Thursday, December 31, 2020
My Favorite Books of 2020
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Monday, December 28, 2020
Thursday, December 24, 2020
I Did a Reading Thing this Year...
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
These Kids Are Getting Books for Christmas 2020
Allllllllllll aboard. So my three favorite children (who happen to be my little cousins) are forever and always getting books from me come Christmas. And this time I had to do absolutely zero questioning (well, a little sneaky question or two) concerning which titles they wanted.
The going-on thirteen-year-old is still into The Last Kids on Earth series. Easy! The ten-year-old mentioned something about some Rowley Jefferson character. Evidently Rowley is a spin-off from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. She never took to the Dork Diaries series. Which I always saw as the girl's version of Wimpy Kid. But what works will work, baby! As for the eight-year-old, good ole Dog Man will seem to continue to do this year. And, as always, when I go buy books I donate to the Toys & Books Drive. This year, some lucky kid is going to get some Sailor Moon manga!
Monday, December 21, 2020
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Saturday Night Clean-Up
You know what this means...? Time to clean up and get rid of some books! What's going to make the cut?
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
TWO Up-Coming 2021 Black Mystery Releases...
Naturally, I have these books sprinkled all over my virtual book-buying carts in anticipation. But just as a friendly reminder, here's what we all have to look forward to (all links are Amazon/author's website affiliate)...
Runner (A Chicago Mystery #4) by Tracy Clark
"Chicago in the dead of winter can be brutal, especially when you're scouring the frigid streets for a missing girl. Fifteen-year-old Ramona Titus has run away from her foster home. Her biological mother, Leesa Evans, is a recovering addict who admits she failed Ramona often in the past. But now she's clean. And she's determined to make up for her mistakes–if Cass can only help her find her daughter.
Yet, it seems Ramona doesn't want to be found. Ramona is holding secrets dark enough to kill for, and anyone who helps her may be fair game. And if Ramona can't run fast enough and hide well enough to keep the truth safe, she and Cass may both be out of time."
I am so, so glad Tracy Clark and her P.I. Cass Raines [see labels] is back. Four years. Four books. And a thousand or so more to go will do me just right. The only hard part is the wait! But, as always, I remind myself not to rush life. Cheers for another Cass book to start the summer off with.
~.~
Murder by Page One: A Peach Coast Library Mystery from Hallmark Publishing by Olivia Matthews
After one of her friends becomes a suspect, Marvey sets out to solve the murder mystery. She even convinces Spence, the wealthy and charming newspaper owner, to help. With his ties to the community, her talents for research, and her fellow librarians’ knowledge, Marvey pursues the truth. But as she gets closer to it, could she be facing a deadly plot twist?"
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
FINALLYYYYY! An Update on Marcia Muller's Next Sharon McCone Mystery
Soooooo, y'all know I take the time every other day to look for new releases from authors I love. And nothing is more punishing than waiting years between releases. So I thought Marcia Muller was done with her Sharon McCone P.I. mystery series, after 2018's release of The Breakers. Low-key... I was panicking a little about the woman and whether or not she was coming back. You know, given how we lost Grafton four years ago. Grafton's passing was the reason I buckled down in 2018 and read through the entirety of Muller's McCone series. And, hell, I finished the series excited for more. Sooooooooo, here we are YEARS later (and at the tail end of this craziness of 2020) with the announcement of the next Sharon McCone mystery. I, naturally, just hate to wait until August for it. UGH! Anyway, I and many Muller readers finally got our answer in McCone's 35th case, Ice and Stone.
When two women are brutally murdered in northern California, their deaths are the latest atrocities in a surge of violence targeting indigenous women in the area. Despite all evidence to the contrary, local officials rule the deaths isolated incidents, and they soon join the ranks of other unsolved homicides, quickly forgotten by law enforcement.
Private Investigator Sharon McCone knows better, and so does the organization known as Crimes Against Indigenous Sisters, who hires Sharon to go undercover in Eiwok county, a tiny region on the mountainous Oregon border, to uncover the murderer.
