The Book Bag: Play Nice

Showing posts with label Play Nice. Show all posts

Monday, September 15, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? September 15, 2025 #IMWAYR

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

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I got several shorter books read this week so that really upped my 'books read' number. And the Christmas books are starting to show up. I love when that time in my reading life comes around. We also enjoyed another weekend of football watching, spending time with our son and grandson.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week.

Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Christmas People

by Iva-Marie Palmer

eARC for review

Pub date ~ September 30

Hello Wife

by Lisa K Friedman

print ARC for review

Pub date ~ September 30

The Summer Girl

by Jenny Blackhurst

audio-book from Audible

Published July 2023

What I recently finished

Messy Under the Mistletoe

(When Sparks Fly #2)
by Ashley Farley
eARC for review
Pub date ~ September 30

North of Tomboy
by Julie A. Swanson
print ARC for review
Published ~ September 2

A Carol for Mrs. Dickens
by Rebecca Connolly
e-book for review
Pub date ~ September 23

Megan's Hope
(Finding Emma #3)
Steena Holmes
e-book from my TBR collection
Published December 2014

Play Nice
by Rachel Harrison
eARC for review
Published ~ September 9
Read my thoughts here

What I am going to read next

The Storyteller

by Jodi Picoult

print from my TBR shelf

Published February 2013

I lost access to the audiobook so I'll finish it in print.

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Release Day! Play Nice by Rachel Harrison ~ My Thoughts #PlayNice

Happy Release Day!

Congrats Rachel

on release today of

Play Nice!

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

Thriller, Paranormal, 336 pages

Published September 9, 2025, by Berkley

A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Black Sheep and So Thirsty.

Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parents' messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped her of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.

After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, a sinister presence in the house manifests, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation.

My thoughts about Play Nice ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First lines—"We're coming up on midnight. The room is loud, everyone champagne drunk, ignorant of volume, and wow, the air in here is intense, all hot breath and designer perfume."

I didn't know much about this book going into it. I have never read this author but the cover intrigued me and the synopsis really grabbed me as well. So I dove in! And man, what a ride this story was! Death, family dysfunction, and then of course, there is the haunted house/demon part of the story. Is it real? Or a manifestation of mental illness?

I raced through this story while also having to put it aside at times to let the demon calm down. Or maybe it was me that needed to take a break from the intensity. Either way, this was a definitely a page-turner that made me pause and take a breathe after reading the final sentence. Play Nice was thoroughly entertaining, while also a little bit creepy.

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Praise for Play Nice

"Play Nice packs a prickly punch by cleverly nesting its possession story within another kind of familial and familiar possession. While the demon at the center of it all terrorizes the women in Clio's family when they are most vulnerable, the book is scary because there's more than one kind of demon."—Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and The Cabin at the End of the World

"I raced through Rachel Harrison's Play Nice, drawn in by the relatable protagonist and the irresistible blend of horror, mystery and family drama. Play Nice is a great fit for anyone who enjoyed The Good House or Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House, taking the reader on a spooky journey through the haunted spaces from the past that plague us all."—Tananarive Due, Bram Stoker Award winner, The Reformatory

"Play Nice is as fun as a journey into darkness and family trauma can get. Rachel Harrison crafts a uniquely spirited haunting that’s both ruthlessly frightening and overflowing with heart."—Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Lucky Day and Bury Your Gays

“Readers will be riveted…As is typical of a Harrison book, Play Nice takes a horror trope—this time, the haunted house—and turned it on its head with a fun, feminist twist. Horror readers who are not familiar with Harrison need to get on board, and this book could be her breakout hit.”—Booklist (starred review)

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About the author

Rachel Harrison is the author of The Return, nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica and Electric Lit. She lives in New York with her husband and their cat/overlord. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Rachel

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | TikTok

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Monday, September 8, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? September 8, 2025 #IMWAYR

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After reading a lot in August for a challenge, this month's reading is dragging drag for me. Granted there is a lot going on our lives right now—medical appointments (with more to come), family time, and of course football season starting up again! Go Huskers! Go Chiefs! Go SDSU!

Hubs and I are celebrating our 52nd anniversary today! What a roller coaster ride our lives have been. We've got 4 kids, 3 significant others, and 9 grandkiddos to show for our longevity. I had no idea that this would be my family when I said 'I do' all those years ago! 💖💖

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week.

Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading