My Visit to Elliott Bay Book Company

 Elliott Bay Book Company | Seattle WA

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle WA. In the middle of Seattle’s Capitol Hill district, Elliott Bay Book Company has the vibe of a neighborhood store in a big city. With its own café and reading rooms, there is plenty of room to sit without feeling rushed or crowded.

The café inside the bookstore is called Little Oddfellows (try the Victorian Breakfast tea YUM); next door is a bigger version of the café, Oddfellows. How awesome is that?! I love local businesses that support each other, it makes me happy to patronize both businesses.

Below are a few pictures I took throughout the store and cafe. Some things just stood out for me. The store was so cozy and welcoming but also organized. The staff was super friendly and knowledgeable. FYI- this store is perfect for all the bookstagrammers, it is an ideal place to take pictures of books in a beautiful setting. 

Every year, I try to read a least one book that is not crime fiction. This year I picked Little Fires Everywhere for my non-crime fiction book. My full review will be coming soon. On Monday 10/2 Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere will be doing a Q & A at Elliot Bay. Below is the link for more info on the event. Also below is a synopsis from the publisher. I will be attending the Q & A, so I will have more pictures and possibly new info about Little Fires Everywhere and Celeste Ng. 

http://www.elliottbaybook.com/event/celeste-ng-florangela-davila

Little Fires Everywhere

By Celeste Ng

Publisher: Penguin Press

Publication Date: 9/12/17

Synopsis from Publisher:

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides.  Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. 

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

Mini Review | The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz

Favorite Quote:

"Evil is unimaginative and lazy"

I have always associated Dean Koontz with science fiction; I was very curious when The Silent Corner started popping up in my searches for new crime fiction reads.  I am very happy that I gave into my curiosity. The Silent Corner is a thrilling, suspenseful, fast paced story of revenge, truth, and justice with a science fiction twist. 

After her husbands suicide, Jane Hawk is consumed with grief and doubt.  Her FBI agent instincts are telling her that something is not quite right. She is unwilling to accept all the evidence that proves her husband's death was a suicide. Jane embarks on a journey to uncover the truth at any cost. 

This book read like an action packed poem. Koontz's descriptions of the scenery and the characters emotions are lyrical. Some readers may find this distracting but I felt it gave balance to the horrible conspiracy and Jane's toughness. 

I will confess, science fiction is not my favorite genre.  I sometimes find the plots in science fiction over the top, unbelievable, and in some cases hard to follow; I did not have those feelings while reading The Silent Corner.  I would not be surprised at all if this plot was based on a true story. 

I will be reviewing the 2nd book in this series, The Whispering Room, and I cannot wait to see where Jane's war against corruption and greed takes her.  If you are looking for a suspense thriller with a science fiction based conspiracy, you should check out The Silent Corner. 

Murder and Moore Rating:

5 out of 5 stars

Book Review | The Other Twin

The Other Twin

By L V Hay

Orenda Books

Publication Date: November 1, 2017

300 Pages

Synopsis from Publisher:

 When India falls to her death from a bridge over a railway, her sister Poppy returns home to Brighton for the first time in years. Unconvinced by official explanations, Poppy begins her own investigation into India’s death. But the deeper she digs, the closer she comes to uncovering deeply buried secrets. Could Matthew Temple, the boyfriend she abandoned, be involved? And what of his powerful and wealthy parents, and his twin sister, Ana? Enter the mysterious and ethereal Jenny: the girl Poppy discovers after hacking into India’s laptop. What is exactly is she hiding, and what did India find out about her? Taking the reader on a breathless ride through the winding lanes of Brighton, into its vibrant party scene and inside the homes of its well-heeled families, The Other Twin is a startling and up-to-the-minute thriller about the social-media world, where resentments and accusations are played out online, where identities are made and remade, and where there is no such thing as truth.

