1HorseNerd
Hey everyone!
This is my first time doing LT's 75 book challenge, I didn't really start using the site until last mid-last year but I've been tracking my books for a fair bit (including child me writing them all down on paper in notebooks!). I've managed 75 books fairly easily lately with my rediscovery of manga but I'm hoping to get more non-fiction in, and I've also gone back to school (again... again... again...) so I'll have less time for general reading.
I read mostly middle grade series books, manga, and pretty much anything to do with horses.
Looking to forward to this!
HorseNerd (Caitlin)
This is my first time doing LT's 75 book challenge, I didn't really start using the site until last mid-last year but I've been tracking my books for a fair bit (including child me writing them all down on paper in notebooks!). I've managed 75 books fairly easily lately with my rediscovery of manga but I'm hoping to get more non-fiction in, and I've also gone back to school (again... again... again...) so I'll have less time for general reading.
I read mostly middle grade series books, manga, and pretty much anything to do with horses.
Looking to forward to this!
HorseNerd (Caitlin)
2alsvidur
Welcome to the 75ers!
I also am a serial school-goer. It averages around every 5-10 years that I feel the need to learn something else. What are you going to school for this time?
I look forward to seeing what you read this year!
I also am a serial school-goer. It averages around every 5-10 years that I feel the need to learn something else. What are you going to school for this time?
I look forward to seeing what you read this year!
4PaulCranswick
New Year greetings from Kuala Lumpur. My project is at least physically completed and an addition to the city scape.
Look forward to keeping up with you in 2026, Caitlin
5HorseNerd
>2 alsvidur: History and early modern studies (which is a mix of history, philosophy, literature, etc). I was initially going to do animal science but calculus scared me off! But who knows, I might get there eventually.
>3 drneutron: Hello! I'm glad to be here!
>4 PaulCranswick: Greetings from the other side of the world, Nova Scotia, Canada!
>3 drneutron: Hello! I'm glad to be here!
>4 PaulCranswick: Greetings from the other side of the world, Nova Scotia, Canada!
6HorseNerd
January Reads
1.Skin and Bones
Franklin W. Dixon
Hardy Boys #164
A pretty standard Hardy Boys adventure, but enjoyable nonetheless. I volunteered in a natural history museum and got to know the tricks and tools of making museum specimens, y'know, skin and bones!
3.5 stars
2.Ruined
Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Niki Smith
A sweet graphic novel set in Regency England. A classic "marriage of convenience that turns into real love" story. The art is simple, but in a good way - enough to tell the story without getting bogged down in details.
4 stars
1.Skin and Bones
Franklin W. Dixon
Hardy Boys #164
A pretty standard Hardy Boys adventure, but enjoyable nonetheless. I volunteered in a natural history museum and got to know the tricks and tools of making museum specimens, y'know, skin and bones!
3.5 stars
2.Ruined
Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Niki Smith
A sweet graphic novel set in Regency England. A classic "marriage of convenience that turns into real love" story. The art is simple, but in a good way - enough to tell the story without getting bogged down in details.
4 stars
7PaulCranswick
>6 HorseNerd: Believe it or not, Caitlin, but I have never read a Hardy Boys book.
8HorseNerd
>7 PaulCranswick: It's not like they're the most sophisticated books of all time, but they are often fun and uncomplicated reads. You should pick one up!
9PaulCranswick
>8 HorseNerd: Us British boys and girls used to read Biggles and The Famous Five but I probably will pick up some of the core series books sometime. It seems that of the core series there were 58 books!
11HorseNerd
3. Dreadful Places
Aaron Mahnke
The World of Lore
I used to listen to Lore back in the day and came across this book in the library which is essentially transcription of podcasts and parts of episodes. Mahnke is a great story teller and I love spooky stories and I would read a couple a night in bed, depending on how fast I fell asleep that night.
4 stars
4. Flying Witch 6
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch #6
Another installment of this extremely light-hearted and whimsical series. I see it get compared to Yotsuba(to/&, depending on how you Anglicize the title) but it just doesn't have quite the same heart. However, it has grown on me as I've kept reading it, and I will continue to check it out since it's also good brain popcorn.
