It is 2017 and I wish a very Happy New Year to you all!

Fictionophile’s readership continues to grow!

Over the past month an additional 91 people have begun following this blog!  That makes a total of 1,070 followers altogether!   It was SO awesome to reach 1000 followers, and to surpass that just blows me away!  Thanks everyone!December’s author interview hosted a giveaway!  Eva Lesko Natiello, the author of “The Memory Box” graciously agreed to give a signed copy of her book to the lucky winner.  There were 74 people who were eligible for the draw. I input their names in “Random Name Picker”

Tammy, of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Eva Lesko Natiello congratulating Tammy!

I’ve been posting in my “Cover Love” series for some time now, AND, I have many more posts that I have planned in order to continue this series.  This month I posted my 14th entry in the series which showcased books that have keys on their covers; and my 15th entry in the series, which features letters on their covers.

I added a fourth entry in my blog series called “Mystery series to savour“.  This time I posted about the wonderful Shetland series by Ann Cleeves. Hope you follow along with me as I expound on mystery series that I have enjoyed SO much that I would, and hopefully, will, read again!

I got three new titles from Edelweiss this month.

#1   “Evensong” by Kate Southwood

Margaret Maguire: a widow and grandmother, home from the hospital in time for Christmas, is no longer able to ignore the consequences of having married an imperious and arrogant man. Despite her efforts to be a good wife and mother in small-town Iowa, her adult children are now strangers to one another, past hope of reconciliation. Margaret’s granddaughter could be the one to break the cycle, but she can’t do it without Margaret’s help. It’s time to take stock, to examine the past—even time for Margaret to call herself to account.
By turns tenacious and tender, contrary and wry, Margaret examines her life’s tragedies and joys, motivations and choices, coming to view herself and the past with compassion, if not entirely with forgiveness. Beautifully rendered and poignantly told, Evensong is a realistic portrait of a woman searching for tranquility at the end of her days.

#2   “Different class” by Joanne Harris

After thirty years at St. Oswald’s Grammar in North Yorkshire, England, Latin master Roy Straitley has seen all kinds of boys come and go. Each class has its own clowns, rebels, and underdogs—all who hold a special place in the old teacher’s heart. But every so often there’s a boy who doesn’t quite fit the mold. A troublemaker. A boy with darkness inside.
With insolvency and academic failure looming, a new headmaster arrives at the venerable school, bringing with him new technology, sharp suits, and even girls to the dusty corridors. But while Straitley does his sardonic best to resist these steps toward the future, a shadow from his past begins to stir again. A boy who still haunts Straitley’s dreams twenty years later. A boy capable of terrible things.

#3   “Abigale Hall” by Lauren A. Forry

Amidst the terror of the Second World War, seventeen-year-old Eliza and her troubled little sister Rebecca have had their share of tragedy, losing their mother to the Blitz and their father to suicide. But when they are forced to leave London to work for the mysterious Mr Brownawell at Abigale Hall, they find that the worst is yet to come…
There are tales that the ghost of Mr Brownawell’s bride-to-be haunts the desolate mansion, and in the village there are shocking rumours of maidservants meeting a terrible fate within its walls. But is it superstition that Eliza should be afraid of or is there something real and deadly lurking in the dark, dusty rooms of Abigale Hall? Yet vicious, cold-hearted housekeeper Mrs Pollard will stop at nothing to keep the mansion’s terrible secrets, and she exerts a twisted hold over Rebecca.
To save herself and her sister descending into madness, Eliza must wage a desperate battle to escape back to London and uncover the horrifying truth before Abigale Hall claims two more victims. Taut and suspenseful, Abigale Hall is a thrilling debut from Lauren A. Forry.

I got three more new titles from NetGalley. (Is there any wonder I can’t increase my NetGalley ratio???)

#1   “The Gift” by Louise Jensen

The perfect daughter. The perfect girlfriend. The perfect murder?
Jenna is seriously ill. She’s lost all hope of getting the heart transplant she needs to live. But just as her life is ebbing away, she receives a donor heart from a girl called Callie.
Who was Callie and how did she die? Jenna is determined to find out.
The closer Jenna gets to those who loved Callie, the more questions arise about her untimely death. Someone knows what happened to Callie. Why won’t they talk?
Jenna is about to uncover the truth, but it could cost her everything; her loved ones, her sanity, even her life.
A compelling, gripping psychological thriller with a killer twist from the author of the Number One bestseller The Sister.

#2  “Distress Signals” by Catherine Ryan Howard

The day Adam Dunne’s girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads “I’m sorry–S” sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her.
Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate–and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before.
To get answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground …

 #3  “Dare to remember” by Susanna Beard

Reeling from a brutal attack that leaves her badly injured and her roommate dead, Lisa Fulbrook flees to the countryside to recuperate. With only vague memories of the event, she isolates herself from her friends and family, content to spend her days wandering the hills with her dog, Riley. However, Lisa is soon plagued, not only by vivid flashbacks, but questions, too: how did their assailant know them? Why were they attacked? And what really happened that night? As she desperately tries to piece together the memories, Lisa realizes that there’s another truth still hidden to her, a truth she can’t escape from. A truth that may have been right in front of her all along.Six more review commitments!

I’ve added several titles to my elibrary.  The following titles were purchased from Amazon.ca on sale.  I’ve listed the prices below the cover.  All thirteen of them together only set me back $ 19.25  (that averages $1.48 per title – NOT BAD!)

Just click on the covers to learn more about the book via a link to Goodreads.

FREE

FREE

FREE

FREE

$ .99

$ .99

$ 1.32

$ 1.99

$ 1.99

$ 2.00

$ 2.99

$ 2.99
(I purchased this one as it was the selection of my in-person bookclub)

$ 3.99