Tag / Stacy Willingham

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Book 55 (of 52) – Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not – Stacy Willingham

When her mother is injured in a fall, Claire Campbell returns home to South Carolina for the first time in years.  Looking to come to terms with her sister’s disappearance 22 years earlier, Claire finds herself accepting a job at a farm where her sister worked for part of that fateful summer.  When she finds an old diary, however, she starts to suspect that things on the farm may not be what they initially seemed and that the story of her sister’s disappearance, and assumed death, may not be complete.

Forget Me Not, the latest from Stacy Willingham, returns to the land of adults, although one who is looking back to her childhood in order to make sense of the trauma of her sister’s disappearance.  Overall, this was a good, interesting story, although the ending, where everyone was connected in the past, did seem a little contrived.  Here’s to whatever comes next, whenever that happens to be.

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Prolific Authors – Three Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We continue today with the 21 authors I’ve read three times, one more than two years ago.

Kevin J. Anderson

Last read in the 20th century, he’s responsible for three of the X-Files books on my shelf.

Fredrik Backman

This Swedish author has become a recent favorite, showing up once a year prior to last year, with more to come, I’m sure.

The 22 Murders of Madison May – Max Barry

Max Barry

After a 17-year break, Barry returned to my attention in 2024 with The 22 Murders of Madison May.

Adam Carolla

The former comedian and current right-wing nutjob managed to get me to read three of his podcast regurgitations before being driven away.

Bill Carter

The former media reporter for the New York Times delivered three behind the scenes looks at the television industry, including the transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno and from Jay Leno to Conan O’Brien and back again.

Supreme Justice – Max Allan Collins

Max Allan Collins

Author of all entries of the Reeder and Rogers trilogy.

Keith R.A. DeCandido

Two Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels and a Spider-Man novel make up his works.

Diane Duane

A 23-year absence was broken in 2023 thanks to Intellivore, an entry in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series.

The Fireman – Joe Hill

Joe Hill

The son of Stephen King crossed my path again following a seven-year break.

Luke Jennings

The basis of the television show Killing Eve, Jennings’ trilogy takes a wildly different path.

David Lagercrantz

Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson wrote the first three entries in the story of Lisbeth Salander.  Following his death, David Lagercrantz continued the series with three entries of his own.

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Book 15 (of 52) – Only If You’re Lucky

Only If You’re Lucky – Stacy Willingham

After sleepwalking through her freshman year after the death of her best friend, Margot finds a new group of friends, led by the alluring Lucy.  As the year goes on, she starts to come out of her shell, enjoying her new home, new friends, and new experiences, but things start to unravel after a Halloween party upsets the equilibrium.  As Margot starts to become suspicious of Lucy and her intentions, a suspicious death blows the whole thing apart.

Only If You’re Lucky, the latest from Stacy Willingham, is a departure from her earlier work as the focus is on college-aged kids rather than full blown adults.  The house the girls live in is based on the house Willingham lived in during her college days, so that seems to be the driving factor here.  Since this just was released this past January, it will probably be a while until we see something new from her.

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2023: The Year In Books

As 2023 comes to a close, my third full year of remote working, I managed to far surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 59 books, four books more than my previous high from last year and my third consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I completed the challenge in late November and surpassed last year’s total in mid-December.  I read (or listened) to 21,394 pages, by far my highest total of all time and only the fourth time I’ve passed 10,000.

Of those books, eleven were non-fiction and, of the remaining 48 novels, only four were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with 53 e-books and two audiobooks.  I continued to take advantage of my library card, which helped me procure 44 of the books I consumed throughout the year.

Over 61% of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 22 authors that I read for the first this year were:

Selma Blair Stacy Willingham Gillian McAllister Chuck Klosterman
Gabrielle Zevin Ronan Farrow Matthew Perry Amor Towles
Jason Rekulak Emily St. John Mandel Bonnie Garmus Thomas Mullen
Naomi Hirahara Maitland Ward Busy Phillips Elliot Page
Jinwoo Chong Maureen Ryan Minka Kelly Britney Spears
Emily Henry Rebecca Makkai

Jennifer McMahon, Karin Slaughter, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Erle Stanley Gardner, Grady Hendrix, Jeffery Deaver, Laura Lippman, Ruth Ware, and Stacy Willingham were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2023.

18 of the books I read were released this year, while only five of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1934.

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Prolific Authors – 2 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we start things off with the now 41 authors I’ve read twice, an increase of six over two years ago.

Max Barry

An Australian author, I’ve enjoyed the two novels of his I’ve read, Jennifer Government and Company.

Laura Caldwell

I have no idea how I came across the work of this local author, but I must have enjoyed it enough to go back for seconds.  Unfortunately, she passed away in 2020.

Michael Chabon

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the most recent of the two works of his I’ve read.  I have another, Wonder Boys, waiting in the to read pile, so he rise up some day.

Fate Of The Union – Max Allan Collins with Matthew V. Clemens

Matthew V. Clemens

The co-author, with Max Allan Collins, of the final two chapters of the Reeder and Rogers trilogy.

Ernest Cline

The man responsible for both Ready Player One and Ready Player Two.

Bill Clinton

The former president has co-written two novels with James Patterson.

Felicia Day

The first author here that I’ve happened to meet in person.

Cameron Dokey

She makes the list based on two entries in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Diane Duane

Living in Ireland, she is responsible for a Star Trek: The Next Generation book and a Spider-Man novel, of all things.

Warren Ellis

The comic writer, currently in exile after being called out for abusing women, makes the list thanks to two prose novels.

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Book 16 (of 52) – All The Dangerous Things

All The Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham

A year after the disappearance of her son, Isabelle tries to keep the case alive, appearing at True Crime conventions and conducting her own investigation.  Teaming up with a podcaster, she hopes to find some new leads, but instead starts to think that she is to blame.  Will she find a way to cut through the fog and determine what actually happened to her son?

All The Dangerous Things is the latest from Stacy Willingham, who I first discovered earlier this year.  I find that she brings a new twist to the genre here, helping keep things fresh.  I will keep an eye out for her work in the future.

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Book 6 (of 52) – A Flicker In The Dark

A Flicker In The Dark – Stacy Willingham

Twenty years ago, Chloe Davis found the evidence that put her father in prison for the murder of six teenage girls that had gone missing.  When a new set of girls start to go missing, girls with some connection to Chloe, she starts to investigate on her own.  When her suspicions turn a little closer to home, she digs deeper and discovers plenty of new family secrets, both her own and others.

A Flicker In The Dark, the debut novel from Stacy Willingham, is the latest best mystery and thriller nominee from the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards to cross my Kindle.  She puts her own spin on a familiar premise and, with her newest novel released last month, I look forward to what comes next.