Cheli's Series of Categories in 2015

Hi everyone, this is my 7th annual category challenge and this year I'm doing something different since I know that 225 books are beyond my ability and overlaps in 2013 drove me crazy so
I'm going to be doing a 2,015 pager - 15 categories and each category needs to have 2,015 pages read. So chunksters will count more than lightweights. Audio books will count equivalent pages as regular books.
The real challenge will be to have at least 75% of the books I read come off my TBR pile - meaning the books had to be in my possession prior to 2015, either on my Nook, Kindle, MP3 for audio, or physical shelves unless they are ARCs or ER books which need to be read in a timely manner.

In 2015 I'll be continuing the following formal challenges:

The 75 Book Challenge This is where I spend most of my time. I can chat about my grandchildren, themes for the day or just anything I feel like as well as BOOKS.
US Presidents Challenge So far I'm partially finished with Teddy Roosevelt - I'm losing steam. I'm hoping to catch up and proceed through WWI so that the Roaring 20s and the great depression are due in 2016. Needless to say, this challenge has been extended to 2020 at least.
European Challenge - I still have 2/3 of Europe to explore. Hopefully, a few foreign countries are in my future this year since World War I took place in Europe.
50 States challenge - Only seven states left on the itinerary, and I'm hoping to finish this challenge in 2015.
Miscellanous monthly challenges that will help me find new things to stretch my reading include TIOLI Challenges in the 75 book Challenge as well as the CAT challenges - History and SciFiFantasyCAT and the BINGODOG.

Then there are also several personal challenges that I will be endeavoring to work on in 2015.

Bookshelf Bootie - I'm trying to remind myself that when books come into to my house they need to be read soon. My goal is that 75% of new books in are read in the current year. Hopefully, that will include the books that I actually purchased as well as downloaded to my Nook so that those books that show in my acquisition ticker will be read in timely manner. I want to dwindle down my TBRs by reading old books as well as all the new acquired. This will be tough. Books marked with % are sitting on my shelf and should get priority.
ROOT Challenge is my effort to read 84 books off my own shelves (This includes books on my Nook/Kindle, ER & ARCs I receive for review, and audiobooks that I've downloaded in the past.) I've resolved to reduce the number of ARCs/ERs that I request so that more of the old books have priority.
Series Catchup - Since this year my entire theme for the Category Challenge is series - I should make great progress in catching up and even getting current on many series.

I was originally going to go with a baseball theme but then I decided since Linda was using that theme I'd try something different. (I'll save it for next year.) I'm always complaining about all the series that I'm behind on, I decided to make my categories reflect the theme of different book series. Most of these are mysteries, but some are romances and there are even a few CLASSICS that come in a series.

Now that everything has been explained, here are my categories for 2015:

I. I finished the bottle already? - Wine and cheese mysteries
II. Ready, Set, Go! - Firsts in a new series
III. Ouch! I dropped the hammer on my foot - Home Improvements/Repair and Crafts
IV. You have the right to remain silent (as you read) - Legal/police mysteries
V. How'd they do that? - Magical series (1)
VI. Ah,to be young again! - Young Adult series COMPLETED
VII. Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romance series COMPLETED
VIII. In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES World War I concentration COMPLETED
IX. There's no place like home - Classics (1)
X. Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series (1) COMPLETED
XI. Never go to bed alone - Book based mysteries
XII. A Watched Pot never Boils - Culinary Mysteries
XIII. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter - Foreign series
XIV.As ye sew, so shall ye rip - Needlework mysteries
XV. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. - Miscellaneous

I. I finished the bottle already? - Wine and cheese mysteries

In 2014 my husband & I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary and we spent 10 days in California wine country. Needless to say, we really enjoy our wine so Wine & Cheese mysteries are a no brainer for me. ★ indicates books I'm really want to get to in 2015.

1. Clobbered by Camembert 2/24/15 336 pgs.
2. To Brie or Not To Brie 6/6/15 336 pgs
3.
4.
5.

Page total = 672

So these are the books for this category:
% indicates books already on my shelves and have higher priority.

Cheese Shop Mysteries

✔★Clobbered by Camembert %
✔★To Brie or Not To Brie
★Days of Wine and Roquefort
★As Gouda as Dead

Wine Country Mysteries

★The Viognier Vendetta%
★The Sauvignon Secret

Wine Lover's Mysteries

★Murder By the Glass
Silenced By Syrah
A Vintage Murder
Corked By Cabernet
A Toast to Murder
A Perfectly Purloined Pinot
A Killer Margarita

II. Ready, Set, Go! - Firsts in new series
It never fails that even if I plan not to start any new series that I will do it anyway, so this category is for the start of new series - first in line.

1. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor 1/30/15 318 pgs.
2. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 3/23/15 453 pgs.
3. Front Page Fatality 5/3/15 246 pgs
4. Murder Al Dente 6/21/15 236 pgs
5. Staged to Death 6/24/15 384 pgs

Total pages = 1,637

Here are candidates that I already own:
Allergic to Death %
And Only to Deceive %
A Chili Death %
✔Front Page Fatality %
If Fried Chicken could Fly%
✔Murder Al Dente %
★Murder on the Côte d'Azure %
★Sex and Salmonella %
★Six Strokes Under %
★A Slice of Murder %
★A spoonful of Murder %
✔Staged to Death %
Too Close to Home %
A Taste For Murder%
✔★Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor%
★Murder in the Mystery Suite%
Murphy's Law%

III. Ouch! I dropped the hammer on my foot - Home Improvement/Repairs and Crafts

These series will center around crafts, home repair/improvements, and B&Bs.
The books that fall in this category are:

1. Inn to the Darkness 2/15/15 100 pgs.
2. Innvitation to Murder 2/16/15 203 pgs.
3. Dead and Berried 6/11/15 336 pgs
4.
5.

Total pgs. = 639

These series books are candidates for this category:
Victoria Square Mysteries

★The Walled Flower %
One Hot Murder

Clay and Crime Mysteries

★The Cracked Pot
A Fatal Slip

Craft Corner

String of Lies
Paper-Thin Alibi

Scrapbooking Mysteries

Motif for Murder
Frill Kill
Death Swatch
Tragic Magic
Postcards from the Dead

Gray Whale Inn Mysteries

✔★Dead and Berried %
Murder Most Maine
Berried to the Hilt

Home Repair is Homicide Mysteries

★Triple Witch %
★Wicked Fix %
★Repair to Her Grave%

Aspen Hill Inn

✔Inn to the Darkness%
✔Innvitation to Murder %

★Foreclosed%

IV. You have the right to remain silent (as you read) - Legal/police mysteries

What would mysteries be without a good legal or police procedural.
I have many series started and too many that would overflow this category.

1. False Testimony 5/10/15 241 pgs.
2. The Best Defense 6/2/15 422 pgs.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Total pages = 663

Here are some of the series and candidates this year:
Cork O'Connor

★Boundary Waters
Purgatory Ridge
Blood Hollow
Mercy Falls

Barbara Holloway

✔★The Best Defense%
For the Defense
Defense for the Devil
No Defense

Walt Fleming

★Killer View
Killer Summer
In Harm's Way

★No Lesser Plea%
★Cuckoo's Calling%
★The Silkworm%
✔★False Testimony

V. How'd they do that? - Magical series

Ever since I read the Harry Potter series, I've been enjoying books that have a magical background. I have found series that were probably aimed at children but, hey, I'm not going to let my age deny me a good book.

1. One False Note 1/3/15 174 pgs
2. The Sword Thief 1/30/15 156 pgs.
3. The Doll People 4/28/15 256 pgs.
4. The Meanest Doll in the World 6/29/15 260 pgs.
5.

Total pages = 846

These are my magical candidates:

Starcatchers

★Peter and the Shadow Thieves%
★Peter and the Secret of Rundoon %
★Peter and the Sword of Mercy %
The Bridge to Never Land

39 Clues

✔★One False Note%
✔★The Sword Thief%
★Beyond the Grave%
The Black Circle
In Too Deep
The Viper's Nest

Princess

Princess and the Snowbird%
Princess and the Horse

VI. Ah,to be young again! - Young Adult series
Many of the books in series for this category would also fit in the Magical category but the stories lean more to the Young Adult than children. They are very much in the style of Harry Potter but without the witchcraft.

1. Blood of Tyrants 431 pgs.
2. The Book of Life 561 pgs.
3. Haunted on Bourbon Street 575 pgs.
4. Fire Chronicle 4/9/15 448 pgs

Total pages = 2,015 CATEGORY COMPLETED

Here are the candidates for this category:

Books of Beginning

✔Fire Chronicle
The Black Reckoning

Temeraire

✔★ Blood of Tyrants%

Kane Chronicles

★The Serpent's Shadow %

Heros of Olympus

★The Mark of Athena%
The House of Hades %
Percy Jackson's Greek Gods
The Blood of Olympus

Hunger Games

★Catching Fire%
MockingJay

All Souls Trilogy

✔★Book of Life %

Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery

Ghost A la Mode%

✔Haunted on Bourbon Street%

VII. Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romance series
Ten years ago if you looked at the list of books that I read, the vast majority would have been romances. Now only a few make it to my reading list - mainly from my favorite romance authors - Mary Balogh, Julia Quinn, Bertrice Small, and Stephanie Laurens. Here is where I will catch up with the girls.

