Cabin in the City

Books, cats and midwestern charm.

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What I Read // May 2025

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I’m truly shocked at how well I’ve kept up with my reading so far. I suppose having quiet time at home from essentially 8 PM onwards helps. I think I did the bulk of my reading after our son’s bedtime and during naptimes. It’s a good routine for all of us.

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda • ★★★★☆

I hate to say it, but I always thought of pet-focused books as being kind of hokey. I think Marley and Me is to thank (and, nope, I’ve never even read it!). But We’ll Prescribe You a Cat availed me of that misconception.

Within a few pages, I felt like I was snuggling up with a comfy blanket, a cup of tea and, of course, a cat on sunny morning.

In We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, a handful of patients visit the unusual Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. The doctor there is odd and has one treatment: cats. Chapter after chapter, patients take home pets to cure what ails them: work struggles, dealing with cliques at school, coping with loss, and so on.

It sounds so simple, but that’s part of the joy. Sometimes all you need to set you right is a cat (and a good book).

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle •🎧• ★★★★☆

Wolf in White Van pulls you backward through time. It begins with Sean who runs a mail-in role-play game. Two high schoolers who subscribed to this fantasy world began to blur the lines between imagination and reality. As Sean deal with these ramifications, you go back in time with him. How did this game begin? Who is Sean? How did he come to be?

Darnielle leaves you to connect a lot of the dots which makes Wolf in White Van (and his other novels) an exceedingly interesting read.

Enjoying the audio versions of these is almost essential. Darnielle has a unique voice in the literary and literal senses, and they both augment his work.

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich • ★★★★☆

I’ve never read a Louise Erdrich book set in the present era. I wondered for a split second if this could match The Master Butchers Singing Club or Four Winds. Because she is Erdrich, all she does is incredible.

The first chapter of The Sentence was not what I expected; it kicks off with Tookie unknowingly committing a crime and going to prison. That wasn’t what I was interested in. However, the book quickly flashes forward to Tookie’s life after prison. She’s married, works at a bookshop (run by a fictional Erdrich!) and deals with sometimes irritating customers.

After her most aggravating customer dies, Tookie believes she’s being haunted. And somehow, Erdrich weaves this ghost story into what the world was like in 2020, from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to the death of George Floyd and beyond. It’s masterful and heartwarming. Maybe I should nudge this one to five stars?

The Witches of Santo Stefano by Wendy Webb • ★★★☆☆

I’ll say this: I don’t think that Wendy Webb is the best writer in the world. Despite having gothic themes, her books are filled with Hallmark movie-esque characters (and some plot holes). But I still find her books irresistible.

All are set in the Midwest, several in Wharton, a fictionalized version of Bayfield, Wisconsin (one of my favorite places); that’s certainly a major part of the appeal.

The Witches of Santo Stefano starts in Wharton where soon-to-be-divorced Cassie discovers in family records that her great-grandmother’s cause of death was witchcraft. Cassie feels the need to get to the bottom of the witchcraft mystery (and to get away from her spouse) for a while, so she travels to her family’s ancestral home: Santo Stafano, Italy.

From the jump, Cassie is in an Italian Hallmark movie: She befriends the owner of a cafe and her Airbnb host, gets a crush on a local, and gets all up in the family business of her new friends. It’s cute. It’s very cozy. It’s also not as scary as Webb’s other outings. I’ll also say that I found the family tree portion of this book a little confusing. I think the story went back one generation too far if you ask me!

See you next month! And remember, I’ll be over on The StoryGraph this year!

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What I Read // April 2025

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My reads this month were extremely varied. I’m glad for it! It gives me some idea of where I want to go in the coming months with what I pick up.

Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler • ★★★★☆

When I heard Anna Marie Tendler, the artist who was once married to John Mulaney, was writing a book, I was so eager to pick it up. When I heard it was not a gossipy take-down of Mulaney, I became less interested. This was petty and wrongly reduces Tendler down to the role of being a celebrity’s wife instead of being an interesting, talented person in her own right.

