Vivienne's KITs, CATs, and More - Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my 2026 Category Challenge. I’ve been a member of LT since 2007 and in this group since 2014. I live in the south-east region of British Columbia beside the Rockies. Naturally, we get a lot of snow, which is good because winter is my favourite season. Except - this year we had no snow, that's right, none! A sign of climate change??

I simplified my reading plan for 2026 with the hope that I would be able to keep up better than in 2025 when RL took over. Then in March RL took over again. Let's hope it calms down from here on.

I love reading about what everyone else is reading and talking about our books. And although I haven't posted on many threads, I lurk often, trying to catch up on everyone.

This is my first time trying out LT's new method of posting images. Apologies if I don't get it right.



A perceptive quote of Newton’s stolen from a post by @JoeB1934 in @DeltaQueen50’s April thread:
     "Even when reading is impossible, the presence of books acquired produces such an ecstasy that the buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching towards infinity... we cherish books even if unread, their mere presence exudes comfort, their ready access, reassurance."
--- A.E. Newton

RandomKIT

1. January: Can You Keep a Secret?: Spy’s Honour by Gavin Lyall
   
2. February: Hospitals: Memory Book by Howard Engel
   
3. February: Hospitals: Don’t Go by Lisa Scottoline
   
4. February: Hospitals: The End of October by Lawrence Wright
   
5. March: What's in a Name: The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston
   
6. April: Kings to Knights: Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer
   
7. May: Dance like no one is watching: The Deadly Dance by M.C. Beaton
   
8. June: Numbers and Symbols: The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly
   
9. June: Numbers and Symbols: The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts
   
10. July: WWII: It Begins in Betrayal by Iona Whishaw
    August:
    September:
    October:
    November:
    December:

MysteryKIT

1. January Female Detectives: The Disappeared by M.R. Hall
   
2. January Female Detectives: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
   
3. February Clerical Sleuths: The Lair of the White Fox by Peter Tremayne
   
4. March Nordic Mysteries: The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell
   
5. April Private Eyes: Dead on Target by R.W. Green, M.C.Beaton
   
6. May Noir: The Drowned by John Banville
   
7. June: Police Procedurals: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
   
8. June: Police Procedurals: Murder Bag by Tony Parsons
   
9. July: Less than awful: Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C. Beaton
   August:
   September:
   October:
   November:
   December:

AlphaKIT

1. All year: X: Smoke Without Fire by E.X. Ferrars
   
2. All year: Z: Bitter Paradise: A Dr Zol Szabo Mystery by Ross Pennie
   
3. Jan : F & E: Smoke Without Fire by E.X. Ferrars
   
4. Jan : E: The Dungeon House by Martin Edwards
   
5. Jan : F: Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes
   
6. Feb: O: With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George
   
7. Feb: B: All the Queen’s Men by S J Bennett
   
8. Mar: V: Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid
   
9. Mar: R: The Long Way Home by Robin Pilcher
   
10. Apr: P: Bitter Paradise: A Dr Zol Szabo Mystery by Ross Pennie
    
11. Apr: J: The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
    
12. May: W & A: The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
    
13. Jun: T & H: The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton
    
14. Jun: T: Strangers in Time by David Baldacci
    Jul: G & U
    Aug: C & Q
    Sep: M & Y
    Oct: N & D
    Nov: K & I
    Dec: L & S

Colour/Cover CAT

1. January: Orange / from the garden: Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
   
2. February: Blue / clothing item: One Day in December by Josie Silver
   
3. February: Blue / clothing item: The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons
   
4. March: Green / greenery: You Are Here by David Nicholls
   
5. March: Green / greenery: Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
   
6. April: Yellow / Celestial Object: A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor
   
7. May: Turquoise / jewellery: Vera Wong's guide to snooping by Jesse Q. Sutanto
   
8. May: Turquoise / jewellery: Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renée Lavoie
   
9. June: Purple: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
   
10. June: Food or drink: Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by KJ Whittle
    July:
    August:
    September:
    October:
    November:
    December:

