2024-04-24 00:29
I’m just gonna lead with it — I think The Murder on the Links is one of the weakest Christie mysteries. The story hinges on way too many extreme coincidences, with identical twin… Read More
Blog Directory > Books & Literature Blogs > The Fiction Addiction books-and-literature Blog >
The Fiction Addiction Blog
thefictionaddiction.com
Tags:
preston lin
indonesian food
austen
preston
retro book
lichen
whimsy
influencer thriller
solitary adventures
ghost station
Book reviews, previews, reading roundups and everything bookish.
2024-04-20 20:47
Ghost Station, by S A Barnes, is a new space suspense story. The novel’s tension comes from a distant, deep-space setting and from interpersonal secrets among the crew, long befo… Read More
2024-04-16 00:29
Dark Tales of Whimsy is a new short fiction collection from Endless Ink Books. I’ve previously read and enjoyed Endless Ink titles, including a 2020 short story collection, Earth… Read More
2024-04-05 14:55
The Guardians, a YA scifi novel by John Christopher, was published in 1970 and set in the year 2052. In this 2052, England is sharply divided between the Conurbs and the County. The Conurbs… Read More
2024-03-29 21:13
I was thrilled to get a copy of Jesse Q Sutanto’s upcoming novel, You Will Never Be Me! You already know I love influencer drama in fiction, and a good twisted friendship thriller… Read More
2024-03-26 09:00
Christina Hwang Dudley’s fun new novel Pride and Preston Lin takes inspiration from the Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice, without being a beat-for-beat modernization. Liss… Read More
2024-03-26 09:00
Christina Hwang Dudley’s fun new novel Pride and Preston Lin takes inspiration from the Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice, without being a beat-for-beat modernization. Liss… Read More
2024-03-17 14:51
Published in 1977, John Christopher’s scifi novel Empty World describes a world decimated by the Calcutta Plague, a deadly virus that causes rapid aging, quickly followed by deat… Read More
2024-03-05 02:57
Trouble with Lichen is a 1960 scifi novel by John Wyndham. The story revolves around the discovery of a new type of lichen that dramatically slows down the aging process in humans. I really… Read More
2024-02-28 20:53
Jesse Q Sutanto is back with more secrets, more murder, and more delicious Indonesian food in The New Girl. Teenage track star Lia Setiawan gets a scholarship to an upscale prep school, and… Read More
2024-02-28 02:50
Ela of Salisbury Medieval Mysteries, by J. G. Lewis, is a series of historical murder mysteries, in which the very real Ela of Salisbury, widow of William Longespée, who becomes sheri… Read More
2024-02-28 02:50
Ela of Salisbury Medieval Mysteries, by J. G. Lewis, is a series of historical murder mysteries, in which the very real Ela of Salisbury, widow of William Longespée, who becomes sheri… Read More
2024-02-24 15:25
Listen for the Lie, by Amy Tintera, investigates a small-town mystery when a true-crime podcaster comes to town. Years ago, Lucy’s best friend Savvy was murdered, and Lucy was found a… Read More
2024-02-21 02:58
The classic horror novel Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King, was written in the 1970s, but is still popular and still a good suspense story today. Readers can still be drawn into… Read More
2024-02-14 15:24
The Wolf Den, by Elodie Harper, is intense, dramatic historical fiction, set in an ancient Pompeiian brothel, with a world of violence and exploitation. You really do have to be up for the b… Read More
2024-02-08 21:22
Murder on the Christmas Express, by Alexandra Benedict, was a really wild ride, with Quality Street chocolates and a Christmas-themed pub quiz, and also a body count with a distur… Read More
2024-01-29 14:56
The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, is a 1955 science fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. Some unexplained worldwide nuclear event, called the Tribulation, has led to mass deaths and… Read More
2024-01-23 19:14
As you all know, I just love Pride and Prejudice, and all the Janeite retellings of this classic novel, so I was absolutely delighted to be assigned this one for ManyBooks: In Darcy: A Pride… Read More
2024-01-21 22:21
