Reading Thread/Goals for 2025

[bobbiwoz]

40/50
The speaker at our granddaughter’s graduation was Carlos Lozada, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. His was a good speech, and the theme was to encourage reading. He spoke about the children’s book that he has read and reread throughout his life. The book was “Harriet the Spy” by Louise Fitzhugh. I was unfamiliar with the book, and decided it would be my next book. Harriet is 11 and a true character! Glad I read it, but the book doesn’t speak to me the way it did to Carlos. 3.5/5

 

[melk]

18/30 The Coworker by Freida McFadden

When Natalie’s dependable coworker, Dawn, doesn’t show up for work one morning she suspects something is wrong. Events move quickly as Natalie finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse and wondering who the real victim is.

I’ve been listening to books by this author as I’m out walking my dog. While they’re not great literature by any means they don’t have a long list of characters, the plots are easy to follow and there are plenty of twists. Easy listening.

19/30 The Widow’s Husband’s Secret Lie by Freida McFadden

I came across this novella on Hoopla and seeing as I’ve been reading this author decided to give it a try. It is a satirical thriller and the author pokes fun at herself all the way through. It had me laughing out loud and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She should probably write more humor.

 

[clappyclaps]

17/30 - Never Flinch by Stephen King.

Stephen King has been my favourite author since I was probably too young to be even reading his books. However I've gotten very frustrated lately at his concentrating on the character Holly Gibney, who I really dont like. She was good as a supporting character in the Mr Mercedes Trilogy and The Outsider, but she's a terrible lead character and the way King writes her is so childish and irritating. Never Flinch is the latest Holly story and to be honest it'll probably be the last story of hers I'll ever read. I finished it but I certainly didn't enjoy it, it felt like a run of the mill crime novel and certainly didn't feel like a Stephen King book. 2/5 and thats probably being generous.

 

[RangerPooh]

14/15 Memories of the Falls, A Sweetwater Falls Mystery #4. Elle Gray

 

[Wood Nymph]

19/30 - The Summer Guests - by Tess Gerritsen - 4/5

This is the 2nd book in her Martini Club series. I enjoyed the story. She is a good author.

"When former spy Maggie Bird retired to the seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, she settled in for a quiet life with breathtaking views. But enemies from her past soon threatened to destroy everything. Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the collective intelligence of the Martini Club, the circle of ex-CIA friends in her cocktail-sipping book club. Their handiwork, however, caught the attention of young police chief Jo Thibodeau. Now Jo and her neighborhood ex-spies have an uneasy alliance. After a teenager vanishes and Maggie's neighbor becomes the prime suspect she joins the investigation, determined to prove her friend's innocence. But the girl's wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets. As Jo grapples with two unexplained mysteries, the Martini Club races to uncover the truth behind shadowy secrets . . . before more lives are lost."-- Provided by publisher.

 

[wvjules]

#19 Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (Book 7 of 8 of the Throne of Glass Series)
#20 Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas (Book 7 of 8 of the Throne of Glass Series)

I read those books as a tandem read based off of recommendations I found online. I also found an epub version of it so I didn't have to switch from book to book. I highly recommend the tandem read.

Now I have a dilemma. The final book, Kingdom of Ash is 988 pages long. I leave for Disney in 12 days. I was shook at the ending of EoS so I really want to start KoA but I don't want to have to stop in the middle. Waiting will be a test of my will power!

I think I might pick up a lighter book, maybe one of the popular Emily Henry ones, to tide me over.

 

[willowsnn3]

 

[melk]

20/30 Betting on Good by Wendy Francis

Two couples from Boston take a trip to the Kentucky Derby, testing their friendships and their marriages.

I wanted something light to read on vacation so I went with this. Didn’t love it, but it held my attention enough to make it to the end.