My 2022 Summary…….. Many thanks to Robin for hosting Book a Week and keeping me organized! I’ve been busy going thru my stats on Goodreads and they are very similar to last years except this year I actually managed to read a book a day after backing out short stories and novellas. That said I read a lot of contemporary romance books, at least 52. So many of my books were quick reads for me. I also listened to 118 Audiobooks which were a third total books read. Challenge wise I completed two 22 book long bookchains. I find bookchains entertaining and have no idea why! I did A to Z and back, A to Z by both author/title, and finally I did all my spelling challenges. My 10’s were all based on the crime spree. I completed most…..totally failed Christie. I loved the Crime Spree! I gave myself permission to bury myself in some of my favorite genres. I read 216 crime spree books. I started with the early short stories and went through many golden age mysteries from the US, UK, and even a couple from other places. I apparently really like police procedurals as I read 69 books that I shelved in that category. I read a lot of romatic suspense…. The only none crime spree favorite book was The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi So now for my favorite books from the Crime Spree……. The Dead Letter by Seely Register written in 1866 The Wintringham Mystery by Anthony Berkeley written in 1927 The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton written in 1930 Mystery in the Channel by Freeman Wills Crofts written in 1931 The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by CW Grafton written in 1943 The Better to Eat You by Charlotte Armstrong written in 1954 The Detective Clare Mackay Series by Marion Todd – See Them Run #1 The Rockton Series by Kelley Armstrong Atticus Priest series by Mark Dawson – The House in the Woods #1 Books by Rebecca Zanetti – I read several and liked them all!

Some are. Here is a list from Goodreads showing the connected ones. https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Kate+quinn&qid=v3QehTY1J9

I have finished a few in the past 24 hours. We really did have a peaceful Christmas Day. The first was a new Elly Griffiths that I sort of slogged thru for several days because I was pretty sure the end would be worth it……it was. It was set around a grammar school high school reunion where most of the cool crowd managed to become famous and now are dying by Murder. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60980164-bleeding-heart-yard Royal Valentine by Jenn McKinley was actually a novella written to start a new series. I had no clue this series existed and I grabbed it because Jenn McKinley writes a favorite cozy series. This one was fun….and as believable as a normal person meeting a titled Brit and marrying them can be. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59960488-royal-valentine This one was finished by virtue of my finding it hard to put down. Buried in a Good Book is the first in a new cozy series that I checked out of the library and have been skipping over in the virtual stack……it needed to be tried before it was whisked away by overdrive. Well, it was a good, clean cozy that I found rather humorous. A best selling mystery author lands herself in the middle of a real life mystery when she inherits her grandfather’s cabin and decides to spend the summer there. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58758641-buried-in-a-good-book

I just started listing to The Whalebone Theatre!

I actually spent 10 hours at my sewing machine today trying to get a quilt assembled that I will hopefully be able to gift over the holidays. Otherwords, I finished a second book too. I am another Goblin Emporer fan but hadn’t listened to The Grief of Stones yet. It’s good……..Robin managed to motive me to finish it this year. As a bonus it’s my A and I have now finished the “A to Z and back” challenge.

I finished the first in a newish thriller series by Charles Cumming and really enjoyed it. It was a bit James Bondish and I couldn’t stop listening…….https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58611213-box-88 Lachlan Kite is a member of BOX 88, an elite transatlantic black ops outfit so covert that not even MI6 and the CIA are certain of its existence — but even the best spy can’t anticipate every potential threat in a world where dangerous actors lurk around every corner. At the funeral of his childhood best friend, Lachlan falls into a trap that drops him into the hands of a potentially deadly interrogation, with his pregnant wife, also abducted, being held as collateral for the information he’s sworn on his own life to protect. Thirty years earlier Lachlan, then just out of the upper class boarding school where he was reared, was BOX 88’s newest recruit. In the haze of a gap year summer, in which the study of spycraft was intertwined with a journey of self-discovery, he cut his teeth on a special assignment on the coast of France, where a friendship allowed him special access to one of Iran’s most dangerous men. Today, Lachlan’s nostalgia for the trip is corrupted by recollection of the deceit that accompanied it but, in order to save his family, he’ll be forced to revisit those painful memories one last time. A pulse-pounding narrative that straddles two eras — 1989 and 2020.

