August was a fantastic reading month for me, I read 10 books! Not only were a few of my Most Anticipated Reads (of the ENTIRE year) released this month.. but I also just happened to really enjoy all the others I randomly chose to read as well. Usually in a month I will read a few books I liked, maybe one or two I loved, and a few I disliked heavily as well… But this month was different.. I loved them all so much. I read memoirs/non-fiction, fiction, mystery, young adult, romance, horror & classics.. All equally amazing. If I had to pick my top 3 in this stack of 10 favs here… they would have to be,
1.) The Couple Next Door, by Shari LaPena
2.) The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, by Amy Schumer
3.) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by J.K Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany
I loved “The Couple Next Door” SO much, that I added a Bonus little review for it, at the bottom of this post. It was one of the greatest thrillers I have ever read, I loved it so so much. You need to pick it up.
“The Couple Next Door” By Shari LaPena
A Review:
I saw this book recently at my local Chapters, and was immediately drawn to it’s creepy cover. I love the simplistic style and large white font, for some reason that always draws me in. When I read the book jacket synopsis, I was hooked immediately.
Book Jacket Synopsis/ From GoodReads
(“How well do you know the couple next door? Or your husband? Or even—yourself?
People are capable of almost anything. . .
Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.
Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they’ve kept for years.
What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.”)
I devoured this book in two days, and I could barely do anything else with my day except either read the book or think obsessively about the book. I felt so sad when it was over because I know I won’t find anything this good again for a while. It was one of those books that just knocks the wind out of you, and ruins all the other upcoming books on your TBR. This was probably my favorite book of the year, and I can’t recommend it enough. The writing was so smart and wickedly intriguing, with some of the most incredible pacing I’ve ever read in a thriller. Shari LaPena is an incredible writer, and her knowledge of police work/detective work is so well developed, that you feel like you are part of the investigation. This book had me suspecting everyone, and just when I thought I had the mystery solved, one page later I would change my mind again. It was INSANE, in the best way. I NEEDED to know what the truth was. So many twists I never saw coming.. I had so many mouth-hanging-open-in-shock moments, it was wild. I must have yelled out “NO WAY” like ten times over the course of the night. Warning.. Don’t start reading this unless you have several free hours, because you won’t be able to stop reading. Seriously the most fucking incredible book ever, what a debut novel! I will be anxiously awaiting more novels from this genius writer.
