Reading Challenge 2022

[evilmommie]

Completed my 20 goal!
20/20 The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
️️️️ out of ️️️️️

Dark, creepy and atmospheric. When you let houseguests overstay their welcome. Mhmmm. Told from 3 points of view. Didn’t realize it was a series, until after I picked this up from Target. I’ll definitely read the next one, as I liked Lisa Jewell’s style of writing.

Since this is a “challenge”. I will challenge myself to read 3 more books before the end of the year. Thanks @willowsnn3 for being our book gatekeeper!

New goal 23!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I have a few pages of this thread to get caught up on - you all are doing such a great job with your reading & recommendations. Keep 'em coming! Hard to believe we are already HALFWAY through 2022! What?! How?!

27/45 - The Midnight Lock by Jeffrey Deaver (real book)
When a woman arrives home to her Manhattan apartment to find that her personal items have been rearranged while she slept, police initially dismiss her complaint. Nothing was stolen, and there's no sign of breaking and entering. But when the same woman turns up dead, Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are brought in to investigate the murder. The soon learn that the murderer calls himself "the Locksmith." He is obsessed with locks, slipping into homes in the dead of night and tying his victims up with knots or locks, ultimately strangling them. Their hunt for the killer is interrupted when an internal investigation in the police force uncovers what seems to be a crucial mistake in one of Rhyme's previous cases. He is removed from the case, and must investigate the Locksmith in secret to untangle the mysteries behind the psychotic killer before he can set his ultimate trap.

I liked the premise of things being rearranged because that's a real scare factor for me - I can walk into any room and know instantly if anything is a little off. But the author didn't really focus on that - wish they could have played more with the minds of these women haha. The book just fell flat for me. I don't think crime fiction is really my genre.

28/45 - The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (ebook)
As England prepares to fight the Nazis in 1940, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of East-End London poverty, works the legendary code-breaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip seven years later whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter—the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger—and their true enemy—closer...

5 stars for me! Took me almost half the book before I really got into it, but once I did, the book was unputdownable (is that a word?) On waiting list now for The Diamond Eye (newest by Quinn) and can't wait!

29/45 - The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella (ebook)
It's been over two years since Effie's beloved parents got divorced, destroying the image of the happy, loving childhood she thought she had. Since then, she's become estranged from her father and embarked on a feud with his hot (and much younger) girlfriend, Krista. And now, more earth-shattering news: Greenoaks, the rambling Victorian country house Effie called home her whole life, has been sold. When Krista decides to throw a grand "house cooling" party, Effie is originally left off the guest list--and then receives a last-minute "anti-invitation" (maybe it's because she called Krista a gold-digger, but Krista totally deserved it, and it was mostly a joke anyway). Effie declines, but then remembers a beloved childhood treasure is still hidden in the house. Her only chance to retrieve it is to break into Greenoaks while everyone is busy celebrating. As Effie sneaks around the house, hiding under tables and peeping through trapdoors, she realizes the secrets Greenoaks holds aren't just in the dusty passageways and hidden attics she grew up exploring. Watching how her sister, brother, and dad behave when they think no one is looking, Effie overhears conversations, makes discoveries, and begins to see her family in a new light. Then she runs into Joe--the love of her life, who long ago broke her heart, and who's still as handsome and funny as ever--and even more truths emerge. But will Effie act on these revelations? Will she stay hidden or step out into the party and take her place with her family? And truthfully, what did she really come back to Greenoaks for? Over the course of one blowout party, Effie realizes that she must be honest with herself and confront her past before she'll ever be able to face her future.

I had a 6-hour plane trip ahead of me so chose a couple of chick-lit books to hold my attention while being surrounded by people and distractions. I've enjoyed the Shopaholic books by Kinsella, but this one was not a favorite. It kept my attention somewhat but lacked the humor I usually find in Kinsella's previous books.

30/45 - November 9 by Colleen Hoover (real book)
Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

I'm sort of embarrassed to admit but this is the 2nd book by Hoover that I have loved! Definitely held my attention and I LOVED the premise of this book - so original. I wish there was more of a twist to the plot. Love the kind of twists that actually make me gasp out loud. Will be adding a couple more of her books to my TBR this year for sure.

Now to get caught up on what you all are reading!

So glad you mentioned the Rose Code by Kate Quinn. I read it in the two days that Ian gave us wind and rain here in Cape May!

61/75. 4/5.

 

[willowsnn3]

Completed my 20 goal!
20/20 The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
️️️️ out of ️️️️️
Since this is a “challenge”. I will challenge myself to read 3 more books before the end of the year.

New goal 23!

Yay! Congrats on meeting your goal.
Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors.

 

[willowsnn3]

Thanks @willowsnn3 for being our book gatekeeper!

