Book a Week 2022 - BW38: September Equinox

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts!  The changing of the seasons is upon us with Fall in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Colorful seasons in which the palette for both fall and spring fall on the warm side.  Imagine my surprise years ago when I had my colors done and found out I was a spring.  Opened up my world to all kinds of color.  Which brings us to this season's challenge. 

Read a book with Fall, Autumn, Spring, or with seasons, weather, a body of water in the title or with colors, leaves, flowers, or trees on the cover. 

Or curl up with a good book from:

The Uncorked Librarians with 33 Vibrant Books with Colors in the Title, 

Epic Reads 23 Exquisite Palettes Inspired By Our Favorite YA Book Covers, 

Goodreads Book Covers That Give You A Fall Vibe, or with Bodies of Water in the Titles.

Every Girl's Most Anticipated New Books of Fall 2022.

Keep Inspiring Me's Books to Read in Spring.

Or challenge yourself to spell out Equinox, Autumn, Fall, or Spring, using one book for each letter from the title. 

 

Our A to Z and Back Again Letter and Word of the week are O and Observant.

 

~Cheers! 

  

Link to book week 37

Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

[Robin M]

I haven't picked out my fall read yet as I'm reading the Ordinary Magic series and currently on book 9 Brute of All Evil in which Delaney and Ryder finally get married... maybe. I think there may be a war coming but not sure yet. 🙂

"In two weeks, Delaney Reed will marry the man of her dreams. Everything is perfect. So why are the gods following her around like she suddenly needs a bodyguard?

It might be because her fiancé is forced to serve an outsider god who hates Delaney and the town she protects. It might be because the local Valkyrie hired a social media star who is determined to expose Ordinary’s secrets. Or maybe it’s because the king of hell wants to take over the world and Ordinary is standing in his way.

Whichever disaster has the gods on edge, Delaney isn’t going to let anything get in the way of walking down that aisle. But when an attempted murder and kidnapping hit with a one-two punch, Delaney must take on the pain-in-the neck gods, the nosy streamer, and all the demons in the Underworld before her chance to say “I do” is lost forever."

[Negin]

Thank you for the thread, Robin. 

I read September - 3 Stars

“If you cannot read all your books, at any rate handle, or as it were, fondle them – peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on their shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that if you do not know what is in them, you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends, let them at any rate be your acquaintances.” – Winston Churchill

[mumto2]

Thank you for starting us off, Robin.  I always enjoy the seasonal challenges and may go looking for a book set in the fall.  That said I am trying really hard to catch up with the alphabet challenge so I guess I need to find an autumn book with a P!😂

I am almost done with Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews and really enjoying it.  That’s R.  I also started listening to a new series by Karen Rose called Quarter to Midnight which I am loving.  That’s Q.

Several Bookchain reads etc are in my stack.  

[Kareni]

I finished a couple of books recently ~

 Alpha (Ghost Mountain Wolf Shifters Book 1) by Audrey Faye was an enjoyable read; I'd happily read on if my library carried this paranormal series. (No adult content but a good deal of trauma)

"A pack broken.
A pup in danger.
A submissive wolf who will fight with her last breath.

Hayden Scott doesn’t know his stroll in the woods is going to start with a backpack full of watermelon and end with him the new alpha of the Ghost Mountain Pack. A very traumatized pack, and those are only the shifters he can see. Too many are missing, hiding in the woods or worse.

His wolf doesn’t care. He has a pack. One with maple-syrup-covered toddlers, a ten-year-old boy who smells like wolf right up until he shifts, and a brave woman with green eyes and serious trust problems who defended her pup with nothing more than a tree branch and sheer guts.

The walk ahead won’t be easy, but he has a list.

Burn down the den.
Deal with the evil still stalking the woods.
Call Mom."

**

I also enjoyed the contemporary romance, The Caretaker (The Sin Bin Book 2) by Dahlia Donovan. (Significant adult content)

"Who cares for the caretaker when his burden grows too heavy to bear?

