Books 1 and 2 of 2022

 Book 1 of 2022:  The Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz :)

Purchased this book at the Palm Springs Airport on my way to San Jose for the Christmas holiday with family.  I didn't realize that this book was the 2nd in a series-ish sort of book.  It references things that happened in "The Magpie Murders" by the same author, without giving so much away that I knew exactly what happened, but it's not entwined so much with the Moonflower Murders that I could read it and not be confused. 

I really liked this book because it was definitely a different structure than I'm used to.  It's about an editor of a deceased author who is contacted because the parents of a missing woman think that she discovered hidden clues in a novel that pointed to a murderer of someone who was killed.  It follows the main character as she travels to England to investigate herself, then about midway through the book, the book with the hidden clues is included for you to read along with the character.  She is eventually able to put it all together, and I was guessing until the very end who the murderer was. 

I enjoyed the book.  I think someone more critical would say that the novel in the midst of the novel had the same voice as the novel outside of it, but I didn't care. I still enjoyed it.  I'm not looking to overthink what I'm reading. You'll notice, I don't read Tolstoy. 

Book 2 of 2022 (Audio):  Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng :)

This is a sad book, so my mother will love it.  I'd categorize this as a family drama book.  I listened through my audible membership as I flew up to San Jose and cross stitched while I rode the plane--both to and from. I know this is weird since I also bought a book book at the airport--but do I have to make sense when it comes to acquiring stories? No. I vote no.

This is about a mixed race family (Asian/White) in the 70's set in Ohio, near Toledo somewhere.  Very well interwoven, it involves the unexpected and unexplained death of the daughter of a family of 5.  Not told from first person perspective, the author writes different views of the events that came prior to her death, and the reactions of each family member after.  Jumps around in time from before and after the death of the middle child, who is described as the mother's "favorite."  The title leads you to believe that the book is centered around things that the family left behind did not say to the daughter/sister lost, but it is also about things that the parents never said to each other, or the other children to their parents.  Very sad, but I enjoyed it for what it was.