Excellent Audio Reader and a Very Unique Thriller!

Add this book to your spooky season TBR!

Alyssa Cole is a writer I enjoy and if she has a book out, I'm going to read it. In this case, I read it with my ears. The narrator for this book is fantastic! This thriller is very unique. The heroine has disassociative identity disorder (known in the past as multiple personalities).  Because of the disorder, she isn't always the person who is in control. She slips in and out consciousness as her other head mates take over. The thriller takes place in a post-COVID world and it starts with the main head mate suddenly waking up in her body after being gone for several years. The next thing she knows she is on her way to start a new job as a castle caretaker on a mysterious island.

How can you not read this book, especially during the spooky season! The book has a low star rating on Goodreads, and I think this is sadly due to the concept of the main character not being in control of their own mind in a thriller is so unique it may have disappointed readers?  I give it five stars, the story really had me enthralled.

Our local grocery store had a great deal on squash this week, so I stocked up! I'll be roasting some very soon! 

 

Let the Spooky Season Begin, Haunted to Death by Frank Anthony Polito!

If you like a cozy mystery that doesn't take itself seriously, Haunted To Death is a book you should pick up this fall. You don't have to read the first two books to enjoy the fun of this one. If you watched Scooby Doo as a youth, or as an adult with your own kids, you'll enjoy the Scooby Doo vibes. 

I enjoy how this series is campy. If you don't enjoy any camp, this book might not be for you. For the pet lovers, this book has lots of cute doggy content. As I have mentioned many times on this blog. I am a mood reader, so this book coming out in time for me to enjoy it in September as I look forward to October, is perfect.

This book is also an advertisement for Southern Michigan.  I have now added: Visit the Detroit metro area to my ever-growing cozy mystery-inspired vacation wish list. 
 

Last but certainly not least, this book features the solving of cold case, which is not usually how cozies go.  It's almost extra cozy that way!.

I gave Haunted To Death five-stars on Amazon. I bumped it up 1/2 a star because a couple of the reviews I saw were negative on the book and I wanted to balance those out.  They were unnecessarily harsh!

The Sunday Post Celebrating Birthdays!

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. you can write about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

My birthday has just passed and what happens as soon as my birthday is over? You guessed it, I'm ready for autumn! When you think about it, isn't August autumn eve? I couldn't help but purchase a few items for fall.  I've picked up a couple of fun Halloween themed T-shirts and I also got a big package of stickers.

Email me if you'd like me to send you some spooky season stickers! victoriahamel14@gmail.com

Recent books I've read and will be talking about include: 

Fiction Taking Place During Covid. - Well It Is in the Horror Genre

How fantastic is this cover?  I love the color scheme and the blood-red sky behind this old house. It hits on all cylinders if you are looking for a spooky read. Now that last sentence was really mixing metaphors!  

This book takes place during COVID-19, and it is fiction, so is this Covid the same as ours? Who knows.  If the last thing you want to do is read about Covid, or if reading about someone very sick with Covid or dying from it, this book is not for you. 

Now if you are okay with that, this is a good read.  I think Stephen King does a good job having characters that are very worried about the pandemic as well as people who don't believe it exists and various points in between. I thought the characters were fleshed out so they didn't feel one-note based on their personal beliefs. 

The story is good and stands alone, I know Holly has featured in other stories, but I haven't read them and I didn't feel like I was missing anything when I read this book. 

If you like P.I. mysteries, I think you'll enjoy this book. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was very good, I could easily tell who was who as she spoke. 

Yesterday I was going to make stew, but then I decided to make a pot roast in the slow cooker, it was decent, but I felt like it was missing something. I should have added some tomato paste, but I was out. That was a mistake!

An old picture that I love- I believe this was 2009!

 

Spooky Season is Officially Here- #TheSundayPost!

