Reading Challenge 2022

[bobbiwoz]

It’s a Long Story by Willie Nelson with David Ritz
”Willie Nelson shares his life story in this heartfelt bestselling memoir of true love, wild times, best friends, and barrooms.”
This was published in 2015, so I’d heard most of the most interesting stories before, but I still enjoyed it. I’m glad I read it close to when I read Dolly Parton’s book. The journeys of these two country music icons differed greatly, despite being relatively close in age. While they are vastly different people, they’ve both lived their lives with faith. Love them both.

…..

I’m glad you wrote this because I put a hold and just read “It’s a Long Story” by Willie Nelson and David Ritz. I enjoy Johnny Cash’s music more that Willie Nelson, but I enjoyed reading his story. Amazing! I’ve seen him interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning, and this book answered lots of questions in my mind. I have seen him perform with some family members at the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering Ohio, probably 15 years ago.

58/75, probably 4/5!

 

[Caseheidi]

53/60 Kitty Rocks the House (Kitty Norville Series #11) by Carrie Vaughn
On the heels of Kitty's return from London, a new werewolf shows up in Denver, one who threatens to split the pack by challenging Kitty's authority at every turn. The timing could not be worse; Kitty needs all the allies she can muster to go against the ancient vampire, Roman, if she's to have any hope of defeating his Long Game. But there's more to this intruder than there seems, and Kitty must uncover the truth, fast.

Meanwhile, Cormac pursues an unknown entity wreaking havoc across Denver; and a vampire from the Order of St. Lazaurus tempts Rick with the means to transform his life forever.

54/60 Be The Serpent (October Daye Series #16) by Seanan McGuire
October Daye is finally something she never expected to be: married. All the trials and turmoils and terrors of a hero’s life have done very little to prepare her for the expectation that she will actually share her life with someone else, the good parts and the bad ones alike, not just allow them to dabble around the edges in the things she wants to share. But with an official break from hero duties from the Queen in the Mists, and her family wholly on board with this new version of “normal,” she’s doing her best to adjust.

It isn’t always easy, but she’s a hero, right? She’s done harder.
Until an old friend and ally turns out to have been an enemy in disguise for this entire time, and October’s brief respite turns into a battle for her life, her community, and everything she has ever believed to be true.

The debts of the Broken Ride are coming due, and whether she incurred them or not, she’s going to be the one who has to pay.

55/60 Desperation in Death (In Death series #55) by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)
New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene.

Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear--because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.

 

[Simba's Mom]

#40-Devil's Food Cake Murder J.Fluke-4 stars. Sometimes you just want an easy-going Cozy Mystery and this didn't disappoint.

#41-So Help Me Golf: Why We Love the Game R. Reilly- 2 1/2 stars. I'm not a golfer, DH is. I took this book with the intention of learning some things about the people and rules of the game. Not as interesting as I'd hoped.

#42-The Paper Palace, M. Heller-3 stars. OK, but didn't live up to the hype of all the people who'd recommended
it.

#43-"The Stolen Marriage" D. Chamberlain-4 1/2 stars.So well written. I especially loved the parts where she worked at the polio hospital.

 

[willowsnn3]

#41/50 Gwendy's Final Task by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar
Third & final book in the Button Box trilogy.

 

[evilmommie]

#19/20 Layla by Colleen Hoover
3 stars out of five ️️️

This is my 3rd CoHo book. So far I don’t get the obsession with her writing. This book is ghost story. With some weird vibes. It also had moments of abuse, which seems to be a theme in Hoover’s books. Maybe I’ve picked the wrong ones to read.

Close to finishing my 20 goal, as I’m half way through a Lisa Jewell book! Maybe I’ll be able to tack on a few before the end of the year.

Cheers fellow book lovers!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

27/30 - Their Alaskan Past by Belle Calhoune
Second chance romance between a retired Iditarod racer and veterinarian when they establish a dog rescue. I always love Alaskan settings. Enjoyed it.

28/30 - The Amish Baby Finds a Home by Barbara Cameron
Unmarried Amish girl returns home with her infant son. After her parents rejection she finds love, acceptance and a true family with baby’s father and his family.

29/30 - The Amish Strawberry Girl by Naomi Troyer
Adopted young man seeks his birth mother and ends up working on an Amish farm during strawberry season. He falls in love, finds his birth mother and gives up his rich and wealthy adopted family.

