Tackling the TBR | Week 25 | Jul 1 - Jul 7, 2025

Here we go!

This is year SIX of Tackling the TBR. When I started this mess  I was well over 5,000 books on the TBR, so to be where I am now is pretty incredible.

I will post on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and last day of the month.

Previous Week's TBR Total: 1,720

On My 'Currently Reading' Shelf
(This does not mean I am reading all of these at once. As soon as I get a book from the library, NetGalley, a publisher/author/marketer, or - for not much longer - Prime, I put in on my 'Currently Reading' shelf. Yes, I know I have a problem. No, I don't want to do anything about it.)

Books Read

Books DNFed: 0

Books Added to TBR: 0

Books Removed from TBR: 28

Duplicates Removed: 

New TBR Total: 1,691

Happy Reading!
Sarah

NetGalley ARC | Who Haunts You

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐

Bex is a neurodivergent senior in high school, trying her best to navigate her world and graduate. When her classmates start dying, Bex is certain the deaths are all connected. As she investigates, she finds that each victim believed they were being haunted by long-dead relatives - ones that their families swear never existed. When Bex is visisted by her own possible ghost, she knows she must solve the mystery or she will be next to die.

Seeing Bex navigate this experience as someone on the autism spectrum was really interesting. I have worked with many students with autism and appreciate a realistic portrayal. I also appreciated the fact that the author acknowledges there is truly a spectrum, and varying degrees of autism. Accurate portrayals are so important - all kids need to see themselves reflected in what they read and watch, so I am glad that Bex was a fully fleshed-out, developed character.

The story is not long, coming it at under 200 pages. For the most part it was fairly fast-paced as Bex works quickly to understand what is happening.

My main issue, and thus the reason for only three stars, is entirely because of the ending. It felt really rushed and thrown-together. Switching from a paranormal thriller to a psychological thriller was incredibly jarring. I didn't hate it, I just wasn't expecting it. Had the book been a little longer, a better ending could have been possible.

I would still recommend it, however, for all the positives related to the presentation of someone with autism.

Book Review | The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I went back and forth on this one, debating 3 or 4 stars because it did get repetitive at times, but in the end the amount of research the book contains won out.

The Victorians loved a good murder, and this book is a social history on one particular kind of murder - poison. The nineteenth century was peak-time for poison, though it had obviously been available many centuries earlier. The author addresses the class and gender issues of those most likely to use which poisons and why.

1800s England was a time when the poisoner reigned supreme, going head-to-head with authorities to commit their crimes for various reasons. Authorities had quite the uphill battle. Testing for poisons was in its infancy, with the first textbook on these toxins and their effects being published in 1814. But the field took off rapidly and by mid-1800s work was being conducted at hospitals and universities to study various poisons, how to detect them, and possible antitdotes.

The author takes care to look at the evolution of issues which many times led to these crimes - to get rid of spouses, parents, or children - sometimes to collect the insurance money. There are also cases of employees taking revenge on their employers. She also focuses on scientific developments of detecting poisons and how these crimes were prosecuted.

For a long time aresenic was the most common poison used and this one is the main focus. It was the easiest to get a hold of, as it was used to kill rats and no one batted an eye when a woman purchased large amounts. Thus, it was also the poison most commonly used by women to commit their crimes because they had easy access to it.

This was a time when science and law were starting to work together, sort of. As doctors and scientists developed methods for detecting poisons, egos inflated big time. No longer would prosecution have to rely only on reports of the victim's symptoms prior to death and hope it was enough to (sometimes wrongfully) convict. Instead, these doctors and scientists became "expert witnesses" for both prosecutors and defense teams, as we are familiar with today. Issues arose quickly, however, with the men most often trying to one-up each other with their knowledge, overwhelming juries with scientific explanations that they didn't wholly understand, and frustrating the public when a verdict was given that was clearly incorrect.

The repitition that bothered me comes in the format of the book. Each chapter begins with a specific case. We learn about the victim and killer, the course of events that led to the victim becoming ill, whether or not they died, and exhumations when necessary if poison was not considered a possibility immediately following the death. Then the trial, and executions of the convicted.

After the specifics on the importance of said case, the author discusses how this case contributed to the development of detecting poisons or the laws necessary to keep poisons out of the hands of the public. We are introduced to the men involved in either aspect and their work.

While all of this is necessary, it did make for a slog to read sometimes. I would sometimes skim the cases to see the gist of what happened, then focus on the developments in science and law as a result.

Even so, I would still recommend this one to anyone with an interest in this fascinating period.

