This month I read 2 books, making my 2017 total 26.

• Severe Clear (Stone Barrington Series #24) by Stuart Woods – Once I get on a roll with a favorite author, I can’t stop myself from plowing through a series. I am trying to alternate between Woods’ books and others so I don’t go through them too quickly and so that I read other things! This was one another fast-paced mystery. The main story took place in L.A., at the opening of The Arrington hotel, that Stone opened in honor of his late wife. There was a terrorist plot to blow up the hotel and most of L.A. I liked that as the reader, I knew about the plot before the main characters. It was interesting to know the specifics and then watch as they unfolded.
• The Lying Game by Ruth Ware – I saw this book on celebrity and bloggers’ lists of must-read books this summer, so I had to add it to my list. This is the third book I’ve read by the author, and they’ve all been good mysteries in different ways. The Lying Game is invented by four teenagers at boarding school. Though it starts off as a way to ease their boredom and loneliness, it turns into a life of torture, as they are forced to keep a deadly secret that causes them to lie to everyone for decades. All of the characters were hard to love or even like, throughout this story, but I was glad when Fatima, Thea, and Isa figured out the lies that Kate had told them to keep them save over the years.