Carol J's 2023 Reading Challenge

[Carol]

80. Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory - Another great Guillory romance. Margot Noble is an African American co-owner (with her brother) of a winery in Napa Valley, CA. She meets Luke, a handsome man and they end up having a hot night together. Fast forward to the next day where her brother introduces her to the companies newest hire... Luke! **** 3/21/23

[Carol]

81. Jacques Pépin Art of the Chicken: A Master Chef's Paintings, Stories, and Recipes of the Humble Bird by Jacques Pépin - A memoir/cookbook/book of chicken art by Jacques Pépin. **** 3/23/23

[Carol]

82. Termination Dust by Sue Henry - Alex Jensen has to solve a murder and his only clue is a journal from 1898. *** 3/23/23

[Carol]

83. The French Powder Mystery by Ellery Queen - Ellery Queen and his dad need to investigate the murder of Mrs. French who is the wife of Frenches Department Store's owner. *** 3/24/23

[Carol]

84. I'm Just Sayin'!: Three Deaths, Seven Husbands, and a Clone! My Life as a Daytime Diva by Kim Zimmer - The autobiography of Kim Zimmer, the actress that brought Reva Shayne of the daytime soap opera, Guiding Light to life. *** 3/25/23

[Carol]

85. Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume 1 by Hope Nicholson - A wonderful graphic novel with beautiful illustration of tales from Native North Americans. There are two more books in the series that I will definitely read. ***** 3/26/23

[Carol]

86. The Metropolitan Affair by Jocelyn Green - 1920s - Lauren is a curator of Egyptology and is asked to inspect some artifacts to see if they are fakes. *** 3/29/23

[Carol]

87. The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes - It is 1946 and WWII is over. Now many war brides are being reunited to the servicemen on the HMS Victoria. *** 3/29/23

[Carol]

88. Murder on the QE2 by Jessica Fletcher - Jessica is on the QE2 for an ocean voyage and a famous actress is killed. Jessica must look into this... *** 3/31/23

[Carol]

89. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - The novel starts with Esme as a young girl and her father and a group of lexicographers who are collecting words for the first Oxford English Dictionary. Words are very important to Esme. I know I am in the minority thinking this book was just OK, but it never grabbed me. ** 4/1/23

[Carol]

90. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle - Mary, who lost her father 10 years earlier had started receiving mysterious gifts. Finally, she had the opportunity to meet the person who sent the gifts, but she would like Holmes and Watson to come with her. *** 4/2/23

[Carol]

91. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge - My friend Judy recommended this book to me. This was the coming of age story of Woodrow Wilson Nickel when he meets and accompanies 2 giraffes across country in the depression era United States. **** 4/2/23

[Carol]

92. The Bottle Imp and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson - A group of stories by R.L. Stevenson. The Bottle Imp (IMHO) was the best and very much in the style of Edgar Allen Poe. *** 4/3/23

[Carol]

92. I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys - 1989 - Christian lives under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in Romania. He gets put into the position where he has to inform on friends and family. **** 4/3/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "92. I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys - 1989 - Christian lives under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in Romania. He gets put into the position where he ..."

I love Sepetys's novels!

[Carol]

93. Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume 2 by Hope Nicholson - 2nd compilation of indigenous comic/artwork focusing on spirituality and tradition. *** 4/6/23

[Carol]

94. How To Be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery - This was an early earth day book. Author and naturalist Sy Montgomery writes about 13 animals she has interacted with, what she learned from them and how they affected her. *** 4/6/23

[Carol]

95. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie - Joanna is caring for her brother Jerry and helping him to recuperate. In the meantime, some poison pen notes are going around and people start dying. Miss Marple comes to investigate. *** 4/6/23

[Carol]

96. Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood - There is always a lot happening when Phryne Fisher is around. The year is 1928 and Phryne has been nominated to be Queen of the Flowers. Then one of her attendants goes missing... **** 4/8/23

[Carol]

