What are you reading? 2024 Version

[PattyMacDotComma]

Aussie author and former journo Chris Hammer writes complex mysteries with a broad range of characters, usually with current and historic timelines. The Valley has gold mining, politicians, cops (straight and bent), hippie types, and a couple of favourite detectives. Another excellent read.
My review of The Valley

[PattyMacDotComma]

I always enjoy Australian Aboriginal author Tony Birch's excellent writing, often short stories, and his recent novel, Women & Children is another winner.

This takes place in a Melbourne suburb in the 1960s, and although he says this isn't him and his family, I suspect it's awfully close. Great read.
My review of Women & Children

[Carolyn]

A Snake in the Barley by Candace Robb is #15 of her medieval mystery series featuring Owen Archer, captain of bailiffs in York.

review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carolyn]

Hold Strong by Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz & Chris Crabtree was a really tough book to read. However, it was really well written and researched and just when you think you've heard most of the WW2 stories there are to tell, I learnt about something truly horrific that I had never heard about before. Very dark, but well worth the read.

review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tiziana]

A very nice Christmas romance, it's a short but really enjoyable story.

The Heiress Who Dared Me: A Christmas novella by Charlie Lane

Here is my 5 stars review :
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

The Little Christmas Library by David M. Barnett

A heartwarming Christmas drama with a dash of magical realism. quite an unusual holiday read! Good for those who like character-oriented fiction.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Finished A Twist in Time #2 Kendra Donovan Time-Slip historical mystery series by Julie McElwain. Set in 1815 England. Rated 4 stars. Thought this was better then #1 so will probably continue the series.

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

How to Summon a Fairy Godmother by Laura J. Mayo

As fabulous as the cover! One scene left me a bit uncomfortable, otherwise, I'd have gone even higher in my rating. A great option for cosy fantasy lovers, except for the animal cruelty part.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Finished "Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts" and starting "Home Front"

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

The Hound of Thornfield High by Colleen Alles

Quite a good YA Contemporary retelling of Jane Eyre. A nice option for the right age group.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Finished Murder at the Breakers #1 Gilded Newport historical mystery by Alyssa Maxwell. Rated 4 stars. Plan on continuing the series.

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

13 Park Lane by Naomi Clifford

A historical fiction based on a true crime. Didn't work for me, but so far, I am among the few outliers. It might work better for you, based on your reading preferences.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Suzanne]

I loved Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These Small Things Like These my only complaint I wanted more.

Here’s my 4.5 ⭐️ rounded up review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[M.]

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith is quite good. I wrote a humble review on my goodreads page. It is a tale of love and deceit and the fleeting nature of relationships in a world where so many choose to deceive one another rather than act in an honest and virtuous way. The description of the painting is magnificent, too, something like a poem or a dream. This book is worth a try.

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Grave Talk by Nick Spalding

Loved this story of a strong platonic friendship!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tammy]

Currently reading Tea with Elephants byRobin Jones Gunn

[Thomas]

I read Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson It is historical/literary fiction, set in the present day, with flashbacks to the pre US Civil war era. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carolyn]

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali is a tale of female friendship set against the changing face of Iran from the 1950s through to the present day.

review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alice]

I finished The Alehouse Murders . It is set in 1200 England. It was pretty good. She blended Templar history and Englands history. The characters were a bit boring. 1200 is not the most exciting time period. Overall it was okay, don't think I need to read book 2 though.

[Tiziana]

The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning by P.J. Fitzsimmons

Here is my 4 stars review :
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tiziana]

Adventure fiction set in 1944 England :

Christmas on the Home Front by Roland Moore

Here is my review :
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

A great option for historical literary fiction lovers.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PattyMacDotComma]

How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley possibly appeals to readers as it rides the current wave of lighthearted stories about canny oldies using their natural invisibility to go unnoticed so they can get away with things - not murder, I hasten to add.