I have never written a book but I would imagine that an author does not aim to isolate their audience. I would further speculate the author also wants to remain true to themselves and their beliefs. I am guessing balancing the two is very tricky indeed. If L V Hays’ intent when writing this book was in fact a combination of expressing her beliefs while writing about sensitive social issues, I say WELL DONE to L V Hays.  The Other Twin is heartbreaking story of people dealing with rejection but in the end realizing the guilt and self-hatred they felt was completely misplaced.

Poppy Wade, teacher living in London, has essentially banished herself from her hometown of Brighton. When her mother calls with news of her sister India’s suicide, Poppy returns to Brighton to face her sister’s death and the past she was intent on leaving behind. While in Brighton, Poppy embarks on a quest to learn the truth of her sister’s death. In the mist of grieving for her sister and searching for the truth, Poppy faces hurdles of lies and secrets, and the great lengths some people will go to conceal the truth.

Setting the story during winter in England, Hayes creates an atmosphere of grief and guilt that lingers through the whole book. I love that the story takes place on a beach in a tourist town. Because of the winter season, I felt the loneliness and abandonment that plagued the characters and the town. This atmosphere drew me into the story. With this sad atmosphere, I really wanted something good to happen to the characters, I knew we would find out what happened to India, but I was really hoping that the characters would find some peace. For me this is what made the book so compelling.   

I found Poppy un-relatable, but not in a bad way. Her determination to find out what happened to her sister is absolute and un-yielding; I found her determination admirable. No matter how many dead ends and dangerous situations she faced, she pressed on. There were many times while I was reading, I thought she should let it go. I thought that her determination to find the truth was guilt driven and not based on facts. I found her willingness to do ANYTHING to find out what happened a bit reckless at times.

The characters in this book all have one thing in common; they cannot seem to let go of anything.  Whether it is their guilt, feelings of betrayal, anger, or their quest for the truth; they are all weighed down by these feelings. The way the characters held on to all these heavy emotions is what made the story suspenseful for me.  With all of these feelings, I knew that an emotional bomb was about to go off and I was not disappointed.

I found The Other Twin compelling, suspenseful, and thought provoking. I find myself thinking about this book while I am reading other books; comparing the characters to characters in The Other Twin. This is a book that will stick with me for some time. If you are looking for an emotional read that will make you think about current social issues, The Other Twin should be on your to be read list.

**Thanks to Orenda Books and Netgalley for my review copy.**

Murder and Moore Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review | Final Girls by Riley Sager

FINAL GIRLS

By Riley Sager

Penguin Group (USA) LLC

Publication Date: July 11, 2017

350 Pages

Synopsis from Publisher:

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media's attempts, they never meet.
 
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past. 
 
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Blowing through Quincy's life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy's life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam's truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

I have never really liked horror movies. Of course I went to the movie theater and saw all the Scream movies when I was in high school, but they just did not click for me. Not sure why since I obviously do not mind reading about murder, gore, and blood (see title of my blog). So when I read reviews that said Final Girls reads like a horror movie I was slightly put off, but I am so glad I got over it and gave Final Girls a chance.

The main character, Quincy is the sole survivor of a horrific mass murder. In addition to dealing with the guilt of surviving, she is thrust into a media storm and made a member of a club that has a terrible initiation process. Just when Quincy thinks she is moving on, a fellow club member shows up at her home unannounced. Sam’s arrival turns Quincy’s life into chaos and confusion. We follow Quincy as she tries to decipher friend from foe and deal with her past trauma that she thought she had already put behind her.

Sager does an awesome job casting doubt on Quincy, the fact that she cannot remember anything from that terrible night is cause for immediate suspicion. Actually, Sager does a great job casting doubt on all the characters.  I truly could not figure out who the villain would be until the end of the book. While reading the book I switched back and forth between each of the characters casting each of them as the villain. Sager was able to set a tone of mistrust and fear throughout the ENTIRE book that kept me hooked until the very end.