3.5 stars (+.5 for having a story in which the cat familiars visit school in order to get pork cutlets, which was adorable)
Aaron Mahnke
The World of Lore
I used to listen to Lore back in the day and came across this book in the library which is essentially transcription of podcasts and parts of episodes. Mahnke is a great story teller and I love spooky stories and I would read a couple a night in bed, depending on how fast I fell asleep that night.
4 stars
4. Flying Witch 6
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch #6
Another installment of this extremely light-hearted and whimsical series. I see it get compared to Yotsuba(to/&, depending on how you Anglicize the title) but it just doesn't have quite the same heart. However, it has grown on me as I've kept reading it, and I will continue to check it out since it's also good brain popcorn.
3.5 stars (+.5 for having a story in which the cat familiars visit school in order to get pork cutlets, which was adorable)
12HorseNerd
5. The Phantom of Pine Hill
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #42
Again, one of the older Nancy Drews, with a little bit of yikes depictions of Indigenous peoples but also the occasional w moment. Good overall story, a locked room story where a room is continually broken into by a "phantom".
3.5 stars
6. The Modern Bestiary
Joanna Bagniewska
A nonfiction collection of the bizarre of the animal world, from weird mating rituals to evolutionary quirks. It's a two page spread per animal so nothing in-depth, but a fun collection of animals, some of which I googled to find out more.
4 stars
7. Stage Dreams
Melanie Gillman
This graphic novel is in more of picture book format about a trans woman escaping joining the Confederate army and leaving behind her old identity. She is joined by a woman outlaw, and together they join forces to infiltrate a meeting of Confederate soldiers in New Mexico. The art is gorgeous, but the story moves so quick it's hard to believe some of it. Still enjoyed it.
3.5 stars (-.5 for really wrong horse tack. The rest of the book was really well researched with endnotes in the back, but the tack, especially the bridles are just collections of straps. It takes two seconds to look up pictures of a bridle, and I wouldn't even care if they used a fancy dressage double bridle as reference, as long as they did something would have been preferable. It's a huge pet peeve of mine where people do all sorts research on other things, like, there's literally a note about how coat hangers weren't invented at the time of the story but can't get the most basic horse info right. Again, this is just pet peeve of mine but it drives me up the wall)
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #42
Again, one of the older Nancy Drews, with a little bit of yikes depictions of Indigenous peoples but also the occasional w moment. Good overall story, a locked room story where a room is continually broken into by a "phantom".
3.5 stars
6. The Modern Bestiary
Joanna Bagniewska
A nonfiction collection of the bizarre of the animal world, from weird mating rituals to evolutionary quirks. It's a two page spread per animal so nothing in-depth, but a fun collection of animals, some of which I googled to find out more.
4 stars
7. Stage Dreams
Melanie Gillman
This graphic novel is in more of picture book format about a trans woman escaping joining the Confederate army and leaving behind her old identity. She is joined by a woman outlaw, and together they join forces to infiltrate a meeting of Confederate soldiers in New Mexico. The art is gorgeous, but the story moves so quick it's hard to believe some of it. Still enjoyed it.
3.5 stars (-.5 for really wrong horse tack. The rest of the book was really well researched with endnotes in the back, but the tack, especially the bridles are just collections of straps. It takes two seconds to look up pictures of a bridle, and I wouldn't even care if they used a fancy dressage double bridle as reference, as long as they did something would have been preferable. It's a huge pet peeve of mine where people do all sorts research on other things, like, there's literally a note about how coat hangers weren't invented at the time of the story but can't get the most basic horse info right. Again, this is just pet peeve of mine but it drives me up the wall)
14HorseNerd
>13 alsvidur: Thank you! I'm not much a reviewer in general so trying to put more than a basic summary has been a challenge!
15HorseNerd
8. In the Name of the Mermaid Princess
Yoshino Fumikawa and Miya Tashiro
Vol. 1
In a world where "unhumans" like mermaids and angels are randomly born, there are some countries that outlaw them. The princess of one of these places is indeed, a mermaid, and the castle tries to hide her while working on a "cure". She gets a tutor from the kingdom of the prince to which she is betrothed, and adventures ensue. It's very fast paced, basically the tutor tells her she's not some horrible monster and then they immediately run off. It's definitely for a younger teen audience but it's still a fun little story with nice art. Another popcorn read.
