Survive the Night
This was the first book I’ve read by Riley Sager and I didn’t love it. It takes place in the 90s, with college student Charlie trying to make her way back home to Ohio from school in New Jersey after struggling to cope with the murder of her best friend and roommate by a killer nicknamed the campus killer, an event she feels blame for after leaving her friend alone at a bar after they argued about Charlie going home. She catches a ride with Josh who says he’s also headed that way and very quickly into the drive has her suspicions that she’s trapped in a car with the killer. And remember, this is the 90s – no cell phones, finding rides home from college from posts strangers leave on a ride share bulletin board (what?! haha). Although there was enough twists and turns in the story to keep me pushing on through the story to see how everything turned out, I just missed having the drama of trying to figure out who did it right from the start like I’m used to.
2 out of 5 stars
One Step Too Far
The newest release from Lisa Gardner, I reserved it from the library awhile back so that I could be one of the first to borrow a copy and then promptly forgot about it so getting that notification it was ready for pick up was a pleasant surprise! There’s just something about getting mentally lost in a suspense novel that’s a perfect distraction for me and Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite authors to do this with. Her new book is her second with character Frankie Elkin, a wandering loner with her own ghosts in her past, who travels the country being an often unwanted volunteer in solving missing persons cases long after authorities have lost any traction on them. It was good, just as I expected – plenty of intense moments that kept me turning pages long after my bedtime in this story set deep in the wilderness of Wyoming, helping with what’s likely to be the last chance search for a young man gone missing years earlier.
4 out of 5 stars
Creative Confidence
My lofty for my pace goal is to read one book a month that has a personal or professional development aspect to it and this one was it for January. Written by brothers Tom and David Kelley, this book pushes against the common misconception that there are creative types and non creative types, and that innovation and creative thinking are best done by those “creative types”. Instead they focus on the creative potential we all have and how tapping into that will completely change the way we approach our work and our personal lives. And between their work of David being a founder of the global design company IDEO and the Stanford d.school and Tom working closely with him, these two are a trusted source of information and strategy! A great read that opened my eyes and provided additional resources if I decide to keep diving deeper!
4 out of 5 stars
Life in the Ordinary 