Reading Challenge/Goals for 2024

[MGMmjl]

32/32 - Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson

Description:
"In this fantastical novel, Disney's Magic Kingdom suddenly becomes a bit eerie. Finn Whitman and four other teens have been hired as Disney World guides, but with an odd twist: With cutting-edge technology, they have been transformed into hologram projections capable of leading guests around the park. What begins as an exciting theme park job turns into a virtual nightmare as Finn and his pals attempt to thwart an uprising by a menacing group of Disney villains."

I have heard about the Kingdom Keepers books before, but this is the first time I have read one. I thought it was pretty good.

 

[melk]

34/30 Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Psychological thriller about a 15 year old who disappears one day. Ten years later her mother meets a young girl who looks just like her missing daughter.

Had gotten the title off this thread, thanks to the one(s) who recommended it!

 

[bobbiwoz]

55/80
Reread “To Be Where You Are,” the last book in the Mitford series by Jan Karon. I just needed some gentle stories. 4.5/5

 

[Kirby]

#82 - The Rise of the Magicks: Book 3 of the Chronicles of The One Trilogy by Nora Roberts
Genre Fantasy
With one drop of blood, the old world is gone for ever. And in its place, something extraordinary begins...
They call it The Doom - a deadly pandemic that starts on a cold New Year's Eve in the Scottish countryside. There's something mysterious about the virus and the way it spreads. As billions fall sick and die, some survivors find themselves invested with strange, unexpected abilities.
Lana, a New York chef, has the power to move things and people with her will. Fred can summon light in the darkness. Jonah, a paramedic, sees snatches of the future in those he touches. Katie gives birth to twins, and suspects that she has brought fresh magic into the world, along with new life.
But The Doom affects people differently. Along with the light, a dark and terrifying magic will also rise. As the remaining authorities round up the immune and the 'Uncannies' for testing, Lana, Katie and others flee New York in search of a safe haven. The old world is over, and Year One has begun.
I've enjoyed this trilogy.

 

[MGMmjl]

33/32 - Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood by Robert Beatty

Description:
"Sylvia Doe doesn't know where she was born or the people she came from. She doesn't even know her real last name. Sylvia has lived at the Highground Home for Children in the mountains of North Carolina for as long as she can remember. Whenever the administrators place her with a foster family in the city, she runs away, back to her horse Kitty Hawk—her best friend—and the other horses in the herd, the only place she feels like she belongs.

When Hurricane Jessamine causes the remote mountain valley where she lives to flood, Sylvia must rescue her beloved horses. But she begins to encounter strange and wondrous things floating down the river. Glittering gemstones and wild animals that don't belong — everything's out of place. Then she spots an unconscious boy floating in the water. As she drags him onto the shore and their adventure together begins, Sylvia wonders who he is and where he came from. And why does she feel such a strong connection to this mysterious boy?"

This is a middle school/young adult novel. I have read Beatty's previous series (Serafina and Willa), and enjoyed all those books. This was another great book that I really enjoyed! I know I'm not the target audience for these books, but they are well-written and have good plots.

 

[Wood Nymph]

40/30 - Jaws by Peter Benchly - 2.5/5

This is one of the few times that a movie is better than the book. Although the shark attacks were interesting, most of the other "non-shark" related parts of the book were not too exciting.

 

[cayennews]

#36 A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber. Quick, easy, enjoyable read. Would recommend.

 

[Wood Nymph]

41/30 - The Body in the Library - A Miss Marple Mystery - by Agatha Christie

The Miss Marple stories are different from the Hercule Poirot books. She sits in the background, observing and listening, but doesn't investigate the way Poirot does. She figures out who committed the crime, but doesn't say anything until the end.

 

[bobbiwoz]

@flyingdumbo127 had arranged for me to receive “Chicken Soup for the Traveler’s Soul” while I wait for medical procedures and convalescence. I finished the book on our flight home from WDW yesterday. These told of various kinds of adventures and many inspiring stories that did warm my heart.

