Official 2025 Reading Challenge

[SportsFan68]

I finished Never Flinch by Stephen King, not nearly as good as the earlier Holly Gibneys IHMO.

Back to book club books, I read The invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, James by Percival Everett, and Canyon Sacrifice by Scott Graham.

[Earl the Squirrel]

May Reads

Nothing much to look at here. I was still reading, but I was dividing my time between a half dozen or more books and not finishing anything.

Strangers in Time - David Baldacci

The Quiet Tenant - Clemence Michallon

Killing Me (Amber Jamison #1) - Michelle Gagnon

Last Wool and Testament (Knit and Nibble Mystery #12) - Peggy Erhardt

41/100

All from the library, I just finished what I had to for expiration reasons.

Ironically enough, for all of the time travel books I read, Strangers in Time had nothing to do with that. It was about three disparate people (both in age and background) coming together during the London blitzes of WWII.

Killing Me was a fun, quick read. I finished the second one in June and am hoping for a longer series showcasing the same characters.

[Earl the Squirrel]

I finished Never Flinch by Stephen King, not nearly as good as the earlier Holly Gibneys IHMO.

Back to book club books, I read The invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, James by Percival Everett, and Canyon Sacrifice by Scott Graham.

I agree about Never Flinch. There was just too much going on with not much happening. I didn't care anything about the Kate storyline, even though that was Holly's main involvement, so it could have been cut completely. Instead of all that, give more time to the Juror murders. It was just line em up and mow em down no name strangers, so the body count didn't really have an impact. I would have liked to maybe get those written from the victims' POV, so we'd actually care a bit about them.

And is there ANYTHING Barbara doesn't excel at? C'mon, Steve...

Did you finish Addie LaRue? I read that a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it! It's a bit slow to start off, but so worth it. I have her latest one on hold at the library, I started off in the 100s but don't know where I am now. Hopefully they've gotten a few more copies since then.

[Earl the Squirrel]

I am currently reading The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley. This is a new author to me. Other books I've recently read....The St. Ambrose School For Girls by Jessica Ward, Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus, Listen To Me by Tess Gerritsen, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Warehouse by Rob Hart, The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch, Dan Welch, The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. The Warehouse is different from the books I typically read and took me a bit to get into it, but I ultimately enjoyed it. There is something from the book that I can't stop thinking about and it kind of makes me think of a particular Bored Merrymen, but I won't spoil it! The Kids Are All Right is a book I've been wanting to read for a while, and no other book has ever made me cry more, but I'm glad I read it. I really enjoyed The Last Mrs. Parrish and have The Next Mrs. Parrish waiting for me once I finish The Guest House. Liv Constantine is actually the pen name of two sisters who write together, living three states apart. The Last Mrs. Parrish took place in a fictional CT. town, so I wondered if perhaps one of the sisters lives in New England or even here in CT. Well, I just found out last week that she actually lives in the same town as me! I always donate my books once I'm done and am happy to forward along any that anyone here might be interested in reading!

Okay, I read the blurb for The Warehouse because you piqued my curiosity, but I'm just not in to futuristic dystopia stuff so you'll have to spoil it for me, ha!

Did you read Atmosphere yet? Yep, TJR has done it again, made me vaguely interested in a subject that I thought would bore me to tears. It helped that it was set in the 70s, so I knew some of the history. Most of the space program stuff I know about Is 60s and 70s just because we learned about it as it was happening in school. She also (as usual) made me cry buckets...

As far as living in the same town, I just recently found out that Rebecca Yarros lives in my town! They're doing a Fourth Wing night at an Avalanche game and apparently crashed the ticket queue with 40k people or so vying for 20k tickets. Meanwhile, as much as I like several of her books, I am having a hard time getting the Onyx Storm...

[a1mamacat]

Just recently discovered PD James. Damn this woman is incredible. I have yet to figure out the endings.

Also enjoying Lilian Jackson Braun’s The Cat who series. Fun stuff.

Also re-reading Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series, I have the entire collection, probably about 50

[Earl the Squirrel]

June

*denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

Slaying You (Amber Jamison #2) - Michelle Gagnon

Gothictown - Emily Carpenter

*The Indomitable Lives of Tuesday West (Middle Falls Time Travel #22) - Shawn Inmon

*Taming of the Brew (Supernatural Speakeasy Cozy Mystery #15) - Lily Harper Hart

Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid

46/100

The cream of the crop was obviously the Middle Falls book (I've gone on before about this series and just discovered that he's started another one set in London with a co-writer, yay!!) and Atmosphere, which I talked about in my response to Hottie.

[Hotseat Or Bust!]

I am currently reading The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley. This is a new author to me. Other books I've recently read....The St. Ambrose School For Girls by Jessica Ward, Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus, Listen To Me by Tess Gerritsen, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Warehouse by Rob Hart, The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch, Dan Welch, The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. The Warehouse is different from the books I typically read and took me a bit to get into it, but I ultimately enjoyed it. There is something from the book that I can't stop thinking about and it kind of makes me think of a particular Bored Merrymen, but I won't spoil it! The Kids Are All Right is a book I've been wanting to read for a while, and no other book has ever made me cry more, but I'm glad I read it. I really enjoyed The Last Mrs. Parrish and have The Next Mrs. Parrish waiting for me once I finish The Guest House. Liv Constantine is actually the pen name of two sisters who write together, living three states apart. The Last Mrs. Parrish took place in a fictional CT. town, so I wondered if perhaps one of the sisters lives in New England or even here in CT. Well, I just found out last week that she actually lives in the same town as me! I always donate my books once I'm done and am happy to forward along any that anyone here might be interested in reading!

Okay, I read the blurb for The Warehouse because you piqued my curiosity, but I'm just not in to futuristic dystopia stuff so you'll have to spoil it for me, ha!

