MobileRead Book Challenges discussion

Goals:

* Read 24 books
* Keep statistics up to date
* Enjoy reading

Statistics:

Books read: 52
Pages read: 16311
Rereads: 1
Audio book: 0
New authors: 14
Abandoned books: 2

Active series:

* Matthew Corbett (2/7)
* Hillary Greene (7/18)
* The Paper Magician (2/4)
* Lady Darby (6/9)
* Pieter Vos (2/4)
* Black Winter (2/4)
* Wyman Ford (3/4)
* Haunted (1/4)
* Witches of Lychford (2/5)
* Arthur Conan Doyle (1/2)

Series finished/abandoned/back burner:
* Nora Kelly
* Ruth Galloway
* The Beckoning Dead
* The Bayou Hauntings
* Ghostland Trilogy
* Shadow & Bone Trilogy
* Guido Brunetti
* Sebastian St. Cyr
* Gravekeeper

July/August Challenge:

Random Reads
* The Treatment (Jack Caffery #2) by Mo Hayder
* One by One by Ruth Ware
* The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh (DNF)
* The List of Seven by Mark Frost

Reserved

Reserved

First!

First read of the year:

The Good House by Tananarive Due.

An okay story. The thing that bugged me most was the foreboding in the first half of the book. Often a chapter would end with words like "little did she know that ...". I hate it when authors do that, if the story is good the reader has enough motivation to keep reading.

I shouldn't have picked such a long book. Yes, it was good, but too long for me at this time. Although I'm really itching to read the new Dresden Files books and despite being in the mood for a Peter F. Hamilton sci-fi book I'll keep to shorter books for a while. Just to get into reading again and not be discouraged by longer reads.

Now I'm back in the mood for reading and I can't buy new books! I have a pre-paid credit card and the company providing that is switching banks. Which means that at the moment you can't easily put money on it.

I'm going to look into the Dutch Amazon site. I've hold off switching for ebooks because there wasn't a wishlist option. But they introduced that recently. I'll have to see if they have all the books on my wishlist. I won't be able to buy 1-click items (ebooks) with my debit card, but I can buy myself a giftcard to use for ebooks.

Bianca, do they offer Kindle Unlimited Or Prime Reading to Prime Members (if you have a Prime Membership)?

In the Netherlands they only offer Prime Video, not Reading or Kindle Unlimited (yet). Which is a shame, because there are quite a few of my must-read authors that offer their books through those services in the US.

But I think now that the wish list function is introduced it might be a good time to switch to the Dutch Amazon, if they offer the same books as in the US that is. But I'll check that later this week.

I hope you find what you want!

The Cat Who Robbed a Bank by Lilian Jackson Braun
This was what I needed, a visit to Moose county. Quick, easy and entertaining.

On with the latest release by Wendy Webb.

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb
A bit on the soppy side for me, and I figured out the "twist" about half way through. But an entertaining enough read.

Currently my biggest problem with reading is that I need to find a way to get myself to read more regularly. I find myself not reading for day, or just a couple of pages a day. And then, most often on the weekend, spend a full day reading. I planned to read a little while before going to sleep every night, but I have yet to implement that.

The Scorpion's Tail by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.

A nice, uncomplicated story. I feel that the Agent Pendergast series by Preston & Child is a burned out at the moment and this is a nice spin off.

So far four books this month, not bad. I thought I wouldn't add anymore book to this month, but I'm about to start the Shadow & Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, which starts with two short stories. I should be able to finish those before midnight on Sunday. They don't add much to my page count, will mess up the average of pages per book, but will be good for my book count on GR.

The Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo
and
The Witch of Duva by Leigh Bardugo

Two short stories to kick off the Shadow & Bone Trilogy. Normally I'm not fond of short stories in a series. Often they are too short to tell a proper story. But not these. I enjoyed them and they piqued my interest in the rest of the series.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
It's been a long while since I've had this much trouble putting a book down. Although it's a fairly typical story for this genre I really enjoyed it. I have to keep myself from reading the next book and spread it out.