DecadesCAT

1. January - 50s: Untimely Death by Cyril Hare
   
2. February - 10s: The Reversal by Michael Connelly
   
3. February - 10s: The terrible privacy of Maxwell Sim by Jonathan Coe
   
4. March - 80s: The Night the Gods Smiled by Eric Wright
   
5. April - 00s: The Circle by Peter Lovesey
   
6. May - 30s: Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp
   
7. May - 30s: The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton
   
8. June - my choice 30s: Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie
   
9. June - my choice 30s: Murder of the Ninth Baronet by J.S. Fletcher
   July:
   August:
   September:
   October:
   November:
   December:

More Mysteries

1. A Killer Motive by Hannah Mary McKinnon
   
2. My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
   
3. The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer
   
4. After Clare by Marjorie Eccles
   
5. A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart
   
6. The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham

More - of anything else

1. Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon
   
2. Gut: the inside story of our body's most underrated organ by Guilia Enders January Non-Fiction Cat: Science
   
3. The Last Wife by Karen Hamilton
   
4. Clown Town by Mick Herron
   
5. Close to Home by Michael Magee
   
6. Runaway Dreams by Richard Wagamese
   
7. Thumbin’ The Rock: A Newfoundland Hitchhiking Odyssey by Bernadette Shea
   
8. Tom’s Wild Ride by Isabelle Arsenault
   
9. The Coast Road by Alan Murrin

Series I’m Following

1. Hang on St Christopher by Adrian McKinty
   
2. Murder Most Royal by SJ Bennett
   
3. The Narrows by Michael Connelly
   
4. Bad Guys by Linwood Barclay

1. Mrs Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford
2. The Terrible Summer by Richard Wagamese
4. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
5. Beating about the Bush by M.C. Beaton
19. We Are Who We Are: An Ode to Indigenous Heroes Past and Present by Wab Kinew
20. Aliens on the Moon by Thomas King
24. Canada: We Are the Story by Richard Wagamese, ill. by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

oops!

Welcome!

Posting images proved to be very easy - although I really wanted them at the top of each message. More practice needed.

Happy New Thread, Vivienne!

I haven't tried the new image feature, but I think I read somewhere that right now it can only be used to add pictures at the bottom of a post.

I love seeing all the cute cats! And I hope your husband is continuing to heal.

>13 MissBrangwen: Thank you, Mirjam! My first visitor! It was very easy to insert images, click click and it's done. I think we'll be seeing more images now.

Thank you too for your kind thoughts about my husband. He is doing very well considering the seriousness of his injury.

Happy new thread. Love seeing all the kitties again. Hoping RL behaves itself a bit better.

Happy new thread, Vivienne. I hope the next few months are less dramatic than April was for you and your husband.

>15 Helenliz: Thank you, Helen! I'm hoping for the same.

>16 Jackie_K: Thank you, Jackie! Less drama would be just lovely.

Colour/CoverKIT May: Turquoise / Jewellery

Vera wears a turquoise bracelet on the cover, but I don’t think it’s enough to qualify for cover colour. I’ll find another one.

Happy New Thread and thanks for all the pretty kitties.

Thanks, April! You can never have too many pretty kitties!

Happy new thread! May life calm down and leave you with time to read again.

Happy New Thread, Vivienne. It's nice to see you back and I hope things will be calm for you for a while.

>21 RidgewayGirl: Thank you, Kay! I miss those days, or nights, when I could just read to the last page.

>22 dudes22: Thanks, Betty! Calm would be lovely.

Happy new thread, Vivienne, and my best wishes that your husband’s health will continue to improve.

>24 MissWatson: Thank you, Birgit!

Love your many cats and kits!

>27 mysterymax: Thank you! Call it laziness, it's the easiest way to label my categories.

Happy new thread! Here's to a smooth, relaxing May!

Happy May, Vivienne. I hope your husband is doing well and you are getting plenty of time to read and relax.