3.5 stars
9. Wicked Mortals
Aaron Mahnke
The World of Lore
Much the same as the first volume, but suffers a little from needing to have distance from crimes. The line between true crime and folklore is a little blurry and sometimes the collection bounces between the two. Also, H.H. Holmes and his associates come up in like, 4 stories.
3.5 stars
10. Archival Quality
Ivy Noelle Weir and Steenz
A graphic novel about a young woman who gets a job at an old medical facility after she has a mental breakdown at her old job (mood). We start with the knowledge that it's haunted and spooky stuff happens, which is almost a given due to 'old medical facility'. The main character basically stumbles into a mystery regarding a ghost who has previously bothered other staff, but she's the only one to pursue it to a point. This book is labelled as YA and sometimes it feels a little more immature, but the characters are all well above their teens and the themes of mental health and medical abuse sometimes feel like they're portrayed at the wrong level for teens. I'm 31, and I strongly related to the character, so I dunno if your average 16 year old would feel the same.
4 stars (mostly because I felt very seen by the main character, I'll admit the story is a little lacking in places and the pacing is all over the place.)
Yoshino Fumikawa and Miya Tashiro
Vol. 1
In a world where "unhumans" like mermaids and angels are randomly born, there are some countries that outlaw them. The princess of one of these places is indeed, a mermaid, and the castle tries to hide her while working on a "cure". She gets a tutor from the kingdom of the prince to which she is betrothed, and adventures ensue. It's very fast paced, basically the tutor tells her she's not some horrible monster and then they immediately run off. It's definitely for a younger teen audience but it's still a fun little story with nice art. Another popcorn read.
3.5 stars
9. Wicked Mortals
Aaron Mahnke
The World of Lore
Much the same as the first volume, but suffers a little from needing to have distance from crimes. The line between true crime and folklore is a little blurry and sometimes the collection bounces between the two. Also, H.H. Holmes and his associates come up in like, 4 stories.
3.5 stars
10. Archival Quality
Ivy Noelle Weir and Steenz
A graphic novel about a young woman who gets a job at an old medical facility after she has a mental breakdown at her old job (mood). We start with the knowledge that it's haunted and spooky stuff happens, which is almost a given due to 'old medical facility'. The main character basically stumbles into a mystery regarding a ghost who has previously bothered other staff, but she's the only one to pursue it to a point. This book is labelled as YA and sometimes it feels a little more immature, but the characters are all well above their teens and the themes of mental health and medical abuse sometimes feel like they're portrayed at the wrong level for teens. I'm 31, and I strongly related to the character, so I dunno if your average 16 year old would feel the same.
4 stars (mostly because I felt very seen by the main character, I'll admit the story is a little lacking in places and the pacing is all over the place.)
16HorseNerd
11. Monstrous Creatures
Aaron Mahnke
The World of Lore
Rounding out the trio with one I actually did read many moons ago, before I listened to the podcast. Same applies as the other two, but I swear a story or two is repeated. I don't have them side by side so I can't tell for sure if I'm just remembering them from the podcast, but I haven't really listened to it in a long time so idk.
I do want to offer an overall criticism of the series that as an anthropology/history gal gave me the ick on more than one occasion and that's the lack of historical/cultural relativism. People in different times and places have believed and known things that are 'irrational' as seriously as we know the sky is blue. Witches seem to get the brunt of this treatment, where people are either malicious in their use of accusations or just ignorant yokels of the past. While these two groups may have indeed existed, just as many, if not the vast majority whole-heartedly believed in things different than us and that's ok and normal. I know Mahnke isn't an anthropologist or historian but as someone who has studied a bit about epistemologies, it really frustrated me. Ok, rant over, lol.
3.5 stars
12. Snow Ride
Bonnie Bryant
The Saddle Club #20
The Saddle Club was my absolute favourite series as a kid and when I'm not on a Nancy Drew fix, the Saddle Club is usually my go-to comfort series. Pretty standard middle-grade stuff, but one advantage of this series is at least the horse stuff is usually accurate. I read this one mainly because we were expecting a huge snow storm (which did come, I am currently snowed in!) and wanted something wintry in theme.