1. Temptation and Surrender 1/20/15 355 pgs
2. Beyond Seduction 2/3/15 496 pgs.
3. Bianca 2/13/15 419 pgs.
4. The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After 3/29/15 384 pgs
5. Francesca: The Silk Merchant's Daughters 4/22/15 448 pgs.

Total Pages: 2,102 CATEGORY COMPLETED

The candidates are :

★A Secret Affair%
★The Secret Mistress%
Only a Kiss
✔★Bianca%
✔★Francesca%
Lucianna

✔★Beyond Seduction%
✔★Happily Ever After%
✔★Temptation and Surrender%
Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue
In Pursuit of Miss Eliza Cynster
The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae
The Wedding Planner
And Then She Fell%
The Lady Risks All%
A Match for Marcus Cynster

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below...

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields...

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields...M

VIII. In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES
This year I am continuing my trip through American history. I am on the brink of the First World War. I also hope to finish Presidents Taft, Wilson, and Harding. I'm quite sure that I will be reading more than 2,015 pages for this category.

1. Bully Pulpit 2/28/15 912 pgs
2. Catastrophe 1914 : Europe goes to war 3/26/15 abandoned 105 pgs.
3. To End all Wars 4/26/15 511 pgs.
4. The Lusitania Tragedy 5/3/15 50 pgs.
5. The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation 6/15/15 544 pgs.
6. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling 6/29/15 373 pgs.

Page total: 2,495

CATEGORY COMPLETED

The candidates for this category are:

✔★To End all Wars%
✔★Bully Pulpit%
★Castles of steel: Britain, Germany, and the winning of the Great War at sea %
★Catastrophe 1914 : Europe goes to war % ABANDONED
★Guns of August
★The historical atlas of World War I
★Warren G. Harding : America's 29th president
★A mad catastrophe : the outbreak of World War I and the collapse of the Habsburg Empire
An illustrated history of the First World War
✔The last of the doughboys : the forgotten generation and their forgotten world war%
Wilson%
World War I : a history
The million death quake : the science of predicting Earth's deadliest natural disaster
George, Nicholas and Wilhelm : three royal cousins and the road to World War I
WWI history in an hour%

IX. There's no place like home - Classics
In 2014, I started reading the Wonderful Wizard of Oz series and I only got halfway through, so I'm hoping to finish this series in 2015. If I do, I can then continue the Scarlet Pimpernel series that I started several years ago.

1. The Patchwork Girl of Oz pgs. 116
2. Tik-Tok of Oz pgs. 101
3. The Scarecrow of Oz 94 pgs.
4. I Will Repay 140 pgs (Scarlet Pimpernel series)
5. Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales 615 pgs.
6. Rinkitink in Oz 100 pgs.
7. Lost Princess of Oz 96 pgs.

Page total: 1,262

So these are the books that are slated for this category:

✔★The Patchwork Girl of Oz %
✔★Tik-Tok of Oz %
✔★The Scarecrow of Oz %
✔★Rinkitink in Oz %
✔★The Lost Princess of Oz %
Glinda of Oz %
★The Magic of Oz %
★The Tin Woodman of Oz %
✔I Will Repay %
The Elusive Pimpernel %
Eldorado %
Lord Tony's Wife %
The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel %
The First Sir Percy %
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel %
✔Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales %

X. Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series

There are several authors whose books I try to read as soon as I can get my hands on the latest release. Sometimes, however, they get pushed back, I'll wait for the audio version, but these books WILL BE READ in 2015. Who cares how many pages there are, I'm reading these!
So this category is for my favorite authors' newest books in their series.

1. Dreaming Spies 1/5/15 504 pgs
2. All the President's Menus 1/21/15 304 pgs.
3. Heart of Gold 2/20/15 320 pgs.
4. Lemon Pies and Little White Lies 5/8/15 304 pgs.
5. The Long Way Home 5/9/15 373 pgs
6. Ming Tea Murder 5/10/15 301 pgs
7. Destroyer Angel 6/17/15 523 pgs.

Page total: 2,629

CATEGORY COMPLETED

These are the 8 books for this category.
★A King's Ransom% by Sharon Kay Penman - Eleanor of Aquitaine series
✔★Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King - Mary Russell Series due 2/24/15
✔★The Long Way Home by Louise Penny - Inspector Gamache series - waiting for audio
✔★All the President's Menus% by Julie Hyzy - White House Chef series due 1/6/15
✔★Destroyer Angel% by Nevada Barr - Anna Pigeon series
✔★Heart of Gold% by Beverly Jenkins - Blessings series - just found out about it
✔★Lemon Pies and Little White Lies by Ellery Adams - Charmed Pie Shoppe series - due 4/7/15
✔★Ming Tea Murder by Laura Childs - Tea Shoppe mysteries due 5/5/15

XI. Never go to bed alone - Book based mysteries
How could a book lover not want to read cozy mysteries that center around books?
Ever since I was little, I always took a book to bed with me, now there's a pile that sits on my night table, always ready.
I have nine series that are related to books and hopefully I'll be able to read more than the 2000+ pages needed to complete the category!

1. Buried in a book 2/9/15 304 pgs.
2. Dressed to Kill 5/14/15 320 pgs.
3. Killer Librarian 5/19/15 308 pgs.
4. A Deadly Cliché 6/28/15 304 pgs.
5.

Page total: 1,236

These are some of the candidates:

Tourist Trap Mystery

✔Dressed To Kill

Raven's Nest Bookstore series

Mind over Murder
A Sinister Sense
Trouble Vision
Extra Sensory Deception

A Book Collector Mystery

★The Christie Curse%
The Sayers Swindle
The Wolfe Widow

Books by the Bay

✔★A Deadly Cliché%
★The Last Word%
★Written in Stone%
Poisoned Prose
Lethal Letters

Booktown Mystery

Chapter and Hearse%
Sentenced to Death
Murder on the Half Shelf

Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries

Read and Buried%
Cover Story
Book Fair and Foul

Bibliophile Mystery

★Murder Under Cover%
One Book in the Grave
Peril in Paperback
Pages of Sin
A Cookbook Conspiracy
The Book Stops Here

Library Lover's Mystery

★Read It and Weep %
On Borrowed Time

Killer Librarian

✔★Killer Librarian %
Death Overdue

Novel Idea Mysteries

✔★Buried in a book %
Every Trick in the Book
Books, Cooks, and Crooks
Played by the Book

XII. Culinary Mysteries
Anyone who knows me knows that I love food! So it's only natural that I would love books that share delicious recipes at the end of fun mysteries. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have found an awful lot of books that fall into this category.

1. Finger Lickin' Dead 4/5/15 272 pgs.
2. Blackberry Pie Murder 4/14/15 400 pgs.
3. The Diva Paints the Town 6/8/15 304 pgs
4. The Diva Cooks a Goose 6/13/15 304 pgs
5. Death by the Dozen 6/19/15 304 pgs

Page total: 1,584 pgs.

Here are the candidates for this category:

Memphis Barbeque Mystery

✔Finger Lickin' Dead
Hickory Smoked Homicide
Rubbed Out

Donut Shop Mystery series

★Sinister Sprinkles
Evil Eclairs
Tragic Toppings

Food Lover's Village series

Crime Rib

Coffeehouse Mysteries

★French Pressed
Espresso Shot
Holiday Grind

Domestic Diva

✔★The Diva Paints the Town
✔The Diva Cooks a Goose
The Diva Haunts the House

Hannah Swensen Mysteries

✔★Blackberry Pie Murder
★Double Fudge Brownie Murder

Vintage Kitchen Mysteries

Bowled Over
Freezer I'll Shoot
No Mallets Intended

Merry Muffin Mystery

★Muffin But Murder
Death of an English Muffin

Cupcake Mystery

✔★Death by the Dozen
Red Velvet Revenge%
Going, Going, Ganache%

Supper Club Mystery

Stiffs and Swine%
The Battered Body
Black Beans & Vice

Fresh Baked Mysteries

★Murder By The Slice%
The Christmas Cookie Killer
Killer Crab Cakes

XIII. Foreign series
Most of the books that I read are set in the USA but I am working on the European Challenge (visiting every European nation in a book) so some of the books that I read are set in Europe. Series that I have found set in Europe and other foreign nations will be read for this category.

1. In the Garden of Temptation 2/28/15 225 pgs.
2. A Question of Belief 3/20/15 397 pgs.
3. Faithful Place 5/27/15 679 pgs.
4. Drawing Conclusions 6/23/15 407 pgs.
5.

