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Gretchen

@gretchensbookshelf

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📖 Sharing what I read as a 40-something mom
💕 Romance • 🔪 Thrillers • 🗝️Historical Fiction
📍 Indy
2026📚: 168/175

POSTS STORIES REELS

It’s not difficult to get sucked in to The Tribes. Heather is aimless, unmotivated, and partying her way to flunking out of college. When people from a local commune befriend her, she is drawn to the allure of fellowship and a simpler life. Told in dual timelines, The Tribes follows Heather’s descent deeper into the clutches of The Messiah Tribes and years later when she is arrested for the death of her newborn and being legally represented by a lawyer named Abby.

This story hooked me from the first page. As a reader, I wanted to scream through the pages at Heather, telling her to make different choices. There are intense moments in Heather’s timeline in the cult as well as the more present day timeline of Abby, who’s trying to build a case in Heather’s defense. I hadn’t read anything like this book before and really enjoyed it.

Thanks to @duttonbooks and @netgalley for sending me this book. This is a great debut! It is out tomorrow!

#thetribes #marihowes #upcomingrelease #mrdreads2026 by @gretchensbookshelf

🎃 October Reading 🎃

Lots of great books read this month, (and surprisingly zero thrillers for spooky month) but my favorite was:

🏴‍☠️ Never Say Die by Ke Huy Quan 🏴‍☠️

Honorable mentions to:
💞 my reread of The Bodyguard
🐉 Threshing Day
🎥 Sarah Adams’ upcoming short story
🏙️ Hollow Bones by @gretchensbookshelf

🎧 📚 Recently listened 📚 🎧
#emmamlion #butcherandblackbird #hollowbones #letskissandtell #samanthasnextchapter by @gretchensbookshelf

TFW you stumble upon a “read now” by a great author on @netgalley 🤩

I dropped everything to binge this adorable short story last night. It’s pretty amazing to create a story that allows readers to feel totally invested in such a short number of pages. Fans of @wildgeesebookshop will love the setting. Only negative is that I wished it were a full length book. 😍

This short story will be available as an Amazon collection in November! by @gretchensbookshelf

🎄Christmas and holiday-themed books have been rolling out for the last several weeks! Here are 3 I recently read. ❄️

#homeforthehomicides #minotaurbooks #thechristmasyeslist #tvmovie #piningforyou

Special Agents Holly Frost and Mark Shepherd have a bit of history. They were briefly romantically involved before he got the promotion she wanted. After a murder happens in a small town, they are thrust together to solve the case.

Home for the Homicides is a fun and light holiday collaboration between Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrisey. I really enjoyed the blend of romance with murder mystery. The town of Christmas is very Hallmark movie-coded, and the holiday and winter-themed character names made me laugh. I was incredibly entertained by this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the arc. 🎄

Chloe is a recovering people pleaser. She’s set a goal for herself to face repeated rejections to overcome the need to make things easier for others. As she arrives back in her hometown, she meets James, and decides he would be a good test subject to get rejections. But he keeps saying yes to her ridiculous requests, and as they spend more and more time together, real feelings start to grow.

This story is cute. Chloe, as a character, can be intense, but I liked the way James’ character balances her out every time he says yes. As the reader, you generally can anticipate where the story is headed, but if you are a fan of holiday movies like Hallmark’s, you won’t be bothered by that.

It’s fun to know this will be coming to tv as a holiday movie this season with Danica McKellar.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

Bennie Bosley is a queen of gift-giving and holiday spirit. She meets her dream girl while working at the local Christmas tree farm one day, but realizes after that she has no way to contact her. Using details from their conversation to piece things together, Bennie and her friends decide to travel to Brooklyn to try and find Eve again. Set during an impending winter storm, there are many wrong turns and pivots that happen along the way to Bennie and Eve reconnecting.

This is a very cute premise. I liked the setting of both the tree farm and th by @gretchensbookshelf

It’s a good mail day✉️📦📖✨
#acourtofsplinteredharmony #pubday #bookmail by @gretchensbookshelf

Not minding one bit that my Saturday morning cross country parent responsibilities are done. I’ve been looking forward to a lie-in. 😴📖🍩

I really enjoyed Bad Words. The banter between Parker and Selina is great, and the story feels very relevant to the way that people and fan bases get riled up online.

“I have exactly one life. We should all feel outraged when the irreplaceable moments of our time on earth are misspent.” -Selina

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ by @gretchensbookshelf

File this one under “what did I just listen to?” Helpless takes you on a wild and twisty ride. The characters are unhinged and unlikable, and when you think you have it figured out….you don’t. by @gretchensbookshelf

Obligatory reread of The Bodyguard ahead of the Netflix adaptation coming next month to @netflix. This time I listened to the audiobook, and I loved it just as much as the first time. 🎧 💞

Back when it was published in 2022, The Bodyguard was the first I ever read by Katherine Center, and she immediately became an auto-read author for me. Can’t wait to see the movie! 😍🤩 by @gretchensbookshelf

Recently/Currently 📚 🎧 by @gretchensbookshelf

Weird or not weird? I can’t decide. 😂 by @gretchensbookshelf

I rarely rate a memoir, but this one is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you were a child of the 80’s who grew up with Short Round and Data, or you love an underdog success story, this is a memoir for you. ❤️ by @gretchensbookshelf