Reading Challenge/Goals for 2024

[Beezle2]

25/75 Sea Of Rust by C. Robert Cargill AI takes over the planet just as we all expected, it doesn't end well. Will the machines be any better than the humans that built them?

26/75 The Kingdom The Power and The Glory by Tim Alberta An insiders look at the politicization of the Evangelical faith. Covers the rise of Jerry Falwell and his crass motivations of radicalizing religion for money. How some in the faith have watched it being destroyed and were helpless to stop the hate taking over the church. If you are concerned about the Right Wing Christian Nationalists here is a front row seat.

27/75 Blowback by Miles Taylor I read this in a day and a half. It is such a gripping behind the curtain look of the insanity of trumps presidency. All the people who tried to stop his worst inclinations, all the people who joined up for the madness. I had anxiety and ptsd from flashing back to the chaos of that time. Whew..what a ride

28/75 On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder Just a tiny little book on what do if and when disaster befalls your country. 20 lessons from the twentieth century. How to see it, how to survive it.

I need to find something light for the next few reads because a lot of that bunch was very heavy.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I didn't realize how many books I've read since I posted last.

#11/52-"Sons and Soldiers:The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the US Army to Fight Hitler." Bruce Henderson, 5 stars. This is the true story of the Ritchie Boys. A few were interviewed on 60 Minutes, and it's fascinating to read the backstory and then see the interview. So, if you read the book, then go to Youtube and search "The Ritchie Boys on 60 Minutes".

#12/52-No Safe Secret. Fern Michaels, 4 stars. "Chick lit" regarding spousal abuse.

#13/52-"The Lines Between us" Amy Lynn Gilles, 3 stars. Advertised as being about conscientious objectors during WWII, but mostly about fire patrol in the national forests.

#14/52-"None of This Is True", Lisa Jewell, 5 stars. Loved it!

 

[willowsnn3]

14/50 Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner
Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, but even she couldn’t have anticipated this latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.
The case was sensational. Kaylee Pierson had confessed from the very beginning, waived all appeals. Despite the media’s chronicling of her tragic circumstances—the childhood spent with a violent father—no one could find sympathy for “the Beautiful Butcher” who had led eighteen men home from bars before viciously slitting their throats.
Now, with only twenty-one days left to live, Pierson has finally received a lead on the whereabouts of the sister who was kidnapped over a decade ago, and she needs Frankie’s help to find her.
Unable to resist the chance for a rescue, Frankie takes on Pierson’s request. Twelve years ago, five-year-old Leilani went missing in Hawaii. The main suspect? Pierson’s tech mogul ex-boyfriend, Sanders MacManus. Now, on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific—the site of MacManus’s latest vanity project—fresh evidence has appeared. In order to learn the truth and possibly save a young woman’s life, Frankie must go undercover at the isolated base camp. Her challenge: A dozen strangers. Countless dangerous secrets. Zero means of calling for help.
This is the 3rd in the Frankie Elkin series, but I just can't seem to warm up to the main character. Lisa Gardner is always in my top 3 favorite authors but I liked her other series better.

15/50 Mad River Road by Joy Fielding
Jamie Kellogg's life is at a crossroads. Stuck in a dead-end job, the divorced twenty-nine-year-old has been ruled by the voices of her judgmental mother and her perfectionist sister long enough. Now she's hearing only the sexy whispers of the thrillingly handsome stranger in her bed, the man she met in a Florida bar. His name is Brad Fisher, and he's telling her everything she's been dying to She's gorgeous. She's smart. She's adventurous. Quitting her job and joining Brad on a spontaneous road trip, Jamie's ready for the ride of her life. But this trip has one a run-down Ohio house on Mad River Road, where vengeance will come home at last -- and where someone will pay for the secrets and lies of the past. .
Good, but not great...

 

[Kirby]

#25 - The Bucket List by Rachel Hanna. Genre - Romance. 4/5 stars
I NEVER wanted to be a daredevil. Even as the 49-year old adult that I am, I still don’t want to ride a roller coaster or jump out of a perfectly good airplane. And I don’t understand people who want to do those things - even my lifelong best friend.

And yet, here I am, holding a list of daredevil-ish things in my hand at my best friend’s will reading.

I am SO going to get her back for this in the afterlife.

So, my outgoing, adventurous best friend decided to leave me her estate but only if I completed her bucket list. HERS, not mine. And I have to do it before I turn 50 because she didn’t make it to 50.

I don’t know if it’s appropriate to want to kill someone who’s already dead, but I can’t help how I feel.

Still, I want to honor her wishes. And I kind of want that beach house she left me, too.

The next few months will either change my life, or I might join her in heaven if one goes terribly wrong.

 

[Wood Nymph]

12/30 - Lord Edgware Dies - vol 7 of the Hercule Poirot series - by Agatha Christie -4.5/5

This was my favorite so far of the series. It is not very politically correct, though.

At a dinner party, Lady Edgware tells Hercule Poirot that she wished her husband were dead so that she could marry the Duke of Merton, and a day later Lord Edgware is found murdered.

 

[sdk1231]

It's been awhile since I checked in. Started the year with David Grann's The Wager (decent), then went on to read all of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin (Master & Commander) 20 book series. Then read the 11 book Hornblower series by C. S. Forester. Hornblower was decent, but not as good as Aubrey/Maturin. Staying in that same era but moving to land vs. sea, I've just started the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. If my math is correct, I'm on book #33 for the year.

 

[CdnCarrie]

My goal was to meet my friends record of 200 last year but that is not happening. I'm on book 33/34 I think - one on my e-reader and one in print. Just finished The Circle by Katherena Vermette a local writer. She's fabulous. It's a series with this being the 3rd one.

