Annual Reading Challenge 2019

[Tiggerish]

Sam's Song: A Sam Smith Mystery by Hannah Howe. A British psychological detective story with a touch of romance and a variety of bad language and bad conduct. This was the first in a series and although I had no problem reading it to the end, I do not feel any need to pursue the series.

102 of 104

 

[Swimnoid]

As I wait for my DH as we head out of town I'll catch up a little.

70. The Story of Us by Dani Atkins
From Goodreads:
Emma Marshall can't wait to marry her childhood sweetheart, Richard. But then a tragic accident changes everything, and introduces a stranger, Jack, into her life. Gorgeous and mysterious, Jack is like no-one Emma has met before. But Richard is the man she loves...
Two different men.
Two different destinies.

It was fine but not riveting.

71. Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
I listened to this in the car and while walking. It is geared for youth but a very cute and clever story. The town is opening a new library and kids win a contest to stay over night and experience an escape the library adventure. First of a series.

More to come later!

 

[Kirby]

52/50 - Through the Autumn Air: An Every Amish Season Novel by Kelly Irvin. Genre - Inspirational
The past filled her mind even as her heart yearned for stories yet to be told....

The mother of 10 and a widow of seven years, Mary Katherine is a bundle of energy, always willing to step in and help her friends around her Amish community. Now that her last child is married, she pours her abundant creative spirit into writing stories, even as she speaks aloud to her late husband every day. Her dream is to open a bookstore with an English friend, but the church elders want this wayward widow to work in an Amish-owned store instead. When her old school friend Ezekiel offers her a position as a cook in the restaurant he opened after his wife died, she knows she should accept. But does she really want to spend her time working over a hot stove?

When a mysterious English stranger breaks into her house to make himself a sandwich one autumn night, Mary Katherine doesn't call the sheriff. She turns to Ezekiel. They both see that Burke is need of more than a meal, and Ezekiel offers him the job at the restaurant.

As they set out to care for their new friend, Mary Katherine and Ezekiel find themselves often working together. Mary Katherine is drawn to Ezekiel, but she remembers the terrible risk of giving her heart to someone. Can two people in the autumns of their lives and so well-versed in the pain of loss put the past behind them and trust in the hope that comes with each new season?

 

[Disney_Alli]

62/50 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Annie Barrows

I found the epistolary story slightly hard to follow due to listening to the audio version at first... and then I didn't care and loved it. and now I want to watch the movie again. So good

 

[tiggrbaby]

#74/90: The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (5/5) (historical fiction/romance)
The story follows the lives of Hungarians Jews from 1937 Paris back to Hungary during the war.
It was a very long but moving story that gave a different view of the Holocaust.

#75/90: The Girl Who Lived Twice (Lisbeth Salander #6) by David Lagercrantz (4/5) (thriller)
Lisbeth has gone off the grid in her quest to finally take down her sister. Mikael is trying to find out the truth about the death of what appeared to be a random homeless man, but who actually may be someone who knew a truth that could bring down important men.

#76/90: The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory (3/5) (historical fiction)
As the Berlin Wall falls, Miriam cares for her dying father while avoiding an abusive husband. She discovers that her father had been in Auschwitz during the war. She finds hidden notes and works to piece together her father’s story.

#77/90: House Rules by Jodi Picoult (4/5) (realistic fiction/suspense)
Jacob is a young man on the Spectrum who is obsessed with forensic science. When his social skills tutor is found murdered, he becomes the prime suspect.

#78/90: Long Road to Mercy (Altee Pine #1) by David Baldacci (4/5) (thriller)
Altee is haunted by the childhood abduction of her twin sister. It inspired her to become an FBI agent. She is perplexed by a case involving a missing man and mutilated donkey at the Grand Canyon. When she is warned not to investigate, she and her office assistant go off the grid to solve the mystery that may affect the safety of the entire country.

#79/90: Hidden (Bones Secret #1) by Kendra Elliot (2/5) (romantic suspense)
Lacey is the sole surviving victim of the Co-Ed Slayer. She has gone on to become a forensic odontologist. While at a crime scene, she discovers that the remains are of her college friend, the last victim. Now it seems that the witnesses from the case are being eliminated, even though the Slayer is now dead.
Waaaay too romance-y for me!

 

[OKW8297]

41. Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor
This was outstanding. I loved it. I haven’t read that much about WWI. The format is letters sent throughout the war.

