Happy October! I'm not sure how exactly it got to be October already, but oookkkayyy. Fall is my favorite season, even if we don't get a traditional one here in the Phoenix area. It's still over 100 degrees outside. Maybe if I crank up the air conditioning, cuddle up with a fuzzy blanket, and read some good Gothic novels I'll be able to convince myself it's REAL Fall. Wish me luck.

How did you do with reading bookish books in September? I ended up reading eight, way more than I thought I would, mostly because I didn't realize a lot of them had bookish elements in them. What a happy surprise! Since there are so many of them, I'll skip the book jacket photos and the plot summaries and just link the titles to my Goodreads review. Why yes, yes, I am feeling a little lazy this evening. 

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop by Otto Penzler (editor) - 3 1/2 stars

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton - 3 1/2 stars

An Uninterrupted View of the Sky by Melanie Crowder - 5 stars

Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green - 4 stars

Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman - 4 stars

Murder at the Library by Ellen Jacobson - 3 stars

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose - 4 stars

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter - 4 stars

This month, I'm mostly going to be working on making progress on my reading challenges and reading books for the Cybils Awards. I don't know how many bookish books I'll actually get to, but here are a couple I have my eye on:

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan—This cozy mystery sounds like lots of fun. It's set in a Halloween-themed town in Oregon and stars Bailey Briggs, who manages the local bookstore. Just as the festive Halloween season is kicking off, someone is murdered. The police have damning evidence that points to Bailey as the killer. She'll have to play amateur sleuth in order to clear her name.

Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber (available October 22, 2024)—Another cozy, this one centers around Allie Catt, a caterer and personal chef who creates feasts inspired by literature. When a woman is murdered at one of her parties, Allie turns to her favorite fictional detectives to guide her own amateur investigation into the crime. 

Even though I despise cutesy character names, I still think this one sounds entertaining.  

Cathy over at 746 Books has been hosting her fun 20 Books of Summer event for ten years now, but I only heard about it last year. Even though it's about the chillest reading challenge ever, I didn't *quite* finish it on my first go 'round. I'll do better this year!

The challenge runs from June 1 - September 1 and the aim is simple: cross books off your TBR list. You can choose to read the full 20 books or do a 15 or 10 book version or whatever you want. You can even change your challenge list at any time. The point is to perk up your summer reading with a fun, no-pressure challenge. I'm in. How about you?

Here's my tentative list of books I want to read for the challenge. Once if officially begins, I'll update my progress on this post.

1. The Women by Kristin Hannah

2. Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon finished 07.20.24

3. Trouble at the Tangerine by Gillian McDunn finished June 23, 2024

4. Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green

5. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager (available June 18, 2024) finished 07.05.24

6. Weather Girl by Rachel Solomon

7. Homecoming by Kate Morton finished July 3, 2024

8. Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

9. The Maid by Nita Prose (re-read)

10. Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus

11. A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams finished 07.08.24

12. The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan finished June 6, 2024

13. Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings

14. Light and Air by Mindy Nichols Wendell finished 06.21.24

15. Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris finished 07.16.24

16. The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King finished 07.04.24

17. Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed

18. The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie finished June 9, 2024

19. Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales by Wendy S. Swore

20. The Words We Lost by Nicole Deese

I'm hoping this is a good mix of serious stuff and more lighthearted stories. We'll see. Wish me luck!

Even though I've already got enough books on my shelves, Kindle, and TBR lists to last me several lifetimes, I just can't seem to stop myself from salivating over all the shiny up-and-comers 2024 has to offer. I look forward to today's TTT topic—Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024—and its counterpart for the second half of the year, all year long. If I were smart, I would skip these topics altogether and save myself from getting excited about a bunch of new books when I already have SOOOO many "old" ones to tackle. But alas, I'm a glutton for punishment. Bring on the new releases! 

Before we get to that, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our hostess, Jana, some love. While you're there, link up your list of anticipated new releases so you can get in on the TTT fun. It's a good time, I promise.

To no one's surprise, my list is a mix of mysteries/thrillers and historical fiction, but I did throw in a non-fiction book and a MG fantasy just to keep you guessing :) Here's my list, in order of publication date:

1. Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh (available TODAY)—Violet Jessop is famous for surviving not just the sinking of the Titanic and the Britannic, but also a collision at sea while working on the Olympic. This historical novel tells Violet's story as well as that of a fictional orphan turned secret agent in France during World War II. When the lives of the two women intersect, they form a connection that will change them both forever. 