January was better than expected, full novels and two short stories, 1781 pages in total. I'll keep on choosing books I feel like and not plan my reading for now.

White Fox by Sara Faring.
I really enjoyed this one, just over a year ago I read Faring's first book and also enjoyed it, but the ending didn't really work for me, too rushed. This one is very spooky and it categorization as a Young Adult novel is deceiving.

Currently I tend to start a new book, binge for two or three days and then when I've almost finished it I stop reading for days, until make myself finish it. Then I don't start a new book for a couple of days. I need to break this and make myself start my next book tonight or tomorrow. My intention to read 15-30 minutes before going to sleep hasn't worked out yet.

Murder in the Village by Faith Martin.
Very enjoyable. The focus of this book wasn't so much the titular murder in the village but the over-arching story. I'm curious how protagonist Hillary Greene will take what happened at the end of the book. I like this series, it isn't exactly a cosy, but it comes close. Something of a cross between Inspector Morse and Midsummer Murders (tv series, not the books).

Blasphemy by Douglas Preston.
A good enough read. Entertaining and quick.

It looks like the battery of my Kobo is dying. Last week it kept losing it's charge quickly. I hoped it was due to the cold (I have no central heating in my bedroom and it can get cold at night when it's -16C outside). Last week it got warmer and for a couple of days my Kobo worked fine. Until Saturday, when it lost it's charge quickly, I recharged and the same thing happened. It might be something a factory reset will solve. But for now I got my Kindle Paperwhite loaded with my current books and I'm enjoying using it. It's almost as if I have a new gadget to play with.

Stake by Keven J. Anderson
A better than okay vampire book (or is it?), it isn't your typical vampire story, that made it interesting. It did feel a bit rough around the edges, but I can't explain how. I do think the ambiguity of the existence of vampires could have been handled better.

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths
The latest book in the Ruth Galloway series. A good story, the ending suggests possible changes for one or more of the main characters in the series.

I've read every day for the last three weeks. Sometimes it's only a couple of pages. On other days, like yesterday, I read more than half of a book. I'm not reading as much as before my reading slump, mostly because of other hobbies I've found and because I'm now the one responsible for all of the housekeeping and cooking, since my mother's operation. I'm still trying to vary my reading. Not too much of one genre of author in a short period of time. I just pick books that catch my fancy for one reason or another.

Crota by Owl Goingback.
Creature features are either hit or miss for me. I really enjoyed this one. It was the first book by this author and I agree with others that it's a bit rough around the edges. Especially in the beginning some things were described in detail when that was necessary. I also would have liked to know more about the inhabitants of the lost city and their dealings with the monster. Recommended, though with a warning it's gory at times. I've put this author on my to read list.

A Brush with Shadows by Anna Lee Huber.
A great story and a quick read. Although it took me a couple of days to finish the last 50 pages, since I was busy with life.

Last week I treated myself to a small binge buy of books I've had on my wishlist for a while. I bought four books, all of the horror and/or ghost stories. So I guess I'm going on a horror binge, they're all different enough that I shouldn't burn out before finishing them.

The Haunting of Winslow Manor by Ambrose Ibsen.
Very enjoyable. I often wish Ibsen's books were longer, with a bit more detail.

Instead of continuing with my horror binge I decided I was more in the mood for the next Hillary Green book

Murder in the Family by Faith Martin.
Nice, uncomplicated crime story. As I said before I'm really enjoying this series. The characters, the locations/setting it just works for me.

Now back to my recent purchases. The latest in The Bayou Haunting series. I somehow missed this release, despite it being one of my favourite series.

The Proctor Hall Horror by Bill Thompson.
Possibly my favourite book in this series so far. What is evil in the Proctor Hall, the humans or the ghosts, or both? Unlike most series there is very little storyline carried over from one book to the next, so you easily read these out of order if you want to.

