Nancy's New List of Chunksters for 2014

[Nancy H]

I will be using this thread to list my Chunksters for this challenge.

[Nancy H]

Reserved for Slick's Slugs

1. 527 pages - Two books added together: The Chocolate Moose Motive and The Chocolate Thief (Their link is obviously chocolate!)

Link: The Chocolate Thief takes place in Paris, my next chunkster is a historical novel called Paris that takes place there.

2. Paris - 805p.

Link: Girl With No Shadow is set in Paris, and Bride of New France starts out in Paris, then ends up in the 'New World' in Quebec, Canada.

3. The Girl with No Shadow 444p.
Bride of New France - 304p.
Total for this Chunkster step - 748 pages

Oh, and the first one has a chocolate shop in its plot -- even though that isn't the link, I still can't seem to get away from food in general, and chocolate, in particular (although the second one has nothing to do with food other than that people are starving, so I guess that would be the opposite!)

Link: #3 set ended in Quebec, Canada, and #4 books are both set in Quebec,Canada

4. Still Life by Louise Penny - 293p.
The Cruelest Month- by Louise Penny - 310p.
Total pages for this Chunkster: 603p.

Link to next two is the number Three. The two previous books, #4, were set in a town in Canada called "Three Pines". The next two, #5, have 'three' in their titles:

5. The Three Miss Margarets- 336p.
Three Junes - 353p.
Total pages: 689p.

The link to the next two books is heat and summer and more heat! In the last one, The Three Junes, the story took place in three different years, but always in the month of June. In the next two, there is a lot of hot weather, at the beginning of the Paris one, and all through the Summer Death one.

6. The Bones of Paris - 412p.Summer Death: A Thriller - 464p.
Total pages: 876
Both of these books dealt with the deaths/murders of young people, so the link to the next two is that they have young people as main characters.

[Nancy H]

Reserved for Mickey Mouse's Marchers

The link between these books and the last set is young people. In both of these, teenagers are main characters:

1. A Deadly Vineyard Holiday - 240p.
The Last Child - 373p.
Total pages: 613

The link to the next book is also young people. The story starts out with the two main characters, Grace and Sidney, as young people.

2. A Rage to Live - 752p.


There were plenty of scandals in the previous book, so that is the connection with the next two:

3. Your Scandalous Ways - 384p.
The Land of Mango Sunsets - 352p.
Total pages: 736p.

In both of the previous books, people were spying on other people for various reasons, so the link to the next two books is 'spying'. In the first, someone is sent to spy on Hamish MacBeth, Scotland policeman, and in the second, there is all kinds of spying because the plot involves double-agents and recruiters from the KGB.

4. Death of a Policeman - 272p.
The Voronezh Affair - 272p.
(Interesting coincidence that both of these books had the same number of pages, especially when the one was an e-book - lol!)
Total pages: 544p.

The theme of spying on people continues to be the link to this next book, which is a wonderful mystery with lots of characters spying on each other!

5. The Cuckoo's Calling - 756p.
(I had to read the edition circulating in my book club which is the large print edition and has many more pages than the regular one!)

The link to the next set is that they are all mysteries with police department involvement in one way or another.

6. Lana'i of the Tiger - 287p.
Vineyard Shadows - 253p.
Total pages: 540p.

[Nancy H]

Reserved for Roadrunner's Racers

Link from previous books: Mystery series with repeat characters

1. Little Black Book of Murder: A Blackbird Sisters Mystery - 384p.
A Bat in the Belfry - 293p.
Total pages: 677p.

The same link- mystery series with repeat characters for these next two:
2. The Whole Enchilada - 384p.
Vineyard Enigma - 256p.
Total pages: 640p.

Next link: more mysteries with repeat characters:
3. Holly Blues - 304p.
Murder at Cape Three Points- 336p.
Total pages: 640p. (How strange is that? The last two sets of books added up to the exact same number of pages - wo-oo-oo- spooky - and certainly not planned - lol!)

Next link: mysteries, again, but new ones to me
4. Scene of the Climb - 294p.
The Face Of Deception - 446p.
Total pages: 740p.

Next link: mysteries with authors I have read before but the books are new to me (Also, both of these have wealthy people as characters.)
5.The Sweet Golden Parachute - 314p.
Vengeance in Death - 343p.
Total pages: 657p.

Next link: mysteries with more wealthy characters:
6. McNally's Bluff - 320p.
Murder by Mocha - 363p.
Total pages: 683p.