 

[Disney_Alli]

41. Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor
This was outstanding. I loved it. I haven’t read that much about WWI. The format is letters sent throughout the war.

Well this just jumped to the top of my list. I love an epistolary novel and I love a WWI story...

Bonus - the library waiting list estimates 3 weeks and by then I might actually have time to read it!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Well this just jumped to the top of my list. I love an epistolary novel and I love a WWI story...

Bonus - the library waiting list estimates 3 weeks and by then I might actually have time to read it!

Added it to my request list as well - and I'm first on the waiting list!

 

[Kirby]

53/50 - Dreamspinner: A Novel of the Nine Kingdoms by Lynn Kurland. Genre - Paranormal Romance
Aisling of Bruadair has lived a provincial life, heedless of the evil creeping over her land. That ordinary existence changes forever, though, when she is sent to the opposite end of the world to find a master swordsman. If she fails, her life--and her country's safety--will be forfeit. She just never expected that swordsman to be a wounded elven prince masquerading as a simple soldier.

Powerless and scarred from a long-ago conflict, Runach of Ceangail has spent years in obscurity, ignoing battles he can no longer fight. And although he has been drawn back into the world, he fully intends to live an unremarkable life far away from events he knows he cannot change...

Until Runach meets Aisling and realizes that she is far more than what she seems, that their alliance has attracted unwelcome notice, and that some battles must be fought.

An ongoing series written in sets of three that I thoroughly enjoy. This is the first book of the third set of three.

 

[mini22]

38/30 Turning Point by Danielle Steel

 

[OKW8297]

62/50 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Annie Barrows

I found the epistolary story slightly hard to follow due to listening to the audio version at first... and then I didn't care and loved it. and now I want to watch the movie again. So good

Oh an absolute favorite!

 

[OKW8297]

42. The Noel Diary by Richard Paul Evans. Very good story about a man who finds his way home

 

[Tiggerish]

This Is Not How It Ends by Rochelle B. Weinstein. Romantic fiction. Basically a fluff read and I figured out the plot twists way before they actually happened.

103 of 104

 

[Disney_Alli]

63/50 - The Majors (Brotherhood of War Book 3) W.E.B. Griffin

Haven’t read these in a bit and definitely forgot one of the major plot points towards the end of this one!

 

[Kirby]

54/50 - This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Genre - Romance
Molly Somerville has long had a secret crush on the Chicago Stars' key player, quarterback Kevin Tucker. Kevin's career is hard for Molly to escape, given that Molly's older sister, Phoebe, is the owner of the team. Consequently, Molly also knows about Kevin's penchant for dating gorgeous bimbos and his puzzling need to partake of risky, life-endangering hobbies, a trait that drives Phoebe crazy. Molly, however, can relate to this part of Kevin, as she has shown a tendency toward some pretty reckless behavior herself.

When fate places Molly and Kevin alone together for a weekend in Phoebe's isolated cabin, sparks fly and passions flare when both refuse to leave. In the end, Molly makes her most reckless decision yet by climbing into bed while Kevin is sleeping and seducing him before he knows what's happened. When she ends up pregnant, Kevin insists on marrying her for propriety's sake. And when Molly then has a miscarriage, it leaves both of them wounded and wary. Forced to spend their summer at the beleaguered and rundown wilderness resort that Kevin has inherited from a relative, the twosome spruce the place up and get it to turn a profit. In the process they discover the healing power of love, but not before learning some hard truths about themselves, their pasts, and their feelings for each other.

 

[mini22]

39/30 Against All Odds by Danielle Steel

 

[Disney_Alli]

64/50 - The Colonels (Brotherhood of War Book 4) W.E.B. Griffin

This book goes from mid/late 50s through the Cuban Missile crisis. I someone how almost got out of order and started The Generals before I realized I'd missed a big chunk of time and then - after thinking about it for a second that I'd also jumped an army rank and corrected the issue.

 

[willowsnn3]

#67 Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne—sets the stage for the explosive events to come.

Ask Again, Yes is a deeply affecting exploration of the lifelong friendship and love that blossoms between Francis and Lena’s daughter, Kate, and Brian and Anne’s son, Peter. Luminous, heartbreaking, and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood—villains lose their menace and those who appeared innocent seem less so. Kate and Peter’s love story, while tested by echoes from the past, is marked by tenderness, generosity, and grace.

Could easily be my favorite book this year. Would definitely recommend.

 

[OKW8297]

43. A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer

 

[mini22]

40/30 Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas