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Marla Thrall

@marla.reads

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Reader and Book Reviewer. Loves thrillers, romance and historical fiction. Mama 👦👶👶. Farm Wife. IVF Warrior. Wannabe Flower Farmer.

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💗 About Me 💗

Hi. 👋 My name is Marla. I’m a proud mama to one son and twin daughters. We live in the Oklahoma panhandle with my farmer husband and two dogs.

I love sharing book recommendations, reviews, and hot takes. My favorite genres are historical fiction, thrillers, and romance, but I’ll give any book a try.

Other hobbies- gardening, felt crafts, hand sewing, hiking, baking and biting off more than I can chew. I’m one of those people who sees one tutorial online and decides ‘I can do that!’ and then jumps totally into a new project. I love traveling and am currently obsessed with national parks. We are actually going to our fifth one in a year this week!

Do you have any other passions or hyper-fixations?!

*Swipe to see twelve books I rated five stars!* by @marla.reads

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2 months ago

😍 The Vibes I Bring 😍⁣
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⁣It’s the weekend and I’m snuggled up in bed watching Blue Bloods with my husband… Wild Friday night! I wanted to join this fun #thevibesibringtothefunction trend I’m seeing on #bookstagram! So stinking fun! ⁣
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⁣Quick about me- I’m a strong, bad ass mama to three kiddos who lives in rural Oklahoma. I love books, baking, gardening and spend way too much time scrolling on my phone. My favorite food today is bagels with a jalapeño cream cheese and bacon! ⁣
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⁣Do we have any thing in common? #thevibes by @marla.reads

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2 years ago

📚 Ten Books I’m Always Recommending 📚⁣
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⁣Happy Monday! Do you ever get nervous when recommending books?! I feel like reading can be such a personal journey but I feel zero doubt recommending these books to anyone. They are all absolutely fantastic! ⁣
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⁣- Beartown by @backmansk⁣
⁣- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry⁣
⁣- This Is How It Always Is by @laurie.frankel ⁣
⁣- Endurance by @stationcdrkelly⁣
⁣- The House in the Cerulean Sea by tjklunebooks⁣
⁣- In an Instant by @suzanneredfearn⁣
⁣- Dear Edward by @annnapolitano⁣
⁣- The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku⁣
⁣- Local Woman Missing by @marykubica⁣
⁣- Marmee by @sarahmillerbooks⁣
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⁣How many of these have you read? Did you love them all? by @marla.reads

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3 months ago

📚 Weekly Report 📚⁣
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⁣Reading, eating, playing, obsessing, recommending, and treating this week. Between the heat (107 degrees yesterday) and my bum gallbladder, I’ve been on the struggle bus… but I’m looking forward to a weekend with extended family! ⁣
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⁣How are you today? by @marla.reads

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a day ago

🎧 A Far-Flung Life 🎧

I loved this book! A Far-Flung Life is set in the vast outback of Australia and follows a family through a horrific tragedy. It’s a story about heartbreak, secrets and surviving.

A Far-Flung Life is emotional and atmospheric. I live somewhere very remote, but it’s nothing like the setting of this book. This lonely land is vast, isolated and unforgiving… And it felt like it’s own character in this book!

This isn’t an easy book to read. The topics it covers are often heartbreaking and heavy, but I still enjoyed following this imperfect family. I encourage you to check the trigger warnings on this one before you start it, because a lot of the plot revolves around a pretty yucky event that shapes the entire future of this family.

Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do you think you could live in the Australian outback? I’m pretty tough, but I think it would scare me away. by @marla.reads

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3 days ago

📚 Will I be continuing these book series? 📚

I have somehow started at least ten new book series in the last twelve months which is a little mind blowing… Swipe through to see if I will be continuing them!

