I rate this 5 stars - it was a funny book because Hilo came crashing down to earth in his gray silver underpants. He never wanted to take them off which made me laugh.

This is a kind of mystical story set in Amsterdam. It is number one so I assume that we are going to meet the Miniaturist in future books. The story revolves around Petronella who is from the countryside and marries a rich Dutch merchant and moves into his home in Amsterdam. As a wedding gift he gives her a model of their home and she contacts the Miniaturist whom she never actually meets, to make items to go into it. What follows is an intriguing tale of the whole family and their relationships which somehow the Miniaturist seems to mysteriously know much more about than anyone else. It is rather a sad story and has quite a twist at the end.

This is another one of those books where the journey is really fun, but then the author proves that writing endings is really challenging. You can have a great idea for an atmospheric mystery, but you also need to have a great idea for how you are going to close things out, which Sarah Pearse didn't seem to have. The book follows Detective Elin Warner, who isn't really a detective anymore after a case went wrong and she decided to take some extended leave. Elin and her boyfriend, Will, have arrived at a hotel in the Swiss Alps to celebrate her brother's engagement. The hotel just happens to also be a really creepy former sanatorium, because the designer thought that would be a super cool place to build a fancy hotel. To continue with wonderful decision making skills, Elin also decides that this would be a fitting trip to accuse her brother of possibly killing their younger sibling during a childhood vacation. Because, hey, nothing says "happy engagement!" like "did you kill our brother, though? You can totally tell me if you did." There are just a few problems with this plan - first, Elin doesn't really talk to her brother anymore, so finding time to accuse him of this is a challenge. Second, his fiancée just went missing, and it may or may not be in poor taste to accuse him of anything given those circumstances. Third, there is an avalanche approaching the hotel, so they really all need to leave. And, of course, fourth, some people are starting to get murdered. After staying behind and getting trapped from the avalanche, Elin has to really deal with all her personal issues at once because she is the only cop-like person on the mountain who can investigate anything. No one can come help until the weather clears, which probably won't be for a while. There were a few issues I had with the book, two of which I found to be major issues. The first is that this was a fun crime novel, but ultimately it seems like no one could ever be punished for the murders that happened here. Elin isn't a detective in this area, as she points out again and again, and she tends to disobey the orders she is given (or just hides what she is doing because if she doesn't ask permission, she isn't doing anything wrong?) so it seems like everything she has gathered would be utterly useless. She also has a weird tendency to tell everyone around her everything she has discovered. Like, maybe they don't all need to know every piece of evidence you have gathered? You know someone around here is killing people, maybe stop telling everyone everything and you'd have better luck. The second is that the ending was just really dumb. The culprit didn't really make any sense, and it seemed like a massive overreaction for that person to be the one responsible for everything. I think it's worth it for the fun atmosphere of being trapped in the mountains with a killer, as long as you keep your expectations in line for the ending.

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the second half of this book compared to the first. The writing does feel a bit juvenile at points, but I think it was intentional to really have us understand the characters and what the author was attempting to convey about them. Would be a good beach read.

Having parents from the neighboring country of Singapore (which was once part of Malaysia) and family from Malaysia, it was very interesting to read about Malaysian history and the race riots. These also happened in Singapore and was one of the reasons why Singapore became independent in the first place. Additionally, I really enjoyed the main character and the portrayal of OCD.

Very good story, shows how far bravery can take you. Also demonstrates how judgmental people can be, and why it is bad for society.

I listened to this audiobook narrated by multiple times jeopardy winner, Ken Jennings and Alex Trebek. Given that Alex Trebek was actually dying during the period he narrated it, the book was surprisingly upbeat. It was divided into chapters relating to Mr. Trebek's ideas, philosophies and some funny stories about his life story. I enjoyed it very much although it was sad to know that he has since passed away.

The is an amazing book which recounts the experiences of the author visiting 7 locations and reflecting on the visit as a Black male. The research on the legacy of slavery adds to the recollections of his experiences and shines a light on why history is so important to learn, even if it makes us uncomfortable.

I loved this book - juicy, edge-of-your-seat thriller was what I wanted and it delivered! I was nervous that I maybe wouldn't be able to sleep or something afterwards but it did not have that effect - just good, clean who-done-it. So happy I read it!

Anne and Marco have a baby! Their babysitter cancels on them, but they still attend a dinner party at the house next door, with the baby monitor in tow! The baby is taken! Who is responsible and why? The mystery unravels and some things are hard to come to grips with. It was an okay book. I would try this author again.