Annual Reading Challenge--2020

[TammyNC]

2/20 - Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle

Picked this one up at a used bookstore while visiting Asheville late last year. We loved the show and the movie and DH and I are heading over in the fall for a couple of days before going over to Dover for a B2B Disney cruise and have booked a tour of Highclere so thought it would be a good read. I did enjoy the book. Thought the first half was better than the second. There was a lot of war history in this but truly would have to be to tell the story of Almina. Not one I would read a second time and would be hesitant to recommend unless someone really loved the show and wanted to hear the true stories. There were things I could definitely see where Julian picked up names and ideas for his show.

 

[Tiggerish]

The Wideness of the Sea by Katie Curtis. Romantic fiction with the happy ending. It was probably Christian fiction "lite" so not any steamy scenes; religious content was there but as a subtle part of the context.

Best Murder in Show by Debbie Young. Romantic murder mystery. This is the first book in the Sophie Sayers Village Mystery series and I downloaded it for free. Do not feel compelled to search out any more of the series.

9 and 10 of 80

 

[Simba's Mom]

14/75

The Country Guesthouse by Robyn Carr

A nice story, set in Colorado about a 5 year old who lost his mother and his new family.

Sounds great. And I enjoy Robyn Carr's books. This must be a new one-I hadn't heard of it.
And thanks to the person who mentioned Diane Chamberlain's book, Big Lies... I saw it and considered reading it-now I will!

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

#3 Circe by Madeline Miller
I was a pretty big Mythology fan in youth but have not read anything to do with Greek Mythology in years. I have read Outlaws of the Marsh recently which is kind of Chinese/Asian mythology. Hard to say which I enjoyed more though this of course is a modern retelling.
Really enjoyed the book even though ending was a little weak(IMO). Aside from that I loved it.



If anyone is interested in reading any of my works. I would gladly send a kindle gift versions of any of them: “Written for You”, “Three Twigs for the Campfire”, “Cemetery Girl” or “Reigning”.
You can see them all reviewed at Goodreads (Click on link to view books). If you are interested in reading any of them please message me here or at Goodreads.

 

[jen7233]

#3/20 finished.
Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life by Gisele Bundchen. An easy read, she writes a lot in my opinion like whatever thoughts come to mind, is what goes down on the page. It is not a tell-all of the modeling world at all if expecting that, and it's just a very, very small peak about her and Tom, and also about her great relationship with her parents and sisters. It's a book about what motivates her, where she finds inspiration. She talks a little about her dark time in her young and early modeling days when she had panic attacks and being out of balance, and it's in my opinion fairly surface level stuff. She mentions a lot in the book on her interest in nature, the Earth, ancient teachings, yoga, and spirituality. And, there are pictures throughout the book, so it makes the read quicker less words on the pages! Yes, things are definitely pretty much perfect there!

 

[Disney_Alli]

12/75 - The Choice: Nicholas Sparks

Funny how two books I missed that became movies were both available at the same time from the library. I actually liked one of the elements they changed in the movie better than the book which rarely happens!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Book #7 --Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Anker
It was just ok. A bit meandering and no chapter breaks drove me crazy. It felt like a chore to finish this book. There were some really great moments, but they were few and far between.

Currently reading book #8:

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

by Dani Shapiro

 

[bobbiwoz]

#10/60
Shamed by Linda Castillo
An Amish grandmother is murdered on an abandoned farm, her seven year old granddaughter abducted. Chief of Police Kate Burkholder plunges headlong into a case that quickly becomes a race against the clock. She knows the longer the girl is missing, the more likely a tragic outcome. The family of the missing girl is well thought of—a pillar of the Amish community. Their pain is palpable and they cooperate in every way, but Kate soon learns they’re keeping secrets...

The investigation takes Kate to an isolated Old Order Amish settlement along the river in southern Ohio. At first, the community seems upstanding and helpful. But when Kate starts asking questions, they stonewall her—and the situation soon becomes dangerous. What are they hiding and why?

After an attempt on her life, Kate unearths a haunting and tragic secret that changes everything she thought she knew about the family for whom she is fighting, the Amish community as a whole—and everything she thought she knew about herself. Will she reach the girl in time to save her life?

Book 11 in the Kate Burkholder series. Love these books. Now to wait for #12, lol.

