Welcome! I hope you enjoy it! Actually I am pretty confident you will!😉

Thank you for stating us off! @Robin M The favorite book from my recent reading is a cozy mystery I read from the British Crime Classics series called Seven Dead. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34862888-seven-dead The opening pages of the book has a petty criminal breaking into a home going around stealing spoons and turning the key on a locked room and discovering seven dead people.........quite a tale! I will definately be looking for more books by J. Jefferson Farjean........ I also listened to The Hiding Place by Paula Munier https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138079-the-hiding-place which is the third book in one of the service dog series I enjoyed so much last year. @PenNot sure if you read the series or not. I also read Kathy Reichs latest The Bone Code which was quite good for a book that late in a popular series. One interesting thing was it’s the first book I have read where Covid was specifically mentioned........the pandemic is totally over in the book and we are facing a new one. Not good.😕 I also listened The Girl Who Died by Ragner Johansson which is the largest book to be translated by my favorite Icelandic author. It was honestly not as good as other books in his two series. It was a stand alone that I am confident ties into one of the Dark Iceland series when Ari makes a visit to the village.......the story takes place in a very remote fishing village with a population of under 20 and is told through the eyes of a troubled newcomer who arrives to teach the village’s two students.

Maybe I should try that one! I quit reading because it seemed like more pages were devoted to s*x scenes than storyline. Not sure when I stopped but I loved the start of the series. I hope you enjoy Frick Island @Robin M

@Robin M As always thank you for the wonderful thread! I did finish The Invisable Husband of Frick Island and really enjoyed it. I had a problem figuring out what bookshelf it belonged on in Goodreads because I don’t have a just plain fiction bookshelf and ended up classifying it as contemporary romance.....it really isn’t. It’s good, the main subject of intrigue was why a small island community all pretended a young widow’s husband was still alive after his death in a fishing accident. Climate change, pod casting, and even the right to be a “dry” no alcohol island is part of the mix. I also seem to be hooked on a series of themed cozy mysteries and have read three in the series this week. The Cajun Country mysteries series starts wth Plantation Shutters https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24402497-plantation-shudders which centers around a family who has managed to save their plantation house by turning it into a B&B. Nothing special beyond I like them.😉 I am currently listening to Linda Castillo’s latest in the Kate Burkholder series. This is a favorite series of mine set in the Amish country in Ohio. Kate, the police chief, is a former member of the Amish community who has returned home to serve in a much different role. Book wise I am reading one of my Cajun Mysteries and also about halfway through the latest Kathy Reichs (Temperance Brennan) Bone Code. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54304127-the-bone-code?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=UDvUcDdwbf&rank=1 This is number 20 in the series and so far is a pretty good read.

I have read (or tried to) a couple of the popular summer reads acording to my research and bookshelves at Target. Anyway I thought I would post that I found People We Meet on Vacation to be OK but sort of boring. I decided to stop reading as I had books in the stack that looked better. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54985743-people-we-meet-on-vacation The Invisable Husband of Frick Island is going to be sad I suspect but it’s a page turner of a beach read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55760893-the-invisible-husband-of-frick-island Finally, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is awesome. One of the best books I have read lately. It’s about a coffee shop in Japan where one special seat with lots of rules allows you to travel in time until the coffee gets cold. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44421460-before-the-coffee-gets-cold

@Granny_WeatherwaxYour puppy is beautiful and so glad glad your senior doggy is enjoying training with the pup! I hope your injuries continue to heal and no more recovery time is needed. I just looked at storygraph........the mood graphs look interesting! Glad you are enjoying it!

Late to the party today. Thanks for the thread Robin. I still need to explore the links for maps. I have actually filled that square already with Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by TA Willberg which I didn’t adore. It reminded me slightly of Rivers of London without the great parts with a Harry Potter map. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49374508-marion-lane-and-the-midnight-murder?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=LfIVximc2r&rank=1 I have been busy quilting as it’s hot and rainy which means I am busy listening to audiobooks! I have quite the stack checked out of the library and am currently listening to Christie’s The Moving Finger.......I don’t remember it at all so far but am loving it. This is part of my perpetual Christie in order Challenge where I read or listen to at least ten books by Agatha a tear in publication order. @Robin Mhas the list on her 52 books website if anyone wants one the refer to. I finished listening to a book of Ben Aaronovitch’s short stories called Tales from the Folly. I ❤️Peter Grant and love these books on audio. I have to say his shorts are great.....I rarely enjoy more than a couple of stories in a book like this and thought these were all entertaining. So glad that Robin is giving them a try! I also revisited the vampire knitting club after discovering that my library has apparently bought them all on audio. The first was a freebie that I read and thought was entertaining but was too cheap to buy the next 10 books at $3.99 each......and it would have been the next 10. That said I do enjoy Nancy Warren’s vision of Oxford England’s tunnels etc. I am sure tunnels exist there. 😉https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42073781-stitches-and-witches I also read a book for one of my bookchains, Laura Lippman’s newest Dream Girl. She calls in her first horror book, as opposed to thriller, and it was something intriguing. It is the first book compared to Gone Girl (which I disliked) that I have actually finished. Quite creepy......an author is confined to his bed is a penthouse and cared for by his assistant and his weird nurse. Throw in a hysterical ex and that equaled horror. It was quite the ride..........no other way to describe it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55425157-dream-girl

