What Are You Reading - 2024

[Kristie, Moderator]

I also loved The Book Thief. I thought it was excellently done. 1984 will give you quite a bit to think about too. I'll be interested to see what you think of Better than the Movies, Wardah. I thought about reading that as something lighter as well.

[Janice, Moderator]

The Book Thief is one of my favourite books. Welcome Wardah!

[Janice, Moderator]

I started a shelf a year or so ago called z-owned-likely-wont-read. (Prefaced by 'z' so it drops to the bottom of my shelves.) At least I can take them off my TBR and still know I have them if I should ever want them. My TBR are for books I own. I have wishlists that I try to keep manageable. If one of them comes on sale and I don't buy it, I delete it from my shelves. I figure if I'm not going to buy it when it comes on sale, I likely won't ever buy it.

[Sarah]

Thanks for the tip, Kristie. I had been having similar issues to Sandra when deleting books. That's a good idea Janice with your z list.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "Then when you delete one it takes you to the top of whichever page you were on so it's much more manageable as far as scrolling."

Ohhhhh, this is great information. Thank you, Kristie. I should have brought this issue here earlier... :)

[Kristie, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "I started a shelf a year or so ago called z-owned-likely-wont-read. (Prefaced by 'z' so it drops to the bottom of my shelves.) At least I can take them off my TBR and still know I have them if I sh..."

I need to do something like this too. I started a 'maybe read' a while back thinking it would help, but my to-read and maybe read shelves are both just a mess now. I think I need to have a new shelf for owned books that's one of the "exclusive" shelves so I don't need to add it to either of the others and can move my books off those shelves. It will take me hours and hours to get this mess organized at this point.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sarah & Sandra - You're welcome. Hope it helps!

[Janice, Moderator]

My shelf is exclusive.

[Peggy]

I've started another non-fiction book, The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss

[Sarah]

Peggy wrote: "I've started another non-fiction book, The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss"

I hope you find it interesting and helpful. I added it to my wishlist when I saw you were reading it.

[Peggy]

I started The Hunger of the Gods. I really enjoyed book 1, it was one of those page-turning fantasy books I can really get lost in. I only read 2 chapters so far but it has the same feel already.

[Sarah]

I finished Lovecraft Country for the monthly challenge. I picked up The Beggar King again which id startednon the flight to Croatia back in August. I need to get back to my audiobook Circe to finish it off as im at 90%

[Amelia]

Currently reading A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, about to start Caraval. Also reading The Beaches at Summerly and Mistakes Were Made.

[Janice, Moderator]

Welcome Amelia.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Is there anyone whose mind John Boyne can't inhabit? In the 3rd book of his Elements Quartet, he gives us Freya, a talented burns specialist doctor, but a vengeful manipulator of the unwary. Fire is ironically chilling.
My review of FIRE

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

[Christine]

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished The Briar Club which seemed to take forever to read. It had a great ending so it was worth it. Today, I'll start Only the Beautiful.

I'm making progress on The Preacher and I'm hoping I'll be finished it this weekend in time for the group themed read.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Candice Fox is known for her thriller novels, but this short audio story, Hunting Game is presented as an entertaining radio play, sound effects and all. Kidnappers have grabbed the young son of a greedy Big Pharma mogul, hated by the entire nation.

My review of The Hunting Game

[PattyMacDotComma]

Just finished the latest full-length thriller from Candice Fox - an outback doozy - High Wire. What a complex, dark imagination she has!
My review of High Wire

[Kristie, Moderator]

I finished The Sunflower House for the monthly challenge yesterday and In My Dreams I Hold a Knife for the September read tonight. I have not written my reviews yet, but I thought Sunflower House was excellent. There are parts that can be difficult to read, but overall the story was well-done. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife was also good. It kept me engaged, but none of the people were very likable and there's a bit at the end that was unnecessary in my opinion.

I have gone back to Iron Flame for the yearly challenge and I plan to start Mrs. McGinty's Dead either tomorrow or the next day depending on how my days go.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Ghost in the Mirror: Real Cases of Spirit Encounters by Leslie Rule

[Jayme, Moderator]

I'm currently reading One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker for the annual challenge. It was a prime first reads back in 2019 and I kept putting it off. Sometimes the first reads aren't that great, but this book is so good. The writing is beautiful and the POVs are very distinct.
Up next is The Measure for my neighborhood book club and then Ink Blood Sister Scribe for the group read.

[Sandra, Moderator]

I'll start today Deacon King Kong for my book club. I am really interested in this one.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished - finally - The Preacher. It felt like it took forever to read.

I will start Mrs. McGinty's Dead tonight for the October themed read.