Thank you, and all the other readers that post their reads. I get so many suggestions to add to my reading list.
This is really a thread that runs itself & everyone who has hosted it over the years has done a great job.
I really hope we can keep it going many more years with a variety of hosts.

 

[willowsnn3]

#44/50 Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories -- she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there.

Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back, and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them, and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

This had me at 'serial killer'. I know I'm a sick person but love a good mystery/thriller.
Sadly this did not live up to the Goodreads blurb above. It was ok but would I recommend?
Nah, don't waste your time.

 

[drwitz]

More reading, and this time some for work...

79. and 80. Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education and The Agile College by Nathan Grawe

Read these for work. In case you didn't know, we are in the middle of a "birth dearth" in our country. For the last several years (even prior to the pandemic), our birth rate had slowed to a level that means our number of kids is shrinking. And immigration won't make up the difference. A number of experts have been talking about the impact on higher education for the next 18 years or so, and Grawe takes this work and builds upon it in interesting ways. The author looks at projected impacts by sector (private not-for profit, public) and selectivity (elite institutions, top 50, regional, and public) and also examines demographic influences (ethnicity, parental income, region of the country, parental education status). In so doing, he paints a picture which is much more useful and informative for schools in different sectors and makes the argument that the coming crisis in higher education won't be felt evenly by all. The second book (The Agile College) goes even farther by offering institutions some ideas of how to best prepare for what is to come and reviews updates to the model. Overall, very interesting and I am looking forward to seeing a post-pandemic update to Grawe's predictions (hopefully).

81. Here's the Deal: A Memoir by Kellyann Conway

I make a point of listing but not reviewing any blatantly political book I read, and I will continue that practice here. If you would like to hear my opinion of the book, feel free to message me and we can discuss it. The only thing I will say is that while I disagree with her politics, Kellyann is a wonderful writer. This was a long book (nearly 500 pages), but I sped through it.

Now off to resume my Stephen King re-read. My copy of Fairy Tale is waiting, but I promised myself I would finish the re-read in order and not add any new books until I got there. Already started Duma Key.

Here are the next three reads for the year. No surprise, but we start with a Stephen King book...

82. Duma Key by Stephen King

Set on an island off the Gulf Coast of Florida near Sarasota and Ft. Meyers (I know), the story continues the story begun in the short novella at the end of Blaze. The novel is hard to quantify as it is partly about art (specifically painting), partly a reflection on traumatic injury and the recover from it, and partly a supernatural tale of the battle between death and destruction and the forces of good. I finished this long before Ian, but there is a plot point about hurricanes in Southwest Florida which makes the book once again timely. King is an amazing writer, and the horror quotient here is medium to low, so worth a read for those who want an easy exposure to his work.

83. Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Memoir by Wil Wheaton

This was a very fun read. Wheaton takes his original memoir (Just a Geek which I never read) and offers updates and corrections through annotations to the original text (sometimes the annotations are as long as the original text). Wheaton bares his soul, and his battle with depression and trauma is heroic. The source material for much of the book are his blog posts on wilwheaton dot net, but this is definitely worth a review if you remember Wheaton from "Star Trek TNG" or "Big Bang Theory". He is a fascinating person and a great writer.

84. The Best American Short Stories 2007 Edited by Stephen King, series editor Heidi Pitlor

So I was about to start reading Just After Sunset, another Stephen King short story collection and in the intro he explains how he was motivated by serving as editor for the 2007 short story collection. I was motivated to seek out the volume and read this first. The collection to my taste is uneven, but there are some terrific stories included. I also enjoyed King's intro essay very much and recommend it.

Now off to read Just After Sunset.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Hello all! Joining today if you all don't mind! As a fellow bibliophile, I am always tucking into a book that may be in my purse, car, house, RV, on my phone or Nook!


#172/200: A Song For Dark Times by Ian Rankin

Just finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry and it was the cutest book that easily could of have been described as a beach read, I only wish I was on one instead I read this one snuggled under a blanket on my deck as the leaves fell around me at our Midwest Campground!

 

[RangerPooh]

33/40 Endangered (Sam Westin Mysteries #1) by Pamela Beason.
I really enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series then this one is similar. The lead character is a female who works for an environmental group researching cougars. The setting takes place inside a National Park. While conducting her report a child goes missing. Sam was the last person to see the child, but who took him? The story follows Sam as she searches for answers, along with an FBI agent.

 

[willowsnn3]

Hello all! Joining today if you all don't mind! As a fellow bibliophile, I am always tucking into a book that may be in my purse, car, house, RV, on my phone or Nook!


#172/200: A Song For Dark Times by Ian Rankin

Just finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry and it was the cutest book that easily could of have been described as a beach read, I only wish I was on one instead I read this one snuggled under a blanket on my deck as the leaves fell around me at our Midwest Campground!

