GoodReads Monday

This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. It is now being hosted by Budget Tales Book Blog. To participate, choose a random book from your GoodReads TBR and show it off. Which sounds easy enough until you have to decide how to choose that book! I think I will use a different way each week, like picking a color or number of pages. I will let you know each week how I chose the book and then something interesting about it, like how it ended up on the list or why I want to read it. Got it? Okay let’s get started.

This week’s pick is a book that comes out in July that I am pretty excited about. I found this book while I was searching around for a book to read in July for one of my challenges. I read another book by this author, Five Total Strangers, and liked it, so I thought I would try out another of her books. This one takes place in the desert and sounds pretty intense.

49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards

Publication Date: July 2, 2024

Summary from Goodreads:

Four days alone in the desert. Except they’re not as alone as they think. A year ago, Katie and her cousin Aster survived a night that left their world and easy friendship fractured. Desperate to heal and leave the past behind them, they tackle four days of hiking in the Utah backcountry. But the desert they’ve loved for years has tricks up its sleeve. An illness, an injury, and a freak storm leave them short on confidence and supplies. When they come across a young couple with extra supplies on the trail, they’re grateful and relieved―at first. Riley exudes friendliness, but everything about her boyfriend Finn spells trouble. That night, after some chilling admissions about Finn from Riley, Katie and Aster wake to hear the couple fighting. Helpless and trapped in the darkness, they witness Riley’s desperate race into the night, with Finn chasing after. In the morning, they find the couple’s camp, but Riley and Finn? Vanished. Katie is sure Riley is in trouble. And with help a two-day hike away, they know they are the only ones who can save her before something terrible happens. The clock is ticking and their supplies are dwindling, but Katie and Aster know they have to find Riley before Finn―or the desert―gets to her first.

Doesn’t that just sound like a great read? I did some hiking in my youth and many of the things that happen here were some of my worst nightmares. Hiking in the desert can be particularly treacherous, especially if you go off trail. Looking forward to reading this one and hope it is as good as the other book I read by this author. Do you have any books coming out next month that you are looking forward to? Until next time…