2. The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green (available January 23)—Green's newest centers around two women from different walks of life who join a motley collection of performers on a USO musical tour performing for American troops stationed in North Africa during World War II. The group is already having difficulty finding unity when the tour manager announces he will recommend just one of them for a lucrative job in Hollywood. As they move closer to the front lines, it's not just their jobs and their friendships that are in jeopardy, but also their very lives.

3. End of Story by A.J. Finn (available February 20)—I've been waiting for a new book from Finn to come out ever since I read—and loved—his debut, The Woman in the Window. His sophomore novel concerns a reclusive mystery writer who invites his longtime pen pal, Nicky Hunter, to come to his mansion in order to write his life story. Nicky's soon embroiled in the novelist's own mystery, the disappearance of his first wife and their son, twenty years earlier. Did the author get away with the perfect crime? When a corpse turns up at the mansion, it soon becomes apparent that the writer's past has come calling.

4. The Hunter by Tana French (available March 5)—I always look forward to a new mystery/thriller from this Irish author. This is the second installment in her Cal Hooper series, which features a retired American cop who is now living in a rural Irish village. When the estranged father of a local teen returns to the village unexpectedly, with an English millionaire in tow no less, Cal's suspicions are immediately raised. He feels protective of the kid and will do whatever he can to keep him safe. Just what will that entail in this sketchy situation?

5. The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels by Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans (available March 12)—Did you know that the dead bodies of up to 150,000 Americans go unclaimed every year? What happens to them when there are no friends or family members to make sure they're properly taken care of? In this work of narrative nonfiction, two sociologists tackle that very intriguing question, uncovering a hidden world of abandoned dead people and the strangers who work to ensure that their remains are treated with honor and care. 

6. The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (available March 12)—I've already mentioned this historical novel because (1) Ryan is one of my favorite hist fic authors and (2) I love a bookish book. As is clear from its title, the story concerns three women from different backgrounds who come together to save the London library that has become their refuge during World War II.

7. Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda (available April 9)—Hazel Sharp is the daughter of Mirror Lake's longtime detective. When he dies, leaving Hazel his home, she reluctantly returns to her hometown. A drought is drying up the lake, uncovering dark secrets from the town's past, including clues to the truth behind the disappearance of Hazel's mother.

8. The Outlaw Noble Salt by Amy Harmon (available April 9)—When infamous outlaw Butch Cassidy decides to shun his life of crime, he discovers that's a lot easier said than done. Especially when he meets singer Jane Touissant, who asks him to protect her while she goes on a singing tour across America. Butch fears his reputation will put the songbird and her young son at risk and he's not wrong...

9. Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee (available April 23)—Lee is one of my favorite YA writers, so I always get excited when she publishes a new book. This one revolves around Lulu Wong, a starlet of the silver screen and the darling of the Chinatown community where she grew up. When three sisters, childhood friends of Lulu, discover her dead body, they vow to find her killer, knowing the local police won't lift a finger to help a Chinese woman, famous or not. With the fate of Chinatown hanging in the balance, it's up to the Chow sisters to solve the case and save their beloved home.

10. The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon (available May 7)—Without her grandpa around to liven things up, 11-year-old Dally is left to stew in her grief and boredom. When she intercepts a sealed envelope that her grandpa intended to give her, she discovers a map that leads to an incredible library full of books that act as portals to all kinds of different adventures. As she delves into this fantastical world, she is faced with a host of questions and mysteries about her family, its history, and about her own identity.

There you go, ten new releases I'm looking forward to reading. Do any of these appeal to you as well? Which 2024 books are you most excited about? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also reply to comments left here.

It's hard to believe the first month of 2023 has already passed us by. How did your January go? Did you read any bookish books? I read these four:

I enjoyed all of them, with Dead and Gondola being my favorite of the bunch. It has a fun mountaintop setting, complete with a gondola and a charming bookstore. The mystery is entertaining, too. Of these four, I only managed to review The Blackout Book Club here at BBB, but you can see my quick reviews of each on Goodreads. Hopefully, I'll get at least a couple of these reviewed here in the next few weeks. We'll see.

