Reading Thread/Goals for 2026

[Wood Nymph]

11/30 - The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman - 4/5 - volume 2 of the Thursday Murder Club series - aka: senior citizens solving crimes

The books should be read in order, as I accidently found out. The story in this volume continues from book one without much of a recap. I'm enjoying these books.

The second installment in the number one Sunday Times bestselling Thursday Murder Club series featuring the old (but far from past-it) team as they pursue a brand new mystery. It's the following Thursday. Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster and a very real threat to his life. As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus? But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

 

[bobbiwoz]

20/30 Dial A for aunties... Jesse sutanto...easy to read and great resource for one act comedy talent show dialogue... mainly dialogue so great book to read on parts by the pool...shore ... rental cabin deck... commuter travel....so my first book to read recommendation...5

28/70
I agree! I downloaded it to read while in the car! Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[MGMmjl]

16/32 - Hidden in Shadows by Viveca Sten. Translated by Marlaine Delargy

Description:
"In the Swedish resort of Åre, crime is rare. Certainly nothing so brutal as the murder of Johan Andersson, a former Olympic skier found bound and beaten to death in the forest. According to his distraught wife, he didn’t have any enemies in the world. To Detective Inspectors Hanna Ahlander and Daniel Lindskog, the crime proves otherwise. But what could have provoked such rage? And in whom?

As Hanna and Daniel search for answers, Rebecka Ekvall, a vulnerable pastor’s wife, is trapped in an abusive marriage. Isolated from her congregation, she’s afraid of her husband and even more fearful for her life. Because Rebecka carries a fateful secret. But she isn’t the only one in Åre with something to hide.

As Hanna and Daniel continue to untangle the dark histories of a growing list of suspects, they realize that Johan’s murder is just the beginning of a disturbing case about survival and revenge—at any cost."

2nd book in The Åre Murders series. I thought it was a good murder mystery.

 

[OKW8297]

16. These is my Words by Nancy Turner. This is historical fiction written as a diary. Set in the Arizona Territories in the late 19 th century. It is outstanding and like an adult Little House on the Prairie. It’s the first in a trilogy and I will read the others.

 

[cayennews]

#13 Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell. This book was so-so. It started a bit slow, then got better, but the end was just meh. Also somewhat predictable.

 

[citruscurtis]

A library book that I checked out... but after 1/4 in....why????? It's movie Now The cell phone couple plot

 

[citruscurtis]

22/30 aftershocks... pandemic politics Colin kahl

Great history book .. first 80 pages will be hard to not put the book down...then hits a dry spell... then picks up because we are reading about ourselves...then lags through international history... disappointed that library removed the book..so will check the stacks to see what history is left behind in the library

 

[Simba's Mom]

Here we go with my 4 star or better books-

22/55-"House of Cards: Surviving Munchausen by Proxy and a Mother's Web of Lies". Interesting, true, and sadly, memorable in a few spots. 4 stars

23/55-"The Wedding at Seagrove", Rachel Hannah. The fifth and final in a series I've read. 4 stars

24/55-"It Rained Warm Bread", Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet, Told from the perspective of a young boy in WW2. The title was so descriptive, relevant. 5 stars

27/55-"Address Unknown", Kathrine Kressmann Taylor. A great description of goings-on in the early to mid 1930s as Hitler gained control in Germany. Told in letters between relatives in Germany and the US. Like the book above, a true story.

According to goodreads, I'm currently 6 books ahead of schedule. Guess it's pretty apparent what I've been doing a lot of!

 

[citruscurtis]

23/30. Captain daughter... Bethany House..delamere ... first 60 pages for sure 5 stars...then it settles into of plots and easy to skim until the end... when you as the reader are culturally caught foolish...so a 4 ending that I like in books

 

[citruscurtis]

24/30 Harry trees. Jon Cohen... first response is why it is not a movie...on line reviews suggest that it reads like a movie...then it slows way down and as you read you tread thru the forest...not a 4 book because of unesscary character development and didn't end like narrative pointed ...my thought is that publisher had heavy editing...has a excellent plot thread the leaves you wondering

 

[citruscurtis]

25/30.... I was going to recommend this book.... but the ending was so contrived.... she has written so many books that it makes sense. But excellent beginning couldn't put it down...a story about libraries closing and what one woman did with rejected books

Bookshop on the corner...jenny cologan ... title has nothing to do with the story

 

[bobbiwoz]

29/70. “Travels with Charley in Search of America” by John Steinbeck. 4.5/5

 

[citruscurtis]

29/70. “Travels with Charley in Search of America” by John Steinbeck. 4.5/5

How did you come upon this volume?... it's a book popular in the 60s that gave credible reader influence to Peter Jenkins and William least heat Moon...if not for silent spring may have sold more copies.... always found cover worn

 

[cayennews]

#14 The Unpolished Life of Eleanor Whitfield by Rachel Hanna. I enjoyed this book. It was a feel good story and a quick read.

 

[Simba's Mom]

#14 The Unpolished Life of Eleanor Whitfield by Rachel Hanna. I enjoyed this book. It was a feel good story and a quick read.

Thanks for that recommendation. I always enjoy a Rachel Hannah book, but haven't read that-yet.

 

[MGMmjl]

17/32 - Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

Description:
"Narnia . . . where animals talk . . . where trees walk . . . where a battle is about to begin.

A prince denied his rightful throne gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world."

My son and I continue to enjoy reading The Chronicles of Narnia series together.

 

[willowsnn3]

#14/25 Peace Like A River by Leif Enger
The story of Reuben Land's unusual family and their journey across the frozen Badlands of the Dakotas in search of his fugitive older brother. Charged with the murder of two locals who terrorized their family, Davy has fled, understanding that the scales of justice will not weigh in his favor. But Reuben, his father, Jeremiah—a man of faith so deep he has been known to produce miracles—and Reuben's little sister, Swede, follow closely behind the fleeing Davy.

I really enjoyed this one.

 

[Wood Nymph]

12/30 - The Sinner - Tess Gerritsen - 3.5/5

This is the third book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. You almost have to read the series in order because of the things that happen in the lives of the two main characters.

Investigating the brutal murder of one nun and the critical injury of another within a cloistered convent, medical examiner Maura Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli stumble upon long-buried secrets that link these horrific crimes.

 

[Christine]

I don't normally post on this thread (just read for suggestions) but I just finished The Calamity Club by Kathryn Sockett and I really enjoyed it. Kathryn Sockett authored The Help and this is somewhat of that era. One thing that will push a book to a 4 or 5 rating for me is good character development and this book had it. Every character was richly done and I enjoyed it. There were several back stories going on that all culminated at the end nicely. Each main character had their own challenge and I just really enjoyed it.
--------------------------
In 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, Prohibition is on the wane, and the Great Depression is tightening its grip. Poor and rich folks alike have fallen on hard times, even as the old social order remains. For women on the margins, the options are few and the price of dignity and self-determination is unbearably high.

Eleven-year-old Meg, one of the unadoptable “big girls” at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford on a mission to ask her social-climbing sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. And Charlie is a woman with a past, running low on luck but driven by fire, fury, and grit. When their fates converge, they come up with an audacious plan to take back control of their lives. Together, they form an unlikely sisterhood—but in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife, women’s freedom is fragile, and making an enemy can have dire consequences, will the price they pay for their outrageous risk-taking be too high?

The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer—an epic testament to resilience, friendship, and the fierce, funny women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious—the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.

 

[OKW8297]

17. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner. A story of a scarf involving dual timelines, post 9/11 and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911. Beautiful and poignant. Especially the ending.