97. Poppy Done to Death by Charlaine Harris - I thought this was a little bit darker Aurora Teagarden mystery. Roe's sister-in-law, Poppy helped get her invited to join the social group "The Uppity Women". On Roe's day of induction, Poppy was a no show, so Roe runs over to her house to check on her. She finds Poppy dead and it looks like murder, so Roe has to investigate. **** 4/9/23

[Carol]

98. Almost There and Almost Not by Linda Urban - California Poppy is being sent to live with her great aunt Monica. Something is going on with her father who cannot care for her. To keep California busy, aunt Monica tells her to research her ancestor, etiquette expert Eleanor Fontaine. She learns a lot about her and finds out that Eleanor is a ghost that only California can see. **** 4/9/23

[Carol]

99. The Steal by C.W. Gortner - Ania Thorne is a famous fine jewelry designer and now runs the family company. While at Cannes, representing her company some of her companies jewelry gets stolen by a jewel thief know as The Leopard. An insurance detective swoops in to investigate. *** 4/9/23

[Carol]

100. Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri - Widower Nico Doyle is a former NYPD homicide detective. He has moved to his wife's hometown in Tuscany. He finds a dead body that has been shot. Even though he doesn't want to get involved, he gets involved. *** 4/10/23

[Carol]

101. The Arbornaut: A Life Discovering the Eighth Continent in the Trees Above Us by Meg Lowman - The biography of biologist, botanist, and conservationist Meg Lowman. Also talked about forests and rainforests in the world. **** 4/12/23

[Carol]

102. The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey - This book is a nominee for the MN Book Awards 2023 in the Genre Fiction category and takes place in a small Minnesota town in the summer of 1977. A group of high school girls were having the time of their lives. Then one of them goes missing, then another and Heather is learning more than she wants to know. **** 4/13/23

[Carol]

103. Bladder Matters by Karen Crowe - A very interesting book on an uncomfortable subject. The book had suggestions that could make this condition easier to take. **** 4/13/23

[Carol]

104. Pretty as a Picture: A Novel by Elizabeth Little - Marissa Dahl is a film editor who is working with the famous director, Tony Rees on a true life, unsolved cold case movie about a girl who was murdered. Now years later, life imitates art and there is another death involving one of the cast. *** 4/15/23

[Carol]

105. The Blessed Event by Frankie Bow - Professor Molly Barda and her new husband, Donnie are enjoying married life and planning on starting a family. Then before you know it, her stepson Davison, his birth mother and her husband and his fiance and baby are all staying with her and Donnie. Things start heating up when Donnie's birth mom is suspected in killing Davison's birth father. *** 4/15/23

[Carol]

106. Brimstone by Douglas Preston - A deliciously scary book. Pendergast is asked to look into some suspicious deaths that looks like it could be the work of the devil. ***** 4/16/23

[Carol]

107. Seoulmates by Jen Frederick - Hara Wilson is still in Seoul and struggling to have people accept her and her boyfriend's relationship. *** 4/18/23

[Carol]

108. The Temps by Andrew DeYoung - This book is a nominee for the MN Book Awards 2023 in the Genre Fiction category. Jacob is one of many temps hired to work within Delphi Enterprises while the regular employees are having a huge meeting outdoors. All of a sudden he witnesses yellow gasses descending on the group and seconds later, they turn on each other, eventually killing everyone. **** 4/19/23

[Carol]

109. Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection (Vol. 3) by Elizabeth LaPensée - The third and final volume of Native American comics that tells their stories in old and new ways. **** 4/20/23

[Carol]

110. Till the Wheels Fall Off by Brad Zellar - This book is a nominee for the MN Book Awards 2023 in the Novel and Short Story category. In the late 1980s, Matthew Carnap was suffering from severe insomnia and ADHD. His mother is married to his stepdad, Russ who is a very free spirit. Russ was the closest thing Matthew had to a father. They spent a lot of time at the family roller rink listening to loud music. **** 4/20/23

[Carol]

111. The Secret Ingredient of Wishes by Susan Bishop Crispell - Rachel is a woman with a secret, she can make wishes come true. She moves in with an older woman named Catch. Catch also has a secret... she can bind wishes by baking them into a pie. ** 4/20/23

