Reading Challenge 2022

[threeboysmom]

What a relief to hear that I'm not the only one who just didn't love it. I read it because it was recommended-the person really gushed about how great it was. I just kept wondering, "Am I missing something here?" as I struggled through it. Glad to know I'm not alone!

Me, too.

So good to know I am not alone. Did we miss something? This is when a book club comes in handy so you can hear others’ opinions and reasons for loving/hating a book especially if they differ from your own.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

These were ebook novellas and short stories. I am not feeling well enough to concentrate a longer book yet.

1/30 - Missing Jack by Samantha Fury.
Janice loses her dog Jack. Wealthy Randall needs a dog sitter for the Christmas holidays. Romance blooms and Jack is found safe. Cute story for dog lovers.

2/30 - One Big Apple Christmas by Laurie Larsen
Fun New York City Christmas romance between business man Tony and wannabe Rockette Joss.

3/30 - Henry’s Holiday Charade by Danielle Thorne
Veterinary student Amanda is helped by wealthy Henry. In return she attends some holiday celebrations with him. He follows his dreams and they fall in love. It was ok.

4/30 - Snow Angel by Davalynn Spencer
1800’s Colorado at Christmas. Amanda helps her surgeon brother Taylor despite her handicap. She helps a man Wil recover and they fall in love. Good old fashioned love story.

 

[drwitz]

These were ebook novellas and short stories. I am not feeling well enough to concentrate a longer book yet.

1/30 - Missing Jack by Samantha Fury.
Janice loses her dog Jack. Wealthy Randall needs a dog sitter for the Christmas holidays. Romance blooms and Jack is found safe. Cute story for dog lovers.

2/30 - One Big Apple Christmas by Laurie Larsen
Fun New York City Christmas romance between business man Tony and wannabe Rockette Joss.

3/30 - Henry’s Holiday Charade by Danielle Thorne
Veterinary student Amanda is helped by wealthy Henry. In return she attends some holiday celebrations with him. He follows his dreams and they fall in love. It was ok.

4/30 - Snow Angel by Davalynn Spencer
1800’s Colorado at Christmas. Amanda helps her surgeon brother Taylor despite her handicap. She helps a man Wil recover and they fall in love. Good old fashioned love story.

So sorry you haven’t been feeling well but glad that you’ve been able to read while recuperating.
For me, sometimes I do my best and most productive reading in bed recuperating. Or maybe it is that I just get booksick if I am really into a story and can’t put it down until I finish. Anyway, feel better soon!!!

 

[willowsnn3]

These were ebook novellas and short stories. I am not feeling well enough to concentrate a longer book yet.

1/30 - Missing Jack by Samantha Fury.
Janice loses her dog Jack. Wealthy Randall needs a dog sitter for the Christmas holidays. Romance blooms and Jack is found safe. Cute story for dog lovers.

2/30 - One Big Apple Christmas by Laurie Larsen
Fun New York City Christmas romance between business man Tony and wannabe Rockette Joss.

3/30 - Henry’s Holiday Charade by Danielle Thorne
Veterinary student Amanda is helped by wealthy Henry. In return she attends some holiday celebrations with him. He follows his dreams and they fall in love. It was ok.

4/30 - Snow Angel by Davalynn Spencer
1800’s Colorado at Christmas. Amanda helps her surgeon brother Taylor despite her handicap. She helps a man Wil recover and they fall in love. Good old fashioned love story.

Hope you feel better soon. Sometimes a few good light reads are what we need.

 

[hollydolls]

1. The Vampire Diaries: The Fury by LJ Smith
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (JK Rowling)
3. Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local, and Helped Save an American Town by Beth Macy
4. The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren
5. Stitches and Witches by Nancy Warren

6. Crochet and Cauldrons by Nancy Warren
I'm in the thick of it with this "Cozy Paranormal Mystery Series!" While the previous book(s) didn't heavily depend on the supernatural to propel the storyline, this one definitely does. It's been my least favorite so far, but I'm already on book #4 of the series and I enjoy it much more.
The long and the short of it is it's about a yarn shop owner who can't knit but happens to be a witch. She has an undead grandmother and there's an ancient (and cursed) mirror bringing death to her town and it's somehow up to her to figure it out! The local police haven't yet noticed that people seem to drop dead around her yarn shop

 

[tiggrbaby]

January:


#1/90: The Cape May Garden (Cape May #1) by Claudia Vance (3.5/5) (romantic fiction)


Margaret’s life has been turned upside down. Her husband has taken off, her hours at work were cut in half, and a terrible storm threatens to ruin her treasured gardens.

