My first post in a new blog for 2025! BookBirdDog (Book Dilettante) has been retired, and I'm starting anew.
Welcome to my new blog: Harvee Reads
How did I start the new year, apart from starting a new blog?
I am still a huge NetGalley fan, and don't mind reading advance copies of books. They are, after all, the writers' galleys before final editing and final print, and their own words matter a lot to me before they are polished and possibly changed by editors and publishers.
My planned January reads? Books soon to be published this month.
To Have and To Hold by Lilly French
a psychological thriller with a dramatic ending
To be published Jan. 17, 2025; NetGalley
Description: Emma and Luke seem to have a perfect marriage until Emma discovers a hotel receipt in Luke's pocket. This leads to at a secluded, supposedly romantic weekend for the two.
Unfortunately the goodreads readers rated the thriller only 2.43 stars.
The Lost House by Melissa Larsen
Publication Jan. 14, 2025; Minotaur; NetGalley
Setting: Icelandic winter landscape
Description: A young girl, Agnes, returns to her ancestral home in Iceland to investigate a murder in her family forty years previously. Is it a coincidence a local girl goes missing the very same weekend Agnes is in Iceland? A thriller packed with plot twists.
Strange Pictures by Uketsu is described as horror, mystery and thriller, adult fiction. I don't normally read horror novels but I'm intrigued by this Japanese mystery. The strange pictures have a backstory that connects them.
Publication: Jan. 14, 2025, HarperVia, NetGalley
I have to find some lighter reading inbetween those three thrillers.
Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter
Publication: Jan. 14, 2025; Berkley, NetGalley
Description: a romance with a Meet-Cute trope begins with a stolen latte that Amy spills all over the dress shirt of the man in line behind her
Will I actually read all three thrillers? Depends on how far I get into each book and if they hold my attention.
In My Mailbox
Publication: April 1, 2025; Soho Teen ARC
Description: A lyrical, mythology-tinged debut novel about a Chinese-Filipino teenager whose world of daydreams is destroyed by a family secret. Selina Li Bi’s magical debut perfectly portrays the pain of growing up in a less-than-magical world and introduces a remarkable new voice in young adult fiction.
I'm interested in the mythology in this YA novel.
Please visit Mailbox Monday at I'd Rather Be Reading at the Beach, each week to see books bloggers received.
What are you reading or watching this wintry day?
Congratulations on the new blog! Looks great of course! And now everyone will know the girl behind the books!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Suzannne. I'm so glad you found me.
DeleteCongratulations on the new blog! I enjoy Lynn Painter’s books and To Have And To Hold looks compelling as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks, happy reader! I'm glad to hear you enyoyed Lynn Painter's books and look forward to this one.
DeleteHappy new blog! That looks like some good reading to get things started well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joy. I have already started Suddenly Amy, and liking it.
DeleteCongrats on the new blog. Enjoy your reads.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol. I hope the books all turn out to be enjoyable.
DeleteI really like your new blog, have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anonymous.
DeleteWelcome to your new blog. I hope it is a happy place for you in 2025.
ReplyDeleteAnne, I'll do my best to make it a happy place for this year!
DeleteCongratulations on your new blog. Looks like you have some good books to escape into. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI hope the books are all good, thanks, Lori.
DeleteI like your new blog very much! I always feel happy when I refresh things and make them more workable.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like to read and review galleys. You sort through things for us and help us know what to look for and what to skip! Accidentally Amy looks promising.
Deb Nance, thank you for liking the new blog. I did it quickly in one morning and am glad everyone likes it, so far!
DeleteI am also a Netgalley lover and really need to catch up on the galleys I have. Enjoy all your new additions. Happy 2025 and your new blog.
ReplyDeleteCarla, thanks. I'll never ever catch up, I don't think, tho I'd love to!
DeleteThe Lost House looks good! And I love the look of your new blog!
ReplyDeleteEager to read The Lost House too. I enjoy Scandinavian thrillers. Thanks for liking the new blog, CrackerCrumbLife.
DeleteCongrats on the new blog! I really want to start a new one, but it's overwhelming. I've had mine for over 10 years.
ReplyDeleteAj, my old blog was started in 2007 but didn't take off till 2009. It was time to retire it, and start a new one this year, I think.
DeleteWhen I first opened this link from Sunday Salon I thought, Oh you changed the look of your blog. Nice! Now I see you are starting fresh for 2025. Will update my bookmark.
ReplyDeleteThe Lost House has my attention. Sounds like a good plot and setting.
So glad you found me on this new blog, Tina. I'm glad other bloggers did too. The Lost House is one I'm looking forward to, also.
DeleteCongrats on the new blog! The colors take me back to the retro vibe of the 70's! I like it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I love those retro colors! Thanks for liking the new look, Jinjer.
DeleteOh, happy new blog! I like the colours on the background. :D
ReplyDeleteA happy blog! I love it, thanks, Nicky.
DeleteCongrats on your new blog!
