2024 Reading Challenge discussion

What's the newest book you've picked up and started? How is it so far?

I just started The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Only a couple of chapters in, but so far I am really enjoying it!

I just finished two excellent books: A Prayer for Owen Meany and A Gentleman in Moscow.

I am now finishing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in preparation for the Popsugar August monthly read discussion, and Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir which is definitely outside my usual wheelhouse. Not into graphic novels and the artwork in this one is not particularly appealing to me...

Then I'll continue with Me Before You for an August Buddy Read. I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy this one. Also, I'll continue The Martian Chronicles for another Buddy Read. I definitely did not read this when I was younger and am wondering exactly where it is going after just 8 pages! Then I plan to begin The Souls of Black Folks and White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism for August Bookworm Bitches monthly reads, as well as Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You for an IRL/now virtual book club meeting in August. I also plan to read Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America at some point in the near future--hopefully in September.

Trial by fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, raised by wolves book 2, its a good series if you like werewolves and a strong female main character

2 fuzzy, 2 furious by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, the unbeatable squirrel girl novels book 2, fun read about Marvel super hero the unbeatable squirrel girl, really fun reads, if you haven't read the comics you can enjoy the novels

From Ilona Andrews, two really good Kate Daniels novels set in an alternate future in Atlanta

Magic Slays #5

My review: www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3483301346

Gunmetal Magic #5.5 - with Andrea Nash in an overlapping timeline

My review: www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3484128846

I'm reading so many things...

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon- slowly with a friend
Fire and Ice by Erin Hunter- buddy reading with my son
Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye- aloud to my son
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Eldest by Christopher Paolini- on audio with my son
In the Woods by Tana French- on audio (without my son)
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

I’m still reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January and really enjoying it a lot. I don’t want to rush to the end (I like pondering about what’s going on between chapters), so I’ve just picked up something new to start in the meantime: The Kingdom of Back, which is a fantasy about Mozart’s sister. I’m very curious about it and plan to read it while listening to Mozart’s music. And it will fit perfectly for one of the prompts of August’s “I’m with the band” challenge!

East of Eden by John Steinbeck -- some people say it's a page turner but I am having difficult time continuously reading through it. Story is good but it has not yet piqued my interest for me to look forward to reading it on a daily basis. I hope the story gets better from chapter 8 onwards.

I just started with Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie and liking it so far. I love how Agatha develops the characters in the beginning as the plot unravels

From Ilona Andrews, 2 more in the Kate Daniels series -

Magic Rises #6 - I had a few quibbles with this one, but I liked the major advancement in the overall story arc of Kate's mission.

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3487219651


Magic Steals #6.5 - can be read as a standalone adventure with Dali Harimau and Jim Shrapshire. This was my introduction to the KD books.

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3487225819

I finished my 75th book

Ilona wrote: "What's the newest book you've picked up and started? How is it so far?

I just started The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Only a couple of chapte..."

I really enjoyed that one.

I am halfway through The Space Between Worlds on Kindle.
Tomorrow we are off on a mini two-day vacation which will involve some beach time but I don't think I can bear to be two days away from this book.
I will take it as my early morning read for the hotel and then take a paperback for the beach.

Christine wrote: "I finished my 75th book"

Christine, can you share with us which book(s) you are currently reading?

I read and change my list every few days it seems . I find different author styles dictate whether I can stay with a book from start to finish. As of today, I have
Shiver ( a recommendation)
What Alice Forgot (for a challenge)
Lonesome Dove ( reread and for a challenge)
Into Thin Air (for a challenge)
Oliver Twist ( for a challenge)
Dancing with Dragons (for a challenge)

John Rey wrote: "East of Eden by John Steinbeck -- some people say it's a page turner but I am having difficult time continuously reading through it. Story is good but it has not yet piqued my interest for me to lo..."

I hope it picks up for you John Rey. I'm reading it also and I'm almost done. I should finish it next week. It's probably going to get a five-star rating from me. (I do remember the first couple chapters being fairly slow while all the characters are introduced and their back story is being set up - also a lot of long, loving descriptions of the Salinas Valley in the early going.)

Small Magics is an anthology by Ilona Andrews. Fans of the Kate Daniels universe will want this book just because "Curran's POV" is about 40 percent of it.

