June AlphaKIT - Q and C

Welcome to the 2022 AlphaKIT. This is an unofficial challenge for the 2022 Category Challenge Group. Each month has two letters selected for you to use however you choose.

There are no rules. Just have fun and enjoy reading. June letters are Q and C

and

Please remember to update the wiki with your reading:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2022_AlphaKIT#June:_-_Letters:_Q_and_C

It occurs to me that books set in Quebec would work nicely for this challenge, because the two-letter Canada Post abbreviation for Quebec is QC.

>2 rabbitprincess: Ha! Great idea.

Although I have lots of options for C, the only Q's I have are "The Great Quake by Henry Fountain and "Mary Queen of Scotch" by Rob Rosen.

I'm planning on The City of Brass and The Quantum Murder

In keeping with my series progress, I'm going to read A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn and The Last Detective by Robert Crais.

Q, for me, usually ends up with a title beginning with "Queen...", but we'll see.

ETA: >6 dudes22: Oh yes! For something different, I think I've also read the Spencer Quinn series for Q.

>2 rabbitprincess: I love the idea for Quebec so I will read the next in the Gamache series for sure. Usually by the end of the month, I have one more for each letter. No specifics yet...stay tuned!

A few possibilities for me:
Never Shoot a Stampede Queen: A Rookie Reporter in the Cariboo, by Mark Leiren-Young
Quiet Neighbours, by Catriona McPherson
A Cold Quarry, by Andy Straka

I plan to read Quiet as a Nun which I just acquired recently, not sure what else.

And if anyone's reading the Lennox series by Craig Russell, the fifth book, The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid, will give you two Q's. I read this one recently.

I'm planning on The Story of B by Daniel Quinn for my 'Q' book and The Cypress House by Michael Koryta for my 'C' book.

I am planning on reading Calamity Town by Ellery Queen and Little Bee by Chris Cleave

got lots on the list to entertain me after surgery! THIS WAS THE PERFECT MONTH FOR Q! The Queen's Jubilee celebration!

✔Absence of Mallets by Kate Carlisle
Big Trouble in Little Greektown by Kate Collins
Bitter Roots by Ellen Crosby
Book Clubbed
✔Colorful Scheme
✔Death by Chocolate Chip Cupcake
Dangerous Collaboration
✔Death a Sketch by Cheryl Hollon
✔Diva Steals a Chocolate Kiss
✔Last Queen
✔Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe
✔Queen Elizabeth II
✔Queen Elizabeth II diamond jubilee : 60 years a queen : a very peculiar history
✔Queen’s Spy
✔Wicked Wit Of Queen Elizabeth II
✔Witch Collector

I've picked out a C:
- The Runaway Wife / Rowan
(Apparently also called: "Dearest Rose")

And for Q, possibly this one:
- The Queen and Lord M / Jean Plaidy

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn would work well for this. I haven't read any of her other books yet, so I am not sure I want to start with one closer to modern day.

I’ve got The Red Badge of Courage and Other Stories (by Stephen Crane) lined up for the letter “C”; but not sure what I’m going to do for “Q” yet.

I've got my choices, at least to start with:

Defender by CJ Cherryh

Horse Racing's Holy Grail: The Epic Quest for the Kentucky Derby by Steve Haskin

I just finished my first C book, The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray. An enjoyable read for this Austen fan!

My first C book was Julius Caesar, and I'm about to start The Lady With the Gun Asks the Questions for Q.

I've finished my first Alpha for this month - The Last Detective by Robert Crais.

I read Plain Christmas for the "c" and still reading Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen.

I just finished reading 'The Red Badge of Courage' (by Stephen Crane) and the follow-up short story, "The Veteran" from The Red Badge of Courage and Other Stories and realized that I had not read this in high school! RBOC about a soldier during the Battle of Chancellorsville (US Civil War, May, 1863) confronting his fear. Amazingly evocative descriptions of the time, place and the narrator's thoughts. All these years, I've been confusing it with Ambrose Bierce's short, The Coup de Grace (which I did read)!

I've finished A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn, one of the Chet and Bernie series.

>25 dudes22: I need to get back to that series, I enjoyed the first four books.

>26 fuzzi: - They're ok. And they fill the "Q" each year.

I read a couple of those short story in-between books in the Spencer Quinn series I'm reading - The Iggy Chronicles, Volume One and The Iggy Chronicles, Volume Two

Ugh. I settled down with my e-reader to start "Mr. Klein is Fine", a contemporary romance novel by Meghan Quinn only to discover that it's just a short story. And a short that seems like it's a prequel or the start of another longer story, but from what I can find out, it's not. So, basically a sex scene and a conflict that appears to be on the right track to being resolved, but no arc to land the HEA squarely. The premise is that two teachers (H/h) who have a sexual history meet up again at a convention in Colorado and sparks fly again; but she has a secret... Disappointing to say the least, but I did get a "Q" title in for the month.

I read The Enemy by Lee Child that turned out to be my favourite Jack Reacher novel.

I'm listening to the slightly unseasonal Midwinter Murder, a series of short stories by Agatha Christie.

