I enjoyed Life After Life but like the tv version of Case Histories too much to read it! The Zookeeper’s Wife I’d on Kareni’s list and I really enjoyed it. I also saw one called Every Body on the list that looks interesting. Has anyone read it?.......it’s first in a series of three..

Thank you Robin! I recently finished No One Lives Twice because I needed an O. This book was fun with it’s cyber geek heroine who stumbled through as a James Bond type hero. Total silliness but a great escape. There is a whole series of books featuring Lexi and I will probably be reading them as my need for letters is an ongoing thing and the titles contain many of the harder ones! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21862299-no-one-lives-twiceI also finished listening to A Twist in Time. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30334200-a-twist-in-time. I think I may have read or abandoned a later book in the series because a scene that perfectly fits these books keeps replaying itself to me. Once again these are fluff but satisfying.....a bit of romance, Murder mystery, and time travel all mixed together. I am on hold for the third in the series!Finally, I have a Mary Jo Putney in progress for one of my book chains. Petals in the Storm https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13335788-petals-in-the-storm was recently listed on a list as one of the best historical romances ever on a list somewhere😂........since I have never read it I decided to work it in to my reading for the book chain challenge.

I have a couple of finishes.......they were both page turners for me. Second Sight by Amanda Quick https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/155659.Second_Sight is the first in a series recommended by @Robin M earlier this year. I believe @Kareniand @melmichigan also enjoyed these. What can I say other than I am hooked. I have the next lined up and ready to go! The next one is a relatively new thriller caller Every Last Fear https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138046-every-last-fear which was surprisingly satisfying. It isn’t the best thriller ever. The book was written by a new author. But it moved at a good clip and didn’t bog down and get boring. It also had an ending that made sense........at least the real ending where we find out who the bad person is and why they did it. Best of all it has an E in the title which was why I picked it!😂

I finished the “other” availiable book in the classic Japanese mystery series I recently discovered and really enjoyed it. The Inugami Curse https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50362362-the-inugami-curse was a clever Agatha Christie style mystery rather along the lines of a Poirot. The first one in this series I recently read The Honjin Murders https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52706058-the-honjin-murders which featured a locked room and this one featured a will that pitted the heirs against each other. It was set at the end of WWII but in Japan. Repatriated Japanese solders returning to the country from places like Burma, records and people missing......I have never read a book set at this time from the Japanese POV.This book was published by Pushkin Vertigo which searches on my Overdrive and I appear to have access to classic mysteries set in a few other countries. I plan to give them a try.....

My reading week seems to be centered around reading the next in some series that I am enjoying.My audiobook was The Badlands which is the third one in CJ Box’s the highwayman series. Cassie, the police detective, has switched jobs and is now based in Grimstead North Dakota. I know very little about fracking and the oil industry in that part of the country so this book was fascinating and I hope relatively accurate on the basics.😉. Not much about the highwayman case....... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23014570-badlandsPaving the New Road https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36680648-paving-the-new-road is the fourth book in the Rowland Sinclair series. It was set mainly in Munich during the thirties and the run up to WWII. Each chapter started with a newspaper article of the time, not sure if they were authentic because of the need to base them in AUstralia where the main characters in the series were from. Hitler’s girlfriend/wife was a character in the book and portrayed quite accurately according to my searches........for a fictional cozy it didn’t necessarily feel cozy iykwim.My happy series lately has been Susan Mallery’s Lone Star Sister’s https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6270250-lip-service. Definately read them in order for the full effect. I think I linked the second one which I finished last night.

I finished listening to Christie’s The Body in the Library last night as part of my Christie in order challenge. It’s the second Miss Marple. This one rates as good but not spectacular. 😂Of course I happened to remember this one well which meant I did’t really engage fully. I think I watched a tv version last year.

The Purity of Vengence was this weeks audiobook. It’s part of the Department Q series that I believe @Pen has read some of. A good Nordic noir........https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18079489-the-purity-of-vengeance I also finished The Lady Most Willing......which had three historical fiction authors in one full length book. I checked it out planning to just read the Julia Quinn story and have no idea what part she wrote. Enjoyable.......https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13561603-the-lady-most-willing

I haven’t posted my spelling lists of our monthly librarian names yet............so here are the first two. January - Madam Irma Pince M........The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting A.........A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong D.........Dolly Parton, Songteller by Dolly Parton A.........The Awakening by Nora Roberts M........Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci I.........Murder Simply Stitched by Isabella Allen R.......Whiteout by Ragnar Jonasson M.......Miles Off Course by Sulari Gentile A........Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg P.........Murder, Plain and Simple by Isabella Allen I..........Murder, Served Simply by Isabella Allen N........Notorious by Minerva Spencer C.........Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase E.........Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie February -Aurora Teagarden A.......Murder, Handcrafted by Isabella Allen U.......Under Her Skin by Susan Mallery R........Ringworld by Larry Niven O........The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen R.........The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller A.........Courting Can be a Killer by Amanda Flower T..........The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton E.........Every Dead Thing by John Connolly A.........Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman G.........A Deadly Edition by Victoria Gilbert A..........The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman R..........The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler D..........The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg E..........The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett N..........N or M? By Agatha Christie

