Mstrust #4-The Season Finale

I'm Jennifer, I live in Phoenix and my 15th Thingaversary was at the end of March.
I live with husband Mike and an anxiety-ridden Boxer, Coral, and frequently go to Las Vegas to see my family. I have somewhere over 3000 books in the house and I'm a slow as molasses reader. I return to the same genres: mystery, travel, horror and humor, but I have a whole bunch of authors that I intend to read for the first time this year. I have goals! They include new-to-me authors, a more productive garden ( I grow what vegetables, flowers and cactus I can), and I write a Substack called Autumn Lives Here, dedicated to Halloween, horror, true crime and weirdness and fun in general. My goal there is to double my readership this year. Come visit: https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

READ IN 2023

1. Tales From the Haunted Mansion Volume II- 4 stars
2. Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants- 4
3. Paul Is Undead- 3.5
4. The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook- 4
5. You Are Not So Smart- 3.5
6. Epic Tomatoes- 4.5
7. Such Sharp Teeth- 4
8. Mary Jane- 3
9. Shelf Respect- 4
10. The Facts in the Departure of Miss Finch- 3.5
11. Black Dahlia by Rick Geary- 4
12. The Last House on Needless Street- 4.5
13. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows- 4
14. Eat, Memory- 4
15. Hell House-3
16. The Red Green Book- 3.5
17. The Sun Down Motel- 5
18. The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency- 3
19. The Complete Kitchen Garden- 3
20. The Bob's Burgers Burger Book- 3.5
21. Charles Dowding's Veg Journal- 3
22. Tales from the Haunted Mansion Volume IV- 4.2
23. Schooled- 3
24. Drive-Thru Dreams- 3
25. Cackle- 4
26. The Sea Beast Takes A Lover- 3.5
27. The Library Book- 4.5
28. Embassy of the Dead- 4
29. The Five- 4.5
30. The Monster of Elendhaven- 4
31. How To Sell A Haunted House- 4
32. The High Window- 4
33. The Silence- 3
34. Death in the Air- 3.5
35. Tales from the Gas Station: Volume One- 5
36. Cell -3.5
37. The Bookshop Book- 4.5
38. 30 Days of Night Vol. 2- 3.5
39. Previous Convictions- 4
40. The Bookshop That Floated Away- 3
41. The Deep Blue Good-By-4
42. Mr. Monk Is Miserable- 4
43. My Heart Is A Chainsaw- 3.5
44. What Am I Doing Here- 4
45. Darkly Dreaming Dexter- 4
46. Vinyl Cafe Turns the Page- 4
47. Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops- 4
48. Bedside Manor- 4.5
49. Mothered- 4.5
50. American Vampire Vol. 1- 3.5
51. The Walking Dead Psychology- 4
52. 30 Days of Night: Run, Alice, Run- 3.5
53. The Broken Girls- 4.5
54. Fifth Grade Zombies- 3.5
55. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee- 3.5
56. Blood & Ivy- 4
57. The Visitors- 5
It Waits in the Woods
Ankle Snatcher
58. Unmasked- 5
59. The Pram and Census
60. The Slither Sisters- 4
61. Eat, Brains, Love-4.5
62. Dead Connection- 4
63. Hide- 4.5
64. Sting-Ray Afternoons- 4
65. Speaking From Among the Bones-4
66. A Guide to Haunted New England-3
Best of Luck-3
67. The Rise- 4
68. The Sandman: Book One-3.5
69. The Night Raven-3.5
70. Shy-2.5
71. What Moves the Dead-4.5
72. Dark Chocolate Demise- 2.5
73. Joyland- 4
74. Three Fires-2.5
75. Castle Rock Kitchen-4
76. How To Drink Like a Mobster-3.5

63. Hide by Kiersten White.

Young Mack is the only survivor of a family massacre. She was never able to shake the guilt of that, and it's the whole center of her life as a young woman who is homeless and completely without ties to anyone. The shelter employee who encourages her to sign up for a game where Mack can win $50,000 seems to have her best interest at heart, but what Mack finds upon arrival are thirteen other lost people, all vying to win enough money to change their lives because they have no other options.
The game they play is simple: go into a long abandoned amusement park and find somewhere to hide for the entire day. There will be people searching for you, and if you're found, you're out of the game. The footage will potentially become a reality show. The money and the chance at fame are enough to make the players willing to keep going even after things get weird. 4.5 stars

Happy new thread Jennifer!