30/30 - Rangers, RVs and Revenge by Tonya Kappes
Southern cozy mystery that has lots of characters. Enjoyed trying to solve the murder. Fun read.

Happy to meet my goal here!!’ Now I am off to Amish land again to work on that challenge. Then I am switching up genres every other book or two because it gets monotonous.

 

[willowsnn3]

#19/20 Layla by Colleen Hoover
3 stars out of five ️️️

This is my 3rd CoHo book. So far I don’t get the obsession with her writing.

Right there with you! I've read two of her highly rated books & while they were ok, I don't think I'll try another.

 

[willowsnn3]

30/30 - Rangers, RVs and Revenge by Tonya Kappes
Southern cozy mystery that has lots of characters. Enjoyed trying to solve the murder. Fun read.

Happy to meet my goal here!!’ Now I am off to Amish land again to work on that challenge. Then I am switching up genres every other book or two because it gets monotonous.

Yay!
Congrats! Don't stop now.

 

[willowsnn3]

 

[bobbiwoz]

19/30 - The Sacred Bridge by Anne Hillerman

Description:
"Sergeant Jim Chee's vacation to beautiful Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell has a deeper purpose. He's on a quest to unravel a sacred mystery his mentor, the Legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, stumbled across decades earlier.

Chee's journey takes a deadly turn when, after a prayerful visit to the sacred Rainbow Bridge, he spots a body floating in the lake. The dead man, a Navajo with a passion for the canyon's ancient rock art, lived a life filled with many secrets. Discovering why he died and who was responsible involves Chee in an investigation that puts his own life at risk.

Back in Shiprock, Officer Bernadette Manuelito is driving home when she witnesses an expensive sedan purposely kill a hitchhiker. The search to find the killer leads her to uncover a dangerous chain of interconnected revelations involving a Navajo Nation cannabis enterprise.

But the evil that is unleashed jeopardizes her mother and sister Darleen, and puts Bernie in the deadliest situation of her law enforcement career."

This is the 25th novel in the Leaphorn, Chee, and (now) Manuelito series started by Tony Hillerman, and the 7th novel Anne Hillerman has written since she took over the series after her father's death. I really liked the story! There were a few typos in the text that distracted me a bit, but overall, it was another great read.

Just Finished this! 4/5

59/75

 

[melk]

24/35 Even The Dog Knows by Jason F. Wright

Years after the death of their daughter and raising their grandson Meg leaves her husband Gary. But eventually he gets a request from her to bring down to her their old dog, Moses, to visit before he passes away. Along the road trip Gary learns about forgiveness, understanding and love.

I would describe this as a nice story, nothing offensive, but also a little bit bland. There were other characters brought in, even a homeless man and his dog that I‘m still trying to figure out why they were added.

 

[RUDisney]

18/25: Wish You Well by Dave Baldacci. I enjoyed this, but didn't love it. It's been previously described.

19/25: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I loved this! Evelyn Hugo is a bombshell movie star who agrees to give her life story to a magazine writer. She details the good, bad and ugly of her relationships with her husbands and reveals the true love of her life. This is a "can't put down" book in my opinion.

20/25: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. I loved this! I didn't realize that it was based on a true story until the end of the book... even thought it is right on the book's cover. Lale is conscripted by the Nazis from Slovakia and sent to Auschwitz. With luck, he is made the Tattooist. This gives him better accommodations, additional food and a way to save himself and a woman with whom he falls in love while a prisoner. It is a story of the horrors of encampment and the hope that prevails in some people.

21/25: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. This is the second time I've read this. The first half of the book details Paul's early life and academic life in becoming a neurosurgeon/neuroscientist. The second half details his battle with cancer, as a doctor, as a patient and has a husband. This is a really good read. One of Paul's greatest questions that he tried to answer in his life deals with humanity. Where do science and humanity merge and how do you balance them in your life to provide it with meaning.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I also loved "The Tattooist of Auschwitz"!

 

[melk]

25/35 The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Set during the Spanish Flu the story follows a young girl, Pia, who is left to take care of her infant twin brothers after her mother dies. Everything changes when a deranged neighbor gets involved.

