Time to check in on the 2015 Reading Challenge again.
To start with, we changed the September challenge. Originally, it was to read a book by a person of a different faith of you. A worthwhile read, but Stacie and I both had a lot going on and a book like that felt like a heavy lift. We agreed that we’d switch it and the challenge became Read a Free book on your Kindle (or have a friend pick something.)
Bethany: I picked “Pretty Dead” by Anne Frasier because I’d gotten a free galley on NetGalley. This is the third book in her Elise Sandburg series and it was another great entry. The series is the cop/serial killer genre, but I like it because her two cops, Elise and David, are so screwed up. They have so much baggage and yet, the police chief thinks they can do the jobs they are hired to do. I can’t say much about the plot without giving too much away, but it’s a page-turner. Do yourself a favor and read the whole series.
Stacie: I read “A Thread of Hope” by Jeff Shelby. I picked this one up a while ago when another author I really like recommended it. The writing was solid, the story engaging. The author connects the protagonist’s back story to the present day missing child case through flash backs. The protagonist has a missing child himself, and has thrown himself into solving cases for others, but unable to his own. As I read, I realized that flashbacks are a terrible convention for me to have in a story. They don’t seem like a believable way to build the needed back story into the current story, starting the vicious cycle of “why do I need to know this?” It’s totally me and not at all the author’s skill on this one. If flashbacks don’t bother you, this was a great story with a fabulous ending.
The Word Nerds 