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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 Taylor Jenkins Reid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taylor Jenkins Reid. 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, September 12, 2023

Top Ten Tuesday: Let's Get the Fall Reading Party Started! Or My Fall TBR List, Part One


It's TTT time and once again we've got a great topic—Top Ten Favorite Character Relationships—that I'm just not feeling. Since next week is all about our Fall TBR lists, I'm going to get that party started early with part one of my list. It's hard to believe, but we only have 110 days left in 2023 (not counting today). That's a little over three months to cram in all the reading I still want to accomplish this year. I've read 141 books so far, so I should have no trouble hitting my yearly goal of 200. I'm also doing well on all of my reading challenges, so I'm hoping to complete them by December 31 as well. To that end, the majority of the books on my Fall TBR are titles that I'm reading for reading challenges. 

Before we get to that, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our Top Ten Tuesday hostess with the mostest, Jana, some love!

Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List (Part One)



1. Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman—This YA novel tells the story of Rory Hendrix, a smart, savvy girl who's desperate to prove she's not the future-less trailer trash everyone thinks she is. Told through a series of social workers' reports, arrest records, diary entries, letters, etc., it's an original coming-of-age story.



2. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid—When 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.



3. War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi—Set in 2172 Nigeria, this YA novel features two sisters who are determined to fight for their future on a climate-changed, war-ravaged, abandoned-for-space Earth. 

The Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge—A Book with a Robot, Cyborg, or AI Character AND the Build Your Library Reading Challenge—A Book About a Futuristic Society


4. Last Call at the Nightingale by Katherine Schellman—The 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.

The 52 Club Reading Challenge—Takes Place During the Roaring Twenties AND the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge


5. Sun Storm by Asa Larsson—This is the first book in a Swedish mystery series starring Stockholm lawyer Rebecka Martinsson. Our heroine returns to her hometown in spite of the disgrace she suffered there years before. Only an emergency would take her back and that's exactly what this is: her friend's brother has been viciously murdered. Rebecka will stop at nothing to find his killer.

Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge—A "Noir" Book AND the 52 Club Reading Challenge—Nordic Noir


6. The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer—Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a good Jewish girl. She's also secretly a best-selling author of Christmas romances. She just can't get enough of the Christian holiday with all of its magic and merriment. Hanukkah pales in comparison. When Rachel's editor insists she write a "diverse" holiday story, she turns to an upcoming Hanukkah celebration for inspiration. Working with her archenemy isn't part of the plan. Neither is falling for him...



7. Before I Called You Mine by Nicole Deese—Tired of trying to find The One so she can start a family, first grade teacher Lauren Bailey decides to pursue international adoption on her own. The adoption agency requires her to remain single for the time being, which becomes a challenge when Lauren finds herself falling for a charming substitute teacher. Does she have to sacrifice one thing her heart desires in order to get another? Or can she figure out a way to get everything she wants?



8. 1984 by George Orwell—This classic sci-fi novel features a young man who works for the Ministry of Truth in a dystopian London. When Julia and O'Brien come into his life unexpectedly, his existence is transformed forever. 

Booklist Queen Reading ChallengeFamous Author You've Avoided AND Build Your Library Reading ChallengeA Book That Is Classic Science Fiction AND Pick Your Poison Reading ChallengeAn Author You Have Always Wanted to Read


9. River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer—Set in Barbados in 1834, this novel is about a enslaved woman who learns that in spite of a government act declaring an end to slavery, her "owner" refuses to let any of his slaves go. She runs, driven to find her five children, all of whom have been sold by the plantation owner. No matter what she finds, she can't rest until she knows what has happened to her beloved offspring.



10. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly—This popular non-fiction title tells the fascinating story of the African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America's space program by working as "human computers" at NASA. These brilliant, intrepid women were invaluable assets in spite of all the prejudice they faced because of both their ethnicity and their gender.

Build Your Library Reading Challenge—About BIPOC in Science AND Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge—A Book About Rocket Science

There you go, ten books I'm planning to read this Fall. What are you planning to read in the next few months? If you did today's topic, what are some of your favorite fictional relationships? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!   

