Buried by Books #2

 

It's time to once again evaluate my bad habit of putting things on hold on Libby for all kinds of reasons.  Hope you enjoyed last week's post and if you didn't catch it, you can find it HERE.

The Cats of Silver Crescent: Kaela Noel - So the only thing better than talking cats is talking dogs.  Still interested in reading this one although I know I've pushed it back twice so far.

Middle of the Night: Riley Sager - So I've only read one book by this author, and I didn't really like it. Yes, I'm talking about you Final Girl with all your grape soda and Xanax glory.  I'm convinced I want to love this author like so many other people.  Maybe this book will be the one to convince me one way or another.

Love Letters to a Serial Killer: Tasha Coryell- This is my most recent hold and honestly, I think it was the tagline on the cover "P.S. Please don't kill me."

Feed Your TBR - The Haunting of Room 904

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

March 18, 2025

FROM GOODREADS: Olivia Becente was never supposed to have the gift. The ability to commune with the dead was the specialty of her sister, Naiche. But when Naiche dies unexpectedly and under strange circumstances, somehow Olivia suddenly can’t stop seeing and hearing from spirits.

A few years later, she’s the most in-demand paranormal investigator in Denver. She’s good at her job, but the loss of Naiche haunts her. That’s when she hears from the Brown Palace, a landmark Denver hotel. The owner can’t explain it, but every few years, a girl is found dead in room 904, no matter what room she checked into the night before. As Olivia tries to understand these disturbing deaths, the past and the present collide as Olivia’s investigation forces her to confront a mysterious and possibly dangerous cult, a vindictive journalist, betrayal by her friends, and shocking revelations about her sister’s secret life.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I admit I sort of soft DNF'ed Wurth's first book.  I do plan on going back to it and think it was the wrong book at the wrong time when I did pick it up.  I love the paranormal investigator element and want to find out the mystery behind room 904.

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???

This Book Was So Much Yet Not Enough

 

TITLE: Murder Road

AUTHOR: Simone St. James

PUBLISHER: Berkley

PUBLISHING DATE: March 5, 2024

PAGES: 352   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases. 

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them. 

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

MY THOUGHTS: I was really excited to read this book.  I read The Book of Cold Cases and thought it was an okay read, and really wanted to give the author another chance. Plus, a thriller with paranormal aspects sounds right up my alley.  However, I am sad to say this book just didn't work for me. 

April and Eddie are on their honeymoon.  While on their way, they mysteriously end up in Coldlake Falls, where they pick up a hitchhiker bleeding out and desperately needing help.  When they get her to the hospital, the hitchhiker quickly dies leaving Eddie and April as the prime suspects. It seems there have been a string of unsolved murders over the years on Atticus Lane.  In order to help clear their names, the two start an investigation of their own.  But are they ready for the mysteries and the ghosts that away them. 

This book has too many people and too much going on for me.  Our two main characters both have questionable backgrounds and are clearly hiding some things from each other.  The reader is led to believe that April's secret is horrible but honestly, I think when it was finally revealed it missed the mark.  Also, there were so many other characters in the book - a local cop, two detectives, the woman that runs the B&B, two teenagers obsessed with true crime and who did more to solve the murders than any of law enforcement if you ask me, a long-lost friend, several ghosts, several alleged perps, a ghost completely independent of the murders and mysteries and a hippie commune.  There is also someone who owns the land of the commune that keeps being mentioned, never appears, and really had nothing to do with the story at all (unless I missed something and maybe I did). Also, we have April's mom who is in prison and who pushed the plot along a bit but could have easily been left out. And also, since when can someone just dial someone up and speak to them in prison?

I also found the book pretty predictable.  I saw where it was headed for the most part and wasn't really invested in the outcome at all.  My favorite character was probably a ghost who has such a small role that if you blinked, you might miss him.  I am sure there are tons of people who have enjoyed this book because I know St. James is a well-loved author.  However, I'm now questioning going back and reading some of her backlist, which honestly interested me more than this one.  

