My January #BookSpinBingo list. @TheAromaofBooks

My point total for the second half of #WinterGames2024 was 13170, to make a grand total of 30245!
@LiseWorks #HolidayBookDragons

Thanks to the organizers and all those who hosted activities for a great event!

Reading this lengthy classic gothic romance was a slog but the process was made more enjoyable with #hashtagbrigade! @BarkingMadRead

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (mountain) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterR @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#1001

I felt so-so about the first book in The Midsolar Murders but I'm starting to warm up to the main character and the cast of strange aliens. The mystery aspects in this one were pretty good too.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (new) @PuddleJumper
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I enjoyed this mystery, typical of Christie's English country-house stories but not featuring any of her famous detectives.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#FrozenSick @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterC @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#LittenListen @aperfectmjk
#ChristmasCrimeChallenge (Agatha Christie) @RaeLovesToRead

A short but poignant novel set partly during the Christmas season. I love the #VMC covers and was happy to have found this edition at a used book store.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (tbr) #FrozenSick @PuddleJumper
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#192025 #1926 @Librarybelle

Third book in the wonderful Giver series and a reread for me. In addition to moving the series along, this is an excellent coming-of-age novel.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (nature) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterM @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#LittenListen @aperfectmjk

Vicki Delany mysteries are a guilty pleasure for me. They're somewhat formulaic but always cozy and relaxing reads. This is the first in her series featuring the owner of a Sherlockian bookstore.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (cosy) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasCrimeChallenge (recommended) @RaeLovesToRead
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterV @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#LittenListen @aperfectmjk

A short companion book to Scalzi's Locked In series, worthwhile for fans of the novels.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (frozen) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterU @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This novel, a retelling of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, lived up to all the hype. I've loved everything from Percy Everett that I've read so far.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (friendship) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterP @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#ToB25

This is the beer advent calendar that I made for my husband, with a different beer in each bag. He's been enjoying opening a bag each day, though he's not necessarily drinking a beer every day! 😄
#wintergames24 @Liseworks #holidaybookdragons #photochallenge

Rereading the Giver quartet. Kira is such a wonderful character, and I'm looking forward to rereading the final two books where the storylines all come together.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (blue) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterFree @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#LittenListen @aperfectmjk

A very good installment in the Inspector Rebus series, in which Rebus investigates a school shooting that involves a family connection.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterQ @TexReader
#ChristmasCrimeChallenge (thriller) @RaeLovesToRead
#BookSpinBingo #BacklistReadathon @clwojick @TheAromaofBooks
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

This novel is slow-paced and the characters unreliable, but I found the story very moving and I expect it will stay with me for a long time.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemall (Escalavier: Arthurian) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterI @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#LittenListen @aperfectmjk

I was so happy to see a new book in the Fjällbacka series! I love the mix of cozy mystery and dark thriller. This one involves a murder in the art world and a parallel mystery decades earlier.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#ChristmasCrimeChallenge (in translation) @RaeLovesToRead
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterL @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This was a weak pick for me. The mystery element wasn't especially strong but it was a nice, light and heartwarming Christmas story.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 #MidDecemberReadathon @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition (gift)l @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasCrimeChallenge (supernatural) @RaeLovesToRead
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterA @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo #BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks

I enjoyed the story and discussion with the #NancyDrewBR group. I'd read the 1937 edition and I love the cover. It did feel very dated, however. Another car runs into Nancy's, and it costs her only $5 to get the bumper repaired!
@Librarybelle

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 #MidDecemberReadathon @LiseWorks

Here are my points for the first half of #WinterGames2024: 17075
#HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks

In this Inspector Alleyn mystery, Alleyn investigates a grisly murder that happens during the performance of a ritual English folk dance and mummer's play to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

I'm using this for my final prompt of #52bookclub24, “Set during a holiday you don't celebrate,“ and with this, I've completed my 2024 challenge!

In this Brother Cadfael mystery, a priest is discovered murdered on Christmas morning. I especially liked the historical context, which showed the strife among people supporting different political factions in 12th-century England.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks

Pratchett's satirical look at news, politics and “the truth“ seems frighteningly representative of today's world, despite the fact that it was written a quarter-century ago and involves some hilariously ridiculous situations.