My review of How To Age Disgracefully

[PattyMacDotComma]

I wondered if Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love might be another formulaic feel-good story, but I think Marianne Cronin got the vibe right in mixing young with old, as she did in her previous book, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, which I loved.
My review of Eddie Winston Is Looking For Love

[Sarah-Hope]

Just finished Blood Sacrifice: The gritty, gripping World War 2 historical crime thriller, a mystery set in the context of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The writer strikes a good balance between portraying a horrendous historical moment with accuracy while still offering a solid mystery plot.

My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah-Hope]

The Players is a solid piece of historical fiction. The central characters are unusual and principled in some wonderful ways that have one rooting for them from the start. If you like historical fiction set in the Restoration you'll want to get going on The Players, stat. It really is that engaging.

My ***** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah-Hope]

The Haunting of Hern Hall offers a compelling read. Set in England at the end of WWI, it tells the story of army Chaplain John Elliot, whose faith has not survived the war. He's shell-shocked, despairing, and physically weakened. However, he has a job to do, and as soon as his doctors release him, he sets out for Hern Hall, the ancestral home of Will, one of the soldiers he served with who did not survive the conflict.

My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah-Hope]

The Soho Murder I have been enjoying Mike Hollow's Blitz Detective series. These novels read like "golden age" mysteries, though with somewhat fewer of the stereotypes and biases. The series takes place in London during the Blitz. Detective Inspector John Jago gets called in to Soho (not the best of neighborhoods during that era) to investigate the murder of a cantankerous, never-fully-successful antiquarian book dealer, Samual Bellamy. Jago is aided by the much younger and less experienced Detective Constable Peter Cradock.

My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah-Hope]

Eclipse My experience reading Eclipse was a bit like going on a great first date—followed by subsequent dates that were nice enough, but lacked that "glow" that had portended magic.

Keiichiro Hirano's novel tells the story of a young Dominican (the Catholic type, not the Caribbean type) in 15th Century France. Our central character—we never learn his name—admires Thomas Aquinas and hopes, like his hero, to reconcile parts of pagan science and philosophy with Christian doctrine.

My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah-Hope]

Murder's Snare Set in 14th Century London, Murder's Snare is one of those mysteries that's actually multiple mysteries so, while solutions keep appearing at points in the book, *the* solution doesn't arrive until the end. Sometimes this frustrates, but in the case of Murder's Snare, I found it deeply enjoyable. Hovering on that knowing/not knowing brink can be an entertaining place for a reader to spend some time.

My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah-Hope]

Kate Wiseman's The Red Tunic tells the story of a pair of twins—male and female. As children, they discover a shared penchant for playroom cross-dressing that they indulge in as often as they can. Unfortunately, they live in the early part of the 20th Century and WWI is about to begin. They both know that Alfie will be conscripted and that he won't survive the war, so Nina takes things into her own hands, stealing Alfie's ID and conscription papers and presenting herself as him for induction. By the time Alfie realizes what she's done it's to late to set things right. If Nina's taking his place, that makes Alfie a deserter, a capital crime. So, Alfie become Nina working as a war nurse. This sounds like an unlikely set-up, and the longer the switch goes on the more likely discovery seems, but Wiseman has made these characters real enough and their stories rich enough that one follows her tale willingly.

My ***** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tiziana]

A nice cozy mystery novella set in England, precisely at Christmas 1889 :

Mrs. Holloway's Christmas Pudding: A Below Stairs Mystery Novella by Jennifer Ashley

Here is my 4 stars review :
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PattyMacDotComma]

The Snow Child is one of my favourite books, and I think its magical, wintry theme is perfect for the (northern hemisphere) holiday season. Eowyn Ivey's debut novel - get that - debut! - was nominated for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize. A beautiful read.
My review of The Snow Child

[PattyMacDotComma]

I like reading about writing to better understand why a book appeals to me or annoys me. Not all writers can teach, but Colum McCann sure can.

