Vikki’s Comments (group member since Dec 11, 2011)

Vikki’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Hi from Team Hobbit - seeing as I'm from Northern Ireland, thought I'd drop a few recommendations for books set in both Northern Ireland and The Republic Of Ireland.

Anything by Adrian McKinty - heard a lot of good reviews about The Chain but haven't read it myself yet. I have enjoyed his Sean Duffy series starting with The Cold Cold Ground
For anyone who likes chick lit, Claudia Carroll - If This is Paradise, I Want My Money Back was cheap on Kindle last week, not sure if it still is.
Or some historical fiction partially set in Ireland - The Titanic Sisters

Away from this island, I also loved The Stationery Shop of Tehran which I read earlier this year

Tonya wrote: "maria helena wrote: "I had a good weekend but as always, it went by too fast. I feel like I need weekends to be 3 days instead of 2 :)"

I've always been a proponent of 4 day work weeks. I would co..."

I mainly work from home so that part of life has been normal for me. But I have been missing all my other activities that take me out of the house. At least I've been able to keep busy with various things and avoid boredom.

Sophie wrote: "Meeting up outside with 2 toddlers and trying to convince them to distance was interesting!

I'm glad you can see each other and have slightly more normality at least. I suppose this is why love le..."

I actually write proper letters to penpals around the world. My fiance is neither a reader nor a writer so not really an opportunity to try love letters for something different. I have sent him some compliment slips - I got a book of them from Paperchase around Valentine's Day, so they're slips that say nice things or promise certain things, like cooking a favourite meal, a beach trip etc. Although I've just been using the ones saying nice things at the moment.

Victoria / Sophie
Can I just check if 1 of the tags is meant to be creepy or spooky? It's on 1 of the overall spreadsheets and a post here as creepy but on the tracking spreadsheet as spooky.

Sophie wrote: "I'm glad they're allowing travel the 35 miles now! Are you allowed closer than 2 metres or is it still v odd?

Nothing wrong with waiting for a while! No rush on it."

It's still 2 metres with people from different households. So very strange. But better than not being able to see each other in person at all. And meeting people from other households should only be outside.

maria helena wrote: "Sophie wrote: "I recently read Burial Rites which is set in Iceland and was so atmospheric. Love it when books really make me picture a place."

I loved that one!"

I also loved it. It was the first book that sparked my interest in Nordic literature. A couple of Icelandic authors whose books I love are Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Ragnar Jónasson - definitely recommend them if you haven't read them already

Victoria - My fiance lives in a town 35 miles so it was definitely going to be considered non-essential travel. At least we can finally spend some time together again. Hopefully you'll be able to get to Iceland next year instead - definitely worth visiting! I'm waiting on my refund for 2 UK flights that were cancelled. They're certainly not rushing it... Took ages before I could even apply online.

Sophie - we only got engaged at the end of January and the wedding won't be for a few years , so we haven't started planning much so far. Would be difficult to start as we can't go to see venues etc with the current restrictions.

I know I have one book in my to read pile that will work for Q. I've actually been keeping it for something like this as Q is one of those hard letters. Authors surname begins with Q, I'm happy to read it in the first 2 weeks

Hi everyone! I'm Vikki, 34, from Northern Ireland. Engaged to my lovely fiance who I'm finally able to see again after our lockdown restrictions have eased a bit. (We don't live together yet). I work as a sales & marketing manager.

My favourite genres are crime & thriller, and I really like Nordic crime/thrillers. Other genres I enjoy are chick lit, historical fiction, fantasy, paranormal, and classics.

Favourite travel... well I haven't travelled far, and I've loved the few places I have been. But I think I'd have to pick Iceland, I was there in January 2020. It had been on my wishlist for a very long time. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the Northern Lights, but it was a very memorable trip as that's where we got engaged. I loved spending time in Reykjavik and getting to see more of rural Iceland when we did the Golden Circle tour. Definitely want to go back to see more places we hadn't time to see this year.

