My Year in Books

2020 was definitely not a normal year for any of us. It felt, at times, like we were living in one of the books we read, and not one we want to. But we made it through and are settling in to our new normal, whatever that may look like.
I, like so many, experienced an emotional tribulation that took a few months to overcome. In that time, I remembered that reading books was not a competition on how many I can get through in a month or a year but something that I love doing. I have a tendency to set goals and then obsess over them. I am working on breaking this unhealthy habit. I also don’t need to feel like I must write a blog post everyday. If I do, that’s awesome, if not, its not a big deal and people will not unfollow me because of it. There are so many other things that I enjoy doing as well and I don’t want to forget about those or spending time with the people that I love.

So, 2021 will be about having fun and doing what makes me happy every day.

2020 books completed:
36 Books
12,454 pages
My average rating – 3.9 🌟

5 🌟 Books:
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Gilchrist by Christian Galacar
What Doesn’t Kill You by Iris Johansen
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Chasing Evil by Kylie Brant
Jamie Quinn Mystery Collection by Barbara Venkataraman
1st to Die by James Patterson
American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year. Happy Reading! 😉

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Book Review – Gilchrist

Gilchrist by Christian Galacar

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Paranormal Horror, Extreme Horror

“I know why we’re all here,” Elhouse said, his lower lip trembling, eyes unblinking. “It’s worse than you can imagine.”

“Death is a big and ugly thing. It’s clumsy and loud, yet somehow it manages to be so damn clever and sneaky. It just doesn’t seem fair.”


Peter and Sylvia lost their little boy 2 years ago in a horrible accident. As a lot of couples do when a child is lost, they have grown apart in their grief. Drawn to drinking and pills to numb the pain and memories, they both know that their marriage is on it’s last threads.
“Sometimes things weren’t fine. Sometimes the broken thing stayed broken until it was thrown away.”
“Death had hardened the soil of their hearts, and now no new love could grow.”

Continue reading Book Review – Gilchristsignature

Book 21:  Massachusetts

“Bag of Bones meets Stranger Things…” 

Ooh, I love both of those…color me interested! Everything about this book sounds good and scary. 

I received this book back in 2018 as a Goodreads Giveaway and I am finally able to get to it.  This year I have been focusing on gifted books as priority so that I can finally read and review those that have been sitting on my shelf for far too long. A big thanks to Christian Galacar for this gifted copy!

“Two years after losing their infant son to a tragic accident, Peter Martell, a novelist with a peculiar knack for finding lost things, and his wife, Sylvia, are devastated to learn they may no longer be able to have children. In need of a fresh start, and compelled by strange dreams, the couple decide to rent a lake house in the idyllic town of Gilchrist, Massachusetts, a place where bad things might just happen for a reason. As bizarre events begin to unfold around them—a chance encounter with a gifted six-year-old boy, a series of violent deaths, and repeated sightings of a strange creature with a terrifying nature—Peter and Sylvia find themselves drawn into the chaos and soon discover that coming to Gilchrist may not have been their decision at all.”

“Set against a small New England town in the summer of 1966, Gilchrist is a sinister tale about the haunting origins of violence, evil, and the undying power of memory.”

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