My goal is to read 2-3 bookish books a month. I rocked it in January. Here's what I'm thinking of reading in February:

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

When Avis Montgomery's older brother goes off to war, he makes her promise to keep open the small, private library where he is head librarian. Avis is shocked by the charge. Not only is she a married woman (even with lots of women entering the workforce while all the men are away, it's still scandalous for a wife to labor outside the home), but she doesn't even like to read! Surely, Anthony has chosen the wrong person to replace him.

Anthony hasn't been gone long when Louise Cavendish, the steely heiress who owns the library, decides the place needs to be turned into something more useful. Desperate not to let her brother down, Avis invents a reason to keep the library open on the fly: she's started a town book club that needs to use library resources. Since she's actually done no such thing, she must pull off the impossible in a short amount of time—with Louise's narrowed eyes watching her every move. Gathering every warm body she can find, reader or not, Avis launches her tentative book club. Suddenly she is forced to start reading the novels she's always eschewed while also learning how to lead a club that is somehow becoming an essential part of her small Maine community.

The book club brings together Martina Bianchini, a single mother who works at the munitions factory to make ends meet and lives in fear of her estranged husband; Ginny Atkins, a spitfire who will do anything (including recruiting book club members) to earn the money she needs to buy back the land the Navy appropriated from her family on her beloved Long Island; Freddy Keats, a handsome one-eyed war vet with a mysterious past; and Louise, who watches the proceedings with a critical eye, determined to shut down the library despite Avis's efforts to keep it running. As the members meet regularly, what started as a wartime diversion becomes an important lifeline during a time of worry and upheaval. What will happen to the little group if Louise shuts it down? How will any of them survive the war without the one thing that's keeping them all sane?

As soon as I heard about The Blackout Book Club, Amy Lynn Green's newest offering, I knew I wanted to read it. The novel appealed on so many levels: an interesting World War II setting, bookish themes, and an author whose writing I admire. Since I really enjoyed Green's last effort (The Lines Between Us), I went into this one with high exprectations. Probably too high, because I didn't end up loving The Blackout Book Club quite as much as I wanted to. Still, I liked it overall. It's a gentle novel that is clean, uplifting, and heartwarming. That makes it sound like a cheesy inspirational read, which it's not. What it is is a good, wholesome book that's engaging and well-written. Our quartet of women narrators are all sympathetic and likable, with some being more memorable than others. My favorite is Ginny, who's got a whole lot of heart to go along with her spunky, fun-loving personality. Green's prose is warm and skilled. Plotwise, the novel gets a little slow at times, but there was enough going on to keep me reading. So, while The Blackout Book Club didn't blow my socks off, I still found it to be a pleasurable read that is touching, entertaining, and edifying. 

Note: Amy Lynn Green is a writer of Christian fiction. Although The Blackout Book Club technically falls into this genre, it's really not a religious book. There are references to church attendance, wearing a crucifix, and praying, but the mentions are brief. What I'm trying to say is, if you're not a fan of preachy religious fiction, you have no reason to worry!

(Readalikes: Reminds me of Jennifer Ryan's World War II novels, especially The Kitchen Front)

To the FTC, with love: I received a copy of The Blackout Book Club from the generous folks at Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Welcome to the Bookish Books Reading Challenge! I'm so excited to be launching this challenge. It's going to be a good time. 

At the beginning of each month, I will make a post highlighting the books I plan to read for the challenge and providing a place for participants to link up our reviews. Reviews aren't required for the challenge, but it's always fun to see what everyone else is reading and which bookish books are/aren't worth reading. It's also nice to give some love to our fellow participants by interacting with them and their reviews. So, please link up those reviews. I, for one, will read every one that is posted.

My goal is to be "Living in the Library" by reading 30+ bookish books. In order to achieve that number, I'll try to read 2-3 a month. Here are the ones I'm planning to read in January:

Only 12 sleeps left until the Big Day? How is that possible? Ack! I still haven't finished decorating, haven't even started sending out my Christmas cards, have only bought a few gifts, and...yeah. I'm sure I will get everything done by Christmas, but I'm stressing a bit over here. I'm also lagging behind in my reading. If I hope to reach my goal of reading 200 books by the end of the year, I better hurry it up. I'm at 180 right now. I'm almost finished with my main read, but that still leaves 19 to go. We'll see how I do.

