily ever after.

My Thoughts: This book absolutely broke my heart and made me cry in the best ways. I felt all the emotions that this love story brought on. Please do yourself a favor, and pick up a copy of this book and a cozy blanket because you will not want to stop once you start. This was Taylor Jenkins Reid’s first novel, published in 2013, and I did not anticipate it to be so good! I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and can definitely say that I am a fan of her writing.

I finished this book in a day, and I was shocked at how rich this plot was. I was not expecting such a heart-wrenching experience. Sometimes you just need a good cry book, and this was definitely that for me!

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Aviator’s Wife

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

First line: He is flying.

Summary: When Anne Morrow travels to Mexico City to visit her family she meets the national hero, Charles Lindbergh. Just months before Charles had flown across the Atlantic, securing his place in world history. Awed by his fame and talent of flying, she is quickly drawn to him. Together they become America’s golden couple. Anne joins Charles in his flights and even becomes the first female glider pilot. But tragedy strikes after a few years when their first child is kidnapped. The crime tears brings an end to the fairy tale romance. As Anne tries to navigate the world after the loss of her son she finds that she is stronger than she ever thought possible.

My Thoughts: I feel that every person has heard the legendary name of Charles Lindbergh. Either because of his daring flight across the Atlantic or the kidnapping of his first son. I remember learning about him in history classes throughout my school years. He is portrayed as a hero. And for parts of his life it appears that he is but there were also some darker sides that Melanie Benjamin covers in this story.

As with many historical fiction novels I spend lots of time looking up the characters and events while reading. I had no idea about his links with Nazi Germany, extramarital affairs and rather controlling personality. It appears that people at the time were aware of some of these controversial aspects but it was not covered in my history classes. Another great reason to pick up historical fiction!

But I found Anne to be just as fascinating if not more. She came from a prominent family, had a good education and achieved many feats during her lifetime. Anne even lived into my lifetime, only dying in 2001 at the age of 94. She saw many changes to the world around her and even made history herself. I am glad I finally got around to reading her story. I highly recommend it to fans of women’s history.

Monica’s Musings: Goblin Mode

Goblin Mode by McKayla Coyle

“Honoring our goblin selves means celebrating our passions, asserting our right to green spaces, listening to our bodies, watching the world with curiosity, and prioritizing comfort.” – McKayla Coye, Goblin Mode

Summary: Embrace your inner goblin! Learn to decorate, dress, craft, forage, and live according to the goblin principles of community, diversity, proud weirdness, and joyful mess.

Do you ever feel strange, gross, chaotic, underappreciated, or like you don’t quite fit in? Great news: you might be a goblin! That means your imperfections and idiosyncrasies are the most awesome things about you, and you can build a more balanced, comfortable, harmonious life by accepting and honoring them—taking inspiration from the frogs, fungus, moss, rocks, and dirt that goblins love.

Can a mushroom give you fashion tips? Can a snail teach you to be a better person? You bet they can—and in this book, you’ll also learn to: Build a moss garden for your lair, grow and use medicinal plants, forage for berries (even in the city), mend your cozy sweaters, display your cool rock collection, and more!

Anyone can be a goblin, and Goblin Mode includes life advice for celebrating physical and mental diversity, rejecting prejudice, and generally hanging on to a little joy. Featuring 25 whimsical illustrations by Marian Churchland, Goblin Mode will help you rethink your relationship with your body, home, community, and the earth.

My Thoughts: Goblincore is an aesthetic and subculture inspired by the folklore of goblins, centered on celebrating natural ecosystems usually considered less beautiful by conventional norms, such as soil, animals, and second-hand objects. This book is so cute and fits the goblin core aesthetic quite nicely. It discusses the history of the term “goblin,” with its negative connotations throughout history, and how it has recently been reclaimed to mean something positive and relatable.

This way of life is about finding positivity, beauty, and joy in the world around you. You get craft ideas and helpful tips on plant and pet care. My favorite chapters were about dressing comfortably, decorating your home in a way that makes you happy, and how to wallow and take time for yourself. I recommend this to anyone looking to connect with nature and embrace themselves without conforming to society’s standards!

