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
   June:
   July:
   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
   June:
   July:
   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
    Jun: T & H
    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
   June:
   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
   June:
   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

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
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.