The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Started: 3/24/2026

Finished: 3/29/2026

Year: 2008

Pages: 384

Genre: romance

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck—winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph—his lucky charm.

"Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman in the photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in North Carolina—Elizabeth, a divorced mother—and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart—destroying not only their love, but also their lives."

Opinion: Not as good as his other ones-playing with names was annoying.

Scam Chowder by Maya Corrigan

Started: 3/20/2026

Finished: 3/23/2026

Year: 2015

Pages: 302

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Val Deniston loves the historic Chesapeake Bay town where she lives with her grandfather, the Codger Cook. Running the fitness club’s Cool Down Café—and salvaging the five-ingredient dishes Granddad messes up—keeps her busy. She’s used tohis catastrophes in the kitchen, but not in the dining room…

"Especially when one of his dinner party guests winds up face down in the chowder. The demised diner apparently scammed Granddad’s best buddy, and since the other dinner guests have suddenly clammed up, the police have all the ingredients to cook up a conviction for Granddad. With his freedom—and Val’s café job—on the line, Val is in a sweat trying to avert a catastrophe. But dredging up old secrets might just be a recipe for murder…"

Opinion:  Decent mystery...interesting setting for the initial murder to take place. Slightly predictable.

Who Let the Dog Out? by David Rosenfelt

Started: 2/28/2026

Finished: 3/20/2026

Year: 2015

Pages: 324

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "A lawyer by day-and then only when he's forced to take on new cases-Andy Carpenter's true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. So it's frightening when Willie calls him to say the alarm has gone off at the foundation building, and there's clearly been a break-in. It turns out that a recently rescued dog, nicknamed Cheyenne since her arrival at the foundation, has been stolen. Andy and Willie track the missing dog to a house in downtown Paterson, New Jersey and sure enough, they find the dog...standing right next to a dead body. The man had been gruesomely murdered mere minutes before Andy and Willie arrived. Could it be a coincidence? Or could the dog theft somehow be connected to the killing?

"Andy takes Cheyenne safely back to the foundation building, and that should be the end of his involvement, but Andy's curiosity-and his desire to keep the dog from further harm-won't let him stop there. The cops have just arrested a man named Tommy Infante for the murder, but as Andy looks into the circumstances surrounding the break-in and the dog theft, he starts to wonder if Infante might actually be innocent. And when Andy takes Infante on as a client and starts searching in earnest for evidence that will exonerate him, what Andy starts to discover terrifies him. The murder might be just one small cog in a plot with far-reaching implications, and unless Andy can uncover the truth in time, thousands of lives could be in imminent danger."

Opinion: Another good book in this series.  Lots of interconnected murders.

Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander

Started: 3/11/2026

Finished: 3/13/2026

Year: 2015

Pages: 299

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Welcome to Torte-a friendly, small-town family bake shop where the treats are so good that, sometimes, it's criminal...

"After graduating from culinary school, Juliet Capshaw returns to her quaint hometown of Ashland, Oregon, to heal a broken heart and help her mom at the family bakery. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is bringing in lots of tourists looking for some crumpets to go with their heroic couplets. But when one of Torte's customers turns up dead, there's much ado about murder...

"The victim is Nancy Hudson, the festival's newest board member. A modern-day Lady Macbeth, Nancy has given more than a few actors and artists enough reasons to kill her...but still. The silver lining? Jules's high school sweetheart, Thomas, is the investigator on the case. His flirtations are as delicious as ever, and Jules can't help but want to have her cake and eat it too. But will she have her just desserts? Murder might be bad for business, but love is the sweetest treat of all..."

Opinion: A decent start to a new cozy mystery series. Definitely enough suspects and it was clearly predictable on whodunit. Decent sounding recipes.

A Lovely Girl by Deborah Holt Larkin

Started: 3/10/2026

Finished: DNF

Year: 2022

Pages: 513

Genre: memoir/true crime

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Deborah Larkin was only ten years old when the quiet calm of her California suburb was shattered. Thirty miles north, on a quiet November night in Santa Barbara, a pregnant nurse named Olga Duncan disappeared from her apartment. The mystery deepens when it is discovered that Olga’s mother in-law—a deeply manipulative and deceptive woman—had been doing everything in her power to separate Olga and her son, Frank, prior to Olga’s disappearance.

"From a forged annulment to multiple attempts to hire people to “get rid” of Olga, to a faked extortion case, Elizabeth seemed psychopathically attached to her son. Yet she denied having anything to do with Olga’s disappearance with a smile.

"But when Olga’s brutally beaten body is found in a shallow grave, apparently buried alive, a young DA makes it his mission to see that Elizabeth Duncan is brought to justice. Adding a wrinkle to his efforts is the fact that Frank—himself a defense attorney—maintained his mother’s innocence to the end.

"How does a young girl process such a crime along with the fear and disbelief that rocked an entire community? Decades later, Larkin is determined to revisit the case and bring the story of Olga herself to light. Long overshadowed by the sensationalism and scandal of Elizabeth and Frank, A Lovely Girl seeks to reveal Olga as a woman in full. Someone who was more than the twisted family that would ultimately ensnare her.

"As we follow the heart-pounding drama of the case through Larkin's young eyes—her father was the court reporter—A Lovely Girl is by turns page-turning yet poignant, and makes the reader reexamine how we handle fear, how we regard mental illness, and how we understand family as we carve our own path in a dangerous world."

Opinion: So much extra stuff that did NOT need to be put into this book. If you're going to label it as true crime, then take out all the childhood memory crap and actually focus on the crime, the investigation, and the court case. So much drivel....if I wanted to read about a 10 year old, I'd get the proper book to do that.