Stacking the Shelves #340

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Reading Reality. It is a chance to showcase all the goodies you've collected throughout the week, whether they're bought on-line or in-store, an ARC or a final copy, borrowed from a friend or the library, physical or digital, etc.

I've added a section to indicate if a book is from my TBR. Maybe that will shame me into focusing on the TBR because so far nothing else has worked 🤣

Prime First Reads

Library Treasures

Happy Reading!
Sarah

NetGalley ARC | That's Not My Name

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐

A teenage girl wakes up on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere, her memories of who she is or how she got there are gone. A police officer comes along and picks her up, taking her to the station. A man arrives later, sick with worry, having been looking for his daughter for hours. He claims to be the girl's father, her name is Mary. He has her school ID and birth certificate, Wayne must be her dad, right?

Lola and Drew had a huge fight and she got out of the car, storming off to who knows where. Drew expects that after they both calm down, he and Lola will talk things through. Except now Lola is missing and everyone in town thinks he murdered her.

I love a good mystery and the premise made it seem like this would be a good one.

Psych!

It was not.

I can't for the life of me understand how it is rated so highly, or how it managed to be a Goodreads Choice nominee. The only reason I gave it a second star was because this one did not have a happy ending. Too often that is how YA thrillers end, and that's just not how life works; people don't always get what they want. Otherwise this would have been just one more disappointing predictable waste of time. Instead, it was only a disappointing predictable waste of time until the end.

All of the characters were annoying, except Madisen. And not just high school annoying, but annoying annoying. I don't mind unlikable characters, if they're written well and it furthers the story. But they're not unlikable in any way that makes sense, they just...are. And poorly written, at that. So messy.

There were so many plot holes, the book might as well have been made of swiss cheese.

The biggest one of all, was the 'mystery' of whether or not Lola was Mary. And it's not a spoiler to say she was, in fact, NOT. Lola had been missing for over a month, yet Mary's story takes place in a few days. How was this not taken into consideration? Was the author just counting on readers to not pay attention to the timelines? If so, how insulting. If not, then the author is not so smart.

The second thing that makes no sense is WHY DID WAYNE EVEN GO TO THE POLICE STATION?? He had no way of knowing that Mary had amnesia. All he knew was that she had somehow escaped captivity and he had to find her. But he thought it would be a good idea to look for her at the police station because...why? If she did not have amnesia and had been able to tell the police he had kidnapped her, he'd have been arrested the moment he walked in and Mary started screaming that he was her kidnapper. Makes zero fucking sense.

There are so many more examples that honestly, it's exhausting. If Mary had been in a car accident, where was the car? Why did the police not go back to the scene and investigate? She was so injured she could barely move, so it's not as though the car could have been miles away. And why didn't Drew just come out and say he and Lola had broken up? Doing this would have actually helped prove his innocence.

If you can ignore these, and other, gaping plot holes and inconsistencies, then by all means - go ahead and waste your time. Otherwise, not recommended.

Book Review | The Lady in the Cellar: Murder, Scandal and Insanity in Victorian Bloomsbury

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not having the answer is sometimes a fact of life. There's something about Victorian-era murders that are deeply fascinating to me. Maybe because the Victorians were super obsessed with murder themselves and it's interesting to be obsessed with people who are obsessed with murder.

Living in a boarding house in the Victorian era was not uncommon, and naturally there were varying degress of respectability associated with various homes. Some were well-kept, fully-staffed, and catered to this with a bit more money. Others, not so much.

Number 4 Euston Square in Bloomsbury was definitely the former. The home provided comfort and hospitality to many tenants over the years it was in operation, though one disappeared without a trace and what followed was an absolute chaotic series of events.

While tenants paid rent, something not included was coal to heat one's room. When a new resident was moving in, space needed to be cleared in the cellar to accompany the coal the gentleman brought for his stay. In that space was discovered the badly decomposed body of a former tenant, Matilda Hacker. She'd not been seen in two years, yet she'd never left the property. Clearly someone in the home had killed her, but who? One of the owners? An employee, or fellow resident? Yet even now, there is still no clear-cut answer. Given the clotheslines tied tightly around her neck, all that is certain is that she was murdered.

Matilda Hacker's life was as puzzling as her death. The wealthy heiress had never married and was in her sixties at the time of her death. She preferred to dress as a young girl desite her age (which is not a big deal now, but then it was seen as absolutely ridiculous). There is some conflicting information about her final years regarding her behavior and it is likely that some kind of mental illness was the root cause of either or both scenario being true. Matilda often used aliases and moved constantly around the city and country despite owning property, convinced that she was being stalked. She also was avoiding paying taxes on her land, so the aliases came in handy for avoiding the law as well as the supposed stalkers.

