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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


37 / 30 books. 123% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (10)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (2)
- Georgia (2)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (9)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (4)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (3)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (2)
- England (24)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (1)
- Russia (1)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


51 / 50 books. 102% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 52 books. 96% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 40 books. 93% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 25 cozies. 108% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


25 / 26.2 miles (3rd lap). 95% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


42 / 100 books. 42% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


97 / 109 books. 89% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


136 / 165 books. 82% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


84 / 100 names. 84% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


22 / 80 skills. 28% done!
Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My TBR List With Real City Names in the Title


Today's TTT prompt is pretty straightforward: Top Ten Books With Destination Names in the Title. I decided to take the topic literally, choosing titles off my TBR list that included the names of real cities around the world. Since I love historical fiction, a genre which lends itself to these types of titles, it was a cinch to create. I've featured some (most?) of these books before, but since they remain unread by me, here they are again! 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Join the TTT fun by checking out the rules on her blog then creating and sharing your own list. The more the merrier.

Top Ten Books On My TBR List With Real City Names in the Title


1. The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer—It's 1942 and Poland is overrun by Nazi invaders. Their presence is irritating and inconvenient, but Elzbieta Rabinek has been unharmed by them so far. Unlike her neighbors in her city's Jewish ghetto. When Elzbieta befriends a nurse in her apartment building, she is propelled into helping those very neighbors. Her actions put her at great risk, especially since she's hiding secrets that could be deadly for her and her family. Does she dare put her neck out for her Jewish neighbors when it could so easily find its way into a Nazi noose?


2. Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung—Cursed with only daughters, the Ang family lives with the shame of having no male heir to inherit their land and wealth. As civil war rages in China in 1948, the male members of the clan abandon their home, leaving the worthless females behind to fend for themselves. As the eldest, Hai stands trial for her family's crimes. Only barely surviving her beating by the Communist army, she knows she, her sisters, and her mother must make a daring escape. Braving every kind of danger, they set out on a perilous thousand-mile journey to find the family who abandoned them so cruelly.

Based on the author's family history, this novel sounds riveting!


3. The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra—Set in India in the 1920s, this is the first installment in a cozy mystery series starring a husband and wife detecting team. When they attend a party at the Century Club, Kaveri spies a suspicious-looking person lurking in the shadows. Shortly thereafter, a murder occurs. She is concerned when a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime and determines to find the killer.


4. Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin—When the Netherlands is invaded in 1940, Aleida van der Zee Martens escapes to England, but loses her 3-year-old son in the process. Desperate to find her child, she takes a job helping children evacuate to the countryside. Hugh Collingwood is a BBC radio correspondent reporting on the war as well as a series of murders that is plaguing London at the same time. When Aleida begs Hugh for help, the two grow increasingly closer as the world around them becomes more and more deadly.


5. A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd—In this reinvention of a classic play, Romeo and Juliet live happily ever after in lovely Italy and become the parents of seven children. Rosie Montague is the eldest of the brood. Content to remain a spinster, she plays matchmaker with every suitor her parents present, finding the groom-to-be a more willing bride. When Rosie finally meets the man who could very well be her match, their betrothal ball goes awry when a duke is killed at the party. Just about everyone had a reason to want the man dead, but who actually murdered him? Rosie is determined to find out.


6. The Lost Book of Bonn by Brianna Labuskes—American librarian Emmy Clarke is sent by her government to Germany to help the Monuments Men recover literature that was stolen by the Nazis. When she comes across an intriguing note written inside one of the books, it leads her on an intriguing quest to uncover a fascinating story of wartime resistance, betrayal, and courage. 


7. The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore—After a patient dies because of a mistake she made while operating, Dr. Tucia Hatherly no longer practices medicine. Not really. In order to support her disabled son, she is forced to take a position with a traveling medicine show peddling phony miracle cures. Desperate to be free of her obligation to the show's overbearing leader, she prepares to run when the show reaches Texas. It's 1900 and just as she's about to flee Galveston, a devastating hurricane—one so mighty that it will go down in the history books—hits. Tucia must decide whether to save herself and her son or to stay and use her doctoring skills to help the storm's victims.