Happy New Thread, Vivienne. I hope the month of May is without drama for you and your husband.

>29 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer! Yes, I'll have that May!

>30 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy! You've been there, you know what it's been like.

>31 beebeereads: Thank you, Barb! No drama would be nice!

For the poetry square in Bingo I read Canada: We Are the Story by Richard Wagamese, ill. by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

I read Noir for May's MysteryKIT: The Drowned by John Banville

For Colour/CoverKIT May: Turquoise / Jewellery I listened to Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Reneé Lavoie. I read this in print a few years ago and although the audiobook was good, print was better.

>35 VivienneR: that sounds intriguing. I like your observation that you think print worked better. I sometimes wonder if listening or reading a book makes a difference to how i respond to it.

>36 Helenliz: - I think it does. I know there are some books that I would not have enjoyed quite as much if I had read them. Sometimes I think that particularly those that have dialects are better listened to. And I always consider that when I'm listening to a book.

>36 Helenliz: If I had listened to Lavoie's book the first time, there would never have been a second visit. There are some books that I will only read in print, like Mick Herron's Slow Horses series. I read the first one in print and tried audio for the second but quickly reverted to print. The narrator was good, but somehow I was able to imagine the events better while reading. While I have found Adrian McKinty's books to be more fun in audio.

If I don't like a narrator's voice then it's an immediate rejection. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell was a recent example. I couldn't get the book in print so suffered through Joanne Froggatt's reading. I gave it a two star rating that may have been higher if I'd been able to get my hands on a print copy.

>37 dudes22: I agree, Betty. If dialects are reproduced in print it can be so annoying to read. Audio is the better choice in that case.

AlphaKIT May: W & A

The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
When I first read this, the first of Camilleri’s Montalbano series, I was in two minds about continuing the series because of all the foul language and sexual details. I did continue, and mostly enjoyed the series, but on this reread I’m reminded of my doubt.

>35 VivienneR: I loved that book! I've got the sequel on my wishlist.

>40 RidgewayGirl: Glad to hear that, Kay! I loved it when she pushed all the in-law chosen heavy bedroom furniture out the window. I've read the sequel too, enjoyed it, and kept it for a reread sometime.

Series I’m Following

Bad Guys by Linwood Barclay
Barclay and Zack Walker make a winning pair: Barclay’s mystery novel takes the nervous Zack where he doesn’t want to be, along with his family, friends and colleagues. I love the humour in Barclay’s books, and the feeling that anything might happen - and usually does.

More Mysteries

A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart
A party? There got to be dancing! I thought this might fit this month’s RandomKIT: Dance like no one is watching but there was no dancing. It wasn’t bad, but nothing to celebrate. 3 stars

Bingo: featuring senior citizens
Mrs Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

>44 VivienneR: I'm glad you enjoyed this one =, Vivienne. I have it on my Kindle somewhere. I find that I enjoy books with a senior citizen as the main character - I guess since I fall in this category as well!

>45 DeltaQueen50: I have to admit, Judy, that because I'm in that category too, I often pass on books about senior citizens. Too close to home. 😁

More Mysteries

The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham
I couldn't develop any interest in this mystery. Abandoned at about 75%.

RandomKIT May: Dance like no one is watching
The Deadly Dance by M.C. Beaton

More of Anything Else
Runaway Dreams by Richard Wagamese

More of Anything Else
My latest Early Reviewer snag:
Thumbin’ The Rock: A Newfoundland Hitchhiking Odyssey by Bernadette Shea

Today is my 19th Thingaversary! I joined LT in 2007 and it has been a blast! Thanks to all my friends and correspondents for making time spent here so special.

These are my most recent acquisitions, meaning no more spending this year!