Page total: 1,708

Dublin Murder Squad - IRELAND

✔★Faithful Place %
★Broken Harbour
★The Secret Place %

Guido Brunetti - VENICE

✔A Question of Belief%
✔Drawing Conclusions%
Falling in Love%

Poisoner Mysteries - ITALY

The Borgia Mistress

William Monk - England

★Blind Justice
★Blood on the Water
★Corridors of the Night

Amelia Peabody - EGYPT

★The Mummy Case
Lion in the Valley

Irish Country - IRELAND

★An Irish Country Village
An Irish Country Christmas
An Irish Country Girl

Cotton Malone - CHINA, GERMANY

The Emperor's Tomb
The Devil's Gold

Pink Carnation - England, France

The Garden Intrigue%
The Passion of the Purple Plumeria %
The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla
The Lure of the Moonflower

XIV. Needlework mysteries
As a person who loves to cross stitch, knit, or crochet I love to read cozy mysteries that have a needlecraft background. However, my love of these cozies seems to be getting out of hand, so I've resolved to read more! Seems like the right solution to me!

1. Thread and Buried 1/10/15 320 pgs
2. By Hook Or By Crook 2/7/15 272 pgs.
3. A Stitch in Crime 3/26/15 216 pgs.
4. Hanging By a Thread 4/1/15 272 pgs.
5. Thread Reckoning 5/12/15 336 pgs

Total pages = 1,416

Here are the candidates for the category:

Threadville Mystery

✔★Thread and Buried%
★Night of the Living Thread

Southern Sewing Circle Mystery

★Pinned for Murder%
★Deadly Notions
Dangerous Alterations

Needlecraft Mysteries

✔Hanging by a Thread%
Cutwork
Crewel Yule

Crochet Mystery

✔★By Hook Or By Crook%
✔★A Stitch in Crime%
You Better Knot Die
Behind the Seams (2011)
If Hooks Could Kill (2012)
For Better or Worsted (2013)
Knot Guilty (2014)

Knitting

★Knit Fast, Die Young%

Embroidery Mystery

✔★Thread Reckoning%
★The Long Stitch Good Night
Thread on Arrival

Knitting Mystery

A Deadly Yarn
A Killer Stitch
Dyer Consequences

XV. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - Miscellaneous
There are some series that just don't seem to fit into any of the categories that I've listed and some books not in series (book club) will have to be put somewhere - so a miscellaneous category is last but not least. (Bingo Dog needs a home)

1. Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Pearl Ruled 66 pgs
2. Dead Letters 2/18/15 Short story 40 pgs.
3. House at Riverton 3/18/15 473 pgs.
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 4/15/15 27 pgs.
5. Fire Engine Dead 4/18/15 304 pgs.

Total pages = 910

Here are some single books and odd series that are candidates here:
✔House at Riverton%
Cloud Atlas%
Pygmalion%
Plain Truth%
✔Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Pearl Ruled 66 pgs

Meg Langslow

We'll Always Have Parrots
Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket

Flower Shop

Sleeping With Anemone
Dirty Rotten Tendrils
Night of the Living Dandelion

Museum Mysteries

✔Dead Letters
✔Fire Engine Dead
Monument to the Dead

Dreaming Spies - protagonist= Mary Russell
One False Note - portents
Temptation and Surrender - other country - England
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Autism
Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor - Correspondence or letters
Scarecrow of OZ - published in 1915
I will Repay - centered around a major historical event (French Revolution)
The Book of Life - mythical creatures - vampires
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen - reminds you of your childhood
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - chosen by somebody else (bookclub)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - outside comfort zone
Dead and Berries - Read an LT author
Read a CAT - Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling HISTORYCAT June

ETA - I didn't realize until I looked closely at the placement of the squares is different so I think that I might each of the Bingo Cards.

Are you open? Am I first? The challenge looks great - I love your set-up and all the series that you'll be working on. What a good idea. I've been waiting for your thread to go up, and I already have it starred.

I've got you starred and, as always, will enjoy following along with your reading.

I like your idea of 2015 pages per category. I didn't think of that and instead committed myself to 20150 pages total! Interesting categories, great illustrations and I have starred to follow.

BTW, you are seven years ahead of me. This is my first category challenge and I can't wait for the games to begin!

Excellent idea to catch up on series! They do seem to multiply like crazy. Also, I love the title of your wine category.

Hi Cheli, you are being very sensible with setting a place for new series. I always say "No More New Series", but I still keep adding them!

Great idea! I was thinking of doing series this year too, but then I changed my mind. Maybe next year. Those are a lot of series you've got going.

I love your book candidates lists.

Wow! I LOVE your categories this year, as always, and your organization and thoroughness is really something to be admired! It would have taken me ages just to be this organized for one of my categories, let alone all of them.

Can't wait to see what you pick first to read!

>13 cyderry: *drool*

It seems you have a wonderful year of books to look forward to. Enjoy!

It looks like we will be reading some of the same series in 2015. I really enjoy the Ravens Nest Book Store series so I hope you enjoy those. I will be on the lookout to see how you like some of these series that I have been wanting to read myself!

I had no idea there were so many mystery series with needlework. It's eyepopping. Enjoy!

Very nice! Looking forward to following in the new year!

I just realized that unless I count the remaining Oz books as true "Classics" I have no CLASSICS on schedule for 2015. Maybe it will be good to take a year off from these older books since I usually have trouble enjoying them.

argh. You are so disgustingly organized ;)

>29 cyderry: especially since you still don't love many of the "classic" books you read, I think taking a year off sounds like a good idea. How about broadening the category to include both classics and other "traditional" books - you could include anything that has been around for a while and is well-loved that looks interesting to you, things you've always wanted to read and never did, re-reads of books you've loved from the past, things like that.

I have trouble with the whole 'classics' thing.

What's classic to me in my 60s mightn't be the same thing to someone in her 30s. And I have an even bigger issue with some 'authority figure' deciding what is a classic and telling me that list is some sort of 'true' list. (yeah, rebel at heart).

You could define the term any way that works for you, Cheli, much like Sandy suggests above.

Great categories, Cheli. I probably ought to catch up on some of those same series. Maybe I will.

I will definitely be keeping an eye on your updates to see what you think of some of these books. You have a lot on your list I would like to read as well!

Wow on this being your 7th year of doing the category challenge, Cheli and a double WOW for the various series you have listed!

Challenge Book#1

TITLE: One False Note ★★★
AUTHOR: Gordon Korman
DATE READ: January 2 - January 3
Series/ Progress: 39 Clues/ #2
Book type: Audio
Category: How'd they do that? - Magical series

A quick little book to start the year. I'm finding it interesting that this series has a different author for each book.

Ok I have a question I hope you can help me with--where do you get the bingo card at? I've seen it on several threads and am very interested in adding one to my challenge but I don't know where to start!

message #150 in this thread has the BINGO CARDS.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/180134#

Good luck - I think i will be fun!

Thanks for the help!

Challenge Book#2

TITLE: Dreaming Spies ★★★★
AUTHOR: Laurie R. King
DATE READ: December 30 - January 5
Series/ Progress: Mary Russell/#13
Book type: Audio/ARD
Category: Mark it with a Star ★ - Favorite authors series

I love this series and I try to read the next book as soon as it comes out, but this time I was lucky enough to not only win an ER copy but I also was able to get an e-book from NetGalley. It was great because I could switch back and forth and really read in the way I preferred.

The story brings Russell and Holmes together in efforts to assist a ninja and the Prince Regent of Japan in the recovery of a priceless artifact.

Loved it!

Happy New Year, Cheli!

Everyone is getting off to a great start, and you are no exception. I'm looking forward to seeing some great series being discussed here. Hopefully, no new book bullets for me!

Here are my answers to the meme based on 2014 reads:

Describe yourself: Girl of His Dreams (at least that's how he treats me)

Describe how you feel: Delicious

Describe where you currently live: Beautiful Ruins

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Emerald City of Oz

Your favorite form of transportation: Polar Express

Your best friend is: The Queen of Four Kingdoms

You and your friends are: Last Original Wife (believe it or not - my friends from college are all still the original wives - 12 of us married 30-40 yrs)

What’s the weather like: Deadly Storm

You fear: Curse of the Pharaohs

What is the best advice you have to give: Christmas Hope

Thought for the day: How the Light Gets In

How I would like to die: Toured to Death

My soul’s present condition: State of Wonder

That's an excellent way to die. I see you fear the same thing I do.

Great answers, Cheli! I would love to tag along with you when you visit the Emerald City.

That's an amazing record - for so many couples to still be married after so many years! Congratulations!

Great meme answers! :)

Challenge Book#3

TITLE: The Patchwork Girl of Oz ★★★
AUTHOR: L. Frank Baum
DATE READ: January 5 - January 7
Series/ Progress: Wizard of Oz/#8
Book type: E-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

Continuing the stories in Oz, hoping to finish this year, I've found new characters mixed with the old and wondering why,after the success of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Hollywood abandoned the stories.

New generations should read these.

Challenge Book#4

TITLE: Thread and Buried ★★★½
AUTHOR: Janet Bolin
DATE READ: January 8 - January 10
Series/ Progress: Threadville Mysteries (3)
Book type: E-book
Category: As ye sew, so shall ye rip - Needlework mysteries

Threadville is definitely a place that I would go if it really existed. I love all the references to the different types of crafts - quilting, embroidery, etc. I wish I had time for it all and could spend real time in Threadville!

>48 cyderry: How would you compare the Threadville Mysteries to the Monica Ferris ones or some of the other mysteries involving knitting, crocheting, etc.?

