Bea’s Comments (group member since Apr 29, 2011)

Bea’s comments from the Pick-a-Shelf group.

Congrats! Well-done, Susan.

Saving my spot

1. How many?!?! (1276 = 6)
1. The Millionaire Baby
2. Death in a White Tie
3. In the Balance
4. Brat Farrar
5. The Big Gold Dream
6. The Allingham Case-Book

2. Share the love
Sort your TBR by one (1) of the following options:
✂️ "date pub"
Oldest published
1. Robinson Crusoe (1719)
2. Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794)
3. The Chimes (1844)
Newest published
1. Suddenly a Murder (2023)
2. Happiness Falls (2023)
3. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023)

3. Monstrosity (688p)
Roots: The Saga of an American Family

4. Catch Up (further reading in started series)
1. Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of The One, #2)
2. The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3)
3. The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10)
4. The Nun's Tale (Owen Archer, #3)
5. Red Lily (In the Garden Trilogy, #3)
6. Arsenic For Tea: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery (Murder Most Unladylike, #2)

Some notes:
Monstrosity - The biggest book on my Wishlist TBR was 888p. That was a MM edition. My library's hardcover edition had 200p less, so I will be reading it.
How many - I am using books from my TBR to work on a mystery list.

Finishing today:
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal for old game ~ 47 pages to go, due at library today

Still Reading:
Uncle Tom's Cabin Or Life Among The Lowly for old game ~ due at library on Tuesday, lots yet to read

Started:
Against All Enemies for Fifteen, Lost, MM and old games ~ only 49+ pages read so far

Finished:
Call Down the Hawk for Fifteen
The House in the Cerulean Sea for Fifteen
The Diviners for MM23

Still Reading:
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal for old game
Uncle Tom's Cabin Or Life Among The Lowly for old game

Started:
Against All Enemies for Fifteen, Lost, MM and old games

Congrats, Meg.

Still Reading:
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal for old game
Uncle Tom's Cabin Or Life Among The Lowly for old game

Starting:
Call Down the Hawk for Fifteen
The House in the Cerulean Sea for Fifteen
The Diviners for MM23

I define a sleuth as a detective, particularly either a PI or amateur.

With that definition, I read several that would fit this shelf:
A Fatal Thaw - Kate Shugak, a retired investigator for DA
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - Lord Peter Wimsey, amateur
The Ghost and the Dead Deb - Penelope Thornton-McClure, bookshop owner (amateur)
A Cast-Off Coven - Lily, vintage clothing store owner (amateur)
The Devil's Bones - Bill Blass, forensic anthropologist
Frames - Valentino, a film archivist (amateur)
Helen Vardon's Confession - Dr. John Thorndyke, expert in both forensics and strange cases

All were rated 4*.

I nominate contemporary.

This part of our game will focus on both the LOST books (the oldest on the TBR) and the FOUND books (the newest on the TBR).

1. For this game, you will read 10 books.

2. Three (3) must be your oldest or LOST books. Use conditions 1 & 3 for this task.

3. Three (3) must be your newest books since finishing LOST 2022, that is your FOUND books. Use conditions 2 & 4 for this one.

4. For the other four (4), you may choose any of the listed conditions.

Conditions for choosing books:
1. From one author read for LOST: read another book of that author that was either published and/or added to your TBR at a later date.
2. From one author read for FOUND: read another book of that author that was either published and/or added to your TBR at an earlier date.
3. a LOST book (ie. Longest on Shelf TBR).
4. a FOUND book (ie. added to your TBR in the past 6 months & was published prior to date you completed LOST).

Happy Reading!

Am posting Lost and Found in a few minutes. Congrats to all finishers!

I have read a few, and it seems that The Lunar Chronicles Series by Marissa Meyer is on this list. I will read the next one: Cress.

Meg, I have seen good recommends for the Murderbot series, maybe I should give that a try also some time.

Haven't read in this one for a couple of weeks. Will be restarting today:
Uncle Tom's Cabin Or Life Among The Lowly for old game

Finished:
The Ghost and the Dead Deb for Fifteen
A Cast-Off Coven for Fifteen

Started:
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal for old game

Finished The Novel Habits of Happiness for Fifteen

The Novel Habits of Happiness for Fifteen
Uncle Tom's Cabin Or Life Among The Lowly for old game
The Ghost and the Dead Deb for Fifteen
A Cast-Off Coven for Fifteen

Finished list still does not show my finish of 3 and 6...and now 10

Prompt 10: X

1. X in title:
Exit the Milkman by Charlotte MacLeod Read 8/10/23 - 3*

2. X in author name:
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Read 6/7/23 - 4*

Congrats!

All y'all finishers are putting me to shame. Time to start getting my reading in gear.

I read Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

This is the sequal to Before the Coffee Gets Cold and just as delightful. Thee are 4 stories here and, although they are separate and complete stories in each chapter, still they are inter-related by the cafe.

I gave it 4* for the delightful stories and the wonderful visit it allowed me.

I nominate Translation

All added to post #2 through message 10.

@ Lusie: Actually it was Lyn (Readinghearts) that responded to you Lusie.

A lot of sleuths seem to fall into the cozy mystery genre.

I have read most of the Sue Grafton books and have also enjoyed an occasional Harlan Coban, both writers that Lyn listed.

I see J.D. Robb's In Death series on the list. They are a futuristic cop story with complicated characters. I have read a few and admit that they are well written, but somehow the books never quite make me want more...and there are a LOT of them.

If you like forensic books, Temperance Brennan by Kathy Reichs and Kay Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell are good.

I also like Nevada Barr's books which are set in USA National Parks.

Of course, Agatha Christie owns this list! She has so many different types of sleuths...even though she is also known for cozy mysteries.

Others I enjoy from time to time:
Bernie Rhodenbarr by Lawence Block
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
both the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Isabel Dalhousie by Alexander McCall Smith
Molly Murphy by Rhys Bowen (currently reading this series)

This should be fairly easy for me as I see a lot of books in the READ category as I scan this list.