Carol J's 2023 Reading Challenge

[Carol]

Am shooting for at least 250 books in 2023.

[Connie]

Carol wrote: "Am shooting for at least 250 books in 2023."

HI Carol, good luck in 2023! Your reading schedule inspires me!

[Elyse, Moderator]

Welcome back, Carol! Happy New Year!

[Carol]

My first completed book of 2023. Woo Hoo!

1. Chariots of Fire by William J. Weatherby - The historic fiction book on Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, to young men and their road to the 1924 Olympics. *** 1/1/23

[Carol]

Connie wrote: "Carol wrote: "Am shooting for at least 250 books in 2023."

HI Carol, good luck in 2023! Your reading schedule inspires me!"

Thank you! Good luck on all of your reading goals.

[Carol]

Elyse wrote: "Welcome back, Carol! Happy New Year!"

Happy New Year to you! Good luck with your reading goals.

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "My first completed book of 2023. Woo Hoo!

1. Chariots of Fire by William J. Weatherby - The historic fiction book on Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, to young..."

One down woohoo!

[Carol]

2. The K Team by David Rosenfelt - This was a spinoff series from the Andy Carpenter series. Andy's wife, Laurie forms a detective agency with a former cop and his dog. *** 1/1/23

[Carol]

3. Dead West by Matt Goldman - I have really enjoyed MN author, Matt Goldman's Nils Shapiro series. In this last book, he is in California rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood types. **** 1/1/23

[Carol]

4. A High Sierra Christmas by William W. Johnstone - Smoke and his kids, Louis and Denise are in the high Sierras and plan on heading to Reno for Christmas. Things get complicated and Smoke has to get everyone out of trouble. **** 1/3/23

[Carol]

5. Trouble Shooter by Louis L'Amour - Back in his early days, Louis L'Amour was talked into writing a series on Clarence E. Mulford's character, Hopalong Cassidy. In this book, Hoppy received a cry for help from his old friend, Pete Melford. Hoppy goes to investigate, but he can't find his friend's ranch. **** 1/4/23

[Carol]

6. A Palette for Murder by Jessica Fletcher - Jessica Fletcher plans on taking a rest in The Hamptons. While there, she decides to indulge in a secret passion... painting. She takes a class, but she finds more that creativity. *** 1/4/23

[Carol]

7. The Chocolate Box: a Hercule Poirot Short Story by Agatha Christie - A short story about Hercule Poirot that took place early in his career. *** 1/5/23

[Carol]

8. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton - Aiden Bishop has been tasked to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle who will die every day until the killer is identified. Only that will break the cycle. Each day, Aiden wakes up as a different guest at Blackheath Manor. This was a very creative story. I did have a bit of a hard time following it, but that was probably just me, and not the book. *** 1/7/23

[Elyse, Moderator]

Carol wrote: "I did have a bit of a hard time following it, but that was probably just me, and not the book..."

Not just you!! I tried this via e-book and audiobook and I was still so so lost. Did not enjoy. BUT! Don't give up on him. I absolutely loved The Devil and the Dark Water!

[Carol]

Elyse wrote: "Carol wrote: "I did have a bit of a hard time following it, but that was probably just me, and not the book..."

Not just you!! I tried this via e-book and audiobook and I was still so so lost. Did..."

Hmmm. Thanks for the heads up!

[Carol]

9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - 4th time reading this. In this book, Harry discovers that he is a wizard and everything he thought he knew about his life is wrong. He goes off to Hogwart's and meets two of the best friends he will ever have. ***** 1/7/23

[Carol]

10. The Mistletoe Inn by Richard Paul Evans - Kimberly is a finance officer at a Lexus car dealership, but her dream is to be a romance author. As a gift, her father pays for her to attend a writer's retreat. **** 1/8/22

[Carol]

11. Murder at the Grand Raj Palace by Vaseem Khan - The American billionaire Hollis Burbank is found dead and retired Inspector Chopra is asked to find out if it is suicide or murder. While staying at the Grand Raj Palace, where the death occured, Poppy has time on her hands and helps a family find their missing bride. **** 1/11/23

