Glass Houses by Louise Penny Series: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #13
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on August 29, 2017
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / International Crime & Mystery, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Traditional
Pages: 384
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
An instant New York Times Bestseller and August 2017 LibraryReads pick!
“Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.” —PEOPLE“Louise Penny wrote the book on escapist mysteries.” —The New York Times Book Review
“You won't want Louise Penny's latest to end....Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series.... It takes nerve and skill — as well as heart — to write mysteries like this. ‘Glass Houses,’ along with many of the other Gamache books, is so compelling that, for the space of reading it, you may well feel that much of what’s going on in the world outside the novel is ‘just noise.’” —Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post
When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized.
But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied.
Months later, on a steamy July day as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November, from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache’s own conscience is standing in judgment.
In Glass Houses, her latest utterly gripping book, number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. A court that supersedes all others.
My Review
Louise Penny does it again with another fantastic Inspector Gamache book. I love the way that she is able to somehow suck me into every story that she writes in this series. Picking up one of these books is like coming home and reuniting with old friends all over again. I love every character in Three Pines and all for different reasons. Each character has so much depth to them that you can’t help but love them. I know that Three Pines is a fictional world but oh wouldn’t it be wonderful if it was real. I am super excited to pick up the next book in the series Kingdom of The Blind to see what happens next…Glass Houses may have ended on a cliffhanger.
“Absolutely charming... a flawless balance of humor, heat, sweetness, and depth, and I loved every page.” – Helen Hoang, USA Today bestselling author of The Bride Test USA TODAY BESTSELLER A witty, hilarious romantic comedy about a woman who’s tired of being “boring” and recruits her mysterious, sexy neighbor to help her experience new things—perfect for fans of Sally Thorne, Jasmine Guillory, and Helen Hoang! Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items? But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit. But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior… "This is an extraordinary book, full of love, generosity, kindness and sharp humor." — The New York Times Book Review *Featured on the TODAY Show! Named a Best Romance of 2019 by Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Apple, and Amazon, and Best of November from Essence, Woman's Day, Marie Claire, Buzzfeed, Popsugar, Bustle, Bookish, Bookpage, Entertainment Weekly, and Washington Post*
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Series: The Brown Sisters #1
Published by HarperCollins on November 5, 2019
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Multicultural & Interracial, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Women
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Source: Bookstore 
My Review
I have never read a book by Talia Hibbert until Get a Life, Chloe Brown. I picked this book up because I had seen it all over BookTube recently and frankly I wanted to see what the hype was all about. I also have to mention this cover really drew me in because it is not often that I have seen a curvy girl on a book cover. I was like heck yes with all the fist pumps.
Aside from Chloe having all the curves this book opened my eyes to what it must be like to live with chronic pain/illness. I appreciate the way that Talia sprinkled it into the story without it being the whole story. I also loved that she did not make it seem as though Chloe Brown was a helpless woman because she lived with chronic pain/illness. Talia also did a great job touching on abuse in relationships which lead to mental health issues with some of the characters that were discussed and worked on throughout the story.
I loved the story of Chloe Brown coming into her own in a sense and working to conquer her fears. I love how smart-mouthed she can be with a dash of grumpiness but once you get past that she is a super-loving character.
Another thing that I loved about this book is how the reader slowly learns things about Redford Morgan which in my opinion put him in a whole new light. Red appears to be a bit rough on the outside and maybe a bad boy but what you discover is that those descriptions really do not fit him and his personality.
The only thing that I was not fond of in this story was the descriptive love scenes. I did not enjoy reading all the little details that were provided in this book involving sex. That is the only reason why this book was not a five-star read for me. Sex set aside though I absolutely loved this story and would recommend it to people who love to read about strong women going after what they want out of life. Oh and of course if you are into romance then this is a definite must-read.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers and Beach Read comes a sparkling novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations. Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Newsweek ∙ Oprah Magazine ∙ The Skimm ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Parade ∙ The Wall Street Journal ∙ Chicago Tribune ∙ PopSugar ∙ BookPage ∙ BookBub ∙ Betches ∙ SheReads ∙ Good Housekeeping ∙ BuzzFeed ∙ Business Insider ∙ Real Simple ∙ Frolic ∙ and more!
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Published by Penguin on May 11, 2021
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Women
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
Source: Book of the Month
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
My Review
This book was everything that Beach Read was for me. I was worried that after I put down Beach Read I wouldn’t find another book by this author I liked as much but wow I was wrong. People We Meet On Vacation was an absolute delight to read. I could not get enough of Alex and Poppy
Let me start off by saying that they are complete opposites yet the whole time I found myself rooting for them in every way. Alex is very responsible, quiet and reserved where as Poppy is loud and outgoing. This book bounces between the present day and summers past. We discover how these two meet, become fast friends, lose touch, and then well come back together again. That all sounds so simple I know but really there is so much more to this story than that..like why did they lose touch, whose fault was it and how did they come back together?
This book not only touches on friendship but it also touches on grief and loss and how it can shape a person or break a person. Another thing that it includes is both male/female relationships along with gay representation. This book is like watching your favorite TV show or movie. It is full of fun and with all the things that you crave from a feel-good story with some romance. Honestly, I found myself completely immersed in the story and was a bit sad when it was over. I think I definitely will be rereading this one. I would totally recommend this book to well everyone.