My audio read of Ringworld proved to be pretty successful. It is considered classic Sci Fi and is about an outer space mission made up of different beings who land on a previously unexplored apparently inhabited world called the Ringworld. The narrator was enjoyable and I might listen to a couple more in the series. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61179.Ringworld Otherwise my reading has been mainly fluff. I finished the last published book in my Amish Quilt Shop series. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26837878-murder-handcrafted I read Kristen Higgin’s Catch of the Day because I liked the cover. It happens to be first in a series and I plan to continue. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13503586-catch-of-the-day Finally I read Mary Jo Putney’s The Bargain for my bookchain. It was a great regency if anyone is looking for a good historical romance............heiress forced to marry by her father’s will discovers marrying a dying Army officer will fulfill the terms of the will, but he recovers! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46226701-the-bargain Currently listening to a Department Q Nordic Noir because I need an O for last months librarian and reading a classic mystery by Raymond Chandler for my other Bookchain. Enjoying both! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/776159.The_Lady_in_the_Lake?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=BYXxQNMdkA&rank=4 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18079489-the-purity-of-vengeance

I seem to be wallowing in my stack of books and having to work really hard to finish some. My audiobook The Badlands by CJ Box was reclaimed by the library and I am back on the wait list in order to finish it. It was good, I really like this series. Next up on my audio list is Ringworld by Larry Niven https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61179.Ringworld. I am not sure about this one for some reason.....classic Sci Fi and has been on my list for years. I did finish Tea with a Black Dragon which is also an award winner from the 80’s in Science Fiction. I liked it, not sure I would class it as Sci Fi in today’s book world, more of an Urban Fantasy or paranormal romance. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37642215-tea-with-the-black-dragon I also finished Aurora Rising which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It’s a modern space opera about a crew of misfit graduates of the space academy end up going rogue on their first official mission in order to help a survivor from a space mission from 200 years in the past who was found on her ship in a cryogenic sleep. My biggest irritation with this book is it was told in first person by different members of the crew. The only way to tell who the narrator is of what you are reading is to look at chapter headings. This made for a very painful book to read a few pages at a time. I liked this book and will probably read the sequels which I am sure are coming if they are availiable but I won’t be putting purchase requests in. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30075662-aurora-rising I am currently reading The Honjin Murders a recently translated Japanese classic murder mystery. It’s a classic locked Room mystery written back in 1946 and the first in a long series. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52706058-the-honjin-murders

I finished listening to JD Robb’s latest Faithless in Death. Like always it was a great story! I also finished my first ever Charlie Parker thriller. I have to say I find it fascinating that Lee Child (a Brit who went to the University of Sheffield) and John Connelly(an Irish dude from Dublin) both seem to write great US law enforcement thriller type fiction. I started with the first in the series Every Dead Thing and while really violent it was well done. I will read more in the series but this isn’t one that I feel the need to put a hold on the next today!😉 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6637865-every-dead-thing

I am going to catch up a bit and mention a couple of interesting but not awesome books I read last week.The first is The Midnight Bargain which I read in part for my book chain and partly because the cover is awesome. It’s a YA fantasy set in the bargaining season where the girls with magic “come out” in typical historical romance London season but with several twists to the rules I am used to. It wasn’t bad but not a great as the cover! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49151031-the-midnight-bargainThe next is one I waited a really long time to read in terms of waiting for this one to become available. I put a purchase request in over a year ago so I have no idea what list I saw this book on. Possibly a list with supernatural spooks.....this one was pretty close to my scarey tolerance level but I enjoyed the resolution so worth it. The Widow of Rose House https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43263486-the-widow-of-rose-house.

@Robin M I have Faithless in Death ready to go on audio just as soon as I finish my current audiobook.🙂

Ok my Woman in White spoiler..................skip if you haven’t read. @Seasider too @Dreaming of Books marriage assumption as I wondered too........I came to the conclusion that legalities like identity proof likely FPP I’d not matter in England at that time. So perhaps they were married by a vicar in a parish that knew their story. That the looking at legal certificates was skipped or not needed by the parish and the wedding simply sat as having occurred in the Parrish registry book until it gets turned in to the authorities whenever it fills up.....so like a decade. Perhaps being added to the parish roles then reading the banns. I don’t think it mattered as long as they had a connection to the parish and banns could be read. I think my brain flash was more if there had been 3 weeks for banns.

We both enjoyed Finder but haven’t ventured to the second in the series yet. Not adverse, it just hasn’t came up up my Overdrive yet.😉 This week I plan to give Aurora Rising a try https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30075662-aurora-rising?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=7LbT2gV16q&rank=1. Have you read that one yet?