Series mentioned:
- North Falls
- The Wolf Den Trilogy
- Bloodwing Academy
- The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion
- The Neapolitan Novels
- Dungeon Crawler Carl
- Hierarchy
- Shield of Sparrows
- Reform
- Fae & Alchemy

Do you tend to avoid unfinished series? I can’t believe I’m almost caught up with Emma M. Lion and will have to wait for #9! by @marla.reads

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4 days ago

📚 Currently Reading 📚⁣
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⁣🎧 Girls of Riyadh (98%)- This has been a semi- interesting read but the different characters have all blended together in my mind. ⁣
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⁣📱 Room for Rent (14%)- I did crafts all weekend instead of reading on my kindle but I’m excited for this one! ⁣
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⁣📱 Voidwalker (8%)- This fantasy is apparently a monster romance. We shall see if I finish it. Odds are about 50/50 that I DNF. ⁣
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⁣Life has been very cute lately. Swipe to see my garden kitty Daisy, a bunch of flowers, and a couple of hobby pictures! ⁣
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⁣What are you reading this week? by @marla.reads

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5 days ago

📚 Noelle W. Ihli Spotlight Post 📚

I read and loved The Last to Drown this week! This is a fast paced, addicting thriller set in the great outdoors. It’s a wild ride from the first to the last page and I highly recommend it to thriller fans!

The Last to Drown follows main character Kaia on a white-water rafting trip where things quickly turn sinister. The setting is remote, atmospheric and I felt a constant paranoia.

This might be a bingeable popcorn thriller, but it was also an emotional story of a really strong main character. @noelleihliauthor absolutely nailed it! Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve read six of Noelle’s backlist books! Swipe to see a quick breakdown of these thrilling books!

Thank you to @netgalley for an ARC of The Last to Drown. It is now available and on KU!

How are you today? I hosted my ten year old’s first sleepover last night and now I need a nap and about twelve hours of introverting! by @marla.reads

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8 days ago

📖 My Favorite & Least Favorite Books of 2026 📖

Anyone else shocked that we are already halfway through July?! I set down today and quickly picked my favorite and least favorite books from each month of this year. It’s been a really good reading year!

Do we share any favorites? by @marla.reads

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10 days ago

📱 Helpless 📱

What was the last book that completely caught you off guard?! For me, it was Helpless!

Helpless is a messy book about two former college sweethearts meeting after twelve years apart.

This one is technically classified as a mystery thriller, but it is much darker and disturbing than I expected…. And a lot of the time it feels a bit performative… like what can the main characters possibly do next to make theirselves more unlikable?! And then they do that! Helpless had a lot of spicy moments that took away from the overall story and felt like they were just meant to be shocking. It was over the top!

Overall- this one was just pretty MEH for me, but some earlier reviews are really loving it. Three stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner, and Jessica Knoll for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Is this erotic thriller on you TBR? by @marla.reads

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11 days ago

🎧 The Book Witch 🎧

What a lovely book! The Book Witch follows a proud book witch, Rainy March, who slips inside stories to save books from destruction by “burners.” Her life seems to be on track until she finds herself falling in love with the Duke of Chicago- a fictional detective.

The Book Witch is a magical, whimsy, and sweet love story to books, authors and librarians alike! It’s a very layered tale that kept me engaged and entertained. It’s very imaginative and perfect for those of us who love books about books! Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. The Book Witch is out now! #thebookwitch

What are you planning to read this week? by @marla.reads

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12 days ago

Happy Friday! I’ve gotten myself in a bit of a pickle… and currently have nine audiobooks checked out! Ha.

It all started a few days ago when I was researching book recommendations for my #ReadingtheWorld challenge and so many had no wait at my library!

Here’s what I have up ahead:

- The Lost City of Z (32%): Nonfiction set in Bolivia about a quest to find lost explorer Percy Fawcett.
- Book of Lives (7%): This one hasn’t captured my attention yet and it’s 26 hours long… I’m leaning towards a DNF.
- London Falling: Nonfiction.
- The Possessions of Alba Diaz: Translated historical fiction from Mexico.
- I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For: Historical fiction set Eritrea.
- Heidi: Classic children’s set in Swiss Alps.
- Girls of Riyadh: Translated fiction about life for women in Saudi Arabia.
- The Great Divide: A historical fiction about the construction of the Panama Canal.
- Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Another adventure book… this time set in Peru.

Have you read any of these? Do you think I should prioritize any of them? by @marla.reads

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15 days ago