Added you to our list.
Are you a full time RVer or just on vacation?
We have 2 different families from our church that are full time RVers.
One is a young couple with two young daughters. The other is a retired couple.
Love following their adventures on facebook.

 

[bobbiwoz]

33/40 Endangered (Sam Westin Mysteries #1) by Pamela Beason.
I really enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series then this one is similar. The lead character is a female who works for an environmental group researching cougars. The setting takes place inside a National Park. While conducting her report a child goes missing. Sam was the last person to see the child, but who took him? The story follows Sam as she searches for answers, along with an FBI agent.

Just put a hold on it. Met Nevada Barr at book signing once!

 

[willowsnn3]

#45/50 Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
From Goodreads:
Through these interconnected narratives more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. This one traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years.
Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family after family’s lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House. These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home.

Just around 200 pages so didn't take long to get thru but I really enjoyed it.

 

[MGMmjl]

25/30 - Blood Trail by C. J. Box

Description:
"It is elk season in the Rockies, but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. When the call comes in on the radio, Joe Pickett can hardly believe his ears: game wardens have found a hunter dead at a camp in the mountains; strung up, gutted, and flayed, as if he were the elk he'd been pursuing. A spent cartridge and a poker chip lie next to his body.

Ripples of horror spread through the community, and with a possibly psychotic killer on the loose Governor Rulon is forced to end the hunting season early for the first time in state history. Are the murders the work of a deranged antihunting activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta?

As always, Joe Pickett is the governor's go-to man, and he's put on the case to track the murderous hunter, as more bodies and poker chips turn up."

This is book #8 of the Joe Pickett series. I continue to really enjoy the series!

 

[Toolulu22]

9/12 - The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager - This is not my typical type of book to read, but from some of the reviews here I felt the desire to try something different and thrilling. This started strong and I couldn't put it down, lots of twists and turns (until the end, really). Well into the book there was a major twist that was too out-there for me and I lost momentum with the book. I still finished and enjoyed the characters. Others may enjoy the book, but don't think that I'll read more from this author.

 

[Toolulu22]

#45/50 Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
From Goodreads:
Through these interconnected narratives more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. This one traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years.
Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family after family’s lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House. These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home.

Just around 200 pages so didn't take long to get thru but I really enjoyed it.

I just posted a review and went back to read some suggestions for my next book. I'm glad to have seen your posting right above mine. I discovered Alice Hoffman's books in graduate school when I took a summer course in teaching methods using creative expression. My professor (author Ellen Hagan) taught a summer Alice Hoffman Retreat for young writers right after our teaching course ended. I read Practical Magic and intended to read more, but never did. I have The Marriage of Opposites on my bookshelf waiting, but a short read is perfect with my schedule.

 

[melk]

26/35 The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers

Historical fiction about Maddie Sykes, a fifteen year old dressmaker, who in 1946 North Carolina is thrown into a responsible role preparing the wealthy wives of tobacco executives for the annual gala. But Maddie finds herself embroiled in obligations towards family and new friends after accidentally uncovering a serious secret by the top executive.

I really enjoyed this. It puts you in that era before it was public knowledge just how deadly the tobacco industry is, when cigarettes were promoted for pregnant women to ”keep them calm.” It was a nice coming of age story about Maddie, seeing her mature over one summer.

 

[bobbiwoz]

16/35 Fly Girl by Ann Hood

Normally a fiction author, Ann Hood writes about her years spent as a TWA flight attendant. She writes about her training, the realities of the job, the deregulation of the airline industry and the massive furloughs.

I really enjoyed this book, it was interesting and at times funny. I think I’ve read one of her fiction works but will probably look for others now as I really enjoyed her writing.

Finished reading Fly Girl by Ann Hood today. I enjoyed the book and her style so I will look for some of her others as well! 62/75. 4/5

 

[RUDisney]

22/25: Cilka's Journey, by Heather Morris. I loved this one, too. It's the second book in the series about those who survived Auschwitz. Things don't go well for Cilka when she is released from Auschwitz. She is accused by the Russians of assisting the Nazis while she was their prisoner. She is sentenced to 10 years in a hard labor camp in Siberia. How will she make it through the harsh, dark winters and the white nights inside the prison?

I've downloaded the 3rd and final book in this series, but first, I'm going to finish a book that was written by a friend of mine. More to come on that later.

 

[willowsnn3]

Checking out for a few days. Leaving late tonight or early tomorrow morning for a few days at the World. Disney that is, lol. Keep the books going!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Checking out for a few days. Leaving late tonight or early tomorrow morning for a few days at the World. Disney that is, lol. Keep the books going!

Have a great time!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Checking out for a few days. Leaving late tonight or early tomorrow morning for a few days at the World. Disney that is, lol. Keep the books going!

Enjoy your vacation!