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Have you ever read a new book without realizing there was a lot of media buzz around it?

Well, that's the exactly what happened to me with the thriller The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz, which was published by Crown Publishers earlier this year. Originally, I had stumble upon the title in the "upcoming" books section on the Barnes & Noble website. After reading the blurb, I became interested in reading the book. It wasn't until after I finished reading it that I learned about the possible "limited series" adaptation. When I say "possible," I'm referring to little fact that there has been no new news about the rumored series since February.

The book centers around Lindsay, a journalist who's trying to unravel the mystery of why her friend Edie committed suicide in 2009. After talking to their friends, Lindsay realizes her memory of the night Edie died is mostly a blur. As she tries to put the pieces of that fatal night back together, she shockingly discovers evidence that suggests Edie was actually murdered.

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$24.95; 224 pages; AMAZON

Believe it or not, 2019 marks the 100th year for Ripley's Believe It nor Not!, which was originally created by the late Robert Ripley. To celebrate this grand mark in history Ripley Publishing (a Jim Patterson Company) has recently published 100 Best BIONS (Believe It Or Not Stories), featuring the greatest Ripley's Believe It Or Not! stories from the last 100 years.

100 Best BIONS is split into five chapters: Classics, People, Animals, World, and Exhibits. The stories presented here have either appeared or been featured in other Ripley's Believe It Or Not! books, television series, cartoons, or odditoriums over the years. Each story's article is accompanied by photos (black & white and color) and/or illustrations.

Within the pages of 100 Best BIONS you'll learn about the half-man John Eck, Thomas Wedders - the man with the 7 1/2 inches long nose, the 7 longhaired musician sisters from New York, Mike the headless chicken, and many other strange facts that are almost too unbelievable to be true.

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It's been a busy and stressful year for me, which means reading hasn't been my top priority. Case in point, I'd received the historical fiction novel Between Two Shores by Jocelyn Green back in late January or early February (I don't remember the exact date!), and I attempted to read it several times. However, something always comes up and I end up putting it aside in favor of another title. I eventually took the time and read the book last month.

Set in Lachine, Island of Montreal, Quebec in 1759, the novel centers around Catherine Duval, the daughter of a French father and Mohawk mother, who must come to the aid of her ex-fiance, Samuel Crane, after he is captured by her father. He claims to have information that could help stop the war and asks her to help him escape.

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$7.99; B&N; Amazon

In the late summer of 1992, I recall browsing through the book section at a extremely small Walmart. It was there that I stumbled upon the first Goosebumps book (Welcome to Dead House) by R.L. Stine and I was instantly hooked. Fast forward to 2019, where I'm a lot older, but still a diehard Goosebumps fan!!

If you weren't already aware, the Goosebumps franchise is still going today with the latest spinoff "SlappyWorld," which features the #1 Goosebumps villain Slappy as the host of each installment. The 7th title in the series It's Alive! It's Alive! was released to bookstores in February by Scholastic.

The book centers around Livvy Jones, a young girl who's excited about participating in the Springdale Robots Meet, which is a Robotic competition. She has teamed up with her best friend, Gates Warwas, and between the two of them, they have created a life size robot, Francine, that has been programmed with the greatest abilities imaginable - cracking eggs and cooking an omelette!

Sounds exiting, right?

It's at least exciting for Livvy and Gates; well, until their robot goes berserk and attempts to do harm to the other robots on their team. Thanks goodness Livvy's parents are computer programmers and experts in artificial intelligence, as they can help reprogram the robot.

However, Francine continues to malfunction. Does the robot have a mind of its own?

Final Thoughts

Paperback; Kindle

Now available from Thomas Nelson is the contemporary romance The Memory House by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Rachel Hauck.

I have to be completely honest, I had forgot I was sent an ARC of the novel until late last week when I noticed I had a post draft setup for today's review; so I spent the weekend reading The Memory House. It's basically two stories in one that intertwine together. (Hopefully that sentence made sense to everyone!)

The first story centers around Beck Holiday, a NYC cop who inherits a house near the Florida's northern coast. Since she's on a four-week suspension for misconduct, she has nothing better to do than travel to Florida to the house that was left to her by the late Miss Everleigh, who she doesn't remember ever meeting. Upon arrival, she learns Miss Everleigh also left her entire fortune, which rounds out to be $7,000 per month!

Why doesn't she remember Miss Everleigh?

Maybe Bruno Endicott can help jumpstart her memory?

Bruno is a sports agent who was once friends with Beck when they were children. However, she has no recollection of him.

The other story centers around a younger Everleigh Applegate, a widow who is living with her widowed mother in Texas. After the loss of her husband, Everleigh slowly starts to rebuild her life, which includes Don Callhan, an old high school friend. This is a love story, so you can probably guess what happens.

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