Now a longer book, 500+ pages. Will I finish it before the end of the month?

Afterlife by Duncan Ralston
The second book in the Ghostland Trilogy. The first one was meant to be stand-alone, with an open ending. But Ralston couldn't help himself. In this book we learn more about the afterlife and the ethereals (ghosts) and it sets up the story for the, hopefully, epic third book.

Now a reread, the first in the Witches of Lychford series. I've read this first book years ago, before the second book was released. I thought it was okay (three stars), and now I'm curious about the rest of the series. But since it has been six years since the first read and it's only 144 pages I thought a reread is necessary.

Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell
Six years ago I gave this book three stars, now I'll give it four stars. Mostly because I now know it's the start of a series, as a stand alone book it felt not really unfinished exactly, but not a full story. Also, my tastes have probably changed during that time. A quick read, the other books in the series seems to be short ones too, ideal to read as a quick palate cleanser.

Now onward with the second book in Darcy Coates' Black Winter series, once the cookies I just baked are cooled down that is.

Secrets in the Dark by Darcy Coates
A good second book in the series.

I've got two long (800+ pages) books on my soon to be read list. On the one hand I really want to read them. On the other I'm afraid to burn out again. One is a fantasy one and I've decided that I can't start it until I have finished one of the two similar fantasy series on my current series list. The other is sci-fi, a Peter F. Hamilton book, first in a duology set in his Commonwealth world. I love these series, but the books are always slow reads for me.

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

I'm taking the plunge and will start a long book, almost 800 pages. It's a stand alone book, that way, if I burn out it won't ruin a series for me.

Inside Perron Manor: Investigating Britain's Most Haunted House by Lee Mountford
A very promising prequel to the Haunted series. I love the format.

The Haunting of the Lost Mansion by Riley Amitrani
Meh, too sappy

Haunted: Perron Manor by Lee Mountford
A good ghost story. It did creep me out in some parts, which rarely happens.

Having read 24 book means I've finished my GR goal for this year.

Also, so far in April I've read more pages than in the previous 6 months. I hope to finish my current book before the end of the month. If I do I haven't read this much since September 2019

Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Looking at the reviews this is a love-it-or-hate-it novel. I'm one of those that's feeling ambiguous about it. It promises a lot. But it doesn't fully deliver. It could have been a lot more creepy, but it wasn't. It dragged, the main character going from clue to clue, until about 60% of the book they weren't getting anywhere. But every time they meet someone who has information that person spills it without any problems. The ending is open, very ambiguous. Normally not a problem, but it annoys me with this novel.

But I read almost 3000 pages this month, so that's great.

The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel by K.T. Rose
The story itself is promising, the execution wasn't good. It was too inconsistent; the story line, the character's behaviour, the dialogue. There were times that it wasn't clear when a flashback started or ended, which was confusing.

I should have not finished it, but I did want to know how it ended (not that satisfactory).

Up next: the next two short stories in the Shadow & Bone Trilogy and probably after that the third book in the series.

I'm having a, hopefully, a small reading slump atm. The previous book I read wasn't that good, but I was intrigued enough to finish it. It took me longer to read than normal for a book of that length. Now I'm reading the last book of the Shadow & Bones trilogy. I guess I'm just sad that it's the last book, I've enjoyed the first two.

Tomorrow is a public holiday, Ascension Day. I plan to spend much of it reading and playing Cozy Grove (I love that game).

Little Knife
The Too-Clever Fox
Ruin and Rising
all by Leigh Bardugo

I liked the ending of the Shadow & Bone Trilogy. Some things ended sad, some good. I will miss it, though I know Bardugo has two other series set in the same universe/world

Next I'm reading the sixth book in the Hillary Green series by Faith Martin. Which should be quick and enjoyable. And after that The Dream Weavers by Barbara Erskine. My first book by her, I'm a bit worried it might be to romatic for me, but we'll see.

I love the Hillary Green series!! I think I got the suggestion from your posts. I'm on 12 I think now. The more Faith Martin writes the better the prose.

