Author Feature: 8 Authors I Discovered in 2022

Posted on 12/29/2022 by Lenn

Hi, everyone! It’s been a while since I last updated this corner of the blog. I’ve been meaning to talk about another one of my favorite authors of all time, but I always end up with a blank page simply because I’m afraid that I might not give him justice with the things that I’m going to say about him and his works.

But today, since it’s almost the end of the year, I’m featuring 8 authors that I’ve discovered in 2022 and loved. Take note that these authors have yet to make it to my favorite authors list, but I am featuring them in this section of my blog because I deeply enjoyed reading one or two of their books this year. So without further ado, let’s jump right in: Continue reading →

Book Review: The Christmas Killer (DI James Walker, #1) by Alex Pine

Posted on 12/20/2022 by Lenn

Title: The Christmas Killer (DI James Walker, #1)

Author: Alex Pine

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: October 29, 2020

Number of Pages: 398

Publisher: Avon

Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Crime

Synopsis:

As the snow begins to fall, the body count begins to climb…

DI James Walker is ready for a quiet family Christmas in the sleepy village of Kirkby Abbey.

But when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realises it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise, and a promise – twelve days, twelve murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half frozen in the snow.

As the blizzards descend, panic spreads through the remote Cumbrian village – there’s a killer amongst them, and with eleven more victims to go, anyone could be next…

Can James stop the killer before they strike again?

Continue reading →

My Signed Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Posted on 12/09/2022 by Lenn

I just wanted to share on here how ecstatic I feel that I now have a physical signed copy of Jason Rekulak’s Hidden Pictures! One of my book club friends reached out to Jason and asked if we can directly order a book from him with personal dedications. And lo and behold, Jason never charged us for the books. He just asked us to cover the shipping from Philadelphia to Philippines because it’s quite expensive. He’s absolutely one of the most generous and thoughtful authors we came across with and we are so thankful for this.

Special thanks to the Thrillseekers Book Club PH for making this possible! Truly, it’s the best book club I’ve ever been a part of. ❤

Book Review: No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark

Posted on 12/08/2022 by Lenn

Title: No Place Like Home

Author: Mary Higgins Clark

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: April 5, 2005

Number of Pages: 368

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Crime

Synopsis:

Ten-year-old Liza Barton shoots her mother while trying to protect her from her violent husband–Liza’s stepfather. While the death is ruled accidental, the tabloids still compare Liza to the child murderess Lizzie Borden.

Liza’s adoptive parents change her name to Celia and try to erase all traces of her past. Widowed after a brief marriage in which she had a son, Jack, she remarries a young lawyer. Celia is happy until, on her birthday, he presents her with a gift–the house where she killed her mother. On moving in, they find the words LITTLE LIZZIE’S PLACE–BEWARE painted in red letters on the lawn. When the real estate agent who sold the house to her husband is murdered, she becomes a suspect. As she struggles to prove her innocence, Celia and her little son are being stalked by the killer.

Continue reading →

Stuff I’ve Been Reading Lately #28

Posted on 12/07/2022 by Lenn

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BOOKS READ:

The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo, #3) by Rick Riordan
A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

ONGOING:

No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark

BOOKS BOUGHT:

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
Sweet Heart by Peter James
The Weekend Escape by Rakie Bennett
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama
Loot by Jude Watson
A Child Called It y Dave Pelzer
Baby Doll by Hollie Overton
Triptych (Will Trent, #1) by Karin Slaughter
Criminal (Will Trent, #6) by Karin Slaughter
Broken (Will Trent, #4) by Karin Slaughter
Christmas at Mistletoe Cottage by Lucy Daniels
Creed by James Herbert
Witch Hunt by Syd Moore
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
The People Next Door by Christopher Ransom
The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
The Survivor Club by Lisa Gardner

BOOKS RECEIVED:

The Runaway by Martina Cole
Moss Hysteria by Kate Collins
Fractured (Will Trent, #2) by Karin Slaughter
No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark
Stay Close by Harlan Coben
The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner

Continue reading →

Book Review: Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Posted on 11/22/2022 by Lenn

Title: Sweet Bean Paste

Author: Durian Sukegawa

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: February 6, 2013

Number of Pages: 213

Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Genre: Contemporary, Japanese Literature

Synopsis:

Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.

