Reading Thread/Goals for 2025

[Simba's Mom]

#7/56-"Maybe in Another Life", Taylor Jenkins Reid, 5 stars. Two stories of which path a woman's life would have taken based on her decision. "If only I had....." For me it was fascinating, as I've had several major, life-altering events happen and it made me reflect on how my life might have been different if the stars had aligned differently. I admit that others may have a different reaction to this book.

 

[MGMmjl]

6/32 - The Crash by Freida McFadden

Description:
"The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child."

This is the first Freida McFadden book I've read. I was pleasantly surprised! I enjoyed it.

 

[wvjules]

6/32 - The Crash by Freida McFadden

Description:
"The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child."

This is the first Freida McFadden book I've read. I was pleasantly surprised! I enjoyed it.

Read "The Boyfriend". It was great.

Also, The Housemaid gets great reviews. I'm going to read that one as soon as I get a break from ACTOAR.

 

[Kirby]

#5 Fallen by Karin Slaughter. The next book in the Will Trent series. A lot of characters in this book. Hard to put down.

I've added this series to my list of books to read.

5/30 Damn Glad to Meet You by Tim Matheson

Autobiography by the actor who never quite made it big in Hollywood yet starred in so many things over the years. I picked it up as I remember him from the original Yours, Mine and Ours, then Animal House and now Virgin River. I enjoyed it.

I've also added this one.

Question for you readers - do you read series back to back or read other books in between? As you can see from above I do books in between, but I'm curious how you go about it?

I don't normally read series back to back, I have a ton of different series going all the time. I did actually read Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series back to back one year though.

#4 A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

It took me about 1/3 of the book to really get into it. It was very B&TB to me at first. I had to let that go and let it be its own story then I really started to enjoy it more. (I am currently reading A Court of Mist and Fury and love it so much better than the first one.) Also, fantasy writers come up with the most difficult names. Geeze. Can't there be a Beth or John, or Susan??? lol

I've enjoyed that series and feel the same way about the first book. It's unusual for a second book in the series to be better than the first one.

Now on to my latest reads -

#4 - It's In His Kiss; Book 7 in the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn

#5 - On The Way To The Wedding; Book 8 in the Bridgerton Series by Julia Quinn

#6 - Because of Miss Bridgerton; Book 1 in the Bridgerton Prequals by Julia Quinn

I read all three back to back because they were combined as one book that I borrowed from Libby otherwise I would have read some other books in between.

 

[mgarbowski]

Book 5 of 24: The MANIAC - Benjamin Labatut
Book 6 of 24 - Salt: A World History - Mark Kurlansky

Salt is a fascinating angle on world history through the lens of salt mining, production, consumption and trade.

The Maniac is fact-based fiction that explores the last century of math and physics, wherein the best human minds attempt to explain the world, maybe destroy it, and to recreate or exceed the human mind. Unusual book. There isn't really a plot. Most of it is a biography of John von Neumann recounted in fictionalized POV chapters written (but not really) by family, friends, collaborators, etc. Not to everyone's taste I expect, but if you think you would enjoy it, give it a shot.

 

[cayennews]

#6 Santa Cruise by Fern Michaels. It was a light and fluffy story. No real "ending" to the story per se.

 

[bobbiwoz]

9/50. “In the Company of Others” by Jan Karon 4/5 Second reading

10/50 “Bathed in Prayer’ by Jan Karon 5.0/5

My serious operation (10-12 hours) is scheduled for February 24, and I want to read some prayerful things, and Jan Karon’s books have helped me prepare mentally for what I will be going through. I will continue to read parts of each.

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

12/104: James by Percival Everett
The reimagined story of the Adventures of Huck Finn as told by the viewpoint of enslaved Jim. This book was pretty amazing even though a lot of it was painful to read. Highly recommend 4.5

13/104: The secret war of Julia Child by Diana R Chamber
A fictional account of Julia's life during WWII working as a spy. It really wasn't what I expected and I had a really hard time getting into it. It took me weeks to finish this book while the previous book only took me a day to read and they were the same length. 2.5

 

[melk]

My serious operation (10-12 hours) is scheduled for February 24, and I want to read some prayerful things, and Jan Karon’s books have helped me prepare mentally for what I will be going through. I will continue to read parts of each.

Best wishes that all goes well with your upcoming surgery!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Best wishes that all goes well with your upcoming surgery!

Thank you so much.

