September First Reads

 This month's choices:

1. When We Were Friends (short read)
2. The Anti-Heroes (Contemporary Fiction)
3. The Elias Network (espionage)
4. Remember Me Tomorrow (coming of age)
5. Hill of Secrets (historical fiction)
6. The Usual Silence (thriller)
7. The Second Shot (memoir)
8. Bad Reputation (romance)
9. Lenny Among Ghosts (middle grade)

Nope to the short read (44 pages? really??), the espionage, the "coming of age," the thriller, the Green Beret memoir.  Library has Anti-Heroes and Hill of Secrets on order, so it's either Bad Reputation or Lenny Among Ghosts. So, I'll give Bad Reputation a try. 

August First Reads

 This month we have: 

1.  Fatal Intrusion (police procedural)
2. Behind the Crimson Curtain (romantasy)
3. Bummer Camp by Ann Garvin (Women's fiction)
4. Divorce Towers by Ellen Meister (romance)
5. The Moonflowers by Abigail Rose-Marie (historical fiction)
6. The House of Lost Secrets by Anstey Harris (family mystery)
7. In Our Likeness by Bryan VanDyke (contemmporary fiction)

Oddly, our library has only got one of these, the procedural, on the order list.  Usually it's at least a couple.  Scratch the procedural and romantasy, romance, and historical fiction.  This time, I'm going with Bummer Camp, and may get In Our Likeness via ILL later - it's got a sci-fi theme going on that might be interesting. 

July 2024 First Reads

 July is another month where we pick two books.  

• Deeper than the Dead (police procedural)
• Bookstore Wedding (short story)
• Not What She Seems (suspense)
• Friends with Secrets (womens fiction)
• In Any Lifetime (spec fic)
• Nine Tailed (romantasy)
• You Shouldn't Be Here (mystery)
• Daughter of Fire (hist fic)
• Silly Boobies: a love story (picture book)

No short stories, suspense, or police thrillers.  In Any Lifetime is a multi-verse story, which is too close to itme travel and will give me a headache. Nine Tailed is on order at the library. 

So, Friends with Secrets and Daughter of Fire. 

June 2024 First Reads

 This month's selections: 

1. Broken Bayou (book club fiction/thriller)
2. Sorry for the Inconvenience (Memoir)
3. Falling Down: Boys inthe Iron Box (short read)
4. A Clean Kill (thriller)
5. Summer Ever After (romance)
6. Still the Sun (romantic fantasy)
   
7. The Curse of the Flores Women (historical fiction, family fiction)
8. Veridian Sterling Fakes It (Mystery Humor)
9. The Last Time I Saw You (Family drama)
10. Campingland (childrens)

 After knocking out the thrillers, serial killers, and assorted stuff, I got the humorous mystery.  A good laugh is a good thing.

First Reads May 2024

 May's choices

1. Girl, Missing (thriller)
2. Promise of tomorrow (Women's fiction)
3. Tiger Chair (bonus short read)
4. Let's Pretend this will work (romance)
5. Lake County (mystery)
6. Meet me On The Bridgew (book club fiction)
7. In a Dark Mirror (suspense)
8. Curious Secrets of Yesterday (contemporary fiction)
9. Hot Dog Money (non-fiction)

I don't care about college sports scandals, or suspense/crime, or this version of whatever "Women's Fiction" is.   Or romance/"divorce fiction." or a mystery/thriller about the Tampa mafia, or time-travel, coming of age romances, or a kidnapping thriller.  

So, Contemporary Fiction aka Friendship Fiction it is - The Curious Secrets of Yesterday. 

First Reads - April 2024

 This month: 

1. Margaret Atwood short story 
2. The Alone Time (psych thriller)
3. The Letters We Keep (coming of age romance )
4. Vacation Rental (domestic suspense)
5. Their Last Resort (romance)
6. Bootlegger's Dauther (hist fict)
7. My Favorite Terrible Thing (mystery)
8. A Light through the Cracks (memoir)

The Bootlegger's Daughter is the one for this month. 

First Reads March 2024

 This onth: 

• Lost Letters of Aisling (Hist fict)
• Matterhorn (Thriller)
• Lovers at the Museum (bonus short read)
• Friends in Napa (Friendship drama)
• What is Love? (Romance)
• The Monstrous Misses Mai (Fantasy/occult horror)
• Family Reservations (book club fiction)
• The Lies Among Us (family drama)

I ended up going for What is Love, and will watch out for Lost Letters of Aisling at the library.   And the bonus short read, by Isabel Allende, was free too.