Freddie Whittle devotes his life to his cancer patients, cheese, and his overprotective fathers. His big move to Cardiff is tainted by bigot neighbors and a dismal social life. He wants something more but doesn't know what until he runs headlong into a Scottish-Maori mountain of a man.

Taine Afoa retires from international rugby feeling restless. He left his career behind and relocates for a change of pace. The last thing he expects is to become infatuated with someone who seems far too young and innocent for him. No matter how hard he tries, it's impossible to get Freddie out of his mind...."

Regards,

Kareni

[Vintage81]

Hey everyone! 👋

I've read 5 books since I last posted...

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - This was one recommended by you ladies.  I was a little nervous about the book being a bit preachy because sometimes books with this theme can tend to be that way, but I was pleasantly surprised. Elizabeth Zott was an intriguing character, and I really enjoyed reading her story. She made me want to get up off my butt and get stuff done! 🤣 I also really loved Six Thirty! My only complaint was that I felt like the author didn't really let me get to know Elizabeth except on a surface level. There was a conversation she had with the preacher towards the very end of the book about her brother and I wanted more of that kind of thing. (4.5 stars)
• Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood - I had previously read The Love Hypothesis by this same author and this was the first novella in a three part series. Unfortunately there was nothing super original in this one, and I didn't really like the novella format. There was a lot of backstory missing and the ending was really rushed. I don't plan on reading the other two in the series. (2.5 stars)
• The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis - This book follows Lillian Carter eight months after losing her mother from the Spanish flu in 1919. Lillian is a famous, although anonymous, model known as Angelica. Her face/body is on hundreds of statues and landmarks throughout New York. After losing her mother, though, work dries up and she gets into trouble with her neighbor. In order to hide out, she starts working at the Frick mansion as the private secretary for the daughter of the famous Henry Clay Frick. The story follows her life while at the house, which is full of drama, romance, and mystery. There is also a dual timeline that's interesting. The ending was a little too perfect, but this was still a fun read. (4 stars)
• Every Summer After by Carley Fortune - I put this book on hold at my library several weeks ago after y'all recommended it here, and it finally became available! I really enjoyed the first 85-90% of the book...the dual timelines were really effective. I'm not a fan of the big twist/reveal that was used...it kind of made things feel icky after that. Overall, I still enjoyed the story. (4 stars)
• The Viking Handbok: Eat, Dress, and Fight like a Warrior by Kjersti Egerdahl - This was a book that was part of our World History study for school, obviously about the Vikings. It was an interesting and fun read. (4 stars)

Edited September 20, 2022 by Vintage81

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, Vintage81 said:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - This was one recommended by you ladies...

Glad to hear that you enjoyed it, too!

1 hour ago, Vintage81 said:

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune - I put this book on hold at my library several weeks ago after y'all recommended it here, and it finally became available! I really enjoyed the first 85-90% of the book...the dual timelines were really effective. I'm not a fan of the big twist/reveal that was used...it kind of made things feel icky after that....

Yes, I found that reveal to be not at all what I'd been anticipating, but overall I also enjoyed the book. 

The Magnolia Place sounds intriguing.

Happy reading!

Regards,

Kareni

[Mothersweets]

Hi everyone! I actually finished a book - it only took me 2 weeks, ha.

Kissing the Gunner's Daughter by Ruth Rendell. This is book 15 in the Inspector Wexford series but the first I've read. It looks like my library has the series and several of those on audio so I will be reading more! 

[Laurel-in-CA]

I read the first Margaret Coel book, set on an Arapaho/Shoshone reservation in Wyoming, with a Jesuit priest and an Arapaho woman lawyer as lead investigators. It was so good that I was hooked and am now on #11 of the series of books. I won't detail all the titles here, but these are excellent mysteries!

[mumto2]

4 hours ago, Laurel-in-CA said:

I read the first Margaret Coel book, set on an Arapaho/Shoshone reservation in Wyoming, with a Jesuit priest and an Arapaho woman lawyer as lead investigators. It was so good that I was hooked and am now on #11 of the series of books. I won't detail all the titles here, but these are excellent mysteries!

