At first I thought this book would have everything I was looking for. I like Lisa Jewell's writing style, and this one started out with all the ingredients for a great domestic thriller. But then nothing happened. The happy family wasn't really happy, the socially awkward 33 year old man wasn't a criminal and the missing girl wasn't missing. I didn't find any of the characters to be sympathetic or likable, and the story was slow and ultimately sort of boring.

The third in a three part series (so far) of a Sparks (Iris) and Bainbridge (Gwen) mystery. Owners of the Right Sort dating/marriage service, Iris and Gwen seek to uncover the truth about Lord Bainbridge and the associated murders and kidnappings. Always a good read with Iris and Gwen. Definitely recommend.

I like reading Harlan Coben books. They are always interesting. Wilde was found in the woods as a young child. As an adult he still doesn't know who he belongs too. He has done 23andme, will it give him the results he is longing for. In the meantime he helps his godson Matthew search for his friend Naomi. She turns up and then goes missing again! It was a good read, wasn't too happy with the ending hope there is a sequel.

If I could I would say 3 and a half, it is a good book with action and suspense, but it doesn't completly follow the rules of the real game.

Elena Ferrante continues with themes of background, growth, and discovery. The story takes place again in Naples and explores the two worlds of the higher and lower classes. The protagonist, Giovanna, is torn between where she fits in and what is the truth.

This book tells the story of the generation who came to Britain from the Caribbean after WW2. Powerful story with many first-hand accounts. It helped me gain a sense of the Afro-Caribbean community in Britain decade by decade. Also gives the historical background to the Windrush Scandal that broke in 2018.

"It's like when a plane descends, you know? Gradually, down through the clouds, and suddenly you can't see anything? Except, with a plane, eventually you see the city. There was no city for me." Filthy Animals revolves around the lives of three characters - Charles and Sophie, two dancers that are in a questionably open relationship, and Lionel, a man they meet at a dinner party who is dealing with the fallout from a failed suicide attempt. The majority of the stories follow one or all of these characters, with a few outlier stories that deal with other people struggling through life. All of the stories are poignant, as the characters deal with terminal medical diagnosis, the loss of estranged family members, and most of all, the inability to fully achieve what you want in life. I really enjoyed the stories about the main three, but some of the secondary stories dragged a little more. In some ways, the stories all seemed a little too similar. It was a quick read, but in this case that might not have been a good thing.

Book number two in the Aloha Reef Series. This one is about Annie Tagama who is a volcanologist. She recently had an injury and is trying to work her way back to where she was before the accident. She and Mano Oana, who we met in the previous book are trying to help her brother whom they thought was dead. The mystery of why he returned and who is threating the family.

Set in a world where Slasher films really did happen, Lynnette is a member of what's known as the "The Final Girls Club." The club is made up of women who meet a very specific criteria - they all were the only survivors of two massacres, and they all killed the person responsible. They meet once a month to support each other and work towards moving on with their lives - until one day one of the members doesn't show up on time. Her monster has come back to kill her. Now, Lynnette is on a race to not only keep herself alive, but to keep the members of her club alive as well. This probably would have worked pretty well as a movie, honestly, but as a book it didn't quite work for me. First, Lynnette as a narrator was awful. She's unreliable from the start, so I found myself utterly distracted the entire book because I was always trying to figure out if I should believe what was happening. I know a lot of books use the unreliable narrator trope now, but it was a difficult sell in this book. I would have much preferred if a different narrator (Heather?) was responsible for telling us what was going on. Or if Lynette's character was tweaked a little. Second, the plot twists were not really plot twists. It was really easy to figure out who was going to be responsible for the killings happening, so that was disappointing. The twists didn't leave me going "oh wow!" so much as "ugh, finally, we got there." My third issue is that it seems like Grad Hendrix either didn't keep track of everything, didn't want to explain everything, or thought that no one would pay attention. For example, at one point a character is mentioned to have a cell phone that they are going to use to keep track of Amber Alerts and to check in with every five hours. Three sentences later, they say that they're going to keep the phone turned off and only have it on for the check in times. How...how are you checking for Amber Alerts? Why did you make a big deal about checking for Amber Alerts, only to then say you're turning the phone off and not getting them anyway? In another scene, Lynnette is dictating a message for someone to send. She claims that it was a difficult process, and that she had to spell out a lot of the words. The example given is using "p as in Paul which is fascinating, because the only words with "p" in her message are purchased, photos, people, and peace. Am I really supposed to believe that someone couldn't spell one of those words without help? Really? I could go on and on, but honestly? I had high hopes for this book. The summary sounded great, and I was really excited to read it. I'm glad I didn't spend money on it. The writing is just not good.

Russell couldn't fall asleep. He wasn't tired. He tried counting all sorts of things and nothing helped. He tried counting his legs and then the stars and he found a new bed and he still wasn't tired. Then he tried counting sheep. That put him to sleep.