Carol's Notebook

52 Books in 52 Weeks 2026

December 5, 2025February 10, 2026 by Carol1 Comment

By the end of the year, I will have completed 2025's 52 Books in 52 Weeks main challenge. (I did not do so great at the mini-challenges.) I read a lot of books I enjoyed, some of which I wouldn't usually have picked up, so I'm signing up again this year. Here's the list: Set in an ancient civilization Kangaroo word on the cover - The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley Written without quotation marks - The Killer Question by Janice Hallett Has a dust jacket Featuring a conspiracy Title starts with the letter “O” Title starts with the letter “P” A three-syllable word in the title Featuring a natural disaster Spans a decade or more Requires suspension of disbelief A genre-defining read Bookface Includes a character list - May Contain Murder by Orlando Murrin A subtitle with commas Deus Ex Machina Author’s bio mentions their dog Provokes strong emotion A nosy neighbour character - A Very Novel Murder by Ellie Alexander Day of the week in the title Written in the 1800s Spotted in a TV series or movie Grumpy sunshine trope Uneven number...

Cruisin’ thru the Cozies 2026

December 4, 2025February 2, 2026 by Carol1 Comment

We all know I love cozies, so of course I'm signing up for the Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge again. It's hosted by Yvonne at Socrates’ Book Reviews. I’m aiming at being an investigator, reading 20 cozy mysteries of my choice hopefully including one from each of the categories below. One from culinary – One from animal-related – One from craft related – One from paranormal – One from cozy mysteries based outside the US – One career-based cozy mystery – A Very Novel Murder by Ellie Alexander One holiday based – One travel mystery – One historical mystery – One is your choice! – Books read:...

Nonfiction Reader Challenge 2026

December 4, 2025December 5, 2025 by Carol1 Comment

I am signing up for the Nonfiction reader challenge again this year. It's hosted by Shelleyrae at Book’d Out. The hashtag is #ReadNonFicChal. The challenge is to read nonfiction books from twelve different categories. I’m going with the Nonfiction Nipper option again this year, reading three from any three categories. The categories are: History Memoir/Biography True Crime Science Health Food South East Asia Humour (Humor) Lost or found Television Subculture Published in 2026 Books read:...

Murder Most Haunted by Emma Mason

December 4, 2025December 4, 2025 by Carol1 Comment

Midge McGowan has just retired from the police form. She was a detective, but has spent most of her career stuck in the property room. As a going away gift the force gives her a weekend trip for one to a haunted mansion on the weekend before Christmas. Midge doesn't want to go for several reasons, but her wife insists. It works as the setup for the mystery and a reason was given, but what a terrible gift. So, off Midge goes on the bus with the other guests, the driver, and the tour host - a rather odd mix of people. Of course, it's not long until someone is killed and the house is cut off from the outside by the snow and an active firing field. I think this might be the first I've read where the house was cut off from help by a firing range. Midge is a good lead. She's smart, observant, and often overlooked. I...

2026 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge Sign-Up

December 1, 2025November 25, 2025 by Carol30 Comments

I’m thrilled to be hosting the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge again. I love mystery and crime novels! Challenge Rules: You can read any book that is from the mystery/suspense/thriller/crime/true crime genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres. You don’t need a blog to participate but you do need a place to post your reviews to link up. (blog, Goodreads, Instagram, etc.) Make a goal post and link it back here with your goal for this challenge. Books need to be at least 100 pages long. Please no short stories. Crossovers with other challenges are fine. The Challenge will run from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st. (Sign up ends March 15.) We still have our facebook group so if you haven’t joined we would love for you to! Here’s the group’s link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/350512171977943/. It’s a closed group so just ask to join and we’ll let you in. There will be a monthly link-up so we can see what everyone’s reading – and probably add some...

December Cloak and Dagger Link-Up and Wrap-ups

December 1, 2025December 4, 2025 by Carol3 Comments

Happy December! I am looking forward to the holiday and some time off work. I'll also read a bunch of Christmas mysteries this month - anyone else? Link you Cloak and Dagger reads below or in the comments. If you have a wrap-up post, you can link it too. You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter We're also having an end of year giveaway for this year's participants. The prize is one book of your choice up to $25 from bookshop.org if you are in the US or a retailer of your choice if you're in another country. Just fill out the form below and I'll pick a random winner on January 15. Loading…...