In Men Have Called Her Crazy, Tendler details the time she spent in an in-patient psychiatric facility in 2021 along with stories from her life. She focuses especially on her history with men, her various professional and educational pursuits, how she coped with trauma, and finding moments of peace. I found Tendler to be infinitely charming. Her writing is self-reflective and smart, and she puts into words a lot of the experiences many women have with suppressed rage—especially rage that stems from experience with men.

This book could be hard for some to read as it deals with psychiatric issues and unhealthy relationships, so please proceed with caution.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones • ★★★★☆

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead starts with a body. Janina finds her neighbor dead in his home. She has her suspicions about what killed him. Later, when a police officer is found dead in the woods, she tries to tell the police what’s going on.

It all sounds very traditional murder mystery, but I assure you it’s not. This book, originally written in Polish, is slightly absurd and un-put-down-able. It has me excited to pick up another book from Tokarczuk.

Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green • 🎧• ★★★☆☆

Full disclosure: I became aware of John Green through Instagram. The algorithm would feed me fun reels from him, some of which would mention tuberculosis. Only later did I realize he wrote The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns (neither of which I read). I queued up Everything Is Tuberculosis since I like a nonfiction listen here and there.

I learned a lot while listening, but I don’t think this is something I’d recommend to others. It lacked some of the charm I had expected based Green’s videos (but also, maybe that expectation was unfair).

Holly by Stephen King • ★★★☆☆

Like everyone, I’ve absorbed a lot of Stephen King throughout my lifetime. I’ve seen The Shining, It (both versions), Misery and plenty more. Despite all this, I’ve never read anything from King. Why I started here with Holly, the third in a series, is entirely random.

My thoughts are… It was entirely entertaining but not my favorite. The story was kind of a gross one (cannibal serial killers). I also don’t think I’m entirely sold on King’s writing style. I found the dialogue to be very unnatural and sometimes clunky. I had a hard time believing that two characters would meet and in the first 15 seconds learn their thoughts on COVID, how long they lived near Bell College, and what a great employee they once had five years ago—all unprompted besides a hello.

This doesn’t turn me off the idea of reading more from King in the future (he seems like a cool guy and he’s responsible for The Shining which I love), but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to pick up another in the near future.

See you next month! And remember, I’ll be over on The StoryGraph this year!

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What I Read // February + March 2025

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Turns out reading is different with a baby! I’m reading just as much as ever – I still pick up a book every night before bed and at lunch most days, but I just haven’t been able to fit audiobooks in the same way I used to. That’s OK! I still had a few good reads these past few months.

So far, I’ve read eight books in 2025; my goal is 35.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston • ★★★☆☆

Who doesn’t like a quick thriller once in a while? I feel like it has been a minute since I’ve picked up one of these. First Lie Wins isn’t the best domestic thriller in the world, but it’s entertaining.

“Evie” is sent by her mysterious boss to get close to Ryan. “Evie” isn’t real, but maybe her feelings for Ryan are. And maybe no one is who they say they are? The shifting identities in First Lie Wins were fun to keep up with, but I won’t insist you read this one.

Read if you liked: Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins, I’ll Be You by Janelle Brown

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix • ★★★★☆

No secret here: I’ve loved ever Grady Hendrix book I’ve ever picked up. My feelings for Witchcraft for Wayward Girls are no different, though I do think his latest book is pretty different than the rest.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, set in 1970, follows Neva (who goes by Fern for most of the novel) as she takes up residence in a home for unwed mothers. While there, she discovers a book on witchcraft. She and a few friends dip their toes into the witchy waters, but Fern dives in more deeply with some unintended consequences.

Yes, there are the delightful bits of campy nostalgia, terrific world building and well written relationships, but Witchcraft for Wayward Girls feels a bit more serious than Hendrix’s other novels. Maybe that’s because I’m a new mom and all things maternity and baby are more sensitive. Maybe it’s because the inspiration for this book is more serious; Hendrix wrote in the author’s notes about how members of his family were sent to these homes for unwed mothers and how harrowing those experiences were. This book tugged at my heartstrings, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Read if you liked: Grady Hendrix’s other books, The Witch of Tin Mountain by Paulette Kennedy, City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill • ★★★★☆

I felt like the first 20 or so pages of When We Lost Our Heads were a little tough for me. The writing seemed a little rigid to me; maybe the sentences were structured too similarly?

