My pick for favourite book of November for #12Booksof2024
Miss Marple at her absolute best.
@Andrew65
Andrew65 Not one I‘ve read yet. 11h
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My pick for favourite book of November for #12Booksof2024
Miss Marple at her absolute best.
@Andrew65
My pick for favourite book of October for #12Booksof2024
A nice mix of local history & spooky goings-on which was a perfect read for Halloween month.
@Andrew65
pickAfter an incident nearly derails her career, Eve Wren finds herself working at the Crown Prosecution Service in London. Eve is keeping her head down at her new job, when she is suddenly taken off the case she was working on & moved to the biggest case at present. Cult leader Patrick Nye & his followers, known as 'The Seven', are standing trial after unexpectedly pleading not guilty to detonating a bomb in a London theatre killing 43 people.
My pick for favourite book of September for #12Booksof2024
Two men disappear from inside a locked gatehouse years apart never to be seen or heard from again. Part of the 'Rachel Savernake' series this is a great mystery.
@Andrew65
This made me laugh. My mood map from The StoryGraph showing if you prefer lighter fun reads (high) or darker reads (low) compared to your friends. Its not even close 😂😂
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My total points haul for this year. Really enjoyed it. Thank you for hosting.
so-soMaeve & Derwent are on the team to investigate a spate of attacks on police officers. Maeve is also struggling with her knowledge of Superintendent Godley's corruption & boyfriend Rob's preoccupation with something or someone else.
Re-reading this in a clearer state of mind than being angry at the author throwing Rob 'under the bus', I can see more nuance this time but Derwent's predatory behaviour in this one still rankles.
My pick for favourite book of August for #12Booksof2024
This is a slow burn historical fiction novel about a woman who marries a doctor who promises to cure her mother of TB. They travel to the asylum where rich patients are given the run of the place but something is not quite right.
@Andrew65
My pick for favourite book of July for #12Booksof2024
Again quite a poor month for really good reads. This was the best of them.
@Andrew65
pickA fictional imagining of the life of Mary Jane Kelly, known to history as the fifth & final victim of Jack the Ripper in 1888. Little is definitively known about Kelly - we are even unsure as to whether that was her real name - so there's a lot of scope.
This started off a little 'Catherine Cookson' but I was quickly drawn into Mary's story which covers her early years up until leaving the village in Wales where she was born (in this story).
so-soDC Becky Greene receives some odd post at work - an advent calendar but behind every door is a photo from a crime scene. Is it a prank or is it real? An investigation into the photos reveals that they are real scenes & crimes & it seems someone has been killing for 20 years - one death a year in the month of December. Greene is paired with DS Eddie Carmine who has a link to one of the crimes. Can they catch the killer?
My pick for favourite book of June for #12Booksof2024
I love a good book about the Kennedys & this one was very good.
@Andrew65
Day 29 Prompt - Naughty
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Took a while to find a book with Naughty on the cover that wasn't erotica!
Day 28 Prompt - Ice Skating
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Childrens book.
My pick for favourite book of May for #12Booksof2024
This novella from Mel Torrefranca's 'Belladonna' series about the students of Nightshade Academy is practically perfect. The second full-length book in the series is due out May 2025.
@Andrew65
My pick for favourite book of April for #12Booksof2024
It seems April was a low point for books in my reading of 2024 & I struggled to pick something that stood out. I finally went for this book in JD Robb's 'In Death' series as I love the series & the characters, even if this one wasn't one of my favourites.
@Andrew65
pickA fictional take on the life of Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, up to the WWII. As a young woman, Hedy stars in a play onstage & gains an admirer. He is a powerful Austrian arms dealer, & may be the key to allowing her & her family to evade Nazi persecution despite their Jewish heritage. Her husband turns out to be controlling & jealous & when Hedy overhears the Third Reich's plans at a dinner party one night, she decides to flee.
Day 27 Prompt - Cards
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Christmas romance.
