{I've Been Reading} and Bowling...and Swimming...

My boys and I have been embracing the fact that it's summer and the weather is...well, the weather is hotter than I'd like, but we're making the best of it. As many days as we can pull it off, we visit the bowling alley (which offers kids two free games a day including the shoe rental) and then head down to the swimming hole. August is ticking away quicker than I'd like and the free bowling offer will end soon. And it doesn't seem fair to make them choose one or the other (never mind getting everyone to agree on the same option!)

I bring my books and my knitting and enjoy watching the kids do their thing. And I get incredibly mushy about using the ball my husband bought me back when we were still dating almost thirty years ago. I'd get even mushier about using the bowling shoes Grandma passed on to me at the same time, but those seem to have vanished. So I stole my husband's. It's not like he's used them since then!




The Walls by Hollie Overton

As soon as I saw that the author of Baby Doll had another thriller out, I wanted to read it. After her blissful new marriage turns into a waking nightmare, Kristy Tucker begins to look differently at the death row inmates she works with. What if murder is sometimes the only option? What if some of the inmates are as innocent as they claim to be? I stayed up way too late to find out how it would  end, because wondering would have kept me awake anyway. The Walls didn't disappoint.



See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

Another Lizzie Borden book...and still this one somehow kept me turning pages to find out what was coming next. The story alternates between several seemingly unreliable first person narrators and even if you're pretty sure what happened in the Borden house on that fateful day, it's an interesting read. The story opens with Lizzie and it did take me some time to get into the rhythm of her muddled thoughts, but once I was comfortable with the language, I was hooked.





All Signs Point to Murder by Connie di Marco

I snatched this one up even though I had mixed feelings about the first book in this series. (The mystery element in that one was great, but the heroine rubbed me the wrong way.) I really warmed up to Julia in this second book. When her friend's wedding ends in murder, Julia is anxious to help. The mystery is complicated and fills most of the book, but I was intrigued by Julia's past and definitely want to find out more about it. I'm never going to be a believer in astrology, but it's sure intriguing to read about.

Disclosure -- I was provided with an advance review copies by the publishers. All opinions are my own.