Here again with another chat about mysteries and thrillers! My new fave genre. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this category surpasses romance or contemporary fiction for me this year. Okay, maybe not, but it will definitely come closer! Some related posts for further or introductory reading – I’ve spoken about my favorite mystery/thriller reads (I still lump them together because I’m really bad at remembering the difference…) – both adult and young adult – in recent weeks. Way back in the day I also talked about some of my struggles with YA mystery/thrillers (and just had a general discussion about my favorite tropes back then). As for today, I thought I would go through some of my favorite tropes and plot points in mystery/thriller books. (Similar to my read-bait series but I’m being lazy about the formatting and just calling this a discussion 😉 lol). What are some of the keywords, plot points, and tropes in a mystery or thriller synopsis that lead me to pick the book up? Back when I posted my original discussion about YA specifically, I listed the following tropes and types of books within the genre: Historical fiction mysteries Political thrillers Disappearances Memory loss Long series of mystery novels Paranormal elements Boarding school / secret societies I think these are still fairly accurate but not a perfect representation today. For example, I couldn’t tell you the last time I read a historical mystery, paranormal mystery, or political thriller. (Some notable exceptions like The Diviners series, for example). […]

I feel like most people fall into two camps: those who keep up with the hottest and most hyped releases, and those who pretty much refuse to do so (with some exceptions). I think I’ve been more of the latter in recent years because my reading time, energy, and interest has been so limited. I’m sick of talking about it and you’re sick of reading about it by now but yes, my reading life has been crappy since mid-2020. This year, it’s like I’m reinvigorated and back to my old self. I’m finding myself more curious about all the books and adding them to my TBR, even when I’m not sure they’re for “me.” I’m going out of my way to read books that are hyped and seeing if they are as good as everyone says. Many of these overhyped releases are usually literary fiction and that’s kind of the main reason I’ve stayed away, especially in recent years. I don’t love books with heavy topics or ones that make me sad (especially for contemporary fiction – it’s different for me if it’s a mystery or thriller). I just don’t gravitate toward those topics when I read because I like to either solve a crime or be happy in a romance haha. I don’t know what it is about this year that has me wanting to keep up with the Joneses but I’m having a lot of fun doing it, if I’m being honest! Instead of saying “ugh I won’t ever […]

I’ve been watching a lot of booktube lately and have loved watching people like Meg With Books hold themselves accountable about reading and finishing series. I thought it would be fun (and tedious…) to see how I personally do with reading and completing series. Do I start too many and never finish them? How far along do I get before I lose interest? How many series have I read in my life? Read on to find out these answers and more! Overall Series Stats I’ve engaged with 192 different book series in my lifetime. Yes, this is not super accurate since I only put some of my pre-2014 history in Goodreads when I started using it. I didn’t include random books like Watership Down that I read in high school and is technically in a series, but I did include many/most of the series I read for pleasure back in high school (The Clique, Gossip Girl, etc.). I was going to include books that are kind of a series, like the author wrote one full-length book and then followed it up with a novella epilogue or prequel, but those didn’t make the cut here for obvious reasons. I’ve read a total of 560 books that are a part of a series in my life as well. On average, the book series that I’ve started/read contain 4.18 books in the series. This is probably balanced out a bit because some series are duologies or trilogies while others have a lot more books. I’ve read an average of 2.92 […]