3.5 stars
13. The Moonstone Castle Mystery
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #40
Nancy Drew is Nancy Drew. I will say this one suffers a little bit from the "there's 14 different mysteries at once but the resolution to all of them is the same thing" that really effects this era of the series. A mysterious package and a missing girl and a stalker and a lost inheritance and a strange castle, and that's just to start?! It just gets a little overwhelming sometimes, but I still enjoyed it.
3.5 stars
Aaron Mahnke
The World of Lore
Rounding out the trio with one I actually did read many moons ago, before I listened to the podcast. Same applies as the other two, but I swear a story or two is repeated. I don't have them side by side so I can't tell for sure if I'm just remembering them from the podcast, but I haven't really listened to it in a long time so idk.
I do want to offer an overall criticism of the series that as an anthropology/history gal gave me the ick on more than one occasion and that's the lack of historical/cultural relativism. People in different times and places have believed and known things that are 'irrational' as seriously as we know the sky is blue. Witches seem to get the brunt of this treatment, where people are either malicious in their use of accusations or just ignorant yokels of the past. While these two groups may have indeed existed, just as many, if not the vast majority whole-heartedly believed in things different than us and that's ok and normal. I know Mahnke isn't an anthropologist or historian but as someone who has studied a bit about epistemologies, it really frustrated me. Ok, rant over, lol.
3.5 stars
12. Snow Ride
Bonnie Bryant
The Saddle Club #20
The Saddle Club was my absolute favourite series as a kid and when I'm not on a Nancy Drew fix, the Saddle Club is usually my go-to comfort series. Pretty standard middle-grade stuff, but one advantage of this series is at least the horse stuff is usually accurate. I read this one mainly because we were expecting a huge snow storm (which did come, I am currently snowed in!) and wanted something wintry in theme.
3.5 stars
13. The Moonstone Castle Mystery
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #40
Nancy Drew is Nancy Drew. I will say this one suffers a little bit from the "there's 14 different mysteries at once but the resolution to all of them is the same thing" that really effects this era of the series. A mysterious package and a missing girl and a stalker and a lost inheritance and a strange castle, and that's just to start?! It just gets a little overwhelming sometimes, but I still enjoyed it.
3.5 stars
17HorseNerd
14. The Gunfighters
Bryan Burrough
A pretty entertaining look at the history of the gunfighters of the wild west, with a basic thesis of "it's Texas's fault (lovingly)". The combination of Southern honour culture with the lawlessness that pervaded the West basically wound up breeding this new class of people who shot each other for the merest slight. Interestingly, many of the big names in the sphere had WILDLY inflated death counts and that other "gunfighters" were just racists enforcing pre-Civil War attitudes through violence which got mythologized. This book is a microcosm of America in many ways, and I think the topics of law/order, race, class, and gun violence a certainly relevant to today.
4 stars
Bryan Burrough
A pretty entertaining look at the history of the gunfighters of the wild west, with a basic thesis of "it's Texas's fault (lovingly)". The combination of Southern honour culture with the lawlessness that pervaded the West basically wound up breeding this new class of people who shot each other for the merest slight. Interestingly, many of the big names in the sphere had WILDLY inflated death counts and that other "gunfighters" were just racists enforcing pre-Civil War attitudes through violence which got mythologized. This book is a microcosm of America in many ways, and I think the topics of law/order, race, class, and gun violence a certainly relevant to today.
4 stars
18HorseNerd
15. Flying Witch 7
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch #7
More of the same light hearted stuff as before.
16. Heated Rivalry
Rachel Reid
Game Changers #2
I decided to hop on the bandwagon and give it a try, after all, I am in Halifax right now so I suppose it counts as supporting a local author. But, uhh... it was ok? I know it's the hottest thing right now but it's very much loosely connected sex scenes for the majority of the book, sometimes years apart, as these two guys hook up when they have games together. When there's finally some continuity it gets a little better but honestly it's not earth shattering. Reminds me of having a comfort fanfic that you come back to which I know is how some of my friends view it.
