Showing posts with label Goodreads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goodreads. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

GOODREADS CHALLENGE GOAL OF 2019 ISSSSSSS...


17 BOOKS!  WHICH WE KNOW WILL TURN INTO MORE!

Last year I put 17 down.  Same for 2019.  I use that number because I love the number, and because I only use Goodreads Reading Challenge to track what I've read over the year.   It's just a cool tool use.

And that's it.  I guess...


Monday, November 26, 2018

CHOP IT UP: Fool's Puzzle by Earlene Fowler

"Leaving behind memories of her late husband, Benni Harper is making a fresh start...Moving to the trendy California town of San Celina, she takes an exciting new job as director of a folk-art museum. While setting up an exhibit of handmade quilts, she stumbles upon the body of a brutally stabbed artist. Hoping to conduct an investigation on her own, she crosses paths with the local police chief, who thinks this short and sassy cowgirl should leave detecting to the cops and join him for dinner. But it's hard to keep a country girl down, and soon Benni uncovers an alarming pattern of family secrets, small-town lies--and the shocking truth about the night her husband died..."
The minute I finished the book and marked it as READ (two stars) on Goodreads.  Using my phone, I wrote this about the book just to "get it out".

Started out with a fair amount of promise, but devolved the further it progressed. All the excitement of a cozy mystery with a quilting and folk-art hook was removed and flushed early on. Instead the focus was on a MC who was not only boldly immature, but adolescent-level illogical in her reasoning and investigative prowess. It did not make her cute. It did not make her relatable. It made her unreliable and irritating to be around during the experience. Further frustration with the story arrived when the author kept (and I mean KEPT) insisting on ushering in a romance between her MC and a moody cop. Cliches. Cliches. Cliches. I kept rolling my eyes, as it was all so desperate to the point of nausea. Yes, there was a mystery. Yet, apparently, the mystery wasn't the book's real point.
   

It just so happens I bought the second book in the series for a dollar the other day.  She's getting one more shot, dude.  

One more...

SHOT...

Saturday, February 18, 2017

2017 #MarchMysteryMadness Challenge



GROUP & LINKS
#MarchMysteryMadness GOODREADS GROUP
#MarchMysteryMadness on TWITTER

CO-HOSTS ON YOUTUBE
~~~~~ The Classic Mystery 50 Years or Older~~~~~
(Read a classic mystery from or before 1967)
“But suppose one doesn't quite know which one wants to put first. Suppose," said Harriet, falling back on words which were not her own, "suppose one is cursed with both a heart and a brain?

'You can usually tell,' said Miss de Vine, "by seeing what kind of mistakes you make. I'm quite sure that one never makes fundamental mistakes about the thing one really wants to do. Fundamental mistakes arise out of lack of genuine interest. In my opinion, that is.” 


Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

There’s a phrase that’s been popular at lot less longer than these old classic pioneers of the mystery genre. It’s “she gets it from her mamma.” In this case, we’ve tumbled deep into getting it from our great-grandmothers and fathers. Now I’m not one to manage numbers well, but anyone shooting for Patricia Wentworth or Mary Roberts Rinehart will nail this one. Unless I’ve miscalculated once again.

But hey. The default is anything by Poe or Christie, right?

They’re always a safe bet. But who wants to be safe this year?
~~~~~ The First or Sequel~~~~~
(Read the first book in a series, or the sequel to another) 
“Even at a glance, even in this light, I could tell my friend was dead. He lay on his side in what common sense told me must be blood. Only it didn’t smell like blood.

My fingers clutched the flash. I stood for a moment, several moments. It seemed like hours. Finally I knelt and dipped my finger into the pool of liquid. It was thick and sticky. Paint. Bright-red house paint.

I straightened, wiping my finger on my jeans before I realized what I was doing.

‘Oh, Jake,’ I said, louder. My words echoed in the cavernous room, and then the old house enveloped me in ponderous silence. From outside came the bellow of foghorns on San Francisco Bay.


The Cheshire Cat’s Eye by Marcia Muller

The question everyone wants to know is what happens next to our sleuth? What is the next logical or illogical step? Should the sleuth immediately call the police? Should the sleuth exam the body and, effectively, tamper evidence? Or the most important question: what is our sleuth's background? Or are you acquainted with his or her background and here for the next row of shenanigans? Or are you totally new to his or her system?

