Team Sherlock Holmes

[Jaclyn]

Sarah, it will count :)

How did you like Cinder? I recently read it and liked it much more than I thought I was going to. I really want to continue the series soon!

[Sarah]

I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would, but I ended up figuring most of the twists out before they actually happened in the book. I can't wait to continue the series also :)

[Shannon]

Finished Blood and Bite

Author Laken Crane
Characters - Rune Alexander, Strad Matheson, Tina Matheson, Nicholas Llorda, Ellis, Lexi

[ClaireB]

Sarah wrote: "I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would, but I ended up figuring most of the twists out before they actually happened in the book. I can't wait to continue the series also :)"

I've been wanting to read it for a while now. Heard it was great.

[Jaclyn]

Good job everyone! We are off to another good start!

Sarah, please make sure to shelve Cinder under your wheelathon shelf, otherwise the mods won't count it.

[Jaclyn]

Just realized the book I was reading won't count because the word count is too small. It has 224 pages but I noticed there were very few words per page and after only reading for about 45 minutes I was already 46% through, so I checked the word count and it only has 24,000 (this challenge requires at least 40,000). So I need to find something else. Luckily I didn't waste too much time on it.

I think I'm going to read Buttercream Bump Off. The first book was a very fast read and it will still cover the B my previous book was covering,

[ClaireB]

How do you check the word count of a book?

[Jaclyn]

The mods posted some sites. We really only need to worry about word count if it's a children's book (because font is usually bigger). And those are the ones the mods check. But in my case, it was REALLY obvious that there were very few words per page, so I double checked. Plus it's a fairly well known book and I was afraid one of the mods would know it wasn't long enough. I don't think we need to worry about checking all our books (unless it's a children's book).

If you still want the sites, I can post them for you later. :)

[Jaclyn]

We haven't heard from Heather in a few days. I wonder if her internet is out again?

[Shannon]

Finished Lost Library: An Urban Fantasy Romance

Author Kate Baray
Characters -- Lizzie (Elizabeth) Smith, John Braxton, Grant Clark

[Shannon]

I've got a few on my TBR pile with "E" names to help out with the ton of those in the second spell it out,

[Sunshine✰✰✰]

I'm also reading Lurker by Stefan Petrucha

L - Lurker (title)
S - Stefan Petrucha (Author)
N - Nicolette Bennington (Character)

[Jaclyn]

Shannon wrote: "I've got a few on my TBR pile with "E" names to help out with the ton of those in the second spell it out,"

That will help a lot! :)

I made a few changes so that we now have all letters covered for the 1st spell out. We just need to finish 4 more books.

[ClaireB]

finished Goddess inheritance. 8/12/14
I'm reading Dark Angel
author: L.J. Smith
Series: Nightworld
characters: Gillian Lennox, David Blackburn

[Sunshine✰✰✰]

Finished Lurker 8/12/14

[Shannon]

Finished The Curse Keepers

Author Denise Grover Swank
Characters -- Ellie Lancaster, Collin Dailey

[ClaireB]

Finished Dark Angel 08/13/14
I'm starting Night of the Solstice and then I'll read Heart of Valor. They are both from the same series.
author: L.J. Smith
characters: Claudia, Thia Pendriel (only in the second book I think. I'm not sure.)

[Jaclyn]

We completed our first spell out! You guys are awesome! I hope you are enjoying some good books! I just finished my book, and I think I'm going to continue with the series because they are such quick reads.

[Jaclyn]

I'm going to start Widow Town. So far there's a character, Enson, which will cover one of our E's. But I'll update with more characters in case we need to finagle a bit.

Characters:
Sheriff Enson
Deputy Ruthers
Tilly Swenson

[Shannon]

Finished Chosen

Author Denise Grover Swank
Character -- Emma Thompson

[Shannon]

Still haven't heard from Heather?

Should we be worried?

[Jaclyn]

I don't know. Last time she was MIA it was due to her internet. I don't think she would just disappear. I hope it's just her internet again and not anything serious...

[Sunshine✰✰✰]

Finished The Unlikely Event last night 8/12/14.

I'm in the middle of another book. It's an audio book and I can only listen to it at certain times during the day so I don't think I will be able to finish it by the deadline. I'll let you know by the end of the week how it's going, if I was able to sneak in some free time. :)

[Shannon]

Finished Seizing Darkness

Author Mariana Thorn
Characters -- Natalya Ignatiev, Radek Kirov, Carly, Tain

[ClaireB]

I've finished night of solstice and Heart of valor. I didn't really like it...
I'm starting Tempting Danger
author: Eileen Wilks
characters: Cullen Seabourne, Rule Turner, Lily Yu, Isen Turner, Benedict Turner

[Jaclyn]

Sunshine wrote: "Finished The Unlikely Event last night 8/12/14.

I'm in the middle of another book. It's an audio book and I can only listen to it at certain times during the day so I don't think I..."

No problem, Sunshine. If you happen to finish, just let me know and we'll add it :)

[Jaclyn]

I made the updates. Great job again everyone! I wish I wasn't back at work and I could stay home and read! Everytime I get a chance I sneak open my kindle app on my phone to get a few pages in lol. But I should definitely finish Death by the Dozen tonight, then I can get back to Widow Town. It's only supposed to be around 230 pages (or somewhere around there), but it feels sooo much longer for some reason.

