Strange Buildings

 By: Uketsu  

Location: FIC Mystery

Genre: Mystery

Series: Strange Houses  # 2

"Strange Buildings is the kind of mystery that leaves you staring at your ceiling afterward, thinking about walls, doors, and the things people try to hide behind them" Nilufer.

Dark. Clever. Disturbing. Completely unforgettable.

From the bestselling author of Strange Houses and Strange Pictures comes a mesmerizing novel of eleven strange buildings and one terrible secret.

A lonely hut in the woods.
A murder house.
A hidden chamber.
A mysterious shrine.
A home in flames.
A nightmarish prison. . . .

Each of the buildings in this book tells a chilling story. Each one is part of a puzzle. Look closely . . . and you'll see that everything is connected. All leading to a revelation so horrifying you won't want to believe it.

Millions have become addicted to solving Uketsu's dark mysteries. Strange Buildings is the strangest, and darkest, of them all.

“the truth is powerless against the media’.”

― Uketsu, Strange Buildings

The Kings of Avalier Series #1-4

 By: Leia Stone  

Location: FIC STO

Genre: Romantasy

The Kings of Avalier Series:

 Book One: The Last Dragon King, 
 Book Two: The Broken Elf King, 
Book Three: The Ruthless Fae King, 
Book Four: The Forbidden Wolf King. 

"Seriously love this series. Loved the beginning of the book and the queen trials and watching there relationship regrow. Also the ending! seeing it all wrap up and the whole final battle was just amazing all there teamwork was so insane. Just love the relationships and strength of all the characters in this series." Sophie

The Kings of Avalier is a completed, four-book young adult paranormal fantasy and romantasy series by USA Today bestselling author Leia Stone. The books are inter-connected standalones, each tracking a different powerful king who must find a mate, alongside fierce heroines navigating dangerous trials, secrets, and forced betrothals.

Chronological Reading Order

• Book 1: The Last Dragon King)
  • Plot: King Drae Valdren needs an heir with strong magic. Arwen Novakson, a seemingly low-magic mixed human, is unexpectedly chosen by the magic sniffers—but she carries a dangerous family secret that could get her killed by the king. [
• Book 2: The Broken Elf King (Published November 2022)
  • Plot: In a desperate bid to save her sick aunt, 19-year-old Kailani takes out an unpayable loan. When she ends up at the mercy of the Elf King, he proposes a fake marriage, leaving her struggling not to fall in love for real. 
• Book 3: The Ruthless Fae King (Published February 2023)
  • Plot: Princess Madelynn is forced by her father to marry Lucien Thorne, the notoriously cruel Winter King. However, as she uncovers his dark family history, her fear turns into a fierce desire to protect him. 
• Book 4: The Forbidden Wolf King (Published May 2024)
  • Plot: Zara, a fierce warrior from her wolf pack, enters the deadly Queen Trials hosted by King Axil Moon—the man who broke her heart years ago. While she enters seeking revenge, she quickly discovers things are not what they seem.

She's Not Sorry

 By: Mary Kubica  

Location: FIC KUB

Genre: Thriller

It was great; a lot of fun. I would recommend it to the world. Intriguing, suspenseful and full of drama. If you read for fun, escape, or for jaw-dropping intrigue, pick this one up! Megs

Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mum to a teenage daughter and working as a full-time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma, having plunged from a bridge onto train tracks below.

But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin pushed and if so, by whom and why?

Meghan has always tried to stay emotionally detached from her patients, but this time, she mistakenly lets herself get too close, until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late, does she realise that she and her daughter could be the next victims.


Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Claire Douglas and Freida McFadden

Nilufer: This is a heart-throbbing thriller that I couldn't put down as soon as I was hooked from the first page. The well-executed mysteries keep you on the edge of your seat, making your stomach churn, your nails bitten, your throat constricted, your heart beating faster, and your hyperventilation score hitting the roof. Mary Kubica deftly juggles several plot threads, creating so many eccentric loopholes that may be connected to each other, which pushes your brain cells to work harder to connect the puzzle pieces and see the big picture.

Three

 By: Valerie Perrin  

Location: FIC PER

Genre: Mystery

From the international bestselling author of Fresh Water for Flowers, a beautifully told and suspenseful story about the ties that bind us and the choices that make us who we are.

1986: Adrien, Etienne and Nina are 10 years old when they meet at school and quickly become inseparable. They promise each other they will one day leave their provincial backwater, move to Paris, and never part.

2017: A car is pulled up from the bottom of the lake, a body inside. Virginie, a local journalist with an enigmatic past reports on the case while also reflecting on the relationship between the three friends, who were unusually close when younger but now no longer speak. . As Virginie moves closer to the surprising truth, relationships fray and others are formed.

Valérie Perrin has an unerring gift for delving into life. In Three, she brings readers along with her through a sequence of heart-wrenching events and revelations that span three decades. Three tells a moving story of love and loss, hope and grief, friendship and adversity, and of time as an ineluctable agent of change.

Review by Penk- Goodreads

‘Thank goodness that life, occasionally, perseveres.’