8. The Haunting of Moscow House by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore—In post-revolutionary Russia, the Goliteva's ancestral mansion in Moscow has been taken over by Bolsheviks. Forced to live in the attic, the family members look for ways to bring light into their grim lives. Sisters Irina and Lili work for the American Relief Administration to help relieve suffering while back in their bleak home, the house whispers to them of long-buried secrets they must uncover. When one of the Bolshevik officials is found dead in their home, another mystery unfolds...


9. A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K. Runyan—This dual-timeline historical novel features two women from the same family living in Paris during times of war and upheaval. Having thrown her fate in with a handsome revolutionary, Lisette Vigneau casts off her wealthy upbringing to fight for the people. She opens a small bakery to help sustain her fellow Parisians, but her determination falters as the city descends into chaos from famine, violence, and despair. In 1946, 76 years later, 19-year-old Micheline Chartier is mourning the loss of her parents in the war. As the sole guardian of her two younger sisters, she feels trapped and overwhelmed. When a neighbor enrolls her in a baking school, Micheline finds hope and an unexpected connection with her family's past.


10. Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton—Another dual-time line story, this one concerns a Cuban American freelance writer who travels to Havana to scatter her grandmother's ashes in the deceased's homeland. While there, she investigates her own family history, where she discovers her grandmother's story of romance, revolution, and resilience in the midst of political chaos in the land of her birth.

There you go, ten historical novels on my TBR list with names of real cities in their titles. What do you think? Have you read any of them? Which hist-fic stories with city names in the titles have you enjoyed? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also respond to comments left here (although I'm a week behind at the moment).

Happy TTT!

Friday, November 08, 2024

A Perfect Pairing: The Enigma Girls and The Bletchley Riddle


(Image from Britannica.com)

I'd never heard of Bletchley Park until I saw that one of my favorite historical fiction writers, Ruta Sepetys, was coming out with a new novel entitled The Bletchley Riddle. A little Googling revealed that Bletchley Park is a country house in Buckinghamshire, England, that was purchased by a British government agent for use as a code-breaking center during World War II. The work that was done there was top secret, accomplished by mostly young people, and has been credited with shortening the war by 2-4 years. So, what specifically went on there?

Now that the mysteries of Bletchley Park have been declassified, the public can read all about it. Even though I haven't been a child for *ahem* quite some time, I particularly enjoyed learning about the Park from two books written for middle grade readers that came out this year—The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II by Candace Fleming and the aforementioned The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. They make perfect companion reads. I read Fleming's non-fiction account first, which gave me a great basic understanding of the Park. Having that foundation enhanced my enjoyment of the novel, which tells an exciting fictional story about two siblings who work there.

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

The Enigma Girls provides a thorough, very readable account of what Bletchley Park was, the work that went on inside its walls, what that work entailed, who performed the jobs, how their work impacted the war, and, most fascinating to me, how it affected them on a personal level. I was especially amazed that so many of the Park's workers were young (most were under 21) and female. The fact that these young ladies answered the call of their government to leave their homes for an unknown period of time to live in an unknown place and to perform unknown "war work" duties that they were absolutely forbidden to talk about—even with other workers at the Park—is astounding, really. As the book's subtitle indicates, Fleming focuses on ten specific workers, which gives the text a close-up, intimate feel.

A lot of the code breaking that went on involved using complicated machinery and tedious deciphering methods. Fleming explains these in detail, which does get a little dull and overwhelming at points. Other than that, though, The Enigma Girls is an excellent read. It's interesting, conversational, and inspiring. I highly recommend it for anyone, middle grader or not, who's interested in learning more about this lesser known aspect of World War II.