It took me several weeks to chip away at this book. It grabbed my attention because of the obvious parallel between the Spanish flu epidemic and covid. But at times this read like a horror story with its graphic descriptions of death and other times I was laughing out loud at it’s ridiculousness. Overall it was pretty depressing. I should have just jumped to the last chapter to see what happened but it was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from.

 

[MGMmjl]

24/30 - Aftermath by Terri Blackstock

Description:
"A devastating explosion.
Three best friends are at the venue to hear their favorite band. Only one makes it out alive.

A trunk full of evidence.
When police stop Dustin Webb with a warrant to search his trunk, he knows there’s been a mistake. He’s former military and owns a security firm. But he’s horrified when the officers find explosives, and he can’t fathom how they got there.

An attorney who will risk it all for an old friend.
Criminal attorney Jamie Powell was Dustin’s best friend growing up. They haven’t spoken since he left for basic training, but she’s the first person he thinks of when he’s arrested. Jamie knows she’s putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she’d never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence . . . but why?"

I have read the first 3 books of Blackstock's Restoration series. I have the 4th and final book on hold at the library, and I saw this stand-alone novel available on Prime Reading and decided to read it. I really like Blackstock's writing style, and this was another very good book!

 

[Caseheidi]

56/60 Kitty in the Underworld (Kitty Norville Book 12) by Carrie Vaughn
As Denver adjusts to a new master vampire, Kitty gets word of an intruder in the Denver werewolf pack's territory, and she investigates the challenge to her authority. She follows the scent of the lycanthrope through the mountains where she is lured into a trap, tranquilized, and captured. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a defunct silver mine: the perfect cage for a werewolf. Her captors are a mysterious cult seeking to induct Kitty into their ranks in a ritual they hope will put an end to Dux Bellorum. Though skeptical of their power, even Kitty finds herself struggling to resist joining their cause.

Whatever she decides, they expect Kitty to join them in their plot . . . willingly or otherwise.

57/60 The Hope of Elephants by Amanda Rawson Hill

Cass and her parents haven’t let her dad’s cancer stop them from having a good life—full of love and poems and one annual World Series game. Now that Dad’s cancer is back, Cass overhears the doctor say that she has a 50% chance of inheriting her dad's genetic mutation, Li-Fraumeni syndrome. There’s a genetic test Cass can take that will tell her for sure. There’s still so much she wants to do—play baseball, study at the zoo, travel the world with her best friend, Jayla. Would it be better not to know?

When it turns out Dad’s cancer is worse this time, Cass is determined to keep up their World Series tradition...

A friend of mine was a mentor for Amanda Rawson Hill during this book and recommended it to me. She is herself a published writer of middle reader books, and adores this book. I started it before bed last night, and couldn't put it down. It is a quick read (since it is a middle reader book) and totally written in verse, and I really enjoyed it. It is sad, but a great book for kids dealing with parents being sick to help then know they are not alone.

btw, just a plug for my friend, she is author Cindy Baldwin and her books are Where the Watermelons Grow (about a girl whose mother is mentally ill) Beginner's Welcome (a girl and her mom dealing with the death of her father) and The Stars of Whistling Ridge. In February her book No Matter the Distance will come out about a girl with CF with a special connection with a dolphin. Cindy herself has CF, and this book is the first time an author with CF writes about a protagonist with CF. If you like middle reader books or have children in that age group, please check her out.

 

[willowsnn3]

#43/50 The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding
I enjoyed this one. Predictable but with enough plot twists to keep me interested.
Youngest daughter hires a housekeeper to help her aging (wealthy) parents. Her mother is bedridden with Parkinson's & her father is approaching 80, just retired to care for his wife but can't take care of her on his own. Elyse, the housekeeper has wonderful references & seems like a dream come true. Until the dream turns into a nightmare....

 

[bobbiwoz]

60/75 “ The Duchess” by Penny Junor was mentioned on the Queen’s funeral thread as a book about the Queen Consort.

It pictures Diana in a very unfavorable way, except as a mother.

3/5 in my opinion, because I felt it was dry. It’s a lot of information, and again, I am glad we don’t have a royal class of people.