Trine Rising is the start of a new fantasy series, the Kinderra Saga, by author C.K. Donnelly, presenting an epic fantasy story centered around the character of Mirana. In a fantasy society… Read More
2024-01-18 15:26
The Paintball Club, by Harper Greendale, tells a cyberpunk adventure story in a realistic almost-future. Three young friends — Edie, Stella and Travis — are chatting about the st… Read More
2024-01-15 20:33
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first Hercule Poirot novel. When this novel opens, he’s already a retired detective, with no idea he’s about to become an enduring characte… Read More
2024-01-05 21:59
Wrong Way, by Joanne McNeil, looks at tech innovations and social class through one woman’s work experiences. It’s more about an overall idea than a character or a relationship o… Read More
2024-01-03 20:10
I read and loved Aria ages ago. This is a beautiful series with an appealing blend of the mundane world, and the dangerous and magical fae court just below our everyday experiences. It&rsquo&hell…Read More
2024-01-01 04:59
In no particular order, with no particular number, here are some of the more enjoyable and most memorable books I read this year. Cozy Vibes I usually avoid magic-of-books stories, but Days… Read More
2023-12-27 02:47
I got Commencement, by J. Courtney Sullivan, in a mystery book purchase. I was able to see a little description but no hint of the title or author. I thought it sounded like The New Gir… Read More
2023-12-22 21:49
In Hatchet Girls, by Diana Rodriguez Wallach, teenager Mariella Morse’s parents are found brutally murdered, Borden-style, in modern-day Fall River just a few blocks away from whe… Read More
2023-12-18 19:38
In the beginning of The Institute, by Stephen King, Luke Ellis is freakishly smart, a tween ready to dual-enroll at MIT and Emerson, who occasionally moves things when he’s highly emot… Read More
2023-12-03 01:25
The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne, by Shannon Takaoka, is an 80s-infused magical YA, about an old journal that allows Gracie to write her own future. The background of Gracie… Read More
2023-11-28 00:59
Lies and Weddings, by Kevin Kwan, contains the same kind of frothy lifestyle fun as the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. Basically everyone in this novel is constantly wearing something beautiful… Read More
2023-11-26 01:08
Meet the Benedettos, by Katie Cotugno, is a reality show/Jane Austen mashup. Five sisters struggles to escape being a reality-TV punchline and turn their fame into something lasting, as thei… Read More
2023-11-20 16:39
Ruled by Fate, by Sam Withrow and Amelia Pinkis, is the first book in the Forbidden Tears series. This is a slow-burn, forbidden romance, with intriguing supernatural elements. Brie is a you… Read More
2023-11-08 17:50
I first read Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, when I was working on an MMO about ten years ago, and I remember loving the book. But I only had strong memories of the Joust scene, the extra… Read More
2023-11-01 16:52
Battlefield Earth takes place in a dark, distant future where our Earth has been conquered by powerful aliens, the Psychlos. These Psychlos want the natural resources of planet Earth, and ha… Read More
2023-10-31 00:52
I found this one when I dropped off If We’re Being Honest for another Celadon Little Free Library Dropoff, this time at the Plainville Park Little Free Library, I’m so glad… Read More
2023-10-27 20:40
In The Luckiest Girl Alive, by Jessica Knoll, TifAni never speaks about the awful secrets in her past. She’s rebranded herself as upscale Ani, with a high-powered magazine job, a… Read More
2023-10-20 19:51
Rosewater takes readers to a fascinating specfic future in Nigeria. I was immediately intrigued with Kaaro's abilities as a sensitive, and how this was both a life-changing, unexplained supe… Read More
2023-10-18 19:08
Nightbloom, is a new novel by Peace Adzo Medie, the author of His Only Wife. The stories centers around Selasi and Akorfa, two cousins in Ghana. Their mothers were close friends, so they bec… Read More
2023-10-14 18:24
I was delighted to receive the ARC for Cecily von Ziegesar’s upcoming novel, Cobble Hill. I went into this one expecting Gossip Girl for adults, but I found was a more of a neighborhoo… Read More
