Carol J's 2023 Reading Challenge

[Carol]

41. The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood - Phryne's sister is visiting. Phryne takes her adopted daughters and her sister to ride on the Ghost Train and they find the mummified remains of a man! Ms. Fischer investigates. *** 2/5/23

[Carol]

42. Dark Clouds Over Nuala by Harriet Steel - Inspector de Silva is back in Nuala and of course there is a murder. This book gives me a vibe, more of the mystery writer, Ngaio Marsh rather than Agatha Christie. *** 2/6/23

[Carol]

43. Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca - A complex love story. Louisa has been on the partner tract for her law firm... for several years. She finally realizes they are never going to make her a partner so she quits. She somehow gets involved with a Renaissance festival. She finds a place to live, a position within the festival and finally love, but then it becomes complicated. **** 2/9/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "43. Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca - A complex love story. Louisa has been on the partner tract for her law firm... for several years. She finally realizes they are ..."

I also just read this!

[Carol]

44. The New Girl by R.L. Stine - A spooky story about a high school boy, seriously crushing on a high school girl who was just too ethereal to be real. Was she real, was she a ghost? Things start going wrong, quickly. *** 2/11/23

[Carol]

45. A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones - In Del Sol, NM women are disappearing. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram investigates, but there is a lot more going on. ***** 2/11/23

[Carol]

46. By the Book by Jasmine Guillory - Isabelle is having a hard time in her dream job at a publishing house. She is over worked and underpaid and she feels underappreciated. Then she has the opportunity to work with a California bad boy on his way over due memoir. At first heads butt and then sparks fly. ***** 2/12/23

[Carol]

47. The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb - The story of two women who met on Ellis Island and became very good friends. One works there and the other is an immigrant fleeing her father back in Italy. So often when the officials at Ellis Island had a problem with an immigrant, they threatened to send the foreigner back on "The Next Ship Home" **** 2/15/23

[Carol]

48. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire - 2nd time reading this book. A prequel and retelling of the story mostly about The Wicked Witch of the West. When I read it 23 years ago, I thought it was just OK. This time, I (just) liked it. This ain't your gra'ma's Wizard of Oz. *** 2/15/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "48. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire - 2nd time reading this book. A preque..."

I've got to re-read and finish this series!

[Carol]

Elyse wrote: "Carol wrote: "48. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire - 2nd time reading this ..."

There is a little prequel of some Oz fairy tales that I just discovered.

[Carol]

49. - Some of Jessica's friends from Cabot Cove visit with her in the British Isles. While in Scotland they have a run in with a ghost and some murders! *** 2/16/23

[Carol]

50. Poirot's Early Cases: 18 Hercule Poirot Mysteries by Agatha Christie - A group of mystery stories. *** 2/17/23

[Carol]

51. With Love from London by Sarah Jio - An enjoyable, two timeline story about a woman and later, her daughter who love books. Eloise is a personable young woman in London who meets two men at about the same time. Years later, her daughter finds her self in London, trying to save her mother's book shop. **** 2/18/23

[Carol]

52. 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke - The final book in Clarke's Space Odyssey series. In the first book (2001) Frank Poole's body is accidentally sent off into space and thought lost forever. A thousand years later, in 3001, his body is found among some space debris. There are a lot of changes he must adapt to. *** 2/20/23

[Carol]

53. Girl Gone Missing by Marcie R. Rendon - 1970s - Renee Blackbear, or Cash, is a 19 year old Chippewa young woman. She had been in foster care since she was 3. Now she has the opportunity to get a college education. But she has been hearing stories about girls that have gone missing. Then she starts to have dreams about them. Is it coincidence or a sign? *** 2/20/23

[Carol]

54. One Night on the Island by Josie Silver - Cleo was sent on assignment to and was to stay at a quaint little cottage. Mac was unfortunately booked to stay at the same cottage. Neither is willing to budge and neither wants to share the cottage. *** 2/23/23

[Carol]

