The Running Bibliophile

Desperation by Stephen King is a chilling horror novel set along the desolate stretch of Interstate 50, where travelers may stumble upon the eerie, nearly abandoned town of Desperation, Nevada ...  a place where stopping could cost you your life. Beneath the surface of this lonely desert town, an ancient and malevolent force is unleashed, possessing the bodies of its residents one by one. In Desperation , no one is safe. You can run, but you can't hide. Have you ever come across a book so relentlessly bleak that it took you years to finish? Desperation was that book for me. While it’s undeniably well-written, the overwhelming sense of dread and emotional heaviness made it difficult to read for long stretches. I found myself repeatedly setting it aside in favor of lighter novels, only to return when curiosity and determination pulled me back in. At one point, I gained enough momentum that I was determined to push through and finally finish it, despite its deeply unsettling ...

11/22/63  by Stephen King opens with high school teacher Jake Epping being recruited by his friend Al, a local diner owner, to travel back in time to 1963 and stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy . Though skeptical at first, Jake follows Al’s instructions and discovers a portal to the past. As he builds a new life in another era, he quickly learns that altering history comes with unexpected consequences and not everything goes according to plan. Who hasn't thought about time travel ... of going back into the past or jumping ahead into the future? With so many books, and movies, on this subject matter, you'd think the subject of time travel would be overdone and predictable. But, Stephen King is anything but predictable and delivers a story that feels fresh, immersive, and completely unforgettable. I frequently find myself thinking about 11/22/63 . Does the date sound familiar to you? On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, leaving the nat...

It seems as though The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was the undeniable smash hit of 2015. Everywhere I turned, someone was recommending it, and it consistently appeared on must-read lists, especially for fans of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Much of The Girl on the Train unfolds aboard a commuter train heading into London, where we’re introduced to one of the main characters, Rachel. She’s unemployed, struggling with alcoholism, and hiding the truth about her job status from her flatmate. During her daily train rides, Rachel passes by her old townhouse ... the home she once shared with her ex-husband, who now lives there with his new wife and their baby. A few doors down lives a seemingly perfect married couple, relatively new to the neighborhood. Rachel becomes fixated on them, creating imagined stories about their happy life. But when the wife Megan suddenly goes missing, Rachel believes she holds key pieces of the puzzle though the police dismiss her due to her unreliable s...

I am the type of person who will put down a book if it doesn't grab my attention within the first five pages or so, even when it comes to adult novels. The reason for this is that I just don't want to waste my time, or money, on something that isn't any good. And, yes, I'm one of those that has to own their copy. I've just now started borrowing books from the library, especially when it is a book that I am unsure of. That was exactly the case with  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children  by Ransom Riggs . I put off reading it for the longest time because I wasn't convinced I'd enjoy it. I even tried reading a few pages while browsing at my local Barnes & Noble, but it didn't immediately grab my attention, despite having an intriguing premise. Eventually, I saw that my local library branch offered both the eBook version and digital audiobook versions available, so I decided to give the latter a chance. Listening to audiobooks has neve...

After joining the Goodreads.com website to keep track of what books I was reading and which ones I wanted to read, I discovered their giveaways section where members of the site can win free books from publishers. I entered numerous giveaways hoping I'd win just one book and didn't think of much more of it. Then, during one of my many trips to Barnes & Noble, I was looking at the books on the bargain bin shelves hoping to discover my next favorite author. Because who has just one favorite author, right? While browsing, I picked up  The Spellman Files  by Lisa Lutz .  The main character was described as part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry. I decided to buy the book since it was on sale for $4.98. I promptly went home, put the book on one of my book shelves, and promptly forgot about it. Approximately a month or two later, I received an email from Goodreads.com letting me know that I had won  Curse of the Spellmans  by Lisa Lutz, which was the sequel to...

Suspicion  by Joseph Finder is a fast paced thriller based in Boston, Massachusetts. Struggling writer Danny Goodman's  life seems to be falling apart. His ex-wife recently passed away, and he's struggling to pay his daughter's private school tuition. After another student's parent being generous by loaning Danny a large sum of money via a wire transfer, he's now being scrutinized by the DEA. Holy plot twists, Batman!  Suspicion  had one plot twist after another that made the book hard to put down. Despite some of the twists being predictable, they didn't take away from the overall story. The suspense continues to grow throughout the novel, keeping readers on the edge of their seats and questioning every character and motive along the way. The only real flaw I saw with the book is that it is doubtful a person would accept a personal loan from another person they've never met before ... even if it was the father of their child's best friend. A mo...