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.

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

Brothers of the Gun by Mark Lee Gardner

Started: 2/15/2026

Finished: 2/16/2026

Year: 2025

Pages: 246

Genre: Biography

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday: Legendary gunfighters and friends who gained immortality because of a thirty-second shootout near a livery stable called the O.K. Corral. Their friendship actually began three years before that iconic 1881 gunfight, in the rollicking cattle town of Dodge City. Wyatt, an assistant city marshal, was surrounded by armed, belligerent cowboys. Doc saw Wyatt’s predicament from a monte table in the Long Branch saloon and burst out the door with two leveled revolvers shouting, “Throw up your hands!” The startled cowboys did, and Wyatt and Doc led them off to jail. Wyatt credited Doc with saving his life, and thus began their lasting—and curious—friendship.

"In this illuminating dual biography, the first about Earp and Holliday, the lives of these two men, one a sometime lawman and the other a sometime dentist, are chronicled in a swirling tableau of saloons, brothels, gambling dens, stage holdups, arrests, manhunts, and revenge killings. And while there’s plenty of gunsmoke in this saga, hero-worshipping won’t be found. Wyatt and Doc, just like anyone else then and now, had their flaws and failings, and the unsavory parts of their lives are here, too.

"In Brothers of the Gun, Old West authority Mark Lee Gardner reveals fresh information about Wyatt’s and Doc’s early lives, their famous friendship, the O.K. Corral gunfight, and Wyatt’s controversial “vendetta ride” following the assassination of his brother Morgan. Drawing upon new research into diaries, letters, court records, and contemporary newspaper reports, as well as firsthand observation at several historic sites, this is the definitive book on Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and their enduring bond. Brothers of the Gun is edge-of-your-saddle nonfiction storytelling at its best."

Opinion: This was more about Wyatt than about Doc so the title is a little bit misleading. Interesting history.

All My Bones by P.J. Nelson

Started: 2/11/2026

Finished: 2/14/2026

Year: 2025

Pages: 336

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book, continuing series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Madeline Brimley recently inherited a bookstore in Enigma, Georgia, is embarking on her second career, after her first one (acting) founders upon the metaphorical rocks. Settling in, Madeline recruits her friend Gloria Coleman, the local Episcopal priest, to help her plant azaleas in the front yard of the old Victorian that houses the bookstore. Turning the soil, however, uncovers the body of one Beatrice Glassie, a troublesome woman who has been missing for the past six months.

"When her friend Gloria is arrested for the murder, Madeline is determined to prove her innocence and, as she quickly finds out, there aren't many people in town who hadn't wanted to kill Bea Glassie at one point or another. And the very expensive and rare first edition of a particular volume of Grimm's Fairy Tales―ordered by the victim and her sister is somehow tied to the grim death. With the help of her not-quite-boyfriend, a local lawman, and her deceased aunt's best friend, Madeline plans to set a trap to catch the real murderer―before she becomes the next victim."

Opinion: An okay mystery-not enough suspects. Interesting background of Gloria.

Secret Prey by John Sandford

Started: 1/18/2026

Finished: 2/12/2026

Year: 1998

Pages: 495

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "A wealthy banker is dead, shot once in the chest during a hunting trip. There are many reasons for him to be killed, and many people who would do the deed. But who did?  Lucas Davenport has an idea. But this routine murder investigation is about to turn into something different. A cat-and-mouse game with a killer who does not hesitate to take the fight to Lucas himself. And those he loves…"

Opinion: Delusions and money are a thing

Monster in the Moonlight by Annelise Ryan

Started: 2/9/2026

Finished: 2/10/2026

Year: 2026

Pages: 323

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): 'When a dead body turns up along a lonely country byway in rural Wisconsin, rumors of The Beast of Bray Road, a werewolf-like creature that is said to inhabit the area are reinvigorated. For years locals have reported sightings of the terrifying creature, but this would be its first verified attack.

"Marks on the dead woman’s body indicate a mauling by some kind of large animal. The wounds plus deep scratches on the victim’s car convince the community that the legendary beast is not only real but responsible for this brutal killing.

"If the police have any hope of solving this crime, they’re going to need an expert—enter cryptozoologist Morgan Carter. She’s investigated sightings of eerie creatures throughout the upper Midwest. If anyone is going to track down the killer, it’s Morgan, but she may find that the Beast is not the worst thing lurking on Bray Road."

Opinion: Not a lot of suspects so it wasn't too hard to figure out whodunit. Interesting history of The Beast of Bray Road.

The Gallagher Place by Julie Doar

Started: 2/6/2026

Finished: 2/9/2026

Year: 2025

Pages: 341

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Marlowe Fisher, an illustrator living in New York City, returns to her family’s bewitching Hudson Valley home for the holidays, she discovers a body in the woods―a murder that draws her back into the haunting case of her teenage best friend’s disappearance two decades earlier. What happened to Nora?

"As police descend on the sprawling Fisher property, Marlowe is pulled into an investigation that threatens to unravel the town’s fragile loyalties and expose the shadowed legacy of a weekend home steeped in secrets. Marlowe must confront the fallibility of her own memory and the feeling that everyone―including her brothers―is hiding something if she’s to uncover the shocking truth about her lost friend. In this gripping debut, Julie Doar delivers a chilling mystery that explores the corrosive power of silence and the tension of family secrets."

Opinion: The additional murder didn't really seem to have a place in the longer mystery. Not surprised by what happened.