Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in January 2025. I shared what I read in the first half of the month here. I shared my five star reads here. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Pretty Little Wife
Author: Darby Kane
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Harper Audio, 12/29/20
Source: Swap (print), Library (audio)
Why I Read It: Waiting on my shelf
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pretty Little Wife was a book I swapped for quite a bit ago and I listened to it this month. It is about Lila, who was abused by her husband and made plans to get rid of him. Only now his body has gone missing. We also get the viewpoint of Ginny, a police investigator. The viewpoints switched without warning and were narrated by the same person, so I always had to reconfirm who I was hearing about.
“Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town, but not everything is what it seems. Lila isn’t what she seems. A student vanished months ago. Now, Lila’s husband, Aaron, is also missing. At first these cases are treated as horrible coincidences until it’s discovered the student is really the third of three unexplained disappearances over the last few years. The police are desperate to find the connection, if there even is one. Little do they know they might be stumbling over only part of the truth….With the small town in an uproar, everyone is worried about the whereabouts of their beloved high school teacher. Everyone except Lila, his wife. She’s definitely confused about her missing husband but only because she was the last person to see his body, and now it’s gone.”
I suspected one of the characters through the book and I was basically correct about them. I didn’t end up loving this one and looking back, I see I didn’t love the other book (also about a wife) that I read by this author, so I don’t think I’ll be reading more from her now!
Title: Greenwood
Author: Michael Christie
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Hogarth, 2/25/20
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Backlist 25 in ’25
My Rating: 4 Stars
This has been on my TBR for a long time and it’s my first book for the 25 in ’25 Backlist Challenge. Greenwood is about the many generations of the Greenwood family taking place in 2038, 2008, 1974, 1934, and 1908. It starts out going back in time and then moves forward again. The main section is in the 1930s and focuses on the brothers Harris and Everett.
“It’s 2038 and Jacinda (Jake) Greenwood is a storyteller and a liar, an overqualified tour guide babysitting ultra-rich vacationers in one of the world’s last remaining forests. It’s 2008 and Liam Greenwood is a carpenter, sprawled on his back after a workplace fall, calling out from the concrete floor of an empty mansion. It’s 1974 and Willow Greenwood is out of jail, free after being locked up for one of her endless series of environmental protests: attempts at atonement for the sins of her father’s once vast and violent timber empire. It’s 1934 and Everett Greenwood is alone, as usual, in his maple-syrup camp squat, when he hears the cries of an abandoned infant and gets tangled up in the web of a crime, secrets, and betrayal that will cling to his family for decades.”
I found parts of the story very interesting and other parts slower. It was very interesting how the story was told around the story of trees. In the 2038 timeline, forests are mainly gone and Jake Greenwood gives tours of the last remaining trees. As she does so, she also finds out about her family history. Themes around climate change, Canada, fathers and daughters, and of course trees are part of this book. It is quite long as well.
Title: You’ll Be The Death of Me
Author: Karen M. McManus
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Books on Tape, 11/30/21
Source: Publisher (print), Library (audio)
Why I Read It: Waiting on my shelf
My Rating: 4 Stars
I had this book waiting on my shelf for way too long and I finally listened to the audio of this one. It is about Ivy, Matteo, and Cal, who were previously friends and now decide to cut class together. They stumble upon another classmate’s murder and end up tracking various people and discovering who was involved in the incident.
“Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day. Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out from working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again. So when the three unexpectedly run into each other, they decide to avoid their problems by ditching. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they’ve barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say. . . until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school—and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it’s about to get worse. It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common…like a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something.”
While this book held my interest and I liked the audio narrators, it was pretty unbelievable in parts! It also contains such difficult subjects as drugs and predatory teachers.
Title: Grounds For Murder
Author: Tara Lush
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books, 12/8/20
Source: PR for the author
Why I Read It: Waiting on my shelf
My Rating: 4 Stars
Way back in 2021 I received the book Grounds For Murder by Tara Lush from Meryl Moss Media. Sorry I’m 4 years late in reviewing it. This is about Lana, a former journalist turned coffee shop owner who finds one of her employees murdered.