But everything is about to change.

Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue’s dark secret is revealed, with devastating consequences.

Sweet Bean Paste is a moving novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Translated into English for the first time, Durian Sukegawa’s beautiful prose is capturing hearts all over the world.

Continue reading →

Book Review: The Troop by Nick Cutter

Posted on 11/03/2022 by Lenn

Title: The Troop

Author: Nick Cutter

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: February 25. 2014

Number of Pages: 355

Publisher: Gallery Books

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Synopsis:

Once every year, Scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a weekend camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story around a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder stumbles upon their campsite—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. The human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare. A horror that spreads faster than fear. A harrowing struggle for survival with no escape from the elements, the infected…or one another.

Part Lord of the Flies, part 28 Days Later—and all-consuming—this tightly written, edge-of-your-seat thriller takes you deep into the heart of darkness, where fear feeds on sanity…and terror hungers for more.

Continue reading →

Stuff I’ve Been Reading Lately #27

Posted on 11/01/2022 by Lenn

BOOKS READ:

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
The Troop by Nick Cutter

ONGOING:

The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo, #3) by Rick Riordan

BOOKS BOUGHT:

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry
Kill Creek by Scott Thomas
Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Look Closer by David Ellis
The Holiday by T.M. Logan
Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner
You Were Gone by Tim Weaver
My Darling by Amanda Robson
Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas
The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan
Caught by Harlan Coben

BOOKS RECEIVED:

Midwinter Sacrifice by Mons Kallentoft
The New Girl by Ingrid Alexandra
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
The Marriage Pact by Michelle Rachmond
Our House by Louise Candlish
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
His & Hers by Alice Feeney

Continue reading →

Book Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Posted on 10/17/2022 by Lenn

Title: Stolen

Author: Lucy Christopher

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: May 4, 2009

Number of Pages: 299

Publisher: Chicken House

Genre: YA Contemporary

Synopsis:

The captivating, disturbing, and heartbreakingly beautiful thriller from award-winning and critically acclaimed author, Lucy Christopher.

A girl: Gemma, 16, at the airport, on her way to a family vacation.

A guy: Ty, rugged, tan, too old, oddly familiar, eyes blue as ice.

She steps away. For just a second. He pays for her drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma knows what’s happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. To sand and heat. To emptiness and isolation. To nowhere. And expects her to love him.

Written as a letter from a victim to her captor, Stolen is Gemma’s desperate story of survival; of how she has to come to terms with her living nightmare–or die trying to fight it.
Continue reading →

October Reading Plans

Posted on 10/03/2022 by Lenn

I know I’m not good at following TBRs, but in the past two months, I lowkey tried creating one for myself and I was able to follow it—though not entirely as I usually run out of time to finish all of it, but I was able to stick to it by reading book from that specific list. So I figured that since I was able to that in the past two months, I can now re-introduce this section on my blog.

For this month, I plan to read books that lean towards the spooky and the creepy because, duh, it’s Halloween season! I live for this season and I look forward to it by devouring all things spooky. I am a bit of a scaredy-cat so the most “horror” that I can read are actually more from the thriller side of things like slashers and whodunnits. But this year, I plan on reevaluating my tolerance by reading some horror from authors like Stephen King and Adam Cesare. So without further ado, here are the books I plan to read this month:

Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Mars, May Zombie by Chuckberry J. Pascual
The Troop by Nick Cutter
Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

Hopefully I get to read these books and if time permits, I would also like to add other titles like Coraline by Neil Gaiman and Home Before Dark by Riley Sager. How about you? What are you planning to read this month?

Lenn of Spades ♠

Tag Archives: #bookish