2021 Cruisin' Through the Cozies Sign-Up

I did not participate in the Cruisin' Through the Cozies Challenge in 2020.  I have done the challenge in the past though and plan on rejoining it again at the 1st level- snoop-which requires me to read 10 books during the 2021 calendar year.  The challenge is hosted by the Socrates Book Reviews blog. 

There are two choices that participants can choose from.  You can either:

1).  Read any cozies of your choice; or

2).  Read 1 book from each of the following cozy sub-genres:

       culinary

       animal related

       craft related

       paranormal

       career based

       holiday themed

       travel

       historical

       one of your choice ( a freebie)

I have selected the second option.  I am already a follower of authors who write culinary, animal themed, craft related, career based, and historical cozies so I think I can get through this challenge.

2021 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge Sign-Up

I will be rejoining this challenge again next year. It is my favorite reading challenge. Since I read so much historical fiction this year, I am going to rejoin it at the Prehistoric Level which requires that I read 50+ books per year. It is an ambitious challenge but I think I can do it.  The challenge is being hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader blog.

2021 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge Sign-Up

I have not participated in this challenge before but it sounds interesting to me.  You must read a book with one or more key words for that month in the title of a book.  The challenge is hosted by the Girlxoxo blog and runs the calendar year. A participant must read books each month  in the following categories:

January:  end, princess, dance, midnight, court, why, winter, story

February:  over, edge, rain, blade, red, come, none, glass

March:  dear, ink, mercy, fly, lost, never, match, true

April:  last, watch, save, garden, girl, sun, tell, tomorrow 

May:  away, wait, book, raven, lake, angel, island, nine

June:  beneath, crown, sing, rule, earth, find, happen, cruel

July:  ever, shine, gone, search, wood, under, road, like

August:  one, secret, will, tree, blue, you, flame, thousand

September:  country, house, top, man, wild, sweet, once, wake

October:  fear, night, silent, wicked, hidden, bones, lied, ghost

November:  again, loud, star, stray, air, when, since, race

December:  cold, room, life, bell, kiss, dream, until, drink 

I am looking forward to this challenge!

Back to the Classics Reading Challenge Sign-Up

Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge Sign-Up

The Calendar of Crime Challenge is new to me.  I plan on joining the challenge next year.  It is hosted by the My Reader's Block blog.  The rules are:

1.  The challenge runs the calendar year from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.

2.  12 books must be read.

3.  You don't have to do the months in their consecutive order. You can read December in July if you wish.

4.  Books from the mystery genre are only accepted.

2021 Color Coded Reading Challenge Sign-Up

I did this challenge a year or so ago but not in 2020.  I am going to rejoin the challenge which is hosted by the My Readers Block blog.  The rules are as follows:

1.  The challenge runs the calendar year from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.

2.  Crossovers from other challenges are accepted.

3.  9 books must be read where the book title or book cover is blue, red, yellow, green, brown, black, white, any other color  such as purple, pink, orange, etc..., and a book title or book cover where a word or image implies a color such as polka dot, shadow, plaid, paint, etc...

A Trip to the Bookstore

I traveled to downtown Chicago yesterday and found six books that I am interested in reading.  This was my second visit to Barnes and Noble since the pandemic shutdown began.  I may not get around to these historical fiction novels until next year though.  For the past month I have been concentrating on finishing a Coursera MOOC on illuminated manuscripts of western europe. It's a fascinating class but has alot of information to absorb as well as projects to complete. I will finish the class by next week. 

I haven't read much lately, other than Abir Mukherjee's A Rising Man.  A review will be coming soon. For some reason I am not interested in reading or writing.  Instead, I have been working on a needlepoint tapestry and the MOOC.  It is time to prepare my year end accomplishment posts and also selecting which reading challenges I will participate in next year.  These posts may be all that I will get done this month. 

Genealogical Mystery Authors

After reading Nathan Dylan Goodwin's Hiding the Past, a genealogical mystery novel, earlier this year I wondered whether there were other authors who were writing genealogical mysteries.  I thought that Goodwin may have created this mystery sub-genre. However, I have since located additional authors who write stories in this mystery sub-genre.

Dan Waddell's first novel, The Blood Detective, is one of them.  M. J. Lee writes the Jayne Sinclair Geneological Mystery Series.  The Irish Inheritance is the first of six book to be published so far in the series. Susan Finlay writes the Tangled Roots Historical Mystery Series.  There are three books in the series to day and they include Bloodlines, Barbed Wire and Breadcrumbs and Bombs. GG Vandergrift is writing the Alex and Bridge Geneological Mysteries. Cynthia Raleigh writes the Pirri Seamore Mystery Series which includes Drawing the Past, Poison Branches and Buried Roots.  Finally, Steve Robinson is writing the Jefferson Tayte geneologist series which currently has 6 books published to date.

I am exited to locate these new to me authors.  Forensic geneology is now one of my favorite mystery sub-genres and I am looking forward to reading these six authors. 

Green Lantern: Legacy

I did not read the original Green Lantern series as I was not yet interested in comics when it was published. Green Lantern Legacy is an off-shoot of the series and fuses the past storyline of the series with a brand new story.  The author, who is a Vietnamese American, has featured an Asian American hero in Tai Pham. Tai Pham is thirteen years old and lives in an apartment above his grandmother's store, the Jade Market. After she dies, Tai Pham learns about a big secret that his grandmother had and it changes his life. After he inherits her jade ring, Tai suddenly discovers that it inducts him into a group of space cops called Green Lanterns. As he learns how to use its power, Tai meets many new characters as his friends encourage him to use the ring wisely.  He also discovers that his neighborhood is overrun with racist bullies.  He is not sure if he can overcome them but begins to learn how to harness the ring's power to defeat them.

I really enjoyed this comic.  While it was written for young readers, this sixtysomething reader found it enheartening.  It's a story of overcoming disadvantages in life and how to deal with racism but told in a friendly, non-threatening way. The brightly colored illustrations also give this serious topic a light feel. The age old American idea that with power comes responsibility is also seen here. There are many lessons young readers can learn from this book. I highly recommend it.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Girl She Wanted

The Girl She Wanted is an engrossing psychological thriller that will satisfy all mystery lovers. The main characters are sisters Carrie Parsons and Alexa Ford. Alexa and her husband Perry have a one year old daughter named Florence.  Carrie adores Florence and spends a lot of time with her, especially since Carrie moved in with the Fords eight months ago after her marriage fell apart. Perry, however, wants Carrie to move out. Carrie is an ER nurse at a local Nottinghamshire hospital. After a junior doctor files a complaint with the hospital management over two mysterious deaths in the ER, Carrie is arrested as a suspect in the deaths and suspended from her job.  An eighty year old man and a one year old baby died in the ER. Soon thereafter Carrie disappears with baby Florence. The plot then thickens as many twists and turns uncover a myriad of of secrets and lies.

I loved the connection between the two sisters.  Alexa is a timid woman who relies on Carrie to help her raise her daughter.  Alexa is afraid to go outside on her own and only goes out with Florence if Carrie is with them.  Their abilities to handle stress become reverted as Alexa gains in confidence and Carrie seems to have internal problems. The tension between the two sisters ratcheted up throughout the book. Of course, there were other strong characters and all of them were women!  Carrie's two best friends are also nurses at the hospital and one of them has a secret too.  

I loved this thriller.  5 out of 5 stars.