CBL reads with Wally in 2026 part 2

Welcome to my second 2026 thread! I'm Carrie, an academic librarian in East Tennessee. I've lost count of how many years I've been a part of this wonderful group. When I'm not working or reading, I am walking my 2-year-old Cavapoo, Wally, watching a British crime drama on BritBox or Acorn, knitting, playing the piano, or cooking.

Best of 2026

Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (4.5) - Review
Beloved by Toni Morrison (4.5) - Review
Recitatif: A Story by Toni Morrison (5) - Review
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (4.5) - Review
The Mystery of Meerkat Hill by Alexander McCall Smith (4.5) - Review
If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) by Betty White (4.5) - Review
Agatha Christie: A Life in Theatre by Julius Green (5) - Review
My Name Is Leon by Kit de Waal (4.5) - Review
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (4.5) - Review
Death in Kashmir by M. M. Kaye (4.5) - Review
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (4.5) - Review

Books Read in May
47. Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman (4) - completed 5/8/26
48. Paper Bullets by Jeffrey H. Jackson (4) - completed 5/9/26
49. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (3.5) - completed 5/14/26
50. Three Witnesses by Rex Stout (3.5) - completed 5/16/26
51. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (4) - completed 5/19/26
52. Carrie by Stephen King (3) - completed 5/21/26
53. The Woman Who Killed the Fish: And Other Stories for Children by Clarice Lispector (2.5) - completed 5/22/26
54. The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (3.5) - completed 5/23/26
55. Death in Kashmir by M. M. Kaye (4.5) - completed 5/25/26
56. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (4.5) - completed 5/29/26
57. The Jupiter Myth by Lindsey Davis (4) - completed 5/30/26

Books Read in January

1. Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (4.5) - completed 1/6/26
2. Parker: Selected Stories by Dorothy Parker (3.5) - completed 1/8/26
3. Target: Tinos by Jeffrey Siger (3) - completed 1/9/26
4. My Invented Country by Isabel Allende (4) - completed 1/11/26
5. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 1/15/26
6. Beloved by Toni Morrison (4.5) - completed 1/22/26
7. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (4) - completed 1/27/26
8. Essential Welty by Eudora Welty (3.5) - completed 1/28/26
9. Recitatif: A Story by Toni Morrison (5) - completed 1/30/26
10. The Tiger in the Attic by Edith Milton (3.5) - completed 1/30/26
11. The Rule of Three by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 1/31/26

Books Read in February
12. Agent Josephine by Damien Lewis (4) - completed 2/6/26
13. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (3.5) - completed 2/8/26
14. The Tenor Wore Tapshoes by Mark Schweizer (3.5) - completed 2/11/26
15. A Body in the Bathhouse by Lindsey Davis (3.5) - completed 2/13/26
16. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (3) - completed 2/13/26
17. Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (4.5) - completed 2/19/26
18. Who Was Louis Armstrong? by Yona Zeldis McDonough (3.5) - completed 2/20/26
19. The Far Country by Nevil Shute (4) - completed 2/22/26
20. Before Midnight by Rex Stout (3) - completed 2/25/26
21. An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters (3.5) - completed 2/28/26

Books Read in March
22. Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (3.5) - completed 3/2/26
23. The Mystery of Meerkat Hill by Alexander McCall Smith (4.5) - completed 3/3/26
24. The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson (3.5) - completed 3/7/26
25. Daughter of Daring by Mallory O'Meara (2.5) - completed 3/8/26
26. There Is a World Elsewhere by F. Gonzalez-Crussi (3.5) - completed 3/14/26
27. Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck (4) - completed 3/16/26
28. Village Affairs by Miss Read (4) - completed 3/16/26
29. My Venice and Other Essays by Donna Leon (3) - completed 3/17/26
30. The Quiet Rebels by Margaret Hope Bacon (3.5) - completed 3/21/26
31. Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser (3) - completed 3/23/26
32. Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly (4) - completed 3/26/26
33. If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) by Betty White (4.5) - completed 3/28/26
34. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor (3.5) - completed 3/29/26

Books Read in April
35. The Clocks by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 4/4/26
36. Agatha Christie: A Life in Theatre by Julius Green (5) - completed 4/7/26
37. The Feather Detective by Chris Sweeney (4) - completed 4/11/26
38. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (3) - completed 4/11/26
39. Mykonos After Midnight by Jeffrey Siger (4) - completed 4/15/26
40. My Name Is Leon by Kit de Waal (4.5) - completed 4/18/26
41. Replaceable You by Mary Roach (3.5) - completed 4/19/26
42. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (4.5) - completed 4/24/26
43. The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks (4) - completed 4/25/26
44. Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly by Agatha Christie (3.5) - completed 4/25/26
45. Familia by Lauren E. Rico (4) - completed 4/29/26
46. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (4) - completed 4/30/26

