Week in Review #19

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

Nothing go on here but the up and down weather. I guess Winter is finally hitting since it's getting close to February. We have had snow, then 55 degrees and now back to being in the 30s today. This week is going to be nasty too with snow/freezing rain mix. I am so ready for spring!

Have a great week!

Books I have added

 Nothing! The Streak continues...lol.

Books read last week

 

• The Mitford Murders - I enjoyed this start to a series. It is set around the 1920s and this first book was based on an actual murder which I found interesting.
• The Hollow - This is the second book in the Sign of Seven trilogy and enjoyable. I am looking forward to finishing out this trilogy soon.
• Sew Deadly - The first in the Southern Sewing Circle and it was enjoyable. I liked the MC okay but my favorites were some of the side characters.
• Devil in a Blue Dress - This was an okay start to a series. I am curious to try another.
• Eva Evergreen, Semi Magical Witch - This was cute! :)

Currently reading

 

• Secrets in the Stacks - I am about halfway through this on audiobook.
• Grilled 4 Murder - I haven't read much on this one but I finished a lot of the others and want to finish this one this week! It's been sitting on this list for to long...lol.

What might be up next

 Probably going get started on some February reads because I am doing my Retro Romance Readathon with a couple lovely co-host on Youtube and most of them are print books! :)

How was your week? What did you get?

Week in Review #18

 

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

It was a nice quiet week and that is how I like them! My jaw doesn't hurt anymore though the inside of my mouth were the teeth were still feels weird but guessing that is because they are missing and it's still healing.

I have been enjoying the nice weather but now it's to rain and get a bit colder...boo. Hope it doesn't get to bad.

Have a great week and happy reading!

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of Daisy Darker

Review of Murder on the Serpentine Bridge

Books I have added

 Nothing in Three weeks! How long with this streak last...lol. Probably not long.

Books read last week

• Lady of Milkweed Manor - Christian Historical that was more just regular historical fiction than romance. I know it's a clean one but I didn't even really know who she was going to end up with as there was no real indications of a romance, but it was still okay.
• Murder on Amsterdam Avenue - One of my favorite series so loved it! This is #17 of 26 so getting closer to catching up. :)
• The Blessing Way - First in a series and it's from 1970 so it was decent for start to a series, I will read more. I just found out they made a tv show out of this series called Dark Winds!
• Welcome to Feral - Fun and different graphic novel for middle graders. It was several short stories about the town of Feral and the spooky things that happens.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Cute but so not like the movie! Mr. Potts is married and they chase after burglers not going to a strange land.

Currently reading

• Grilled 4 Murder - I read little on this one so 33% into it.
• Sew Deadly - I read a bit on this one so 44% into it. This one has to be done this week so will concentrate on it.
• Devil in a Blue Dress - Read a tiny bit on this one so 20% into it.
• The Hollow - Listening to this on audiobook and I have around 7 hours left.
• The Mitford Murders - Listening to this one on audiobook and have little under 9 hours left.

What might be up next

 Not a clue, need to finish what I have going...lol.

How was your week? What did you get?

Two Bloggers One Book ~ Daisy Darker

 

This is a thriller I was curious about and so Barb and I tried it and we both were not fans...lol. Sometimes our taste align! Go check out Barb's thought at Booker T's Farm!

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed. 

My thoughts:

This book was really hyped as everyone was loving it, but there was one booktuber who hated it and since I like her channel it got me curious to see if I would like it or not and I wanted to know why she hated it. So I tried it and brought poor Barb along with me...lol.  I really don't get the hype on this one.

It's not just that the whole Darker family is horrible and unlikable and I didn't care if they all died, but it was so very boring. I am curious if I just like the thought of isolated thrillers but don't actually like them because I recently did a reading vlog on my youtube channel because of this book and well I didn't really care for all three isolated thrillers I read. I do think a lot of times it comes down to the ending in thrillers and well that was really the downfall of this one for me.

I really hated the ending, it made me roll my eyes a bit. I guessed parts of what was going on but there was a couple surprises but for me not good ones. It's hard to explain because its the ending but it just didn't work for me. 

I do want to try this author again but I will go in a bit hesitant and not expecting as much as I did with this one...lol. 

2 stars

Review of Murder on the Serpentine Bridge

 

I didn't want to share all of the synopsis because it contained spoilers as it is a series and some might now want to know certain things.  Below contains what the mystery is about. 

When Wrexford and their two young wards, Raven and Hawk, discover a body floating in Hyde Park’s famous lake, that newfound peace looks to be at risk. The late Jeremiah Willis was the engineering genius behind a new design for a top-secret weapon, and the prototype is missing from the Royal Armory’s laboratory. Wrexford is tasked with retrieving it before it falls into the wrong hands. But there are unsettling complications to the case—including a family connection.