Sarah Vaughan: The Art of Baking Blind
Louise Candlish:The Heights
Jefferson Farjeon: The 5:18 Mystery
Simon Brett: Major Bricket and The Circus Corpse
Alice Feeney: My Husband’s Wife
Andrew Taylor: A Schooling in Murder
Ross Montgomery: The Murder at World’s End
Belinda Bauer: Rubbernecker
Belinda Bauer: The Impossible Thing
John Boyne: This House is Haunted
David Baldacci: Strangers in Time
Linwood Barclay: Whistle
B.A. Paris: When I Kill You
Matt Haig: The Midnight Train
Jo Murray: Dissection of a Murder
Richard Wagamese: Keeper’n Me
Richard Wagamese: Runaway Dreams
Frederik Backman: My Friends
Michael Connelly: Ironwood
Beth O’Leary: Swept Away

Well - Happy Thingaversary!! Always a good excuse for more books.

>51 VivienneR: Happy Thingaversary

Happy Thingaversary Vivienne! I think we joined the same year. I buy books for my Kindle all the time, so I think I will see where I am in July when mine rolls around and just list my acquisitions.

>52 dudes22: Thanks, Betty! Not that I need an excuse :)

>53 lowelibrary: Thank you, April.

>54 lsh63: Thank goodness for kindle, if I only got paper books I'd have to move house.

Happy Thingaversary, Vivienne!

Happy Thingaversary! Nice to see your purchases, with so many intriguing titles!

>57 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer! Many of those titles are BBs. I hope they are as good as promised!

Better late than never. Happy Thingaversary, Vivienne!

No more purchases for the year? See how you go!

>59 pamelad: Thanks, Pam!

I might have been too hasty, I'll make it a month instead of the year!

For DecadesCAT May: 30s I read:
Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp written in 1930.

Another one from 1930 for DecadesCAT May 30s
The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton

Intended for AlphaKIT June T & H but was so hard to put down that I finished before May was out.
The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

May Summary
Books read: 16
Books read to date: 62

I read more than I thought I would this month, but then some books were quite short.


Canada: We Are the Story by Richard Wagamese, ill. by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
Runaway Dreams by Richard Wagamese


The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton


The Drowned by John Banville
Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renée Lavoie
Bad Guys by Linwood Barclay
Thumbin’ The Rock: A Newfoundland Hitchhiking Odyssey by Bernadette Shea


Aliens on the Moon by Thomas King
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
Mrs Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford


Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a dead man by Jesse Q. Sutanto
A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart
The Deadly Dance by M.C. Beaton
Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp
The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton


The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham

Happy thingaversary. Is it really an end to book buying for a year?

>50 VivienneR: that sounds like it could be good for the soul.

>65 Helenliz: I very much doubt it! I've almost made it two weeks!

The two hitchhiking sisters were a breath of fresh air - Newfoundland air! The one and only time I hitched a ride, the couple in the car gave me a stern lecture about the dangers of hitchhiking. I was seventeen.

>65 Helenliz: My son and I went to the library booksale today and I only bought 3 books! He bought about 20 so that made up for my frugality.

Hi, following you here after we met on Helen's thread. I'm Luci and I hang out on the 75 group, among other places online,

>68 elkiedee: Good to see you here, Luci. I've seen your name often in the last 19 years that I've been around here.

>67 VivienneR: The fact that you raised a son who wanted 20 books is enough from you!

>70 clue: Thank you! He reads only non-fiction now, and although he's read all the classics, no mysteries.

RandomKIT June: Numbers & Symbols
The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

MysteryKIT June: Police Procedurals
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

MysteryKIT June: Police Procedurals
Murder Bag by Tony Parsons

Colour/CoverKIT June: Purple

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

Michaels the poet laureate shows clearly in the lyrical writing of this novel. Seven year-old Jakob Beer, buried himself in muddy marshes to escape the Nazis after they killed his family and the Jews in his village. He would have been lost if Greek geologist Athos Roussos had not found him. This exceptional novel pieces together their fleeting moments of memories in beautiful prose. The final section, narrated by Ben, who knew Jakob briefly before his death, lost that poetic quality and was at odds with the earlier part. Nevertheless, like all Michaels’ books, this is well worth reading. I recommend print over audio.