Seasonal reading lists are my favorite, so I'm loving today's TTT topic: Top Ten Books On My Winter 2022-2023 TBR List. In fact, I started my list last week with this post listing 12 of the 25 I planned to read to complete my goal. Since then, I have read three of them and DNF'd one. Today, I'm going to give you 13 more that I'm hoping to read in the next few weeks. 

I'd love to see what's on your Winter TBR list. If you want to join in the TTT fun (and you do!), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the deets.

1. How to Fake An Irish Wake by Eliza Watson—This is my current paper read. It's a fun cozy mystery set in Ireland and featuring a genealogical mystery: the search for a man's biological father in a small Irish town. I've only got about 50 pages to go and I'm not sure "whodunit" yet.

2. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell—I started this mystery on audio yesterday. It concerns the mysterious disappearance of two teenage parents from a party at a house called Dark Place. Two years later, a mystery novelist moves into a cottage near the now abandoned home and gets embroiled in the cold case. I'm enjoying the read so far.

3. The Gods of Green County by Mary Elizabeth Pope—I mentioned this novel in a TTT list a couple weeks ago. I need to read a book set in Arkansas for a reading challenge and this one sounds intriguing. It's about a woman who's taking on the powers that be in her small town to find out what really caused her brother's suspicious death. Neither of my local libraries had a copy of the book, so I went ahead and bought it. I'm planning to read it this week.

4. All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes—Bethany House sent me a copy of this book to review. It's gotten great buzz, so I'm excited. It's set in Venice and concerns an abandoned baby who is found floating in the canals. Decades later, a translator may be the one who solves the mystery of the child's true origin.

5. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes—I've enjoyed this YA Knives Out-like series. This is the last book in the series and I'm excited to see how the story ends.

6. Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan—Ever since it came out last year, I've been wanting to read this story about a woman whose dying brother's wish is to know the truth about Narnia. When his sister timidly approaches C.S. Lewis, she has no idea that their encounters will change all of their lives. Sounds like a heartwarming holiday read!

7. Willis Wilbur Wows the World by Lindsey Leavitt—Leavitt's books are always fun. I'm sure this one will be no exception. It's about an enterprising 9-year-old who decides his life's true calling is to become the neighborhood life coach. Hilarity ensues.

8. The Ghost of Wyvern Lake by Sheila A. Nielson—This is a Halloween story, not a Christmas one, but it sounds fun so I'm going for it. When the fish in Wyvern Lake start dying of a mysterious illness, the owner drains the water hole only to uncover an old church with a very angry ghost inside. It's up to a group of young ghost hunters to free their town of a malevolent entity.

9. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister—I'm intrigued by this book's premise. It's about a mother who is shocked and devastated when she witnesses her 17-year-old son killing a stranger. The next morning, she's stunned all over again when she discovers that it's not tomorrow but yesterday. Time is moving backwards, a miraculous gift she's been given to save her boy from committing a horrendous act.

10. Cece Rios and the King of Fears by Kaela Rivera—The second book in a MG series based on Mexican folklore, this one features a young bruja who must take on a powerful criatura in order to save her sister's soul.

11. Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green—I enjoyed the one book I've read by Green and I'm really looking forward to her newest, which just came out. This one is actually her 2020 debut. It concerns a young woman who is studying linguistics at the University of Minnesota. When she's asked by the Army to serve as a translater at a nearby German POW camp, she does it only reluctantly. Her service there, as well as her growing compassion for the prisoners, makes her an enemy in the surrounding town. When she finds herself falling for one of the inmates, she must question her own traitorous heart.

12. The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope—This historical fantasy sounds fun. It's about a woman who can commune with spirits and the debt she owes to a powerful entity. In order to free herself from its clutches, she must perform a daring heist that will no doubt lead her into all kinds of trouble.

13. Death Al Dente by Leslie Budewitz—I still need to read a book set in Montana and this cozy mystery sounds fun. It concerns a woman who turns her family's 100-year-old general store into a boutique selling local delicacies. When a former employee turns up dead, she has to channel her inner Nancy Drew to save herself and her store from suspicion.

There you go, thirteen books I'm planning to read before the year ends. Have you read any of them? What's on your Winter TBR list? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I really can't believe it, but there are only 25 days left in 2022! Where has the time gone? Interestingly enough, I have exactly 25 more books to go until I meet my goal of reading 200 books this year. Will I make it? I don't know. I could read a book a day until January 1st, but I've also got a lot of other things that need to be done. I'd like to at least meet my goal, if not surpass it. We'll see how things go. Since today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie and next week's is Top Ten Books On My Winter 2022-2023 TBR List, I'm going to combine them and do two posts about the 25 books I plan to read before the year ends. 

