Tuesday, January 17, 2023

My Favorite Non-Review Books: December 2022

 As a blogger sometimes writing reviews can feel like a chore so it seems I rarely write reviews for non-review books anymore. I feel bad about that, because it's not that I didn't enjoy them less than the books I review here, just that I don't have the time or energy to write a review for each and every book I read. I thought it would be nice to list my favorite non-review books each month to bring more attention to them.

I had four to feature for November, but December I had eight! A great month of audiobooks. 

Here are my favorite non-review books for December 2022 (all were read by audio):



It's no secret I love Ilona Andrews writing. I was rejected for this ARC when I requested it (thanks again, Harper Audio/Avon), but I bought it anyhow. Catalina's story arc is finished and even though I didn't like it as much as Nevada's it still was really good.




Patricia Cornwell did a sort of re-boot of the Kay Scarpetta series last year and I'm enjoying it. This is the second one. Things get wild and out there, but I didn't want to stop listening!



Kate Forster's writing is beautiful, full of emotion and lots of fun! I loved this The Upside Down Christmas just a little more than The Best Worst Christmas, but they were wonderful and part of Audible Plus catalog where you can listen for free if you have an Audible Membership.



Such a great second chance romance! Loved this novella! 




Hidden Pictures won the Goodreads Choice Award for Horror this past year so I was curious and requested the audio at my library. It was really good and had a twist I didn't see coming! My husband and I were riveted and it made a very long drive home enjoyable. Can definitely understand why it won!




This is an earlier St. James. Sad, spooky, compelling mystery. I'm happy St. James, as usual, included a bit of romance.



I don't read much YA anymore but this one captured my attention when a couple of fellow bloggers reviewed it. Atmospheric with a bit of danger and suspense, this was a page-turning *listening* coming of age story. 





18 comments:

  1. Forster is new to me. I have to check her out. They have an audio of one of her books on Hoopla. I will have to sample her work. I feel you about reviews, but it's great to share the hits (that's why I started my five-star Friday post)

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    1. Yes, writing a review for every book I read is tough. I think you'll love Forster, Sam!

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  2. I listened to Upside Down Christmas at the end of last year and loved it.

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  3. Ilona Andrews is always my favorite.

    Anne - Books of My Heart

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    1. Can't go wrong with them. I even love reading their blog posts.

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  4. Yeah rejected ARCS are the worst. Its one of the reasons I got my NG ratio to 100% to lower the risk of that happening. But I loved Ruby Fever. SO SO Good. The heroine really surprised me, and that book got me to have her as my favorite heroine that they have written so far. I really should pick up that Rebel Yule one soon. I need to get back to reading Kate Meader.

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    1. My NG ratio is 97%. Not bad, but still I have issues with HC. *shrugs* I'll just request their books from my library. It isn't like I don't have a million other books to read anyhow. Love Meader!

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  5. Wow, I had no idea the Kay Scarpetta series was still ongoing. I remember reading the first several books back in the early 90's. Which was (ack!) 30 years ago!

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    1. I know! I was reading her before Goodreads. The series got a bit crazy and out there so I kind of lost interest, but her reboot has been good!

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  6. I've been rejected for a few books that I went and bought too. I have no idea why they rejected me. These sounds like pretty good ones.

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    1. HC has it out for me, lol. It's ok. I always have too many books to read anyhow.

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  7. I really enjoyed Ruby Fever and Sugaring Off. I want to read the Scarpetta series at some point. Actually, I think that I would like all of these!

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  8. Some good ones in this group, for sure. I need to read or listen to Simone St. James' older books.

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    1. I've really enjoyed working my way through her backlist. I'm still not done. :)

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  9. I am so glad I found my way over to your blog today: you've given me a reason to look into what's been happening with the Scarpetta novels that is a reboot! I enjoyed that series thoroughly b ut then got distracted by other titles and the next thing I knew it was so far along, I wasn't sure I wanted to pick it up again!

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    1. I hope you enjoy the reboot as much as I have been! I really loved her books in the beginning but the series kind of went off the rails a bit.

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