I have cleansed my palette after my Ready Player Two attempt reading cozy mysteries. Nothing stand out.But my audiobooks have been great! I think I mentioned A Murder in Time last week and I really enjoyed it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25790952-a-murder-in-time An FBI profiler who is dressed as a servant in a reinactment steps into a hidden stairway in a historic home in England and comes out 200 years earlier. Finds herself embroiled in an early serial killer mystery with the Duke and his nephew as her sidekicks........I had a love/hate with the narrator but overall enjoyed listening enough to continue listening to this series.I also just finished The Devil and the Deep Water which I am adding to my newly created bookshelf of books my daughter will like. After a book talk yesterday that started out about Ready Player Two we decided she needed a place that had books listed so she could quickly find something that will suit her tastes for when she has time to veg with a book. I have had emergency appeals in the past to BaWers when Dd needed airplane literature!😂. She actually loves to read but is short on time.The Devil and the Deep Water was written by the same author as The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36337550-the-7-deaths-of-evelyn-hardcastle but the two books have little in common other than tons of great twists and turns and a bit of supernatural mysticism. Both are excellent reads!😉 This one centers around a voyage for the East Indies company from Indonesia to Holland carrying several rich and influential people......all have had run ins with a mythical devil called Old Tom. It’s good.......... has already read it.

Margaret Cavendish is an awesome rabbit trail! Her gmil is already one of my favorite historical women.......Bess of Hardwick. So I already knew a bit about Margaret but never knew she was the author of the first book in the science fiction genre. How cool! I totally enjoyed sticking my toe into The Count of Monte Cristo and resisted the urge to read more......mainly because I was a bit late doing my homework 😉 I had two chapters to read this morning. My character takeaway is similar to Robin’s so I won’t repeat. I really want to know why Dante’s neighbor Caderousse apparently hates him.......

Well, I gave up and set my much anticipated Ready Player Two aside. I read the first 50 pages or so and really was going to have to force myself to go further. Sort of a cross between boredom and disappointment. I decided to put the audiobook on hold (6 month wait) and I will decide if I care to know how it all ends when it reaches me again. Just so you don’t think I am in a totally negative mood towards books I was happily anticipating I started listening to The Devil and the Deep End last night. Ooooooh this one is going to be good. I love the characters, so interesting. Someone here read it already, I just can’t remember who. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51854625-the-devil-and-the-dark-water

Last night I stayed up really late to finish Lost Boys https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50496863-the-lost-boys which is the latest In the Peter Decker/ Rina Lazaros series. I definately have some minor quibbles with this book which left me with two cliff hangers. Two! Overall good. 😉 It was lovely to read a long running series where the characters have aged and changed in totally believable ways. Their marriage is strong and they behave like people who have been together a very long time. This is another favorite series where I am someplace in the middle of a reread.........I like the first books in the series the best as they are so interesting as they explain many Orthadox Jewish traditions.

Stephanie James was a favorite way back when. She also wrote romances as Jayne Castle for a different publisher.....

I think I have read all of Charlaine Harris’s series and Harper Connelly is probably tied with Aurora in terms of favorite. Just looked at GR......I didn’t like Gunnie Rose at all, abandoned it. So I haven’t read them all!😂

I just had a chance to do a library search for Second Sight which is now on hold. I noticed that JayneAnn Krentz and Amanda Quick pen names seem to switch back and forth when you look at the whole roughly ten book series. I don’t think I have seen many pen name switches like that

Thank you Robin! I loved the Aurora Teagarden series which was probably my first exposure to Charlaine Harris and probably read the first book back in 1990 when it was released! That said I never finished the reread if the series I had going on a few years ago so perhaps the series hasn’t aged particularly well. 🤷‍♀️ I plotted my spelling challenge for Aurora last night and need to post last month’s librarian spelling later. I also need to find the Amanda Quick series you are reading......... I am down to 3 hours left in Pillars of the Earth. Woot! Hopefully I will finish today. I have other audiobooks waiting for me and need to move on before any need to be returned unread. Next up is A Murder in Time about an FBI agent that finds herself fighting crime in Victorian England thanks to a mysterious staircase. This book has a wonderful cover that I can’t get to link. This is the first in a series that I am hopeful about. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25790952-a-murder-in-time?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VcGFfecAdQ&rank=1I am also almost done with The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes which I have been meaning to read for years. It’s light and enjoyable but not so great that I going to read the rest in the series right away. This may be a spoiler since I picked it up mainly to find out how she was the Dd..... the premise of the Doctors Watson (father and son) somewhat accidentedly teaming up with Sherlock’s love child who Sherlock had placed with a good family to be raised to solve crime.

Glad you are home and doing well! @Lady Florida.

The Bell in the Lake is a Norwegian novel that has recently been translated into English. I loved so much about this one.......It’s the several stories intertwined into something that was just a bit mystical. Long ago in an isolated village in Norway conjoined twins were born. The girls grew up to weave incredible tapestry and after their death the sister bells were forged for the local stave church in their memory. In the “present day.....1880” portion of the book the stave church has been sold to the city of Dresden (Germany) and a young German architect is sent to supervise the move. There is much much more........ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50157931-the-bell-in-the-lake