Cloak and Dagger Challenge January Link-up
Happy New Year!! I hope you're starting the year with some great mysteries/thrillers.
Link up your January reads here:
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter...
Last Two Books of the Year
I finished my last two books of the year earlier today. I decided to make just a couple short comments about them both and that let's me start 2020 with a fresh slate.
I enjoyed this Christmassy cozy mystery. First, it's set in Pittsburgh and I know the places, which makes it fun. Second, Fiona is a good amateur sleuth. This time around, her mom's her sidekick and instigates some of the more dangerous plans. Fiona's boyfriend is a police detective, but he doesn't put her down or overly discourage her. The mystery was good with just enough clues.
I love how Georgie is up for pretty much anything in order to not have to stay with her brother and his wife. Now, she is staying with the Dowager Duchness of Eynsford and of course there's a murder. Georgie is delightful and I liked how she actually took the time to get to know the children of the house, not just the...
The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen
The Twelve Clues of Christmas was such a fun mystery! I don't know why I have never read any of this series before, but this not only worked as a stand-alone, it was good enough that I've already picked up the next.
Lady Georgiana Rannoch escapes her brother's bleak castle in Scotland by accepting a job as hostess at a house party held by Lady Hawse-Gorzley in the village of Tiddleton-under-Lovey. The house party is made up of mosty paying guests there to celebrate a traditional English Christmas, complete with caroling, parlor games, and some of the villages more peculiar customs. The problem is that people are dying, one a day, seemingly from accidents, but really how many accidents can occur in one small village? Of course they're murders. Although all the dead are villagers, Georgie feels she must do what she can to help stop the killings.
Georgie is smart and independent, and flat broke. She's entertaining and just delightful....
Sunday Salon – 12/29
Thanks to Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting The Sunday Salon. Stop over there or at the Facebook Group to participate.
Week’s Highlight:
I hope everyone who celebrates had a Merry Christmas. We had a wonderful few days with family and friends, lots of food, and presents. We also went down to see the Nutcracker Village and it actually wasn't too cold, which was nice. We had already taken a peak at the Gingerbread Village earlier in the week. I think Amber and I might learn how to make a gingerbread house over the summer and enter it into the contest next year. We're thinking of doing a series of witches' houses and starting with Strega Nona for next Christmas. She's pretty well-known right and the spaghetti pot should make her recognizable.
Reading:
I didn't post anything this week, mostly because I was doing other things. I did finish The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen, which I really enjoyed. I'll try to write some comments later this...
2020 Audiobook Challenge Sign-Up
I’m signing up for the Audiobook Challenge again this year, hosted by Hot Listens and Caffeinated Reviewer; I just forgot to sign up earlier. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, while I'm doing chores, walking, sometimes even at work. The goal of the challenge is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2020 than you did in 2019. I read 51 in 2019, so I'm just going for the Marathoner level again, which is 50+....
2019 Audiobook Challenge Wrap-up
I complete the Marathoner level of the Audiobook Challenge, hosted by Hot Listens and Caffeinated Reviewer. Here's my list:
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise PennySapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah HarariThe 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart TurtonVoice of the Violin by Andrea CamilleriThe World Beneath by Rebecca CantrellSomething Fresh by P.G. WodehouseThe Library Book by Susan OrleanSo Pretty a Problem by Francis DuncanSwing, Brother, Swing by Ngaio MarshMurder at the Mousetrap by Helena MarchmontA Murderous Ride by Helena MarchmontCherringham, Episodes #7-9 by Matthew CostelloCherringham, Episodes #10-12 by Matthew Costello, Neil RichardsThe Secret Agent by Joseph ConradKiller Thriller by Lee GoldbergWillful Behavior by Donna LeonThe Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och DagBlood Money by Doug RichardsonThe Dispatcher by John ScalziThe Crime at Black Dudley by Margery AllinghamLook To The Lady by Margery AllinghamAccessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Avis LangThe Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea CamilleriWe by...