Happy belated Thingaversary! It feels great to be the person buying fewer books at the booksale, but not at great as bringing a tall stack of books home.

>76 RidgewayGirl: Afterwards it's our practice to ooh and aah over the joint stack of books so I didn't feel short-changed!

>73 VivienneR: I enjoyed it more than you, but I definitely miss the cozy mystery vibe of the early Gamache books. I'm still a fan and I'm planning a trip to the Eastern Townships this fall. One of my goals is to go to Penny's Three Pines Café in Knowlton and have a bit of a literary geek out :D

>73 VivienneR: I'm pretty much the same way. As you may know her upcoming book is non Gamache and written with another person. I've read in more than one place she is planning on making a change in her books but nonthing specific given.

>78 Cecilturtle: It took me a while to warm to Penny's first book, then I saw her being interviewed by Wendy Mesley on CBC news and I caught on. I did not like the one set during COVID and found it hard to return. But I doubt that I have given up.

I'm sure you will love the trip to the Eastern Townships, especially to the Three Pines Café - and in Fall! That will be fantastic! I hope you post an account of the trip.

>79 clue: That's interesting, Luanne! I hope she keeps the Quebec flavour. I'll watch for it and will probably try it.

AlphaKIT June: T & H
Strangers in Time by David Baldacci

RandomKIT June: Numbers & Symbols
The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts

Colour/CoverKIT June: Purple / Food or Drink
For food, I read Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by KJ Whittle

Hullo Vivienne! I am finally catching back up with your thread and all of the many mystery and other novels you've read. And your RL settling into more reading in May was right about the time that my RL took a tailspin.

Hope your husband is continuing to improve (Parkinson's is a tough condition for the caregiver), congrats on raising a son who loves to accompany you to library sales, and thank you for the many reviews of your many books!

>84 threadnsong: Sorry to hear your RL has been giving you problems. I hope things have been resolved, or at least improved.

When I told my son that I didn't buy many books at the booksale because I've come to find ebooks more convenient, he looked worried. I discovered I'm getting books for my upcoming birthday present. He asked if he should return them. I hurriedly explained all the (many) occasions when paper books are essential.

I started Nine Lives by Peter Swanson for RandomCAT but found it was, like >83 VivienneR:, yet another mystery inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. DNF.

My latest ER book was sweet. Tom’s Wild Ride by Isabelle Arsenault

DecadesCAT June My choice: 30s
I read Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie written in 1932.

Bingo - micro-history
I read The Terrible Summer by Richard Wagamese.

>88 VivienneR: Goodness, gracious. Only one servant!

>90 pamelad: A tough time, indeed!

Actually, I think Dumb Witness may have come later, after the pot-boiler years, but it should have been one.

More of Anything Else

The Coast Road by Alan Murrin
Chilling. It is always shocking to read about what some women tolerate, especially in a country where there are few options. This is set in Ireland just before a referendum on divorce in the 1990s. Unfortunately, Murrin’s description of stereotypical husbands and marital problems, meant this novel simply did not appeal to me.

June Summary
Books read: 11
Books read to date: 73
Not a terrific reading month. In addition to this list, I also abandoned a few.


Tom’s Wild Ride by Isabelle Arsenault


Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
Murder Bag by Tony Parsons
The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts
The Terrible Summer by Richard Wagamese


The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly
Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie


The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
Strangers in Time by David Baldacci
Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by KJ Whittle
The Coast Road by Alan Murrin

Hi Vivienne, way back at >73 VivienneR: I’m wondering if Penny will return to her original format. I’m not sure if the next book is another international thriller, I hope not.

>94 lsh63: I doubt now that she will go back to the original format. It seems she has moved on.

MysteryKIT July: Less than awful
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C. Beaton

Just catching up on threads here! Several look interesting.

A late entry for DecadesCAT June: my choice 1930s
Murder of the Ninth Baronet by J.S. Fletcher

RandomKIT July: WWII
It Begins in Betrayal by Iona Whishaw