Somebody is Walking on Your Grave

 Book 64 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from June 21 - 27

Somebody is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemetery Journeys

by Mariana Enriquez

published 2025

3 stars

The pictures were great, the history was interesting, the writing was fine.

I also have a fascination with cemeteries and their architecture and history.  The author travels specifically for cemeteries but I don't, although my husband will usually try and find a cemetery to visit during trips we're taking.  I've visited two of the cemeteries the author talked about in this book, Greyfriar's in Edinburgh and Montparnasse in Paris.

Maybe it was because it's a translation but I felt a detachment from the writing.  The author did a good job describing the history of the places she visited but I didn't feel as much emotion from her as I think she was trying to convey when talking about her reasons for visiting and how she felt when she was there.

The author seemed anti-tourist and judgmental about others, as though she was there for the "right reasons" and others weren't.  I already didn't like that but then she told the story about STEALING A BONE from the Innocents.  That's so disrespectful but to have that coupled with her writing about other visitors, it felt hypocritical.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 64th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

Rare Objects

 Book 63 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from June 19 - 21

Rare Objects

by Kathleen Tessaro

published 2016

4 stars

This was a lovely book where glittery surroundings cover dark secrets.  It ended hopefully and that made me happy but I also wanted more now that things appeared settled for the characters.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 63rd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

Eat the Apple

 Book 62 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from June 14 - 18

Eat the Apple

by Matt Young

published 2018

4 stars

The title of this memoir comes from the Marine proverb "Eat the Apple.  Fuck the Corps."  The author has a way of writing that I call "bleeding on the keyboard"...it was raw and visceral but also polished and contained.  This felt like the kind of book that was more about a cathartic release from the author than any audience that would read it.  It was gritty but not disrespectful.

The writing style of short chapters, some drawings, and different elements kept things moving and experimental but also a little detached and jumpy.  I'm not sure I would encourage the author to dig deeper without a licensed professional but it may be beneficial.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 62nd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'E' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

 Book 61 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from May 24 - June 17

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

by Julia Quinn

published 2002

3 stars

It was fine.  I liked that the conflict necessary to keep the plot moving was generated by outside forces, not back and forth denial.  They had good communication.

I'm pretty neutral on continuing the series.  I haven't watched the show but had seen enough clips that there was some familiarity up until now; continuing the books when I don't know the endings might be too much uncertainty for me to enjoy.  I have a low tolerance for problems that become bigger than they should because of simple miscommunication and that has been a trend in the series so far that I imagine would continue.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 61st book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

We Are Water

 Book 60 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from May 24 - June 12

We Are Water

by Wally Lamb

published 2013

2 stars

I know the author is well-known and well-loved but his books may not be for me.  I might try another one before completely writing him off though.

I found this book to be slow and had too many big plots happening.  I felt like every 50 pages or so I was starting a new book with a different plot.  There were things relegated to "side quests" that either should've not been included or been bigger parts of the story; I probably would've erred on the side of not including them since the book was over 500 pages.  

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 60th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I own (my goal is to continue chipping away at my shelves/boxes of unread books)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)

The Serial Killer Files

 Book 59 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from May 10 - June 10

The Serial Killer Files

by Harold Schechter

2 stars

A very low 2 stars.  It took me a month and the book is only 421 pages.  No chapter breaks and very text-heavy oversized pages made this feel like a slog.  There was also unnecessary repetition - for example, I know I read about Albert Fish sticking pins in his penis at least 3 separate times and that's without even really paying attention.  

There was a lot of information about people I hadn't heard about before so I feel this could've been improved with editing to streamline (remove repetition and have some organization with presentation) and add breaks.

As a warning, there's some pretty graphic descriptions.  That wasn't surprising based on the content and it didn't bother me but it is something I'll mention as a heads up.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 59th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)

Kills Well With Others

 Book 58 of my 2026 Reading challenge

read from May 24 - 29

Kills Well With Others

by Deanna Raybourn

3 stars

I read this book immediately after the first one.  I think it would've been 3 stars for me anyway but I'm also factoring in that I gave Killers of a Certain Age 4 stars and enjoyed this book quite a bit less.

The fun and wit was missing as they all fought with each other with no counterbalance, the case itself was more convoluted, and another book of every single bad guy dying without any loss of a good guy takes away some of the suspense.  Not that I'm advocating for anyone to die but it becomes clear the author isn't willing to take risks, even with side characters, and that changes the way I read it.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 58th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)