by Kristin A. Oakley | Jun 14, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister is my favorite book of 2026 (so far), and one of the best books I’ve read in the last decade. I listened to the audio book version of this psychological thriller twice, narrated by Leslie Sharp who did an excellent...
by Kristin A. Oakley | May 31, 2026 | Books and Movies, Creativity & Craft, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter
Opposable thumbs? When I attended elementary school, my teachers asked, “What makes us human? What separates us from the beasts?” They then posited the opposable thumb theory—we’re human because, unlike animals, we have opposable thumbs. That theory...
by Kristin A. Oakley | May 17, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
It’s been a while since I’ve read one of Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole/Joe Pike books, and I’d forgotten how much I love them—the humor, the smart, competent characters, the twists. His latest novel, The Big Empty, doesn’t disappoint. Ex-con...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Apr 19, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter
For this month’s Writer’s Book Club, I’m reviewing the young adult mystery One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus. In the novel, a teacher sends five high schoolers to detention for having phones—phones they claim aren’t theirs. When one...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Mar 22, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
For this month’s Writer’s Book Club, I’m tackling the spooky thriller We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook (expertly read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Corey Brill). In We Used to Live Here, Eve and her...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Feb 22, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
I picked up this month’s novel, Detour, at the independent bookstore Arcadia Books in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and couldn’t wait to get to it. Jeff Rake, creator of Netflix’s Manifest, and bestselling author Rob Hart, wrote the tale of six people...
