Jonetta’s Comments (group member since Nov 25, 2014)

Jonetta’s comments from the 2-3-4 Challenge group.

I finished listening to Beautiful Ugly
my review

Thank you, Lieke!

January
✔ ★ 📖 🎧

2-3-4 Challenge
✔Bonded in Death (#60) by J. D. Robb (In Death) (St. Martin’s Press widget - 2/4) ★★★★★
The Duke Says I Do (#4) by Anna Campbell (Scoundrels of Mayfair) (AR - 10/24)

2-3-4 Challenge - Audiobooks
✔Track Her Down (#10) by Melinda Leigh (Bree Taggert) (Brilliance Audio - 1/14)
🎧Lost (#2) by Michael Robotham (Joseph O’Loughlin) (GR - LOR)
✔Fatal Reckoning (#14) by Marie Force (Fatal) (GR - JDR) ★★★★
✔Her Mother’s Grave (#3) by Lisa Regan (Detective Josie Quinn) (GR - TDD) ★★★★★
✔See How They Hide (#6) by Allison Brennan (Quinn & Costa) ★★★★
✔Head Cases (#1) by John McMahon (PAR Unit) (NG Audio - 1/28) ★★★★★
My Darling Bride (#1) by Ilsa Madden Mills (The Darlings)
My Darling Jane (#2) by Ilsa Madden Mills (The Darlings) (Brilliance Audio - 11/5/24)
Storm Child (#4) by Michael Robotham (Cyrus Haven) (S&S Audio - 6/25)
The 6:20 Man (#1) by David Baldacci (6:20 Man)
The Edge (#2) by David Baldacci (6:20 Man)
To Die For (#3) by David Baldacci (6:20 Man) (HA - 11/16)
The Snow Killer (#1) by Ross Greenwood (DI Barton) (Libro.fm - 11/12/19)
The Silent Watcher (#1) by Victor Methos (Vegas Shadows) (Brilliance Audio - 12/1)
You’ll Never Find Me (#1) by Allison Brennan (Angelheart Investigations) (Audible)

Other Audiobooks to Consider
✔Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Macmillan Audio NG - 1/14) ★★★★1/2
✔What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange (NG Audio - 1/14) ★★★★★
✔Rolling Toward Clear Skies by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Brilliance Audio - 11/12/24) ★★★★
When She’s Gone by Rea Frey (Brilliance Audio - 1/14)
✔The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia (Macmillan Audio NG - 1/14) ★★★★1/2
The Favorites by Layne Fargo (Libro.fm - 1/14/24)
✔The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman ★★★★
✔Eddie Winston is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin ★★★★
✔The Three Likes of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan (S&S Audio - 1/7) ★★★★
The Survivors by Caroline Mitchell (Brilliance Audio - 12/1)
I Died on a Tuesday by Jane Corry (Libro.fm - 12/17/24)
✔The Close-Up by Pip Drysdale (S&S Audio - 12/3/24) ★★★★
Pick Up by Nora Dahlia (S&S Audio - 12/23/24)
Hold Strong by Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz & Chris Crabtree (Brilliance Audio - 1/28)

I finished listening to;

What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane and it’s a crazy sauce ride!
my review


Pictures of You by Emma Grey and loved everything about this dual timeline story.
my review

I finished listening to Pictures of You
my review

I finished listening to What the Wife Knew
my review

Series Completed
1.


Series Up to Date
1. Quinn & Costa by Allison Brennan
2. In Death by J. D. Robb
3. Bree Taggert by Melinda Leigh


Advance in a Series
1. The 6:20 Man by Daniel Baldacci
2. Detective Josie Quinn by Lisa Regan
3. Joseph O’Loughlin by Michael Robotham


Standalone Titles Read
1. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
2. What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange
3. Rolling Toward Clear Skies by Catherine Ryan Hyde
4. The Close-up by Pip Drysdale
5. The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
6. The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia
7. Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin
8. The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
9. Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass
10. This Is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer
11. Let's Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen
12. A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James
13. Cross My Heart by Megan Collins
14. Eleven Numbers by Lee Child

New Authors Read
1. What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange
2. The Close-up by Pip Drysdale
3. The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
4. Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin
5. The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
6. This Is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer
7. Let's Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen
8. A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James
9. Cross My Heart by Megan Collins
10. Head Cases by John McMahon
11. Falling for the Forward by Brenda Rothert


Titles from My Backlist
1. Rolling Toward Clear Skies by Catherine Ryan Hyde
2. The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci
3. The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
4. Her Mother's Grave by Lisa Regan
5. Her Final Confession by Lisa Regan
6. Lost by Michael Robotham

Create your own personal tracking topic to manage your reading goals for the year (series completed, standalones, etc.). You design your goal tracking to fit your personal needs. If you need help creating a topic, leave a comment and we will do so.