ReplyDeletehttps://wordsandpeace.com/2025/01/12/sunday-post-128-ice-and-snow/
Thanks, Emma. I hope it will be one of my happy places this year.
DeleteCongratulations on the new blog! I followed you on GFC. I read and enjoyed The Lost House, but it was slow going at first and Agnes was a little annoying. Still, a solid, atmospheric mystery!
ReplyDeleteI'm eager to read The Lost House and about Agnes. Thanks for the heads up, Rachel.
DeleteI am planning to do less with Net Galley and ARCs in general this year. I like the look of your new blog and I followed :) Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the library books and ebooks are the best, though I also like seeing what new books are in the works! Thanks for visiting, and a Happy New Year to you also.
DeleteCongratulations on your new blog! The Lynn Painter book sounds good! Strange Pictures also caught my attention and I'll be curious to know what you think of it. I hope you enjoy your reading and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteStrange Pictures got my attention right away, and I hope to read it sooner rather than keep it for later in the year. Thanks, Literary Feline!
DeleteCongratulations on your new blog and first post of 2025! Looks like you have some dark, but so interesting reads coming up!
ReplyDeleteI do like thrillers and psych thriller have been popular books for me recently. But I read lighter novels inbetween. Thanks, Miaismine.
DeleteStarting over is a brave decision!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a wonderful reading week
Thanks, shelleyrae. I didn't feel very brave but determined!
DeleteI feel like you are being very brave starting a new blog from scratch! I do like how clean it looks though!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week reading and blogging!
Thanks for liking the cleaner look of this new blog, Marg. I hope I keep it uncluttered as time goes on!
DeleteI agree…I started my blog in 2010 - couldn’t even think about starting over. I don’t think I would remember how I did it. LOL!!
DeleteI am thankful to NetGalley. I’ve found some wonderful books there and am reading one now. The Lost House sounds especially intriguing. Congrats on the new blog!
ReplyDeleteI do love reading the ARCs on NetGalley. I think most of them don't change too much in the final copies.
DeleteGreat look here at your new blog! Enjoy 2025 and all those new books.
ReplyDeleteLaurel-Rain, thank you. I hope you like this new look as I just changed it.
DeleteNice looking new blog. I'm a big NetGalley fan too. Your thrillers sound good. I hope you enjoy them and your lighter title too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThank, Kathy. I just changed the new blog background to try to fix a glitch. Hope you like this one too.
DeleteCongrats on the new blog. The Last House has me curious. I love a good mystery this time of year.
ReplyDeleteThank, Kimberly. I had to change the blog background to try to fix the Follow problem, but that didn't help. Will have to figure it out.
DeleteThese all look good. I hope you enjoy them. The first one looks perfect for me even though the reviews aren't so good. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI like the premise of the first book too, Yvonne, so I'm going to try reading it regardless of the goodreads ratings.
DeleteThey all look good, especially The Lost House, I also love the cover.
ReplyDeleteI was attracted to the book cover too, Vicki. I love the color blue, as my new blog background shows.
DeleteCONGRATS on your new blog - it looks GREAT!!
ReplyDeleteNice books - I do have to say The Lost House wasn't the greatest for me. Hope it works out better for you. I have a review tomorrow.
I clicked Follow, but it keeps saying: Failed to Follow - help if you can.
Have a good week.
Thanks for letting me know about the Follow glitch. I changed the format of the blog but that didn't seem to fix the problem. Since there are a few followers listed, I'm hoping it's a temporary problem and it will fix itself soon! Fingers crossed!
DeleteOK…I’ll try again.
DeleteSomeone new just tried it, several times she said, and it finally went through and she could follow. Just a glitch, I think.
Deleteyour browser is probably preventing you from following. Try a different browser like Microsoft Edge
DeleteI’ll try on Safari. I was trying on Chrome…thanks.
DeleteJeepers Safari wouldn’t let me either. 😞
DeleteElizabeth, thanks for trying. I changed my layout several times thinking that might fix the follow button but it didn’t. Now I lost the original background and layout I had thst everyone liked do much. I can’t find it again! Really frustrating.
DeleteOh no!! Hopefully someone can help. Let me look at mine and see if I can remember how I did my background.
DeleteCheck this page: https://www.google.com/search?q=how+do+you+put+a+background+on+blogger&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS857US904&oq=how+do+you+put+a+background+on+blogger&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yDQgCEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgDEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyBwgEEAAY7wUyCggFEAAYgAQYogQyCggGEAAYgAQYogQyCggHEAAYgAQYogTSAQg3MzYyajBqN6gCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
ReplyDeleteThanks again. Elizabeth. I’ll fiddle with it for a while!
DeleteChange your blog's background image
DeleteSign in to Blogger.com
Select the blog you want to update
Click the down arrow in the top left
Click Theme in the left menu
Under "My theme," click Customize
Use the left menu to customize your background image
Click Save in the bottom right
Thanks so much!
DeleteCongratulations on the new blog! I don't do horror, but have added Sunlight Playing over a Mountain to my want to read list.
ReplyDelete