The Running Bibliophile

In Dead Girls Can't Scream by Janice Harrell, Laurie jogs by the same corner every day, but on one particular day, she sees something she's not supposed to see . . . a body being stuffed into the trunk of a car. The psycho killer knows he has to kill Laurie now that she's seen him. Will she live or die? As a teenager, I was a huge fan of The Secret Diaries trilogy and The Murder Game by Janice Harrell. Whenever I'd go to Waldenbooks bookstore at the mall, I was always eager to see if they had any other books written by her. Unfortunately, they rarely had any other books by this author other than the Vampire Twins series.  Fast forward to this year when I found out that Netflix was releasing three Fear Street movies based on R.L. Stine's book series of the same name. It made me want to reread through that book series and some of the others I had grown up on. I went on ThriftBooks.com to see if there were any books by Janice Harrell that I was unaware of, and I cam...

The Codebook Murders (Oakwood Mystery, #4) by Leslie Nagel is the latest installment of the Oakwood Mystery book series. During a summer storm, Charley Carpenter takes cover in a tunnel underneath Oakwood High School and discovers a journal written in code. With it linked to the most infamous cold case in the city, can Charley crack the code to prove Carter's innocence in the death of his girlfriend Regan once and for all? Each book in this series keeps getting better and better, and I think The Codebook Murders is my favorite yet. I couldn't wait to see how everything came together and if I was correct in my reasoning of who murdered Regan. There were quite a few red herrings, which I loved because it kept me on my toes and had me second guessing myself at every turn. Because of this, it did take me a while to figure out who the culprit was. I also enjoyed knowing that several of the places mentioned in the book are real life locations. It makes me want to explore the area ...

I finally bit the bullet and purchased some Color Street Nail Strips a few months ago when one of their sales representatives was selling them at a local fundraiser. I bought two packs for myself in the colors of Moon River and Inner Strength. The Color Street Representative demonstrated how to put the nail strips on, and it seemed relatively easy. I recently decided to put on the Moon River nail strips because I was didn't have time to wait for regular nail polish to dry. It only took approximately ten minutes for the nail strips to set and dry! Each package of nail strips also includes a wipe to clean off your nails and a mini nail file. The nail file in the package I put on is extremely cute! I loved the fact that directions are provided on each package and even tells you how to watch YouTube Videos of the process of putting on the nail strips. Putting them on was just as easy as the demonstration given by the rep. However, I did mess them up a little bit, which is to be expecte...

As a member of Influenster.com, there are times when I receive products for free in exchange for my honest review. Several weeks ago, I received a complimentary sample of OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover, along with several other complimentary samples in my vox box from Influenster.com, in exchange for my feedback. Specifically, my directions were to test out OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover on laundry. I don't typically have too many stains on my clothes, so I wanted to try it on some clothes that did have some stains or dirt on them. Knowing that my dad had been working in the yard, I headed over to my parent's house to test the product out on my dad's clothes and a few other things, including some slippers. Because the clothes didn't have too much dirt on them, I followed the directions for the lighter load. After running the clothes through the wash, my mom and I pulled the clothes out to look at them. The dirt was gone from the knees of the pants and the soles of t...

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens. Sara Gallagher's life is going the way she wants. She is engaged to a wonderful man named Evan and has a six year old daughter name Ally. To top things off, Sara's antique furniture restoration business is finally taking off. But, the only thing missing from her life is knowing who her birth parents are. When she sets out to find them, Sara is taken on the ride of her life when she finds out she's the product of her mother being raped by a serial killer. This is the second book written by Chevy Stevens and surpassed her debut novel of Still Missing in wow factor. How does this author keep churning out these fabulous stories? From page one, I was automatically drawn into the story of Never Knowing , and the story never let up. I found the main character, Sara Gallagher, to be very relatable, and with all that she's going through in the story, who could blame her for being a hot mess, especially when she doesn't fully feel like she i...

Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum, #22) by Janet Evanovich opens with Stephanie Plum needing to apprehend Ken "Gobbles" Globovic, who is a fraternity called Zeta at Kiltman College, but he has gone into hiding. On top of that, Doug Linken, who has hired Rangeman to protect him, has been killed. What is the connection between Gobbles and Doug, and how is Stephanie going to solve this mystery? When I first started reading this installment of the Stephanie Plum book series, I thought I was going to end up disliking Tricky Twenty-Two because of what happened in the beginning of the story. However, I ended up absolutely loving it. The story felt a little different the previous stories, and Stephanie didn't seem quite so inept at her job as a bounty hunter.  Lula cracked me up with her bedazzling and wearing of flea collars . . . you'll have to read the book to find out why she does this and thinks she's going to be the next Martha Stewart. I think this was one of th...

On November 15, 1959 in Holcomb, KS, four members of the Clutter family were murdered at their home. There are few clues and no motive that the police can find. Truman Capote takes a look at the murders that Perry Smith and Dick Hickock were convicted for in his non-fiction / true crime book In Cold Blood .  What made me pick up a non-fiction book such as In Cold Blood ? I don't recall why it interested me, but I'm sure it came up somehow in a book club discussion at some point. Not knowing anything about the story or the author, I wasn't sure what to expect when I read it. The brutality of what happened to the Clutter family is absolutely horrifying, and the reasoning behind it was truly awful. You'll have to read the book to find out. The first two-thirds or so of In Cold Blood was a fast paced and interesting read, but the last third of the book was painfully slow, so much so that I put the book down for several years before picking it up again and finishing. I was ...

Tippy Toe Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #2) by Leslie Meier is a little darker than the first book in this series. With the repressive heat of the summer, Lucy's ankles are swelling with her fourth pregnancy, and she's craving doughnuts. On top of her pregnancy, she's preparing her two daughters costumes for their upcoming dance recital. When a retired dance teacher goes missing from Tinker's Cove and a grumpy shopkeeper is murdered, Lucy can't help herself from getting involved in the mystery. Where I enjoyed the second installment of the Lucy Stone Mystery book series, I wasn't expecting a cozy mystery to deal with child molestation and was startled by one of the details that was provided. This is an important topic for sure, but it could be a trigger for others reading Tippy Toe Murder . I loved the fact that it dealt with dance and preparing for the annual dance recital. It brought back great memories of my dance classes and recitals, especially the things ...

Top Secret Twenty-One (Stephanie Plum, #21) by Janet Evanovich tells the story of Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter, trying to find and bring in Jimmy Poletti, who was selling more than cars in his dealership. With the help of her boyfriend, Joe Morelli, Stephanie keeps running into dead ends, so she agrees to protect former security guard Randy Briggs in hopes that he will lure out Poletti. Some of the books I've read recently were a bit dark, so I was looking for something a bit lighter, a beach read if you will. So, I decided to read T op Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich. This installment of the Stephanie Plum book series did not disappoint me, and it had me literally laughing out loud. It seems as though Joe and Stephanie are getting a little more serious about each other in this installment, so I hope they at least get engaged in one of the books that comes after this one. But, let's face it, that probably won't happen, so I won't get my hopes up too high. I l...