reading Archives

Better Mother, The

One Child, Two Women, A Battle of Wills Author: Jennifer Van Der Kleut Savannah is 34. She thought she had everything sorted out: the perfect relationship, heading toward marriage and a family, with a rising career. But then her boyfriend suddenly left her, and now her job is taking a nosedive. The dating game is just as difficult as she last remembers, and it’s hard to find hope again. She goes on a few dates, has a few flings. But nothing sticks. It seems that her hopes for the future – husband, house, baby – are all over. Then she turns [...]

Frances Carden2026-03-22T17:14:17-07:00March 22nd, 2026|Tags: book review, Jennifer Van Der Kleut, read, reading, The Better Mother, thriller|

Primitive War

"The jungle doesn't just have eyes, son. It has teeth." Author: Ethan Pettus One of my earliest memories is sitting in a boxy 80s car in the rain at a drive-in-theater in Memphis, TN, watching the T-Rex break free from its enclosure to wreak some dino havoc on Hammond’s new, spared-no-expense theme park. As a little girl, that movie stuck with me, and I disappointed my poor mother by ignoring her carefully saved and cherished Barbie collection to demand toy dinosaurs instead. My childhood room was full of them, the velociraptor and T-Rex being my personal favorites. As an adult, I’m [...]

Frances Carden2026-03-22T12:40:46-07:00March 22nd, 2026|Tags: book review, dinosaurs, horror, military, read, reading, science fiction, thriller|

Killing for Company

"I worshiped the art and the act of death, over and over." Author: Brian Masters I heard about the case of Dennis Nilsen for the first time through an episode of Bailey Sarian’s Murder, Mystery, and Makeup. Nielsen lured twelve men to their deaths and then kept, slept, and posed with their corpses until finally he disposed of them – at first through fire and then through dismemberment and flushing their flesh down the toilet. He was caught because of the plumbing problems in his boarding house; when the plumber discovered human flesh clogging the drains, it was over for Nielson, [...]

Frances Carden2026-03-21T19:00:55-07:00March 21st, 2026|Tags: book review, Dennis Nilsen, Killing for Company, read, reading, serial killer, true crime|