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme  

Boy did September fly by, and here we are October!  Such a fun month and really hasn't it become the unofficial start of the holiday season?  In just a few weeks Hallmark will begin the Countdown to Christmas with loads of new Christmas movies!  But back to Spooky Season, I love seasonal reading so this time of year I'm usually found reading witchy cozy mysteries or fun paranormal romance. Speaking of Hallmark and Cozy Mysteries, did you see that the book  Murder in G Major is now a movie?  I have not seen the movie yet, because I havne't restarted my subscription to frndy TV; but I'll be restarting that in a couple of weeks. 

I made my Harvest Moon Soup Friday and it turned out well, I couldn't find fresh sage for the soup, so I substituted thyme for the sage and it was delicious.  Do you have a favorite herb?  Thyme is mine, especially in the fall and winter, it's perfect with any root vegetables. 

Happy October, do you have any season fun planned for this month? 

Books I'm currently reading:

Before Spooky Season Ends Give This a Listen

 On the one hand, I do love the holiday season and for me, it starts November 1st--hey I like to plan stuff so i need to be organizing and planning before Thanksgiving--, and on the other hand, it seems like August was last week.   Checking my calendar reminds me that while I feel like October just started, we are in fact just a few days away from Halloween! 

If you are looking for something to listen to put you in a spooky state of mind, I recommend this audiobook, The Grand Hotel: A Novel by Scott Kenemore. It is included in your Audible Plus subscription and it's a nice spooky anthology that has a comment thread but is made up of many short stories. If you like Aaron Mahnke's 13 Days of Halloween podcast, this audiobook is perfect for you. 

I don't recall if it contains "R" rated material, I think it might be OK to listen to with kids, but definitely check into that yourself before putting it on for the whole car or house to hear! 

4 Stars for a nice anthology filled with ghosts and ghouls and a nice twist at the end!

Wait, this book was written *before* Dracula?

Before I transition completely to holiday mode, I'm sharing one last spooky season review.  Have you ever heard of this book?  

 Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu was written well before the book everyone knows by Bram Stoker.  This tale, however, isn't about a male vampire.  It's about a young woman who lives on an estate in the country with her father and their servants, she is a little bored and definitely lonely. So when a carriage crashes in front of her and a mother begs them to keep her daughter safe for a few months, she begs her father to let this beautiful young woman stay at their home.

While the local village begins to experience a strange illness, causing the deaths of young women.  The young noblewoman is increasingly drawn to and repelled by her houseguest. She has so much longing for what her guest offers and ultimately falls under her spell. How will the story end?  

Lucky for us readers, this tale can be read in an afternoon or over a weekend, it's one that is very hard to put down.

5 starts to Carmilla 

A Couple of Short, Seasonal, and Slightly Spooky Listens

I love this time of year, I love the decorating, the food, and of course the ghost stories! I found a couple of short listens via audible and the Libby app from my library. 

The first is an audio play of the famous Agatha Christie book And Then There Were None. The audio play is from the BBC and crams the book into a very digestible hour and about twelve minutes.  It's a great accompaniment to walk in the woods, or while raking leaves, or baking a  pumpkin pie!  The plot of And Then There Were None is clear in the title. There is a group of people and someone is picking them off one by one.  The mystery is not that people are going to die, it's the who and the why. And if you want more Agatha Christie there is a good adaptation of Crooked House streaming right now. 

I also listened to a novella-length book called The House by Raelyn Drake.  It was listed as YA, but I think it was mislabeled The House was definitely a middle-grade story.  Again it was a short engaging listen, perfect for this time of year. The story is about a group of high school kids who spend a few hours in their town's alleged Haunted House. The kids are trying to debunk the myth.  It's fun to see how things turn out. It's a very cozy mystery-type listen, you can picture the quaint town and the kids are determined to figure out the mystery. 

4 stars for sure! 

I picked up googly eyes so I'm ready to make some fun Halloween treats this month! 

I'm going to try to make these brownies or make cupcakes with the same frosting and decorations! 