MY RATING: 2 Paws

Farm News - May 26, 2024

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  Hope everyone has something fun planned, even if it's just a bit of peace and quiet.  Mr. Barb works Saturday and Sunday, but we have off together on Monday, but they are calling for storms.  The weather is so weird this spring and I think a lot of the US is tired of storms.  I know I am.

This has to be the strangest work week I've had since I started the job three months ago. On Wednesday, our director quit.  She only gave two weeks' notice and there is no explanation on why she chose to leave.  And she told us in an email!  She pretty much created this unit and always said it was her passion.  Our Deputy Director, who I love, was so blindsided.  She is spending every working hour trying to figure out everything our director was doing.  On Thursday, she was named Interim Acting Director.  A lot of us are hoping it turns into a permanent position for her.  On the plus side, I received notice that I passed my training I went to a few weeks ago.  Now I can participate in the stage 2 of the certification process which is the online portion.

It's been a while since I shared some Netgalley acquisitions.  As always, I'm very grateful for receiving them and am excited for them all.

Good Dogs: Brian Asman

Fang Fiction: Kate Stayman-London

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng: Kylie Lee Baker

I'll Be Home for Mischief: Jacqueline Frost

Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places: Clair Kann

Mistress of Lies: K.M. Enright

We've continued our spring movie watch with Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire and LOVED it.  Kong always makes me tear up and this one was no different.  We also watched Civil War and honestly, other than the zombie aspect, it was a lot like the book I just finished, Feed by Mira Grant.  It was okay but not at all what I expected. You can tell it's an a24 movie though. There's only one more episode of Under the Bridge which will drop on Wednesday, and I can't wait to see what happens next.  We also watched Sting which was good but if you have a fear of spiders, this might not be the one for you.

That's about all I have.  Thanks for stopping by Booker T's Farm and I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Buried by Books #1

Guess what?  I have a bad habit and it's time I come clean.  Late at night, I like to browse all the libraries that I have cards attached to Libby and see what they are adding.  Then I just randomly start putting saves on them.  This can happen for many reasons - I like the covers, I've seen them on other sites, I love the author, or even simply why not?  

Then before I know it, I have 75 books on hold, on top of my own books, arcs and even physical library books and they all arrived at once and I keep pushing back actually borrowing them, sometimes over and over again. I know I'm not the only one who does this am I?  So, I wanted to start a new feature where every week or two, I showcase three books which have landed on that hold list and some potential reasons why.  So welcome to the first edition!  Also, you can click on the titles to go to the Goodreads page in case you really want to know more about them and possibly add them to your Libby too!

The Bittlemores: Jann Arden - I requested this for two reasons actually.  I remember Arden as a 90's chart singer and the cow.  What's it about?  I think there's a farm and a quirky family.  I could have told you more if I had actually read it instead of pushing my hold back at least three separate times.  Oh well, I'm sure it will circle around again.

The Twilight Garden: Sara Nisha Adams - Pretty sure this is purely on my hold list because I liked the wolf on the cover, which seriously has to be a fox in all reality now that I'm REALLY looking at it, and because I saw it on Tammy's site over at Books, Bones & Buffy.  Hey, if Tammy wants to read it, I usually do too.

Polly Parker Meets Her Shadow: Victoria Lowery - No clue but it's still on hold.

So come on, spill it.  Do any of you do the same thing? And have you read any of these?  I apparently need more motivation to stop pushing them back.

Feed Your TBR - Flirting With Disaster

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

January 14, 2025

FROM GOODREADS: It's been years since Meena has seen her husband, Nikhil . . . years since they first laid eyes on each other back home in Texas, years since they eloped in Las Vegas and she felt true happiness. A high-powered lawyer on Capitol Hill, ready to move on (or at least, she thinks so) with another successful lawyer, Shake, Meena has returned home. This time, finally, to obtain a divorce.