I think I like these characters more than the Monica Ferris ones. But you have to remember I love needlecraft cozies just about no matter what.

>50 cyderry: I liked the Monica Ferris mysteries more before she began venturing off into other things like antique cars and such. I liked it when Jill was still on the police force. I think I just didn't like the direction she took the series. She got too far away from the needlework.

Challenge Book#5

TITLE: Tik-Tok of Oz ★★★
AUTHOR: L Frank Baum
DATE READ: January 11 - January 13
Series/ Progress: Wizard of Oz/9
Book type: E-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

An interesting continuation of the Oz series introducing new characters and revisiting with others.

Challenge Book#6

TITLE: Temptation and Surrender ★★★
AUTHOR: Stephanie Laurens
DATE READ: January 14 - January 19
Series/ Progress: Cynsters #15/23
Book type: E-book
Category: Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romance series

Emily and her siblings arrive in Colyton incognito so that they can hunt for their family treasure. What they find and where along with the love story, entertain for sure.

I see I have Threadville #1 in my TBR, so no BB for me on this series.

>52 cyderry: I was down in the stacks today and was looking at the Oz books trying to decide if I wanted to get one of them for the "Blind Date with a Book" promotion this year. I don't remember if I picked one up or not.

Challenge Book#7

TITLE: All the President's Menus ★★★★
AUTHOR: Julie Hyzy
DATE READ: January 20 - January 21
Series/ Progress: White House Chef Mysteries (8/8)
Book type: E-book
Category: Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series

Probably my favorite series, I couldn't wait for this newest installment and now I need to wait again! But it was worth it!

I remember spending a summer holiday reading all of the Oz books. I've been thinking of rereading, but I have such great memories of being at my grandmother's house, just reading and reading that I don't want to ruin it. :)

Challenge Book#8

TITLE: Blood of Tyrants ★★★
AUTHOR: Naomi Novik
DATE READ: January 5 - January 24
Series/ Progress: Temeraire (8/8)
Book type: Audiobook
Category: Ah,to be young again! - Young Adult series

Temeraire has returned to the Orient but before he can reach China he must recover Laurence who has amnesia and been captured by the Japanese.

A great adventure!

Challenge Book# 9

TITLE: The Sword Thief ★★★
AUTHOR: Peter Lerangis
DATE READ: January 29 - January 29
Series/ Progress: The 39 Clues, Book 3
Book type: Audiobook
Category: How'd they do that?- Magical series

This episode seemed a bit rushed as if the kids wouldn't stick with it if it went more in depth. Not really a great deal of info but good action.

Challenge Book# 10

TITLE: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor ★★★
AUTHOR: Stephanie Barron
DATE READ: January 24 - January 30
Series/ Progress: Jane Austen Mystery/1
Book type: ARD
Category: Ready, Set, Go! - Firsts in new series

The mystery was interesting however, I'm not sure I can buy in with Jane Austen as a detective. I'm not planning on rushing to the next one.

Challenge Book# 11

TITLE: Beyond Seduction ★★★½
AUTHOR: Stephanie Laurens
DATE READ: January 30 - February 3
Series/ Progress: Bastion Club/7
Book type: e-book
Category: Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?- Romance series

One of my favorite writers continues to take the heroes of the Bastion Club and give them ladies that equal their spirit. Loved it.

Challenge Book# 12

TITLE: By Hook or By Crook ★★★
AUTHOR: Betty Hechtman
DATE READ: February 4 - February 7
Series/ Progress: Crochet/3
Book type: e-book
Category: Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?- Romance series

This installment of the Crochet mysteries places the reader in the midst of a mini-mystery and when we follow the clues with the main character we are lead on a scavenger hunt of details all related to a crocheted piece. It was great to see an actual needlework piece at the center of the mystery.

Ooh, I hadn't heard of the Crochet series before! I'll have to hunt down the first book!

Challenge Book# 13

TITLE: Buried in a Book ★★★
AUTHOR: Lucy Arlington
DATE READ: February 8 - February 9
Series/ Progress: Novel Idea Mysteries /1
Book type: e-book
Category: Never go to bed alone - Book based mysteries

The concept of this series is different than any I've read before - bringing in a new area of the literary community (literary agents). As in many 1st in a series, some of the development slowed the action but as it moved along, it was very entertaining. Characters have great room for growth and I look forward to the next installment.

Challenge Book# 14

TITLE: Bianca: The Silk Merchant's Daughter ★★★½
AUTHOR: Bertrice Small
DATE READ: February 10 - February 13
Series/ Progress: Silk Merchant's Daughters/1
Book type: ARD
Category: Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romance series

Whenever I need a touch of romance, Bertrice Small is the author that I can always count on to show that love isn't always easy but definitely worth the effort.

In this book, Bianca is forced into a marriage with a cruel older man to save her family honor. After escaping this travesty, she finds and falls in love a Muslim Prince. Their differences can't overcome their love.

Challenge Book# 15

TITLE: Scarecrow of Oz ★★★
AUTHOR: L. Frank Baum
DATE READ: February 14 - February 14
Series/ Progress: OZ/ 9
Book type: e-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

Once again a few well-loved characters becomes involved with newer characters as their travel previously unknown areas of Oz. It was nice to see Glinda working her magic as well as an unusual featherless flock of birds that came to the rescue of our friends several times.

Challenge Book# 16

TITLE: Inn To The Darkness ★★★★
AUTHOR: Sara Robbins
DATE READ: February 15 - February 15
Series/ Progress: Aspen Valley Inn/2
Book type: e-book
Category: Ouch! I dropped the hammer on my foot - Home and Crafts

This light cozy series carries on the tender romance of Lacey and Wyatt while expanding the characters and their background. In this installment, the Inn is booked with the Ward family - Tom and Jess celebrating their 30th anniversary - and their grown children. At the same time, Lacey and Charlotte want to expand their facilities by renovating the old barn into an event center. However, during prep of the property an old skeleton is found and the family along with Lacey are determined to figure out who it was and how they ended up there.

This was so interesting of how the family took this adventure to heart and researched the past to arrive at a tender conclusion. I couldn't wait for the next one.

Challenge Book# 17

TITLE: Innvitation To Murder ★★★★
AUTHOR: Sara Robbins
DATE READ: February 16 - February 16
Series/ Progress: Aspen Valley Inn/3
Book type: e-book
Category: Ouch! I dropped the hammer on my foot - Home and Crafts

This light cozy mystery series continues with the start of Enchanted Events and the first wedding at the new venue. Lacey and her sister Charlotte are startled by a body found in the bride's room and have to scramble to get everything ready on time.

Challenge Book# 18

TITLE: Dead Letters ★★★
AUTHOR: Sheila Connolly
DATE READ: February 18- February 18
Series/ Progress: Museum mysteries/2.1 (Short Story)
Book type: e-book
Category: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. - Miscellaneous

For a short story, this tale really carried a punch.
Nell Pratt, the museum president is contacted by a wealthy local and offered a deal she can't turn down - check the museum's archives for anything related to the Logan family and in return get the family papers from the Civil War forward. What she doesn't expect is what she finds.

Challenge Book# 19

TITLE: Heart of Gold ★★★★
AUTHOR: Beverly Jenkins
DATE READ: February 19- February 20
Series/ Progress: Blessings/5
Book type: e-book
Category: Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series

Returning to Henry Adams, KS will always pull at your heartstrings, especially when the children are at the center of the story. In this installment, 10 year-old Zoey Garland is the major heroine as she makes efforts to befriend a hermit at the same time as she is concerned with the state of her parents' marriage. The spirit of this your girl is struggling with her desire to help others as well as holding her family together.

The gentleness of the stories from Henry Adams are truly a "Blessing" because the reader sees how goodness triumphs.

>66 cyderry: I noticed that our library has quite a few of the other Oz books when I went down to pull books for the blind date with a book this year.

>67 cyderry: >68 cyderry: I'm not familiar with that series.

>69 cyderry: I would love to read that one, but I'm not sure I want to pay $2.99 for 38 pages. I'll put it on the Amazon wish list and hope the price is reduced.

>70 cyderry: - I really like the Blessings books. I still need to read book 4 - maybe I'll download it from the library for vacation.

Challenge Book# 20

TITLE: Clobbered by Camembert ★★★½
AUTHOR: Avery Aames
DATE READ: February 21 - February 24
Series/ Progress: CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY/3
Book type: ARD
Category: I finished the bottle already? - Wine and cheese mysteries

This was the 3rd installment and the descriptions of the yummy cheeses, special recipes and unusual ice sculptures only added to the enjoyment of this mystery set at the Winter Wonderland Faire.

Kaitlyn Clydesdale returns to Providence, OH and sets out to buy up land stating she's starting a honey farm but when she is found dead, the local honey farmer, Ipo Ho, is at the top of suspect list. Charlotte's assistant, Rebecca, is positive that he's not guilty (they were smooching in the park) but the sheriff is convinced otherwise, so Charlotte starts her own investigation. The results are "chilling".