55. Subpar Parks: America's Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors by Amber Share - An amusing book about some hard to please park visitors that left below average reviews on our National Parks. *** 2/25/23

[Carol]

56. Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow - Mimi Lee runs a pet grooming salon. She figured out a local dog breeder has been selling pups that have problems with their legs. She starts to investigate. The breeder has been murdered and she s the top suspect! *** 2/25/23

[Carol]

57. If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy - Cindy just graduated with a degree in shoe design and meets a great guy on their airplane ride home. She gets an opportunity to participate in the reality dating show, After Midnight. Guess who the bachelor is on the show... This book is about how a plus size girl deals with things on a TV show with a small size cast. *** 2/26/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "57. If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy - Cindy just graduated with a degree in shoe design and meets a great guy on their airplane ride home. She gets an opport..."

I just finished this as well! It was cute

[Carol]

58. All You Need Is Love (Notes): Sweet Everythings for All the Loves in Your Life by John Tabis - This booklet is a collection of cards that people wrote to accompany Bouq's flowers. Very sweet. **** 2/26/23

[Carol]

Elyse wrote: "I just finished this as well! It was cute "

Again, great minds think alike! ;)

[Carol]

59. Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon - Book 3 in the Cash Blackbear Mysteries. I have enjoyed this series. In this book, Cash is continuing on with College in her anti-social way. Then during a flood the body of a woman washes up. Then another is found. Cash wants to help her mentor in the police out. As usual, she gets a little too involved. **** 2/27/23

[Carol]

60. I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart - This was a fun audiobook. A biography of the comedian, Kevin Hart. It really gave you a sense of what made him him. **** 2/27/23

[Carol]

61. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - Louise and Mark are siblings whose parents just died. The more they think and reflect, the more they realize there childhood was not normal. And then there was the "art". *** 3/2/23

[Carol]

62. Bad Day at the Vulture Club by Vaseem Khan - I am sad. I just finished the Baby Ganesh series. :( This was a fun series of cozy mysteries. Cyrus Zorabian, an industrialist is found murdered on the grounds of where the Parsee people relinquish their people's bodies to be consumed by the vultures. Inspector Chopra is hired by Zorabian's daughter to find out what happened. **** 3/3/23

[Carol]

63. Outfoxed by David Rosenfelt - Andy Carpenter has a pet project. He has a dog rescue association and one of the off shoot projects is for prisoners to help train rescue dogs so that they are more adoptable. One prisoner, Brian, who is training a fox terrier and only has 18 months left on his sentence, makes an escape with the dog. When he is caught it looks like he has murdered someone, but Andy isn't convinced and represents him. **** 3/4/23

[Carol]

64. In the Dog House by V.M. Burns - Lilly just got a new toy poodle she named Aggie (after Agatha Christie). Good thing because she and her husband are getting a divorce because he is cheating on her with a much younger woman named Bambi. Then her husband is murdered and Lilly is the prime suspect! This looks like a great, fun new mystery series. **** 3/5/23

[Carol]

65. Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon by Donna Andrews - Meg is temporarily working as a receptionist at her brother's quirky computer games company. Included at the company is a company prankster. His latest prank is rolling around the company on the mail cart pretending to be dead. Then Meg figures out that he isn't pretending. *** 3/5/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "61. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - Louise and Mark are siblings whose parents just died. The more they think and reflect, the more t..."

Ooweee this one was creepy!

[Carol]

Elyse wrote: "Carol wrote: "61. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - Louise and Mark are siblings whose parents just died. The more they think and refle..."

Ooweee this one was creepy!

It was! I wonder if my kids think that about my "art"...

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "It was! I wonder if my kids think that about my "art"..."

haha makes you think of it in a whole different way!!

