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2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 bookish books. 100% done!

2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


46 / 50 books. 92% done!

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (2)
- Arizona (2)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (9)
- Colorado (3)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (2)
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (1)
- Illinois (1)
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (3)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (4)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (1)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (8)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (3)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (2)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (3)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (4)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (1)
- Washington, D.C.* (1)

International:
- Australia (5)
- Canada (3)
- England (16)
- France (2)
- Greece (2)
- Italy (1)
- Japan (1)
- Norway (1)
- Puerto Rico (1)
- Scotland (2)
- Vietnam (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


31 / 50 books. 62% done!

2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 50 books. 74% done!

Booklist Queen's 2025 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


40 / 52 books. 77% done!

2025 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


43 / 52 books. 83% done!

2025 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


30 / 40 books. 75% done!

2025 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


38 / 51 cozies. 75% done!

2025 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

2025 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


26 / 26.2 miles. 99% done!

2025 Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


33 / 100 books. 33% done!

2025 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


70 / 109 books. 64% done!

2025 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


57 / 62 books. 92% done!

Phase Out Your Seriesathon - My Progress


23 / 55 books. 42% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


97 / 100 names. 97% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


75 / 80 skills. 94% done!
Showing posts with label Sarah Strohmeyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Strohmeyer. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2023 But Didn't Get To


We all have books we planned to read in 2023 that are still sitting on our shelves or Kindles still unopened. Today's TTT prompt is all about those poor, neglected babies: Top Ten Books I Meant to Read in 2023 But Didn't Get To. To avoid making this a Top 500 list, I went through the seasonal TBR lists I posted for TTT last year and assembled today's list from those that I have still not yet read. Shockingly, there were only 16. (It helps that I didn't make a list for winter, although I did make two-parters for both summer and fall!) Of the 16 left over, I DNF'd one and there are five that I was really only reading to fulfill prompts from challenges I was trying to finish before the end of the year. Since I don't need them now and none of them were super calling to me anyway, I deleted them from my TBR list. After subtracting those titles, I had exactly ten books left that I still want to read. Perfect!

Before I get to that, though, be sure to head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our TTT hostess with the mostest some love.

Top Ten Books I Meant to Read in 2023 But Didn't Get To 
(selected from my 2023 TTT seasonal TBR lists and in no particular order)


1. Homecoming by Kate Morton—Morton is one of my favorite all-time authors, so this book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. It's a chunkster, though, so the beginning of a new year really is the perfect time to finally read it. 

The story concerns Jess, an out-of-work London journalist who is called home to Australia after her beloved grandmother suffers a debilitating fall. Jess is surprised to learn that her grandma took a tumble after being in her attic, a place that has always been forbidden. As the journalist starts digging into the secrets the attic holds, she makes some shocking discoveries about her family's involvement in a 60-year-old crime.  


2. The Little Wartime Library by Kate ThompsonThis historical novel is based on a real librarian who risked her own safety to run a library inside London's Bethnal Green tube station during World War II. 


3. We Love to Entertain by Sarah StrohmeyerThis thriller revolves around a married couple, real estate investors who are involved in a tense competition sponsored by a popular real estate app. Winning could mean big bucks in endorsements as well as a league of new followers. The couple is in the middle of remodeling a home in Vermont when they both disappear, leaving a bloody trail in their wake. What happened to the dynamic duo?


4. Dust by Dusti Bowling—I love Bowling's books. I've had this one out from the library for months, so I need to read it already! I'm pretty sure it's overdue by now.

The story is about Avalyn, a girl with asthma whose parents relocate to a cleaner town in order to help her breathe better. It's working—until a strange new boy comes to town. Adam's dirty, unkempt appearance makes him a target for bullies. Although Avalyn wants to befriend him, the grit that always surrounds him is dangerous for her lungs. Besides, there's something decidedly odd about the way unlikely dust storms seem to rise up when he experiences strong emotions...

5. It Ends at Midnight by Harriet TyceThere's been a rash of thrillers lately that involve a group of old friends reconvening, only to have the secrets and misdeeds of their pasts come back to haunt them. It's one of my favorite tropes—as long as it's done well. This thriller brings old friends back together for a glitzy party in Edinburgh, Scotland. The party, naturally, does not go quite as planned.

6. Crow Mary by Kathleen GrissomThis historical novel features a 16-year-old Crow Native woman who marries a white fur trader in 1872. On their travels together, they witness a mob of drunk white traders murder a group of Nakota men in Montana and take half a dozen of their women captive. Although Mary Crow begs her husband to save the captives, he refuses. Arming herself with two guns, Mary rushes in to do the job herself, setting off a string of events that forces a bloody clash between two already warring cultures. The story is inspired by a real woman, making it all the more intriguing.

7. Artifice by Sharon CameronI adore Cameron's books, so I'm excited to read her newest. It concerns Isa de Smit, a young woman who grew up in Amsterdam's colorful art world. As the Nazis invade her hometown, her friends are disappearing and valuable paintings are being confiscated. Desperate for money to help the Resistance, Isa starts selling forgeries of famous artwork to the Nazis. Her scheme goes off perfectly until someone finds out what she's doing. Can Isa save herself and her friends from a ruthless enemy that has no problem killing everyone in their path?


8. Hour Glass by Michelle ReneThis western is set in the lawless town of Deadwood, South Dakota, where two orphaned children find a collection of colorful individuals who unexpectedly become family.

9. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins ReidWhen reclusive Evelyn Hugo, an aging Hollywood actress, finally decides to tell her life story to the press, she chooses an obscure reporter named Monique Grant. A shocked Monique listens in fascination as Evelyn reveals her incredible tale, one that—shockingly—intersects with Monique's own.

10. Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine SchellmanThe first installment in a historical mystery series, this novel features a Prohibition-era seamstress who's desperate to escape her tedious, poverty-stricken life. She finds freedom and escape at a secret dance hall where anything goes. When she discovers a dead body behind the club, she becomes embroiled in a dangerous murder investigation.

There you go, ten books I meant to read in 2023 but didn't quite get to. I don't know how many of them I'll get to in 2024, but they're at least all still on my TBR list somewhere. How about you? Which books from last year's TBR list are you rolling over to this year? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT! 

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Has Sprung On Mt. TBR (2023 Edition)


Has Spring sprung where you live? Here in the Phoenix, Arizona, area it's been in the upper 70s and flowers are blooming all over the place. I'm not ready for high temps, so hopefully, we can stay out of the triple digits for a little bit longer. A friend mentioned today that his grandkids came to visit from Colorado and couldn't wait to jump in his pool! Brrr...I only swim when it's over 100 degrees outside and I can wait for that, thank you very much.

Even if Spring hasn't sprung where you are, it's definitely happening on Top Ten Tuesday. Today's prompt is, not surprisingly, Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List. I love these seasonal lists, even though they're rough on my already never-ending TBR pile mountain mountain chain. 

If you want to join in the TTT fun (and you SO do), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, get all the details on this weekly meme, and give our hostess, Jana, some love while you're at it.

Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List

Several authors that I adore have new books coming out in March and April, so I'll start with those, even though I think I've talked about all of them before. Sorry!



1. The Close by Jane Casey—I'm a big fan of Casey's Irish detective Maeve Kerrigan, who lives and works in England. This newest installment (#10) has Maeve and her colleague, DI Josh Derwent, posing as a couple in order to get an insider's view of a tidy neighborhood that's hiding some messy secrets. With their relationship already dancing on the line between professional and personal, it's a tense situation all around. 


2. Homecoming by Kate Morton (available April 4, 2023)—A new book from Morton always gets me excited! The story concerns Jess, an out-of-work London journalist who is called home to Australia after her beloved grandmother suffers a debilitating fall. Jess is surprised to learn that her grandma took a tumble after being in her attic, a place that has always been forbidden. As the journalist starts digging into the secrets the attic holds, she makes some shocking discoveries about her family's involvement in a 60-year-old crime.


3. Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen—I'm always up for a book about the Titanic. I've actually had an e-ARC of this one on my Kindle for some time now and haven't gotten around to it. Yet.


4. The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda (available April 11, 2023)—Miranda is a thriller writer whose books are must-reads for me. Her newest concerns a group of adults who survived a deadly school bus crash as high schoolers. When one of the survivors commits suicide, the rest of the group commits to getting together every year to commemorate the tragedy that changed all of their lives. As they gather on the Outer Banks for the tenth anniversary, something immediately feels off. When one member of the group disappears, amid an incoming storm no less, everyone is alarmed. After all they've been through, they can't experience another tragedy. Where has their friend gone? Why has she vanished?


5. Home Away From Home by Cynthia Lord (available April 18, 2023)—I love Lord's heartfelt middle-grade novels. This one concerns Mia, a girl who's staying with her grandmother in Maine for the summer, just like she always does. Except, this year is different. Her parents are divorcing, their home is up for sale, and nothing is the same. Not even grandma's house. Grandma's got an annoying new neighbor, a boy Mia's age who seems to feel a little too at home at her grandma's house. When the two of them spot a rare bird, the competition between them gets fierce. Who will find the exotic animal first?

I haven't read anything by the next five authors, but I'm excited to give these a go:


6. The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson—This historical novel is based on a real librarian who risked her own safety to run a library inside London's Bethnal Green tube station during World War II. 


7. Courts and Alleys: A history of Liverpool courtyard housing by Elizabeth J. Stewart—Speaking of cities in England...I've been doing a deep dive into the life of my 4th great-grandmother, who lived in Liverpool during the mid 1800s before emigrating to the United States in 1853. She lived in tenement housing, the so-called back-to-back court houses, and I'm interested to know more about what that was like. Couldn't have been easy.


8. We Love to Entertain by Sarah Strohmeyer (available April 25, 2023)—This thriller revolves around a married couple, real estate investors who are involved in a tense competition sponsored by a popular real estate app. Winning could mean big bucks in endorsements as well as a league of new followers. The couple is in the middle of remodeling a home in Vermont when they both disappear, leaving a bloody trail in their wake. What happened to the dynamic duo?


9. Blizzard's Wake by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor—Even though this YA historical isn't very Spring-y, it still sounds compelling. Someone recommended it to me when I complained that it was hard to find books set in North Dakota for the Literary Escapes Reading Challenge I participate in every year. The novel is about a grieving girl and the boy who has just been released from jail for causing the accident that killed her mother. When the two get stuck in a blizzard, they are forced to work together in order to survive.


10. Mousse and Murder by Elizabeth Logan—I'm always up for a fun cozy mystery and this one looks entertaining. It's the first installment in a series that stars Charlotte "Charlie" Cook, a chef who returns to her Alaska hometown to take over her mother's diner. When the diner's head chef is killed after a heated argument with Charlie, she finds herself the prime suspect in his murder. Who really offed the chef?

There you go, ten books I'm hoping to get to this Spring. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What's on your Spring TBR? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will happily return the favor on your blog. I also reply to your TTT comments here (although I'm still a little behind from the past couple weeks...).

Happy TTT!

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The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed By Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

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The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner



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