Whatever the case, I’m glad I stuck with it. When We Lost Our Heads follows the lives of two wealthy girls growing up in 1880s Montreal. Marie is blonde and charming, and Sadie is brunette and very clever. Together these two are quite devious. When Sadie gets sent away after an “accident,” their lives diverge – for a time.

As O’Neill weaves in more characters, like baker Mary and midwife George, the story gets interesting. How all these characters come to inhabit the same spaces was pretty exciting to see. Also, I loved the setting! I want to Montreal years ago, but was able to place a few of the settings throughout the book.

Read if you liked: Sex Wars by Marge Piercy, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, books by Mona Awad

Universal Harvester by John Darnielle • ★★★★☆

I picked up Darnielle’s Devil House several years ago and have Wolf in White Van on my TBR list. His second novel, Universal Harvester, totally escaped me until just last week.

With a synopsis that mentioned late ’90s video stores and comparisons to The Ring, it was a must-read for me. In Universal Harvester, VHS tapes start showing up to the local rental shop with strange bits of footage spliced into the film. Nothing truly gory, but some unsettling snippets. Video clerk Jeremy wants to get to the bottom of it. Or does he?

For me, this book became less about Jeremy solving some small town mystery and more about the writing. I find Darnielle’s voice to be really compelling and unique. I can almost hear him narrating his work. If it didn’t come in paper form, it could have been transformed into an album.

Read if you liked: The Devil House by John Darnielle, We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix

See you next month! And remember, I’ll be over on The StoryGraph this year!

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What I Read // January 2025

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Welcome to a new year of reading! My goal for 2025 is to read 35 books. That’s fewer than usual, but I don’t know what my reading schedule will look like as a parent.

This year, I’m doing things a little differently; I’ll be keeping track of my reads on The StoryGraph instead of Goodreads. As any reader knows, Goodreads is obnoxious to use. The StoryGraph offers the same tracking capabilities, plus more like stats on the types of books you read, the length and the themes. I think it’s worth giving it a go!

Now, onto my January reads, including a Christmas book that took me a while to wrap up.

Christmas Island by Natalie Normann • 🎧 • ★★☆☆☆

This is a repeat author for me. I read The Hygge Holiday by Normann a few years ago. It was wonderfully cozy. This read from her, though, just didn’t really click with me.

It had many of the same elements — a newcomer in a small town (this time a British woman in Scandinavia instead of a Scandinavian woman in the UK), the concept of hygge and a little bit of romance. But in Christmas Island, I didn’t find myself really liking the main character, Holly, as she navigated a tiny town in Norway and subtle sparks with the town loner Tor. She wasn’t an unlikeable protagonist, but she didn’t have much going on. Neither did Tor. Points for the cat being a major player in this, though!

Read if you liked: Christmas books by Jenny Colgan

I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell • 🎧 • ★★☆☆☆

Another swing-and-a-miss by an author I’ve read before. Last year, I read The Golden Spoon by Maxwell. It had its flaws, but overall I loved the murder mystery-meets-GBBO vibes.

In I Need You to Read This, Alex lands a job taking over a longtime advice column after the death of its original author. I love this since I’m an avid reader of Dear Prudence and its Slate spinoffs. But after taking the job, Alex learns that the previous author was murdered and that there are some fishy characters at the paper. Maybe someone there is responsible?

Overall, I found this one to be kind of meh even though I did like the dual perspectives here: one as Alex in the present day and the other as an unnamed advice seeker from the past.

I think there are better mysteries out there for your time.

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon • ★★★★☆

Is it even winter for me if I don’t read some Romanov-related book? I think not. In the past, I’ve read The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne, The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport, The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers by Kerri Turner and Russian Winter by Daphne Kolotay.

I Was Anastasia is like many of my previous reads since it follows the Romanovs as the family goes into exile. But this book is different since it also picks up another historical thread: the story of Anna Anderson, a woman who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia starting in the 1920s. Anderson was actually a Polish factory worker named Franziska Schanzkowska, but that takes nothing away from this dual-perspective story. It was interesting to read how the fictional Anastasia presumably maintained this charade over many years and even had some of the real grand duchess’s connections believing she was the genuine article.