[PattyMacDotComma]

What a delight to listen to Adjoa Andoh tell Alexander McCall Smith's children's story of Precious and the Monkeys, Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case. She is only seven, but already in training for her No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
My review of Precious and the Monkeys

[PattyMacDotComma]

Staged by Elle Cosimano is the first of six Amazon Original Stories in the light-hearted #BusybodiesCollection featuring amateur sleuths. A body spoils this real estate agent's groomed carpet, so she starts looking for clues.
My review of Staged

These are still available until the end of October on NetGalley.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Ghosts Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters by Leslie Rule

[Janice, Moderator]

I just finished reading Only the Beautiful and gave it one of my rare 5 stars. I have read 2 ofSusan Meissner's books and have given both of them 5 stars.

Next up is Murder in Park Lane.

[Lilisa]

I’m reading Misfortune Cookie - #9 in this cozy mystery series, The Stone Witch of Florence, which I feel like I’ve been reading forever - I’m at the 81% mark. I’m also reading a nonfiction Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean about rising sea levels and the impact on island communities.

[PattyMacDotComma]

I am enjoying a series of novellas by Aussie author Nick Earls, which make up the Wisdom Tree collection. The first, Gotham, begins as a superficial pop star interview in New York, but develops into something more.
My review of Gotham: Wisdom Tree 1

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The second, Venice, is set in Brisbane, where a ypunger brother makes himself indispensable.
My review of Venice: Wisdom Tree 2

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Cover Your Eyes by Mary Burton

[Janice, Moderator]

I've started two new books: Murder at Kensington Palace on audiobook and Her Little Flowers on Kindle. I'm busy loading my toppler audiobooks onto my phone for my road trip this weekend.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Still reading Deacon King Kong, but I also started Heart of Darkness for a course. Curiously, I've never read this one before.

[Sarah]

I finished The Beggar King and have started reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I really like the other book I read by this author so looking forward to getting stuck into it.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Vulnerable by Mary Burton

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm expecting to wrap up Iron Flame tomorrow. I'm really hoping I don't need to put it aside for the toppler. I'm still not sure what I think about this one. The female MC was so hung up on something and really a bit whiny about it which wasn't fun since it kept repeating over and over. Also, there were some other bits that felt repetitive as well. But, I still mostly enjoy it. I think if it was shorter and cut out some of the repetitive emotional/trust/sharing info comments I would have loved it.

I will be starting Mrs. McGinty's Dead and The Weight of Blood for the toppler on Saturday.

[PattyMacDotComma]

I'm still glad that this year I chose Michael Connelly as an author to read each month. The Narrows is deadly in the desert and absolutely terrifying in a flood.
My review of The Narrows

[PattyMacDotComma]

An Oxford student tries to find The Girl Who Wasn't There in Arvind Ethan David's dramatised story. He'd really liked her when she was - or was she?
My review of The Girl Who Wasn't There

[Janice, Moderator]

My road trip helped me finish Murder at Kensington Palace and The Mystery of the Blue Train.

The narrator for Murder at Kensington doesn't know how to phrase properly (just follow the punctuation). He paused or broke in inappropriate places making the narration choppy. I recall thinking this same thing with the previous books, but for some reason it really grated this time. I own 3 more audiobooks in this series. Ugh!

[Christine]

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm starting new books today:


Let Us Descend on audiobook
The Medium on Kindle

Both are for the toppler.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I've started Mrs. McGinty's Dead for our group read and The Weight of Blood for the monthly challenge. Both will be for the toppler. I'm really enjoying both of them.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Last Move by Mary Burton

[PattyMacDotComma]

The Reunion Dinner by Jesse Q. Sutanto is the second "busybody" story in Amazon's collection of six. They are short, quirky mysteries that I read as an entertaining break between books.
My review of The Reunion Dinner

[PattyMacDotComma]

On a more serious note, I'm glad I decided to give Orbital by Samantha Harvey a try. It's on the Booker Prize short list, and I'm happy to say I can see why they chose it.
My review of Orbital

[Janice, Moderator]

I start all new books today -

The Flower Sisters on audiobook.
Of Murder and Men on ebook.

Both will fit my hiking challenge.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'll be curious to see what you think of The Flower Sisters, Janice. I got it as a daily deal on Audible, but haven't read it yet. I love the cover.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I am still reading Mrs. McGinty's Dead for the group read. I wasn't able to finish it for the toppler.

I am going to start We Solve Murders. I have it from the library and it will need to go back soon.

[Janice, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "I'll be curious to see what you think of The Flower Sisters, Janice. I got it as a daily deal on Audible, but haven't read it yet. I love the cover."

That's likely where I got it too. So far, it's interesting.