CoM's first climb

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I'm looking forward to making my climb. Good luck everyone

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1. Such a Pretty Smile
by Kristi DeMeester

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2. Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie M. Liu

3. On Deadly Tides by Elizabeth J. Duncan

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4 The Counterfeit Clue
by Lisa Karon Richardson A decent historical cozy

5. Jade City by Fonda Lee A well written fantasy but too Mafioso for me.

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6 Portrait of peril by Laura Joh Rowland The character's personal drama overshadowed the mystery in this one unfortunately

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7 Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix I'm really enjoying this YA fantasy series

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8 The Ghostway by Tony Hillerman I'm revisiting this mystery series. This wasn't my favorite but I do love the character of Jim Chee

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9. Into the Lightning Gate by Robert Roth. I thought this Sci-Fi/thriller had a bit of a rough start but once we really get into it I enjoyed it

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10 From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty

I found this one fascinating and funny (and more than occasionally morbidly funny)

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11 The Witch and the Beast, Vol. 2 by Kousuke Satake It's a good series but on the other hand not as captivating as I might like

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12 A Summoning of Souls by Leanna Renee Hieber It was a satisfying ending to the trilogy


13 Ballad & Dagger by Daniel José Older I had an ARC for this Rick Riordan Present's imprint and this one is YA not middle grade. It's a little dark but oh so good!

[Bev]

Glad you're climbing with us! And look at you--already a quarter of the way up the mountain!

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Bev wrote: "Glad you're climbing with us! And look at you--already a quarter of the way up the mountain!"

Thanks. I'd be further along but library books happen!

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14 Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne

I have an arc of this southern gothic horror and it was very good, creepy and a little gory if that bothers you.

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15 The Mystery of Albert E. Finch by Callie Hutton I had such high hopes for this historical mystery set in the really cool town of Bath England. It could have been set in nowheresville for how badly the setting was used. The mystery wasn't that hot either.

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16 Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez Another of the arcs i have. It was an interesting fantasy set in sort-of Spain, substituting dragons for bullfighting

17 Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey I liked it but it was not what I was expecting so I didn't like it nearly as much as I expected.

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18 XO by Jeffery Deaver A decent but forgettable mystery

19 Darkness Under the Sun by Dean Koontz I liked this novella prequel

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20 Sour Puss by Rita Mae Brown, worst thing I've read in a long time (see my review for full details on that)

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21 The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart I really enjoyed this historical mystery (set in 1703 so a much earlier date than my usual read). I hope there is more to come

22 Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater. In the past I've loved this universe. Several reviewers said this felt like filler and I have to agree.

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Oops it's been a while



23 A Wedding to Die For by Leann Sweeney I'm having little luck with my mysteries this year. This was bad.

24 Diamonds & Dirt by Stephanie LaVigne needed more mystery or more romance or something. It was rather flat


25 Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee the second in the series and I didn't like it much better than the first. Have to accept this is one Rick Riordan presents that doesn't work for me

26 It wasn't a bad mystery but the motive and how/why it was done was simply a scientific impossibility that would have taken 30 seconds of Googling to find out. Sigh.


hey I'm more than halfway to the summit

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27 Something is Killing the Children, Book One
by James Tynion IV absolutely loved this horror graphic novel

28 Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo & Ren Graham I had an ARC of this and it's another good paranormal LGBT graphic novel

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29 - Queen of Thieves: The True Story of "Marm" Mandelbaum and Her Gangs of New York by J. North Conway a lackluster true crime

30 BURN THE WITCH 1 by Tite Kubo I wasn't blown away by this manga

31 The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher loved this weird western, warning it's a bit violent

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32 I loved everything about this horror/thriller (more thriller than horror but scary in how this could absolutely happen)

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33 Man-Eater: The Terrifying True Story of Cannibal Killer Katherine Knight by Ryan Green disappointing especially as there were no sources quoted

34 Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki a complicated SF/UF mash up with a transgendered lead.

35 Murder at the Opera by Margaret Truman a disappointing mystery that seems to think if you hear opera once you'll fall in love and never listen to anything else (because seriously like 4 characters did and the rest already loved it)

36 Riot Most Uncouth by Daniel Friedman if you want a drunk womanizing nasty Byron failing to solve a mystery then this is for you.

37 Murder on the Mountain by L.R. Starr not a half bad romance/mystery novella

getting close to the summit!

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38 Lander by J. Scott Coatsworth a solid entry into the Oberon series. I enjoyed this lgbt sf

39 The Night Women by Sara Blaedel A Danish police procedural, fairly enjoyable.

40 Sacrifice by Kathleen Heady It was more suspense than mystery but it was pretty good

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41 Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater I very much enjoyed this continuation of Merida's story. Lots of Celtic mythos in this.

42 Inhuman by Kat Falls I'm not much on dystopias or romances with love triangles. That said this was decent

43 Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White I really enjoyed this middle grade mystery/horror had strong Lemony Snicket/Nancy Drew/Scooby Doo vibes. I'm looking forward to more.

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44. While I'm still enjoying this series, peaceful farmer Thorfinn is just not that captivating.

45 Loved this vampire story. They handled the love interest just as I would have hoped.

46. I still love Sebastian and Hero but I am getting tired of the family melodrama and hooking everything into the Napoleonic era politics

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It's been a hot minute since I updated and now I've finished the challenge. Guess I should have picked a higher peak (and I'll keep updating regardless)

47 Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen really enjoyed this historical mystery LGBT arc (I have trigger warnings in my review)

48 in the night room by Peter Straub this got sexually creepy

49 The Wild Ways by Tanya Huff honestly this isn't much less sexually creepy with its cousins breeding program ....

50 The Eidlerland Incident by Geoffrey Mandragora not bad alt history/steampunk

51 The Glow of Luminiferous Aether on Tinsel by Jana Denardo Enjoyable steampunk novella

52 Frogkisser! By Garth Nix This was a fun middle grade retelling of several fairytales

53 From the Red Fog, Vol. 1 by Mosae Nohara a big hell no to this manga with a 12 year old mass murderer as the lead (also child murder and sexual abuse are on page)

54 Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman highly rec the audiobook of this.

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oops another month slipped by on me

well it's been a month. Ooops!

55 A Trip with Trouble by Diane Kelly It was a fun cozy mystery


56 American Goth by Cyn Mackley It was a decent amateur sleuth mystery

57 Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley another good cozy mystery


58 Pittsburgh Then and Now by The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation I liked this historical book

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wow I haven't been here in 2 months, mostly because I've been reading a crap ton of library books in order to fill challenges (including one from the library)

59 A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts by Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes

60 Dead End by Kelly Brakenhoff

61 Four Leaf Cleaver by Maddie Day

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This will be as far as I climb this year I think.

62 The Woman Who Married a Bear The Woman Who Married a Bear by John Straley

63 Six Cats a Slayin' Six Cats a Slayin' by Miranda James

64 Literally Murder Literally Murder by Ali Brandon

65 Ghost Reaper Girl, Vol. 1 Ghost Girl Reaper vol 1 by Akissa Saiké

[CinCO]

You did great! Made it up the next peak from your goal!

[Cornerofmadness]

Thanks. Yes I did.