I also enjoyed The Dutch House by Ann Patchett this year.

 

[Needsanap]

Lots to catch up

23 1/2 Lies James Patterson
Fallen Ranger James Patterson
Confessions of a Murderer James Patterson
Beaches, Bungalows Tonya Kappes
Hidden in Plain Sight Jeffrey Archer
Counterfeit Kirsten Chen
Because of Miss Bridgerton Julia Quinn
The Girl With The Make Believe Husband Julia Quinn
The Golden Spoon Jessa Maxwell
The Recovery Agent Janet Evanovich
The Edge David Baldacci
Body Movers Stephanie Bond
Smitten Colleen Coble
The Wife Between Us Greer Hendricks

Mmmm that’s 27/25. I think I should adjust me goal to 80.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I've been doing a lot of travelling this years so absolutely crushing my reading goal. I am now up to 9/20. Books 4-9;
4 - Verity - Colleen Hoover. It's a little far-fetched but a good read, 4/5
5 - I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy, 5/5. Be sure and pair this one with a viewing of the series "Quiet on the Set" on HBO Max. It's more than a little messed up what the Nick kids went through.
6 - Sand - Hugh Howey, 4/5. Good, not great.
7 - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins. 4/5. Also good, not great
8 - None of This is True, Lisa Jewell, 4/5. I found the ending to be unsatisfying, but a decent read
9 - Half Way Home - Hugh Howey, 5/5. I liked this one. It's a different spin on Sci-Fi, that attempts to answer the question of what happens once we conquer space travel and its pitfalls

 

[Beezle2]

29/75 The Fisherman by John Langan In upstate NY, in the woods around Woodstock, Dutchman's Creek flows out of the Ashokan Reservoir. It's a tale if dark pacts, of long buried secrets and a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher.

This one is a fantastic creepy Lovecraftian tale. So good!

 

[DisneyHardin]

Be sure and pair this one with a viewing of the series "Quiet on the Set" on HBO Max. It's more than a little messed up what the Nick kids went through.

I wish I had HBO Max, I really want to watch this.

 

[DisneyHardin]

8/32 - The Woman in Me - Britney Spears - 3/5 stars. As I've said before, I love memoirs. This one had interesting information, but was not well written. There were things here and there that didn't make sense, the sentences were very basic - not a lot of complex writing.

 

[disneychrista]

#16 - The Ride of a Lifetime - Bob Iger (audio book)

 

[cayennews]

5th book - Second Act by Danielle Steel. I had never read one of her books before. It was an easy read, but predictable. Kind of boring.

 

[OKW8297]

10. An American Beauty by Shana Abe. Based on the life of a woman during the gilded age. I thought it dragged in spots but overall a good read. One of my favorite eras.

 

[Kirby]

#26 - Sons of Blackbird Mountain by Joanne Bischof.
Genre - Inspirational
After the tragic death of her husband, Aven Norgaard is beckoned to give up her life in Norway to become a housekeeper in the rugged hills of nineteenth-century Appalachia. Upon arrival, she finds herself in the home of her late husband’s cousins—three brothers who make a living by brewing hard cider on their three-hundred-acre farm. Yet even as a stranger in a foreign land, Aven has hope to build a new life in this tight-knit family.
But her unassuming beauty disrupts the bond between the brothers. The youngest two both desire her hand, and Aven is caught in the middle, unsure where—and whether—to offer her affection. While Haakon is bold and passionate, it is Thor who casts the greatest spell upon her. Though Deaf, mute, and dependent on hard drink to cope with his silent pain, Thor possesses a sobering strength.
As autumn ushers in the apple harvest, the rift between Thor and Haakon deepens and Aven faces a choice that risks hearts. Will two brothers’ longing for her quiet spirit tear apart a family? Can she find a tender belonging in this remote, rugged, and unfamiliar world?

 

[Beezle2]

30/75 Tress of The Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. A quiet but curious girl who loves cups and Charlie on a little island in the sea. A book about finding out what you are made of and the ways it changes everything.
Charming

 

[MGMmjl]

11/32 - Walk the Wire by David Baldacci

Description:
"When Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, they instantly sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble. The promise of a second gold rush has attracted an onslaught of newcomers all hoping for a windfall, and the community is growing faster than houses can be built. The sudden boom has also brought a slew of problems with it, including drugs, property crimes, prostitution -- and now murder.

Decker and Jamison are ordered to investigate the death of a young woman named Irene Cramer, whose body was expertly autopsied and then dumped in the open -- which is only the beginning of the oddities surrounding the case. As Decker and Jamison dig into Irene's life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day -- a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.

London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer's death. . . before the boom town explodes."

This is book #6 in the Memory Man/Amos Decker series. I continue to really enjoy the series!

 

[melk]

9/30 People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Based on the true story of the Sarajevo Haggadah this is a fictional account of its salvation during the Bosnian war all the way back to its creation. The story is intertwined between the people that had the Haggadah in their possession over the years and the modern day rare book expert assigned to analyze the book.

I’ve been enjoying books by this author but this one was not my favorite, partly because I really knew nothing about this artifact or the periods in history that the book delves into. So while it was an education I didn’t love the story.

 

[mgarbowski]

Book 8 of 24 - Rogue Protocol (The MurderBot Diaries #3) - Martha Wells
Book 9 of 24 - Dark Matter - Blake Crouch

I don't know what made me pick up Dark Matter. I have come to find multiverse fiction shallow and indulgent, and this one is dumber than usual.