What’s Ashley Reading?: Zero Days

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

First line: The wall around the perimeter was child’s play.

Summary: With the help of her hacker husband, Jack is hired and paid to break into companies to evaluate their security systems. One night after a job she comes home to Gabe dead at his computer. It looks like it was a professional job but the police are convinced she is to blame. Rather than letting the police pin her husband’s murder on her, Jack goes on the run trying to find who would kill Gabe and why. Using her expertise with security systems and street smarts she dives into the dark underworld of the hacking sphere to clear her name before she becomes the next target.

My Thoughts: I actually really enjoyed the newest Ruth Ware book. Her books have been hit or miss for me but this one was an epic cat and mouse game. From almost the very beginning we are thrown into a world that is moving at a very quick pace. Jack is an intelligent and easy to cheer for protagonist. She deals with things that many people would have no knowledge about but Ware does not make her unbelievable. Jack knows her limits and draws on information she has gathered through years on the job and tips picked up from Gabe.

The one part I was a little bummed by was the fact that it was pretty easy to know who was behind everything. It is probably harder now though with so many books in this genre to create something as twisty and shocking as it was just a few years ago before Gone Girl. But the buildup and tension was great fun for a summer read!

Monica’s Musings: I Have Some Questions for You

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

“Just because you can’t picture someone doing something doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of it.”- Rebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions for You

Summary: A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past— her four miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.

But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent ﬂaws. In their rush to convict someone, did the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she had thought—if, perhaps, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.

My Thoughts: Rebecca Makkai wrote Bodie in a way that perfectly shows how when you’re in so much pain yourself, you feel downright lonely. In those moments, you fail to notice that those around you feel the same way. Bodie is strong, resilient, flawed, and scarred by tragedy. All of which add to her character development.

Makkai shows the social dynamics between classes and genders while asking uncomfortable questions about victim narratives in order to gain status and attention. She tackles highly relevant topics such as gender norms, racism, “Me Too”, Covid, the justice system, misogyny, cancel culture, predatory behavior, and more, challenging our preconceptions and underlining the complexity of the real world

This story does have multiple timelines. In the beginning, you have a forty-four-year-old Bodie in the present, but the next minute you are in 2016, and then 2018, where the bulk of the novel took place. Additionally, there are multiple flashbacks to Bodie’s four school years at Granby (1991-1995) and a few from her childhood. And, these flashbacks and flash-forwards switched at the drop-of-a-hat or a scene that triggered something from Bodie’s past. Once I got into the groove, though, I enjoyed it.

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Only One Left

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

First line: The office is on Main Street, tucked between a beauty parlor and a storefront that, in hindsight, feels prophetic.

Summary: In 1929, Lenora Hope killed her whole family. Or that’s how the rhyme goes but Lenora was never charged and is now living a lonely life in her family’s house on the cliffs. It’s now 1983, Kit McDeere has just ended her suspension after an investigation into her previous patient’s death. Her new assignment is to care for the local murderess, Lenora Hope. Several strokes have left Lenora mute and wheelchair bound. Using a typewriter Lenora is able to communicate with Kit but one sentence changes the course of Kit’s life. Lenora wants to tell Kit everything about that night in 1929. Intrigued, Kit begins helping Lenora type her story. What really happened in 1929? And can Kit trust what Lenora is telling her?

My Thoughts: To date this is probably my favorite Riley Sager book! It was crammed full of twists at the end. It was twist after twist after twist. But I was invested for every bit of it. The beginning is a slow burn as we are introduced to the characters and what has brought Kit to this point in her life. She has struggled through life but finally found something she is good at. Then one mistake takes everything she has done into question, changing her whole life. I ended up liking Kit by the end. She starts out rather timid and unsure but as she learns more she becomes a stronger character who stands behind her decisions.

