Carol's Notebook

Read Christie 2026

January 6, 2026March 27, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I am a huge Agatha Christie fan and love participating in the Read Christie challenge hosted at agathachristie.com. This year the theme is “Biggest, Best, Beloved” books. There are “official” selections, but you can also choice to read alternatives. The hashtag is #ReadChristie2026. January - Best Opening - The Body in the Library by Agatha ChristieFebruary - Beloved Character(s) - Mrs. McGinty’s Dead by Agatha ChristieMarch - Biggest Impact on You As A Young Reader - Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieApril - Beloved in your Collection - A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha ChristieMay - Best Short Story Collection (The Labours of Hercules)June - Best to Read in One Sitting (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd)July - Best-Kept Secret (The Rose and the Yew Tree)August - Beloved Duo (By the Pricking of My Thumbs)September - Best According to Agatha (Endless Night)October - Best Cold Case (Sleeping Murder)November - Biggest Inspiration (And Then There Were None)December - Best Seasonal Read (Hercule Poirot’s...

Literary Escapes Challenge 2026

January 6, 2026March 19, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

The Literary Escapes Challenge hosted at Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book is one I don't do great at but have fun keeping track of. The goal is to read 1 book set in each of the 50 states + the District of Columbia. (51 Points). If you complete the challenge you earn 50 Bonus Points. You also can earn Bonus Points for books set in Countries around the world. 1 Bonus Point for each country – no repeats. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California - A Very Novel Murder by Ellie Alexander Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine - Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Greece - The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah England - The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie Australia - Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson Sweden - The Living and the Dead by Christoffer Carlsson Nigeria - My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Canada - Alibi by Accident by Kayleigh...

2026 Audiobook Challenge

January 6, 2026January 6, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I’m signing up for the 2026 Audiobook Challenge, hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About. I might be a bit of an audiobook junkie. My goal for the year is 75+, which puts me at the Over-Achiever level. The hashtag is #2026AudiobookChallenge. Also, June is Audiobook Month, so there will be a special mini-challenge just for the month. Books read:...

The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie

January 6, 2026January 6, 2026 by Carol4 Comments

The Sittaford Mystery is a stand alone that doesn't feature and of Christie's usual characters. The book starts off with a party held in a stately manor in the middle of nowhere during a snow storm. The guests are an interesting mix and they decide to try table-turning, a way of contacting the spirits based on the movements of the table they are all sitting around. The table soon announces that the owner of the house, Captain Trevelyan, who is not present, has been murdered. Everyone assumes it is a joke in very bad taste, but Trevelyan's friend, Major Burnaby, decides he need to walk six miles in the snow to the house Trevelyan is renting, to check on him. Trevelyan has, of course, been murdered. We get a nice mix of amateur and official investigation here. Our amateur sleuth is Emily Trefusis, the fiancée of the man being held for the murder. She is determined and clever. She teams...

January Cloak and Dagger Link-Up

January 1, 2026December 30, 2025 by Carol3 Comments

Happy New Year!! For those of you who are new to the challenge, welcome! To all the returning readers, I’m glad you’re joining in again. If you haven’t officially signed up for the challenge yet, head to the 2026 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge post. Does anyone have their first book of the year planned, cloak and dagger or otherwise? Let us know in the comments. Or have you already finished your first book? You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter...

The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore

December 30, 2025December 30, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

I thought a Christmas romance would be a fun read for December. This one was like a paperback version of a Hallmark movie with a bit more spice. It was good enough, but I'm not much of a romance reader and found it dragged a bit. I do appreciate that for the most part Kira and Ben actually did communicate decently. The reasons their romance didn't proceed as smoothly as it could have made sense and were minor in the grand scheme of things. And the happy ever after was cute enough....