Reading Challenge/Goals for 2024

[Beezle2]

36/75 Heaven Breaker by Sara Wolf. Another one I liked but didn't love. A bit derivative, it felt like a mash up of things that came before. Did really enjoy the alien concept and will probably read the next in the series.
I thought Red Rising was a better book of this type.

 

[OKW8297]

Can it easily be read as a stand-alone book?

I think so but the whole series has been good so far. I would start with the first.

 

[melk]

12/30 The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

A four-year old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.

Excellent story, heartbreaking at times, that spans decades and really develops the characters and shows how this one crime had such repercussions on everyone involved.

 

[bobbiwoz]

22/80
Karolina’s Twins by Ronald H. Balson
Lena Woodward, an elderly woman, enlists the help of both lawyer Catherine Lockhart and private investigator Liam Taggart to appraise the story of her harrowing past in Nazi occupied Poland. At the same time, Lena’s son Arthur presents her with a hefty lawsuit under the pretense of garnering her estate—and independence—for his own purposes. Where these stories intersect is through Lena’s dubious account of her life in war-torn Poland, and her sisterhood with a childhood friend named Karolina. Lena and Karolina struggled to live through the atrocity of the Holocaust, and at the same time harbored a courageous, yet mysterious secret of maternity that has troubled Lena throughout her adult life. In telling her story to Catherine and Liam, Lena not only exposes the realities of overcoming the horrors of the Holocaust, she also comes to terms with her own connection to her dark past.
Karolina’s Twins is a tale of survival, love, and resilience in more ways than one. As Lena recounts her story, Catherine herself also recognizes the unwavering importance of family as she prepares herself for the arrival of her unborn child. Through this association and many more, both Lena and Catherine begin to cherish the dogged ties that bind not only families and children, but the entirety of mankind.
4.5/5

 

[RangerPooh]

20/25 Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn.
20a/25 Romancing Mister Bridgerton: The 2nd Epilogue by Julia Quinn.

 

[bobbiwoz]

17/30 - The Life We Bury - Allen Eskins - 4.5/5

I thought that this was a pretty good book. The story is interesting. I chose this book because it had some good reviews. It was definite worth it.

This is my 23/80. I enjoyed it a lot. 4/5

 

[willowsnn3]

#25/50 Candyland by Ed McBain & Evan Hunter
From Goodreads: Benjamin Thorpe is married, a father, a successful Los Angeles architect - and a man obsessed. Alone in New York City on business, he spends the empty hours of the night in a compulsive search for female companionship. His dizzying descent leads to an early morning confrontation in a mid-town brothel, and a subsequent searing self-revelation. Cathy Frese - aka Heidi the 'teenage' hooker - finishes up for the night and walks back to her studio apartment. But she never arrives. Her strangled, used and mutilated body is found in an alleyway the next morning. These two lost souls had crossed briefly in the night, and as the foggy events of the night before come into sharper focus, Benjamin Thorpe becomes an ever more possible suspect...

I found the fact that Ed McBain is one of the pen names of Salvatore Albert Lombino who legally changed his name to Evan Hunter in 1952 much more interesting than the book.

 

[Wood Nymph]

20/30 - The Guise of Another - by Allen Eskens - 4/5

This is the second book by this author, and it was another good one. I couldn't put it down.

Alexander Rupert, a Minnesota detective and Medal of Valor winner, is under subpoena by a grand jury on suspicion of corruption. Reassigned to the Frauds Unit, he is shunned by his fellow detectives, and he fears his wife may be having an affair. When he happens across a complex case of identity theft, Rupert sees an opportunity to rehabilitate his tattered reputation. But the case puts him in the path of trained assassin Drago Basta, who has been searching for "James Putnam" for years.

 

[OKW8297]

13. Daybreak by Belva Plain. A great author. This book is over 30 years old but it’s themes of prejudice, elections, etc unfortunately are as true as ever

 

[mgarbowski]

Book 10 of 24 - Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Book 11 of 24 - The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World - Steven Johnson
Book 12 of 24 - Real Tigers (Slough House, #3) - Mick Herron

Shards is the inventive first part of a space opera trilogy. Massive aliens called Architects are destroying worlds in our galaxy, but only inhabited ones. Yet they don't use those worlds for resources, food, energy or anything. Communication with them is impossible until a breakthrough allows humans to announce their presence, effectively a Whoville "we are here" moment. At that point the Architects withdraw without further communication, which is good but also just raises more questions, including will they come back. . . .

Ghost Map is a fascinating small history of the birth of epidemiology during a cholera outbreak in 1854 London. It's great until the final chapter which is basically a long, written, smug and condescending Ted Talk.

Real Tigers coincides with Season 3 of the Slow Horses (Slough House) TV show. The books continue to diverge more from the TV in some important while keeping the basic plot outline intact. Of course the books came first but having seen the show first in my POV it's the books that diverge. Much fun either way.

 

[Kirby]

#36 - An Amish Marriage of Convenience: 4th in the Surprised by Love Series by Rachel J. Good
Genre - Inspirational
When widower Stephen Lapp moves his five children from New York State to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, his only plan is to buy his family’s farm stand, Lapp’s Pastured Pork. That way, his brother can move closer to his fiancée and open his own stand. But on Stephen’s first trip to the market, his brave act of kindness nearly ends in catastrophe—until strong-willed Nettie Hartzler saves him—and makes an impression he can’t forget . . .
A widow with private heartaches of her own, Nettie has no interest in getting involved with any man, though she doesn’t discourage their respective children’s new friendships—despite Stephen’s contentious oldest daughter. But when Nettie runs into serious money worries and Stephen proposes a marriage of convenience, she’s distressed and conflicted. She’s come to know Stephen’s gentle heart and generous soul, and she can’t believe he’ll want her if she reveals the sins of her past. God has His own plans for the faithful, however, and this time they may include a second chance at love . .
I picked this book off of Bookbub.com and didn't realize it was part of a series. I like it enough to begin reading at the beginning of the series.