I just finished my Christmas Crime Spree mystery, Murder in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44076519-mystery-in-white. I have saved the book all year to read now and it wasn’t nearly as good as my anticipation of it! I wanted to finish the year of the crime spree with a book by a solid golden age author. It started out as what I personally call a Locked House Party mystery but the house wasn’t exactly locked! A group of strangers decide to leave a stranded snow bound train to walk to a station that might have train service on the day before Christmas. They quickly become hopelessly lost and take shelter in a recently abandoned house where the kettle is hot! Chaos sort of reined. But, but it remained entertaining throughout. It will likely never be a reread but I do enjoy the author.

I’m plodding my way through Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon. I also have a group of people trapped by snow in a house with the owner missing. It’s supposed to be a classic like An English Murder which I almost picked. Maybe next year…..

This week’s theme is perfect for my mood! I have been loading my kindle with all types of romance books, especially holiday romances. I just added Linda Howard’s Ice to my virtual stack! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6283048-ice?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=WxOC5qDtR2&rank On holiday leave from the service, Gabriel McQueen is sent into a brewing ice storm to make sure that his father’s distant neighbor, Lolly Helton, who has fallen out of contact, is safe and sound. It’s a trip that Gabriel would rather not make, given the bitter winter weather—and the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly. Arriving at Lolly’s home, Gabriel spots strangers through the windows—one of them packing a weapon—and kicks into combat mode. But once Lolly is rescued, the heat—and the hunt—are on. Snowbound, unarmed, and literally under the gun, Gabriel and Lolly must depend on each other to endure the merciless forces of nature and evade the ruthless enemy out in the blackness of the silent night—and out for their blood

I just finished Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, a new release by Lisa Unger. It’s my last letter needed to complete my A to Z by author. Woot! Another challenge done! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60023131-secluded-cabin-sleeps-six It was quite the guessing game in terms of there were just so many bad actors/ red herrings. That said I greatly enjoyed it but a warning…….if you really enjoy renting AirB & B’s I probably wouldn’t read this one. There was plenty of other weirdness ……….. Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway to die for in this chilling locked-room thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger. What could be more restful, more restorative, than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, complete with spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s loving and generous tech-mogul brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It’s his birthday gift to Hannah and includes their spouses and another couple. The six friends need this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R, far from the chatter and pressures of modern life. But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare. A deadly storm is brewing. The rental host seems just a little too present. The personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history. And the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep. How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? And who is the new boyfriend, crashing their party? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?

@tuesdayschildWonderful list! I’m so glad you enjoyed the Crime Spree. You just reminded me that I need to finish the Dorothy Gilman series.

Anne Bishop, is one of those authors for me. I love The Others and have no interest in any of her other books. I tried. Seanan Mcquire, I don’t seem to be able to attach myself to October Daye. My library has the all and I should love them but never really fall in to the story. I think I am on the third in that series but I have actually reread the first few in the cryptozoologist series. I have never tried any of Marth Wells other books.

I’ve had a couple of interesting finishes this week. The first was the audio for Lessons in Chenistry which @Karenirecommended. I have held off because I really thought I would be the one to dislike it and didn’t want to have to say it! It was great except for one part where something horrible happened in the storyline. It was obvious it had to happen. I knew it was about to happen but……. that the horrible thing happened just as I was finishing listening for the day. I had to make myself start again the next day. If I hadn’t known that Kareni loved the book I might have started something new. I’m glad I kept listening. A read an interesting book by a new to me author that was all about something I know next to nothing about, the history of the LDS church. A Cry from the Dust was not the best book in terms of there were some highly unrealistic leaps to make it all happen but there was enough of interest that I will probably eventually try the next in the series because the main character is a forensic artist and I like forensic mysteries. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18850687-a-cry-from-the-dust @AroundtheCorner Welcome and enjoy your subscription to the British Crime Classics. I didn’t know they had a monthly subscription as I have only seen them sold as collections from the website, not new release subscriptions. I love Golden Age mysteries! Both the American and British authors for that time period. I have a huge collection that I started accumulating on my kindle while planning the Crime Spree that I still need to read. I managed to buy close to 80 books to try! 😂 Who are your favorites of the authors? As I explore I keep changing my mind but I really enjoy J. Jefferson Farjeon and am looking forward to reading his Mystery in White for my Christmas Mystery.