Did you read Atmosphere yet? Yep, TJR has done it again, made me vaguely interested in a subject that I thought would bore me to tears. It helped that it was set in the 70s, so I knew some of the history. Most of the space program stuff I know about Is 60s and 70s just because we learned about it as it was happening in school. She also (as usual) made me cry buckets...

As far as living in the same town, I just recently found out that Rebecca Yarros lives in my town! They're doing a Fourth Wing night at an Avalanche game and apparently crashed the ticket queue with 40k people or so vying for 20k tickets. Meanwhile, as much as I like several of her books, I am having a hard time getting the Onyx Storm...

I have not yet read Atmosphere, but look forward to reading it soon!! If I tell you about The Warehouse, it will not have the same effect as if you were to read it and discover it for yourself. Trust me! I do not usually read dystopian tales, but it's set in the very, very near future, like it could almost be happening now ish, and there is suspense! It's a relatively short book, wouldn't take long to read. Since my previous post, I have read The Next Mrs. Parrish. I liked it, but I think I enjoyed the first one more. I also read The Summer I Turned Pretty, this past weekend. Like the Karen McManus books I read, it is a Young Adult novel, but I really enjoyed it. I just started Three Little Truths by Eithne Shortall. This is a new author for me, but I had to get it, as it was advertised as "Liane Moriarty meets Lisa Jewell"!!!

[SportsFan68]

I finished Never Flinch by Stephen King, not nearly as good as the earlier Holly Gibneys IHMO.

Back to book club books, I read The invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, James by Percival Everett, and Canyon Sacrifice by Scott Graham.

I agree about Never Flinch. There was just too much going on with not much happening. I didn't care anything about the Kate storyline, even though that was Holly's main involvement, so it could have been cut completely. Instead of all that, give more time to the Juror murders. It was just line em up and mow em down no name strangers, so the body count didn't really have an impact. I would have liked to maybe get those written from the victims' POV, so we'd actually care a bit about them.

And is there ANYTHING Barbara doesn't excel at? C'mon, Steve...

Did you finish Addie LaRue? I read that a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it! It's a bit slow to start off, but so worth it. I have her latest one on hold at the library, I started off in the 100s but don't know where I am now. Hopefully they've gotten a few more copies since then.

Yes, I finished Addie LaRue. I got the uncomfortable feeling that only two of us in the book club actually read the whole thing. I'm a little worried that will also be true at our Canyon Sacrifice discussion, not because it moves slowly but because it's not all that well written.

[Lackadaisical Stumblebum]

No posts for almost two months?? Come on, people, I know somebody has to have read a book since then!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

July

* denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

A Dark and Stormy Knit (Knit and Nibble Mystery #11) - Peggy Erhardt

*1980: A Year in the Life of Keith Diamond (1980s Time Travel Adventure #1) - Jason Ayres

Death Row - Freida McFadden

*Cables and Conjurers - Nancy Warren (Vampire Knitting Club #15)

Mirror, Mirror - Jessica Jesinghaus

*Ushers - Joe Hill

Tell Me What You Did - Carter Wilson

Every Hour Until Then (Timeless #5) - Gabrielle Meyer

*Scallops and Sorcerers (Vampire Knitting Club:Cornwall #2) - Nancdy Warren

*Sinister Snack Attack (Two Broomsticks Gas and Grill #10) - Amanda M. Lee

Lone Women - Victor Lavalle

The Ghostwriter - Julie Clark

Murder in Rose Hill (Gaslight Mystery #27) - Victoria Thompson

The Memory Collectors - Dete Meserve


60/100

Finished up a lot of loose ends this months, yet I'm still 2 booka behind schedule as of the end of October.

A lot of cozies that are nice if you like those sorts of things (as I obviously do) but nothing tremendously exciting on their own. The best was, of course, the Gabrielle Meyer one. I got excited as soon as I started it and saw that one of the MC's lives was set in 1888 London. Because we all know what that means, right? Right???

Lone Women currently holds the title of the most fucked up book I've read so far this year. Which says something since I had previously read Victorian Psycho. Tell Me What You Did and Ghostwriter were good ideas that kind of telegraphed what was going to happen. Either that, or I've read way too many psychological thrillers the past couple years and have come to expect the unexpected. Maybe a little of both...

Murder in Rose Hill was sad because the author passed last August and I'm pretty sure that she didn't have any more in the chute or they would have been published by now. And stuff was just starting to happen for a few of the ongoing plots throughout the series! Their friend Theodore Roosevelt just because president! Gino is finally ready to declare his feelings for Maeve! This means nothing if you haven't read the series, but if you know, you know.

Memory Collectors was good with a message of, no matter how much you try to change history and employ a butterfly effect, things happen as they are meant to happen.

[Lackadaisical Stumblebum]

August

* denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

*1981: A Year in the Life of Nick Taylor (1980s Time Travel Adventure #2) - Jason Ayres

*1982: A Year in the Life of Wendy Wood (1980s Time Travel Adventure #3) - Jason Ayres

*The Last Secret of Lily Adams - Sarah Blaydes

Never Flinch - Stephen King

My Lovely Wife - Samantha Downing

The Only One Left - Riley Sager

Whistle - Linwood Barclay

Asylum Hotel - Juliet Blackwell

68/100

The Year in the Life books are definitely potato chip reading; I could finish this whole series in days but I'm trying not to catch up to the author. Lily Adams was one of those Old Hollywood mysteries that was told in alternating views between the past and the present. I've already given my opinion of the new King book and I don't think Whistle lived up to the hype. After a loooong, slow burn it was tied up too quickly and neatly. You can tell he's a King fan, this reminded me so much of Needful Things and the blurb I read on another of his books was reminiscent of The Dark Half or Secret Garden/Secret Window.