Vikki's 2024 Reading Group Challenge - Standalone Books

[Vikki, Moderator]

Being ambitious with 2 lists.... this time it's for standalone books. Let's see if I can manage to complete both lists!

1: Brothers & Wives Finished 7th January 2024
2: Daisy Jones & The Six Finished 2nd August 2024
3: Black Rabbit Hall
4: The Revels Finished 26th April 2024
5: Fair Rosaline Finished 23rd February 2024
6: The Book Of Eve
7: The Book Of Fire Finished 22nd September 2024
8: The Valkyrie
9: The Twilight Garden Read 4th July 2024
10: Ward D Finished 25th January 2024
11: The Shadow Man Finished 16th April 2024
12: Hanging Hill

1: Killing The Shadows
2: The Party House Finished 4th May 2024
3: Purge
4: Ivy Lane

[Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator]

Can we just appreciate these book covers for a minute?? <3

[Lea]

Good luck with your lists! I agree with Alondra, those covers are beautiful and the books look interesting too. The only one I have read is Daisy Jones, which I really liked. Happy reading!

[Lillie]

Agree with Alondra and Lea, those are beautiful covers! I've only read Daisy Jones & the Six and loved it. I hope you do too.

I do have The Twilight Garden on my individual challenge. Loved her previous book, The Reading List and have high hopes for this one too.

Enjoy!

[Jackie]

I recognize a lot of these books. Good luck this year.

[Vikki, Moderator]

I have to admit the covers are so nice to look at. A few grabbed my attention between the cover and title, then when I read the blurbs they sounded interesting. Quite a few are authors I haven't read before so I may discover some new favourite authors

[Bill, Moderator]

I've only read Killing the Shadows and quite enjoyed it. I've read other Mo Hayder books. I hope you enjoy all of your selections.

[Vikki, Moderator]

Bill wrote: "I've only read Killing the Shadows and quite enjoyed it. I've read other Mo Hayder books. I hope you enjoy all of your selections."

I've read all of Mo Hayder's Jack Caffery series which I loved. So I hope this will live up to my expectations

[Patricia]

I've only read Black Rabbit Hall & enjoyed it along with a couple more of her books.
Happy Reading!

[Vikki, Moderator]

Patricia wrote: "I've only read Black Rabbit Hall & enjoyed it along with a couple more of her books.
Happy Reading!"

I haven't read any of her books before

[Alissa]

I love me some pretty covers! And I loved Daisy Jones & The Six! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the others!

[Lindsey]

Loved Daisy Jones & The Six!!! Thr book and the tv show were awesome. And I always love seeing book covers. Good luck with your reading challenge! 😊

[Butterflycager]

Went down multiple rabbit holes with this list - that was fun! And as several others mentioned, there are some lovely covers here. Hope you have a wonderful time reading them!

[Vikki, Moderator]

Butterflycager wrote: "Went down multiple rabbit holes with this list - that was fun! And as several others mentioned, there are some lovely covers here. Hope you have a wonderful time reading them!"

Thank you - I have to agree about the covers!

[Denise]

The only one I have on my TBR is Daisy Jones and the Six, which I plan to read in 2024. Good luck with your challenge.

[Ruth, Moderator]

I quite fancy some on this list. I've only read Daisy Jones, good, and the Netflix series is also good!
Happy Reading 😊

[Vikki, Moderator]

1st book finished - Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan
4 stars from me. Focus was much more on the Princes than their wives. It was interesting although not a lot I hadn't heard before. It did seem to be written in Harry's favour.

[Vikki, Moderator]

2nd book finished
Ward D my first Freida McFadden book. I've heard a lot of positive reviews about her books and this one caught my attention. There's some fascinating about books set on psych wards or similar settings. Really enjoyed this book and would be keen to read more. I didn't predict the biggest twist which is always a good thing in my opinion.
5 stars

[Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator]

Vikki wrote: "2nd book finished
Ward D my first Freida McFadden book. I've heard a lot of positive reviews about her books and this one caught my attention. There's some fascinating about books..."

Aahhh, yes; she's the author of The Housemaid. I think I have that on my tbr. Glad this one was good too.

[Bill, Moderator]

Vikki wrote: "2nd book finished
Ward D my first Freida McFadden book. I've heard a lot of positive reviews about her books and this one caught my attention. There's some fascinating about books..."

I'll have to check it out.

[Vikki, Moderator]

3rd book finished last month - Fair Rosaline
I enjoyed this retelling of Romeo & Juliet from Rosaline's perspective - we hear her mentioned in the play but she doesn't really feature. I do think it's beneficial for someone to have read and be reasonably familiar with the play and Shakespeare's language to get the most from the book.

[Vikki, Moderator]

4th book finished - The Shadow Man
5 stars
Loved this book, kept me hooked right from the start. I found the killer an intriguing character and was curious to find out more.

[Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator]

Vikki wrote: "4th book finished - The Shadow Man
5 stars
Loved this book, kept me hooked right from the start. I found the killer an intriguing character and was curious to find out more."

Kudos on your progress, Vikki. This looks interesting, and I love a good book cover. :D

[Vikki, Moderator]

Now finished 7 books, keeping on track!

[Lillie]

More than halfway done!! Saw that you finished The Twilight Garden. What did you think of it?

[Vikki, Moderator]

Lillie wrote: "More than halfway done!! Saw that you finished The Twilight Garden. What did you think of it?"

It was nice, perhaps a little slow, but I did like it. Worth a read

[Vikki, Moderator]

8th book finished - Daisy Jones & The Six.
I wasn't sure if I would like the style - the interview with all the different characters. But it worked well and I enjoyed it much more than I'd expected. Managed to get through it in just 2 days.

[Ioana]

Vikki wrote: "8th book finished - Daisy Jones & The Six.
I wasn't sure if I would like the style - the interview with all the different characters. But it worked well and I enjoyed it much more than I'd expecte..."

I had the same reaction: not my general style and ending up loving it. So glad I've read it!

[Vikki, Moderator]

9th book finished - The Book of Fire
4 stars from me.

In my opinion this author's best book was The Beekeeper of Aleppo. I've read Songbirds and now this one and they don't quite live up to The Beekeeper. Having said that, once I got into this book, I did become invested in it. For me, it was a bit of a slow start and it took me a while to get into it. But definitely worth a read. It really shows the horrors and impact of wildfires which we hear about in so many countries these days.