[Carol]

112. Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt - It is Christmas and Andy Carpenter is going to help his wife Laurie grant Christmas wishes. A little boy wrote in that he hoped his dad would come home. It sounded like the boy's dad may be in some legal trouble and Laurie thought Andy could help. *** 4/23/23

[Carol]

113. Where We Come from by John Coy - This book is a nominee for the MN Book Awards 2023 in the Children's Literature category. A sweet, children's picture book with lyrical text and beautiful illustrations talking about the different histories that different cultures have. ***** 4/23/23

[Carol]

114. Dance of Death by Douglas Preston - In the last book in the Pendergast series, Brimstone, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast was walled inside a castle in Italy. Everyone believes he is dead, including his good friend NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta. A letter had been sent to D'Agosta stating if Pendergast dies, he would like D'Agosta to pursue his younger brother, Diogenes Pendergast to prevent a major Crime from happening. **** 4/23/23

[Carol]

115. Windswept by Margi Preus - This book is a nominee for the MN Book Awards 2023 in the Middle Grade Literature category. This book is a little bit fairy tale, a little bit dystopian novel, and a little bit cautionary tale. In this world, children who wander outside are "windswept" and vanish. Tag goes out to find her sisters who had disappeared. *** 4/24/23

[Carol]

116. Murder in Moscow by Jessica Fletcher - Jessica and a group of U.S. publishers go to Moscow to talk with Russians in the post Cold War publishing industry. A Russian publisher dies and murder is suspected. *** 4/24/23

[Carol]

117. A Deadly Bone to Pick by Peggy Rothschild - A fun new book series about Molly, a newly widowed pet wrangler/private investigator. After a tough last few months, she moves across country to a little, beach side town in California. While at the beach, her dog brings her a gift, a human hand. Molly calls the police immediately an despite her best efforts, she feels like a suspect. ****4/25/23

[Carol]

118. The Dark Was Done by Lauren Stringer - This book is a nominee for the MN Book Awards 2023 in the Children's Literature category. A sweet storybook about embracing your fears. *** 4/25/23

[Carol]

119. The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lilian Jackson Braun - Qwillerin is settling into his new home, but he finds a mystery, or rather, it finds him... with the help of Koko *** 4/26/23

[Carol]

120. The Gunslinger by Stephen King - The first book in The Dark Tower series. Roland is The Last Gunslinger. He is at conflict with The Man in Black. *** 4/26/23

[Carol]

121. Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr - A work of historic fiction that had hints of truth. There was an Expressionist artist Ernst Engel who was called a degenerate by Hitler. This novel is the fictionalized account of people searching for the painting, Woman on Fire. *** 4/27/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "120. The Gunslinger by Stephen King - The first book in The Dark Tower series. Roland is The Last Gunslinger. He is at conflict with The Man in Black. *** 4/26/23"

I still haven't gotten past ! And that was in 2018.

[Carol]

I don't think i'm gonna read any more of his dark tower books. I did like the movie, though.

[Carol]

122. Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey - A cute romcom about Annie, a young woman who is obsessed with romcoms and thinks that the Tom Hanks persona is the perfect boyfriend material. She starts working as an assistant on the set of a movie being filmed in her town and meets the actor Drew Danforth. **** 4/29/23

[Carol]

123. We'll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews - Another fun Meg Langslow mystery where she is working at a fan convention for her actor boyfriend's TV show. A lot of unusual stuff is going on including the lead actress getting murdered. **** 4/30/23

[Carol]

124. Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim - Vanessa Yu went to Paris to help her aunt and her tea stall. Vanessa Yu can also reads peoples fortunes in the tea leaves in the bottom of a cup of tea. *** 4/30/23

[Carol]

125. Trust Fall: A Professor Molly Short by Frankie Bow - A short, mini Professor Molly Mystery. Mahina State University is hosting a faculty retreat. One of the events at the retreat is the famous "trust fall". Needless to say, things went fatally wrong. *** 5/1/23