Reading Challenge/Goals for 2024

[OKW8297]

3. Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

 

[Wood Nymph]

6/30 - Peril at End House - by Agatha Christie - volume 6 in the Hercule Poirot mysteries

I really enjoyed this mystery. Hercule Poirot was stumped until the end, which made him seem "human".

from website:
Nick Buckley was an unusual name for a pretty young woman. But then she had led an unusual life. First, on a treacherous Cornish hillside, the brakes on her car failed. Then, on a coastal path, a falling boulder missed her by inches. Later, an oil painting fell and almost crushed her in bed. Upon discovering a bullet-hole in Nick's sun hat, Hercule Poirot decides the girl needs his protection. At the same time, he begins to unravel the mystery of a murder that hasn't been committed. Yet.

 

[Beezle2]

15/75 Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
16/75 Bookshops and Bonedust by same
Both just some fun, light, high fantasy. Both charming full of fun characters. These books have been in my tbr pile for a while and I'm glad I finally got to them.

 

[bobbiwoz]

10/80

The 272 by Rachel L. Swarns

For more than a century, the Catholic Church financed its expansion and its institutions with profits made from the purchase and sale of people they enslaved. This chapter of Church history has only recently come to the attention of the public.

"Without the enslaved, the Catholic Church in the United States as we know it today would not exist," writes author Rachel Swarns. She says the priests prayed for the salvation of the souls of the people they owned, even as they bought and sold their bodies.

In 1838, the Jesuits sold 272 enslaved people, which helped save what is now Georgetown University from bankruptcy and helped stabilize the Jesuits in Maryland. Swarns wrote about this sale in 2016 in the New York Times article "272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. What does It owe Their Descendants?"

This was as difficult to read as any book about concentration camps in WWII. I learned about this history in a recent issue of US Catholic Magazine which I have subscribed to for all my adult life.

As far as reading, I think it’s more a 3.5/5, it’s informative and I finished it because I think it’s an important book.

 

[Lumpy1106]

2/20 Hugh Howey, "The Hurricane" (3/5)
3/20 Taylor Jenkins Reid, "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" (5/5)

 

[Beezle2]

10/80

The 272 by Rachel L. Swarns

For more than a century, the Catholic Church financed its expansion and its institutions with profits made from the purchase and sale of people they enslaved. This chapter of Church history has only recently come to the attention of the public.

"Without the enslaved, the Catholic Church in the United States as we know it today would not exist," writes author Rachel Swarns. She says the priests prayed for the salvation of the souls of the people they owned, even as they bought and sold their bodies.

In 1838, the Jesuits sold 272 enslaved people, which helped save what is now Georgetown University from bankruptcy and helped stabilize the Jesuits in Maryland. Swarns wrote about this sale in 2016 in the New York Times article "272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. What does It owe Their Descendants?"

This was as difficult to read as any book about concentration camps in WWII. I learned about this history in a recent issue of US Catholic Magazine which I have subscribed to for all my adult life.

As far as reading, I think it’s more a 3.5/5, it’s informative and I finished it because I think it’s an important book.

That must have been a tough one. I will put it on my tbr.

 

[Kirby]

#12 - Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarrows. Second book of the Empyrean series. Genre - Fantasy
I absorbed this book as quickly as the first one and at the end I actually wailed "Noooooooo!" out loud. I rate both books 5/5.
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else��s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won��t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

 

[Needsanap]

Catching up

7 The Woman in the Library
8 Still Life
9 The Late Show
10 Senator’s Wife

 

[Simba's Mom]

A few more!

#4 "Betting on Bernie", Martha Marks. A true life story of a long term marriage filled with love, and beating the odds....until the end. 5 stars

#5 "Max's War: the Story of a Ritchie Boy", Libby Fischer Hellman. All I can say is if you get a chance, read anything about the Ritchie Boys of WWII. Fascinating! 5 stars

6. "The Unofficial Guide to WDW 2024" So many errors of things that no longer happen (like delivery of your purchases to hotels) and some things need to be updated. 3 stars

 

[bobbiwoz]

A few more!