2023-10-11 15:12
How do you save money? I started reading Abby’s blog, IPickUpPennies, for personal finance advice back in 2008, during my first once-in-a-lifetime recession. She writes about regularly… Read More
2023-10-09 14:54
The Mall, by Megan McCafferty, is a retro, over-the-top YA story about mall culture and the summer after high school. Cassie plans to spend her final summer in New Jersey working along… Read More
2023-10-01 18:11
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, written by Satoshi Yagisawa and translated into English by Eric Ozawa, Takako feels like she has an average life, with an adequate job after graduating from an… Read More
2023-09-29 23:48
After the end of The Mimicking of Known Successes, Mossa and Pleiti discover another strange disappearance to solve in The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles. Several disappearances, actual… Read More
2023-09-23 16:37
Takuan from Koto is a fun new fantasy adventure by Ryu Zhong. The MG story of the trickster Takuan takes places over three books, Prince of Blue Flowers, Hunters of Weredemons, and Envoys of… Read More
2023-09-18 19:23
Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto focuses on a minor character in Well, That Was Unexpected, but it’s still very readable as a standalone. Teenage Kiki (Sharlot’s… Read More
2023-09-07 21:53
Maeve Binchy’s Evening Class is everything an ensemble novel should be, full of great characters and connecting stories. In all of Binchy’s novels, we often see our characters fa… Read More
2023-09-06 00:40
The Hike, by Lucy Clarke, opens with the dramatically terrible news that one of the four women on this hiking adventure is going to die. This thriller was an odd case where the big A-plot ho… Read More
2023-08-31 21:16
I really enjoyed the Southern Gothic suspense of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. I’ve liked her other novels, I especially loved the modern Southern Gothic feel of Hawkins’ previo… Read More
2023-08-16 02:07
What You Are Looking for is in the Library, by Michiko Aoyama, and translated by Alison Watts, is a book of sweet and gentle interlocking short stories around a library where the reading rec… Read More
2023-08-09 15:04
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Jessica Goodman’s new release, The Legacies. I absolutely fell into her novel The Counselors, but I found They Wish Th… Read More
2023-08-01 10:30
I’ve been reading the Writers of the Future annual SF/F anthology for a few years now, since WofF31, so I was excited to receive this year’s Writers of the Future 39. These… Read More
2023-07-30 22:42
I heard this one had Gone Girl vibes, and it sort of did, but I thought it was much closer to It’s Always the Husband. In the beginning of Pretty Little Wife, by Darby Kane, Lila Ridge… Read More
2023-07-19 01:17
I had a bit of a mixed reaction to One of the Boys, by Jayne Cowie. The world building is compelling, with a society shaped by a genetic test that identifies which men and boys have the prop… Read More
2023-07-14 22:16
In That’s What Frenemies Are For, by Sophie Littlefield and Lauren Gershell, upscale New York mommy Julia maintains her popularity and status by discovering designers, mastermind… Read More
2023-07-02 03:59
I was pretty much sold on the NetGalley blurb for The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir: Teenage Esther Hicks is a daughter on a Christian family reality show... and also secretly pr… Read More
2023-06-27 19:27
In Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang, unsuccessful writer Juniper Hayward ends up with the only copy of an almost-finished manuscript of her much more successful writer friend, Athena Liu, an… Read More
2023-06-18 14:14
I do like a good family saga, and The House of Trelawney has all the strained relationships and eccentric relatives imaginable. After 700 years of titled wealth, the remaining members of the… Read More
2023-06-11 23:22
Jason Rekulak’s The Impossible Fortress is full of fun ’80s game-programming nostalgia, but that’s not the only reason to read it. This world of mix tapes and floppy disks… Read More
2023-06-08 23:03
