discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Books Read by the Fire

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Aria @ Book Nook Bits is the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

January 26: Books to Read by the Fire

Prompts: The holidays are over, but it’s still winter! What books do you feel are perfect to read during the season? What about genres? What wintry books do you have on your TBR?

Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! As per the prompt, it’s definitely winter where I am, and the snow and the cold have definitely got me holed up in warm buildings whenever I can be. And for sure I wish there was a fireplace to read by.

For me, murder mysteries and thrillers are definitely good to read during this season. But I think a thrilling fantasy could also work. Anything to get the heart pumping a little bit and not feel so sluggish. Cozy mysteries work too, though I haven’t read one of those recently.

It is so cold in the winter here, and it’s definitely a struggle to leave the bed when it’s freezing and it’s dark when you wake up. The book I’m currently reading takes place in a ski chalet (not uncommon), and it definitely makes me feel like I’m in a warm resort somewhere in the mountains. Interestingly, I never feel “chilled” or spooked by these stories (maybe I’m just more used to it), but it does help to feel like you’re really in the story when you’re actually quite cold in your real life, and in your story.

I have A Magic Steeped in Poison on my TBR (thanks to a friend who lent me the hardcover), which sounds to me like a nice wintry read. I may also pull out some more Agatha Christies for when I need a quick mystery to read as well. Of course, a lot also depends on mood, and obviously it’s best to read whatever you feel like reading at the time, so we’ll see!

How about you all? What do you have coming up in the next little bit that you feel like is a wintry read? Anyone doing “off-season” reads? Let me know in the comments below!

3.5 star

Review: No one Needs to Know by Lindsay Cameron

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

When an anonymous neighborhood forum gets hacked, the darkest secrets of New York’s wealthiest residents come to light—including some worth killing for—in this gripping suspense novel from the author of Just One Look.

It was all confidential. Right up to the moment when it wasn’t.

UrbanMyth: It was lauded as an alternative to the performative, show-your-best-self platforms—an anonymous discussion board grouped by zip code. The residents of Manhattan’s exclusive Upper East Side disclosed it all, things they would never share with their friends or their spouses: secret bank accounts, steamy affairs, tidbits of juicy gossip. These are the same parents who would go to astonishing lengths to ensure their children gain admission to the most prestigious boarding schools and universities. So when a “hacktivist” group breaks into the forum and exposes the real identity behind each poster, the repercussions resound down Park Avenue with a force none could have anticipated.

And someone will end up dead.

Will it be Heather, the outsider who would do anything to get her daughter into the elite’s good graces and into even better schools? Norah, the high-powered suit failing to balance work and the emotional responsibilities of motherhood? Or Poppy, perfect on the outside but hiding more than her share of secrets?

Each of them has something to hide. Each of them will do anything to keep their secrets hidden. And each of them just might kill to protect their own.

This is another one of those books that I picked up just on a spree at the library, trying to fill my reading roster for the next while. The popular books of course always have a long wait, so this was one of the books that I picked up in the meantime to fill the time. The premise was definitely interesting, though I think in the end it wasn’t exactly what I expected. I’m not entirely sure whether that’s a good or bad thing though.

No One Needs to Know revolves around a couple of POVs of a rich society in the Upper East Side. If you’re immediately thinking Gossip Girl, you’re really not that far off. An anonymous website called UrbanMyth holds the neighbourhoods’ elites’ secrets. Alls fair in love and war, especially when it’s anonymous—right? Of course, when a hack releases everyone’s identity, just what will be revealed? And on top of that, someone is dead.

Continue reading “Review: No one Needs to Know by Lindsay Cameron” →
top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2023

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Do you ever plan out your TBR for the year and think you’ll follow through on it? I’m not of a planner (100% mood reader here), but there are some books I always think I’ll read because I anticipate them so highly…and end up not reading it.

These are books I didn’t follow through reading in 2023 but perhaps I will this year.

Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2023” →