From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell

Started: 3/6/2026

Finished: 3/9/2026

Year: 1995

Pages: 412

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "An unidentified nude female sits propped against a fountain in Central Park. There are no signs of struggle. When Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her colleagues Benton Wesley and Pete Marino arrive on the scene, they instantly recognize the signature of serial killer Temple Brooks Gault. Scarpetta, on assignment with the FBI, visits the New York City morgue on Christmas morning, where she must use her forensic expertise to give a name to the nameless—a difficult task. But as she sorts through conflicting forensic clues, Gault claims his next victim. He has infiltrated the FBI’s top secret artificial-intelligence system developed by Scarpetta’s niece, and sends taunting messages as his butchery continues, moving terrifyingly closer to Scarpetta herself."

Opinion: Lots of thrill in this one-almost non stop. Ending seemed to not go with the pace of the rest of the book.

The Time Hop Coffee Shop by Phaedra Patrick

Started: 3/5/2026

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 305

Genre: fantasy, literature

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Greta Perks was once the shining star of the iconic Maple Gold coffee commercials, the quintessential TV wife and mom. Now fame has faded, her marriage is on the rocks, her teenage daughter has become distant and Greta’s once-glittering career feels like a distant memory.

"When Greta stumbles upon a mysterious coffee shop serving a magical brew, she wishes for the perfect life in those past Maple Gold commercials. Next thing she knows, Greta wakes in the idyllic make-believe town of Mapleville, where the sun always shines and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and second chances fill the air. Given the opportunity to live the life she dreamed, Greta is determined to rewrite her own script. But can life ever be like a coffee commercial? And what will happen when Greta has to choose between perfection and real life, with no turning back?"

Opinion: Who doesn't want a better life? The concept is not something new but done in a slightly different way. Greta is not a character that I cared about and seemed too wrapped up in herself to notice what her family needed or wanted.

Dead Line by Marc Cameron

Started: 3/2/2026

Finished: 3/5/2026

Year: 2025

Pages: 320

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from author website): "In the White Mountain Wilderness of Interior Alaska, twenty-four-year-old protected witness Sam Lujan is lonely for his old life. So much so, the young Apache not only breaks the cardinal rule of the Witness Protection Program—by revealing his whereabouts to his mother, he invites her to join him to see the Northern Lights. It’s her lifelong dream. No worries. It’ll be safe.

"When Deputy U.S. Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki discover Sam has gone missing, they’re asked to make a quick trip into the remote wild to make sure the witness is indeed protected. But there’s no such thing as a quick trip. Not when they’re plunging headlong into the frozen unknown at fifty-eight degrees below zero. And not when they aren’t the only ones searching. Valeria Kot, the vengeful daughter of the criminal Sam testified against, has been waiting and watching for years for just the opportunity to strike back. She’s found it—and has dispatched a sadistic hit squad to make sure Sam pays in the most savage way possible.

"Once Arliss and Lola reach the trailhead it doesn’t take long for them to realize they’re dealing with more than a witness who’s broken protocol. Tracks in the snow and tell-tale signs signal an armed team—one that’s already a step ahead of them. For Arliss and Lola, and a desperate mother and son on the run, the death-defying, frigid temperatures are the least of their worries."

Opinion: Ending seemed too neat and rushed together. Thriller/mystery was good like always.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Started: 2/27/2026

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 416

Genre: romance/literature

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.

"When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

"One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

"Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.

"Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

"But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

"And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad . . . depending on who’s telling it."

Opinion: It just dragged on. Didn't really care about any of the characters or their stories.

Grief Diaries Through the Eyes of an Eating Disorder by Lynda Cheldelin Fell etal

Started: 2/13/2026

Finished: 2/28/2026

Year: 2016

Pages: 245

Genre: self-help, eating disorders, psychology

Grade: C

Reason for reading: personal TBR, received as judging packet several years ago

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Boldly written with graphic honesty, Grief Diaries: Through the Eyes of an Eating Disorder features the stories of 13 women who struggled from childhood into adulthood with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Revealing the desperate secrets of their devastating illness for the first time, the women expose the painful truths they kept hidden for years, and how they found the courage and determination to overcome the destructive force of a powerful disorder before it claimed their very lives."

Opinion: Reading this will help you realize that you're not the only one that has suffered or is going through an eating disorder. Biggest critique...if I wanted to buy your other books, I would. Stop mentioning it during your journal entry and just leave it as a reference at the end of the book.

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

Started: 2/26/2026

Finished: 2/24/2026

Year: 2024

Pages: 169

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing wiht series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones in this funny mystery. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong.

"So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection.

"THE MAGICIAN

"THE ASSISTANT

"THE EXECUTIVE

"THE HYPNOTIST

"THE IDENTICAL TWIN

"THE COUNSELLOR

 "THE TECH

"My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there. A baffling locked room mystery committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an advent calendar. Because, you know, it’s Christmas.

"If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it.

"After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn’t it?"

Opinion: The style of Stevenson's murder books are refreshingly different. A fun quick murder mystery with plenty of suspects.

Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer

Started: 2/24/2026

Finished: 2/26/2026

Year: 2025

Pages: 312

Genre: horror

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Ruth is trapped. She’s stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job at New Creations—a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in Kill Devil.

"In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store—and attack her. As Ruth fights for her life using only the crafting supplies at hand, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her but the entire town."

Opinion: I laughed at the gore and horror stuff-I usually laugh through horror movies too. As a former Michaels employee, the setting of a craft store was interesting...but more like Hobby Lobby instead of a Michaels. And btw, loving someone isn't a sin.