In the past, I've enjoyed his well-known novels, Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin. I reckon his writing classes are just as good. Letters to a Young Writer: Some Practical and Philosophical Advice is excellent.
My review of Letters to a Young Writer...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Somebody I Used to Know: A Memoir by Wendy Mitchell

An amazingly insightful but also heartbreaking memoir by a woman diagnosed with young-onset dementia.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah-Hope]

Just finished Rebellious Grace, the latest in Jeri Westerson's King's Fool mystery series, set during the reign of Henry VIII. As the title suggests, this volume is set during the Pilgrimage of Grace, a movement to return England to Catholicism after the execution of Anne Boleyn.

My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Finished The Glass House #3 Capt Lacey by Ashley Gardner. Rated 3 stars. Historical mystery set in Regency England. Look forward to continuing this series.

[Sarah-Hope]

The Stone Witch of Florence isn't exactly a fairy tale, but a tale that reads almost as if you were hearing a great storyteller recount it. It has a bit of magic—but not too much, if that makes sense. It's set in a long ago period (the 1340s) that could be "once upon a time." And, as in many tales, our heroine faces threats of multiple types: epidemic diseases, poverty, accusations of heresy, and romantic betrayal.

My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Thomas]

I read Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation by Bennett Parten It covers an overlooked aspect of Sherman's March to the sea in the US Civil war. This march broke the back of the Confederate war effort. But enslaved people fleeing plantations and attaching themselves to Sherman's army played a vital role in the success of the march. My 5 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PattyMacDotComma]

I am still enjoying my Michael Connelly binge. Latest one was Echo Park, which I feared I might not have enjoyed because I saw the Bosch TV episode that was based partly on it. I was wrong. Bosch is not all plot, it's people, and I liked seeing them back at work.
My review of Echo Park

[PattyMacDotComma]

On a completely different note, I'm also getting a kick out of Alexander McCall Smith's mystery series for kids, going back to his famous Lady Detective's schoolgirl investigations. Precious and the Zebra Necklace is another I'd recommend for young and old.
My review of Precious and the Zebra Necklace

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Finished Casting Off #4 Cazalet family by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Rated 4 stars. Historical fiction set in post WWII England. Will wait until 2025 to read the last book in this series #5 All Change.

[Sarah-Hope]

Just finished Daughters of the Nile and have that feeling of intellectual and emotional overwhelm one gets from a truly exceptional read. This novel tells the story of three Egyptian feminist women, each a different generation within a single family. Being able to see Egypt (and Iran and Saudi Arabia and Britain) over the 1950s-2020s through the eyes of these fierce women who often find themselves at odds with one another is a powerful experience.

My ***** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

The Architect of Grayland by Evelyn Arvey

I loved this indie dystopian scifi, though it was more drama and less scifi. Much recommended!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

A contemporary fiction about an old woman and a mouse. Quirky!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Mottled Dawn: Fifty Sketches and Stories of Partition by Saadat Hasan Manto

An OwnVoices short story collection set around the brutal India-Pakistan partition of 1947. Heartbreaking and traumatic!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PattyMacDotComma]

I recently listened to the first 'volume' (two short stories in this) of the very entertaining New Adventures of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Vol 1 by Max Allan Collins. They were full dramatisations, like radio plays with footsteps, gunshots and all.

They're narrated by the inimitable Stacy Keach, who played Hammer in the TV series, back in the day. Great fun from Audible.
My review of New Adventures of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer

[Alice]

I finished A Nest of Vipers by Harini Nagendra. Book 3 in the series. I think the best yet. Set in 1922 Bangalore, India. Lots of interesting History and cultural information. Good Glossary in the back. I recommend starting with book 1.

[Eric]

I finished The Briar Club . Well crafted and well researched. Four stars.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Alice wrote: "I finished A Nest of Vipers by Harini Nagendra. Book 3 in the series. I think the best yet. Set in 1922 Bangalore, India. Lots of interesting..."

Alice; Read #1. Charming! Loved the main & supporting characters.