But things turn around with support from her family and a handsome coworker.


#2/90: The House a Sea’s End (Ruth Galloway #3) by Elly Griffiths (4/5) (mystery)


Forensic anthropologist Ruth Galloway is struggling to cope with motherhood and work when her colleagues come upon hidden bodies on a remote beach. It appears that the bodies were placed there during WWII. Nelson questions a man who reveals that there is a secret that those involved swore to protect with their lives. And this man dies that very night. Ruth and Harry investigate what might turn out to be a war crime.


#3/90: Corduroy Mansions (#1) by Alexander McCall Smith (2.5/5) (fiction)


A cast of charming eccentrics make their home in a slightly dilapidated apartment block in London.


The characters were just too much all over the place for me.


#4/90: A Room Full of Bones (Ruth Galloway #4) by Elly Griffiths (4/5) (mystery)


When Ruth arrives to help supervise the opening of a coffin, she finds the museum’s curator dead. Soon after, the owner of the museum is found dead. Ruth is once again caught up helping Nelson with a crime.


#5/90: A Dying Fall (Ruth Galloway # 5) by Elly Griffiths (4/5) (mystery)


Ruth Galloway’s university friend and fellow archeologist has died in a house fire. But when she reads a letter he sent before his death, Ruth begins to believe that his death was related to his most recent find.


#6/90:The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Cafe (#1 Ladies’ Detective Agency ) by Alexander McCall Smith (3/5) (mystery)


A brother and sister have taken in a woman who has no idea who she is or where she came from. Precious Ramotswe and her new co-director Grace Makutsi have been tasked with finding out her identity. Meanwhile, Grace has opened a new cafe, and Precious’s husband must make a decision that will not only affect his garage but the agency as well.


#7/90: The Girl in White Gloves by Kerri Maher (3/5) (historical fiction)

Grace Kelly is one of the most envied women in the world with her fairytale life. But she is living a very unhappy life.


#8/90: Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin (5/5) (romance)


Violette is the caretaker of a cemetery in a small French town. When a police chief comes to scatter his mother’s ashes on the grave of a complete stranger, it becomes clear that he has a connection to her past.

 

[Shellsbutt]

1/25- Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan-was not a fan. It was too slow and rambling, and there was no point to any of it.
2/25-The Bride Test by Helen Hoang-I've read her previous book The Kiss Quotient so this was similar. I liked the fact that this explored what a relationship might be like from an autistic point of view.
3/25-Who is Maud Dixon by Alexandra Andrews- Wow, this was different, a real page turner. A little bit too wild at the end but very enjoyable.

 

[RangerPooh]

6/10 Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. This is book 1 in the Hannah Swensen Series aka Murder She Baked.
This was a new series for me, and I'm enjoying it. I've enjoyed the Hallmark movies and so far the book series is off to a good start. I have not paid enough attention to the show's characters, so I'm really discovering them for the first time. I will say that I was right along with the main character Hannah in her eliminating of potential suspects and didn't suspect who it was until it happened. Which for me was great.

A bonus feature in this series: cookie recipes in each chapter! I might have to try a few.

 

[Walt's Dream]

4/75 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Wow, just wow. This is an incredibly beautiful book. Well written and filled with figurative language that instantly brings scenes, feelings to your mind. Also I became very emotionally involved. A young girl lives in isolation, with her friends being the gulls that she feeds, on the coast of North Carolina. She is self reliant and is uncomfortable with people, town, society. Then 2 men enter the picture when she is older and she deals with first love and the need to be loved. A mystery occurs and the ending packed a bit of a wallop. I highly recommend this beautiful book.

5/75 Made in California by George Geary. "The California Born Burger Joints, Diners, Fast Food and Restaurants That Changed America". This was a fun, fairly quick read about the history of food places and/or companies that were started in Calif. Some are no longer around, but many are. We've got the biggies like Taco Bell, In-N-Out, IHOP, Jack in the Box, Wiernerschnitzel, See's Candies. And then there are the ones that are either gone, renamed, or with just a few remaining. Ones from my past included Round Table Pizza, Bob's Big Boy (remember the comic book?), Sizzler, Sambo's, Swenson's Ice Cream, Winchell's. A fun read.

 

[KevM]

17 books read in January.

1) This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - Sci-Fi/Epistolary. The story of two time travelers on opposite sides of a war who leave letters to each other through time. First tainting each other but over time they grow closer to each other. 4/5.