3.5 stars
17. The Dead of Winter
Sarah Clegg
A kind of history/travelogue about the various spookier sides of Christmas folklore. A short little treat, very informative, the only bummer part is that it does a lot of debunking. Basically, all the things that get hailed as a pre-Christian survivals of ancient folklore are actually mostly from the early modern period that got picked up when Christmas got extra cozy in the Victorian period. Whomp whomp. Still really interesting, though.
4 stars
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch #7
More of the same light hearted stuff as before.
16. Heated Rivalry
Rachel Reid
Game Changers #2
I decided to hop on the bandwagon and give it a try, after all, I am in Halifax right now so I suppose it counts as supporting a local author. But, uhh... it was ok? I know it's the hottest thing right now but it's very much loosely connected sex scenes for the majority of the book, sometimes years apart, as these two guys hook up when they have games together. When there's finally some continuity it gets a little better but honestly it's not earth shattering. Reminds me of having a comfort fanfic that you come back to which I know is how some of my friends view it.
3.5 stars
17. The Dead of Winter
Sarah Clegg
A kind of history/travelogue about the various spookier sides of Christmas folklore. A short little treat, very informative, the only bummer part is that it does a lot of debunking. Basically, all the things that get hailed as a pre-Christian survivals of ancient folklore are actually mostly from the early modern period that got picked up when Christmas got extra cozy in the Victorian period. Whomp whomp. Still really interesting, though.
4 stars
19HorseNerd
18. Flying Witch 8
19. Flying Witch 9
20. Flying Witch 10
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch, #8 , 9, 10
Taking things out of order to lump together my progress in Flying Witch, still enjoyable, especially vol. 10 which features two more adorable cat related stories. +++++++ for spirit cats getting Churu
21. The Ruin of a Rake
Cat Sebastian
My brain is blanking on things to say right now, other than cute romance. End of semester always renders my brain out of order. I'll come back to it lmao
4 stars
22. Without a Trace
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: Girl Detective
The first in the second to latest reboot of the ND series from 2004. There's a switch to first person, and everyone gets some sort of new thing to make them more modern, Bess is still a girly-girl but is also good with anything mechanical, George becomes a tech whiz (which for mid 2000s middle grade novels basically means "can do a google search"). The mysteries in this story are both pretty meh, it feels like it's more of a way to introduce the series to new readers. (Really? Smashed zucchinis?)
3 stars
19. Flying Witch 9
20. Flying Witch 10
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch, #8 , 9, 10
Taking things out of order to lump together my progress in Flying Witch, still enjoyable, especially vol. 10 which features two more adorable cat related stories. +++++++ for spirit cats getting Churu
21. The Ruin of a Rake
Cat Sebastian
My brain is blanking on things to say right now, other than cute romance. End of semester always renders my brain out of order. I'll come back to it lmao
4 stars
22. Without a Trace
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: Girl Detective
The first in the second to latest reboot of the ND series from 2004. There's a switch to first person, and everyone gets some sort of new thing to make them more modern, Bess is still a girly-girl but is also good with anything mechanical, George becomes a tech whiz (which for mid 2000s middle grade novels basically means "can do a google search"). The mysteries in this story are both pretty meh, it feels like it's more of a way to introduce the series to new readers. (Really? Smashed zucchinis?)
3 stars
20HorseNerd
23. The Million Dollar Nightmare
Franklin W. Dixon
Hardy Boys #103
The Hardys stumble a upon a mystery after watching (not) Unsolved Mysteries. It's a missing horse, worth a million dollars, which seems laughable in 2026 when unraced colts can go for $10.5 mil. There's a back and forth from San Francisco and a rural area a couple hours away and it feels like the San Francisco stuff is kind of just shoved in there to get some big name attractions in there. The horse stuff isn't bad, which is always plus for non-horse series.
3 stars
24. Goat in the Garden
Ben M. Baglio
Animal Ark #4
Animal Ark is another classic from my childhood. A girl helps out with her vet parents in a quaint English village, and occasionally on vacation. It's kind of like Midsomer Murders in the whole "timeless quintessential English village where everyone knows everyone but never really existed" vibe. In this story, a naughty goat keeps getting into a rich guy's garden who then tries to get rid of the goat. However, much of the story is trying to help the down on her luck goat farmer. It's a little bit for a younger audience than my usual middle-grade fare but still enjoyable.