[Carol]

12. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - Read this for the third time. Enjoyed the book. I think I enjoyed it more b/c I liked the movie. Wish they could have made the whole book series into movies. I understand they will be making Percy Jackson into a TV series. *** 1/11/23

[Carol]

13. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky - In the future, earth is destroyed and humankind is on the brink of extinction. *** 1/11/23

[Carol]

14. Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett - Dayna is in Hollywood, CA and is having money troubles. Then it turns out her parents are having money troubles, too. They are looking to her to help come up with some money so they don't loose their home. The fact that she might know some information on a hit and run may help her earn the reward on the Police Tip Line. **** 1/14/22

[Carol]

15. The Choice by Nora Roberts - The last book in the Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy... at least I think it will be a trilogy. The book leads up to the battle of all battles. *** 1/15/22

[Carol]

16. Hounded by David Rosenfelt - Lawyer Andy Carpenter gets a call from his police officer friend, Pete and is ask to come to an address and bring his girlfriend Laurie. Turns out this was the house of a murder and Pete wants Andy to take care of the murder victim's son and pet Basset Hound. Later it turns out Andy needs to help out Pete because he is under suspicion of murdering the boy's father. *** 1/16/23

[Carol]

17. The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh - A multi-generational book about the ancestors of Oanh, a Vietnamese woman who left her husband for another man, her true love. She was then cursed by a witch. After that there was so much bickering by Oanh's descendants. I found that very painful, but the bickering was an important part of the story. *** 1/17/23

[Carol]

18. Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie - Poirot is flying from France on an English airplane. While en route, a woman dies and it is found that a murder has occurred. **** 1/18/23

[Carol]

19. The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan philosophically reviews several songs. *** 1/19/23

[Carol]

20. Flight Risk by Cherie Priest - I am really enjoying this series. I hope there will be more to come. Leda is semi psychic. She has the ability sometimes to find things. A man approaches Leda, asking for help finding his sister. In her last case, Leda helped a policeman named Grady. In this book, Grady's dog finds a human leg and he investigates. Turns out there is a link between Leda's and Grady's cases. ***** 1/21/23

[Carol]

21. The Invasive Species by Frankie Bow - Molly is a college professor on a Hawaiian Island. She is included in a grant that investigates peoples opinions on biotechnology. She gets thrown in the middle of conflict between those that support biotech and the anti-GMO activists. **** 1/21/2023

[Carol]

22. The Last Days of Café Leila by Donia Bijan - When Noor was a teenager, she was sent away from her home country of Iran because of the danger to it's citizens. Now, years later she brings her teenage daughter with her to visit her father. Iran is still a dangerous place to be. **** 1/22/23

[Carol]

23. Still Life With Crows by Douglas Preston - FBI Special Agent Pendergast is allegedly on vacation when he shows up at a crime scene in a small farm town in Kansas. There has been a grizzly murder and it turns out that will not be the last. ***** 1/23/23

[Juli, Moderator]

Hi Carol! Such a great start to the year already!

[Carol]

Juli wrote: "Hi Carol! Such a great start to the year already!"

Thank you! Just trying to stay in "the zone"...

[Carol]

24. Mutts and Mistletoe by Natalie Cox - I loved this book. Would often break out laughing while reading this. Charlie has had a rough month... Her boyfriend left her for his trainer, her mom has left for a Christmas vacation on the other side of the world, Charlie's apartment has had a gas leak and she had an injury that left her with a concussion. The only person that could take care of her is her cousin, Jez. Then Jez gets an opportunity of a lifetime, leaving Charlie to run her business, Cozy Canine Cotteges, dog boarding. ***** 1/24/23

[Carol]

25. Always, in December by Emily Stone - Josie's parents died when she was a girl on Christmas. Every year she sends them a letter. When she is walking to the mailbox with her latest letter, she gets knocked off her feet (in more than one way) by a bike rider. **** 1/24/23