 

[bobbiwoz]

#7/56-"Maybe in Another Life", Taylor Jenkins Reid, 5 stars. Two stories of which path a woman's life would have taken based on her decision. "If only I had....." For me it was fascinating, as I've had several major, life-altering events happen and it made me reflect on how my life might have been different if the stars had aligned differently. I admit that others may have a different reaction to this book.

Read it because of what you said.
11/50
I enjoyed it…4/5

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

Finishing up all the books I've been reading at the same time.

14/104: Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown (Audio Book)
Memoir by Anne Glenconner, a friend of the Royals and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret. Her stories were fascinating and she lived an amazing life. Highly recommend 4.5

15/104: Bring the Magic Home, an Exploration of Design Inspired by Disney Parks by Sunny Chanel
Disney book about decorating in the style of Disney Parks. While I enjoyed the book and the pictures are great, I wanted more real life pictures of people's homes. 3

 

[wvjules]

I finished Book #2 of A Court of Thorns and Roses. LOVED IT! I am now devouring Book #3. I think I may have a wait for book 4 so I can read something different while I wait.

 

[Wood Nymph]

6/30 - Hallowe'en Party - Agatha Christie - but the book edition that I read was titled A Haunting in Venice - the title of the movie loosely based on the book - 2.5/5 for the book

We watched the movie "A Haunting in Venice" and I knew within minutes that the Hercule Poirot in the movie was not the Agatha Christie version. Too many things happened in the movie that are not typical of the books. So, when I went to the library to pick up Hallowe'en party, the book had been retitled to match the movie title. There was a foreword by the screenwriter, Michael Green, in which he apologized to Christie fans for his adaptation. I discovered that there were so many changes in the movie that is really was a completely different story. The setting in the book was a small town in England, about 50 miles from London, not Venice. The motive for the crime had changed and there wasn't any "haunting" in the book.

The book was written in 1969, when Agatha Christie was 78 years old. The mystery story itself is a good story, but the author spends too much time in the book criticizing the current society of the day. Characters talk about the era of increased crime. There are comments about an increase in children being murdered. There are characters who say that the murderer is a deranged person because of the increase of crazy people. This book would have been better without the quantity of complaints about society in 1969.

 

[bobbiwoz]

12/50
“Dark Road Home,” by Anna Carlisle.

4/5

 

[willowsnn3]

#4 The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
First in the Longmire series. I loved the tv series so thought I would try the books. Enjoyed it a lot.
#5 Raised by Wolves by James Patterson w/Emily Raymond
The police respond to the arrival of two teens at the grocery store. They don’t speak English. They don’t speak at all. They’re brother and sister and, for all anybody can tell, they’ve been raised in the forest.
Two teens appear out of nowhere, ransacking a small-town grocery and attacking the police officers who come to investigate. Their clothes are torn and filthy, their hands and bare feet callused, they have fangs. They’re sister and brother, alone against the world. Where did they come from? Raised by wolves, they say.
This was interesting in the way that I wanted to find out what really happened but really consider it a waste of time.

 

[melk]

6/30 The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

If you want a twisty ending that you never saw coming this is the book for you.

 

[bobbiwoz]

13/50
“All the Secret Places” by Anna Carlisle. The second book-in the series. I don’t think it was as good as the first. I will read one more. 3.5/5

 

[MGMmjl]

7/32 - Lighten the Load by David Fitz-Gerald

Description:
"An unsolved hometown murder casts a foreboding shadow over the journey. Mounting responsibilities weigh heavy on Dorcas' shoulders while navigating the trail along the Platte River. Family, friends, and neighbors can't seem to get along without her help.

The gruesome trail exacts a heavy toll. A sweeping grass fire blazes across the prairie. A doomed wagon careens down a treacherous hill. A fellow traveler is gored to death while hunting buffalo. Each disaster pushes the pioneers to the brink. Amidst the chaos, Dorcas grapples with the realization that she must dump her precious cook stove and her husband's massive safe. The oxen can no longer haul the heavy weight of unnecessary cargo.

When her daughter mysteriously disappears while the wagons are at Fort Laramie, Dorcas Despairs. She is desperate to help her daughter when the troubled youth is found in the arms of a Brulé man in Spotted Tail's village."

This is book #2 of the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series. I have really enjoyed the first 2 books, and look forward to reading more of the series.

 

[bobbiwoz]

14/50
A tiny one! I have been reading old favorites by Jan Karon, and some new ones that I had missed, and found “The trellis and the Seed,” and it was described as a “Book of Encouragement for All ages.” I really was happy when the seed turned into a Moonflower vine! Moonflowers are a special treat….you must be careful, they are poisonous to dogs! 4.5/5 only because it’s so short!