Books Added in February

1. Agatha Christie: A Life in Theatre by Julius Green (purchased ebook)

Books Added in April
2. Havana Red by Leonardo Padura (purchased ebook)
3. Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse by Simon Brett (purchased ebook)
4. Dead Heat by Dick Francis with Felix Francis (little free library)

Books Added in May
5. Big Bosses: A Working Girl's Memoir of Jazz Age America by Althea McDowell Altemus (free ebook)
6. The Two John Marbachs: How an Amateur Genealogist Solved One of the Most Puzzling DNA Mysteries by Ann Abrams (purchased ebook)
7. The Lawn Road Flats: Spies, Writers and Artists by David Burke (purchased ebook)
8. Enchanted Evening by M. M. Kaye (purchased ebook)
9. Memories of War: Visiting Battlegrounds and Bonefields in the Early American Republic by Thomas A. Chambers (purchased ebook)
10. Golden Afternoon by M. M. Kaye (purchased ebook)
11. I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land by Connie Willis (purchased ebook)
12. The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton (gift)

Books Added in June
13. The Dogwalkers' Detective Agency by Michael Hogan (gift)

British Authors Challenge

FEBRUARY
Nevil Shute - The Far Country (4) - completed 2/22/26

MARCH - Obscure works (under 300 copies on LibraryThing)
Village Affairs by Miss Read (4) - completed 3/16/26

APRIL
Kit de Waal - My Name Is Leon (4.5) - completed 4/18/26

MAY
M. M. Kaye - Death in Kashmir (4.5) - completed 5/25/26

Nonfiction Challenge

JANUARY - Award winners
The Tiger in the Attic by Edith Milton (New Hampshire Literary Award) - completed 1/30/26

FEBRUARY - All that jazz
Agent Josephine by Damien Lewis (4) - completed 2/6/26
Who Was Louis Armstrong? by Yona Zeldis McDonough (3.5) - completed 2/20/26

MARCH - Off the beaten path religious sects
The Quiet Rebels by Margaret Hope Bacon (3.5) - completed 3/21/26

APRIL - Internal matters - the human body
Replaceable You by Mary Roach (3.5) - completed 4/19/26

MysteryKit

JANUARY - FEMALE DETECTIVES
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 1/15/26

FEBRUARY - CLERICAL MYSTERIES
The Tenor Wore Tapshoes by Mark Schweizer (3.5) - completed 2/11/26
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (4.5) - completed 2/19/26
An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters (3.5) - completed 2/28/26

MARCH - NORDIC MYSTERIES
Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (3.5) - completed 3/2/26
The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson (3.5) - completed 3/7/26
Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser (3) - completed 3/23/26

APRIL - PRIVATE EYES
The Clocks by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 4/4/26
Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly by Agatha Christie (3.5) - completed 4/25/26

MAY - HARDBOILED/NOIR
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (3.5) - completed 5/14/26

American Authors Revisited

JANUARY - 2014 author
Beloved by Toni Morrison (4.5) - completed 1/22/26
Essential Welty by Eudora Welty (3.5) - completed 1/28/26
Recitatif by Toni Morrison (5) - completed 1/30/26

FEBURARY - 2015 author
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (3.5) - completed 2/8/26

MARCH - 2016 author
Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck (4) - completed 3/16/26

APRIL - 2017 author
The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks (4) - completed 4/25/26

MAY - 2018 author
Carrie by Stephen King (3) - completed 5/21/26
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (4.5) - completed 5/29/26

American Roads Less Well Explored Challenge

JANUARY - CHILEAN AUTHORS
My Invented Country by Isabel Allende (4) - completed 1/11/26

MARCH - MEXICAN AUTHORS
There Is a World Elsewhere by F. Gonzalez-Crussi (3.5) - completed 3/14/26

APRIL - HISPANIC NORTH AMERICANS
Familia by Lauren E. Rico (4) - completed 4/29/26

MAY - BRAZILIAN AUTHORS
The Woman Who Killed the Fish: And Other Stories for Children by Clarice Lispector (2.5) - completed 5/22/26

Plot Twist

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (4) - completed 1/27/26
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (3) - completed 2/13/26
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor (3.5) - completed 3/29/26
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (3) - completed 4/11/26
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (4) - completed 5/19/26