“When Lana Lewis’ best — and most difficult — employee abruptly quits and goes to work for the competition just days before the Sunshine State Barista Championship, her café’s chances of winning the contest are creamed. In front of a gossipy crowd in the small Florida town of Devil’s Beach, Lana’s normally calm demeanor heats to a boil when she runs into the arrogant java slinger. Of course, Fabrizio ‘Fab’ Bellucci has a slick explanation for jumping ship. But when he’s found dead the next morning under a palm tree in the alley behind Lana’s café, she becomes the prime suspect. Even the island’s handsome police chief isn’t quite certain of her innocence. But Lana isn’t the only one in town who was angry with Fabrizio. Jilted lovers, a shrimp boat captain, and a surfer with ties to the mob are all suspects as trouble brews on the beach. With her stoned, hippie dad, a Shih Tzu named Stanley, and a new, curious barista sporting a punk rock aesthetic at her side, Lana’s prepared to turn up the heat to catch the real killer. After all, she is a former award-winning reporter. As scandal hangs over her beachside café, can Lana clear her name and win the championship — or will she come to a bitter end?”
This was a fun mystery that held my interest and I suspected the wrong killer. If this was a thriller, I thought of a fun twist for the ending, but that didn’t happen!
Title: Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old
Author: Brooke Shields
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 1/14/25
Source: Library Audio
Why I Read It: Sounded interesting
My Rating: 4 Stars
Although I wasn’t aware of Brooke Shields as an actress in the 80s, I did read her book Down Came The Rain about post partum depression, which I read while nursing my daughter. When I saw she had a new book out about aging, I quickly put the library audio on hold. Brooke Shields is Not Allowed To Get Old is about aging as a woman. She discusses becoming an empty nester, starting a business, menopause, women’s treatment in healthcare settings, and other topics. She ties in studies and while a memoir, the book also felt partially self help.
“Brooke Shields has spent a lifetime in the public eye. Growing up as a child actor and model, her every feature was scrutinized, her every decision judged. Today Brooke faces a different kind of scrutiny: that of being a ‘woman of a certain age.’ And yet, for Brooke, the passage of time has brought freedom. At fifty-nine, she feels more comfortable in her skin, more empowered and confident than she did decades ago in those famous Calvin Kleins. Now, in Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, she’s changing the narrative about women and aging. This is an era, insists Brooke, when women are reclaiming agency and power, not receding into the shadows. These are the years when we get to decide how we want to live―when we get to write our own stories. With remarkable candor, Brooke bares all, painting a vibrant and optimistic picture of being a woman in the prime of her life, while dismantling the myths that have, for too long, dimmed that perception. Sharing her own life experiences with humor and humility, and weaving together research and reporting, Brooke takes aim at the systemic factors that contribute to age-related bias. By turns inspiring, moving, and galvanizing, Brooke’s honesty and vulnerability will resonate with women everywhere, and spark a new conversation about the power and promise of midlife.”
I could relate to what she said about the mixed feelings a mom encounters when sending her children out into the world. Brooke Shields is actually a bit older than I am and I appreciated the way she can be a role model for me and other women.
Title: Dating and Dragons
Author: Kristy Boyce
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Delacorte Romance, 12/31/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I am not sure why I was under the impression that this was a sequel to Kristy Boyce’s previous book, Dungeons and Drama – it’s not, although both books are about teens that play Dungeons and Dragons. This one is about Quinn, whose family moves to a new town to be closer to her grandmother. She was previously estranged from her friends she used to play Dungeons and Dragons with and they blame her for ruining their group. Now, she meets a new group and joins their game, which they livestream. This group includes Logan, who Quinn instantly falls for. But dating within the group isn’t allowed, and Quinn doesn’t want to ruin her new group like her last one.
“Quinn Norton is starting over at a new high school and hopes that joining a D&D game will be the trick to making friends. The plan sounds even better when she’s invited into a group that includes Logan Weber, the cute and charming guy she met on her first day of class. But this isn’t your average D&D campaign— this group livestreams their games and enforces strict rules: no phones allowed, and no dating other group members. Quinn is willing to accept the rules, even if it makes Logan off-limits. And she quickly learns that doing so won’t be a problem, since Logan goes from charismatic to insufferable as soon as she agrees to join. As their bickering—and bantering—intensifies inside and outside the game, Quinn can’t help wondering: Is Logan’s infuriating behavior a smokescreen for hidden feelings? Quinn is risking it all, and the twenty-sided dice are rolling!”
I enjoyed this book, although not as much as the previous one. I really liked the friendships, Quinn’s grandma, and her growing relationship with her brother. I didn’t love the teenage insta love and angst that went with it!
There you have it, the rest of my January reading! I had a lot of backlist in this post, with only two new books.This post included 6 of the books I read in January. 3 of these books were in print and 3 were audio. Genres included thriller, literary, contemporary, mystery, memoir, and rom com. 4 were adult reads and 2 were YA.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