I had some good finishes this week. Nothing More to Tell https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51559209-nothing-more-to-tell was one of those private school mysteries with an inner circle, a murdered teacher and lots of secrets. A true crime show is investigating and one of the students is secretly an intern for the show. I really liked it! I also read the second in a series that actually really does remind me of CS Harris. I have noticed that is a comment being made currently about several historical mysteries. Under a Veiled Moon is set in 1878 London but deals with Irish unrest and the question of Home Rule for Ireland. Great stuff. Good main character. I wish there were more! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62004834-under-a-veiled-moon For audio books I seem to be focused on fantasy/time travel type books right now. Like Robin I read Nora Roberts newest The Choice which was a highly satisfying conclusion to a trilogy. I also finished a book chain by reading The Paradox Hotel which centered on unusual happenings at a time travel port. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58175765-the-paradox-hotel I am currently listening to perhaps my favorite of the three, See You Yesterday which is a recommendation of someone here. It’s ver Groundhog Day! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365594-see-you-yesterday. From GR……… Barrett Bloom is hoping college will be a fresh start after a messy high school experience. But when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. She’s humiliated by the know-it-all in her physics class, she botches her interview for the college paper, and at a party that night, she accidentally sets a frat on fire. She panics and flees, and when she realizes her roommate locked her out of their dorm, she falls asleep in the common room.The next morning, Barrett’s perplexed to find herself back in her dorm room bed, no longer smelling of ashes and crushed dreams. It’s September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics 101, she learns she’s not alone—he’s been trapped for months.When her attempts to fix her timeline fail, she agrees to work with Miles to find a way out. Soon they’re exploring the mysterious underbelly of the university and going on wild, romantic adventures. As they start falling for each other, they face the universe’s biggest unanswered question yet: what happens to their relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?

@melmichigan I am being lazy and just asking you........I just finished Faith Hunter’s Final Heir and it seems like the end of the Jane Yellowrock series. It’s certainly a lovely place to stop. I think I read it was supposed to be. Is it?

I finished my listen to Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60149532-killers-of-a-certain-ageand really enjoyed it. A group a 60 something female assassins are sent on a retirement cruise by the agency they are retiring from but instead of a pension they are supposed to be victims. It was a fun romp. Totally enjoyable and rather like The Thursday Murder Club without being too like it! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46000520-the-thursday-murder-club?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=uSJJPMw9BI&rank=1 I am currently listening to a feel good contemporary romance by Susan Mallery. Home Sweet Christmas is set in a town that celebrates Christmas year around. Sweet and easy reads are what Mallery does best. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59901158-home-sweet-christmas I read a great new to me author of Nordic Noir. The Creak in the Stairs was the first in the authors Dark Iceland series and I definately have these on the list. I love Nordic Noir but will admit some books are really dark. This one was atmospheric but at a level that wasn’t depressing. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49015634-the-creak-on-the-stairs I am slowly making my way through the latest Jane Yellowrock. I thought I read that Final Heir would be the last in the series but it doesn’t feel like a wrap up. Who knows? Lol. It’s good! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59781260-final-heir

@tuesdayschildI was just thinking about you! So I’m glad you popped in today. Peter Grainger on audio is so good. I just love him!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for the thread, Robin. Have a great birthday and Thanksgiving. I’m not sure where I stopped reporting book wise so I am going to start with the latest Kelley Armstrong in her Thorne Manor series. I love this series…….essentially a closet in the manor is a door between different centuries. It’s a bit ghostly because there always seems to be a malevolent ghost involved in these trips. Overall great! I read A Turn of the Tide last week and have this years Christmas novella ready to go. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59221027-a-turn-of-the-tide Laura Griffin is one of my favorite romantic suspense authors. I normally save these to fill book chains etc so I have no idea why I had Vanishing Hours on hold but I did and it appeared at the perfect bored moment. It is a total stand alone and was great. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60279832-vanishing-hour Rebecca Zanetti is another good romantic suspense author…..way more descriptive in terms of love scenes but good stories. I listened to Twisted Truths which is the final book in the Blood Brother series. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34616646-twisted-truths I actually read most of the stories in Heroic Hearts https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58734999-heroic-hearts a book of short stories put together by Jim Butcher. It was interesting in that it seemed to be a mixture of famous paranormal authors like Patricia Briggs and some relative unknowns. The unknowns were quite good! I am trying to finish the latest Lady Emily by Tasha Alexander and feeling rather ambivalent about it. This is a favorite series going boring. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59808294-secrets-of-the-nile I started listening to In Plain Sight by Kathryn Casey on a friend’s recommendation for my True Crime book. I am not a true crime fan. So far so good……..https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36146353-in-plain-sight

It was a movie too. I read it in junior high for a class.