Thank you everyone for engaging. I knew we could count on you to provide useful insights. You are the heartbeats of the group and I don’t take that for granted.

Anita wrote: "I am not a fan of challenges; I prefer to read what I want to read without trying to fit a specific criterion.

I love the group reads and the discussions we have after. It is kinda like being in a..."

I hear you about the challenges. My head is in a different space about them. I play but I don’t make reading decisions based on the challenge…mostly😏 (I recently read a true crime story to finish a challenge but it was on my TBR and turned out to be five stars.) Love them but I used different criteria for reading choices.

You’ve been a rock star with the group discussions so it’s just a tabling for now. In the meantime, we might figure out a different way of selecting the series as so many voting in the polls don’t participate. I welcome any ideas. We have such a great history of loving the series we read as a group.

Robin wrote: "I love the idea of a "2025 Goal Tracking" folder where everyone can start their own topic under their name and make their own goals to track for the year.

Like everyone, I use the monthly plannin..."

Will definitely make that change to the folder for 2025! You’ve been a stalwart of the group reads so I know it was hard to get behind on the group reads. Will do a check in later in the year.

Michelle wrote: "Like everyone I love the monthly planning & individual lists. It helps me not only keep track of my reading but with my challenges as well.

A few times I've started a threat here for a buddy read..."

Thanks, Michelle. I think you were referring to the JDR & TDD groups as Sandra isn’t a moderator here (Lauren is!).

You’ll notice I made no mention of changing the Buddy Reads as it’s used organically by members when they want. Highly encourage others to consider during our pause.

Lauren wrote: "I agree with everyone else about the Monthly Reading Plans and Individual lists. They are essential for helping me choose books and track, especially with FictFact a thing of the past.

I enjoy se..."

Thank you for that and for being my backup in the group, Lauren. It matters!

Tina wrote: "I have nothing to contribute as I haven't participated yet. But I've been meaning to and pop in to see how everyone else is doing.

I'm in several groups and have ongoing challenges, sometimes I g..."

Thanks, Tina. We will still keep the series list folder. It’s flexible enough for you to tailor to your own personal needs.

Charlene wrote: "I do love group reads, especially of a series I'm reading; I also like to find new authors from what is suggested for monthly reads. I don't always manage to get to them all, or to comment, but I d..."

I love the group reads, too, and can always count on you to participate, Charlene. That’s why I’m recommending we simply table them for a bit. We can revisit in a few months, do a weather check. I’ve loved the discussions, too, but have noticed people struggling to keep up. Maybe starting the year off with a few months reprieve would help.

I finished Miss Barton’s Mysterious Husband by Anna Campbell
my review

Thanks for the great feedback!

Are you all in agreement that we table the group reads for now?

November 2024 marked the 10th year this group was originally formed. It was an outgrowth of an old Shelfari group where we focused on making a dent in our series reading.

Over the years we’ve certainly done that! Without your participation, I don’t think I would have developed a path to complete series with regularity. And, it’s been so much fun to discuss them as a group and discover new talented writers.

It feels like it’s time to evolve how we achieve that objective. Many of us belong to other groups who are also doing group reads and it’s becoming hard to keep up. In the past, we’ve kept lists here, done monthly updates to share our progress and developed tracking tools to use to monitor that progress. But, it feels like a lot of work these days, especially with the challenges of this site, detracting from reading time.

I’d like brainstorm how we can keep this group going but make it easier to communicate. One thing that seems to still work for most of us is the folder for our reading plans. I for one love seeing what you are wanting to read whether you get to it or not. Sometimes I see titles that I want to add. Let’s make it a guilt free zone where we are not inhibited by what we haven’t achieved for that month.

I used to be religious about keeping my series lists up to date but have become lax in doing so. I’m thinking I’ll just keep an alpha list and not worry about having a comment box for each. Is it still working for you?

It seems to be a good idea to have yearly goals but the tracking might be better left to each individual to created their own topic in one folder for everyone. For example, the folder would be Goal Tracking and everyone would have there own topic to design and populate as you see fit.

I still love the series group reads but I was challenged in 2023 to keep up and I saw others struggling to keep up the reading here in 2024. Your feedback is welcome and don’t hold back!

Those are some of my top line thoughts. Any other ideas? Please…they are very much welcomed.

I finished listening to:

Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham by Marcia Clark and it’s outstanding, reading like a legal thriller.
my review


Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria, Under the Mistletoe #5, and it’s a cute story despite the steamy ending.
my review