Challenge Book# 21

TITLE: I Will Repay ★★½
AUTHOR: Baroness Emmuska Orczy
DATE READ: February 16 - February 25
Series/ Progress: Scarlet Pimpernel/2
Book type: e-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

This second story in the Scarlet Pimpernel saga tells of Paul Déroulède, a non-aristocratic member of French society, who is unwillingly drawn into a duel with the young Vicomte de Marny which results in the Vicomte's death. The Duc de Marny forces his daughter Juliette to swear an oath of vengence for her brother's death.

After Juliette meets Déroulède and they spend time together, they fall in love, but Juliette must decide if she will fulfill her oath. When Déroulède's treasonous actions are revealed, the Scarlet Pimpernel becomes involved.

Challenge Book# 22

TITLE: The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism ★★★½
AUTHOR: Doris Kearns Goodwin
DATE READ: February 1 - February 28
Series/ Progress: Presidents #26,#27
Book type: audiobook
Category: In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES World War I concentration

Goodwin is superb as an historian and in this book we see Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft as individuals but also we see how working shoulder to shoulder, they created a greater good often at the cost of their own ambitions.

TR's personality comes through as adventurer and master politician. Taft comes through as a loving, generous, gentle giant who twice refused appointment to the Supreme Court (his greatest desire) because he believed his efforts elsewhere were needed. In this book we also see the development of the power of the press and how a good politician could utilize that power.

This book was extremely informative, however it could have been just as informative without being so wordy. Several passages were repetitive and could easily been omitted.

Challenge Book# 23

TITLE: In the Garden of Temptation ★★★
AUTHOR: Cynthia Wicklund
DATE READ: February 25 - February 28
Series/ Progress: Garden/1
Book type: e-book
Category: Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. - Foreign series

Lady Catherine can't understand why her husband of 7 years insists on dressing her up like a trollop when he has visitors coming. But on one occasion she meets the Earl of Ashworth, and they become romantically involved.

The reasoning for her husband's behavior and the subsequent events are an interesting tale of Regency romance.

Challenge Book# 24

TITLE: The Book of Life ★★★½
AUTHOR: Deborah Harkness
DATE READ: March 2 - March 8
Series/ Progress: All Souls Trilogy/3
Book type: audiobook
Category: Ah,to be young again! - Young Adult series

This conclusion of the All Souls Trilogy has Diana Bishop (weaver/witch) and her vampire husband, Matthew de Clermont battling not only their own powers but their families and others of their kind.

This story brings the vampire/deClermont family together to protect Diana and Matthew but also to discover the whereabouts of Benjamin, Matthew's son who has Blood Rage. Benjamin is an evil vampire who is trying to retaliate against the de Clermonts.

This final installment brings the characters together and the story to a very interesting conclusion.

Challenge Book# 25

TITLE: The House at Riverton ★★★½
AUTHOR: Kate Morton
DATE READ: March 1 - March 18
Series/ Progress:
Book type: ARD
Category: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. - Miscellaneous

Normally, shifts in time in a book will drive me crazy, however, Kate Morton manages to always make this process work for me.

The reader is introduced to Dr. Grace Bradley, an archeologist, spending the remainder of her years in a nursing home. She has been contacted by movie producers who want her opinion of their sets for a movie they are making set at Riverton, a manor house where Grace had worked as a housemaid when she was very young. The sets bring memories flooding back to Grace telling the story of the Hampton sisters and the tragedies that befell the residents of Riverton.

As the story progresses we see Grace battling with her memories as well as trying to find a way to reveal the secrets of her life before her end.

One of my favorite authors with a great story.

Challenge Book# 26

TITLE: Fairy Tales ★★★
AUTHOR: Hans Christian Andersen
DATE READ: March 1 - March 19
Series/ Progress:
Book type: e-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

I knew that Hans Christian Andersen wrote a great number of fairy tales and the basic stories of some of them, but I was delightful to sit down and actually read them. Some I'd never heard about and I enjoyed those too.

Challenge Book# 27

TITLE: A Question of Belief ★★★
AUTHOR: Donna Leon
DATE READ: March 10 - March 20
Series/ Progress: 19/24
Book type: Audio book
Category: Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. - Foreign series


This 19th installment of the Guido Brunetti series returns the great characters of Commissario Brunetti, Inspector Vianello, and secretary Signorina Elettra to Venice in the stifling heat of a Venice August. Guido loses out on his vacation in the Alps with his family when a diligent government worker is found dead. Was he murdered because of his job working for a corrupt judge or was he murdered because he was a homosexual?

The book is filled with twists and turns followed by an unusual resolution.

Challenge Book# 28

TITLE: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry ★★★
AUTHOR: Rachel Joyce
DATE READ: March 19 - March 23
Series/ Progress: 1/2
Book type: ARD
Category: Not another one! - Firsts in new series

After 20 years with no contact, Harold receives a note from a former co-worker, Queenie, telling him that she's dying. Guilt immediately attacks Harold's conscience, so he sets out to save her by walking the length of England unprepared for the journey - physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. The tale of journey and the enlightenment he receives along the way point the reader to soul searching of their own.

TITLE: Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War ½★
AUTHOR: Max Hastings
DATE READ: March 21 - March 26
Series/ Progress: January-00
Book type: ARD
Category: In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES


ABANDONED

This author must have either been writing his thesis or being paid by the syllable/name/stats that were used, because after 100 pages I'd had too many stats, too many miniscule details, and too many names which meant absolute nothing. Not only this, but he kept inserting his own comments and opinions.

>82 cyderry: Haha. I'm reading one now which I thought I'd abandon. Lots of things that bug me but it's such a quick read, though, that I'm now more than 75% through it.

>>83 lindapanzo: - it took me 5 days to get through 100+ pages. no way was I going to make it through 700!

Challenge Book# 29

TITLE: A Stitch in Crime ★★★½
AUTHOR: Betty Hechtman
DATE READ: March 24 - March 26
Series/ Progress: Crochet Mysteries - 4/9
Book type: ARD
Category: As ye sew, so shall ye rip - Needlework mysteries - HISTORIES

Bookstore owner, Pamela Shedd has handed over the "Rhinestone Clipboard" and all the responsibilities for their sponsored craft retreat. Things don't start out well having to replace the Tai Chai instructor as well as the acting coach, but managing that Molly is optimistic about the retreat until a massive fog sets in - stopping the arrival of the retreaters. Then the crochet instructor is found dying on the beach apparently suffering from an allergic reaction to a s'more.

Molly has to rely on her own instincts as well as her friends to figure that it wasn't an accident but murder!

Challenge Book# 30

TITLE: Haunted on Bourbon Street ★★★½
AUTHOR: Deanna Chase
DATE READ: March 27 - March 28
Series/ Progress: Jade Calhoun Series- 1/7
Book type: e-book
Category: Ah,to be young again! - Young Adult series

I'm not normally into the paranormal, but because this was such a speedy read, I managed to get past the ghosts and witches to find an entirely enjoyable story with somewhat 2 dimensional characters - but fun just the same. I may even read another.

Challenge Book# 31

TITLE: The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After ★★★★
AUTHOR: Julia Quinn
DATE READ: March 28 - March 29
Series/ Progress: The Bridgertons - 9/9
Book type: e-book
Category: Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romance series

When you read those romances that end with the "Happily Ever After" somehow there's always a few questions left unanswered. In this book, Julia Quinn writes the 2nd epilogue to the 8 books in the Bridgerton series bringing all the characters back to life but showing us the ever after.

Great fun!

>85 cyderry: I've only read the first one in Hechtman's crochet series. I think I intended to read the second to see if it improved. It was just "okay" for me after the first installment.

TITLE: Hanging by a Thread ★★½
AUTHOR: Monica Ferris
DATE READ: March 30 - April 1
Series/ Progress: Needlecraft mysteries 6/18
Book type: ARD
Category: As ye sew, so shall ye rip - Needlework mysteries

This story very much reminded me of the Sherlock Holmes Problem on Thor Bridge with a very similar resolution. I wonder if the author is a fan of Holmes? The characters didn't seem to grow but remained stagnant to their previous adventure. The mystery itself wasn't very involved but the background was fun.

TITLE: Finger Lickin' Dead ★★★½
AUTHOR: Riley Adams
DATE READ: April 2 - April 5
Series/ Progress: Memphis BBQ mysteries 2/4
Book type: e-book
Category: A Watched Pot never Boils - Culinary Mysteries

The second of the Memphis BBQ mysteries cen ters around Adam Cawthorn's murder - he had moonlighted as "Eppie Currian" a restaurant reviewer and the nasty reviews that he wrote had many up in arms so when his body was found, there were plenty of suspects.

I thought this mystery was great because at the very instant of the mystery I thought I knew who the murderer was and followed that convention until the end when I was greatly surprised at being wrong!

TITLE: The Fire Chronicle ★★★½
AUTHOR: John Stephens
DATE READ: April 5 - April 9
Series/ Progress: Books of Beginning 2/3
Book type: e-book
Category: Ah,to be young again! - Young Adult series

Kate, Michael, and Emma have been sent back to the orphanage in Baltimore but Kate realizes that they are still in danger and when the storm comes, Kate is separated from Michael and Emma leaving Michael promising to watch over his little sister until Kate returns. Kate is thrown back into time by the Atlas until just before the magical world separates itself in 1899 while Michael and Emma connect with Dr. Pym and start out on a search for the second book - the Fire Chronicle.