Group Reads

Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (4.5) - completed 1/6/26
Target: Tinos by Jeffrey Siger (3) - completed 1/9/26
Agent Josephine by Damien Lewis (4) - completed 2/6/26
A Body in the Bathhouse by Lindsey Davis (3.5) - completed 2/13/26
Daughter of Daring by Mallory O'Meara (2.5) - completed 3/8/26
My Venice and Other Essays by Donna Leon (3) - completed 3/17/26
The Feather Detective by Chris Sweeney (4) - completed 4/11/26
Mykonos After Midnight by Jeffrey Siger (4) - completed 4/15/26
Paper Bullets by Jeffrey H. Jackson (4) - completed 5/9/26
The Jupiter Myth by Lindsey Davis (4) - completed 5/30/26

Reading Projects: 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die

Beloved by Toni Morrison (4.5) - completed 1/22/26
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (3.5) - completed 2/8/26
There Is a World Elsewhere by F. Gonzalez-Crussi (3.5) - completed 3/14/26
Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck (4) - completed 3/16/26
The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks (4) - completed 4/25/26
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (4) - completed 5/19/26
Carrie by Stephen King (3) - completed 5/21/26
The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (3.5) - completed 5/23/26
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (4.5) - completed 5/29/26

Reading Projects
Rex Stout
Before Midnight - completed 2/25/26
Three Witnesses - completed 5/16/26

Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (4.5) - completed 1/6/26
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 1/15/26
The Rule of Three by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 1/31/26
The Clocks by Agatha Christie (4) - completed 4/4/26
Agatha Christie: A Life in Theatre by Julius Green (5) - completed 4/7/26
Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly by Agatha Christie (3.5) - completed 4/25/26

Jane Austen

Holocaust
The Tiger in the Attic by Edith Milton (3.5) - completed 1/30/26

#47

#48

Hi, Carrie...and Wally! I think I need to re-visit the Rabbi Small series. I know I read some of them decades ago, but surely won't remember anything about the story lines.

Happy new thread, Carrie.

Plenty of Dame Agatha this year so far.

#49

>17 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda! I'm enjoying experencing the Rabbi Small books for the first time!

>18 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Yes, I'm pleased that I've been able to fit in so many Christies so far this year. Next month I'll be reading The Lawn Road Flats for the nonfiction challenge, and it has a chapter on Christie.

#50

#51

>22 cbl_tn: I remember most of this novel being particularly impressive, although I didn't really love the ending.

>23 PaulCranswick: Yes, I think Tartt wrote herself into a corner.

Happy new thread, Carrie!

It's been years since I watched the Thin Man movies. Like you, I haven't read the books yet. I will certainly look for them in print rather than audio.

Happy new one, Carrie!

>25 atozgrl: Than you! I have a Dashiell Hammett anthology that used to belong to my grandmother, so I'll have to read from it the next time I want to try one of his novels.

>26 drneutron: Thanks!

#52

I don't imagine King expected his readers to care if he played fast and loose with dates (but kudos to YOU, a girl after me own heart, for picking up on those!), but I do wonder why he picked a year that hadn't happened yet to set this particular story. It didn't need to be in the future, and it just seems to create issues.

>29 laytonwoman3rd: I do wonder why he picked a year that hadn't happened yet to set this particular story. It didn't need to be in the future, and it just seems to create issues.

I know! I had the same thought! It seems like the editor ought to have pushed back on that. It was King's first novel so he wouldn't have been nearly as intimidating to an editor at that point in his career. Maybe it shows how little that the publisher invested in this novel, and they didn't spot it as the bestseller it would become.

Happy new thread, Carrie!

>31 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks Dejah!

#53

#54

#55

>35 cbl_tn: Nice review, Carrie!

>36 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks!

#56

>38 cbl_tn: I read The Year of Magical Thinking a few years ago. It was excellent, and I thought of rereading it with you, but I wasn't sure I was ready for it. I glad it went well for you.

>39 Dejah_Thoris: Probably a good decision!

Happy birthday, Carrie, and many joyous returns!!!!!

>41 Dejah_Thoris: Thank you!

#57

May Recap

Books owned: 2
Books borrowed: 2
Ebooks borrowed: 2
Audiobooks borrowed: 5

Best of the month: Death in Kashmir by M. M. Kaye (4.5)
Worst of the month: The Woman Who Killed the Fish by Clarice Lispector (2.5)

Happy new thread, Carrie. After catching up with your thread I found myself searching library sites for Thin Man books.

>45 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg! I think I have a Hammett omnibus that used to belong to my grandmother.

>34 cbl_tn: even though I’ve read thousands of mysteries in my lifetime but never had I read a Nancy Drew. When you chose it for TIOLI, I joined you on it.

At some point, I’ll probably read the first Hardy Boys book too.

>47 lindapanzo: How did you like it?

>48 cbl_tn: I liked it and will probably read some more.