The first one in that series was already sitting on my Kindle.  Planning to try it soon!

[Robin M]

Once I got up to date with the Devon Monk's Ordinary Magic series, dove into Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy series with Sapphire Flame, Emerald Blaze, and Ruby Fever in which Catalina and Alessandro are tested time and time again.  Exhausted just reading their exploits. LOL! 

Jumping back into Keri Arthur's Lizzie Grace series with book 6 Deadly Vows. 

"Evil comes in all forms … and sometimes it wears a human mask.

When the body of a newlywed is discovered on the reservation, Lizzie Grace throws herself into the investigation, needing a distraction from what she fears is coming not only for her but also Belle—her best friend and witch familiar.

But as the body count grows and a desperate race begins to track down a supernatural entity capable of powerful magic, it becomes evident another deadly game has begun—one they may not win.

Because the past—and the man—they ran from thirteen years ago has finally caught up with them.

And he’s out for revenge…"

 

[mumto2]

I just finished the first book in a historical romance series that has a paranormal theme for one of my bookchains.  It was surprisingly good and i am looking forward to continuing the bookchain with the next in the serie.  A Wolf in Duke’s clothing by Susanna Allen.......https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54438803-a-wolf-in-duke-s-clothing

Alfred Blakesley, Duke of Lowell, has long been an enigma. No one dares to give a man of his stature the cut direct, but there's simply something not quite right about him. What would the society mamas say if they learned that the something they sensed was the fact that Alfred is a wolf shifter...? He's been looking for his mate for a long time, but not just any young lady will do for him, or for his pack.

Felicity Templeton has one goal: to remain unmarried. If she can manage that until her twenty-fifth birthday, she stands to inherit a large fortune. But when she meets Alfred, the dashing duke is determined to have her for his very own...and a wolf who's a duke can be very persuasive...

[Kareni]

@mumto2, I read  A Most Unusual Duke: A Steamy Shapeshifter Regency Romance by Susanna Allen six months ago. It was a fun read.

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I've finished two more books, science fiction romances, which I enjoyed. (Admittedly, my favorite book by the author remains Dark Horse.) ~

Breakaway (Verdant String Book 1) by Michelle Diener

"She's the key to everything . . .

Sofie has a choice--she can eke out an existence in the shadow of Felicitos, the tethered way station where she works on the breakaway planet of Garmen, or she can to bring it crashing down. When she teams up with Leo, a man who's dedicated his life to fighting her enemies, her choices start to narrow, until her secrets are the only thing keeping her alive.

Leo is all too aware he doesn't know enough about Sofie, something his own security detail is not slow to point out, but he can't keep away. When Sofie reveals her links to the resistance, and shows him those in control of Garmen have begun swimming in even more dangerous waters, he realizes his plan to overthrown them in a careful operation of a thousand cuts is no longer workable.

The time has come for a single, lethal strike--and that will not be without consequences . . ."

**

And, from the same series, a collection of two novellas: Interference & Insurgency (Verdant String) by Michelle Diener

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Yesterday I learned that a new book in a favorite series had been released. I promptly bought and read (until midnight) Murder in All Fury: A Doyle & Acton Mystery by Anne Cleeland. It was fun revisiting these characters, but I don't even try to solve the mystery.

"The much-anticipated homicide trial for the fentanyl murders was going forward, but Doyle couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d overlooked an important suspect, along the way.
It may have been because Acton was being more secretive than his usual, and was taking great pains to keep his wedded wife away from the trial, and away from the evidence, which would be presented.
Or, it may have been because there’d been a string of arson fires, which appeared to be related to the fentanyl case.
Regardless, it seemed that it would be left to the fair Doyle, to try to piece together who’d really killed the popular MP—so long as she could do it between breast-feedings, a cheeky toddler, and having to deal with a missing nanny."

Regards,

Kareni

[bookbard]

Finished an excellent book, but I think this is about the time that Robin switches over to a new thread, so I will wait! 

[Robin M]

Link to week 39