Reading Thread/Goals for 2026

[OKW8297]

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.
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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.

Ooooh got this for Mother’s Day! Looking forward to it!

 

[citruscurtis]

26/30... library shelf and not friends bookstore... looking for books that don't have Nazi... murder or romance...so this was a saga about Arizona treasure hunting (area that I saw)...

Weaver needle .. Robin caroll ... has 3 threads thru the novel and way to much filler space... so 3/4 of the way I skimmed..barbour publishing large print library shelving...$37.00 price tag... library can claim that value if lost... not worth $5.00

 

[citruscurtis]

I have had several books mention Disney items incorrectly...1990s character has Walt dreaming of building thunder mountain...he would have never dismantled rainbow ridge

 

[melk]

16/35 Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

When the family minivan, driven by AI, hits another car head on and kills the couple inside whose at fault? The 17 year-old behind the wheel? The father on his laptop in the passenger seat? The AI?

While I thought this was an interesting premise the book was just okay for me. Halfway through it shifted gears and became more of a mystery with a missing person. It could have done without that and stuck with the original story.

 

[citruscurtis]

27/30 the words highway and sidewalk have origin from the Roman empire... the Roman roads were actually higher built and pedestrian traffic was on the lower sides..or the sidewalk

Having a tough time with fiction books so discovered ....Following Caesar...st martins press which always has great books...a travel... history... culture exploration of the ancient roads of Italy... like eating a salad of 20 ingredients.. never know what is in the next fork in the road...my second 5 star book ... I ready for jeopardy now....ken I will take ancient roads

 

[willowsnn3]

#15/25 Hester on the Run by Linda Byler
Was just ok. First in a series but not sure if I will continue with it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

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

It was mentioned in the book “The Correspondent” and I wanted to read it because I was curious about what John Steinbeck had to say! I put a hold on it and it came though immediately,and yes,the cover was well worn! I hadn’t realized when John Steinbeck passed.

 

[bobbiwoz]

30/70 “Under His Wings” by Emily Compagno. This book was recommended to me by a friend. This book made me aware of so many people who have sacrificed so much for my freedom.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Ooooh got this for Mother’s Day! Looking forward to it!

I just downloaded it!

 

[Wood Nymph]

13/30 - The Bullet That Missed - by Richard Osman - the 3rd book in the Thursday murder club series - 3/5

I really enjoy this book series. You really need to read them in order because the author basically picks up where the last story ended.

It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case--their favorite kind--leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers. Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot. While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

 

[citruscurtis]

30/70 “Under His Wings” by Emily Compagno. This book was recommended to me by a friend. This book made me aware of so many people who have sacrificed so much for my freedom.

I think I have this in my box to read... just sat down...a cold morning in the high 80s..so 4 hours of yard upkeep..4:30-8:30 AM

 

[citruscurtis]

30/70 “Under His Wings” by Emily Compagno. This book was recommended to me by a friend. This book made me aware of so many people who have sacrificed so much for my freedom.

Yep...here and a book on crows

 

[citruscurtis]

28/30... blizzard weather for the next 4 months so ploughing thru the books

Another 5 book...if you like puzzles..soft world history and need a book to read for 10 minutes then fall asleep.. not a vacation book or travel book.. but a small snack... like 5 dozens of muffins...if you tolerated Hanks cloud Atlas...then you will like the format of this book... very educational and sadly insightful... also... when you start it is strange....so I cheated and wiki the plot... WHICH helps tremendously
... also the best singular sentence I have read in a novel for a long time... I shouted and woke the dogs

Cloud cuckoo land Anthony Doerr

 

[MGMmjl]

18/32 - Wolf Pack by C. J. Box

Description:
"The good news is that Joe Pickett has his job back, after his last adventure in The Disappeared. The bad news is that he's come to learn that a drone is killing wildlife—and the drone belongs to a mysterious and wealthy man whose son is dating Joe's own daughter, Lucy.

When Joe tries to lay down the rules for the drone operator, he's asked by the FBI and the DOJ to stand down, which only makes him more suspicious. Meanwhile, bodies are piling up in and around Joe's district in shocking numbers. He begins to fear that a pack of four vicious killers working on behalf of the Sinaloa cartel known as the Wolf Pack has arrived. Their target seems to be the mystery man and everyone—including Joe, Nate, and others—who is associated with him.

Teaming up with a female game warden (based on a real person, one of the few female game wardens at work in Wyoming today) to confront these assassins, Joe finds himself in the most violent and dangerous predicament he's ever faced."

This is book #19 in the Joe Pickett series. I continue to really enjoy these books!

 

[cayennews]

#15 The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I did enjoy this book, as I do with most of her books, but it was more about the Holocaust than I thought when I decided to read the book. Very good overall.

 

[bobbiwoz]

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.

31/70
Excellent! 4.5/5

 

[melk]

17/35 Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
If you’re looking for a feel good story about how kindness and generosity makes one a better person then this is the book. While there are some sad parts it is an uplifting story. I enjoyed it.

 

[OKW8297]

18. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. This book is set during the depression in the Deep South. It is sad, funny , poignant and thought provoking. Their author also wrote The Help. I absolutely loved it.

 

[melk]

18. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. This book is set during the depression in the Deep South. It is sad, funny , poignant and thought provoking. Their author also wrote The Help. I absolutely loved it.

I have been waiting for her to write another book. Can’t wait to read this one!

 

[citruscurtis]

17/35 Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
If you’re looking for a feel good story about how kindness and generosity makes one a better person then this is the book. While there are some sad parts it is an uplifting story. I enjoyed it.

Okay..on radar now or wait list... this book has been recommended several times