#OokBOokClub @julesG
#BacklistReadathon @clwojick @TheAromaofBooks
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

I really enjoyed this Inspector Grant mystery -- the final one that Josephine Tey had written. Grant stumbles upon a murder while travelling to the Scotland Highlands for a much-needed vacation.

#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemallwinteredition #gottacatchemall (Farfetch'd: Set in the spring) @PuddleJumper
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterJ @TexReader

I managed to get 660 words for game 1 #WinterGames2024. I only got as far as words starting with 'F' before running out of time. I used to play competitive Scrabble so spent a lot of hours of my life making anagrams for fun. 😂

#HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks

Hope it's OK that I didn't mark this as a spoiler. I figured that, if anyone wants to cheat with the words, there are easier ways to do it! 😁

This was close to being a “so-so“. The plot was convoluted and barely plausible, and I would have liked to spend more time in Three Pines, but it was still a page-turner with a big finish.

I also liked the new French Canadian audiobook narrator. The previous narrators were great (arguably better) but the mispronounced words made me cringe.

#20in4 @Andrew65
#ChristmasAtoZ #letterG @TexReader
#BookSpinBingo #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

I managed to read for 16.5 hours during the #20in4 readathon. One day I'll get to 20! I spent most of it listening to Louise Penny's newest on audio but started a couple of other mysteries too.

Thanks @Andrew65 for hosting. Great to see you and this readathon back!

I enjoyed reading this novel with the #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub. It was a light and fun read. The characters were quirky, though I occasionally found them tedious and annoying.

A few passages made me laugh out loud, like the description of Hugh recovering at his club at the end of the book, and Sharp describing his state-on-mind along with the fact that “there was a bison skull on each wall.“

I finished a second book for Nonfiction November, a recently published memoir by Marie Wilson, one of the 3 commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The commissioners had to listen to harrowing testimony from survivors of Canada's residential school system. This was an informative read but some of the stories are very disturbing.

#NFN @Bookwormjillk

I had an exceptionally good November for #BookSpinBingo. I finished both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books and got 3 bingo lines as well!
@AromaofBooks

This is my TBR list for #BookSpinBingo and #WinterGames2024!
#HolidayBookDragons #EarlyBirdPoints

@AromaOfBooks @LiseWorks

1. Hot chocolate
2. Xmas day
3. Star
4. My husband is from a Canadian/German family and I'm Chinese Canadian, so when we host Christmas dinner, we have it all -- Chinese dumplings, turkey with rice stuffing and ham too!
5. Home!

#HolidayBookDragons #EarlyBirdPoints #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks

This was a low pick for me. I enjoyed it, despite the fact that some of the comments about men, women and sex made me roll my eyes. It was a fun read in an interesting setting and with great alien characters.

#ClassicLSFBC

The sequel to The Story Girl, this novel has much of the charm and the light humour of the Anne books but it is also very melancholy, with the narrator Bev looking back at his childhood with his friends.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

I started the latest book in one of my favourite series. The Inspector Gamache series is set in a fictional town but the general area is close to where I grew up and not far from an excellent Quebec brewery, Unibroue.

#FoodandLit #Canada
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

I started reading this immense tome in January and finally finished it! The first third was a slog and all of it was challenging, but now I'm sad it's over. I'll spend the next month reading articles explaining what I just read and I may even do a reread one day. I think I must be a real glutton for punishment! 😂

This was the obvious choice for the “Grimmsnarl: Read the longest book on your TBR“ prompt. #gottacatchemall @PuddleJumper

#TodayILearned what a terrible leader Henry III was. That's probably why there aren't many films or books devoted to him. Still, I'm really enjoying Costain's Plantagenet series. It's very readable, even if some of the feelings and thoughts the author attributes to these real-life characters might have involved some guesswork.

#NFNovember @Bookwormjillk
#BookSpinBingo #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

I love that Toronto Public Library created a reading list to celebrate Taylor's Swift week in Toronto!

This is the weakest of the Nancy Drew series I've read since starting from the beginning with #NancyDrewBR. It's got a bit of everything -- elephants, a charm with mysterious powers, a kidnapped boy from India -- and most of it unbelievable.