Read if you liked: The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne, Fever by Mary Beth Keane

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix • ★★★★☆

Grady Hendrix gets it right every time. I love how each of his books takes place in a different era with different horror elements. In We Sold Our Souls, he dives into the world of late ’80s/early ’90s metal music, fame and demons (?).

In We Sold Our Souls, Kris, the former frontwoman for a mildly famous metal band, is living a low key life — until she hears about a former bandmate of hers, Terry, is now hosting a mega farewell tour. She feels a need to reconnect with her other bandmates and her music, but in doing so she learns the real reason they’re all living life under the radar and Terry is a rock god.

I’ll say that metal isn’t exactly my thing, but I still read this book in about three days.

Read if you liked: Any other Grady Hendrix book

See you next month! And remember, I’ll be over on The StoryGraph this year!

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What I Read // November 2024

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I’ve included a bonus book this month. I originally read Like a Mother all the way back in May, but wasn’t ready to share my pregnancy news. I included my review for it in my November reading list for kicks.

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks • ★★★★★

At the tail end of spooky season, I squeezed in a spooky-adjacent romance. In Morbidly Yours, Galway undertaker Callum is looking to get married so he can secure his place as the owner of his family’s funeral home. The problem: He’s got only a few months to fulfill the requirement of his grandfather’s will — and he isn’t even seeing anyone.

Meanwhile, Texan Lark moves to Galway to work on an animated film after the death of her husband. She’s definitely a fish out of water but does her best to befriend her shy next-door neighbor Callum (and everyone else she meets).

Despite their reservations about their situations, Callum and Lark strike up a solid friendship — and maybe more!

I loved this book. I loved both main characters’ unconventional jobs. I loved the setting. I loved the spice. I loved the intergenerational friendships. I loved the satisfying work drama. Don’t sleep on this one!

Read if you liked: One Night on the Island by Josie Silver or Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year by Rochelle Bilow.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak • ★★★★☆

I’ve had Seven Days of Us on my Kindle for at least four years. I’ve picked it up and put it down so many times. Sometimes I missed the Christmas spirit window. Other times what sounded like a family drama seemed too serious. And back in 2020, a book about a doctor fighting a pandemic was just too close to home.

But let my loss be your gain. In Seven Days of Us, the Birch family is set to reunite in their English country home for the holidays. The catch here is that the family has to isolate together for a week since the eldest daughter, Olivia, has been treating a contagious disease in northern Africa.

During this time, secret after secret is revealed, including the existence of an additional Birch sibling (that’s just the start and is revealed in the first few pages).

Seven Days of Us isn’t exactly the most Christmas-y Christmas story, but it was a good way to ease into the season (or out of it if you pick it up in January!).

Read if you liked: The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict (not because Seven Days of Us is a murder mystery but because it’s an easy-to-read, non-romance holiday book).

Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh • ★★★★☆

I love when a $1.99 Kindle deal is worth every penny and more. Holiday Romance was a great way to kick off the Christmas season.

This rom-com plays into an accidental holiday tradition. For the last decade, Molly and Andrew have been catching the same flight from Chicago to Dublin for the holidays — first by coincidence and later by choice. This standing appointment is their opportunity to catch up on the year.

Well, this year, the flight to Dublin is canceled and they’re forced to find a different way home by way of Brazil, France and England. This travel snafu stressed me out, but it was a creative way to lay out the pair’s lives (like their individual dating history, what’s up with their families, and more).

Of course, since this a rom com, the two find out that for the first time in years that they are both single — and maybe something more is there.

Also, I’ve got a soft spot for this book now. I finished it right before going into labor with our baby!

Read if you liked: The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller and All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox.

Like a Mother by Angela Garbes • ★★★★☆

Without my mom, I felt really lost in the early days of my pregnancy. I had no idea what to expect, no idea how to really care for myself and no idea how I should approach the coming months. I started with Like a Mother because it was heaped with praise by NPR and featured a blurb on the cover from Lindy West. What else could I ask for?

I made my way through this book incredibly quickly. While I knew (some of) the biological basics of pregnancy, I found Garbes’s explanation infinitely more informative and compelling.