I guess the question is would you rather have new shoes or stick with your old hats?

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

#ReadSoulLit TBR


All right. I need to bring my ass back to the blog and get to work. No, for real. I do. Still, I wanted to spend January reading. No social media, and very little blogging. I wanted nothing but books to kick off 2017. And I managed to read 15 books, all included in Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series. Hell, I ain’t never read so many books in one month. I took them down one after the other and had fun the whole way. Lowkey: I kind of miss them already. Anyway, I’m now current with the series, and awaiting April’s new release. So it’s all good.

With that said, I’m kind of prepped (as well as pumped) to flush in some readings for Black History Month. Particularly through the running hash tag #readsoullit. Here’s the stack that I have planned to read. Instead of going out to buy books, I pulled each of these from my shelf. And I wanted to make sure I mixed things up. Including tossing in that Toni Braxton autobiography that I bought in September. As well as another Barbara Neely mystery, and even some sci-fi (Octavia Butler and Seressia Glass).

This is going to be fun.


And for those who didn’t catch my last announcement video. We’ll be reading Bedrock Faith by Eric Charles May. Everything you need to know about the read-along noted in the Goodreads group linked here: http://bit.ly/2kU2GPo

I’m rushing to write this post so that I can go read. I haven’t figured out which I’ll pick up first, though.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Goodreads Year in Books Sum Up

I think I'm all booked out for the rest of the year; petering my way through a couple of reads, but basically done with reading.  Anyway, I started off the year setting a Goodreads goal of ten books.  Unlike last year, I wanted the comfort of increasing the goal as I paced my way along.  When I finally put a stamp on 65, I quickly realized it was best to pull that down to 60 and go from there.  I was losing steam as "life" interjected and my reading rhythm fell into a struggle.  
Nonetheless, I did one simple, easy little trick to close this year's challenge.  I ordered a 15 page Kindle singlet (from Nevada Barr of course) and read it at work.  BOOM.  Challenge done.  Hey, it is what it is...
No, for real.  With all the reading I've done this year–especially with those back-to-back Anna Pigeon books over the summer–I'm kind of good.  At least for a little while.



Sunday, April 3, 2016

#MarchMysteryMadness | Challenge #8: The Not-So Kid-Gloves Sleuth

March may be over, but not #MarchMysteryMadness.  I mean, if it still applies.  Anyway, I’m two challenges from completion, and with full intentions on finishing one more book.  Even if I have to spill over into April.  (Not much of a reading difference, though.  Considering I’m tackling my favorite genre in April as well.)  Which is why I’m moving forward with the final challenge.  

It's Challenge #8: The Not-So Kid-Gloves Sleuth.  This challenge aims for a classic mystery straight out of just about everyone’s childhood.  I chose Nancy Drew; arriving with the first book in her series, The Secret of the Old Clock.  I’ve had run-ins with Drew, mainly back in middle school.  I fulfilled several English projects on her books in 7th grade.  So it’s nice to go back and reacquaint myself with this classic, 1930’s iconic sleuth. 

Mystery Madness
Mystery Madness 2 members 2016 March Mystery Madness Challenge Group. More details to follow.

Books we've read



View this group on Goodreads »

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

#MarchMysteryMadness Video Challenge #1


Welcome, guys.  #MarchMysteryMadness is still in action!  I'll leave all the links to the challenges below.  But first I need to share the host of #MarchMysteryMadness, LizziefayeLovesBooks.  She is the originator of this tag and the link to her video follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9t2D...
The #MarchMysteryMadness VIDEO CHALLENGE #1 TAG questions/instructions/answers:
For this challenge lets do a book tag for the words March, Mystery, & Madness. Here are the prompts (Amazon affiliate links): 
A. March #1 Pick a book that is green.
~ The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (http://amzn.to/1RivHvL).  My written thoughts: http://www.comictowel.com/2014/12/fla...
B. March #2 Pick a book with a Leprechaun or other tiny person.
~ Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison (http://amzn.to/1SNAqen).
A. Mystery #1 Recommend a mystery.
~ How about my March TBR video?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffmhv...
B. Mystery #2 Pick a mystery from your TBR.
~ No Rest for the Wiccan by Madelyn Alt (http://amzn.to/1pq1YLt).  This is book #4 in the series, but I have my thoughts on book #3 HERE: http://www.comictowel.com/2014/10/hex...
A. Madness #1 Pick a psych. thriller or a psychopathic character.
~ Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (http://amzn.to/1SNBaQw).  Written thoughts HERE: http://www.comictowel.com/2014/06/sil...
B. Madness #2 Pick a book with a sports theme.
I ain't got a thing.  At least that I feel will uphold this question.  Maybe next time.
THANKS AGAIN LIZZIE FOR TAGGING ME!  I'll tag anyone who wants to participate!  GO!