>63 mstrust: Things go weird as in haunted amusement park, crazy serial killer, contestants turn nasty, or a combination? I’m trying to decide if it will be a horror that might actually give me chills, even if it doesn’t frighten me.

Happy new thread, Jennifer. x

Happy new thread Jennifer!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Jennifer!

>1 mstrust: Love the aurora gif as your topper.

Happy New Thread!!

Hi all, thanks for dropping in. I'm going to do my best to reach 75 before the year ends.

>5 CassieBash: You got one right, the rest not, and what you got right was the lesser of two evils.
>10 hredwards: Hi, Harold!

>3 mstrust: Sounds creepy! Thank you for sharing your review, and happy Season Finale thread!

Happy new one!

Hide was a good one. Glad you liked it.

>12 PaperbackPirate: Jim is backing me up on that one. It's a scary survival story, and a mystery.
>13 drneutron: Thanks, glad you came by. I'll look for White's follow-up.

>14 mstrust: I might give “Hide” a try if I come across it. Maybe if it doesn’t scare me, the mystery half may at least intrigue me.

This week, Autumn Lives Here is looking at the murder of Hong Kong model and entrepreneur Abby Choi. Plus, rotten kids in the movies, and my prize-winning recipe for Autumn Trail Mix.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>15 CassieBash: If you come across it, I hope it pleases you.

64. Sting-Ray Afternoons by Steve Rushin.
A memoir of a 70s childhood in Minnesota among a big family. Rushin would grow up to be a sports writer, but he began with his love of books at home, where his father also encouraged his sons to have impromptu boxing matches, where the youngest, the author, got the tar beat out of him. He remembers the best shows of the era, family vacations before baby seats were required, his favorite childhood snacks, and the fact that his father was able to support a family of seven by being a traveling salesman of magnetic tape.
A fun look at the 70s, full of humor, but a bit long. 4

Happy new thread!! I have to go back and reminisce on all things Halloween on your last thread because I was too busy to even make it here on LT at all! But I have a 3-day weekend *Thank you to our Vets* and I am NOT going in to work no matter what!! : )

I hope you enjoy a belated Halloween on my thread. I understand, I was so busy during October, and distracted. Do let me know if you feel like Halloween is on the way still! :-D
Yea for our brave vets! And I just remembered now that I forgot to contact my nephew, who served six months in Afghanistan. I'll do it today.

Autumn Lives Here is free this week. I have pleasant little murders, a fantastic apple cake, and one of the weirdest true crime stories ever.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>22 mstrust: Good one! That story is weird with a capital W.

Ha! Told you!

65. Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley.

The bones of the local saint, Saint Tancred, are quietly being dug up from his Bishop's Lacey crypt, and of course, Flavia has spotted the action and isn't going to be left out. She volunteers to squeeze into the grave and help out when the crew hits a snag, so she is the one to discover that the bones of the saint aren't alone, the recently missing church organist is also filling the grave.

The fifth in the series, this one has more twists than the ones before, more sad circumstances, and a Flavia who is actually taking advice and direction from others. That's not like her. 4 stars

66. A Guide to Haunted New England by Thomas D'Agostino.

While it doesn't cover all of New England, the author, a paranormal investigator who has written extensively about ghostly travels, has visited many of the sites he covers in this book. You'll read about haunted spots to visit in Salem, Mystic, The Berkshires, Portsmouth, Newport, and locations nearby. With an emphasis on the historical buildings, the author provides lots of brief stories of local murders and tragedies, visits to historical cemeteries. and stories of paranormal encounters. Once you get in the mindset of the author telling you of his travels, which often include a paranormal investigation that ends in "nothing happened while we were there," it's fun. 3 stars

>18 mstrust: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Jennifer! (I still remember sting-ray bicycles, lol)

Have a marvelous Monday and Happy New Thread!

It's a fun one! My husband remembered sting-rays too, as I think they were marketed towards boys. Super cool looking.

