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.

The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell

Started:  2/22/2026

Finished: 2/24/2026

Year: 1994

Pages: 387

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series in order

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Dr. Kay Scarpetta travels to North Carolina to investigate the murder of an eleven-year-old girl, but the evidence does not add up, and she must conduct a gruesome experiment at a remote research facility to find the answers."

Opinion: I read this one SEVERAL years ago but remembered a lot of what happened. Good mysteries and introduction to new characters

Midnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories by Bora Chung

Started: 2/20/2026

Finished: 2/22/2026

Year: 2025

Pages: 1881

Genre: horror

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The acclaimed Korean horror and sci-fi writer’s goosebump-inducing new book follows an employee on the night shift at the Institute. They soon learn why some employees don't last long at the center. The handkerchief in Room 302 once belonged to the late mother of two sons, whose rivalry imbues the handkerchief with undue power and unravels the lives of those who seek to possess it. Meanwhile a live-streaming, ghost-chasing employee steals a cursed sneaker down the hall, but later finds he can’t escape its tread. The cat in Room 206 begins to reveal the crimes of its former family, wanting to understand its own path to the Institute’s dimly lit halls."

Opinion: Unlike some collections of short stories, these actually tie in with each other which makes them more enjoyable. I can always appreciate a good ghost story. None of them scared me or made me anxious.

Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 2/17/2026

Finished: 2/20/2026

Year: 2009

Pages: 310

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Hannah Swensen, Lake Eden, Minnesota's finest bakery owner and amateur sleuth, discovers a body floating in a health club jacuzzi. When her part-time flame, Detective Mike Kingston, becomes the prime suspect, he recruits Hannah to find out whodunit."

Opinion: Too many policemen who have told Hannah not to get involved investigations now want her to investigate this particular murder-very unrealistic. Decent mystery but pretty easy to figure out whodunit