[Nancy H]

Reserved for Tasmanian Devil's Trouncers

Link from previous book: These are mysteries that feature specialty shops or businesses. ("Mocha" was set in a coffee shop; "Cloche" is a hat shop, and 'Holiday' features a business where people's physical selves can be completely made over in a myriad of ways.)
1. Cloche and Dagger - 281p.
Holiday in Death - 308p.
Total pages: 589p.

The link to the next books is that death occurred in them, even though they are not mysteries.
2. Captain Alatriste - 284p.
Hitched - 308p.
Total pages: 592p.

The link between the previous books and the next set is again death, in a non-mystery genre, although the deaths in these next two are different kinds than in the previous ones:
3. Midnight Crossroad - 305p.
The Trouble with Paradise - 304p.
Total pages: 609p.

In the above books, there is a Fiji in each - one is a character named Fiji (named after the country) and the other is the setting of the second book. Since Fiji is in the South Pacific, that is the link to the next set. The first has travel essays set around the world and some specifically in the South Pacific, and the second occurs almost totally in the South Pacific:
4. Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana: Funny Travel Stories and Strange Packing Tips - 275p.
Headhunters on My Doorstep: A True Treasure Island Ghost Story - 304p.
Total pages: 579p.

The link between the previous set and the next one is the concept of "overcoming." In the first one above, travelers had to overcome all kinds of travel nightmares, and in the second, in addition to the travel nightmares, the author is trying to overcome alcoholism. In the following book, the main character has to overcome a great deal.
5. Memoirs of a Geisha- 512p.

The link between the previous book is again 'overcoming' but this time it has to do with overcoming family situations as well as personal demons.
6. I'm With Stupid - 309p.
Out of the Easy - 346p.
Total pages: 655

(Another GREAT YA book that would fit in this category is If You Find Me - definitely a page-turner of this same type. I didn't need the page count here so just merely mention it.)

[Nancy H]

Reserved for Buzz Lightyear's Bombers

The link between the previous set and this next one is 'dysfunctional families'. The Godwin family in this story reached maximum dysfunctionality (if that is a word!):
1. The Wheel of Fortune - 1,171 pages

The link between this one and the next two is that they all take place in Great Britain:

2.A Medal for Murder - 432p.
Messenger of Truth - 322p.
Total pages: 754p.

The link between the next two is that they are mysteries as are the two previous ones:

3.The Alpine Vengeance- 336p.
The Alpine Winter - 352p.
Total pages: 688p.

Next link, mystery genre again and with female sleuths in all of the books:

4. Immaculate Reception - 242p.
Killer Physique- 320p.
Total pages: 562p.

Next link, the connection is murder.

5. Murder and Marinara - 336p.
The Wedding Soup Murder - 336p.
672p.


Last link, murder in the plot again, and interestingly enough in the first title that follows, there is the phrase "tempest in a teapot", which in turn is the title of the second one.

6. City of Jasmine - 354p.
Tempest in a Teapot - 304p.
658p.

There were also several more 'foodie' mysteries in the last few I've read, but the ones here complete the challenge.

[Marnie]

Congratulations on finishing Slick's ( and almost Mickey too). I have Still Life waiting to for me on the Hold Shelf at my library. I have heard good things about this series. Did you enjoy it? Will you read more in this same series?

[Nancy H]

Marnie wrote: "Congratulations on finishing Slick's ( and almost Mickey too). I have Still Life waiting to for me on the Hold Shelf at my library. I have heard good things about this series. Did you..."

I did really enjoy this book. I like mysteries set in small towns where you can get to know the characters, and this series is like that. I have already read another one, which I also liked very much, although later I realized I had read it out of order. It was book #3 and I am now going back and picking up the second one. I am very fortunate to have a good friend who shares her books with me when she is finished, and I think that, thanks to her, I now have all of the ones in the series except the very newest one. There is some good reading ahead for me with these, I think. I hope you enjoy them, too.

[Cherie]

Wow, Nancy, great links. That is way more explaining than some of us has done. You really have to know the books and what the stories are about to do this. I am in awe!

[Janice, Moderator]

Amazing! I don't have to scratch my head trying to figure out the links. :)

[Nancy H]

I finished Tasmanian Devil's Trouncers (see Message 5) and started on the next one! Almost done!

[Nancy H]

I finished Buzz Lightyear's Bombers! Woo-hoo!

[Tasha]

congrats!!

[Nancy H]

Tasha wrote: "congrats!!"

Thanks!

[Janice, Moderator]

Don't get lost in space now. :)

[Cherie]

Wow, Nancy - out of this world!!!!