>28 mstrust: Yeah, I think they were marketed towards boys too. I agree - they were super cool looking.

This week at Autumn Lives Here, my Gloriest Goriest members can read about the deadliest mushrooms in the world, celebrate Boris Karloff and gather round for Headless Horseman cocktails.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Two short stories from Kindle that I'm lumping together as #67:



Best of Luck by Jason Mott

One man is holding his best friend at gunpoint. He's incurably ill, his family has died, and after twenty years of horrible events, he's come to believe his very lucky friend is the source of his misery. 3 stars


The Rise by Ian Rankin

Detectives Gish and Milton are sent to an exclusive luxury high rise to investigate the murder of the lobby security guard. With only a handful of tenants who can afford to live there, the pool of suspects may be limited but most have the money and connections to make an investigation difficult.
This seemed like a modern telling of an old English manor murder, with lots of money, many suspects, and a victim who may not be so innocent. 4 stars

68. The Sandman: Book One by Neil Gaiman.

Gaiman's breakthrough work, this is the 30th anniversary of the series.
The Sandman has been a prisoner for 70 years, kept by a dark magician who wants the power over dreams for himself. When The Sandman escapes, he has to search for his stolen magical artifacts, even traveling to Hell to find his possessions. The magician is dead, so his son becomes the target of revenge.
I don't know if the dark and the sometimes twisted events found here were the norm in comics 30 years ago, but I suspect this was an unusually grim story as it launched Gaiman's reputation. 3.5
Kindle has Book One, the collection of the first eight or nine in the series.

>32 mstrust: I found it unusually grim and remember being shocked by some developments - though I did keep reading.

You really couldn't predict where the story was going.

This week at Autumn Lives Here, a new short story. "Friendly Neighbors" is about the joy of new home ownership, and the realization that you don't get to pick your neighbors.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

69. The Night Raven by Johan Rundberg, translation by Prime

Set in 1880s Sweden, this is the story of twelve year-old Mika, who has grown up in an orphanage. She's been passed over by years of prospective foster parents and feels it intensely, so she does her best to care for the younger orphans. When a newborn is thrust into her arms one night, the detective who comes notices that Mika is unusually observant and articulate, and he enlists the girl in helping him solve the case of a serial killer.
A bit too violent to be a cozy and too sweet to be realistic, it's sort of a fast-moving mystery that doesn't ask too much of the reader. 3.5 stars

Have a fantastic Friday, Jennifer!

Thanks, and you too!

>38 mstrust: Thanks!

70. Shy by Max Porter.

Shy is a teen in 1995 Britain who has been placed in a home for troubled boys called Last Chance, and that's what it is, the last chance for violent boys to get help before being left to the streets. Shy has been taking drugs, assaulted his stepfather, created chaos at school and destroyed a friend's home. Now the counselors at Last Chance have been warning him that his behavior is exhausting them.
Stream of consciousness can be tough, and add to it Shy's mental illness and intensely disturbing dreams, and you have a book that is difficult to follow sometimes as it can be hard to tell what really happened and what is an episode. I think it was a good choice to make this a short book due to its difficult main character. 2.5

This week at Autumn Lives Here, I'll introduce you to William Kemmler, but don't get too attached. We're making coffee cocktails and celebrating Shirley Jackson's birthday.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

71. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
In this retelling of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, a female soldier is called to the home of her old friends, Roderick and Madeline Usher, with the news that Madeline is dying. The soldier finds Roderick is frail and Madeline is in a dire state, yet her illness is a mystery to everyone, including the American doctor who has been staying in the home for some time.
The soldier has noticed the strange landscape that surrounds the Ushers, and wonders if any of it has caused the decline of his friends.
The author has kept the time period of the original story while adding more surreal touches into an atmosphere of isolation and despair. 4.5

I started my Christmas cookie baking a few days ago. We're not doing tins this year, it's just too expensive, but I'll be filling 15 cellophane Christmas bags. So far:
peanut butter & mini chocolate chip
chocolate crinkles
black sesame & golden syrup
almond sugar

I'm taking today off from baking and I'll decide what the next one or two will be. I'm not making a dozen varieties this year, maybe seven or eight.

