I’ve been off work for the past two weeks, and it has been glorious. As temperatures dropped below zero (cold is sooo not my thing), I parked myself beside the fireplace and let the words of talented storytellers take me away from the bleak Midwestern winter. Between holiday gatherings and family game nights, I finished four books that have been on my to-read list for months.The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was a young adult sensation in 2017, spending many weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. It’s told through the eyes of 16-year-old Starr Carter after she witnesses the police shooting death of a childhood friend. The story is emotional and current and deserving of every award and honor it’s received so far.
Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett is the first in a new series featuring out-of-work actress Dayna Anderson. Day sets out to solve a murder, inspired by a $15,000 reward, and finds trouble and danger along the way. Day and her friends Sienna and Emme are a ton of fun to spend time with.I’ve had The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day on my to-read bookshelf since March, when I met Lori at the first Murder and Mayhem in Chicago. I’ve read and loved her previous books, and it about killed me that I couldn’t find time to dig into her most recent until the very last week of 2017. Totally worth it, though. The psychological thriller features handwriting analyst Anna Winger, whose life unravels as she consults on a case of a missing child.
Anatomy of Innocence: Testimonies of the Wrongfully Convicted, edited by Laura Caldwell and Leslie S. Klinger, pairs best-selling authors with fifteen individuals who describe every aspect of their ordeals from arrest to imprisonment to eventual release. The stories are heart wrenching and touch on the fear, pain, disbelief, and eventual exoneration of those who were wrongfully convicted of crimes. Honestly, this is the stuff of nightmares.
Where have books taken you recently?