Her chapter on the placenta was 99% new information to me — and it proved how incredible and complex the human body is. Also, the fact that you gain around eight pounds alone is just blood? That your kidneys double in size? That your body grows a whole new organ to support life and then just dispenses with it after birth? Absolutely insane.

I will say, that while very much a facts-based book, Like a Mother is also full of a lot of anecdotes from the author about pregnancy and birth. Some of these are very helpful! Some I found best to ignore, including how some mothers opt to drink on occasion during pregnancy. I know that this recommendation is very American and pretty recent in medical history, but not something I was willing to compromise on.

Read if you liked: Cribsheet and Expecting Better by Emily Oster.

Keep up with what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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What I Read // October 2024

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Normally I’m neck-deep in scary stuff all October long. This year is very different. While I still love all the spooky vibes, this particular season of life requires focus elsewhere.

That being said, I don’t have as many scary tales to recommend as in the past. I But you can check out my list of Halloween books and some great Halloween podcasts.

The September House by Carissa Orlando • 🎧 • ★★★★☆

FINALLY. A GHOST STORY WITH LOTS OF GHOSTS (AND NOT JUST THE IDEA OF GHOSTS).

This is not a spoiler. In the first chapter of The September House, you learn that each September, Margaret and Hal’s house is haunted by a coterie of noisy ghosts, regularly drips blood down the walls and absolutely rumbles with rattles and moans.

The mystery here is why does Margaret stay? Why did her husband decide to suddenly leave even though the house is perfect 11 months out of the year? Why has her daughter never bothered to visit until this September?

The September House layers on the ghosts and mysteries chapter after chapter, and then does a great job peeling them all back. I highly recommend this one—particularly in audiobook form!

Read if you like: How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy • ★★★★☆

This is my third Paulette Kennedy book. Every time I pick up one of her novels, I don’t recognize I’ve read her before. I think that’s because while her writing is consistently good, she doesn’t tie herself to a single genre or setting. With that in mind, The Devil and Mrs. Davenport is very different from The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil. It also might be Kennedy’s best work yet.

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport is set in 1950s Missouri. Loretta is a stay-at-home mom to two children. Her husband teaches theology at a nearby college. After a severe fever, Loretta finds that she has a sixth sense about certain events and people—in particular a recent murder in town. Essentially, she’s discovered she’s a medium of sorts.

Her husband, being extremely religious, finds this to be blasphemous. Loretta explains that she thought her visions were a gift from God. Of course he says that’s wrong and she should repent.

This dynamic sets up the tension for the rest of the novel. I don’t want to spoil it too much because the way it builds and falls apart is really a wonder.

I will say, this book might not be a good fit for everyone. As noted in the book itself, there is mention of domestic abuse and violence. So be aware as you go in.

Read if you like: Empire of the Wild by Cherie Dimaline

Let Him In by William Friend • ★★☆☆☆

I find movies like The Babadook pretty scary. Essentially anything that has to do with imaginary friends or terrifying childhood visions creeps me out. That’s why I thought Let Him In would be a good fit when I saw it at the library. (It wasn’t.)

After the death of his wife, Alfie’s twin daughters start to play with an imaginary friend called Black Mamba. Black Mamba is sometimes a man but he can take animal form too. The twins are obsessed with their friend, so much so that Alfie consults his sister-in-law Julie (his dead wife’s twin)/psychologist to counsel them.

I was 90% through this book and debated putting it down. I wasn’t getting any heebie-jeebies. The plot was going in circles with no chill factor whatsoever.

Keep up with what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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What I Read // September 2024

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Only three books this month! That’s pretty measly for me, but I’m still ahead on my Goodreads goal for the year (I’ve read 36 out of my 40!).

The Guncle by Steven Rowley • 🎧 • ★★★★☆

The Guncle was the perfect story with which to wrap up summer reading. In it, Patrick, a former sitcom star living in Palm Springs, gains custody of his niece and nephew for the summer after his best friend-turned-sister-in-law dies.

Patrick doesn’t understand children or how to help them grieve alongside him. He does, understand, though the importance of a good brunch, pool parties and the right ensemble for the day.

It might seem like a schmaltzy or gimmicky plot, but let me assure you, like its protagonist, this book is funny, outlandish and, on occasion, surprisingly sincere.

