Reading Challenge/Goals for 2024

[willowsnn3]

It looks like the book had two authors. I read a book that had two authors and it had two different writing styles.

Yes it is a father/son with 2 books in this series so far but I am not interested in reading the second.
The father, Jonathan Kellerman, is the author of the Alex Delaware series which I love & may go back & start over as I did not realize there are something like 38 in that series & I know I have not read them all.

 

[RangerPooh]

12/25 Cascade Vengeance (Luke McCain Mysteries Book 2) Rob Phillips

13/25 Cascade Predator (Luke McCain Mysteries Book 3) Rob Phillips

 

[Wood Nymph]

9/30 - Three-Inch Teeth - a Joe Pickett novel - by C.J. Box

This is the latest book in the series. A typical Joe Pickett story, which I enjoyed. It brings back Dallas Cates, a character from an earlier book. It helps a little if you've read that story, but not 100% necessary.

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett faces two different kinds of rampaging beasts--one animal, one human--in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box. A rogue grizzly bear has gone on a rampage--killing, among others, the fiancee of Joe's daughter. At the same time, Dallas Cates, who Joe helped lock up years ago, is released from prison with a list of six names tattooed on his skin. He wants revenge on the people who sent him away: the people he blames for the deaths of his entire family and the loss of his reputation and property. Targeted are a judge, the county prosecutor, his lawyer, a prison guard--and both Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett. Using the grizzly attacks as cover, Cates devises a method of violence identical to the bear killings and sets out to methodically check off his list.

 

[Kirby]

I tried reading three books but couldn't get into them:
Fall of the Dragon Queens: Book 2 of the Dragon Reign series by Cadence Connor
Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton
Fairy Tale by Stephen King

#21 - The Canary Girls by Jennifer Chiaverini. Genre - Historical
Early in the Great War, men left Britain’s factories in droves to enlist. Struggling to keep up production, arsenals hired women to build the weapons the military urgently needed. “Be the Girl Behind the Man Behind the Gun,” the recruitment posters beckoned.

Thousands of women—cooks, maids, shopgirls, and housewives—answered their nation’s call. These “munitionettes” worked grueling shifts often seven days a week, handling TNT and other explosives with little protective gear.

Among them is nineteen-year-old former housemaid April Tipton. Impressed by her friend Marjorie’s descriptions of higher wages, plentiful meals, and comfortable lodgings, she takes a job at Thornshire Arsenal near London, filling shells in the Danger Building—difficult, dangerous, and absolutely essential work.

Joining them is Lucy Dempsey, wife of Daniel Dempsey, Olympic gold medalist and star forward of Tottenham Hotspur. With Daniel away serving in the Footballers’ Battalion, Lucy resolves to do her bit to hasten the end of the war. When her coworkers learn she is a footballer’s wife, they invite her to join the arsenal ladies’ football club, the Thornshire Canaries.

The Canaries soon acquire an unexpected fan in the boss’s wife, Helen Purcell, who is deeply troubled by reports that Danger Building workers suffer from serious, unexplained illnesses. One common symptom, the lurid yellow hue of their skin, earns them the nickname “canary girls.” Suspecting a connection between the canary girls’ maladies and the chemicals they handle, Helen joins the arsenal administration as their staunchest, though often unappreciated, advocate.

The football pitch is the one place where class distinctions and fears for their men fall away. As the war grinds on and tragedy takes its toll, the Canary Girls persist despite the dangers, proud to serve, determined to outlive the war and rejoice in victory and peace.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

15/40

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney.

Slow burn psychological thriller until about 65% and then it got really good. Not sure about the ending, though. 3.5-4/5

 

[melk]

8/30 The Women by Kristin Hannah

Young nurse Frankie McGrath naively joins the army, volunteering to be sent to Vietnam to serve the war effort. While her time in Vietnam is chaotic, brutal and eye opening she is surprised more by the homecoming she receives back in the states.

I feel like Kristin Hannah redeemed herself in my eyes with this book. I found her last book, The Four Winds, to be depressing. While the subject matter could have done the same to The Women, I found this story to be very compelling and just a better story. I couldn’t put it down.

 

[Kirby]

I feel like Kristin Hannah redeemed herself in my eyes with this book. I found her last book, The Four Winds, to be depressing. While the subject matter could have done the same to The Women, I found this story to be very compelling and just a better story. I couldn’t put it down.