Lilly-Puss and Pharaoh: Where is Home?, by Natasha Blazic, is a sweet, short tale about two rescue cats, their new friendship, and their giant, strange human servants. Shelter cat Lilly-Puss… Read More
2023-06-05 23:30
The Man Who Feels Like Home by Roxana M. Rotaru is a fun and funny story of love and relationships. Allie, our lively heroine, takes readers along on her personal journey to love, commitment… Read More
2023-06-04 20:48
Leave the Little Light On, Book One: Windsor, by Sonia Palleck, is a fictionalized memoir, inspired by the author’s life. This makes it a highly personal, emotional novel. The book fol… Read More
2023-05-31 19:28
This Stranger Things: Heroes and Monsters Choose Your Own Adventure is such a fun tribute to those old CYOA paperbacks, with loads of Stranger Things side quests to explore, until you… Read More
2023-05-30 18:22
So Lying in the Deep had so many elements I love in thrillers, but my overall feeling was much more meh than wow. You know I like fiction set in exotic new places, and I always love wh… Read More
2023-05-22 02:06
What It Cost Us: Stories of Pandemic & Protest in DC, by 10 young authors from Shout Mouse Press, shares pandemic experiences as raw, expressive fiction. These ten writers share th… Read More
2023-05-16 23:31
Even Though I Knew The End, by C. L. Polk, is a sapphic romance and a supernatural thriller, all with a Chicago noir style. Helen is a freelance private investigator with certain supernatura… Read More
2023-05-15 10:03
If We’re Being Honest, by Cat Shook, is a gentle, feel-good Southern family story, a mni-family saga packed into one eventful week. It begins with a shocking secret revealed at g… Read More
2023-05-12 17:16
In A Dark, Dark Wood, by Ruth Ware, has a bit of a slow start, with too many references to Leonora’s Big Unmentionable Secret before the plot gets going or we learn much else abo… Read More
2023-05-10 00:46
Fleishman Is in Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, tells the story of newly divorced Toby Fleishman. Toby is ready to recover single life with hook ups and nudes on dating apps, when his new… Read More
2023-05-05 14:27
As you probably know, I only ever run to catch a train, so I’m using “marathon” here in the sense of very long yet important travel, my MBTA trek into Boston. The Sag… Read More
2023-04-30 02:10
The Rachel Incident, by Caroline O’Donoghue, was basically a one-sitting read for me. The plot’s twisty and emotional, full of realistic early-twenties intensity, with a much-old… Read More
2023-04-22 17:24
I started reading Last Summer at the Golden Hotel a few months ago, but I put it aside, because it was too hard to keep track of all the characters. There are two families, three generations… Read More
2023-04-16 21:59
One of the ways to grow your book review blog or bookstagram is by reading and reviewing ARCs (advance review copies). These advance copies let book bloggers, influencers, and tastemakers re… Read More
2023-04-16 02:58
The Winters, by Lisa Gabriele, is a page-turning tribute to Rebecca, with a blend of modern and gothic secrets. Our unnamed protagonist is working as a crew hand in the Cayman Islands, when… Read More
2023-04-13 23:50
The Cazalet Chronicles is a five-book historical fiction series, by Elizabeth Jane Howard. The novels follow the British Cazalet family over several decades, beginning in 1937 with The Light… Read More
2023-04-11 23:33
For You and Only You is the newest thriller in Caroline Kepnes’ You series, about Joe Goldberg, that deeply twisted unreliable narrator, who just wants to find true love, even if that… Read More
2023-04-07 01:41
Welcome to Idle Mining Empire, a cute and casual browser game. This game has players build their own mining empire by collecting resources, and then building new shafts, upgrading equipment… Read More
2023-04-05 17:19
I just loved this Atlas Obscura story about old ladies and the tiny, tidy defacing of library books. Immediately after learning about the marked 7s, Grainger says, her mind started to race t… Read More
2023-04-04 00:13
In the Hawaiian mystery novel Off The Grid, by Robert McCaw, an abandoned rural area in the shadow of a volcano makes a perfect place for quietly living secretive, off-the-grid lives.
T… Read More
2023-04-01 17:19
I kept seeing posts about The Writing Retreat, by Julia Bartz, on Instagram, and I was completely intrigued by the premise. A locked-door thriller set at a writing retreat? A fiction competi… Read More
2023-03-31 21:31
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Review Wire Media for Paramount Pictures and eOne The new movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves comes out today. The description is enticing… Read More
2023-03-14 23:38
Happy Ides of March! Obviously, the best way to commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar is by collectively stabbing the coworker who annoys you most. The second best way is by reading… Read More
2023-03-13 19:40
A Machine Divine, by Derek Paul, is a new steampunk YA novel. When the story opens, teenage Asher and Callie, from the small town of Vana, have both been accepted in university in Riali City… Read More
2023-03-11 14:49
You guys, I knew I was going to love People to Follow, by Olivia Worley. I love reality TV novels, I love stories of social media performance, I love influencers in fiction. Also, I love loc… Read More
2023-03-06 00:47
I just love reading modern authors’ takes on Jane Austen’s classic plots and characters. Partly, I just can’t get enough of these characters, and partly because something r… Read More
2023-03-04 15:16
When The Savage Instinct opens, Clara Blackstone is being released from the asylum after a mental breakdown. Clara plans to live quietly and avoid annoying her husband so she’ll never… Read More
2023-03-03 15:07
Through the Clouds, by Erin Aslin, begins like a romance novel, but unfolds into the story of narcissistic abuse. Lisa is a single mother, with a beloved young son. She works hard, but enjoy… Read More
2023-03-03 00:44
After the perfectly good YA Well, That Was Unexpected, and the perfectly good cozy mystery Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice For Murderers, Jesse Q Sutanto is BACK with the one-sitting WT… Read More
2023-02-28 18:47
Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult is a new memoir by Michelle Dowd. This was a bizarre read for me. I think I was expecting something like Tara Westover’s Educated or Je… Read More
2023-02-26 18:43
Down the Common, by Ann Baer, was recommended to me by other fans of Ruth Goodman and the Farm series. Like the Farm shows, this book follows daily life in one historical year. The book is f… Read More
2023-02-23 00:46
The Wizard’s Lover, by Alicia Norman, is a new serial set at Asteria Pulse Magick Academy. Even in a world of wizards, shapeshifters, and pixies, finding love can be complicated… Read More
2023-02-21 23:55
Agatha Christie is called the “Queen of Crime” and her mystery novels have been captivating readers for over a century. Despite being written ages ago, her books are still so pop… Read More
2023-02-20 00:50
Sea Change, by Gina Chung, is about Dolores, a giant octopus in captivity, and about Ro, who cares for Dolores while everything else in her life falls apart. This is a terribly relatab… Read More
2023-02-15 05:11
In the next Marcus Corvinus adventure, Foreign Bodies, the new emperor Claudius requests some help looking into the death of a family friend. The unfortunate victim was living in Lugdunum, i… Read More
2023-02-13 15:06
The Devil You Know, by Kay Freeman, is described as a romance, but it’s extra, extra spicy. Some scenes blur from romance into erotica. D/s erotica. So, this one is not for everyone, a… Read More
2023-02-12 15:57
I got Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X through Osusume Books. (Thank you!) Osusume Books promises to send carefully recommended Japanese novels, and without revealing too mu… Read More
2023-02-10 21:08
When it comes to managing money and improving personal finances, there are some best practices to help make the most of your resources, whatever they are. Review Current Finances Look carefu… Read More
2023-02-10 15:21
Susanne Pari’s In the Time of Our History tells the story of an Iranian-American family. I just love a good family saga, and this story of multiple generations of the Jahani family in… Read More
2023-02-02 20:45
Young adult fiction, also called YA, has been a popular genre for ages now, but in recent years, there’s been an increase in adult readership…. or at least in public adult reade… Read More
2023-02-01 22:55
Today’s retro book review is Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side. This is another Miss Marple mystery, set in good old St Mary Mead. A glamorous Hollywoo… Read More
2023-01-30 00:04
I wanted to read Aden Polydoros’ new middle grade book, Ring of Solomon, because I just loved The City Beautiful, by the same author, and I was intrigued by another Jewish folklore adv… Read More
2023-01-29 15:20
The premise of Tana French’s The Likeness is almost too unbelievable: A murder victim is found who looks exactly like undercover investigator Cassie Maddox. It’s a bit of a stret… Read More
Subscribe to The Fiction Addiction
Get updates delivered right to your inbox!