July, 2026
July 4th, 2026, 2:06 p.m. - Feel the fear
30. How to Survive a Horror Story (Mallory Arnold)
Up next: I Want to Burn This Place Down (Maris Kreizman)
July 8th, 2026, 3:49 p.m. - Girl, same
31. I Want to Burn This Place Down (Maris Kreizman)
Up next: The Crane Wife (C.J. Hauser)
July 12th, 2026, 4:31 p.m. - Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans
32. The Crane Wife (C.J. Hauser)
Up next: Tell Your Friends (Lauren Wilson)
July 16th, 2026, 4:48 p.m. - I'll probably have forgotten this by the end of the year
33. Tell Your Friends (Lauren Wilson)
Up next: I Hope This Finds You Well (Natalie Sue)
July 21st, 2026, 3:46 p.m. - I may have related to Jolene a little more than I would like to admit
34. I Hope This Finds You Well (Natalie Sue)
Up next: Heather (Caitlin Mullen)
July 26th, 2026, 12:48 p.m. - The copy editor who worked on this book needs to find a new job. Hire me instead!
35. Heather (Caitlin Mullen)
Up next: The Death Row Club (V.A. Vazquez)
July 30th, 2026, 4:23 p.m. - Good idea, so-so execution
36. The Death Row Club (V.A. Vazquez)
Up next: Cleanup on Aisle Five (Ann Larson)
I'll admit to having low expectations for this book, since I've tried other similar stories recently (a group of writers gathers at another writer's house; they have to solve a mystery; there are murders) and couldn't get through any of them. I was pleasantly surprised by this. It could have used more polishing, and some of the characters were pretty thin, but I would definitely read more from Arnold.
I liked these essays, for the most part, but they felt kind of unfinished. I wish they'd been more developed. Only 150 or so pages? I wanted more.
I loved Hauser's writing on love and family and relationships and what to do when your life doesn't unfold the way you thought it would. I'm not sure if I would be interested in their fiction, but even if I'm not, I'll impatiently wait for them to write more essays.
This was too slow, and then ramped up out of nowhere toward the end. Not enough thrills to be considered a thriller.
This was fun! I liked it more than I expected to. The way things played out surprised me a little, but not in a bad way. I think there was too much going on, though.
The next time I read something by Mullen, I'll trust her a little more on twists. She surprised me with a couple of things that I didn't think she had in her.
I liked Vazquez's writing, but the story didn't do anything for me. Half the characters felt unnecessary. I honestly didn't care what happened to anyone.