I’m still spending my days reading quietly in isolation for my cold but am feeling much better today. My husband still caught my ick and has now joined me in my isolation. Kate Shackleton’s First Case is a recently released prequel novella for a favorite cozy mystery series. Kate is a WWI widow who lives in limbo because she doesn’t have actual confirmation that her physician husband is actually dead. She is the adopted daughter of a high ranking police officer and his Lady wife. Her cases are interesting and i was happy to read the prequel. I now need to get back to reading the actual series! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40227692-kate-shackleton-s-first-case Hidden by Fern Michaels is the first in her Lost and Found series about a pair of antique restorers who are siblings. Lightly entertaining about the search for the will of a very rich man with heirs who won’t be easily stopped. I have the second book in my pile.....I must admit I am not sure that a non sick me would not have abandoned this one because of constant perspective shifting which I normally hate. But I read it and was entertained. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56533082-hidden I have also now read as far as I plan to in the Librarians Vampire Assistant series and am currently reading a series of K9 rescue dogs by Love Inspired. They were free on prime reading https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44130625-seeking-the-truth

I have been isolating with a cold that the rest of my family does not want. This means I am very bored and books and a ridiculous amount of sleep are my current go to activities. Inspector Imanishi Investigates is now finished. It was one of those very detailed mysteries which took place in 1960’s Japan. It took quite a bit of concentration to follow the story line and being sick gave me quiet. I enjoyed it and would happily read more in the series. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112895.Inspector_Imanishi_Investigates Girl One: Murder by Molly Black was chosen for a book chain. A FBI Cold Case investigator is contacted to solve specific cold cases in short periods of time by a kidnapper who is holding 12 vitems hostage. One is her sister. For each case she solve one hostage will be released or murdered. I enjoyed it but it’s the first of 12 books which my library quit buying at 6. Others have not been written. I think I’m done partly because the love interests seem to change. Moonglow was on one of Robin’s lists. Set in Victorian England with Dukes that are werewolves. It wasn’t bad but I recently read another series that did that concept better. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23805706-moonglow I don’t plan to continue with the other books in the series.

I really haven’t accomplished that much on the reading front because I have been working on my bookchains…..17 books out of 22 completed for both. I am now reading Debbie Macomber foe one so this game activity does allow for any type of reading I chose. I also finished some of the spooky books I hadn’t gotten around to mainly in series I have already mentioned before. Between Jobs was a combo spooky and alphabet challenge for the J. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39791122-between-jobs It was different in terms of fae/vampire lore so interesting. Not interesting enough to read more in the series but not regrettable either. I am enjoying Inspector Imanishi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112895.Inspector_Imanishi_Investigatesand anticipate trying to source more in the series if more have been translated. I really enjoy Japanese mysteries. I have a few other international mysteries in my stack that I will hopefully roll into soon.

Earlier this week I finished my official crime spree book with an unreliable narrator. I spotted a new release that intrigued me a couple of months ago for this category and had to wait my turn. It’s Not Me, It’s You actually was a book in this genre that delivered a satisfying read. I frequently feel ……. cheated by the crazy endings that have became so popular so tend to try and stay away from new release books that even hint at an unreliable narrator. I’m not saying this one doesn’t have a surprise ending but it does have an ending that if I had been paying better attention I might have guessed. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61264418-it-s-not-me-it-s-you Jen knows she’s a serial dater, but is she a serial killer? Jen Beeny is leaving her turbulent past behind and now it’s time to start living. Or at least she’s trying to. Between her dead-end job, live-in-landlord and disastrous dates, life in London is not quite turning out as she’d planned. When her dates start to go missing, Jen is determined to ignore the sense of dread building inside her. She continues on with life…until the police come knocking. All signs suggest Jen is the culprit, and the internet sleuths are gaining traction. But Jen didn’t do anything wrong, did she?

Congratulations on the sweet little grand baby! @Mothersweets