Read if you like: The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden • ★★★★☆

Occasionally those news stories pop up where some far-flung place is offering homes for €1. Sounds like a dream, until you realize you’ll have to live in the boonies of Slovenia or Finland.

Well, that’s what happens to the couple, Tommy and Kate, in this novel. They pay the €1 and move to a small town in Sicily. It’s great because the house is huge! It’s near Tommy’s grandparents! It’s Italy!

But sometimes they hear stuff at night. And where are all the rats coming from? What happened with Nonno? He got super weird! Oh, and the house is near some ancient catacombs? SHOULD BE FINE.

I loved how this book kept layering on bits of eeriness until they could no longer be ignored.

Read if you like: Diavola by Jennifer Thorne, The Woman in the Castello by Kelsey James.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix • ★★★★☆

This is the fourth Grady Hendrix book I’ve read. While it wasn’t as scary (or silly) as the others, it’s still a great read to kick of Spooky Season (these are my favorite Halloween books, BTW!).

In the forward, Hendrix writes that for this book, he essentially wanted to pit his mom against Dracula and see who would come out on top. How gruesome and delightful! This was a great read for so many reasons, including the early ’90s nostalgia.

Read if you like: Grady Hendrix, My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine, Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Keep up with what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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What I Read // August 2024

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August is typically my biggest book month of the year, but without my family’s annual trip up north, I didn’t read very much. What I did read fell a bit flat (with the exception of another book by Riley Sager.

But let my reads be your guide anyway. Maybe there’s something in here that will speak to you a bit more!

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan • 🎧 • ★★★☆☆

This book has been on my radar for a while. I was intrigued by a haunted house book that wasn’t on some cliff in England or an old home in New England. The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years follows two Indian families who emigrated to South Africa, and the haunting isn’t your standard ghost.

In the present day, teenager Sana explores the multi-family home she and her father just moved to. Sana is haunted by the death of her mother and twin sister. She fills her days exploring the history of her new home.

Decades earlier, you learn about one of the home’s original inhabitants: Meena, a second wife to a businessman who feels unwelcome there. While Sana uncovers Meena’s story, the house grows spookier (but really not that spooky, IMO).

But I felt like there was some tension and scares missing here. I enjoyed the stories (particularly Meena’s) but was left wanting more.

Read if you like: I’m not sure I have a good parallel here! Sorry, folks!

The Clinic by Cate Quinn • ★★☆☆☆

I hate to admit it, but I picked this book up 100% based on the cover. A scary Victorian-style house perched on a cliff in the fog? It was giving The Sanatorium vibes, and I had to rent it.

But this book was too long, not nearly atmospheric enough, and was full of characters I didn’t care about. Also, some of the timelines seemed off to me. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention.

So what’s it all about? Well, after the death of her sister, Meg checks into the rehab clinic where her sister died in hopes of finding some answers. While there, she keeps to herself, suspects everyone and essentially treads water for the bulk of the book.

The story is also told from the point of view of the clinic’s manager who starts to suspect that the treatments there aren’t on the up-and-up.

Read if you like: The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse.

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager • ★★★★☆

Riley Sager does it again. In Home Before Dark, Maggie returns to her childhood home after her family fled it 30 years prior. Unlike her parents and readers of her father’s famous book, she doesn’t think it’s haunted; she thinks it should be flipped.

This book flashes between Maggie’s experiences in the present day (including nosy reporters, odd neighbors and a helpful handyman) and bits from her dad’s book. Was her dad’s story all for the money? Is it haunted at all? I loved guessing!

I also loved how this book drew a lot from the creation of The Amityville Horror, but made it good.

Read if you like: The Family Plot by Cherie Priest or any other books by Riley Sager.

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson • ★★★☆☆

I read somewhere that The Unmothers should be added to the folk-horror cannon. I’m not sure it’s quite that good (but it’s not that bad!).

Here, journalist Marshall gets sent to a rural Southern town to investigate a rumor that a horse gave birth to a human baby. Intriguing! Once Marshall arrives, though, she suspects this is all a hoax. However, something else mysterious is happening in this town.

The first half of The Unmothers was a little too detective-y for me. But once the supernatural elements came into play (far too late in my opinion) this book picked up.