…

#5 "Max's War: the Story of a Ritchie Boy", Libby Fischer Hellman. All I can say is if you get a chance, read anything about the Ritchie Boys of WWII. Fascinating! 5 stars

…

@Simba's Mom told me about the Ritchie Boys, and I found “Sons and Soldiers” by Bruce Henderson to be an excellent read about these men! Also 5/5! 11/80

When we were on a European Cruise in 1998, we sat at dining table with 12 people whom we didn’t know, but who were a very interesting group. Steve and Marianne were Jews who were sent out of Germany before WWII when they were able to get out. Marianne was with her family, but Steve was sent by his family and made it to Great Britain, where during the war he was in British Intelligence.

So, I was aware that things happened but never knew about these men who fought in the army and provided much of the correct intelligence that help the Allies win WWII.

 

[melk]

7/30 Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Adam and Amelia are having problems in their marriage but when Amelia wins a weekend away in Scotland she hopes this might be just what they need. But someone doesn’t want them to have a happy ending.

While I didn’t find the book particularly gripping there were several twists that I never saw coming. Overall I enjoyed it because nothing was what I thought it was.

 

[disneychrista]

#9 Faithless - Karen Slaughter

The victim was buried alive in the Georgia woods–then killed in a horrifying fashion. When Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver stumble upon the body, both become consumed with finding out who killed the pretty young woman. For them, a harrowing journey begins, one that will test their own turbulent relationship and draw dozens of life into the case.

For as Jeffrey and Sara move further down a trail of shocking surprises and hidden passions, neither is prepared for the most stunning discovery of all: the identity of a killer who is more evil and dangerous than anyone could have guessed.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Catching Up:

7/40 - The Party by Robyn Harding
8/40 - The Teacher by Freida McFadden
9/40 - The Last Dawn
10/40 - Prognosis Critical by Jane Bailey
11/40 - Every Last Secret
12/40 - No Exit by Taylor Adams

 

[Beezle2]

17/75 Little Thieves by Margaret Owens
Vanja is the adopted god daughter of Death and Fortune. She was also a dutiful servant to the princess until a year ago. An enchanted string of pearls can change a lot of things though.

 

[Needsanap]

Another one
Dark Scared Night by Michael Connelly

 

[Kirby]

#13 - Coconut by Florence Olajide. Genre - Biography/Memoir
‘Why am I not white like everybody else?’ Nan came and sat on the edge of my bed. ‘What do you mean?’ A tender finger brushed against my cheek. ‘Well, everyone in this house is white. Why am I Black?’

A generation of Nigerian children were born in Britain in the fifties and sixties, privately fostered by white families, then taken to Nigeria by their parents.

Coconut is the story of one of those children.

1963, North London. Nan fosters one-year-old Florence Ọlájídé and calls her ‘Ann.’ Florence adores her foster mother more than anything but Nan, and the children around her, all have white skin and she can’t help but feel different. Then, four years later, after a weekend visit to her birth parents, Florence never returns to Nan. Two months after, sandwiched between her mother and father plus her three siblings, six-year-old Florence steps off a ship in Lagos to the fierce heat of the African sun.

Swapping the lovely, comfortable bed in her room at Nan’s for a mat on the floor of the living room in her new home, Florence finds herself struggling to adjust. She wants to embrace her cultural heritage but doesn’t speak Yoruba and knows nothing of the customs. Clashes with her grandmother, Mama, the matriarch of the family, result in frequent beatings. Torn between her early childhood experiences and the expectations of her African culture, she begins to question who she is. Nigerian, British, both?

Florence’s story is an unputdownable tale of loss and loneliness, surviving poverty, maltreatment and fighting to get an education. Most of all, it’s a moving, uplifting and inspiring account of one woman’s self-determination to discover who she is and find her way to a place she can call home.

 

[OKW8297]

4. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Hamel. Set in WWII France. Outstanding story .

 

[bobbiwoz]

4. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Hamel. Set in WWII France. Outstanding story .

I agree!
12/80
James Herriot, “All Creatures Great and Small.” After the Series ended for the season on PBS, I decided to read the book again. 5/5

 

[evilmommie]

Is it too late to join? I was part of the group last year and it was fun checking in! I’ve noticed my reading has dropped down, so it would be great to come in and report my reads and see what everyone else is reading!

My goal is 35 and I’ve read 2 books! Need to get going!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Is it too late to join? I was part of the group last year and it was fun checking in! I’ve noticed my reading has dropped down, so it would be great to come in and report my reads and see what everyone else is reading!

My goal is 35 and I’ve read 2 books! Need to get going!!