[Carol]

26. The Feast of Artemis by Anne Zouroudi - Hermes Diaktoros travels to Dendra in Greece for the olive harvest festival. Some bad things happen and Hermes investigates. *** 1/25/23

[Carol]

27. Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry - The Iditarod Dogsled Race is run every year. This year a musher is killed in the race. Then another and another. State Trooper Alex Jensen is sent to investigate. *** 1/26/23

[Carol]

28. Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan - A fun, unique, intelligent story about two damaged and fragile people who both happen to be audio book narrators. *** 1/27/23

[Carol]

29. Last Victim of the Monsoon Express by Vaseem Khan - Inspector Chopra was invited on the train Monsoon Express. It was carrying a delegation of politicians trying to help India and Pakistan make peace... until one of the politicians was murdered. *** 1/27/23

[Carol]

30. Marley by Jon Clinch - A modern author's imagining of what led up to making Marley and Scrooge who they turned into. *** 1/27/23

[Carol]

31. Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, And 3 RVs On Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure by David Rosenfelt - Dave Rosenfelt is the author of author of the dogcentric Andy Carpenter series. He is responsible for coordinating dog rescues. He also has 25 dogs (he is a sucker for a dog that is on death row and can't be rescued...) He and his wife decided to move across country to Maine. The problem was how to do it with his 27 dogs. This book is a tale (a tail) of how they were able to accomplish that plus there are biographies on his dogs. **** 1/29/23

[Carol]

32. 2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke - 2nd time reading. Heywood Floyd goes back out in space. *** 1/30/23

[Carol]

33. The Face in the Mirror by Rhys Bowen - Even though Molly has promised her new husband, Daniel, that she would not take on any detective work, it keeps falling into her lap. This time she is trying to help one of Gus's Suffragette friends who thinks she is loosing her mind. *** 1/30/23

[Carol]

34. The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman - Wow! Such a good book! A baby was abandoned on Sheriff Ginn's doorstep. To honest, it was a former church so the person leaving the baby girl thought they were leaving it at a church. He found the baby, adopted it and named her Shelby Lake. Years later, Shelby became one of the deputies for her father. A boy went missing and a search ensued. ***** 1/30/23

[Carol]

35. Crazy Mary by Molly Cone - Another older book touting the benefits of young ladies working hard and self sacrifice. *** 1/31/23

[Carol]

36. An Acquired Taste by Kelly Cain - This was a slow starter and I almost dropped it. Rowan's family restaurant is having some space problems. She and her family enter a competition that could help them procure more space. Unfortunately, a guy she went to chef school with is also in it. *** 2/1/23

[Carol]

37. Who Let the Dog Out? by David Rosenfelt - Andy Carpenter is a lawyer. His real passion is the Tara Foundation, a dog rescue organization. His business partner calls him one night to say an alarm went off. They discover one of the dogs is stolen, but can track him via a chip that was implanted on the dog. They follow the directions and find the dog next to a dead body. Once again, Andy is forced to work his day job as a lawyer while he investigates the case. **** 2/2/23

[Carol]

38. Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos by Donna Andrews - Meg Langslow is acting as a colonial crafts person in the reenactment a battle and British surrender in her hometown of Yorktown, Virginia. She is also trying to make things good for the woman running the festival, her boyfriends mother. Throw in a conman who ends up getting murdered and you have bingo! *** 2/3/23

[Carol]

39. Tales Told in Oz by Gregory Maguire - Short stories and poetry to help flesh out the world and history of Oz. *** 2/4/23

[Carol]

40. The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman - OMG, what an emotional roller coaster ride! This book was loosely based on a true life story. There is a curse on the second born daughters of the Fontana family. They'll never find love or have children. Emilia & her cousin Lucy travel to Italy w/ their great aunt Poppy. Emilia's grandmother, Rosa is not happy & tries to convince the girls to abandon the trip, where many truths are revealed. This was a slow starter for me, but I am so glad I finished it. **** 2/5/23