Michael and Emma are taken on an adventure to the bowels of the earth starting in Antarctica and ending in an area far beneath the ice mass warmed by a volcano which guards the Chronicle. Meanwhile, Kate is without the Atlas and struggles in the past to find a way back to her siblings.

Loved the adventure and the children's resolve when faced with danger.

I have finished my first Category, but I'm sure, that with time, I will continue these series!

TITLE: Blackberry Pie Murder ★★★
AUTHOR: Joanne Fluke
DATE READ: April 14 - April 14
Series/ Progress: Hannah Swensen Mysteries 17/18
Book type: e-book
Category: A Watched Pot never Boils - Culinary Mysteries

Hannah's partner Lisa had her car in the shop, so when Hannah picks her up on a rainy morning an accident gets Hannah into a pot of trouble. Arrested for Vehicular homicide, Hannah works from jail trying to figure out the identity of the victim and what he was doing on a deserted road.

Okay, these aren't rocket science but for me they are loads of fun. The characters make me laugh and the recipes make my mouth water.

>89 cyderry: I have kind of given up on the Ferris series. As the series progressed, Ferris got further and further away from needlework and got into things in which I had little or no interest. I hated to see a great series ruined because the author strayed from the series premise, but that is exactly what happened.

>90 cyderry: After reading the first in that series, I haven't been tempted to try later installments.

>92 cyderry: We rated that one similarly.

>>93 thornton37814: I agree with you that the Ferris series seems to be straying away from the needlecrafts. I'm extremely far behind (I think I have 10 more to go) but I'm not rushing. I had this one on my bookshelf for a long time and I really wanted to clear it.

The BBQ series 1st wasn't great, I agree but I wanted to if it improved with the 2nd. Not in a rush to get further.

As for Hannah, I have one more to be all caught up. I keep hoping that she will make a decision for her love life but with the cliffhanger from this one, I'm thinking I'll have to keep going.

TITLE: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs ★★★
AUTHOR: Judi Barrett
DATE READ: April 15 - April 15
Series/ Progress: Chance of Meatballs 1/2
Book type: ARD
Category: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. - Miscellaneous

I overheard my great-nephew's (4 yrs old) Mom start talk about reading this book so I picked it up from the library to see what it was all about.

How imaginative to have a town named Chewandswallow, where there are no grocery stores but each day your food is delivered by the weather - you could soup or milk showers, snow of mashed potatoes or peas, storms of hamburgers! So much fun but don't read it on an empty stomach!

Challenge Book# 37

TITLE: Fire Engine Dead ★★★
AUTHOR: Sheila Connolly
DATE READ: April 16 - April 18
Series/ Progress: Museum Mystery 4/6
Book type: e-book
Category: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. - Miscellaneous

The Fireman's museum is under renovation when the storage facility where all their collections are housed becomes the victim of an arson fire. The head of the the Fireman's museum contacts Nell to see if her historical museum can be of any assistance.

Searching through the Society's records, Nell discovers issues that she reports to the FBI (her boyfriend). With her assistance the FBI attempt to determine the cause and motive for the arson.

The mystery is well-written and carries the reader effortlessly to conclusion. Will definitely be reading the next one soon.

Challenge Book# 38

TITLE: Francesca: The Silk Merchant's Daughters ★★★½
AUTHOR: Bertrice Small
DATE READ: April 18 - April 22
Series/ Progress: Silk Merchant's Daughters 2/4
Book type: e-book
Category: Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romance series

Giovanni Pietro D'Angelo, a wealthy silk merchant in Florence has been contacted my Lorenzo di Medici concerning his second daughter Francesca. Titus Cesare, Duke of Torreno Boscoso, is seeking a wife for his heir and di Medici wants Francesca to be one of the 3 candidates. After arguing with her father, Francesca reluctantly agrees to travel to Torreno Boscoso to meet the future Duke.
Two other young women are also to be considered and the young heir will choose from the 3 maidens.

When Francesca is selected she flees into the forest in an attempt to escape her fate but there she undergoes a change - realizing what she may have lost as well as what she may have found.

Francesca's transformation from a spoiled aristocrat to the new duchessa is what is needed for she and the new duke to survive the difficulties ahead.

I wasn't fond of the ending but it did have a purpose.

Challenge Book# 39

TITLE: To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 ★★★½
AUTHOR: Adam Hochschild
DATE READ: April 10 - April 26
Book type: e-book
Category: In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES

I thought that as an avid reader and a lover of history that I knew the basics about World War I. I'd heard about trench warfare, chlorine gas, mustard gas, and shell shock but I didn't really understand them and I wasn't prepared for what I learned while reading this book.

They called it the Great War. However, this war was apparently completely unnecessary. That's right - 8.5 million casualties, 12-13 million civilian deaths totally unnecessary brought on by a war-hungry monarch and military men who wouldn't accept the changes that the 20th century had brought to the battlefield.

The Allied Forces were actually losing the battle until the Americans joined the fight. The Treaty that ended the war was so vindictive that many historians see it as a contributor to World War II.

The book was slow to start, had some areas where it was extremely repetitive concerning the women that were against the war, but highly informative.

I had much more to say in my full review.

Challenge Book #40

TITLE: The Doll People ★★★½
AUTHOR: Ann Martin
DATE READ: April 26 - April 28
Series/ Progress: Doll people 1/4
Book type: ARD
Category: Ah,to be young again! - Young Adult series

My book group wanted to read something light-hearted for the start of spring so I suggested this book that I originally read in 2009. I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

I have to share the news!

LAST VISIT TO THE ONCOLOGIST

MY CANCER IS CURED!!!!

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!!👏👏👏

Fabulous news, Cheli!

Challenge Book# 41

TITLE: Front Page Fatality ★★★★
AUTHOR: LynDee Walker
DATE READ: April 28 - May 3
Series/ Progress: Headline in Heels 1/4
Book type: e-book
Category: Not another one! - Firsts in new series

Nichelle Clarke is the crime reporter in Richmond. Covering a story related to multiple murders of drug dealers, Clarke gets herself in even deeper when she discovers the reason for the death of a Commonwealth District Attorney is connected and how.

This was a great start of a new series for me and I will most definitely be continuing. The writing was good and the characters captivating.

Challenge Book# 42

TITLE: The Lusitania Tragedy ★★★
AUTHOR: Daniel Taylor Brown
DATE READ: May 3 - May 3
Book type: e-book
Category: In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES

This was a short book reliving the experience of the author who was a survivor of the May 7, 1915 sinking of the Lusitania. No only did he survive the sinking but he was then caught in the London bombing. Interesting tale.

>100 cyderry: Fantastic news!!!

>100 cyderry: Happy Dance!

>100 cyderry: That's great news!

>100 cyderry: Congratulations! :-)

>104 cyderry: - I love that cover even if I'm not sure I need another series.

>100 cyderry: Amazing, amazing news! :) :) :) :) :)

Yippee! That is fabulous news! 🎉🎉

Challenge Book# 43

TITLE: Lemon Pies and Little White Lies ★★★½
AUTHOR: Ellery Adams
DATE READ: May 3 - May 7
Series/ Progress: Charmed Pie Shoppe 4/4
Book type: e-book
Category: Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series

The newest Charmed Pie Shoppe mystery continues the tale of the LeFaye sisters and Ella Mae, the Clover Queen. An extremely large storm is reeking havoc in the areas of numerous magical groves. Ella Mae has to combat another witch to prevent further damage for other magical groups as well as her own family.

>100 cyderry: Congratulations!

Challenge Book# 44

TITLE: The Long Way Home ★★★★
AUTHOR: Louise Penny
DATE READ: May 6 - May 9
Series/ Progress: Three Pines 10/10
Book type: audiobook
Category: Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series

Armand Gamache has settled into his retirement with Rein-Marie in the quaint village of Three Pines bu after a year Clara Morrow throws a kink into his free time by persuading him to find her missing husband, Peter.

Using his contacts at the Sureté, Gamache gets a timeline of Peter's moves but then nothing. With Clara leading the way while Rein-Marie does research about what they do know, finding Peter becomes a process of following gut feelings - will they find him in time?

Peter wasn't one of my favorite characters from Three Pines being self-centered and selfish - but with what was revealed in this book, I'm glad that Ms. Penny made Peter the focus of this book.

Challenge Book# 45

TITLE: False Testimony ★★★
AUTHOR: Rose Connors
DATE READ: May 9 - May 9
Series/ Progress: Marty Nickerson series 4/4
Book type: audiobook
Category: You have the right to remain silent (as you read) - Legal/police mysteries

Marty Nickerson, Attorney at law, has two cases keeping her busy - a Public Defender case of a thug charged with the murder of a priest on Christmas Eve and a case of representing a Senator implicated in the murder of an aide.

Having to design a defense for the murder charges, Marty is reluctant to tear apart the reputation of the priest and having to control the Senator and his exposure proves tricky.

This was a great finish for the series.

Challenge Book# 46

TITLE: Ming Tea Murder ★★★½
AUTHOR: Laura Childs
DATE READ: May 8 - May 10
Series/ Progress: Tea Shoppe Mysteries 16/16
Book type: ARD
Category: Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series

The latest of the Tea Shoppe mysteries has Theodosia trying to help her beau after he was suspended from his job following a murder of a major contributor at the museum.