The shear amount of research that went into this book makes it worth the read. The author uncovered heaps of information about all of those involved, from those trying to solve the case to those who desperately wanted their roles to remain hidden. You will not be surprised by the policework in 1879, no dount if you are interested in this corner of the Victorian era, you've read plenty about Jack and what the constables were up against in trying to solve those murders. But the author details their work in such a way that you see their hard work and so badly want them to get their man (or woman).

The story is well-written and I feel like it really presented life as it was in the late 1870s. Readers are completely immersed in the Victorian world brought vividly to life, while attempting to figure out what happened to cause the death of Matilda Hacker.

Highly recommended.

Book Review | Into the Taylor-Verse: Taylor Swift's Song-Writing Eras

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This would be a great gift for the Swiftie in your life, or the new listener who wants to know more about one of the greatest music icons of all time.

The book gives an overview of both her life and her work, accompanied by illustrations from each era.

Time and again, those who are not fans are dismissive of her song-writing, claiming all Taylor writes about are her exes. This could not be further from the truth, and that's what makes her so universally appealing. Are there numerous break-up songs? Of course. But what artist doesn't use their personal life to make music? Taylor touches on so many more topics than that though, and this book showcases her talent beautifully. From Debut through Midnights, Taylor captures the feelings of growing up, young adulthood, and the real world - and all the highs and lows that come with each stage of life she's experienced thus far.

Beyond a detailed dive into Taylor's skills as a songwriter, the author looks at her discography as a whole (except for Tortured Poets, which must have come out after the book went through final editing or went to print?), the showmanship and creativity she pours into her tours and live performances, and so much more.

I'm not sure I can truly describe how much Taylor's music has impacted me. Prior to the Eras Tour, I only owned Fearless, which came out in 2008. But Eleanor was a massive fan and begged me to really listen to Taylor. I resisted for months, but finally gave in, and nothing has been the same since then. The emotion that Taylor puts into all her work is absolutely captivating. She can have me in tears as I scream-sing a song that has not been applicable to my life in twenty years. But that is her gift. She taps into these deep wells of emotion and truly heals, long after the cuts have scabbed over but never gone away.

Through her music, we see Taylor's personal growth as well and her development as a songwriter and performer. Her stories are universal, and that's why her music evokes such powerful responses from fans; she is just like us.

In addition to looking at the music, the author also drops in other content that I enjoyed. There's a playlist of songs that are not about exes, mini-bios of her beloved cats, and why the number thirteen matters so much in the Taylor-verse.

This was a thorough journey through Taylor's career, calling attention to the themes that flow from song to song, album to album. Each era is given its time to shine, from her beginnings as the darling of country music (she won her first Grammy awards for only her second album, Fearless - Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Album, Best Country Song [White Horse], and Album of the Year), through her complete genre shift and the dizzying heights she achieved with 1989 (one of the greatest pop albums of all time - and what's crazy is that it isn't even her best album), to her "comback" after disappearing in the aftermath and of Kim and Kanye's bullshit and lies, to her surprise Covid albums, to where she is now, the undisputed icon she is today.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Win Lose Kill Die

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Morton Academy is not for the faint of heart. The students are highly competitive and high-achievers. They have been accepted to the elite school based on academic excellence and the pressure to stay on top is intense. But one by one, the best of the best are targeted and through this series of murders it becomes clear that someone is willing to eliminate their competition in order to come out on top. There are plenty of suspects - members of the 'Jewel and Bone' secret society, the charming new student, a teacher with a not-so-clean past, or the rumored cult that may or may not exist.

Our main character is Liz. At the end of the previous school year, she was injured in an accident and spent the summer trying to recover. As the students around her begin to die, she sticks closet to her group of friends, but wonders who is really trustworthy. Given her head injury, things are not always clear. I LOVE unreliable narrators.

I'm a total sucker for a good murder mystery set in any kind of boarding school, so I tend to hold these kinds of books to a higher standard, because I love them so much.

The author did a great job building up the suspicion of various characters. While there was not a lot of room for character development given how quickly things moved, I did not feel like the characters were cardboard or indistinguishable. They each had enough of a unique voice that it was easy to keep them straight.

The ending SEEMS like it comes out of nowhere, but if you pay attention to who is at every crime scene, you'll figure it out pretty quickly. I'm kind of embarassed it took two deaths and a rusty old nail for me to figure it out.

Sociopaths are fun.

Highly recommended!