>31 Helenliz: Perfect timing for the Southern Hemisphere, though ;)

COMPLETED Mary, Queen of Scotch by Rob Rosen

Starting "Caitlin Ross and the Commute from Hell" by Brian Olsen

Starting A Quantum Murder by Peter F. Hamilton

I've finished another "C" book - A Wanted Man by Lee Child.

July AlphaKIT is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/342335

Finished Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen, which I did not like as well as some of the others in the series. This one seemed to take a long time to get off the ground and for the murder to happen. Then there were several chapters at the end that sort of wrapped things up but seemed extraneous to me.

COMPLETED Caitlin Ross and the Commute From Hell by Brian Olsen

Reading all of Qiu Xiaolong's inspector Chen series; among which 'The Mao Case' and 'Les courants fourbes du lac Tai'. Also Peter May: 'Chinese whispers'

Finished The Cypress House by Michael Koryta. It wasn't exactly what the back cover copy led me to expect, but once I got past that surprise, I ended up loving it. Full review written. A 4.5* read for me.

Starting "Death Comes As The End" by Agatha Christie

COMPLETED Death Comes As The End by Agatha Christie

I have completed both my Q & C reads with: Calamity Town by Ellery Queen and Little Bee by Chris Cleave. Both books were very good.

Read To Davy Jones Below by Carola Dunn for C and The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black for Q

I just finished The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn and enjoyed it quite a bit!

Completed Crescendo: The Story of a Musical Genius Who Forever Changed a Southern Town which hits C with Author Allen Cheney and Julie Cantrell. And Title Crescendo.

I also read Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and currently reading Cleopatra: a life

COMPLETED Barthes: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan D. Culler

Starting "The Great Quake" by Henry Fountain

I finished A Perfect Copy by Derville Murphy, a historical novel that was fine but not great.

I read The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger.

Just finished The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton.
I read this, the first Agatha Raisin book, back in the 1990s and liked it well enough to read more, although I liked Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books much better. This was a re-read to find out if Agatha Raisin could still hold my interest. And yes, given the right time, Beaton is a bit of fun. Agatha's forthright attitude mixed with a liberal share of human kindness is delightful.

COMPLETED The Great Quake by Henry Fountain

The Runaway Wife / Rowan Coleman
3.5 stars

Rose and her 7-year old daughter, Maddie, show up at a B&B in a small town in the middle of the night. It turns out Rose has – on the spur of the moment – left her abusive husband. Rose’s own father left when Rose was only 9, and her mother died when she was 17. It was not long after, she met and married the older doctor, Richard. Unfortunately, now, Rose doesn’t know where to go, so she follows a picture on a postcard to this small town.

The postcard came from Frasier, a man she met once at her door when she was pregnant. Frasier was looking for John, Rose’s father and an artist, as Frasier was an art dealer. But he was a nice man and such a bright spot in Rose’s dreary day, home alone, long estranged from her own friends, that he’d become a fantasy for her over the following years. To Rose’s surprise, though she was following the postcard in hopes of finding Frasier, she also found her father, whom she hadn’t heard a word from since he’d left.

This was good. The bulk of the story revolves around Rose’s new life (though there are flashbacks to find out what exactly happened with Richard), her new friends in Millthwaite, and her emerging relationship with her father. I quite liked many of the secondary characters, particularly Jenny, the owner of the B&B.

I sneaked in one more C book, Who's That Earl by Susanna Craig. I liked but didn't love this historical romance; people who seek out second-chance romances and/or Scottish settings may want to give it a try.

I read two C books this month:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie
Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End, Jennifer Worth

I finished another C, Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander.

Finished Cleopatra: a life by Stacy Schaffer for C.

Another C book; Life is a Caravanserai.

Finished my Q book, The Story of B by Daniel Quinn. I wish more people knew of this series...it doesn't even sound like something I'd like, but reading Quinn's work is so refreshing. And in many ways I feel like it should have been assigned to me, or at the very least put in my hands by a trusted teacher who told me to go off and read it on my own time because I'd be better for it.

Full review written, but if you don't know of Quinn, I hope you'll look up his first book in this (3-book) series, Ishmael.

I read one C book this month: Cold Skies, by Thomas King.

I managed to finish a few Cs and one Q (plus C):

Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell
I Shot the Buddha by Colin Cotterill
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
Cruel Candy by Mildred Abbott

Finished my Q yesterday. But still need to write my review...

The Queen and Lord M / Jean Plaidy
3.5 stars

This is Plaidy’s second book about Queen Victoria. This book opens when Victoria learns she is to be queen at 18-years old. Her first few years as queen are very much directed by the Prime Minister at the time, Lord Melbourne. She becomes very close to him. She has a couple of scandals along the way and things look bad to the public with her reaction when she almost loses him as Prime Minister. The book ends just as she marries.

This was good. By now I’ve read a bit more about Victoria than I had when I read Plaidy’s first book about her. But this one had much more detail about her relationship with the P.M. Wish she hadn’t relied solely on Melbourne’s advice, but this is what really happened.