3 stars
25. A Race Against Time
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew Girl Detective #2
Another in the newer series, this time about stolen money for a charity bike race. The pacing is really odd, with the first quarter is a set-up for a later clue in the guise of a mystery of missing person that was essentially "he had to walk the whole way and that's why no one could find him". The stolen money doesn't come in until about halfway through the book, and then the resolution is like, the last two chapters. Also, since it's first-person from Nancy's perspective, the way the author uses her voice by making a statement then starting the next sentence with "but". This probably is nothing but as someone who got drilled on never starting sentences with words like but or because it stuck out like a sore thumb. Again, just a kind of meh offering.
3 stars
26. Mad & Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency
Bea Koch
This was written just before the first Bridgerton series premiered, as there a couple mentions of it, and was probably the prompt for a book about the diversity of the Regency. Basically, this book profiles women who don't fit the stereotypical idea of a Regency lady, from scientists to artists and queer women and women of colour. It's not bad, but it's pretty surface level, very much a "pop" history. Maybe it would more enjoyable if you have less of a university level history education, lol. (Also, it talks about the whole "Queen Charlotte was Black" thing which was inflamed by Bridgerton, but I have to wonder, if she had one Black ancestor around 500 years ago, does that make her Black? Is this a sort of more liberal-leaning 'one drop rule'? It just kind of smacks of bioessentialism and left me squinting and looking sideways at the rest of the book.)
3 stars
Franklin W. Dixon
Hardy Boys #103
The Hardys stumble a upon a mystery after watching (not) Unsolved Mysteries. It's a missing horse, worth a million dollars, which seems laughable in 2026 when unraced colts can go for $10.5 mil. There's a back and forth from San Francisco and a rural area a couple hours away and it feels like the San Francisco stuff is kind of just shoved in there to get some big name attractions in there. The horse stuff isn't bad, which is always plus for non-horse series.
3 stars
24. Goat in the Garden
Ben M. Baglio
Animal Ark #4
Animal Ark is another classic from my childhood. A girl helps out with her vet parents in a quaint English village, and occasionally on vacation. It's kind of like Midsomer Murders in the whole "timeless quintessential English village where everyone knows everyone but never really existed" vibe. In this story, a naughty goat keeps getting into a rich guy's garden who then tries to get rid of the goat. However, much of the story is trying to help the down on her luck goat farmer. It's a little bit for a younger audience than my usual middle-grade fare but still enjoyable.
3 stars
25. A Race Against Time
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew Girl Detective #2
Another in the newer series, this time about stolen money for a charity bike race. The pacing is really odd, with the first quarter is a set-up for a later clue in the guise of a mystery of missing person that was essentially "he had to walk the whole way and that's why no one could find him". The stolen money doesn't come in until about halfway through the book, and then the resolution is like, the last two chapters. Also, since it's first-person from Nancy's perspective, the way the author uses her voice by making a statement then starting the next sentence with "but". This probably is nothing but as someone who got drilled on never starting sentences with words like but or because it stuck out like a sore thumb. Again, just a kind of meh offering.
3 stars
26. Mad & Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency
Bea Koch
This was written just before the first Bridgerton series premiered, as there a couple mentions of it, and was probably the prompt for a book about the diversity of the Regency. Basically, this book profiles women who don't fit the stereotypical idea of a Regency lady, from scientists to artists and queer women and women of colour. It's not bad, but it's pretty surface level, very much a "pop" history. Maybe it would more enjoyable if you have less of a university level history education, lol. (Also, it talks about the whole "Queen Charlotte was Black" thing which was inflamed by Bridgerton, but I have to wonder, if she had one Black ancestor around 500 years ago, does that make her Black? Is this a sort of more liberal-leaning 'one drop rule'? It just kind of smacks of bioessentialism and left me squinting and looking sideways at the rest of the book.)
3 stars
21HorseNerd
27. The Ghost of Craven Cove
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #92
Nancy, Bess, and George have been summoned to an old acquaintance's for a "vacation" which of course means there's a mystery afoot. A sailor went out in mysterious circumstances and never came back, but his daughter claims to see him/his ghost out where the wreck happened. This one has a pretty decent blend of action and suspect investigating and a solid job actually incorporating the setting (New England coast) rather than some of the other books which have Nancy venture off to some unnamed midwest location for no reason.
