Gracen Ridpath hosts a popular YouTube channel for stay-at-home dads, but off camera he’s still haunted by the death of his eleven-year-old sister Douggy years ago in the small town of Meander. When he mentions her death on his channel for the first time and shares a theory he’s kept quiet for years, that Douggy…
Author: Allison Speakmon
15 Books That Made Me Who I Am
Happy World Book Day. These are the books that shaped me as a reader, a person, and apparently a lifelong bookfluencer. I’ve been thinking about this post for a while. Not “what are the best books I’ve ever read” that list changes every month and depends on my mood (#moodreaderforever). But the books that actually…
Missing
In August 1990, during a sweltering London heatwave, baby Bella Carpenter is abducted from a hotel room, launching a high-profile investigation led by DI Martha Allen. When a woman named Nell Beatty seemingly returns the missing child days later, the case is quickly closed, despite Allen’s lingering doubts. Thirty years later, Nell is found dead,…
The Library After Dark
Aria Stokes, a New York bookseller, is invited on an exclusive after-hours tour of the infamous Daedalus Library; a place known for its eerie, immersive rooms and whispered hauntings. But the night takes a deadly turn when the group becomes trapped inside and discovers there’s a murderer among them. As secrets unravel and danger closes…
Too Close to Home
Nothing in Cloverhill Lakes is as perfect as it seems. When Regan Hoffman’s car explodes at a Labor Day party, killing the wrong person, the carefully curated lives of this elite lakefront community begin to unravel. As secrets surface and a neighbor goes missing, Regan is thrust into a dangerous web of lies, made even…
May 2026 | BOTM Predictions
With a new month coming up, I’ve been looking at upcoming releases and trying to get a feel for what Book of the Month might pick. They usually aim for a mix across genres: something buzzy, something accessible, and at least one or two titles that feel like strong book club picks. I tried to…
May 2026 | Aardvark Predictions
With May right around the corner, I’ve been looking ahead at upcoming releases and trying to guess what might show up in next month’s Aardvark lineup. They tend to strike a balance between buzzy new titles and returning authors, usually with a slightly darker or more offbeat edge, so this list leans into that mix…
May 2026 Most Anticipated
May is shaping up to be one of those dangerously good reading months where my TBR has absolutely no chance of staying under control, not that it’s ever under control but I digress. Between buzzy new releases, long-awaited favorites, and a mix of genres that somehow all feel perfectly timed for late spring reading, I’m…
The Odds of You
Sage Collins traded her data analyst career to chase her dream of becoming an author, but after a whirlwind debut and a brutal case of second-book syndrome, she’s not sure she’ll ever write again. When a chance encounter on a flight to Comic Con accidentally links her to Theo Sharpe, a breakout British actor on…
Dark is When the Devil Comes
Dark Is When the Devil Comes is an eerie supernatural horror set in the small English countryside town of Idless. After a traumatic divorce, Hazel returns home planning to quietly regroup at her parents’ empty house and reconnect with her estranged sister, Cathy. But when Hazel never arrives, Cathy begins to worry. As Cathy searches…