Sunday, March 6, 2016

#MarchMysteryMadness | Challenge #4: The Rule of True Crime

First time going for Ann Rule (RIP). I’m going to be reading A Fever in the Heart.  It’s a collection of her slimmer written cases. As opposed to those massive books by her you find bowing bookshelves. I had the intention of reading the last quarter of the book where all the small case are. I mean, because the first case is 283 pages out of this 424 page book. But then I thought, “Hell no. If I’m gonna go into this, I have to have my full curiosities met!” Along with a little OCD realized. My initial intentions were to do the #MarchMysteryMadness challenges down the line. But now I’m skipping my re-reading of Poe to use this week to tackle The RULE. (High-five for knocking out the first two challenges in a week.) 











It’s funny because I feel like I’m going to get a Lifetime Movie feel from these cases, but just a touch bloodier. Along with the catch that these stories are about real people–real tragedies. I can only wonder how far along I’m willing to go before I do like I did the TV show The First 48 and drop it. I’m a believer in inviting realities and energies (if you will) into our own. And I know y’all are probably like “oh but you read all those murder mysteries.” Lol. Yes. Fiction. But believe me, the processing is totally different. 



A few years ago I read this amazing book  From my very first childhood inkling of the Jonestown incident I’ve always, always had an interest and fascination with the case. And this was the book I needed as an adult for answers. And while I highly recommend it, the problem was I couldn’t sleep the night I started the book. I had a nightmare about the Jonestown incident. I finished the book, all right. But I walked around with this weird, pondering “sickness” for at least a week. And that’s what I mean about inviting certain realities into your energy. We’ve all been there where we hear about a murder, and then spend time with the details chewing at our imaginations for some time. But NEVER would I thought the same thing would happen from a book! Lol.

For those interested, I’ll share my written blog post on A Thousand Lives HERE:http://www.comictowel.com/2014/02/las...

But at the end of the day, I'm a person who likes to make sense of real things. Who likes information. Who likes to keep an open-mind and see what I can pull from places unforeseeable (so I pray) from my own reality.

Will that happen in Rule? Challenge accepted! 


(I jacked this post from the #MarchMysteryMadness Goodreads page.  You, reading this, SHOULD be there!  Link below.)



Mystery Madness
Mystery Madness 2 members 2016 March Mystery Madness Challenge Group. More details to follow.

Books we've read



View this group on Goodreads »

Sunday, January 10, 2016

2016 Goodreads Challenge GOALS... Err... Maybe Not

First, I gotta wonder how long I’ll be able to keep this “joke” up.  Because I’m always changing my mind about something.  Secondly, of course I’ll never stop a year reading only 17 books.  I'm not that HIGH!
What’s up, visitors/friends/neighbors/etc?  I’d like to share what I set myself up for in 2016, about Goodreads' yearly book consumption challenge.  Now I know reading and keeping track of your finished books is not a big deal to some.  But, personally, I like keeping track.  It speaks to the OCD and book lover nature in me.  The Goodreads' platform containing various thumbnail images of my book conquests puts a touch of joy in my bookworm spirit.  Or something like that.  Anyway, unfortunately, I think I got a little too OCD and personal with my reading last year.  Last year what should’ve been a relaxed stroll through books turned slightly into a grind-feast.  And it had a lot to do with increased work hours and just general personal life distractions.
You know how it goes.
So I played around with the thought of just skipping out on the challenge this year.  I told myself I was going to let it go and take my time reading.  But that’s just no damn fun to me!  I love a challenge.  I love being a witness to progress.  Hell, I love books and the hours I spend soaked in them.
So I decided to soup up my favorite number–17–and stick it in the blank box as my goal.  That’s it.  17.  From 2015’s 60 to only 17.  That number will eventually morph and transform into something bigger.  But only after I’ve hit it.
Now on to fill in the goal!
So what's your 2016 Goodreads reading goals?  What number do you have in mind?

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