[Carol]

66. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie - Rex Fortescue was having a cup of tea when he up and died. After some investigation, he was found to have a pocket full of rye (grain). What's up with that!? Then another in his household died. Miss Marple arrives to assist. *** 3/8/23

[Carol]

67. The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard -This was such a great book! I accidentally watched the Netflix movie, first. Surprisingly, the movie followed the book pretty closely. In this story, that takes place around 1830, Augustus Landor, a middle aged, former constable, and widower, is summoned to West Point Academy. It turns out, one of it's cadets had hanged himself and then, while in the medical clinic, someone had carved his heart out! They ask Landor to investigate. He asks for the help of Cadet Edgar Allan Poe. ***** 3/8/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "67. The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard -This was such a great book! I accidentally watched the Netflix movie, first. Surprisingly, the movie followed the book pr..."

My husband tried watching the movie but gave up with like 30 minutes left. lol.

[Carol]

Elyse wrote: "Carol wrote: "67. The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard -This was such a great book! I accidentally watched the Netflix movie, first. Surprisingly, the movie follow..."

I loved the movie, but it may have been a slow starter. The actor that played Poe was the same who played Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter.

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "I loved the movie, but it may have been a slow starter. The actor that played Poe was the same who played Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter..."

I only watched about 10 minutes of it so I don't think I watched enough to notice that! Good for him.

[Carol]

68. The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun - I enjoy LJB's The Cat Who... books and was entertained by this one. Jim Qwilleran goes up to Pick Axe to visit his "Aunt" Fanny. *** 3/10/23

[Carol]

69. Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman - Joey returned home for a short vacation to take care of his father who has dementia. His mother was out of town in a pickle ball tournament. While he was he was visiting with his dad, an old enemy of his father's was killed and Joey's father is the prime suspect. **** 3/11/23

[Carol]

70. Let Loose the Dogs by Maureen Jennings - In the beginning of the book, William Murdoch's sister is on her deathbed. Then his father whom William despised, is arrested for murder. *** 3/12/23

[Carol]

71. The Au Pair by Emma Rous - Seraphine and her brother were going through their recently deceased father's belongings. What they found ultimately shakes their family up. *** 3/12/23

[Carol]

72. Drinking Water: A History by James Salzman - Interesting non-fiction about the story of water. *** 3/14/23

[Carol]

73. XO by Jeffery Deaver - Really enjoyed this book!! Kayleigh Towne is a pop music superstar. She is being troubled by a stalker and Detective Kathryn Dance is going to have to help her. ***** 3/15/23

[Carol]

74. The Last Night in London by Karen White - This was a little bit of a slow starter, but I really ended up enjoying it. This book showed how many of the people in England struggled to live as close to a normal life during WWII. **** 3/17/23

[Carol]

75. Last Scene Alive by Charlaine Harris - Aurora is sadly a new widow. As she is trudging through life, an old boyfriend, Robin is back in town. He had written a book on a murder that had happened years ago (that Aurora just happened to investigate) and it was being made into a movie. Just when Aurora's life mood start to pick up, a murder occurs and again, she is closely involved. **** 3/18/23

[Carol]

76. The Family Way by Rhys Bowen - Sometimes I just don't know what Molly is thinking! She is now married to Daniel, is several months pregnant, and is showing it. She gets a letter from her old detective agency from some parents of a young lady who has gone missing. Molly was able to track her down to a convent run by nuns and the local specializes in helping take care of unwed mothers and to set their babies up for adoption. *** 3/18/23

[Carol]

77. When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro - Christopher Banks was a 9 year old boy living in Singapore in the early 1900s. Then his parents suddenly disappeared and he was sent home to England to live. 20 years later, he was a successful detective and came back to Singapore to see what he could find of his parents. ** 3/19/23

[Carol]

78. Motherbridge of Love by Xinran - A sweet child's book about a little girl who's birth mother had to give her up for adoption and the child's adoptive mother who gave her love. *** 3/19/23

[Carol]

79. The Seat Filler by Sariah Wilson - I really enjoyed this book about a young woman who was helping her friend out by being a seat filler at a swanky Hollywood event. When who should sit next to her but her teenage crush! **** 3/21/23