The pace of the book is very fast which matches the city in which the story is based, NYC. The chapters are short and almost all of them end with a cliff hanger. The story is told from Quincy’s point of view with shorter chapters flashing back to the night that altered the course of her life. The chapters that tell the story of Quincy’s past focused on the relationships and the dynamics between her and her friends. They give a lot of insight into Quincy’ personality; I became much more familiar with Quincy during the flash back chapters than in the chapters telling the story of the present.

I found Quincy very relatable. We all have things we do not want to face and have blocked them from our mind. Hopefully these things are not as horrific as Quincy’s experiences, but we all have chapters in our lives we would like to stay closed.

On at least two occasions in the book took I notice of how Quincy describes pain. Emotional pain especially. Quincy describes pain with words like, stabbing, piercing, pushed. I do not want to give too much away, but it is as if that is the only way Quincy knows how to describe pain.  To me it speaks to how much of that horrible night is engrained into her physique, while she claims she does not remember anything from that night.

Overall I found Final Girls fast paced, energetic, and entertaining. If you are in the mood for an “all-nighter” whether from fear or the inability to put the book down, take stab at Final Girls (pun intended).

Murder and Moore Rating:

4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Book Review | Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane

SINCE WE FELL

By Dennis Lehane

Harper Collins Publishers

May 9, 2017

432 Pages

 Synopsis from Publisher:

After a very public mental breakdown, Rachel Childs, once a tenacious, globe-trotting journalist, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths.

 I was skeptical when I started reading this book. I read reviews stating the book was slow to start.  A common theme among the reviews was the amount of time spent on character background before something suspenseful happened. Character development can be very tricky. I have read books that gave too much and some that did not give enough. Since We Fell, fell (HA!) right in the middle of too much and not enough for me. Most of the character development focused on Rachel, the main character. However, there were other characters that I also found interesting and wanted to know more of their background.

At one time, Rachel was on the fast track to becoming a main player in TV journalism. After a series of life changing traumatic events, Rachel withdraws from the world. When Rachel finally starts to come out of the mist, she is drawn into a situation that is far more scary and dangerous than the fears that drove her into insolation. We join Rachel as she learns about her family, her career, friends and herself.

Set in Boston MA, Lehane does a great job pulling you into Rachel’s world. Common known Boston streets, schools, and monuments are referenced throughout the book.  While reading I could picture many of the places Rachel frequents. I felt her panic as she approached a traffic packed street or a crowded walkway or subway platform.

Due to the large amount of character development, I grew to really care about Rachel. I cheered for her, I cried with her, and I shared in her emotions of fear and loneliness. While the character development of Rachel took up a good deal of the book (First 150 pages or so) I enjoyed it. The remainder of the book would not have had the effect it did without the intense character development. To put it plainly, I would not have cared about the ending of the book if I had not grown to care so much about Rachel.

The conspiracy at the center of the book was very interesting to me (NO SPOLIERS, I promise). It made me conduct some research into the subject. While greed and corruption is no stranger in a suspense novel, I found the conspiracy so surprising. It was not at all what I was expecting which made this read educational and entertaining.

What stood out to me most, was how Rachel constantly underestimated herself. She always thought she was too scared or not brave enough or could not handle a situation, but she always defied her expectations of herself. The difference between her states of mind and her actions throughout the book are HUGE. Whenever she did something that contradicted how she was feeling I cheered for her.

As interesting as Rachel was, there were other characters that I would have liked to have read more about. Rachel’s husband and his BFF/business partner were fascinating. I do not want to go any further into them because I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone who has not read it. However once you start reading about Rachel’s husband and his BFF/business partner, I bet you will want to learn more. I am sure their past adventures would be enough material to start their own series.

Since We Fell was a great read for me. It is the story of an innocent, vulnerable, and isolated woman who is forced to learn that she is way more than she thought. If you love a “flight or fight” story, Since We Fell is for you.  I was completely drawn into the plot. I enjoyed getting to know Rachel. I enjoyed reading about a severely terrified character defying her expectations of herself. This book would be perfect for fans of Peter Swanson.

MURDER AND MOORE RATING:

4 ½ out of 5 Stars