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3489106953

Oh I will do that llona

Currently ready May I Be Happy by Cyndi Lee. About halfway through and it's quite good. Might also help that I've met and trained in restorative yoga with her so I get her humor and tone.May I Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Yoga, and Changing My Mind

Almost finished with The Fated Sky! I do so love Kowal's Lady Astronaut series! I have made some progress on Learning Race, Learning Place: Shaping Racial Identities and Ideas in African American Childhoods. Very interesting academic publication exploring the formation of racial identity as "comprehensive racial learning," an active process among children, rather than the passive process typically termed "racial socialization." I will be continuing to read that as well as Me Before You which I believe will be another enthralling read.

Then I plan to launch into The Martian Chronicles, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You for an IRL/virtual book club meeting later this month, and The Souls of Black Folk for a Bookworm Bitches monthly Read.

Will the long awaited confrontation with the master villain occur in Ilona Andrews' Magic Breaks #7?

My review- www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3490930537

I’m reading a book called My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

Raising Lumie by Joan Bauer

And still reading Trial by fire, raised by wolves book 2

I'm currently reading A darker shade of magic.
Fave characters:
Kell
And Rhy 😘😍

Magic Shifts #8 in the Kate Daniels UF series can be read as a mystery standalone with a missing person case.
But why miss out on the fun of the preceding books by Ilona Andrews?

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3492926600

Magic Stars #8.5 - Kate Daniels fans will not want to miss this one

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3494406104

I’m reading a book called The Dilemma by B.A. Paris

By Ilona Andrews, Magic Binds #9 - this feels like a transitioning middle installment in the Kate Daniels series

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3496007965

I finished:


The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Swag by Elmore Leonard

Also, as part of a group read, I started (and am already about halfway through):


The Bad Seed by William March

I have been on a string of books that I rated 3 stars (liked them well enough, but didn't love them) including Utopia Avenue, She's Come Undone, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

Currently reading The Vanishing Half, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Night Watch.

I’m reading a book called Dreamweaver Trail by Emily March

Just finished The Kingdom of Back and my next book will be Songmaster by Orson Scott Card. This has sat on my shelf for years and I wasn’t intending on reading it soon but decided to pick it up for the August challenge “I’m with the band”. Don’t know much about it yet, but it’s about singing (my biggest passion) and it’s by the same writer as Ender’s Game which I loved, so I’m excited.

I finished The Vanishing Half yesterday and loved it. The writing was fantastic and the story was so good - I'm a sucker for good multi-generational family tales. I also read Mary Oliver's Dog Songs yesterday - I'm not a huge poetry fan but her work is lovely and often speaks to me.

Started Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist, it's interesting so far. Very different from The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys.

This was a great start to Ilona Andrews's new spin off urban fantasy trilogy -

Iron and Magic - also could be read as #9.5 in the Kate Daniels series

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3500998639

Currently reading , really late to the party on this one. Good so far!

update to message #14 -
completed 5/6

I know have only 3 on the go :
The girl in the spiders web ( a challenge )
A dance with the dragons ( a challenge)
Dark Lover ( for 2 challenges)

I am currently reading Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments. Book 1:- City of Bones.
[email protected]

I am reading the The Night Circus.....

Beautiful, enchanting and well written....

I finished:


East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen


Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

I've enjoyed all the Graham Brack novels I've read so far, and the second in the Master Mercurius historical mystery series is another winner. Untrue till Death takes place in the Netherlands in the 17th century, full of murder and intrigue with the author's trademark humour.
4.5★ Link to my Untrue Till Death review

Anthony Horowitz's popular Magpie Murders has another fan. Two mystery novels in book. Loved it!
5★ Link to my Magpie Murders review

Bright by Duanwad Pimwana

I’m reading a book called Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I finished:


The Bad Seed by William March
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


A Touch of the Creature by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

Just finished Me Before You which I loved! I'm anxious to pickup a copy of After You from my favorite bookstore on Saturday and hopefully read it in early September! Also finished The Martian Chronicles, which was amazing, especially considering that it was published in 1949! Ray Bradbury was a man before his time!

Just started The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafefor a bit lighter fare and am finishing Learning Race, Learning Place: Shaping Racial Identities and Ideas in African American Childhoods. Plan to read Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You for a virtual (IRL) book club meeting this coming Sunday. Then on to The Souls of Black Folk and White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism which I should receive by the weekend.

This week I finished The Intuitionist6271] (not quite sure what I think of it yet), American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Hollywood Park: A Memoir, and Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone.

I'm currently reading Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.