2) Warcross by Marie Lu - YA Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk. A young hacker/bounty Hunter comes to the attention of the creator of the most popular game, Warcross and hires her for a job in the upcoming international tournament. 4/5.

3) The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida - Mystery/Travel. Told in the second person narrative, a woman traveling to Casablanca to get a way from her life for a little has her wallet & passport stolen. Now that she is no one she can explore who she really is. 3.5/5

4) Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata/Edward G. Seidensticker(trasnlator) - The story of a love affair between a geisha in a hot spring resort town and a married Tokyo businessman staying their. Classic/Japanese Literature. 3.5/5

5) The Celtic Twilight by W. B. Yeats - Irish Folklore. Yeats recounting of stories of the fae as told to him by family, friends, & acquaintances. 3.75/5.

6) Rise: My Story by Lindsey Vonn - Memoir. Vonn’s memoir on her skiing career. 4.25

7) Load Poems Like Guns: Women's Poetry from Herat, Afghanistan by Edited & translated by Farzana Marie - Poetry. An excellent collect of 8 recent & contemporary women poets from Herat. With a short nice introduction explaining Herat’s historical artistic importance 5/5.

8.) Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell - Memoir. Purnell’s memoir on her journey to becoming a police & prison abolitionist as well as explaining the history of abolitionist. 5/5.

9) She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh - Music/Pop Culture. Originally written as a four part series for a magazine it explores Dolly’s musical & cultural contributions and compares it to the type of women Dolly was talking about. 3.75/5.

10) How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby - MG Contemporary. Pluto has just been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Now during the summer between 7th & 8th grade she’s beginning to learn how to live as herself. 4.5/5

11) The Beadworkers: Stories by Beth Piatote - Short Story Collection. Short stories taking place between the late 19th century to now looking at lives of Native Americans. 4.25/5.

12) Wildcard by Marie Lu - The sequel in the Warcross duology. YA Sci-Fi. 4/5

13) She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - Historical Fantasy. A queer reimagining of the rise to power of the Hongwu Emperor, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. 4.5/5.

14) With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo - Contemporary. Acevedo’s follow up to her award winning The Poet X. It tells the story of a young woman entering her senior year of high school with a young child and a passion for cooking trying to figure out what her future holds. The her school announces they will be adding a culinary arts elective. 4.5/5.

15) The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience: 500 Years of Women's Self-Portraitsby Jennifer Higgie - Art/History. An interesting book and a case where I felt the book was to short as I wanted to know more about a lot of the women talked about. The other knock is that out of all the paintings being talked about they only had about 25 or so in the book. 3.5/5.

16) The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester - History/Linguistics. First published as The Surgeon of Crowthorne in Britain and then renamed when published in the US. It’s the story of William Chester Minor, one of the most prolific contributors of words to the project of creating the Oxford English Dictionary. 3.5/5.

17) Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - Literary Fiction. Eh. I know it’s a popular book but it was just ok. What was attempted was interesting but I just didn’t connect with any of the characters. 3/5.

 

[drwitz]

4/75 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Wow, just wow. This is an incredibly beautiful book. Well written and filled with figurative language that instantly brings scenes, feelings to your mind. Also I became very emotionally involved. A young girl lives in isolation, with her friends being the gulls that she feeds, on the coast of North Carolina. She is self reliant and is uncomfortable with people, town, society. Then 2 men enter the picture when she is older and she deals with first love and the need to be loved. A mystery occurs and the ending packed a bit of a wallop. I highly recommend this beautiful book.

5/75 Made in California by George Geary. "The California Born Burger Joints, Diners, Fast Food and Restaurants That Changed America". This was a fun, fairly quick read about the history of food places and/or companies that were started in Calif. Some are no longer around, but many are. We've got the biggies like Taco Bell, In-N-Out, IHOP, Jack in the Box, Wiernerschnitzel, See's Candies. And then there are the ones that are either gone, renamed, or with just a few remaining. Ones from my past included Round Table Pizza, Bob's Big Boy (remember the comic book?), Sizzler, Sambo's, Swenson's Ice Cream, Winchell's. A fun read.

I absolutely remember Swenson’s Ice Cream. They had a store in downtown Charleston, SC and after our community theater shows we used to go as a group and order The Earthquake which had something like 18 scoops of ice cream and 10 kinds of sauces. There was always a wafer cookie dipped into the ice cream as well. Thanks for a fun reminder!