Read if you like: Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey or Diavola by Jennifer Thorne.

Keep up with what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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What I Read // July 2024

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I have a backlog of Libro.fm credits which means this month is full of summer releases. Truly what a treat, especially since some of my favorite authors, like Lucy Foley and Riley Sager, have new books.

Also, if you’re on the fence about some of these reads, I’ve added a “read if you like” section. Maybe that’ll help you find a new fave (or avoid something that might be a waste of time for you). Anyways, on with the summer reads!

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley • 🎧 • ★★★★☆

Lucy Foley does summer reading right. In The Midnight Feast, she transports you to a remote yet dreamy vacation destination in northern England. At this manor turned luxury retreat, the wealthy mingle and bask in the glow of health guru turned hotelier Francesca.

But what’s Francesca’s deal? What’s the only single traveler doing there? What’s up with all the feathers?

This story took some time to unravel, and I delighted in every moment. Bring this new release on vacation!

Read if you like: The Club by Ellery Lloyd, The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager • 🎧 • ★★★★☆

It’s hard to believe that the first Riley Sager book I picked up (Lock Every Door) had me less than impressed. Since then, every book from Sager has been four or more stars.

In the latest outing and great summer book, Sager plops you right into suburbia. There, Ethan reckons not only with returning to his family home after years away, but also to where his best friend disappeared decades prior.

Sager does a great job of making a pleasant subdivision and its residents seem unseemly. And maybe there is a phantom in the woods?

Read if you like: Any other Riley Sager books, The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore • 🎧 • ★★★★☆

This new summer book definitely hit on a lot of themes you’ll see on my read shelf: mystery, rural settings, summer camp, wealthy families, not-so-wealthy locals. But just because the themes are familiar, doesn’t mean The God of the Woods is one to skip.

I got pretty invested in listening to this one! In this novel by Liz Moore, a young teenage girl goes missing at summer camp. It’s scary and sad; it’s also suspicious since her brother went missing in the same area years prior. So are the two connected or is this fancy family just cursed?

You’ll want to find out, and I won’t spoil it for ya!

Read if you like: Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Funny Story by Emily Henry • ★★★★☆

I think that Emily Henry books sell themselves at this point. They are always charming, always satisfying and always are read in just a few sittings.

I did love the new-to-me setup of Funny Story: Daphne’s fiance breaks off their engagement; meanwhile Miles’s girlfriend dumps him — to couple up with that same fiance. While the dust settles, Daphne and Miles are thrust together to sort out their lives in the small town where all four live.

I have to say this was a smash for a summer read. It’s set over the course of the season on a coastal town in Michigan. While Michigan isn’t the same as Wisconsin, it definitely gave me a Door County feeling — always a plus in summer.

Read if you like: Any other Emily Henry books, One Night on the Island by Josie Silver

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer • ★★☆☆☆

The premise of We Used to Live Here had me from the jump: A couple moves into an old home with hopes of flipping it. During renovations, a family drops by asking to see inside since the father grew up there. Despite assurances that they’ll be 15 minutes, the family does not leave. This terrifies me. It’s the very basic premise of Funny Games, a movie that still haunts me if I think about it for too long.

This core made We Used to Live Here pretty scary to me! Plus, some of the supernatural elements really gave me the heebie jeebies. But overall, this book fell flat for me for a few major reasons:

  1. This book originally began as installments on Reddit. It still read that way to me. It could have used some more sophisticated editing, IMO.
  2. The structure of this book included prose, found documents, and reports. The latter devices felt a bit lazy to me. Or online forum-y.
  3. It just ended. I felt like the author didn’t quite know how to wrap up the story or, at the very least, provide a satisfying cliffhanger. This lack of of a conclusion felt very Reddit/comments section to me.

Read if you like: Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie and Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal • ★★★★☆

I picked this book up at the end of the summer last year, right around the time my family visits our favorite supper club together (that’d be The Ranch in Hayward, WI). But it was a tender time, and I didn’t want to read about the rise and fall of a Midwest supper club. But this July, I did, and I’m glad I cracked this one open.

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club follows four women across four generations. Each has a totally different relationship with the family’s Minnesota restaurant and those who work there. I liked the tension between each generation and the hominess of the woodsy part of the Midwest. It made me wish I had a family business to love and gripe about.