Hope’s End seemed a living museum. The house was stuck in the past along with the uniforms and amenities. Lenora is kept upstairs in her room. Everything about the house and it occupants was perfectly done. It had that eerie feeling with what appears to be a Mrs. Danvers character running the show. The house is perched on the edge of a cliff face but the ocean is slowly eroding the land away. Adding the imminent threat of destruction to a need to find out the truth added suspense and urgency to the plot. This book could easily be read in one sitting because it is so packed with shocking moments and revelations that makes it hard to put down.

My favorite parts were Lenora’s memories of 1929 and the times leading up to the murder of her family. There were so many clues hiding in plain sight and I did not notice until everything has been revealed. And red herrings were placed throughout as well to throw the reader off and they did just that! It was plotted out perfectly.

I love that Sager sets his books in the 80s. It such a modern era but still in the past before internet and cell phones. I have to keep reminding myself about the time period when I get frustrated and question why the characters did not do or know something. But this is part of the appeal of Sager’s books. They have a nostalgia factor mixed with the wonderful 80s horror movie tropes. As always I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a thrilling read.

Monica’s Musings: A House with Good Bones

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

“Strange, the powers you find sometimes, in a garden at the end of the road.”
― T. Kingfisher, A House with Good Bones

Summary: “Mom seems off.” Her brother’s words echo in Sam’s ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam is excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. When Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

My Thoughts: Sam is hilarious with her quirky sense of humor, which captured my attention immediately. She is a great protagonist, but most of the book is listening to her inner monologue. There are just a few characters in this book, and it takes a very long time for them to begin to interact with one another. I did think that the characters complement each other well in the story, and I enjoyed how it all came together by the end.

T. Kingfisher’s horror in this book is surprisingly normal-ish. She uses very ordinary people in very ordinary settings and then allows the dread to grow. Unlike the previous T. Kingfisher book I read, What Moves the Dead, I found this story much less creepy.

Podcast: And That’s Why We Drink

If you are a fan of paranormal and true crime stories, I highly recommend giving this podcast, And That’s Why We Drink, a shot! I found it while I was in-between books, and I have been binging the content for a few weeks. Hosts Christine and Em are both very well-spoken, and their friendship reflects in their banter back and forth on topics. Each host brings a story to share, and the episodes are each two hours long or more! I personally listen on Spotify or YouTube.

*Found wherever you get your podcasts!

What’s Ashley Reading?: Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I by Tracy Borman

First line: One of the oldest and most precious items in the collection of Chequers House, the country residence of Britain’s prime ministers, is a tiny, exquisitely crafted ring, fashioned from mother-of-pearl and embossed with rubies and diamonds.

Summary: In Tracy Borman’s newest book she explores the lives and connections between Anne Boleyn and her daughter Queen Elizabeth I. Rather than just a straight biography of the two women she looks at how they shaped and changed each other. Anne died while Elizabeth was a toddler leaving a legacy that Elizabeth had to contend with her whole life but she persevered and honored her mother in all she did.

My Thoughts: I am always excited to read Tracy Borman’s books. She is an excellent historian who I have followed and envied for years. She gets to spend her days at the palaces of England studying the history of each location. I found her newest book to be very interesting and I actually learned stuff while reading it. I have spent years reading everything about Anne Boleyn so it is always fun to learn new stuff about her. Having heard for years that Elizabeth never mentioned her mother it was fascinating to see that she actually honored her through much of her life.

My favorite part was hearing how Elizabeth used her mother’s emblems and mottos during her lifetime. I never understood why Elizabeth never tried to rehabilitate or reinter her mother’s remains but Borman does a good job of explaining the possible reasons behind the choice. And rather than forcing people to change their opinions about Anne, she subtly displayed her around her kingdom and throughout her court. It shocked me how many of her Boleyn relatives and supporters surrounded her during her reign. I knew of her association with her Carey cousins but the extended family and friends was new information for me. I like to think that they talked about their memories with the queen and shared admiration for Anne to her daughter.

For any fan of Anne Boleyn or Elizabeth I, this is a must read! It is informative and interesting read. It may be one I buy for my own collection. I can see myself reading it again in the future.

*Releases on June 20, 2023.*