John Kwiatkowski, Event Coordinator at Murder By The Book since 2010
In previous career incarnations, John has sold model and toy trains, and been a barista. Prior to joining the Murder By The Book team he managed one of the local chain bookstores. When his nose isn't in a book he loves going to concerts, seeing musicals, going to Las Vegas, and spending afternoons in Hermann Park.
John's favorite authors include: Arturo Perez-Reverte, Tasha Alexander, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Daphne Du Maurier, Wilkie Collins, Jacqueline Susann, Victoria Laurie, Mary Kay Andrews, Beatriz Williams, and Jon Steele.
For additional cozy mystery recommendations, check out John's Cozy Corner.
John's 2017 Top 10:
1. I Found You by Lisa Jewell
2. The Book of Dust Vol. 1 by Philip Pullman
3. Final Girls by Riley Sager
4. Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
5. Death In St. Petersburg by Tasha Alexander
6. The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
7. The Address by Fiona Davis
8. The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
9. Death on Tap by Ellie Alexander
10. The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack
Discovery of the Year - Mary Kay Andrews
A super fun prom night heist! - John
Quincey was the sole survivor of an attack that left all of her friends dead. She and two other women who survived similar, but unrelated, attacks have been dubbed The Final Girls When one dies, and the other shows up on Quincey's door, the normal life she has built for herself comes crashing down. If you grew up reading Christopher Pike or RL Stine, and miss late 90s slasher movies like 'Scream' or 'I Know What You Did Last Summer', you will DEVOUR Final Girls. - John
Amber thinks she deserves Daphne's life, and she will stop at nothing to get it. Will she get it? Will her past catch up with her? It's inevitable that this book is going to get the Girl book comparisons (Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train), and they're wrong. There's no unreliable narrator here. It's The Talented Mr. Ripley meets Big Little Lies. I couldn't put it down. It's bonkers and delicious. It's been a while since I had this much fun reading a book. - John
Three astronauts are picked for the first manned mission to Mars, but before they can go to Mars they must survive a 17 month simulated mission on Earth. The Wanderers($27) is a beautiful book, told from the perspective of the astronauts, their families, and the staff of the company running the simulation. Howrey plays with perception brilliantly. The astronauts must examine how they see themselves in space, but they're not the only ones affected by space. Spaces changes everyone in their lives. The Wanderers is a quiet book, but it's one I haven't stopped thinking about since I finished it months ago. It's a space book, but it's not about space, like Station Eleven was a plague book that wasn't really about a plague (in fact I've seen the book described as Station Eleven meets The Martian).
I don't even know how to review this one other than to say it reads like an extravagant opera, and I'm obsessed with it. - John