I'm glad to hear that. The book club I'm in is going to read The Women in June. We read The Four Winds last November. I was one of the few that wasn't a big fan of it. We had read The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan which was about the Dust Bowl in October. I thought it was much better than the dust bowl part of The Four Winds and felt that The Four Winds was almost two books in one.

#22 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Genre - General Fiction

I haven't decided what I think about this book. It was okay, interesting but I don't know yet if I would say it was a great book, one I would recommend. It is my book club's pick for this month. I have four more weeks to decide what rating I will give it, 3 or 4.

 

[Simba's Mom]

8/30 The Women by Kristin Hannah

Young nurse Frankie McGrath naively joins the army, volunteering to be sent to Vietnam to serve the war effort. While her time in Vietnam is chaotic, brutal and eye opening she is surprised more by the homecoming she receives back in the states.

I feel like Kristin Hannah redeemed herself in my eyes with this book. I found her last book, The Four Winds, to be depressing. While the subject matter could have done the same to The Women, I found this story to be very compelling and just a better story. I couldn’t put it down.

I'm reading that book right now. I agree-it's very hard to put down. I was in high school and college during Vietnam-had a couple boyfriends drafted and I participated in a few marches. Vietnam was very much part of my life, and so I wondered if that's why I find this book so interesting. Glad to know it's not just me!

 

[disneychrista]

#13 - Secrets of Disneyland : Weird and Wonderful Facts About The Happiest Place On Earth - Dinah WIlliams. This is another kind of cheat because it a very quick read, I read it in less than an hour including doing the word searches.

#14 - Birnbaum's 2024 Disneyland Resort: The Official Guide to Disneyland by Birnbaums Guides. The last cheat Disneyland books.

#15 - If It Bleeds - Stephen King
Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is working on the case of a missing dog - and on her own need to be more assertive - when she sees the footage on TV. But when she tunes in again, to the late-night report, she realizes there is something not quite right about the correspondent who was first on the scene. So begins 'If It Bleeds' , a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider featuring the incomparable Holly on her first solo case.

#15.5 - Come Together by Emilie Nagoski. I did not finish this one. I may pick up later and finish it.

 

[melk]

I'm reading that book right now. I agree-it's very hard to put down. I was in high school and college during Vietnam-had a couple boyfriends drafted and I participated in a few marches. Vietnam was very much part of my life, and so I wondered if that's why I find this book so interesting. Glad to know it's not just me!

The story is hard to read but I couldn’t stop reading it. I was too young to remember Vietnam so I really have no connection to it but I was really shocked when I read in the book how they were received when they came home. I knew a little but this book brought it to life for me.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm reading that book right now. I agree-it's very hard to put down. I was in high school and college during Vietnam-had a couple boyfriends drafted and I participated in a few marches. Vietnam was very much part of my life, and so I wondered if that's why I find this book so interesting. Glad to know it's not just me!

I was in college when the Viet Nam war ended. My husband would have been sent there if it hadn't ended when it did. My husband's roommate had served in Nam and it affected him deeply. It was very much a part of our lives, too.

 

[Wood Nymph]

10/30 - Because of Miss Bridgerton: a Bridgerton prequel - 3/5

This book was just okay. I wanted something light to read and this fit the bill.

from the library website:
Everyone expects Billie Bridgerton to marry one of the Rokesby brothers. The two families have been neighbors for centuries, and as a child the tomboyish Billie ran wild with Edward and Andrew. Either one would make a perfect husband... someday. But sometimes fate has a wicked sense of humor. There is only one Rokesby Billie absolutely cannot tolerate, and that is George. He may be the eldest and heir to the earldom, but he's arrogant, annoying, and she's absolutely certain he detests her. Which is perfectly convenient, as she can't stand the sight of him, either. Because when Billie and George are quite literally thrown together, a whole new sort of sparks begins to fly. And when these lifelong adversaries finally kiss, they just might discover that the one person they can't abide is the one person they can't live without.--

 

[bobbiwoz]

8/30- Oath and Honor - A Memoir and a Warning - by Liz Cheney

This was an upsetting book to read, as Beezle2 said. Liz Cheney was very courageous to stand up for what was right rather than what was easy.