In an isolated cabin in the freezing, treacherous woods, Sharon must unravel a mystery that is rooted in ignorance, profound hatred, and vengeance -- before another victim is claimed."
Monday, December 14, 2020
Friday, December 11, 2020
Thursday, December 10, 2020
UPDATED: 2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List
2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List
1st BOOK SHELF
*Updated notes as of December 2020
I’m making this list because I’m tired of myself starting a new series, while having a series I already need to read hanging around my shelves.
This list will be used to help me stay focused! Other genres in-between will come as well.
Mrs. Murphy Series by Rita Mae Brown
Book #13: Cat’s Eyewitness
Book #14: Sour Puss
Book #15: Puss N’ Choots
Book #16: The Perrfect Murder
(The rest of the series I’ll check out from the library)
*Got absolutely NOWHERE here. Very unfortunate, considering this was once a beloved cozy series of mine. I honestly think I just grew out of it.
John Le’ Carre Smiley Spy Series
Book #3 The Spy Who Came Out of the Cold
Book #4 The Looking Glass War
Stand-Alone: A Small Town in Germany (This’ll be my first read)
*Didn’t get anywhere with Le’Carre. I started to read his stand-alone, The Little Drummer Girl, back in August. Unfortunately, I got distracted with other reads. Specifically that of Laura Child’s Tea Shop Mystery series. In that, I took on books 4-8 and made progress there instead. I also made progress in Margaret Maron’s series. So there’s that!
Suzanne Arruda’s Cameron Del African Series
It is vital that I finish this series this year. I only have five books left to read. The last two I’ll have to order. Nevertheless, I must finish this series in 2020.
✅Book# 3: The Serpent’s Daughter
✅Book #4: The Leopard’s Prey
✅Book #5: Treasure of the Golden Cheetah
(I have to order the following two for my personal library. Will not do until I’m done with BOOK #5)
✅Book #6: The Crocodile’s Last Embrace
✅Book#7: Devil Dance
*OFFICIALLY DONE AS OF OCTOBER 2020. I buckled down and knocked this series out. I enjoyed finishing it the whole way, too. I will say the 7th and final book, Devil Dance, was self-published. Not that this was necessarily a factor, but the quality of the series dipped here. There was a five year break between books 6 and 7, and I suspect the author didn’t have the same editor as previous. Nevertheless, I completed the series. Going to miss Jade del Cameron and her adventures.
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Monday, December 7, 2020
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Last Month of the Year Cozy TBR 2020
I'm having one of those things called a READING SLUMP. At least I think I am. See the thing is I really don't have a reason to believe so. I've done enough reading (if there's a such thing). ONE: I knocked down three non-fiction books last month. TWO: I read two of Robert Jordan's massive The Wheel of Time books back-to-back (if you don't know the patience that takes... then chileeeee...). THREE: Your boy got a Playstation 5 and would willingly like to take part in enjoying its usage after a successful 66 books reading year. So, yeah. Why try to make myself read anything if I don't quite "feel" like it? Sure, lately I've been forcibly flip-flopping between several books, while slaying demon's on the PS5. So maybe I should just chill out on the reading, right? I'm good to go on that. Am I?
Yet, my day/hours/minutes/LIFE isn't complete without a book on deck! I can be between books for a day or two before I'm upset! And flipping-flopping to find something to match my mood ain't cutting it. I did the non-fiction thing. I did the epic fantasy thing. I dabbled into the sci-fi thing. What wasn't clicking with my mood? Meanwhile, the weather is getting icy. The nights are long. The heater is running. And I got my daily black tea coming. Then I realized I forgot about my cozies! That has to be the issue. It's that time of the year and I haven't pulled out my cozy mystery titles. That, my friend, is my current issue. At least I'm certain.
And since I've been reading strictly (well mostly so) from my shelves, I've decided to once again put myself a Last Month of the Year Cozy Mystery TBR.
So here's what I've got...!
Wish my tail luck!