Before I get to that, though, two things: (1) If you're not aware, TTT is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over for all the deets on this fun meme and to give her some love. (2) If you're a reading challenge fiend like me, please check out my other blog, Ready for a Reading Challenge? It's a database of current reading challenges being hosted all over the Internet. If you're hosting a reading challenge this year, let me know. I'm happy to add it to my database to help spread the word. 

This list is a combination of books I still need to read for reading challenges, a couple book awards I'm helping to judge, a review I'm writing for a genealogical magazine next year, and just fun reads that I've been meaning to get to. I've mentioned most of them before, so bear with me.

1. Roll for Initiative by Jaime Formato—This Cybils nominee has a strong Dungeons and Dragons theme, which made it a little hard to get into for me with my total lack of D&D knowledge or interest. Once you get past that, though, it becomes an engaging story about finding your tribe. I've only got about 100 pages left in the book. Overall, I've enjoyed it.

2. Oh My Stars by Lorna Landvik—I'm listening to this lively story on audio. It's set in small-town North Dakota (a very difficult state to find if you, like me, are doing a read-a-book-set-in-every-state challenge), where a suicidal Southern woman lands unexpectedly after a bus breakdown. Violet has never belonged anywhere, so she's shocked when tiny Pearl starts to feel like home. 

3. The Kind to Kill by Tessa Wegert—This mystery, the fourth in the Shana Merchant series, just came out today. When a tourist goes missing during a Thousand Islands community festival, our fearless detective takes the case amidst outcries that she attracts trouble to the otherwise peaceful community. Shana can't help her familial connection to a serial killer, but will his dirty deeds lead to the end of her career?

4. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly—I need an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner for the POPSUGAR reading challenge and I've been meaning to read this one anyway. If you're not familiar with it, it tells the true story of five Black female mathematicians who worked for NASA starting in the early 1940s. Although their work was essential to the success of the American space program, they had to fight against blatant racism and sexism in the workplace just to perform their jobs.

5. The Hope of Elephants by Amanda Rawson Hill—Who doesn't love elephants? This middle-grade verse novel is about a young girl who's coping with her dad's cancer diagnosis as well as the terrifying possibility that she may have inherited his genetic mutation. I'm interested to see how pachiderms come into play...

6. The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green—I really enjoyed Green's last historical novel, so I'm looking forward to this one, her newest. It's about a woman who becomes the unlikely head of a small library in Maine during World War II. When the library's future is threatened, she invents a book club to save it from closure, a move that just might save herself as well.

7. Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson—I love the Truly Devious YA mystery series so I'm excited to read this newest installment, the fifth. This time around, Stevie Bell is studying abroad in England when she's introduced to a notorious cold case in which two Cambridge students were murdered after a game of hide-and-seek got out of hand. Can the intrepid amateur sleuth figure out whodunit?

8. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear—With New Year's resolution-making time right around the corner, this will be a good, motivational book to re-read. It's a quick read, but one that has some great ideas to impart.

9. Flip Turns by Catherine Arguelles—Another Cybils contender, this novel features a girl whose family owns a town swimming pool. When a series of pranks is launched at the pool, she must channel her inner Nancy Drew to figure out who's pulling the tricks and why.

10. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—I mentioned in my last list that I re-read this classic every year. I'm feeling super Grinch-y this year, so it should be just the thing to reset my frame of mind.

11. Doing Life With Your Adult Children: Keep Your Mouth Shut and the Welcome Mat Out by Jim Burns—On a related note ("Adult" children, man, they're rough!), this book is about how to successfully navigate those tricky and changing relationships between parents and their growing-up children. I feel like I'm completely failing at this, so hopefully this book will be helpful.

12. Death On the Nile by Agatha Christie—I need something for a "Book Turned Into a Movie in 2022" reading challenge prompt, so I chose this classic mystery, which I've never read before. Normally, I don't watch a movie before I read the book it's based on, but I did already watch (and enjoy) the film.

There you go, 12 (of 25) books I'm planning to read before 2022 disappears forever. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What did you do for your Freebie today? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.