 

[virge]

Selected Poems from the Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur (poetry)
“This collection of deeply personal poetry is a mirror into the legendary artist's enigmatic world and its many contradictions.
Written in his own hand from the time he was nineteen, these poems embrace his spirit, his energy—and his ultimate message of hope.”
This was the Scholastic version of the book, targeting upper-elementary/middle-school. I’ve never been a fan of rap, but I’ve been exploring older rappers and how their lyrics reflect social justice themes. I enjoyed over half the poems in this collection. I didn’t enjoy his love poems.

Broken Vow: A Dark Mafia Romance (Brutal Birthright Book 5) by Sophie Lark
The Rebel (Kingmakers) by Sophie Lark
The Bully (Kingmakers) by Sophie Lark
The Heir (Kingmakers) by Sophie Lark
The Spy (Kingmakers) by Sophie Lark
Down & Dirty: Zak (Dirty Angels MC Series Book 1) by Jeanne St. James
(romance)
All were fast and easy reads.

11/75

 

[willowsnn3]

#5/50 Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
From Goodreads:
Although she was orphaned at birth, Eden Moore is never alone. Three dead women watch from the shadows, bound to protect her from harm. But in the woods a gunman waits, convinced that Eden is destined to follow her wicked great-grandfather--an African magician with the power to curse the living and raise the dead.

This one started off like a good little ghost story but somewhere towards the middle I lost interest & muddled on thru. Supposed to be the first in a series but I don't think I will read any of the rest.

 

[threeboysmom]

4/75 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Wow, just wow. This is an incredibly beautiful book. Well written and filled with figurative language that instantly brings scenes, feelings to your mind. Also I became very emotionally involved. A young girl lives in isolation, with her friends being the gulls that she feeds, on the coast of North Carolina. She is self reliant and is uncomfortable with people, town, society. Then 2 men enter the picture when she is older and she deals with first love and the need to be loved. A mystery occurs and the ending packed a bit of a wallop. I highly recommend this beautiful book.

I LOVED this book!! My favorite book of 2020. I was so absorbed in that story - I still think about it.

 

[threeboysmom]

17 books read in January.

WOW! You are my reading hero!

 

[threeboysmom]

5/45 A Spindle Splintered by Alix Harrow (real book)
Sorry, but I hated this one. I did read the entire thing because it was so short, but I strongly feel the author ruined Sleeping Beauty with this retelling. And yes, I know it was their intention and I read it anyways so my own fault.

6/45 The Light of Luna Park by Addison Armstrong (real book)
Great thought-provoking book about a nurse who stands up against the doctor's wishes and saves a premature baby destined for death (hospitals weren't equipped with incubators back then) and then ends up raising the baby on her own. Story is told alternating between past and present years; while I do enjoy that format, it seems like everyone is doing it nowadays. The two main characters were great women role models. I love a book that inspires you to be a better person - highly recommend!

Still reading A Court of Thorns & Roses on my Kindle (should finish tonight) and listening to All the Lonely People. Started another book this morning called The Ten Thousand Doors of January (recommendation by a podcast I listen to). Actually, all of the 3 books I'm currently reading/listening to are podcast recommendations.

 

[threeboysmom]

Saw someone else do this on Instagram and thought it made a great monthly visual. These are my January books. Can't believe I read 6!

 

[evilmommie]

3/20 We Are All The Same In the Dark by Julia Heaberlin
Very, twisty psychological plot. Struggled at times to finish it, as it was emotionally draining. 3 stars out of 5 ️️️

I have 3 books that just came in the mail. Not sure what I’m going to start next. Maybe The Push by Ashley Audrain.

 

[bobbiwoz]

#2 - Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

One of my goals for this year is to read through the stacks on my to-read shelf to make some room, but I failed miserably with this one because I loved it so much it just got moved over to the "keepers" shelf. The storytelling is just beautiful, touching on big questions and timeless themes while remaining wonderfully enmeshed in the world of modern technology. It felt like a love letter to books and writers and techies and nerds of all kinds.

I decided to read this based on what you say here. I enjoyed It less than you did. I couldn’t just skip it, I did have to see how it ended, but it took a long time to finish. I finished my last book January 20, and finished this one today. I rated it 3.5/5

5/50

 

[OKW8297]

1. Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon. Book 9 in the Outlander series and I just love them. I get immersed in her world. It took me since the beginning of January to read this as we listed, sold our house, found a c and started packing in this ti e, but I savored the book.