Soon, old secrets are tangling with new betrayals, and as Charlotte and Wrexford spin through a web of international intrigue and sumptuous parties, they must race against time to save their loved ones from harm—and keep the weapon from igniting a new war . . 

My thoughts

This is one of my favorite series and this one was a hit as well! 

Charlotte, Wrexford, Raven and Hawk are some of my favorite characters! In this one Charlotte has to meet some relatives that she doesn't know well and finds out that they have a ward too. This ward will be title when he grows up but for now his gaurdians take care of those things, but Charlotte could tell right away that his gaurdians (the man anyway) didn't like the kid because he was of mix race. I loved how when the adults needed to be somewhere Charlotte volunteered to take in the young man whom Raven and Hawk too to very quickly and nicknamed him Falcon. 

This book has a lot of stuff going for it and was very interesting but I feel like if I was to talk about some of the things that went down it would be spoilery. What I found interesting about this is thinking about how it must have been back then to come up with a new invention like a weapon but then thinking maybe others shouldn't have such a thing, but then people want it (like governments) and the things that people will do to get it so they can sell it or gain favor.

Love this series and highly recommend it if you enjoy historical mysteries with some great characters!

5 Stars

Week in Review #17

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

 Hi everyone! Hope you have had a great week!

It's been an interesting week here but nothing real bad. My jaw is still a bit sore but I can at least eat actual food and not a diet of mash potatoes...lol. The two holes in my gums just fill weird but I guess until it heals completely up it will...lol.

The weather in January here has been so weird, but I like it as it's warmer than normal...lol. Those having storms and flooding, I hope all are safe!

Have a great week and happy reading!

Books I have added

Nothing!

Books read last week

 

• The Island - This was the most boring action packed thrill I have ever read...lol. I feel like I should have liked it more, but with characters that I didn't feel like I knew well enough to root for actual seem to make this a bit more slow going as it should have been for me. It says it's going to be a TV show on hulu and I actually think it would be good for that.
• Back of Beyond - This is billed as a thriller, crime, mystery and I didn't feel like it had very much of any of that in it. It wasn't a bad read just not real thrilling and the investigating parts were very few and in between the large amounts of being with those out on the riding trail. So just a so so type of first in series.
• Daisy Darker - I might be in the minority though don't feel bad as I buddy read this with my friend Barb and she hated it too. We both didn't care for the ending, seemed like a bit of a copout. I also felt like this leaned a bit to heavy on being a rip off of And Then There Where None. It was also just boring at least to me. I can see why others would really like it though.
• Murder at the Serpentine Bridge - One of my favorite series so I knew I would enjoy this one! So thank goodness for favorite series to save the week! :)

Currently reading

 

• Sew Deadly - I didn't read any on this one this past week.
• Grilled 4 Murder - I only read a little on this one.
• Devil in a Blue Dress - I read a chapter.
• Lady of Milkweek Manor - I read the most on this one and I am little over halfway.

I have been in the middle of a lot of books and just not reading a lot this month. I am okay with that as I think I just needed a bit of a break and seem to have taken off in January with a lot of projects (end of year video content) also watching lots of youtube. I am trying to get back my motivation for doing Keto/Carnivore lifestyle by watching lots of youtubers who are doing this lifestyle. :)

Hopefully I will get one of these books read but if you see them next week you know why...lol.

What might be up next

 

• Murder on Amersterdam Avenue - I really love the Gaslight series and one goal is to catch up on it this year. I am on #17 of 26.

How was your week? What did you get?

Week in Review #16

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

The first week of the new year is down! Hope everyone has had a great start to the new year. 

I got to start mine off with a bit of pain. I had two wisdom teeth pulled that were nasty and should have been taking out a long time ago, but money is always a factor. They started to really bother me in October of last year and I found a place that was income based and got in and he gave me antiboitics that time and scheduled me for teeth extraction on Jan. 4th.  That was the worst experience of my life! I wasn't fond of dentist and I now never want to see one again. The top tooth came out okay but the bottom one had to be surgically removed and he dug and pushed and drilled and I could feel a lot of it and he tried deading it like 5 times one right in the nerve and OMG it hurt so bad. That was on the 4th and my mouth is still tender and I haven't ate anything solid since the appointment. I have tried but it makes my jaw hurt so not a happy person and hungry. 

Let's hope the rest of January is great! 

Have a great week and happy reading!

Books I have added

 Trying to be good about my grabs, lets see how long that last...lol.

Books read last week

• Amari and the Great Game - This was a fun sequel and I enjoyed it but I did like the first one better.
• Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives - Slightly better than the first one but still just more of the same from the first one. Felt a bit like the show The Following but decent.
• No Accident - A young adult thriller that sounded interesting but wasn't.