Theo and her staff set out to find out who was responsible. Numerous events carry the story forward keeping the reader thoroughly involved while visiting with old friends.

Ahh - I need to read the latest Louise Penny and the latest Laura Childs. Every time I've gone to check out the Louise Penny, it has been missing from the shelves. I think the Laura Childs' book is in the order that should be awaiting me when I get back to the library. I'll have to catalog it so I can check it out!

Challenge Book# 47

TITLE: Rinkitink in Oz ★★★
AUTHOR: L. Frank Baum
DATE READ: May 11 - May 11
Series/ Progress: Oz 10/15
Book type: e-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

The island of Pinagree is a peaceful, happy place which produces a huge number of beautiful pearls. The King of Pinagree has special pearls that he can use to protect this kingdom but when attacked by Regos and Coregos he is unable to reach the special pearls and he, the queen, and all the inhabitants are taken away to slavery.

But wait, Prince Inga and visiting King Rinkitink escape discovery. Prince Inga retrieves the special pearls and heads off to rescue his parents and the people of his kingdom.

Challenge Book# 48

TITLE: Thread Reckoning ★★★
AUTHOR: Amanda Lee
DATE READ: May 12 - May 12
Series/ Progress: Embroidery mystery 3/7
Book type: e-book
Category: As ye sew, so shall ye rip - Needlework mysteries

Marcy Singer, owner of the Embroidery shop in Tallulah Falls, is approached by Cassandra Wainwright about her antique wedding dress. Cassandra wants some embroidery and jewels added to areas that have yellowed. Marcy accepts the commission but is startled when the following day she is confronted by the body of he future mother-in-law outside her shop. The police inform her that the jewels she was given to attach to the dress were not fakes but worth close to $100, 000.

Worried that the jewels were the reason for the murder and that the murderer may think she has more, Marcy sets out to find the murderer.

The mystery was fun, but I wish there had been more needlework involvement.

The dress on the cover is stunning. Is the dog a character in the stories?

>>121 mamzel: yes, the main character has a Irish wolfhound.

Challenge Book# 49

TITLE: Dressed to Kill ★★★
AUTHOR: Lynn Cahoon
DATE READ: May 13 - May 14
Series/ Progress: Tourist Trap 4/4
Book type: e-book
Category: Never go to bed alone - Book based mysteries

Jill, owner of the Coffee Shop/bookstore, is participating in a mystery theater charity event with her policeman/boyfriend. At rehearsal one night she discovers a real body. Unable to stay out of the investigation, Jill gets drawn in even more when the victim's girlfriend turns out to be her boyfriend's ex.

The characters keep getting better and the situations are entertaining. Glad I found this series!

Challenge Book# 50

TITLE: Lost Princess of Oz ★★★
AUTHOR: L. Frank Baum
DATE READ: May 15 - May 17
Series/ Progress: Oz 11/15
Book type: e-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

Suddenly, Ozma is missing! And not only is Ozma no where to be found, but the Wizard's bag of magical items, Ozma's magic picture, and Glenda's Book of Records and enchanted objects are gone too.

The inhabitants of the Emerald City divide into search parties and head out to all areas of the land of Oz.

Dorothy and her companions head into the land of the Winkies, discover that they are looking for an angry wizard, Ugu the Shoemaker. Zthe adventures are worthy of Oz!

Challenge Book# 51

TITLE: Killer Librarian ★★★
AUTHOR: Mary Lou Kirwin
DATE READ: May 17 - May 19
Series/ Progress: Librarian mysteries 1/2
Book type: e-book
Category: There's no place like home - Classics

Karen's excited about her trip to England with her boyfriend but just before the flight, Dave calls and tells her that their relationship is over. Determined to see England, Karen goes alone and spots Dave with a new girlfriend on the same flight.

Arriving at the scheduled B&B, Karen is charmed by the owner and decides that Dave and she really wouldn't have made it. However, having had a pint or two too many she had told a stranger that she wanted to kill Dave.

The cute little mystery that follows was fun and entertaining.

>100 cyderry:
I'm behind on threads, but couldn't miss celebrating these news!!! Huge congrats!

>119 cyderry: & 124
I got an ebook with the 15 first Oz-books and am looking forward to rereading them. I think the last time I read any Oz, I was probably around 10 years old. :)

>>126 -Eva-: mine is also an e-book collection of OZ - I think I paid $2.99 for them all. I love a bargain!

>127 cyderry:
Feels like I've won a prize when I find a really good deal! :)

Challenge Book# 52

TITLE: Faithful Place ★★★★
AUTHOR: Tana French
DATE READ: April 8 - May 27
Series/ Progress: Dublin Murder Squad 3/5
Book type: audio book
Category: Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. - Foreign series

Frank Mackey, head of one of the undercover units in the Dublin force is thrown back to his youth and he returns to Faithful Place, the neighborhood where he grew up and his family still lives. His teenage sweetheart had disappeared on the night they were to elope and suddenly years later, her skeleton is found in an abandoned building.

Part of Frank still loves Rosie Daley, but returning to Faithful Place brings back hard feelings since he has never returned to visit his family. The recriminations from family and old friends make the investigation tense as the murder squad search for answers. The solution will rock the area.

Learning more about Frank and his past - family, marriage, divorce, daughter - intermingled with this mystery was fascinating.

>129 cyderry:
That one's my favorite in the series because the descriptions of the neighborhood and its people are so spot-on.

>129 cyderry: - That's the next one in the series for me too, although I probably won't get to it until next year. I wasn't crazy about his character in book two, but I like the idea French uses of making a secondary character the main character of the next book. Good to know the book is good.

Challenge Book# 53

TITLE: The Best Defense ★★★½
AUTHOR: Kate Wilhelm
DATE READ: June 1 - June 2
Series/ Progress: Barbara Holloway 2/13
Book type: audio book
Category: You have the right to remain silent (as you read) - Legal/police mysteries

I don't know why it's taken me 6 years to read the second of this series, but I can promise, that it will not be another 6 years! The story was woven so seamlessly between the court room and the investigation that I couldn't put it down. The characters are very believable yet I doubt there are few attorneys that will put that much effort into a case if not being paid.

The story surrounds a mother who is condemned in the press for the death of her daughter and it seems that no one wants to make an effort to find out what really happened.

Great story!

Challenge Book# 54

TITLE: To Brie or Not To Brie ★★★
AUTHOR: Avery Aames
DATE READ: June 1 - June 6
Series/ Progress: Cheese Shoppe 4/6
Book type: audio book
Category: I finished the bottle already? - Wine and cheese mysteries

Charlotte is busy at the Cheese Shoppe preparing samples of food for her BF Meredith and cousin Matthew's wedding when a body is discovered in the freezer of the ice cream shop down the street. When the victim turns out to be the estranged husband of her boyfriend's sister, Charlotte gets involved to make sure that those she loves aren't in danger as well.

The mystery was fun and the food sounded so yummy!

Challenge Book# 55

TITLE: The Diva Paints the Town ★★★
AUTHOR: Krista Davis
DATE READ: June 7 - June 8
Series/ Progress: Domestic Diva 3/8
Book type: e-book
Category: A Watched Pot never Boils - Culinary Mysteries

Sophie is coordinating the Rooms and Blooms for the Design Guild. When an elderly neighbor passes away, Sophie and her nemesis, Natasha, are in competition again each decorating one of the rooms in the decease's home. At the same time, Sophie is asked to cater the "Bequest Party". One of the heirs is a no-show but Sophie's decorating team discover why when the body is found.

This was a really fun mystery - wacky characters, strange twists, and fun decorating ideas.

Challenge Book# 56

TITLE: Dead and Berried ★★★½
AUTHOR: Karen Mac Inerney
DATE READ: June 9 - June 11
Series/ Progress: Domestic Diva 2/7
Book type: e-book
Category: Ouch! I dropped th hammer on my foot - Home and Crafts

Natalie Barnes, proprietor of the Gray Wale B&B, is worried about her part-time helper Polly Sarkes, and decides to kill 2 birds with one stone and heads to Polly cottage to check on her and pick some cranberries in the nearby bog. What she finds is not the cranberries she was looking for but Polly dead - apparently suicide. But things don't seem right to Natalie and so she decides to ask a few questions. Matters get away from her and she has to swim fast to avoid drowning in the middle of all the issues.

>135 cyderry: I've kind of slacked off on that series. I loved the first one, but it seems that each installment after it has captivated me slightly less than the one before it.

I so love the puns in those titles!

Challenge Book# 57

TITLE: The Diva Cooks A Goose ★★★½
AUTHOR: Krista Davis
DATE READ: June 12 - June 13
Series/ Progress: Domestic Diva 4/7
Book type: e-book
Category: A Watched Pot never Boils - Culinary Mysteries

We've all had holiday seasons that don't seem to be worth all the hassle that leads up to it, but when the Christmas gifts are stolen, and unwelcome guests appear and then end up dead, that really tends to spoil the festivities.