And before I forget... My Shelf

I'm excited for this to start now that I know my team :)

Start Date: 26th March 2020

Month 1
M - Me and You 07/05/20
A
Y

Month 2
E - Jo of the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent-Dyer 02/06/20
M - The Mist 02/05/20
E - The School at the Chalet by Elinor M Brent-Dyer 29/05/20
R
A - I Hear the Sirens in the Street by Adrian McKinty - 27/04/20
L - Lavender Leigh at the Chalet School 16/05/20
D - Dawn Study - 02/04/20

Month 3
T - The Titanic Sisters - 12/04/20
A
U
R
U
S - The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway Read 04/04/20

Month 4
T
I
G - Gay Lambert at the Chalet School 18/05/20
E - The Princess of the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent-Dyer 06/06/20
R

Month 5
1 - Norway - The Leopard 14/04/20
2 - Sweden
3 - Italy - The Dark Angel 16/04/20
4 - Japan - Suicide Forest 14/06/20

Month 6
1 - Closer to Home 05/04/20
2 - For Reasons Unknown 29/04/20
3 - Blood on Snow 10/05/20
4 - Lockdown - 15/05/20
(crime)

Month 8
1 - Karen Rose - Watch Your Back 25/04/20
2 - Maria V Snyder - Night Study 28/03/20
3 - Holly Martin - The Holiday Cottage by the Sea 22/05/20
4

Month 11
1 - Craig Robertson
2 - Christy Lefteri
3
4

Author Alphabet Challenge

18 / 26

A. - G.D. Abson - Black Wolf
B. - Liz Braswell - As Old As Time
C. - Clare Mackintosh - Let Me Lie
D. -
E. - Harriet Evans - Rules for Dating a Romantic Hero
F. - Patricia Falvey - The Titanic Sisters
G. - Alex Gray - The Stalker
H. - Helen Callaghan - Dear Amy
I. -
J. - Jen Calonita - Let It Go
K. - Marjan Kamali - The Stationery Shop of Tehran
L. - Camilla Lackberg - The Hidden Child
M. - Maria V Snyder - Shadow Study
N. - Jo Nesbo - The Leopard
O. -
P. - Peter May - Lockdown
Q. - Quentin Bates - Frozen Out
R. - Ragnar Jonasson - The Mist
S. - Sandra Nikolai - Icy Silence
T. - Lulu Taylor - The Winter Secret
U. -
V. -
W. - Michael Wood - For Reasons Unknown
X. -
Y. -
Z. -

New 2 U Authors 2020
Jan 1- Dec 31, 2020

Level: Devil May Care

1: Liz Braswell - As Old As Time
2: Stephen Leather - Lastnight
3: Clare Mackintosh - Let Me Lie
4: Helen Callaghan - Dear Amy
5: Sandra Nikolai - Icy Silence
6: Marjan Kamali - The Stationery Shop of Tehran
7: Harriet Evans - Rules for Dating a Romantic Hero
8: Quentin Bates Frozen Out
9: Steinar Bragi - The Ice Lands
10: Jen Calonita - Let It Go
11: G. D Abson - Black Wolf
12: K. N. Lee - Half-Blood Dragon
13: Dafne Vitale Ben Basset - My Name Is Vittoria: A WW2 Historical Novel, Based on a True Story of a Jewish Holocaust Survivor
14: Michelle Harrison - One Wish
15: Steven Galloway - The Cellist of Sarajevo
16: Heleyne Hammersley - Closer to Home
17: Patricia Falvey - The Titanic Sisters
18: Peter May - Lockdown
19: Jeremy Bates - Suicide Forest

I'll finish my current book before deadline tomorrow

I'll finish my book later today but doubt I'd get a second fitted in

Finished my book & updated on spreadsheet

I’m only going through get 1 book read this week, will finish it tomorrow

Any of the series books I'm ready to read have already been allocated or else they're books I might not finish whenever the numbers have to be read in order.

I'll get 1 more book read this week, A Cotswold Christmas which I've already added to the mini challenge spread sheet. Only started this evening & nearly half way through.

Ashleigh wrote: "Soo.. your book has been the subject of much debate in the captains' group and while it doesn't say the book is a boxed set per se, the fact that all 3 stories included in the book were published s..."

Trust me to be awkward.... I've no shortage of Christmas books to read. Was thinking of that cause it's probably been on my shelf longest.

Anyway, would this be enough to count for a blue cover? If not I'll stick down as contemporary