Currently reading

• Devil in a Blue Dress - So this is a pick from the new tbr game that I came up with on my youtube channel. My game is a work in progress but I thnk it will be fun. Just started it at 5%.
• Back of Beyond - Is also a pick from the tbr game. I think it's okay but not really much of a crime mystery thriller to me, not a lot has really happened and I am over 60%.
• Grilled 4 Murder - An eARC I am working on and one of my favorite series. I am about 17% in.
• Sew Deadly - A group I am in on discord is doing a read-a-long of this series. It's not bad so far and about 21% into it.
• The Island - Trying to do a themed vlog for my youtube channel about isolated thrillers and it's not going great as first one was meh and this one is just okay so far and I am 66% in.
• Lady of Milkweed Manor - This is part of project read my own books or get rid of them. :) I did a try a chapter of five and picked this one. It's not bad but only 37% into it and trying to see how things are going to work for the two MC's as it's a complicated pairing.

What might be up next

How was your week? What did you get?

First Quarter Anticipated Reads for 2023

 

Some books that I am really looking forward too! Most are books from authors I have read before but a few are new to me.

• The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels - I have read one book by this author and enjoyed it. Her books are the kind that have mixed media and you read through it trying to figure out what happened.
• Don't Open the Door - I read Sorority Girls last year and thought it was a standalone thriller but nope they took a secondary character and made a series. So I am curious how this second one is going to be.
• The Golden Spoon - New to me author and it's being billed as Only Murders in the Building meets The Maid, so year I was curious. :)
• Last Known Location - Knew to me author but it sounds interesting as it's about a woman who has complications with a neighbor leaves for the weekend, hooks up with a guy, he is gone in the morning, but then she sees him again in the ER as he has had an accident. She feels like she is being watched and thinks maybe it has something to do with the guy and not her. 
• A Sinister Revenge - The 8th book in the Veronica Speedwell series and after what the author did to me with book 7 she best have fixed it! I was not happy how that one ended. 
• The White Lady - This is a new series by this author and I have been meaning to read the Maisie Dobbs series and I haven't so why not a new series by the author...lol.  This one is about \Former wartime operative Elinor White—veteran of two wars, trained killer, protective of her anonymity—when she is drawn back into the world of violence she has been desperate to leave behind.A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, and exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government.
• What Have We Done - I have read the authors other two books and really enjoyed them so can't wait to try and see if it will be a hit too!
• Whale Done - I love the Funjungle series and I read the whole series in 2022 and can't wait for this newest installment!
  
• Cameron Battle and the Escape Trial - The second book in  the Cameron Battle series about a young man who is a decendent of an ancient hidden kindom and has to save it.
• The Unforgettable Logan Foster and the Shadow of Doubt - The second book in the Logan Foster series about a kid who was adopted by superheroes!
• The Grace of  Wild Things - I like this author so I am curious about her Anne of Green Gable's retelling as it's with witches...lol. Those I know who have read Anne say it sounds nothing like that book except for it mentions orphans. :) 

So there you have it books I am looking forward to trying in the first quarter of 2023, I could have listed more but I wanted to stick with just a few that I really wanted to read and not just because they sound cool.  You can see where my reading is right now as these are all either mystery/thrillers or middle grade. :) 

What are you anticipating?

Week in Review #15

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

Happy New Year everyone!!! I can't believe we are on to a new year! Hope it's a great one for everyone! 

I had a pretty low key Christmas and New Years Eve. I am not much into going to parties or anything so just stayed home and read my books. :) 

Have a great week and happy reading!

Books I have added

 

• The Grace of Wild Things - Okay so this is suppose to be a retelling of Anne of Green Gables but with witches. Now I have never read Anne so I don't have a clue if the synopsis even sounded remotely like it besides an Orphan, but sounds kind of cool and I like this authors.

Books read last week

• Christmas Ransom - This was good but I hate reading out of order so now I need to go back and read book one and two. :)
• High Spirits - The most non Christmas looking Christmas cozy ever...lol. It was good.
• Menace From the Deep - First book in the Killer Species series and it was an okay sort of horror adventure type for young readers.
• Brimstone - I really like this series! This was book five in the Pendergast series. This was a chunky one!
• Mrs. Roopy is Loopy - It's the third book in the My Wierd School series and it's silly fun.
• Big Shot - This is the 15th book in the Country Club series and one of my favorite series!

Currently reading

• Amari and the Great Game - I should have gotten to this one earlier but instead it will be one of my first books of 2023! Loved book one, so I am sure this will be great too!
• Clown in the Cornfield 2 - It was on my Libby and it needs to go back so just decided to start listening to it. It's okay but has things in it that I don't care to read about.

What might be up next

• Murder at the Serpentine Bridge - Another one I should have gotten to in 2022 but failed too!
• Daisy Darker - Everyone seems to like this one so I am curious to see if I will like it or hate it...lol.

How was your week? What did you get?