@Librarybelle

I finally got around to reading this classic, and found this post-apocalyptic novel with relgious themes to be very thought-provoking and surprisingly humorous.

#192025 #1959 @Librarybelle

I'm currently reading this collection of short stories set in my hometown of Montreal. I live in Ontario now and today bought these locally-made Montreal bagels. They're not bad but not as good as the real thing from St. Viateur Bagel.

Montreal bagels are the best! Sorry, New Yorkers.

#FoodandLit #Canada
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

My final total for #HauntedShelf: 12530 points.

@PuddleJumper Thank you for all your work in organizing this event and for being an inspiring leader for team #Flerken!

Many thanks to all those who organized #HauntedShelf readathons and challenges, especially @TheSpineView @Catsandbooks @TheAromaofBooks @Texreader @Emilymdxn @TEArificbooks @Bookwormjillk

I was finally able to fill one of the more difficult #52bookclub categories, “Author debut in second half of 2024.“ I've read a number of novels by Andrew Pyper, but this is his debut under the pseudonym Mason Coile.

This short novel is a spooky haunted house story featuring AI “monsters“. I didn't enjoy it as much as the other Pyper works I've read, but as it was set on Hallowe'en day, it was a good one to read this week.

A low pick. Inspired by Le Fanu's Carmilla, this graphic novel set in 1990's NYC features mysterious deaths, vampires and Chinese folklore. It was a good quick read for Hallowe'en night.

#HauntedShelf #Flerken @PuddleJumper
#AfterDarkBingo #BodyCountBingo #GottaCatchEmAllSpooky
#GottaCatchEmAll (Morgrem: Character has a fringe)
#Spookoween @TheSpineView

This thriller, about an FBI agent hunting a serial killer, kept me reading late into the night!

#HauntedShelf #Flerken @PuddleJumper
#AfterDarkBingo #BodyCountBingo #GottaCatchEmAllSpooky
#Spookoween @TheSpineView
#31by31 @Catsandbooks
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#HalloweenAtoZReadathon @Texreader
#RedTaylorsVersion @Emilymdxn
#LongNights @Bookwormjillk

I had read this many, many years ago and reread it just now. I'm not sure I liked it any better second time around. There were interesting sci-fi ideas but I found the plot dragged with its inconsistent pacing.

#ClassicLSFBC @RamsFan1963 @Ruthiella
#192025 #1980 @Librarybelle
#HauntedShelf #Flerken @PuddleJumper
#AfterDarkBingo #BodyCountBingo #GottaCatchEmAllSpooky
#gottacatchemall (18. Vespiquen: Yellow cover)

My November #BookSpinBingo list! @TheAromaofBooks

I felt so-so about the first book in the Scholomance series but I decided to give this second book a try, especially since it fit a couple of challenge prompts that I was finding hard to fill. I enjoyed this installment more, perhaps because I'm finally warming up to the characters.

I loved this installment of the Shardlake series, set in the later years of Henry VIII's reign. It's an excellent historical mystery with great characters (both real and fictional) and lots of political intrigue. I'm looking forward to discussing with the #ShardlakeSeriesBR group. @dabbe

A fun and creepy haunted-house story with great characters. T. Kingfisher's stories are always so enjoyable!

#PSReadathon @bookwormjillk
#HauntedShelf #Flerken @PuddleJumper
#AfterDarkBingo #BodyCountBingo #GottaCatchEmAllSpook
#Spookoween @TheSpineView
#31by31 @Catsandbooks
#BookSpinBingo #PromptMaze @TheAromaofBooks
#HalloweenAtoZReadathon @Texreader
#RedTaylorsVersion @Emilymdxn
#Witchathon @TEArificbooks

This installment of the Inspector Rebus series has Rebus sent for “retraining“ among other problematic police officers and involves several complex storylines.

#PSReadathon @bookwormjillk
#HauntedShelf #Flerken @PuddleJumper
#AfterDarkBingo #BodyCountBingo #GottaCatchEmAllSpooky
#Spookoween #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

I've been doing some #audiocooking during the Pumpkin Spice Readathon, making these mini pumpkin loaves. The Instant Pot makes cooking a pie pumpkin so easy!

#PSReadathon @bookwormjillk
#HauntedShelf #Flerken @PuddleJumper