>42 mstrust: Funnily enough, I just pulled Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone off the shelf today to move to my "get to it soon" shelf. I will have to add What Moves the Dead to the BlackHole as I do not own that one.

Have a fantastic Friday, Jennifer!

I had never heard of the author before this, but now I find she has lots of fans. I'll be looking for more from her, she's excellent. And can I say that it makes me smile that you have a "get to it soon" shelf. Reading as many books per year as you do takes great organizational skills!
Thank you, Stasia, and you have a great weekend!

>45 mstrust: Oh yes, many fans, me among them.

Sometimes I'm really slow to catch on ;-D. I have a list of new writers to get to, and now she's on it too.

72. Dark Chocolate Demise by Jenn McKinlay.

Cupcake bakery owner Mel and her employees are working out of a van at a Scottsdale zombie walk when a dead woman is found in their photo op coffin. Even worse, the woman looks just like employee Angie, whose brother is prosecuting a mob case. This may be a hit gone wrong.
Meh. I liked the first in the series, but this one gets pretty silly, even for a culinary mystery. But the recipes look good. 2.5

It's the last free week of 2023 at Autumn Lives Here! Drop in and learn how to make your own cordial, avoid a goal-oriented clown, and visit the haunted hotel where The Innkeepers was filmed. It's a Creepy Christmas!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Even though I told myself (and Mike) that I was going to cut down on the number of cookie varieties I make this year, well...
So now the cookie list is:
1. peanut butter and choc chip
2. chocolate crinkles
3. black sesame and golden syrup
4. decorated almond sugar
5. snickerdoodles
6. Grinch cookies
7. mocha molded chocolates

I'm considering an espresso chip bar for today. And I think Mike hasn't told me to stop because he gets a few of everything I make.

73. Joyland by Stephen King.

Devin Jones takes a summer job at Joyland, an amusement park in North Carolina, to make some money before the new university semester. He feels his girlfriend pulling away and knows this is the end of their relationship, but it's entirely her decision. Heartbroken, Devin joins the other new hires at the park, but he is singled out for his enthusiasm, and then for his heroics. While he makes friends and learns about carny history, Devon is drawn to the story of a visitor who was murdered in the Horror House ride, a woman who may have been the victim of a serial killer.

The murder mystery angle doesn't figure prominently until maybe the last third of the book. This is mainly a story about a first love ending and how Devon creates a new circle of friends and a career that he enjoys but knows will be temporary. 4 stars

It's the last post of 2023 for Autumn Lives Here. I'm serving up an infamous Scottish legend, a holiday punch that'll feed a crowd, and Christmas (horror) movies. Also, a Krampus parade. Krampi?
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

74. Three Fires by Denise Mina.

This is a strange little book. I was familiar with the name of Savonarola because I've been a big fan of Botticelli since I was a teen. He's my Renaissance guy, and it's a tragedy that he became a follower of Savonarola and burned some of his paintings in The Bonfire of the Vanities, part of the powerful friar's religious cleansing of Florence.
This slim book is a novel, though it seems that the author is relying more on historical facts for the first half of the book, and the second half seems far more fictionalized history, with more literary license as to conversations and internal thoughts. This is where the author is hitting the reader over the head with parallels of modern culture, using more slang and shorthand.
To me, the first half of the book felt more historically accurate, nearly a biography of Savonarola, and it was really interesting. As the story went on, it seemed more about forcing a narrative, so I'm unsure about what's true or fiction. 2.5 stars

>53 mstrust: I can't say I know anything about Savonarola beyond what Jo Walton included in Lent, but I did really enjoy the book which portrays the Bonfire of the Vanities as an event that got way out of hand. But then Savonarola is a demon who keeps reliving the same life over and over until the start of the book, so historical accuracy is at Walton's discretion. Anyway, Lent is a good read.

Thanks for the rec. The problem I had with Three Fires is probably because so much of the story came from good research that it was jarring when Mina dumbed a complex issue down to modern slang, and it increasingly became about trying to parallel modern issues when the two just didn't fit that well.
But it seems that Savonarola is catnip to writers even 500 years later!