My pick for favourite book of March for #12Booksof2024
From my review:
“It's wild to realise that what we think of... her death is mostly based on conjecture which doesn't hold up under close scrutiny. Evidence here suggests that KP did not die of puerperal fever, but lived for several days afterwards with no sign of illness .....................Her death was mightily convenient for her enemies & her husband“
@andrew65
pickIt's like sitting down to afternoon tea with Moore & having him regale you with Hollywood gossip. Funny, self-deprecating, & ever -so-slightly ribald, he must have been a riot at dinner parties. Featuring stories about (but not limited to) Michael Caine, Tony Curtis, Frank Sinatra, & Cubby Broccoli, this is an undemanding & humorous read. 4🌟
Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1107636060
Read 18th-24th Dec 2024
Day 26 Prompt - Scrooge
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Day 25 Prompt - Pinecone
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Catching up from yesterday with a short novella romance.
pickMolly is your average 15-year-old, wanting to join a band, live under the radar at school, & being totally embarrassed by her parents being 'The Rocking Stockings' a Christmas band. Back when Molly was just a small child & her parents were known as the 'Brussel Shouts', they made a Christmas record called 'Love Your Elf' & Molly starred as 'Little Elf Girl'. A fact Molly has been trying to hide ever since. (continued)
Day 24 Prompt - Angel
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Day 23 Prompt - Mistletoe
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I have this series on my Kindle but not read it as yet. Maybe next year (but probably not).
pickWhen Guy Haines meets Charles Bruno on the train he has no idea his life is about to unravel. On his way to see his estranged wife to hopefully obtain a divorce, Haines finds himself confiding in fellow passenger Bruno almost against his will. Bruno has his own trouble, namely his father, & during a quiet meal in Bruno's compartment, Bruno comes up with the idea of swapping murders.
Day 22 Prompt - Snow
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This one is on my TBR list.
Day 21 Prompt - Magical
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panThis looked a promising thriller in the synopsis & I really enjoyed books set in/on isolated areas. I found this one a little underwhelming though. Although the idea is good, the POVs for Dee & Tori were not differentiated enough by their characters, & I had to keep checking who was narrating a particular chapter as it could have been either. (continued)
Day 20 Prompt - Cheer
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Cosy Christmas mystery.
Day 19 Prompt - Firewood
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Childrens' book.
pickA collection of short ghost stories all written by the author. Like many collections, it's a mixed bag - some of the stories are really quite effective with the ambience & creeping sense of menace, whereas others either wander off into too much extraneous detail or frustratingly fizzle out just as they're getting good. Given James's background, it shouldn't come as a surprise that so many of the stories are based around religion & the Church.
Day 18 Prompt - Tree
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An episode of series 3 of Supernatural sees Sam & Dean take on a couple of pagan gods who take human sacrifices in the Christmas season. I've never been able to view meadowsweet the same since.
Day 17 Prompt - Wreath
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A Christmas cosy mystery. No, I haven't read it.
Day 16 Prompt - Bows & Ribbons
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A Christmas story about the owner of a gift-wrapping store called 'Ribbons & Bows'. To no-one's surprise: I haven't read it.
pickThis penultimate (for now) book in the series examines the dark side of....Morris dancing. Yes the traditionally twee pastime involving dressing in a costume, with bells, & banging wooden sticks together! I might have been more incredulous had I not read a book earlier this year (or last year) about the old practice of wassailing & its more sinister side.
Day 15 Prompt - Yuletide
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A collection of festive short stories by indie authors. Haven't read it.
Day 14 Prompt - Bells
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Cozy mystery - haven't read it.
pickI wasn't sure whether I liked this book right from the start but there was something about it that kept me reading. It did pick up into a decent thriller apart from the absurdity of Yasmin driving an eighteen wheeler along the ice road in a heavy snow storm. Suspend your disbelief there!
Day 13 Prompt - Family
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I immediately thought of Little Women. The 1994 film is my favourite screen version & I love the book.
pickThis is a comparatively short read for a crime thriller at under 300 pages but it packs a punch. I was simultaneously sympathetic to Madeleine & suspicious that she might not be being completely truthful. It was fairly fast-paced due to the length but I thought that the ending was a little weak. 4🌟
Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5966872614
Read 8th-9th Dec 2024
Day 12 Prompt - Candy Cane
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Cosy mystery.