@melmichiganI just finished listening to Million Dollar Demon this afternoon and really loved how it ended. I am looking forward to hearing if it makes you laught too!

This week’s favorite was The Music of the Bees https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55198935-the-music-of-bees on audio. Good characters plus I learned quite a bit about bees....... I am almost done with my return to the hollows in Million Dollar Demon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55420213-million-dollar-demon. I love these on audio. I have been reading a Ruth Rendall that caught my eye by being on sale one day last week. The Best Man to Die https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83398.The_Best_Man_to_Die is a bit dated but interesting in how a really good author can create a book where hugely different crimes seem to be converging into one central event. Looking forward to finally getting to read the ending tonight as the world has repeatedly interrupted me every time I try to read today!

I just started listening to Million Dollar Demon today!

😂I don’t remember the names either unless it happens to be interesting to me. I just finished another Arcane Society book by Amanda Quick and have to say I really enjoy the ones set in the past far mare than the present day ones in this series. It’s so strange that the series order has me going back and forth.

I finished listening to it last night. I enjoyed it and will probably do a relisten to them both in order at some point. I will say I found it far easier to keep the character names straight in this one as the names were not super similar.

Thanks for the thread Robin. I really enjoyed Wild Sign! I need to check where I am in the Jeanine Frost series......I haven’t read one in years and it might be fun to see if I still enjoy them. My plan for today is to work on my quilt and start listening to Katherine Addison’s The Witness for the Dead which is from the world of the Goblin Emporer. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41302953-the-witness-for-the-dead?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VrIn8lj8Zo&rank=1

@Robin MHugs......I am so sorry.

Recently The Bride by Julie Garwood caught my attention from a “bookish” comment I read on the SBTB (pretty sure) blog. I put a hold on it and was pleasantly surprised by the book when it showed up. I read a lot of historical romances but rarely venture before 1800 so this book set back in the 12th century was sort of out of my comfort zone!😂. Set in the Scottish Highlands an English lady is forced to marry a Laird. Not the most accurate but I will likely go on to read the second book in the series soon! @Kareni have you tried these? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39799149-the-bride

I pretty much read the latest JA Janice in one sitting, which is something I rarely do anymore. It wasn’t anything special beyond being a good story with characters I enjoy. This one featured her Ali Reynolds character but did a bit of a crossover to JP Beaumont when Ali needed an investigator in Washington state. I am not going to bother to link because this story was very based on a long character history but I have to say I was impressed.

Thank you for the thread @Robin M I have carried on trying to get to the midpoint in both my book chains before the end of June because I frequently get stuck and have to wait for a hold for a month or so when attempting this challenge. It’s hard to catch up when I let myself get too far behind! For one bookchain I finished Far Gone by a favorite author Laura Griffin because I needed the word “far”......it’s one of her stand alones and I wasn’t overly impressed with this one. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18144058-far-gone Moving on from there I read an older Laura Lippmann titled After I am Gone using “Gone” and found that I really enjoyed it even though not a single character was especially likable. No one to root for!😉 It focused on the family and mistress of a criminal (gambling) after he left the country due to a conviction. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18089975-after-i-m-gone I am now waiting for the release of Laura Lippmann’s latest Dream Girl. I am listening to Mr. Churchill’s Secretary for my other bookchain. Somehow I have never gotten around to this cozy series which seems to tell interesting bits of WWII history. This book is concentrating on IRA activity.....https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10161216-mr-churchill-s-secretary I plan to follow this with the next in the series which is called Princess Elizabeth’s Spy before waiting for a hold that I am excited about with Spy in the title.

I finished listening to Nora Robert’s Legacy today. Like @Robin M said previously it was quite a roller coaster of emotions but I enjoyed every minute. I thought the narrator was quite good.....January LaVoy. I don’t think I have listened to her before.