Read if you like: Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne • ★★★☆☆

One more scary tale to cap off the month! I was in the mood for thrillers and ghosts and supernatural scares. Diavola delivered.

In this newer release, a family vacations together in an Italian villa. The trip is fine. Sure, the siblings have their snits and the brother’s new boyfriend is insufferable, but nothing a quaint town and some past can’t fix, right?

Wrong. After snooping around the rental, suspicious things start to happen: there are noises at night, food starts rotting overnight, and everyone is on edge. Or maybe just one person?

I enjoyed the family drama and the spookiness of Diavola quite a bit, but I didn’t fine any of the characters to be people I wanted to root for. It was a fun read, great for summer (particularly when you’re reading from a raft in a lake far from Italy).

Read if you like: HBO’s White Lotus season two, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

Keep up with what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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What I Read // May + June 2024

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According to Goodreads, I’m pretty much on-pace with my 2024 goal of finishing 40 books. Here’s what I picked up in the last throes of spring and early summer.

Where You End by Abbott Kahler • ★★★☆☆

I try not to critique books (or TV or movies or whatever) for what they aren’t or for what I thought they should have been.

But like with Mister Magic, the premise of Where You End was so intriguing yet the story wasn’t what I hoped for. In Where You End, Kat awakes from a coma with no memories. Her identical twin sister Jude fills her in on what she’s forgotten—or does she?

What Kat has forgotten is the time she and her sister spent in a new age-y cult. It sounds great, but I was underwhelmed.

A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley • ★★★☆☆

A witchy read in the middle of spring? Sometimes you just can’t control when your number at the library is going to be called.

A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon was better than I though considering how absolutely daft the title sounds. Like many other witchy rom-coms, the main character, Mariel, struggles with her magic. Is she the worst-ever witch or is she just good at some very niche spells?

Throughout the book, Mariel begins to find out, even if it means accidentally summoning and falling in love (real or not) with a demon.

This book was charming, but nothing I insist that you pick up—particularly outside of witchy reading season.

In Charm’s Way by Lana Harper • ★★★☆☆

This is the fourth installation in The Witches of Thistle Grove series. I enjoyed the first three books, but I’ll say that I really didn’t care for this one.

Delilah, the protagonist in In Charm’s Way was sympathetic and I really enjoyed how Harper picked up her story from the previous book and gave her a monumental challenge to overcome.

What I didn’t care for was the love interest in this story. Or rather—SPOILER—how this terrible love interest returned and managed a second chance. Ick.

The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan • ★★★★☆

I never know what to expect with domestic thrillers. Sometimes they’re un-put-down-able. Other times I know why they were a $1.99 Kindle deal or always available at the library.

The Manor House delivered in a big way for me. I ripped through this one in about four days.

Why was it so good? An English couple wins the lottery and moves into their dream home packed with fancy smart features, big windows and a pool. They live near some very fancy neighbors with their own live-in housekeeper. Their new life has them almost forgetting all about their weird friend who keeps asking for more money and random hikers that keep hiking through their yard.

But then the husband is found dead in the pool. And of course it’s great because there are plenty of feasible suspects. And his drowning might not even be the only mystery! And smart home features are scary! (Don’t tell my Nest thermostat which I fully believe has a mind of its own.)

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden • ★★★☆☆

A governess flees her hometown after the death of her husband to take a new post for a mysterious family at a dilapidated manor far from home? Sign me up.

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall has almost all the gothic elements you could ever want. Not enough ghosts for me, but still a nice read. Yes, I’m deducting a star for lack of ghosts.

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware • 🎧 • ★★★★☆

I love a good Ruth Ware read. In a Dark, Dark Wood and One by One are such good snowy thrillers, and I was thrilled to find that her latest outing was set somewhere tropical.

One Perfect Couple hits on a lot of really great tropes in terms of summer reading and page-turning thrillers: a reality TV show, mismatched couples, shipwrecks, remote islands, and DRAMA.

I won’t share more because if you like Ruth Ware’s work or any of the tropes above, you’ll be in good hands with this one. I’d also recommend One Perfect Couple if you liked Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins.

Keep up with what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.