Aside from the 2015 Reading Challenge, I’m going to start combining my book posts into one large post, done at the end of the month. This will reduce the need to post all the time, and also avoid the problem of my only wanting to say a few short things about any specific book I’ve read. It also allows me to update throughout the month and post on the last day.

1. Still Waters, by Viveca Sten

I love a good mystery, and so I was drawn to Still Waters for this reason. And like many mysteries, I knew the answer about a quarter of the way through but it took longer for the whys to make themselves clear (actually I didn’t figure those out at all).  The story follows a detective named Thomas as he investigates a murder in the small archipelago off of Stockholm (which is real and looks like a really nice place to visit actually).  Things get more complicated when a second death occurs, quickly followed by a third.  Thomas must scramble to solve the case and deal with his past demons. A quick, easy read.

Buy the Book on Amazon: Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders Book 1)

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2. Broken Grace, by E.C. Diskin

This became part of the book challenge so see this post to read more.

Buy the book on Amazon: Broken Grace

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3. The Heir, by Kiera Cass

I considered using this one for the challenge as an author I love but haven’t read yet… but I can’t say that I LOVE this author. I’ve read the other three books in The Selection series, but although I liked reading them, they were pretty terrible (and are intended for young adults). And thus this book became just another book on my list of “others” that I’m reading.

First off, I was confused as to why the events in this novel were even happening, knowing that the whole purpose of the first three was to stop the society’s antiquated ways of doing things. I was happy that they DID acknowledge this, even though the explanation was a little weak. I also was not a fan of the main character, though I was pleased to see that addressed as well. If you are unfamiliar with Cass’ books, The Selection series focuses on the system in which the prince or princess of Illea finds a spouse: 35 people are chosen and are invited to the palace to compete to marry, kind of like a Bachelor/Bachelorette situation. In the first three books, it is America Singer competing for the hand of Prince Maxon. She eventually wins, despite her progressive viewpoints (hence why society is supposed to have changed by the fourth book). in the fourth book, The Heir, it is Eadlyn, the daughter of Maxon and America, who is in line to become Queen and must go through her own selection not because she wants to find a husband, but to raise morale. This was ridiculous to me. However, the truth soon comes out and it appears that the King and Queen are actually trying to make their own daughter more open to loving someone as she has been viewed as harsh and is likely the sole reason that the entire society is lashing out against the royal family.

I actually enjoyed the first three books very much, even though they read like a guilty pleasure reality show. However, I found The Heir to be lackluster and void of a lot of the qualities that made the first three interesting. I was also disappointed that I didn’t get an ending to the story: there’s a fifth book on it’s way, apparently. And I’m going to need to read it, to see how this all goes…

Buy the book on Amazon: The Heir (The Selection)

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4. The Ice Princess, by Camilla Lackberg

Do all crime thrillers just take place in Sweden now? Or is that something Swedish authors like writing about? This is the second thriller I’ve read this month that takes place in Sweden, and the books had no connection to each other, nor did I buy them at the same time, nor was one recommended to be because I bought the other. However, I ended up reading two. I actually came upon The Ice Princess after a book later in the series was recommended to me, and I wanted to see where it all began before reading the fifth book.

The Ice Princess all starts in the small town of Fjallbacka, and follows the story of Erica Falck, who finds her childhood best friend’s body in a bathtub, from an apparent suicide. It soon becomes apparent, however, that there is foul play at hand here, and thus the rest of the book is devoted to finding the murderer. I have to admit, this was one story that I was not really able to piece together myself, mostly because by the time we got to the end, not a lot of it made much sense anymore. There were about four different stories going on and, in fact, one storyline was not completely resolved. However, despite all this, I enjoyed the characters and the plotline, and eventually I will get to the other books in the series that lead up to the original one I wanted to read.

Buy this book on Amazon: The Ice Princess: A Novel

5. Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty

This was part of the book challenge, so you can read about it here.  I’m also excited because I just found out that they’re making this into a mini-series, supposedly with Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.  I’d love to see this one oncscreen.

Buy this book on Amazon: Big Little Lies