4 stars
28. Sierra's Steeplechase
Joanna Campbell
Thoroughbred #8
Another in my classic middle grade horse nostalgia series, Thoroughbred focuses (mostly) on racing with some departures to eventing world. In this one, Sierra, an unruly colt, trains terribly and because he has valuable bloodlines, is being aimed towards sale as a stud. Of course, in classic horse girl fashion, Samantha, the main character of this book is *bonded* with him and doesn't want him sold (the way the girls in this series bond with their horses is not a helpful trait in the TB industry). Anyways, after he bolts and jumps a 5* star level fallen tree, her and her boyfriend, who is a show jumper, decide to attempt to train him to be a steeplechaser. Standard unrealistic horse adventures follow. One this I noticed coming back to this series is there seems to be a bit of an age gap thing going on, both with the first protagonist, Ashleigh and her partner, Mike, but also Samantha and Tor, who aren't "together" yet at the beginning of the book but she's 15 and a junior in high school and he's graduated and is taking a year off between HS and college to show for a year. Sam turns 16 on the day they start dating which in 2026 just... does not feel great. Of course, I'm pretty sure 12 year old me in the mid-aughts probably thought it was super romantic.
3 stars
29. Flying Witch #11
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch
This series finally has its claws in me, and I will say, Makoto, the main character, is still a bit of a damp squib, but the cast of supporting and one-off characters is so charming it more than makes up for it.
4 stars
30. The Message in the Hollow Oak
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #12
This is one of the 70s rewrites of the first chunk of the original series. Nancy picks up where a detective club left off on finding a treasure hidden by a French missionary, She gets billeted with an archaeological field school run through Ned's university and brings a whole bunch of trouble to them. This book definitely suffers from "talking about Indigenous archaeology in the past especially pre-NAGPRA/1990s" and there's a lot of really casual handling of Indigenous remains. Also two glaring things to an (kind of sort of maybe depends on when you ask me) archaeologists, at one point, the smug girl who keeps getting things wrong states that later groups practiced intrusive burials at Hopewell sites and is sharply corrected by the professor, but she *is* right. Another thing is Nancy recovering a toe bone from an infant skeleton which are such tiny bones that pretty much everyone but massive men with baseball mitt hands lose to the vagaries of time. Seriously, even in adult women, all but the long bone in your big toe are literally millimetres. Again, nitpicks from Archaeologist Caitlin. Despite this, I did actually really enjoy this one.
3.5 stars
31. The Mystery of Misty Canyon
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #86
I've really been on a ND roll lately. More standard fare with some horsey flavour. I have read this one in the past but even without that I feel like the twist about the missing horse is pretty obvious. Some fun western adventures too.
3 stars
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #92
Nancy, Bess, and George have been summoned to an old acquaintance's for a "vacation" which of course means there's a mystery afoot. A sailor went out in mysterious circumstances and never came back, but his daughter claims to see him/his ghost out where the wreck happened. This one has a pretty decent blend of action and suspect investigating and a solid job actually incorporating the setting (New England coast) rather than some of the other books which have Nancy venture off to some unnamed midwest location for no reason.
4 stars
28. Sierra's Steeplechase
Joanna Campbell
Thoroughbred #8
Another in my classic middle grade horse nostalgia series, Thoroughbred focuses (mostly) on racing with some departures to eventing world. In this one, Sierra, an unruly colt, trains terribly and because he has valuable bloodlines, is being aimed towards sale as a stud. Of course, in classic horse girl fashion, Samantha, the main character of this book is *bonded* with him and doesn't want him sold (the way the girls in this series bond with their horses is not a helpful trait in the TB industry). Anyways, after he bolts and jumps a 5* star level fallen tree, her and her boyfriend, who is a show jumper, decide to attempt to train him to be a steeplechaser. Standard unrealistic horse adventures follow. One this I noticed coming back to this series is there seems to be a bit of an age gap thing going on, both with the first protagonist, Ashleigh and her partner, Mike, but also Samantha and Tor, who aren't "together" yet at the beginning of the book but she's 15 and a junior in high school and he's graduated and is taking a year off between HS and college to show for a year. Sam turns 16 on the day they start dating which in 2026 just... does not feel great. Of course, I'm pretty sure 12 year old me in the mid-aughts probably thought it was super romantic.