#37 - Wagging Their Tails by Theresa Lambe
Genre - Sports Romance
Half of every purchase will be donated to a local pet charity, along with half of every read-off of KU. Join me in helping to save some pets!
Brody Wheatman is the quarterback for the California Wolves. He’s also one of the hottest and most wanted men in the NFL. But the lonely nights and empty beds are getting old. Finding one solid woman who isn’t just in it for his name and good looks, and who can keep up with his schedule seems impossible. Saddened, he wants what his best friend Ty has, a woman who stands by and supports him. Ty finally convinces him to go to the team’s biannual Save-A-Pet event in hopes he’ll find a suitable furry friend to fill the void. What he found was so much more.
Dakota Glen had two loves of her life. One was working in the coffee shop off Ocean Blvd. Even though the celebrities who dropped in daily either thought she was invisible or snubbed her for her lowly status and ample curves, she didn’t care. She loved interacting with customers and enjoyed making coffee. But she didn’t need the job. She had her second love, her own large acreage where she nursed rescue animals back to health. But what she loved even more was the animals who most folks turned away, the ones on their last leg, figuratively and literally. Her lifestyle wasn’t for most men who floated through her life, but that was okay, too.
She’d seen Brody in her shop more times than she’d like to admit, and she always admired his smoldering looks and humble atmosphere. Not that she’d ever catch his eye, nor was too sure she really wanted to. About to turn down her invitation to the Save-A-Pet, fate seemed to be on Dakota's side when she showed up to support her furry friends. What she found opened her eyes, mind, and heart.
A beginning writer and my niece. She has a lot of spice in her books if you like that sort of thing. She self publishes and sells her books on Amazon. She has a dream of becoming a great writer and maybe she will achieve that some day. Who knows? I've only read three of her books, can see a little improvement from the first one I read. I do like the story line of not all guys like thin girls and feel like she could have done so much more with the story had she had more experience. I only read her books to support her but otherwise they don't interest me.

 

[cayennews]

#14 - Saving Emma by Allen Eskens

This is his most recent book. It was very good. Hard to put down. Recommend.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Update time!
#23-"The Magic of Sea Glass", Jenny Hale. A young woman is helped to recover after her fiancé's tragic death.4 stars

#24-"I Must Betray You", Ruta Sepetys, Historical Fiction about Romania in 1989 under Ceausescu, 3 stars

#25-"Don't Forget to Write", Sara Goodman Confino. An enjoyable read with some quirky characters. 4 stars

#26-"The Edge of Lost", Kristina McMorris. A daughter of a prison guard goes missing on Alcatraz. Unfortunately close to 90% of the book was spent on the back story of one of the inmates, having very little to do with Alcatraz or the child. 2 stars

 

[Kirby]

#37 - Blackveil: Book 4 of the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain
Genre - Fantasy, I've enjoyed this series and look forward to reading the last four books.
Once a simple student, Karigan G'ladheon finds herself in a world of deadly danger and complex magic, compelled by forces she cannot understand when she becomes a legendary Green Rider-one of the magical messengers of the king. Forced by magic to accept a dangerous fate she would never have chosen, headstrong Karigan has become completely devoted to the king and her fellow Riders.
But now, an insurrection led by dark magicians threatens to break the boundaries of ancient, evil Blackveil Forest-releasing powerful dark magics that have been shut away for a millennium.

 

[RangerPooh]

21/25 To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn.
21a/25 To Sir Phillip, With Love: The 2nd Epilogue by Julia Quinn

 

[OKW8297]

14. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant I have had this book on my TBR list for a long time. It’s like I knew I would grieve when it was over. I just finished and I have tears in my eyes. This book, the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob in Genesis, is powerful. It will stay with me.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I realized I hadn't updated in a while.

9/32 - Never Too Late - Danielle Steel
10/32 - Only the Brave - Danielle Steel
11/32 - Weird But True: Disney: 300 Wonderful Facts to Celebrate the Magic of Disney
12/32 - Oath and Honor: A Memoir ad a Waring - Liz Cheney
13/32 - So We Meet Again - Suzanne Park

 

[cayennews]

#15 - The Friendship Club - Robyn Carr

I really like Robyn Carr's books, but this one was a little dry. No real point to it.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I’m in book #53 for 2024 A Quitter’s Paradise

 

[bobbiwoz]

Took a look and put the first book on my reading list.

#32 - Being Henry: The Fonz....and Beyond by Henry Winkler.
I would rate this book 4/5. It's a small book. Henry is a truly nice person with some hang ups. Some due to the way his parent's treated him and some from being dyslexic. Having two dyslexic children, I can sympathize with his lack of self esteem and insecurities, he focuses a lot on this in his book. The difference between him and my children is that my children were diagnosed at a young age, given help and were not allowed to use being dyslexic as an excuse. In Henry's case, dyslexia wasn't even diagnosed back then so he didn't understand why it was such an effort just to read. When his stepson was diagnosed with dyslexia, he realized that is what he had. I enjoyed reading about his journey into acting and how he became "the Fonz" and where he went from there, overcoming his insecurities.

I enjoyed this book and was surprised at all he had to overcome as a child, and then to be so successful so early in his career. Many insecurities rear their head throughout his life. He is very proud of his family, rightfully so!

24/80. 4/5