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Top Ten Tuesday: It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas



I promised my German book blogger friend, Marianne,
I would send her pictures of my "Griswold" Christmas house, but I decided to go ahead and share them with you all as well. Decorating is not my forté (neither is photography, as you can see). Still, I love this time of year and decking my house out with all my favorite things is a fun way to make things feel festive. You'll see several of my collections on display here: nativities (I especially love those designed by
Jim Shore), nutcrackers (they're lining the windowsills—I've been collecting them since I first saw The Nutcracker when I was about 10), Santas (Did I mention I'm a Jim Shore fan?), and Department 56 village houses (from their Original Snow Village collection). 
My husband's all about the lights, so he festooned the bannisters with glow-y garlands (the strand of leg lamps he strung on one can't be seen from the front door, thank goodness). The lights that hang down from the loft, unfortunately, decided to crap out after he strung them up. Bummer. At any rate, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! 
 My 13-year-old spent the weekend enthusiastically wrapping presents while I worked on Christmas cards, so those things are done. All I have left to do now is some last-minute gift shopping for our family Secret Santa gift exchange, making homemade doughnuts for the neighbors (my husband and I are getting booster shots on Doughnut Day Eve, so we'll see how we're feeling for this exhausting event—it may get cancelled), getting my dad a birthday gift (our shared birthday is December 22), and shopping for Christmas dinner (ham, homemade rolls, funeral potatoes, etc.). How is your holiday prep going?

Amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I'm still working on my goal of reading 200 books this year. I'm six away (really five since I'm halfway through the e-book I'm reading and about the same with the audiobook I'm listening to). This week's TTT prompt—Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR List—asks what's next up on the docket. In addition to those I listed last week, I've got ten more possibilities to share with you. I love these seasonal TBRs, so I'm excited to see what everyone has on their lists today.

Don't forget to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give some love to our gracious hostess, Jana.

Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR List  


1. Poison Lilies by Katie Tallo (available May 24, 2022)—This is my current read. Dark August, the first book in the series, was one of my first reads of 2021. I loved it and have been waiting *patiently* for a sequel. Although Poison Lilies doesn't officially come out for a while still, I got an e-ARC from Edelweiss Plus. Huzzah!

Our heroine, Augusta "Gus" Monet, has moved into an old Ottawa apartment complex. She meets her eccentric neighbor, a blind woman who hasn't left the building since the 1950s. When a corpse from the same era is found in a deep pond nearby, Gus's neighbor pays her to investigate the very cold case. 


2. Hot and Sour Suspects by Vivien Chien (available January 25, 2022)—I'm always up for the newest installment in this fun cozy mystery series, which is one of my very faves. In this one, Lana Lee helps host a speed-dating event. When one of the participant's dates is murdered and she's accused of the crime, she asks Lana to help prove her innocence. 


3. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid—I think I'm the only one who hasn't read this buzzy mystery/thriller yet. Good thing I'm an airhead and checked out two copies from the library! Set in the 80s, the novel is about a house party gone horribly wrong. It's getting great reviews, so I'm in.


4. In the Market for Murder by T.E. KinseyCath recommended this fun historical mystery series. I enjoyed the first book, so I'm excited to read the next installment which promises to be just as enjoyable. This time, it's the murder of a local farmer that has Lady Hardcastle and her maid playing Sherlock and Watson.


5. Ghost Ship by Brian Hicks—When I posted about my love for books about maritime disasters, Lark recommended this non-fiction account of the fate of the Mary Celeste. It's going to come due at the library soon, so I need to read it soon. It sounds fascinating!


6. Futureface by Alex Wagner—I'm hoping my quest to become a professional genealogist will take a step forward in 2022, as testing has been stalled for the past couple years by COVID. In the meantime, I always enjoy an intriguing family history/DNA story. This one, about a woman's search for her true identity, sounds like just the ticket.


7. I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (available February 1, 2022)—I love Sepetys' historical YA novels, so her newest definitely earns a place here. Set in Communist Romania in 1989, this book features a young man who is forced to become an informer, but uses his unique position to undermine a dangerous government.


8. Tips for Magicians by Celesta Rimington—I enjoyed this author's debut middle-grade novel. Her newest is about a grieving boy who moves to a strange town in middle-of-nowhere Utah. The residents believe in a "magical entity" that grants wishes. The boy hopes it's true because he really, really needs his wish to come true...


9. The Last Daughter of York by Nicola Cornick—As much as I love historical fiction, I don't tend to read books set before the 19th Century. Still, this dual-timeline novel set in York (which I loved when I visited England a few months ago) sounds like a good one. 


10. Stiff by Mary Roach—I've been wanting to read a Roach book for forever, so I finally bought this one. It sounds absolutely fascinating!

There you go, ten books on my Winter TBR list. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What are you planning to read this winter? I'd truly love to know. Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

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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