3 stars
29. Flying Witch #11
Chihiro Ishizuka
Flying Witch
This series finally has its claws in me, and I will say, Makoto, the main character, is still a bit of a damp squib, but the cast of supporting and one-off characters is so charming it more than makes up for it.
4 stars
30. The Message in the Hollow Oak
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #12
This is one of the 70s rewrites of the first chunk of the original series. Nancy picks up where a detective club left off on finding a treasure hidden by a French missionary, She gets billeted with an archaeological field school run through Ned's university and brings a whole bunch of trouble to them. This book definitely suffers from "talking about Indigenous archaeology in the past especially pre-NAGPRA/1990s" and there's a lot of really casual handling of Indigenous remains. Also two glaring things to an (kind of sort of maybe depends on when you ask me) archaeologists, at one point, the smug girl who keeps getting things wrong states that later groups practiced intrusive burials at Hopewell sites and is sharply corrected by the professor, but she *is* right. Another thing is Nancy recovering a toe bone from an infant skeleton which are such tiny bones that pretty much everyone but massive men with baseball mitt hands lose to the vagaries of time. Seriously, even in adult women, all but the long bone in your big toe are literally millimetres. Again, nitpicks from Archaeologist Caitlin. Despite this, I did actually really enjoy this one.
3.5 stars
31. The Mystery of Misty Canyon
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew #86
I've really been on a ND roll lately. More standard fare with some horsey flavour. I have read this one in the past but even without that I feel like the twist about the missing horse is pretty obvious. Some fun western adventures too.
3 stars
22HorseNerd
Ooops, I just... didn't update this because my brain just didn't want to. Yay executive dysfunction? So, rapid fire:
32. Two Guys at the Vet Clinic
Sinonome
Feels unfinished, like there was supposed to be a second half, where, y'know, the actual relationship happened?
2 stars
33. False Notes
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew Girl Detective #3
Standard ND fare.
3 stars
34. Buried
Alice Roberts
Absolutely fascinating look at the Roman occupation to arrival to Anglo-Saxons in Britain through skeletons. Excellent public use of bioarchaeology to relate to modern people.
5 stars
35. An Instinct for Trouble
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew Files #95
Decent enough, one thing I noticed is the type of marmots they're studying randomly changes halfway through the book; probably should have been caught by an editor. Also did the whole "introduce all the characters including this one who has a very unique physical distinction" and then that physical distinction is the missing puzzle piece that just felt trope-y (well, trope-y-er than an other ND lol).
3 stars
36. Phoenix
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ride On #1
Excellent rendition of the "girl who doesn't like horses bonds with abused/neglected horse" trope. Also features an actually diverse cast of characters which is thankfully becoming more common in horse books.
5 stars
Aaaaand I'll do the rest later.
32. Two Guys at the Vet Clinic
Sinonome
Feels unfinished, like there was supposed to be a second half, where, y'know, the actual relationship happened?
2 stars
33. False Notes
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew Girl Detective #3
Standard ND fare.
3 stars
34. Buried
Alice Roberts
Absolutely fascinating look at the Roman occupation to arrival to Anglo-Saxons in Britain through skeletons. Excellent public use of bioarchaeology to relate to modern people.
5 stars
35. An Instinct for Trouble
Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew Files #95
Decent enough, one thing I noticed is the type of marmots they're studying randomly changes halfway through the book; probably should have been caught by an editor. Also did the whole "introduce all the characters including this one who has a very unique physical distinction" and then that physical distinction is the missing puzzle piece that just felt trope-y (well, trope-y-er than an other ND lol).
3 stars
36. Phoenix
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ride On #1
Excellent rendition of the "girl who doesn't like horses bonds with abused/neglected horse" trope. Also features an actually diverse cast of characters which is thankfully becoming more common in horse books.
5 stars
Aaaaand I'll do the rest later.
