Tag / Ashley Winstead

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Book 31 (of 52) – The Future Saints

The Future Saints – Ashley Winstead

Theo Ford has his work cut out for him: finagle one final record from the Future Saints before the label can drop them.  He quickly learns, though, that the band is more than they seem at first glance.  Dealing with the tragic death of their former manager, and singer Hannah’s younger sister, their new songs are a departure, more personal and connecting more with their growing fans.  The higher their professional lives go, the lower Hannah goes, as she balances her grief with her growing attraction to this new man in her life.  Can they all get it together enough to get what they want, both professionally and personally?

The Future Saints, the latest from Ashley Winstead, is a big departure from my previous exposure to her work. Basically a workplace romance, the book brings you into the world of rock and roll, which I enjoy, and grief management.  I felt for the characters as they neared their end state, dealing with the issues that brought them together in the first place and looking at their unknown futures.  Winstead is now two-for-two with me, so I look forward to diving into her work again.

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2025: The Year In Books

As 2025 comes to a close, my fifth full year of remote working, I managed to once again surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 66 books, five books more than my previous high set last year and my fifth consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I completed the challenge in mid-October and surpassed last year’s total in early-December.  I read 25,279 pages, by far my highest total of all time and just the third time I’ve managed to surpass 20.000 pages.

Of those books, only two were non-fiction and, of the remaining 64 novels, only six 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 two hard covers, three paperbacks, 61 e-books and no audiobooks.  I was forced to switch my library card from the Chicago Public Library to my local library, which slowed me down a little but still led to 55 of the books I consumed throughout the year.

Over 71% of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 21 authors that I read for the first time this year were:

Coco Mellors Aisling Rawle Stephen Graham Jones
Liz Moore Natalie Sue Kaliane Bradley
Max Brooks Mary Shelley Paul Tremblay
Nathaniel Hawthorne Kelly Bishop Tanya Pearson
Liane Moriarty Benjamin Stevenson Ashley Winstead
Ashley Elston Alison Espach Alice Feeney
Ali Land Lindsay Jamieson Jeneva Rose

Karin Slaughter, Laura Lippman, Kathy Reichs, Lee Goldberg, Stephen King, Emily Henry, Elin Hilderbrand, and Rebecca Forster were the authors that I read multiple titles from during 2025, accounting for nearly 35% of my total.

22 of the books I read were released this year, while none were released during the 20th century.  Two came from the 19th century, with the oldest first published in 1818.

Finally, the breakdown by month, which was fairly consistent across the entire year. Continue reading →

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Book 38 (of 52) – This Book Will Bury Me

This Book Will Bury Me – Ashley Winstead

Following the death of her father, a young Florida woman becomes enmeshed in the online world of true crime.  After helping to solve a local case, she is invited to join an exclusive group of volunteer investigators.  When a triple homicide occurs at a small college in Idaho, her group joins the fray looking for clues and potential suspects.  After a second trio of girls are killed on the same campus, they put boots on the ground hoping to root out the killer, who may be closer than they think.

This Book Will Bury Me is my introduction to the work of Ashley Winstead.  I’ve had my dalliances with true crime over the years, including a brief obsession with the Zodiac Killer and a nightly appointment with Forensic Files, so this was right up my alley.  I may have to look into what else Winstead has put out.