But there's one thing Meena couldn't have accounted for: a hurricane forming in the Gulf, veering right toward them, giving them no choice but to hunker down in the home they had built together. Suddenly, she finds herself trapped amid gale-force winds and pelting rain with the man she once loved.

As they spend more time together, Meena begins to remember everything that drew her to Nikhil: His small-town charm, his thoughtful nature. . . his absurdly good looks. But things make sense with Shake. He’s steady and ambitious and wants exactly what she wants. She’ll stick to her plan, come hell or high water. But will her windswept heart make the right choice, when the storm settles and the eye passes over?

With sharp observations about second chances at love, ambition and Indian American identity, and with characters who share an undeniable chemistry, Flirting with Disaster is a modern romance with the sensibility of a classic.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I don't know exactly why I'm drawn to this book and I added it to my wish list on impulse.  I really am intrigued by a forced proximity during a storm and a possible rekindling of a marriage gone bad.  Maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me that usually hides behind monsters and serial killers 🤣🤣🤣

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK????

A New Favorite Character Has Been Solidifed!

 

TITLE: White Trash Zombie Gone Wild

AUTHOR: Diana Rowland

PUBLISHER: DAW

PUBLISHING DATE: October 6, 2015

PAGES: 336   

SOURCE: Own

FROM GOODREADS: Angel Crawford has buried her loser past and is cruising along in undead high gear--that is, until a murder-by-decapitation sends her on a hazardous detour. As Angel hunts for the killer, she uncovers a scheme that would expose zombies to the public and destroy the life she's built, and she's determined not to rest until she finds out who's behind it. 

Soon she's neck-deep in lies, redneck intrigue, zombie hunters, and rot-sniffing cadaver dogs. It's up to her to unravel the truth and snuff out the conspiracy before the existence of zombies makes headline news and she's outed as a monster. 

But Angel hasn't quite escaped the pill-popping ghosts of her past--not with an illicit zombie pharmaceutical at her fingertips. Good thing she's absolutely sure she can handle the drug's unpredictable side effects and still take down the bad guys...or maybe she's only one bad choice away from being dead meat--for real this time. 

Angel knows a thing or two about kicking ass, but now the ass she needs to kick might be her own.

MY THOUGHTS: This is the fifth book out of six in this series so I will try to keep my thoughts as spoiler-free as possible.  Angel and the crew have returned home from the big showdown in the last book which definitely created a massive shift in this zombie-verse.  Angel had to rely on a new pumped-up medication to enhance her zombie abilities in order to escape alive and save her team.  In this book we see how the use of that medication has once again fueled Angel's past substance abuse issues, and it's an extra boost that one of the side effects is that it helps with her dyslexia, which has become a big barrier now that she has started college classes.

The town is celebrating the release of the new zombie movie which was filmed in the last book with a week of festival activities, and there is also a concern that the FBI has been sniffing around the morgues and funeral homes investigating issues with disappearing organs - mainly brains.  It is feared that the zombie population may have to go into hiding which means Angel will be leaving her father and some new friends behind.  Who knows what will happen (so read the book and find out) but with Angel involved, it's bound to be a hell of a ride.

This series just keeps getting better and better.  This book introduces some new characters, such a Bear the Survivalist and we learn that more people actually know what Angel is hiding than she initially thought.  I will also say this book is VERY Angel-centric and it worked so well.  Because most of the team is off dealing with the FBI stuff, it is mainly up to Angel to figure out the newest chaotic catastrophe and fix it before it blows.  Angel's ex-boyfriend Marcus if away on business and I enjoyed him not being a constant presence.  This allowed the author to showcase Angel's coworker Nick more and I loved seeing his character development and seeing what he could add to this universe.

This series has yet to disappoint and reading book six next month will be bitter sweet.  Angel is a highly flawed, highly likable character and my only regret it that I didn't "meet" her sooner.  She will forever be an all-time fave!

MY RATING: 5 PAWS