56/80

 

[Kirby]

#83 - Evening Street: a Novella, book 4.5 in the Bell Elkins series by Julia Keller
Genre - Mystery
By day, she's a tough-minded prosecutor in Raythune County, West Virginia, a region scarred by poverty and prescription drug abuse. By night, Bell Elkins takes on a softer role. She volunteers at an auxiliary intensive care unit where nurses deal with the youngest and most vulnerable victims of drug abuse: the children born to mothers addicted to painkillers.
The place is known as Evening Street, and it is here Bell comes whenever she can spare the time. She rocks ailing infants to sleep, and she provides what medical science-for all of its marvels-cannot: A simple human touch.
One terrifying night, the distraught father of an Evening Street baby breaks into the facility. Gun in hand, he holds the staff hostage and demands a reckoning for a family grudge--with helpless infants only inches away.
And so begins a standoff at Evening Street. Bell Elkins is swept up into the crisis, as the drama escalates toward a lethal flashpoint. At the center of it all is a baby, only hours old, but already ancient in his knowledge of pain.
I've enjoyed reading this series. Having family in West Virginia, some with drug problems, it's really brought home the prescription drug abuse issue there.
#84 - The Language of Sycamores, Book 3 of the Tending Roses series by Lisa Wingate
Genre - General Fiction
Karen Sommerfield has been hiding from the big questions of her life-the emotional distance in her marriage, her inability to have children, and her bout with cancer. Getting lost in her high powered career provides the sense of purpose she yearns for. Until the day she's downsized out of her job and the doctor tells her the cancer may be back. It's a double blow that would send anyone reeling. It also sends Karen to Grandma Rose's old farm, where her sister has made a seemingly perfect life. Opening herself to the unexpected, Karen finds a lonely child in need of nurturing and insights into her family's past. And in the quiet of the Missouri Ozarks, she begins to discover the joy to make her life complete.
I'm enjoying this series.

 

[amcnj]

Well I am officially tapping out for 2024. I just walked to the library and returned the last books for the year. I won’t have time from here on out.

I got off the Agatha Christie books ( except for Murder on the Orient Express), read the final book in Sanderson’s early Mistborn trilogy (The hero of Ages) and ended with Stephen King (Joyland, Later, Salem’s Lot, Carrie, Misery and Firestarter). Some I had read many years ago, and others were first timers. Anyway, Firestarter was book number 212 for me.

Happy holidays to all, and enjoy any additional books you have planned for 2024.

 

[bobbiwoz]

57/80
”The Prayer Box by Linda Wingate
4.5/5

 

[Simba's Mom]

#53/52 "The Paradise Problem", Christina Lauren, 4 stars. Contemporary Romance, kind of funny, a little overly "jump your bones" sometimes.

#54/52-"Golf Is Hard", Andrew Johnson. 3 stars. Hard for me to rate-an avid golfer would probably enjoy it much more.

#55/52-"Embers in the London Sky", Sarah Sundin, 3 stars. More focused on the romance than aspects of World War II.

 

[melk]

35/30 The Making of Us by Lisa Jewell

A dying sperm donor confides to a friend about the four children he knows he has but has never met. Around the same time the grown children start to seek one another out.

This was one of her earlier books before she started writing psychological thrillers. It was pretty good.

 

[bobbiwoz]

58/80
Redemption by Karen Kingsbury. 4/5

 

[Lumpy1106]

22/20 - Michael Lewis - "Premonition" - 3/5
I found this to be really unsatisfying. It's the non-fiction account of the primary people behind the nation's COVID response. I suppose if you tell the story from any one person's perspective it will be different than every other person's perspective, but it's a really shallow dive. I'll leave it at that. LSS - I expected more from Lewis. Admittedly, he sets a high bar (Big Short, Moneyball, etc).

 

[Wood Nymph]

42/30 - Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Agatha Christie

There really wasn't anything Christmasy about this story except that it was the excuse for the family to be together. It was another solid story.

 

[DisneyHardin]

32/32 - I just squeaked out my goal.

"The Third Gilmore Girl" - Kelly Bishop - I love memoirs, so I really liked this book. A lot of the reviews online gave it low stars because it is just a memoir of her entire life and only a very small portion is devoted to her time on Gilmore Girls.

 

[Kirby]

#85 - Demon's Arrow: World Whisperer Book 4 by Rachel Devenish Ford
Genre - Young Adult Fantasy
A poison arrow. A prophecy of two sisters. A journey into the heart of the resistance.
While Isika is preparing for her future role with the Maweel, members of the Karee tribe come to ask for help with the problem of masses of disappearing people.
Meanwhile, Aria grows weaker daily from the poison arrow lodged inside her, and time seems to be growing short. A disturbing Karee prophecy might contain more answers, and as Aria is pulled deeper into the Desert King’s trap, Isika races to find a healer who might be able to save her sister. In the most dangerous places, she finds more help than she expected, and the group of friends grows and changes as the Resistance enfolds them all.
Isika has resisted the power of the Desert King, but will Aria fall under his sway?
Two more books in the series. I've enjoyed reading these so far. Looking forward to reading the last two. I'm going to suggest this for my book club to read in 2026. All of our books for 2025 are locked in now.

 

[bobbiwoz]

59/80
“Remember” by Karen Kingsbury 4/5.