This book was a wild ride and I quite enjoyed the time spent in Perrin’s words along with her characters. Three will certainly keep you turning pages and will bring back nostalgia for the loved ones of your youth. I found it easy to care for these characters despite their flaws, even when they were such shits, because the dynamics worked so well. There is a wonderful attention to music, with a big playlist of all the characters favorite songs popping up through the pages, and it captures how song lyrics can be so meaningful to us in times of need. A big book with a big heart, Three is a fun read.

The Other Catherine

 By: Lauren Kennan  

Location: FIC KEE

Genre:  Historical Fiction- NZ

A new novel from the best-selling author of The Space Between.

Two worlds, two women, one story . . .

In 1793, eighteen-year-old Catherine is sentenced to transportation on the Tempest, a convict ship bound for New South Wales. Trapped below deck with scores of women, she endures storms, brutality and loss, while dreaming of freedom on the shores of a country far from home.

A century later in Aotearoa, Māori matriarch Keita stands amid the ruins of her whānau and the encroaching world of settlers, whalers and empire. Disturbed by the long reach of colonial change, Keita begins to unravel her own story.

Spanning seas and generations, The Other Catherine is a luminous tale of survival, whakapapa and female friendship, for readers of Jenny Pattrick and Tina Makereti.

For a full review go here https://www.nzreviewofbooks.com/the-other-catherine-by-lauren-keenan/

"Readers hoping for a vast historical epic may be disappointed, for Keenan is too meticulous a storyteller to opt for familiar dramatic tropes. Instead, she gives us a carefully constructed study of memory, grief, the stories we tell ourselves, the myths we build. ‘Memories take mere seconds to recall, though they cover long stretches of time, major events and shifts in fortune, lives lost and journeys taken.’" NZ REview of Books

Review by David Hill

It's a novel with good variety of pace; Keenan knows how to focus on a significant moment, build a vivid scene around it, then swoop forward – or backward – to another dramatic event. She controls a couple of substantial casts adroitly, even if a few military males don't rise much above caricature. There are some effective flicks of comedy: you'll enjoy the stroppy Irishness in some of Catherine's fellow convicts, and the young Keita's perspective on praying.

'Aren't family stories an interesting thing?' the author asks in her Historical Notes. She's made them so here. Just occasionally, the dialogue can feel a shade formal or fact-heavy, but more plaudits to her for the meticulous, respectful, rich use of Te Reo throughout the book. It’d be really great if David Seymour and his party's MPs read The Other Catherine and learned from it. Once again, I'm not asking for much, am I?

Training John and Murray

 By: Martin Clunes 

Location: NF 920 CLU

Genre: Dogs- Jack Russell Terrors!

We had a Jack Russell- Foxy Cross.  I could write a book too- Training Rex!  I needed this book when he was a pup!

I mean if anyone can train them surely Doc Martin can!

Heartwarming and hilarious tale of canine catastrophe with a happy ending, from Doc Martin's Martin Clunes, will bring a smile to the face of dog lovers everywhere . . .

When Martin Clunes welcomed two adorable Jack Russell puppies into his Dorset home, he imagined idyllic walks and loyal companionship.

Instead, the two brothers unleashed a whirlwind of chaos.

Only then did Martin and his wife, Philippa, learn about littermate syndrome. Shredded furniture was going to be the least of their problems. These puppies were out of control and possibly even lethal...

Driven to their wits' end, the couple embarked on a desperate search for help. But restoring order wasn't going to be easy...

Heartwarming and hilarious, this canine catastrophe with a happy ending will bring a smile to the face of dog lovers everywhere.

The Mademoiselle Alliance

 By: Natasha Lester 

Location: FGIC LES

Genre: Historical Fiction 

 A review by Kate Quinn:

Just read this one for a cover quote and it will stay with me a long time--a passionate, fiery tribute to a historical woman so extraordinary she almost defies belief. Marie-Madeleine is a young Parisienne with style and verve to burn, equally happy cuddling her young children, driving racecars, or learning to fly planes--but she'll need more than verve when her beloved France is invaded by the Nazis. Recruited to help build a resistance network known as Alliance, she lives on the run and comes to command thousands who revere her, even as she grieves the necessity of sending her children away to safety, and mourns every time she loses one of her spies to the Gestapo. Natasha Lester writes with razor-sharp research and evident admiration for a woman whose name deserves to be blazed across the pages of history.

How did a young Parisienne mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in France? A powerful, heartbreaking historical novel by the New York Times bestselling author

Morocco, 1928. Eighteen-year-old Frenchwoman Marie-Madeleine is not the kind of woman who goes through life sitting down, something her new husband can attest. Her unconventionalities - rally car driving, flying planes and dabbling in intelligence work for the government - earn her a reputation, but she knows who she is at an adventurer.

Paris, 1938. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, a chance encounter with a mysterious man codenamed Navarre turns Marie-Madeleine's life upside down. Recruited to help build a resistance network known only as Alliance, she conceals her identity - and gender - as she navigates a perilous double life away from her children and the man she loves. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away.

Bestselling Australian novelist Natasha Lester passionately brings to life the true story of one of history's unsung Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII France. Her story is one of epic love, tragic loss and magnificent leadership.