Sophie is caught up in the disastrous holiday when her brother George's neighborhood is victimized by thieves (taking even the Christmas dinner) and then her sister-in-law's father shows up with a new girlfriend. The girlfriend ends up dead but the disaster is alive and well as everyone seems to be a suspect.

The twists and turns were totally entertaining!

Challenge Book# 58

TITLE: "
The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War ★★★"
AUTHOR: Richard Rubin
DATE READ: June 1 - June 15
Series/ Progress: WWI
Book type: audiobook
Category: In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES

This book was definitely not what I expected. However, it was thoroughly engaging and filled some of the gaps from other books on why the American involvement in WWI was as it was.

This narrative was a combination of the real life stories of about a dozen 100+ yr. old WWI veterans - their successes and failures and what made then so unique. For example, one man walked to school everyday (2 miles) , then participated in the war, and on his return, married, got a job that he bicycled to 5 miles each way every day (rain, snow, didn't matter). Eventually he got a car, but at age 80 he could no longer drive so when his wife was placed in a nursing home a mile away from his home, he walked every day to have meals with her (3x a day no matter the weather). This stunned me. I remember hearing how my grandfather walked everywhere, but because we live in an age where we drive everywhere, it seems unfathomable.

Yes, this book showcased individuals, but it also showed me a great deal about the time and the differences that these brave men endured.

Challenge Book# 59

TITLE: Destroyer Angel ★★★★
AUTHOR: Nevada Barr
DATE READ: June 16 - June 17
Series/ Progress: Anna Pigeon 18/18
Book type: audiobook
Category: Mark it with a Star ★- Favorite authors series

While on a girl's camping trip, Anna is the only hope for survival for her friends who have been kidnapped. The thugs are unaware that Anna is along for the trip, and so she has to remain hidden while working to save her friends.

This story was riveting as Anna fought not just the elements but her lack of preparedness. Having no food or water and having only her professional tracking abilities, Anna and her friends had to combat armed men twice their size.

What surprised me in this story was the missing descriptions of the nature elements. It was more involved in the action than the scenery which usually in this series takes a major part. It didn't detract from the story, just surprised me a bit.

Challenge Book# 60

TITLE: Death by the Dozen ★★★★
AUTHOR: Jenn McKinlay
DATE READ: June 18 - June 19
Series/ Progress: Cupcake Bakery 3/6
Book type: e-book
Category: A Watched Pot never Boils - Culinary Mysteries

The Food Festival in Scottsdale is holding a pastry bake-off with a $10K prize so Melanie and Angie enter the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery in the contest. Surprised to find out that her mentor, Vic Mazzotta, is one of the judges, Melanie is devastated when he is found dead before the competition begins.

As the contest proceeds, the danger to Melanie and Angie increases not just from their competitors but the killer apparently is threatening them too.

I love the characters, the food descriptions and the mystery! Will be reading the next one soon!

Challenge Book# 61

TITLE: Murder Al Dente ★★★
AUTHOR: Jennifer L Hart
DATE READ: June 18 - June 19
Series/ Progress: Cupcake Bakery 3/6
Book type: e-book
Category: A Watched Pot never Boils - Culinary Mysteries


We've all had the experience of making a major mistake and heading home to lick our wounds, well that's exactly what Andy Buckland does when on the debut of her cooking show, the live audience gets food poisoning. But when she goes home things just seem to get worse.

She rear ends an SUV driven by a gorgeous guy while she looks like s***, she's hired to cater a party by her worst enemy from High School and it turns out to be the engagement party of that same enemy and her ex-boyfriend, and last, the family business is near bankruptcy and they want her to save it.

How can she do that when she is a suspect in the murder of the pastry chef who witnessed her TV downfall?

The characters were fun but the mystery was a little on the light side.

>141 cyderry: Every time I see a review for one of those cupcake shop books, I'm reminded how much I have enjoyed the ones I've read. I don't remember if the series is available at my library or not, but I'll have to check to see if the next one is there. If not, it's probably in the Raleigh reading list which means I won't get to it for a bit.

ETA: It's in my library. Maybe I'll check it out later in the week.

Challenge Book# 62

TITLE: Drawing Conclusions ★★★
AUTHOR: Donna Leon
DATE READ: June 18 - June 23
Series/ Progress: Commissario Brunetti 20/24
Book type: audiobook
Category: Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. - Foreign series

As usual in the Commissario Brunetti series, the reader is taken on a ride through Venice while investigations are underway into the death of Signora Altavilla, an elderly woman found dead in her apartment by her neighbor. The coroner rules the death by heart attack but Brunetti is alarmed by bruises on her body that don't seem to fit with a fall. Delving into the woman's activities, along the help of Signorina Elettra, Brunetti finds the hidden world surrounding domestic violence and steps that often are taken to save those women who cannot protect themselves.

Challenge Book# 63

TITLE: Staged to Death ★★★
AUTHOR: Karen Rose Smith
DATE READ: June 22 - June 24
Series/ Progress: Caprice De Luca Mystery 1/4
Book type: e book
Category: Not another one! - Firsts in new series

Caprice DeLuca, a home stager is helping her high school friend, Roz, prepare to sell the house that she and her husband built when they were married. Trouble in paradise and murder in the study of Roz's husband have Caprice assisting Roz to avoid the paparazzi as well as a stint in jail. Caprice starts asking questions about Roz's husband's business, finds an attorney for Roz, and sets out to discover the murderer.

Okay, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story and the main characters but there were just a few too many other characters rolling through this one - 37 major/minor characters is way too many. I really feel that with some rethinking, some of these minor characters could have been rolled in together.

Hopefully, future installments will have a lesser population.

Challenge Book# 64

TITLE: A Deadly Cliché ★★★½
AUTHOR: Ellery Adams
DATE READ: June 25 - June 28
Series/ Progress: Books by the Bay 2/7
Book type: ARD
Category: Never go to bed alone - Book based mysteries

I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the first in this series but was quickly reminded by the wonderful characters and the writing that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Olivia and her Dog, Captain Haviland, find a body buried in the sand one morning while strolling on the beach. Before the end, they will be finding or connected to several other murders which all have a cliché portrayed by or near the body. However, the Cliché murders aren't the only mystery that Olivia has to face when an unexpected letter comes and throws her for a loop.

Great fun and hurrying toward the next one!

Challenge Book# 65

TITLE: The Meanest Doll in the World ★★★
AUTHOR: Ann Martin
DATE READ: June 26 - June 29
Series/ Progress: Doll People 2/4
Book type: audio book
Category: How'd they do that? - Magical series

Annabelle Doll, Tiffany Funcraft, and Auntie Sarah Doll leave the Doll House to explore the attic but fail to return before their human owner, Katie, awakes so Annabelle and Tiffany hide in Katie's backpack. They are taken off to school and share an adventure before jumping back into the wrong backpack. At the home of Katie's friend they meet other living dolls that are being terrorized by the Princess Mimi Doll. Tiffany and Annabelle help the other dolls free themselves from Mimi's cruelties. But when Annabelle and Tiffany manage to get back home, they have company.

So much fun!

Challenge Book# 66

TITLE: Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling ★★★
AUTHOR: Ross King
DATE READ: June 14 - June 29
Book type: ARD
Category: In Flanders fields the poppies blow - HISTORIES

This was an interesting book that at times got weighed down by the descriptions in vast detail of the processes that were used for different types of painting including but not restricted to the frescoes that were painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This was really more a combined biography of Michelangelo, Pope Julius II, and Raphael.

The pictures of the Sistine Chapel frescoes were beautiful but it would have been much nicer if they had not been all lumped together in one pictures but the panels shown individually. I often had to search the Internet for an individual image so that I could understand what the writer was talking about.

I'm halfway through the year and have read 66 books sticking with my theme of histories and mysteries. I really wanted to catchup with the series that I had already started and I think I'm doing pretty well in that area. I also wanted to read more of the books that I already have either sitting on my shelves or lolling on my e-readers. (My Nook books seem to be growing on their own!) So here is how the numbers break down for the first 6 months.

New series started................11
Second in a series...................9
Third in a series....................11
4th or more..........................26
Histories................................6
Fiction - misc and book club.....3
Series brought current............11
Series still behind.................144
Categories completed...........4/15 27%

read off the list from the beginning of the year 57/66 86%
books read from my shelves/e-readers 44/66 67%

e books read 41
audio books heard 14
books read 11
abandoned 2

New books acquired (total cost $60 - birthday $$) 15
ARCs 3
library books read 7


Best mystery of the year so far Destroyer Angel
Best surprise of the year so far Front Page Fatality
Best history of the year so far Bully Pulpit

So here are my goals for the remainder of the year:

Books to read........................60
Series that I'd like to have current by the end of 2015...........25
Progress on US history/Presidents.................Harding

"New series started - 11" somehow they just reach out and grab at you, don't they? I'm thinking of making series catch-up part of my plan for next year.

>>151 dudes22: I think that I'm going the same path next year for two reasons - 1) I still have "Series still behind.................144 and 2) I've really enjoyed not feeling guilty about what I'm reading because those series books are waiting in line. I'll have to see if I can figure out another theme or just add another category.

Histories and mysteries - so poetic!