Some October in August! #MrsClausandtheHalloweenHomicide #NetGalley

Having enjoyed Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings, I was excited to request an ARC of the second book in the series from NetGalley.  I know it's only mid-August, but I'm ready to start getting excited for spooky season.  

Liz Ireland does a nice job of expanding the Mrs. Claus Universe I enjoyed learning about snow monsters as part of the newfound Halloween traditions of the town.  I love how April had embraced her sleuthing tendencies and is building lasting relationships in her adopted home. 

Unlike most cozy mysteries, there is no body in the first chapter.  In this story there is a different inciting incident and then you read on with bated breath wondering is someone about to get it?  Who is going to be the victim?  The only thing I would like to see in the book would be to have Nick be a more in-depth character. I feel he is not as fleshed out as his mother, sister, or sister-in-law, or even as much as elfman Jingles.

This seasonal cozy has a great mystery and is chock-full of the Halloween spirit. 4 stars!  Or should I  say 4 🎃🎃🎃🎃!!!

 Definitely add this to your fall reading list! 

 

Remember My Abundance of Apples?

 Here is a recipe I found from the Minimalist Baker blog: Easy Cinnamon Baked Apples  I made some substitutions based on what I had on hand.  I used flour instead of cornstarch, I used 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, I left out the nutmeg (because I had none) I added some lemon zest with the tablespoons of lemon juice. I also used more fresh grated ginger than the recipe stated. I am quite glad I did because I used enuogh that you could taste ginger in each bit, but it wasn't overpowering. The Hubs had purchased Hudsonville Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Ice Cream so that is the ice cream you see with the baked apples. 

I used Gala, Golden Delicious and Honey Crisp Apples.

I'm glad I came across this recipe, it was delicious and smelled divine while it was cooking!

Masquerade Murder: A Victoria Town Mystery Novella by Mollie Cox Bryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book in the series. It's a seasonal novella, you can sit down on a cold October night after the kiddos are done ringing your doorbell demanding candy and slip away to Victoria Town.

I like Viv our protagonist, she has a wry sense of humor and it's fun to tag along inside her head. In this installment, I thought that Viv's Aunt Libby was less judgemental than in the first book and more involved in the sleuthing. I liked the build-up to the killer's reveal.



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13 days until Halloween! How are you celebrating the Season?

 Because I have the "I Heart Radio" on my phone, I got a notification today for what they call a 3-D podcast for Halloween. It's like Tales from the Crypt for your ears, lots of background sounds as you listen to a creepy story this is less than 30 minutes.  A great way to enjoy the spooky month of October while you are cooking, cleaning, or walking the dog. 

Yesterday afternoon I was making phone calls to voters and while no one could see me, I decided why not wear some Autumnal Aldi gear. How cute are these socks!  The green leggings are also from Aldi. I'm glad I embraced the legging lifestyle, I may never wear pants that button or zip again. 

One Dark and Stormy Knight: A Cozy Witch Mystery by Hermione Moon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you grew up reading tales of King Arthur and you love reading cozy mysteries, you've got to read this book!
This novella length book has a decent mystery and a nice cast of characters. Even though this is a paranormal, I would say there is one small plot point that is a bit hard to believe, but I decided to go with it and not let one small thing stop my general enjoyment of the book.

Hermione Moon has created a lovely town that you'll want to visit again and again!

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#FraterfestRAT Day One!

 It's here!  A great excuse to immerse myself in spooky season. Today I started listening to Mexican Gothic. Tonight I am going to finish reading One Dark and Stormy Knight  and today I also picked up a book I had a hold on at the library, I'm so glad that I get to read this for the Fraterfest Read a Thon:  Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas  Oh and also I'll be reading the new release - White Trash Warlock

Join me and read some spooky/cozy paranormal/YA paranormal/Halloween themed books! You can even win prizes! Click Here  So if the weather is gloomy, download a book or grab one from your local library and spend some time cozied up in a chair. --And let me know what you are reading!  I love book recommendations!