Books

I had an invite from RIEDEL Fascination to join one of her new reading challenges and I’m always game for a new one.  These go February 1st, 2014 – February 28th, 2015 so we’re not spending the holidays finishing books and posting wrap-up posts.  Great idea!  Also she’s not big on lots of picky rules so they are fairly straightforward.

[Read more…] about Gentle Spectrums wrap-up

 

Read and review Scottish books -any genre, any form- written by a Scottish author (by birth or immigration) or about or set in Scotland.

Challenge levels:
Just A Keek (a little look): 1-4 books read
The Highlander: 5-8 books
The Hebridean: 9-12 books
Ben Nevis: 13+ books

My goal was to complete The Highlander and I fulfilled it completely by reading 8 books. It was really fun to dip into Scotland and I like the 44 Scotland Street series so much that I plan to finish it. Here’s what I read:

1. The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #14), by Alexander McCall Smith
2. Belgrave Square (Thomas & Charlotte Pitt #12), by Anne Perry
3. Thistle And Thyme: Stories And Legends From Scotland, by Sorche Nic Leodhas
4. 44 Scotland Street, by Alexander McCall Smith
5. Espresso Tales (44 Scotland Street #2), by Alexander McCall Smith
(6.) Love Over Scotland (44 Scotland Street #3), by Alexander McCall Smith
(7.) The World According to Bertie (44 Scotland Street #4), by Alexander McCall Smith
(8.) The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (44 Scotland Street #5), by Alexander McCall Smith

Thanks to Peggy for hosting!

I have participated in #2, #3, #5, and #6, so here we go for the seventh version! It was a fun time and I’ve finished it up for 2014. Here are my reads. Thanks to The Worm Hole for hosting this year because it’s a fun challenge.

From January to December, choose a book from each of the following categories:

1. A reference to time: A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
2. A position of royalty: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Allen Addison
3. A number written in letters: The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. A forename or names: A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert, The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
5. A type or element of weather: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
6. A book with a school subject in the title: William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher

Last night Scott and I saw some people we haven’t seen in real life in several years but who we correspond with annually via Christmas cards. One gentleman said he really enjoyed keeping up with us each year through our letter and thanked us for doing it. Then he asked me what was new with the book club. I was stopped in my tracks and really took a minute to recover. First I wondered, do I talk about it every year in our letter? If so, what do I say? Then I thought for a minute about all the things he could have asked me about in my life and he chose that? I gathered my thoughts and told him what we were reading this month and we talked books for a minute and then went on. [Read more…] about Musings on the value of book clubs

Goal: In 2013 I made Level 2 by April, so I’m going for broke and trying for Level 4 this year!

Level 1 – Snoop – Read at least 6 books
Level 2 – Investigator – Read 7-12 books
Level 3 – Super Sleuth – Read 13 or more books
Level 4 – Sleuth Extraordinaire – Read 20 or more

 

I made it to Level 4 by July so I am a Sleuth Extraordinaire! Yes, I like cozy mysteries. They are fun to read and quite relaxing, so this is a great challenge for me. Thanks to Yvonne at Socrates’ Book Reviews for hosting. [Read more…] about 2014 Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies wrap-up