[Jaclyn]

Finished Death by the Dozen...now on to finish Widow Town. I can do it! (playing Rocky theme song in my head)

[Shannon]

I'm probably going to slow way down the next few days as my oldest daughter is going to have surgery on her knee on Friday. I'm getting the guest room ready for her to move downstairs for awhile.

Just wanted to let y'all know I'm not AWOL.

[Shannon]

Shannon wrote: "Finished Chosen

Author Denise Grover Swank
Character -- Emma Thompson"

Did you miss this one, or did I just miss it?

[Jaclyn]

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I'm sure it's tough to see your child go through any type of surgery. I hope everything goes smoothly and she has a speedy recovery. I'll send her positive vibes on Friday. :)

[Jaclyn]

I might have missed that one...I'll update it tonight. Thanks Shannon!

[Sarah]

Just finished Ready Player One and loved it! It was much longer than I originally realized though so I'll have to be smarter about which books I choose in the future. Luckily today was one of my days off so I was able to spend the entire day reading :)

[ClaireB]

finished Tempting Danger 08/14/14

[ClaireB]

I'm reading Silver Is for Secrets
author: Laurie Faria Stolarz
series: blue is for nightmares
character: Clara, Stacey

[Shannon]

Jaclyn wrote: "I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I'm sure it's tough to see your child go through any type of surgery. I hope everything goes smoothly and she has a speedy recovery. I'll send her positive vi..."

Thanks!

Finished Beyond The Veil
Characters -- Stefan, Nica, Charlie Henderson

[Heather]

Well I am now counting down the days to being 30 and apparently it's supposed to be a "thing" but I don't feel any different. I went on a trip to visit my grandpa in the boonies of Oklahoma and since I don't get carsick, something Nikki hates me for, I finished my Accursed Kings series.
The She-Wolf of France

Charles IV
Edward II
Robert III of Artois
Thierry D'Hirson
Beatrice D'Hirson
Spinello Tolomei

The last book, The Lily and the Lion isn't coming out until late September so now I have to wait to finish. Ugh. I shouldn't have started the series so soon.
I'm reading Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls by Alissa Nutting

[Jaclyn]

Heather!! You're back!! I was really starting to worry something had happened to you! But I'm so very glad you are ok and were just in the boonies of OK!

Turning 30, huh? I honestly can't even remember what I did when I turned 30. And not because I was drunk, it was just that uneventful lol. I had more fun when I turned 35. I actually threw myself a party at Pump It Up. Don't know if you have one where you are, but for those that don't know it, it's a kids party place with a bunch of those bounce houses and some with obstacle courses. My friends and I all had a blast but we were SO sore for day afterwards and we had all these minor injuries like bruises, jammed fingers, etc. That one was definitely memorable.

Are you planning anything?

[Heather]

lol yeah I was just helping my Grandpa set up his printer, again, and eating all his homemade pickles and weird relish and whatnot. My family is a little crazy.

And I've got a year before I turn 30, this is my last year of 20's(364 days left), I just thought it would start out feeling different somewhat, but birthdays and transitional years have never seemed to mean much to me. 16, 18, 21. They were all just birthdays for me. Plus I never really do anything for my birthday. I think the last time I did something was my 16th and that I just invited some friends over and made a cake.

[Shannon]

Finished Downfall

Author Rob Thurman
Characters -- Cal & Nik Leandros, Robin Goodfellow

[Heather]

Finished Unclean Jobs
C: Claudia
U: Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls
R: Robert
E: Eddie
N: Alissa Nutting
T: Thor
B: Bill
S: Sam
L: Leo

[Lilac]

I'm reading The Other Typist. :)

R: author - Suzanne Rindell
B: character - Rose Baker
S: author - Suzanne Rindell

[ClaireB]

I've finished Silver is for secrets (08/15/14)
I'm reading Red is for Remembrance
Author: Laurie Faria Stolarz
Series: Blue is for nightmares
Character: Stacey

[Jaclyn]

Sarah wrote: "Just finished Ready Player One and loved it! It was much longer than I originally realized though so I'll have to be smarter about which books I choose in the future. Luckily today was one of my da..."

I'm glad you liked it Sarah! I had previously thought of addding it to my TBR, but I hesitated. But since you liked it so much, I may add it after all :)

[Jaclyn]

All updated! Please double check to make sure I didn't miss any of your books. Two books were missing from your challenge shelves (unless I missed them):

Downfall (Shannon)
Unclean Jobs (Heather)

Everything else looks great! Way to go everyone! We have one more day until we post results, so let's see what we can finish! :)

[Jaclyn]

I finished Widow Town and am starting Ephemeral.

[ClaireB]

Finished red is for remembrance 15/08/14

[ClaireB]

I started Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Characters who match: Courtney Stone, Charles Edgeworth

[Sarah]

When do we have to be finished with our books for them to count for the week? I'm starting Sprinkle With Murder, after hearing about it from Jaclyn :) I should be able to finish it today or tomorrow.

[Jaclyn]

The deadline to post the results is 8 pm CST.

I'm really liking that series. I liked the first book, but I think they've gotten progressively better. Have you read cozy-mystery books before? I'm kinda new to the genre but I like that they are light and fun. :)