@Robin MThanks for the great thread!❤️ I have a book that involves Bosnia high in the stack called Catch the Rabbit https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56064463-catch-the-rabbit. I haven’t read a single page but do have it in my currently reading stack on GR and I plan to dive into it later this week. I finally tried a John Dickson Carr mystery after hearing praises about his books for years. I read an early one....first published in 1931. Apparently it was a drug store mystery which meant you had a money back guarantee and could get your money back if you did not read beyond a certain point in the book which was well marked in mine......I believe sealed some way back in the day. It stopped right on a huge cliff hanger and late in the book. I doubt they got many returns at that point! The title was The Lost Gallows https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55885997-the-lost-gallows I’ll be honest and say this wasn’t a favorite in my classic dectective novel category and I suspect other books by this author are better. I have also started listening to Nora Robert’s Legacy.

@KareniI have only read the Elemental series. It’s good......I have reread some of them! My library has a couple other books by Elizabeth Hunter but they are random ones like number three in a series which for me makes trying them hard.......I always prefer in order!😉 Not sure if anyone here has read the Schuyler Sisters series by Beatriz Williams https://www.goodreads.com/series/165486-schuyler-sisters I have only read the first one but found the intriguing. The rest have been on the list........so today I started Our Woman in Moscow which simply sounded good as I love Cold War spy novels and quickly connected this book as another part of the Schuyler story. Honestly I wish it wasn’t connected because I keep trying to make it fit with what I remember which is a bit distracting. That said I am enjoying it and it is the right level of concentration for an audiobook to sew to! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55200703-our-woman-in-moscow?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=7bX2tOuw6G&rank=1

Thank you for the thread @Robin M I have been concentrating on making progress on my Bookchains where I connect one word from a recently finished book’s title or author name to a new book. I have been having fun with the planning and basically spent this week reading for the two separate bookchains I have been working on. The aim is 21 books in each a they let me dabble in authors that I have either been meaning to try or stepped away from because ........multiple reasons!😂 So last week I read Flight by Laura Griffin which was the latest in her Texas Murder Files series https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54500040-flight. She is an author that challenges brought me back to recently and I pick her books whenever they are a possibility. Well done thrillers that still let me sleep.😉 That led me to a blast from my past........the plucky reporter that is Irene Kelly. I don’t know when I last thought of Jan Burke’s series and am sure I read them all back in the early 2000’s but midway through there is one called Flight.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/269240.Flight So I read it. It made me happy so I am currently listening to the next in the series Bloodlines. Bloodlines is going to lead me to a favorite series by Susan Conant.......before I use the name Susan to explore something new. Following my other book chain I listened to The Murder Room by PD James. I don’t think I have read it before and I enjoyed the Britishness of that one.......i am homesick. From there I listened to Rex Stout’s Murder by the Book, very satisfying. I think I like Nero Wolfe better on audio, not sure why. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77611.Murder_by_the_Book. Then on to a beach read featuring military spouses. In a Book Club Far Away https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54304061-in-a-book-club-far-away is sending me back to a Laura Griffin book called Far Gone. So I seem to be back to where I started this post!🙃 It follows book chain rules so it’s all good.

@melmichiganI hope you start feeling better soon! I think new books by both Kim Harrison and Faith Hunter are coming soon...probably others too that I don’t remember.

My May librarian spelling challenge...... Beatrice DeNovo B.......Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs E.......The Essence of Malice by Ashley Weaver A.......Much Ado About You by Samantha Young T.......Shadows in Time by Julie McElwain R.......The Mother Hunt by Rex Stout I ........Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews C.......The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers E.......Mayhem at the Orient Express by Kylie Logan D.......A Darkness Absolute by Kelly Armstrong E.......A Most Extraordinary Pursuit by Juliana Grey N.......Angel Falls by Nora Roberts O........Oder of Violets by Baynard Kendrick V........Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves O........To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear

Thanks for the great thread Robin! Popping in quickly to give the thread a bump. I really loved The Eyre Affair when I first read it ........over a decade ago. Time flys! You are tempting me to do a reread as I know I will need E’s for Cheshire Cat! My hold on Legacy should be available in the next couple of weeks so I will look forward to it. I finished The Bookstore on the Beach by Brenda Novak who is another Harlequin author turned mainstream from back in the 80’s. It was one of those books that kept me reading to find out how in the world the author planned to resolve what she had started. It was like @Lady Florida’s jar where she drew several slips of story starters and bang! That’s her story lines. Lots of triggers and here are some spoilers.... A husband goes on a business trip and disappears.....captured by Russians. Then there was the grandma who spent a decade locked in a basement after being abducted and has never told her daughter who her father is. This was finished off with a pregnant teen. A love interest with a psycho ex is also part of the mash up. What a mix!😂

My Murderbot is pretty genderless.........sort of it’s own being.