We're just a few hours away from the start of Christmas vacation.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Love reading what weirdness you'll come up with next!! ;)

Merry Christmas to you!
I've been in Vegas for a few days now. Lots of food, cocktails and gambling. We opened our presents on Friday because my sister had to get home.
It's surprising how much book shopping for myself that I've gotten in.
And never fear, I have plenty of weirdness planned for the new year!

Merry Christmas to you and yours Jennifer!!

Merry Christmas, Jennifer!

All the best wishes and a peaceful time to you, Jennifer!

Thinking about you during the festive season, Jennifer

>59 Carmenere: Merry Christmas, Lynda!
>60 quondame: Merry Christmas, Susan!
>61 SirThomas: lovely image! Merry Christmas, Thomas!
>62 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, Merry Christmas to you and your family!

I'm back after six days in Vegas. I overate, overdrank, and lost my money, but we did have every day with Mom and a day and a half with my sister. We opened presents on Friday, and Mike and I got to Frankie's twice, where we picked up the anniversary mug.
And I shopped for books.
From The Writer's Block downtown:
Homesick for Another World
The Handyman Method
From Mom:
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
From the library sale room:
The Importance of Being Seven
The Cold Millions
The Cocktail Waitress
And a checkout from that library:
Killer Plants

The 15th Anniversary Frankie's mug. By artist Stoney, the red and black band around the bottom is a roulette wheel. The face is very Dali-esque.

75. Castle Rock Kitchen by Theresa Carle-Sanders, foreword by Stephen King.

A big coffee table cookbook that is a culinary tour of Maine and each recipe is based on a character or book by King. Carle-Sanders created recipes such as "Dick Hallorann's Baked Beans" based on The Shining character of the Overlook's chef.
The author, with King's permission, created a character who introduces nearly each recipe. I'd wanted to read this one for a while and it didn't disappoint.

76. How To Drink Like a Mobster: Prohibition-Style Cocktails by Albert W.A. Schmid.

Along with classic cocktail recipes, there are new creations in the 1920s style. There's a short history of bootlegging, speakeasies, mob lingo, and bios of the most famous American mobsters of the era. 3.5 stars

I believe that wraps up my 2023 reads. This is the lowest number of reads for me in years, but my time is definitely being sucked up with writing these days.
Anyway, I think I'll me making my 2024 thread today and I hope you'll visit.

You reached the magic 75, what do you want more😉. Congratulations!!!
And of course your 2024 thread will be visited...

I did, and it's the first time it has come this close to the end of the year, ha!
I'll be glad to see you visiting in 2024, Thomas. I hope it's a great one for you!

My 2024 thread is up: https://i.etsystatic.com/5229915/r/il/fd1d55/925420282/il_300x300.925420282_jm8l...

Congratulations on getting past 75!

Thanks, I just squeaked by!

Congratulations on 75 and Merry Christmas!

>64 mstrust: Glad you had a great trip! The holidays are perfect to overindulge guilt free :)

Congrats on reading past 75 books! You hit me with a BB >42 mstrust:.

Congrats, merry belated Christmas, and happy New Year early!

>72 PaperbackPirate: Thanks, Nicole, and I hope you had a merry Christmas!

>73 figsfromthistle: Thanks! If overindulging at the holidays is a tradition, I think I should get a medal. Both Mike and I overdid it. I made us a tofu stirfry for dinner last night. Then ate Christmas cookies.
I hope you like that one. I'll read more from Kingfisher, she has a talent for creepy atmosphere.

>74 CassieBash: Thanks, Cassie, and to you too!

Half of my family didn't make it to Christmas. My niece and her fiancée decided to spend the holiday with his family in California. My brother got Covid two days before he was to fly out to us. My nephew had a bad cold all that week and didn't want to give it to his 80 year old grandma. And all this led to my sister telling me this morning that she accidentally gave our brother's gift bag to the fiancée, in addition to their gifts. She had to cart back our presents for everyone who couldn't show up and got mixed up with all the bags. Well, she says the fiancée was very pleased with it.

>65 mstrust: Congratulations on reaching 75, Jennifer!

Congrats!

>76 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!
>77 drneutron: Thanks! I guess I get to stay in the group!

You’re not getting away that easily!

:-D