"A gripping first-hand account from inside the halls of Congress as Donald Trump and his enablers betrayed the American people and the Constitution--leading to the violent attack on our Capitol on January 6th, 2021--by the House Republican leader who dared to stand up to it. In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and many around him, including certain other elected Republican officials, intentionally breached their oath to the they ignored the rulings of dozens of courts, plotted to overturn a lawful election, and provoked a violent attack on our Capitol. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republican officials to take a stand against these efforts, witnessed the attack first-hand, and then helped lead the Congressional Select Committee investigation into how it happened. In Oath and Honor , she tells the story of this perilous moment in our history, those who helped Trump spread the stolen election lie, those whose actions preserved our constitutional framework, and the risks we still face." --Goodreads.

This was my 17/80 book!

 

[Kirby]

#23 - Fear No Evil: Book 29 of the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. Genre - Thriller.
Alex Cross ventures into the rugged Montana wilderness - where he will be the prey.
He's not on the job, but on a personal mission.
Until he's attacked by two rival teams of assassins, controlled by the same mastermind who has stalked Alex and his family for years.
Darkness falls. The river churns into rapids. Shots ring out through the forest.
No backup. No way out. Fear no evil.
I love the Alex Cross series. I think it would make a good tv/cable series.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Book 6 of 24 - He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith - Walter J. Ciszek
Book 7 of 24 - The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3) - Michael Connelly

American Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek wanted to do missionary work in Communist Russia between WW1 and WW2, but could not enter the country. So he went as lose as he could,, which was Poland. WW2 begins, Russia invades Poland, and suddenly the border is not an issue. So he travels east, is almost immediately arrested, and he spends nearly 25 years imprisoned, first in Lubyanka, then a Siberian prison work camp. All it does is deepen his faith and desire to serve God. The book is part autobiography and park spiritual exercises. It worked very well as a Lent read for me.

Meanwhile, Bosch is Bosch. You pretty much know what you're going to get in a Harry Bosch mystery and this serves it up just fine.

I’m looking for this, and will ask my library to find it for me.
He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith - Walter J. Ciszek
Thanks for mentioning it.

 

[cayennews]

I finished my 4th book, Camino Winds by John Grisham. It is the second book in a series of three. I enjoyed it.

 

[DisneyHardin]

7/32 - If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos - 5 stars

As I've said before, I LOVE memoirs. This one was really good. I didn't know much about John Stamos other than he was Uncle Jessie on Full House.

 

[MGMmjl]

10/32 - Redemption by David Baldacci

Description:
"Amos Decker and his FBI partner Alex Jamison are visiting his hometown of Burlington, Ohio, when he's approached by an unfamiliar man. But he instantly recognizes the man's name: Meryl Hawkins. He's the first person Decker ever arrested for murder back when he was a young detective. Though a dozen years in prison have left Hawkins unrecognizably aged and terminally ill, one thing hasn't changed: He maintains he never committed the murders. Could it be possible that Decker made a mistake all those years ago? As he starts digging into the old case, Decker finds a startling connection to a new crime that he may be able to prevent, if only he can put the pieces together quickly enough..."

This is book #5 in the Amos Decker/Memory Man series. This was another good entry in the series, and I look forward to reading the remaining 2 books in the series!

 

[Kirby]

#24 - Open Season by C. J. Box. I believe I got the recommendation from this group for this series. I enjoyed reading it.

7/32 - If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos - 5 stars

I enjoy these kind of books also. I'm adding it to my book list.

10/32 - Redemption by David Baldacci

The book club I'm in read Long Shadows, Book 7 of this series last September. I didn't read it because I decided I wanted to read the series in order. I've only read Memory Man so far but plan on reading the others. So many books, so little time............

 

[Wood Nymph]

11/30 - Romancing Mister Bridgeton - vol 4 of the Bridgerton series - 4/5

I enjoyed this book. I think it is my second favorite book in her Bridgerton series. The story has a little more to it than just the romance part of it.

Everyone knows that Colin Bridgerton is the most charming man in London . . .Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend's brother for . . . well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret . . . and fears she doesn't know him at all. Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought of as nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can't seem to publish an edition without mentioning him. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad, he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same--especially Penelope Featherington! The girl who was always simply there is suddenly the girl haunting his dreams. When he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide . . . is she his biggest threat-- or his promise of a happy ending? --