I enjoyed is book! Will read others in the series.

16/75

 

[willowsnn3]

I enjoyed is book! Will read others in the series.

16/75

This series is one of my favorites. Author just takes too long between books, lol.

 

[mini22]

10/35 Triumph by Janet Dailey

 

[Peachy0118]

2. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I loved Handmaid's Tale so was nervous and excited about this...
While it didn't measure up to Handmaid's Tale I definitely enjoyed reading it

 

[OKW8297]

7. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
I really enjoy this author. This is the second novel of his I’ve read. I found this book to be a thorough account of this event. I did not know that much about its sinking. If you like to read about history, I highly recommend this.

 

[willowsnn3]

#14/60 We Are Called To Rise by Laura McBride
Avis thought her marriage had hit a temporary rut. But with a single confession in the middle of the night, her carefully constructed life comes undone. After escaping a tumultuous childhood and raising a son, she now faces a future without the security of the home and family she has spent decades building.
Luis only wants to make the grandmother who raised him proud. As a soldier, he was on his way to being the man she taught him to be until he woke up in Walter Reed Hospital with vague and troubling memories of how he got there. Now he must find a new way to live a life of honor.
Every day, young Bashkim looks forward to the quiet order of school and the kind instruction of his third grade teacher. His family relocated to Las Vegas after fleeing political persecution in their homeland. Now their ice cream truck provides just enough extra income to keep them afloat. With his family under constant stress, Bashkim opens his heart to his pen pal, a US soldier.

When these lives come together in a single, shocking moment, each character is called upon to rise.

I really liked this one. One of my favorites so far this year.

 

[drwitz]

#13/60
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.

What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love.

It sounds amazing. How was it? Just my kind of novel.

 

[tiggrbaby]

7. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
I really enjoy this author. This is the second novel of his I’ve read. I found this book to be a thorough account of this event. I did not know that much about its sinking. If you like to read about history, I highly recommend this.

Agreed! His way of writing is not only informative, but exciting.

 

[OKW8297]

8. Summer of 79: A Summer of 69 Story by Erin Hildebrand A continuation albeit abbreviated, of the novel. Great to see what happened next. Hope she writes more about this family

 

[TammyNC]

8. Summer of 79: A Summer of 69 Story by Erin Hildebrand A continuation albeit abbreviated, of the novel. Great to see what happened next. Hope she writes more about this family

Summer of 69 is on my to read shelf and will have to add the Summer of 79 to read right after that one.

 

[bobbiwoz]

2/40 - Chatham School Affair by Thomas Cook -Attorney Henry Griswald has a secret: the truth behind the tragic events the world knew as the Chatham School Affair, the controversial tragedy that destroyed five lives, shattered a quiet community, and forever scarred the young boy. Layer by layer, in The Chatham School Affair, Cook paints a stunning portrait of a woman, a school, and a town in which passionate violence seems impossible...and inevitable.

3/40 - The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman - A remarkable new voice in American fiction enchants readers with a moving and uplifting novel that celebrates the miracle of life. In The Midwife of Hope River, first-time novelist Patricia Harmon transports us to poverty stricken Appalachia during the Great Depression years of the 1930s and introduces us to a truly unforgettable heroine. Patience Murphy, a midwife struggling against disease, poverty, and prejudice—and her own haunting past—is a strong and endearing character that fans of the books of Ami McKay and Diane Chamberlain will take into their hearts, as she courageously attempts to bring new light, and life, into an otherwise cruel world.

4/40 - Long Bright River by Liz Moore - In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling. Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit--and her sister--before it's too late. Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.

I enjoyed all these books.

MJ

Loved the Midwife of Hope River! Turbulent times in America, and so truly portrayed!

17/75

I have enjoyed many selections from these Reading Challenges! I am glad to have found the thread for the first time, maybe two years ago!

 

[willowsnn3]

It sounds amazing. How was it? Just my kind of novel.

Well, I enjoyed it altho I wouldn't call it amazing, lol. Parts were kinda predictable. I really wanted to slap the wife & son.....

 

[MGMmjl]

9/30 - The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman

This was the last novel I had to read to complete Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee Navajo Tribal Police series, and it was another great one! I picked up a couple of his daughter Anne's books continuing the series, and I will probably read them next.