 

[KevM]

My September reads:

129) Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach – Non-fiction/Science. So just what are some of the things that have happen to human cadavers over the centuries? In this book Roach telling some stories that vary from scientifically interesting to funny to bleak. 4/5

130) The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – Historical Fiction. Tells the story of a Mainline family, focusing on the brother and sister, over five decades. 4.25/5

131) Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad by Gordon H. Chang – History/Labor/Race. As the title says, it is the history of the Chinese works who built the transcontinental railroad. 4/5

132) How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin – Sci-Fi/Short Stories. A collection of short stories from one of the best current sci-fi writers. 4.5/5

133) The Woman They Could Not Silence: The Shocking Story of a Woman Who Dared to Fight Back by Kate Moore – Biography. The biography of Elizabeth Packard, who, in 1860 was placed in a mental institution by her husband for having differentiating religious beliefs. She would go on to win her freedom from her unjust institutionalization and go on to be a major voice in the reforming of mental institutions. 4.25/5

134) The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II by Katherine Sharp Landdeck – History. While American women were not allowed to fight in WWII there were still ways for them to help. For women pilots that was the Women Airforce Service Program. (WASP) The planes that were being built needed to get to where they were needed somehow, and the Air Force couldn’t train every unexperienced man that was being drafted. Situations like this is where the WASPs came in.4.25/5

135) Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi – YA Fantasy. There is second book in Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orisha trilogy. 4/5

136) Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis – Memoir. Davis’s extremely moving memoir. 5/5

137) Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan – YA Fantasy. Ngan’s second book in her Girls of Paper and Fire Trilogy. 4/5

138) The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce – Contemporary Fiction. After receiving a letter from an old friend saying goodbye because she is in hospice Harold writes a short reply and walks to drop it in the mailbox. However, on his way to the mailbox he has an encounter that convinces him to deliver the message in person and to do so by walking the 600 miles because if he is walking his friend can’t die. 3.75/5

139) Tiamat's Wrath by James S. A. Corey – Sc-Fi. The 8th book in Corey’s phenomenal The Expanse series. 5/5

140) The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran – History/China/Memoir. From 1989 to 1997 Xinran was the host of a popular Chinese radio program, Words on the Night Breeze, which focused on women’s issues and told their stories. This book is a collection of some of the stories that most stock with her. 4.5/5

141) Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly – History/Labor. A broad but not in depth look at over 60 stories in this history of the US Labor movement. A great start point for anyone new to reading about the US labor movement or looking for some lesser known stories to jump off to. 4.5/5

142) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Poetry. A collection of Coleridge’s poetry including the classic poem named in the tile along with 20 other poems, lyrics, sonnets, and odes. 3.5/5

143) X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II by Leah Garrett – In 1942 Britain created a secret commando unit of German speaking Jewish refugees trained in counterintelligence and advance combat. The unit was so secret that during the war less than a dozen people outside of the until knew of its existence and only two of those knew the names of the men in the unit. 4.5/5

144) Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs – Classic/Banned Book. A pretty messed up book. The pats of it that were good were very good, but the parts of it that weren’t were not. 3/5

145) No More Police: A Case for Abolition by Andrea Ritchie and Mariame Kaba – Politics/Crime/Social Justice. As the title says, the books makes the case for a world with police and goes through the various ways possible to get there and what the community would be like afterwards. 5/5

146) Abolition. Feminism. Now. by Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, and Erica R. Meiners – Politics/Feminism/Race/Banned Book. An intersectional feminist view on the police and prisons abolition movement. 5/5

147) We Still Here: Pandemic, Policing, Protest, and Possibility by Marc Lamont Hill – Politics/Race/Social Justice/Banned Book. Published in the tail end of 2020, this was a short work looking at the twin crises that were going on at the time. It also works as a short, decent overview of what abolition is. 4.5/5

148) The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros – YA Classic/ Banned Book. I hadn’t read this since freshman year of high school but seeing it as a frequently challenged book had me want to revisit it. It is a good book that deals with themes involving race, class, sex, and sexuality among other things. The fact that it is frequently challenged is ridiculous. 4/5

149) Brothers and Keepers: A Memoir by John Edgar Wideman – Memoir. Written in 1984, it is a portrait of two brothers. One a famous award-winning novelist and the other serving a life’s sentence for a robbery that turned deadly. 4.25/5

150) Angela Davis: An Autobiography by Angela Davis – Memoir/Banned Book. Published in 1974, when Davis was only 30, this is a captivating look at her early years and early struggles. 4.5/5

151) Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David Von Drehle – History/Labor. On March 25, 1911, a fire broken out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killing 146 people; 123 them women (most between the ages of 14-23). This book looks at what lead up to the fire, the fire itself, and political aftermath of the fire. 4/5

152) Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora edited by Saraciea J. Fennell – YA Essays. 15 Latinx writers pen short essays on their experiences. 4.5/5

153) Party Going by Henry Green – Literary Fiction. Written in 1939, a quick read about a group of friends traveling to a party by train who get stopped at a train station due to fog and the various shenanigans they get up to at the train station hotel as they wait out the fog. 3.25/5

154) Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement by Tarana Burke – Memoir. The woman who created the #MeToo hashtag tells of her journey to saying those words herself. 4.5/5

155) My Broken Language: A Memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes – Memoir. The coming-of-age story of the Pulitzer-prize winning playwright. 4.5/5

156) The Queen of Spades and Other Stories by Alexander Pushkin – Short Stories. Collecting 3 short stories and a 4th longer story, The Captain’s Daughter. The titled short story is a tale of greed and obsession. Between opera, radio, and film it has been adopted around a dozen times. 4/5

157) My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter by Aja Monet – Poetry. An ode to the women who fight to change the world. The poems in this collection cover everything from the joys of love and motherhood to the tragedies of racism and sexism. 4.25/5

158) Inheritance: A Visual Poem by Elizabeth Acevedo – Poetry. Acevedo’s spoken word poem, with illustrations by Andrea Pippins, on the complexities of Black hair. 4.5/5

 

[tiggrbaby]

September:

#66/90:The Stone Circle (Ruth Galloway # 11) by Ellie Griffiths (4/5) (mystery)

DCI Nelson has been receiving threatening letters, similar to ones he received years ago. But the author of the previous letters is dead…or is he? The body of a young girl is discovered, similar to the past crime. Could these somehow be connected?

#67/90: Playing With Myself by Randy Rainbow (4.5/5) (memoir)

A firsthand account from his childhood to his rise to fame with his trademark pink glasses.

Randy’s voice definitely comes through in the writing style. A must if you are a fan of his Youtube parodies.

#68/90: Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner (3.5/5) (mystery)

Manon Bradshaw has arrived at a troubling crime scene. Edith, a young graduate student and daughter to the Royal Surgeon, has been missing with few clues to her disappearance. As the search widens, secrets about Edith’s life are revealed,and what Manon discovers will have consequences for both Edith’s family and herself.

#69/70: The Lantern Men (Ruth Galloway #12) by Elly Griffiths (4/5) (mystery)

Ruth has a new job, a new partner, and a new home. She is no longer associated with north Norfolk’s police department. But a convicted murderer will only tell Nelson where the other bodies are buried if Ruth is the one to lead the dig. Why does he need Ruth?

#70/90: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4/5) (fiction)

Aging and reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell all. She chooses Monique Grant, an unknown magazine writer for the job.

#71/90: The Night Hawks (Ruth Galloway # 13) by Elly Griffiths (4/5) (mystery)

Ruth is now head of archaeology at the University of North Norfolk. When a local group of metal detectorists find Bronze Age artifacts and a dead body, Nelson calls on Ruth to help.

#72/90: A Question of Honor (Bess Crawford #5) by Charles Todd (4/5) (historical mystery)

When Bess was a child in India, her father’s regiment had a murderer in its ranks who escaped punishment. While nursing in France, she learns that the man is still alive and serving at the Front. Bess uses her time away to investigate, and stumbles on a horrific truth.

#73/90: Me, the Mob, and the Music by Tommy James with Martin Fitzpatrick (4.5/5) (memoir)

Tommy narrates his life from his early beginnings through his rise in the world of rock and roll and shady business.

Saw him in concert this summer. Still a great showman!

#74/90: The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14) by Elly Griffiths (4/5) (mystery)
The pandemic has lead to lockdowns. Ruth and Kate are dealing with life in the cottage, with a new neighbor. Nelson and the rest of the force are struggling with a suspicious death - a woman who appeared to have killed herself, but was locked in her room from the outside. The team now is looking into previous deaths that may be related. And Ruth discovers that she may be related to her new neighbor, who has mysteriously disappeared.

Caught up with the series now!