I'm taking it slow, because I don't want to burn out on the series. But I love the series as well. The books aren't long and they are quick reads, ideal as a palate cleanser between heavier/longer books or when you don't know what to read, but they aren't easy snack books that you forget quickly.

I read the first half yesterday, today is my chore day, so I don't know if I'll be able to finish it, but otherwise tomorrow.

Murder at Home by Faith Martin
Very enjoyable. Even though it was a quick read it felt like a proper read. I like how Hillary Greene dealt with the stalking officer and I'm very curious what is going on with her latest team member.

The Dream Weavers by Barbara Erskine
A good story, I thought I hadn't read anything by Erskine, but according to Calibre I read one of her books a while back.

Transient Desires by Donna Leon.
Good enough.

Hotel Chelsea by Jeremy Bates.
I've been putting this one off for a while. I love his earlier books, but the more recent ones are meh. This one was okay, not stellar, until the end. Only at the end of the book the reason for the hauntings at the Chelsea Hotel is revealed. It was in the vein of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

It would have been better if the cause of the hauntings was revealed earlier in the book and the characters had to deal with it properly. Now we got an info dump in the epilogue with an update on the characters, which was very unsatisfying.

Note: I just saw that I finished 10666 pages with this book. I find the last three numbers appropriate since devil worshipping was mentioned in the book.

I went on a small book buying binge. Three book by Darcy Coates, so I'm now all caught up again. One book by Owl Goingback, earlier this year I really enjoyed his debut novel. And the latest Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes book. I think I might not have read the previous one, so I need to get going on this series soon.

What the Devil Knows by C.S. Harris
I just love this series. It's definitely my favourite historical mystery series, closely follow by the Lady Darby series.

Bianca wrote: "I went on a small book buying binge. Three book by Darcy Coates, so I'm now all caught up again. One book by Owl Goingback, earlier this year I really enjoyed his debut novel. And the latest Mary R..."

I have some Darcy to catch up on. I have so many books I want to read, I keep forgetting to go back and grab her books that I haven't read yet.

I just discovered that Coates' next book is released on September 7, I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks on the 6th, so I now have one book for my reading list.

Bianca wrote: "I just discovered that Coates' next book is released on September 7, I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks on the 6th, so I now have one book for my reading list."

Excellent timing!

Impact by Douglas Preston
Fun story.

I had planned to read the latest book by Andy Weir, but since Impact had a space theme I decided to read the latest book by Darcy Coates first.

I'm thinking of doing a mini challenge in July or August.

Calibre has the option to randomly pick out a book and I'm thinking of doing that for a month. There are a couple of rules I have to keep to:

* I'll focus on unread books, though if it picks a book that I've already read and I'm in the mood for it I can reread it.
* I give myself 3 passes; if I don't want to read a certain book I can skip it.
* If it chooses a book of a series I'm currently reading I read the first unread one in the series.
* There are several series that are on the waiting list to start when I finish a current series, if Calibre picks a book from those series I get a free pass.
* If Calibre chooses a book in a series that I want to try out and I have multiple books in that series I'll read the first one.

I'm not sure if I want to do this challenge in July or August; on the one hand I have a bunch of books on my TBR-soon list that I really want to read. On the other hand my reading pace is slow, so I won't be able to read many of those anyway.

The Whispering Dead by Darcy Coates

and

The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell

Murder in the Meadow by Faith Martin.

Since I finished this book on the 30th and wasn't about to start a new book until the next day, the 1st, I thought it was a good opportunity to do the random challenge in July.

The first book Calibre picked was one I had DNFed after the first two chapters due to racism and sexism (The Sunbird by Wilbur Smith) and I'm not going to give it another try.

Next Calibre picked a book in Mo Hayder's Jack Caffery series. I read the first book years ago, liked it, got the other books in the series and never read them. Today I'll start reading the second book in the series and see if I'm still interested in this series.