Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak

Posted on March 20, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #30 in 2026
1.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I don’t usually give a book one star. It has to be really bad or something I didn’t finish. If this audiobook hadn’t been short at 5 hours, I probably wouldn’t have finished it. The author also wrote The Book Thief. But this is a memoir about three dogs he had. I felt sorry for the dogs.

The author knows that his dogs are aggressive and even dangerous but he doesn’t try and get them training or help. Instead, he keeps putting them in situations that stress them out and make them act out. It also feels like, because they were rescue dogs, that they’re damaged, and that’s part of the issue. Having fostered over 50 dogs pulled from shelters, I have found that they largely need attention and proper human interaction. They need stability.

I could tell that the author cares for his dogs, but when he writes that it didn’t surprise him when one of the dogs killed one of his cats, I lost all respect for him as a pet owner.

Posted in 2026, Animals, Books, Memoir | Leave a comment

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

Posted on March 20, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #29 in 2026
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

The concept of this book reminds me of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Kostya discovers that he can reconnect the deceased with the living if he cooks a meal the deceased person was connected to. As long as the meal has not been finished, the dead person can communicate with someone living.

Part of this book felt like Deadpool wrote it. The swearing, the way things were presented, and the attitude of the main character. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. At first, I thought it was good, but I got tired of it as the book progressed.

Kostya decides to use his ability to connect the living and the dead. He opens a restaurant. However, as he progresses, he must decide whether what he’s doing is good or harmful.

Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!

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Posted in 2026, Books, Paranormal | Leave a comment

Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #28 in 2026
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This author seems to be hit or miss for me. I haven’t hated any of her books but this isn’t one that I loved. If I weren’t to document what I thought of the book, I probably wouldn’t remember much at all.

Violet, Vail, and Dodie are siblings who return to their hometown. They’re drawn back over the disappearance of their brother years ago. They were all playing hide and seek and he was hiding and was never found.

Will the siblings be able to figure out what happened to Ben?

As with most of this author’s books, there’s a paranormal vibe to it, but that has never deterred me from reading. I wanted to like this book more than I did.

Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!

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Posted in 2026, Books, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural | Leave a comment

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

Posted on March 16, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #27 in 2026
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

It took me a little bit to get into this book but once I did I was hooked. Twists and turns (some I guessed, others I did not) and a plot that kept me interested. I even enjoyed most of the characters.

Avery is the host of a show that grabs viewers’ attention. She likes to focus on high profile stories. Her latest research into a story she’s pitching is to look into the life of someone who died on 9/11. Victoria was identified 20 years later through new DNA testing. She was the prime suspect in the murder of her lover a few months before she died. On 9/11 she called and left a message for her sister to tell her she was innocent and to do what she could to prove this. After 9/11 the case wasn’t moved upon because the suspect was dead and the country was focused on terrorists.

Avery also has a secret life of her own that she has been trying keep to herself. But she’s finding it more difficult to do so.

Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!

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Posted in 2026, Books, Non-Fiction, Suspense | Leave a comment

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #26 in 2026
4.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This is the second book I’ve read by this author (The Book of Lost Names was the first) and I enjoyed it. I’d like to read more! As someone who was recently diagonosed with Stage 0 breast cancer and have finished treatment, I also liked that she dedicated the book to those who cared for her during her Stage 1 diagnosis. The author wrote this book around the time she was going through treatment.

Colette Marceau is a jewel thief. Her family line has been thieves for decades. But they steal from those who are unkind and give to those in need in Paris. In 1942 Colette’s mother is arrested and her little sister goes missing. Later her sister’s body washes up in a river but a stolen bracelet that was sewn into her nightgown is missing. Colette’s mother is executed.

Seventy years later in Boston the missing bracelet shows up in an exhibit. Old memories and not knowing what happened to her sister resurface. Colette tries to figure out where the bracelet came from, how owns it, and hopes that she may figure out what happened to her sister decades ago.

I enjoyed reading about Colette’s story and her plight to figure out what happened in the past. Her character drew me in.

Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!

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Posted in 2026, Books, Historical Fiction, wwii | Leave a comment

Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson

Posted on March 11, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #25 in 2026
5.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I loved this book! I’ve liked all of the books that I’ve read by this author. The plot is about what happened during WWII to children in Germany born to women whose fathers were African Americans. This is a part of the war that I’ve not read about. The author’s note at the end of the audiobook explained more about why she chose to write about the topic. I found the book more interesting, having been adopted myself from Vietnam as a baby who was abandoned at the end of the war.

The book is told from the point of view of three people. Ethel is the wife of an Amerian soldier. She sets out to help children, specifically “brown babies” who are given up because their mothers cannot care for them.

Ozzie hopes that he can help break racial barriers by fighting in WWII. He meets a German woman while abroad. He struggles with his responsibilities and tries to earn the respect of others.

In 1965, Sophia has the opportunity to go to a prestigious school. She goes, but deals with feeling like an outcast as a black student.

I loved the character development and what each character went through.

Posted in 2026, Books, Family, Historical Fiction, wwii | Leave a comment

Forget You Saw Her by Noelle W. Ihli

Posted on March 8, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #24 in 2026
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This is a stand alone prequel to Ask for Andrea. It’s about Andrea and her story. It was interesting to know what her backgound was in connection to the other book.

I’ll leave it at that because anything else would potentially spoil Ask for Andrea. Worth the read. I’ve enjoyed several books by this author.

Posted in 2026, Supernatural, Suspense, Thriller | Leave a comment

Nobody Knows You’re Here by Bryn Greenwood

Posted on March 8, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #23 in 2026
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This is a pretty heavy book as far as topic. It deals with kidnapping, murder, and more. A crime organization kidnaps Beatrice and she is forced to care for children who are kidnapped. If she does her “job” for the organization she’s left alone. If she doesn’t she’s punished.

Beatrice has other hostages relying on her for comfort and even for escape. She has to learn who she can trust, if anyone and how to survive in hopes that she can free herself and the children in her care.

Posted in 2026, Books, Suspense, Thriller | Leave a comment

Between Two Strangers by Kate White

Posted on March 5, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #22 in 2026
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This was a little hard for me to rate. I liked some things about the book, but other things I did not. Skyler is an artist trying to get her first break and try to make a living selling her artwork. She gets a call from a lawyer who informs her she has been named the beneficiary for a trust by a guy she had a one night stand with over 10 years ago.

Chris’s family is not happy they are not getting over one million dollars and try and make life hard for Skyler. Skyler tries to figure out why Chris would leave all of this money to her.

There are times when I felt like Skyler wasn’t smart enough to wonder about some of the things happening to her or put different things together. The plot did keep my attention and I wanted to keep listening to know what would happen in the end.

Posted in 2026, Books, Mystery, Psychological Thriller | Leave a comment

You’ll Never Know by Caleb Stephens

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Amanda
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Book #21 in 2026
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I really enjoyed this book. There are twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing.

Grant Wilson has to figure out how to save his wife and unborn baby who were kidnapped right in front of him. He receives clues that he must solve in order to make sure she stays alive.

Other points of view are introduced and you find out that nothing is what is seems to be.

Posted in 2026, Books, Suspense, Thriller | Leave a comment