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for war violence

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

The Bletchley Riddle begins with a splash. Not literally, but it does involve a plucky 14-year-old giving her chaperone the slip and escaping the ship that is supposed to take her to safety in America. Lizzie Novis has no interest in leaving England, no matter how dangerous the war gets. She has too much to do. Her mother, an American who was working for the U.S. Embassy in London, disappeared 9 months ago while on a trip to Poland. Although she is presumed dead, Lizzie refuses to believe it. She has tried to enlist her brother's help in finding their only parent, but he has repeatedly told her to drop it. Just when he's decided to stop communicating with her, she finds an important clue that she hopes will entice him into helping her investigate. 

When Lizzie goes in search of her brother, she discovers even more secrets. A math student at Cambridge, 19-year-old Jakob is now doing a top secret war job in the countryside that he can't talk about. Since he can't leave his sister on her own, he has no choice but to take her with him to Bletchley Park, where she becomes a messenger at the mysterious facility. As Lizzie puzzles out what is going on at her hush-hush new workplace, she enlists the help of new friends to figure out what really happened to her mother. The more they dig, the more disturbing and risky their investigation becomes. What was Willa Novis really doing in Poland? Could rumors that she was a traitor to the Allies possibly be true? What is happening behind all the closed doors at Bletchley Park? Can the efforts of an ordinary teenage girl truly make a difference in such a vicious, overwhelming war? Lizzie is about to find out.

The Bletchley Riddle is fiction, written to entertain more than educate, so it's no surprise that it moves a lot faster than The Enigma Girls. With short, snappy chapters filled with action and intrigue, it tells a compelling and engrossing story. Although it goes over a lot of the technical details that were discussed in The Enigma Girls, Sepetys and Sheinkin explain them in a shorter, simpler way that never bogs down the plot. In fact, the tale focuses more on the mystery of Willa's disappearance than the goings-on at Bletchley Park, blending the most exciting aspects of both to keep the novel rocking along. 

I love the characters in this novel, especially feisty, outspoken Lizzie. Jakob, Colin, and Marion are perfect foils for her with their calmer, more grounded personalities. Combining their various talents, they make an appealing, well-balanced team.

Along with an interesting Bletchley Park backdrop; an intriguing, exciting plot; and warm, likeable characters; Sepetys and Sheinkin add in dashes of humor and romance along with a plot twist or two to round out this enjoyable novel. What results is a solid, satisfying read that educates and entertains at the same time. I loved it.

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for brief, mild language (no F-bombs) and violence

If you enjoy learning about code-breaking and lesser-known aspects of World War II, you should dig both of these excellent reads. Each is worth the read on its own, but they complement each other so well that you really should try them both to get a complete picture of all the intrigue and intent focus that once defined Bletchley Park. 

Tuesday, November 05, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My TBR List With Bookshelves on Their Covers


It's Election Day here in the U.S. and I've never been part of a more divisive one. Yikes! I can't wait until it's over. If you haven't voted yet, do it now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my candidate can pull off a win and also that the aftermath of the election will be peaceful and calm, no matter what happens. 

Instead of talking politics, let's yap about what we can all agree on: books. Today's TTT prompt—Top Ten Books With X On the Cover (You choose the item. It can be anything at all.)—sounds so simple, but I had the toughest time trying to come up with something unique. After discarding a bunch of different topics (keys/keyholes, lanterns, lights in the darkness, clocks, staircases, houses on cliffs, etc.), I decided to stick with a bookish theme. I love perusing bookshelves in libraries, bookshops, and homes, so it's no wonder that covers featuring them appeal to me. It was simple to put together this list, even if it feels a little generic. Oh well! Here we go.

(As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.)

Top Ten Books On My TBR With Bookshelves On Their Covers


1. The Legend of the Last Library by Frank L. Cole—This middle-grade dystopian/fantasy novel is my current read. I'm only a few chapters in, but I'm already really enjoying it. It's about a teenage girl who lives in a world without trees. Paper is priceless and she needs money to pay for her grandpa's medical care. When she comes across an actual book—a marvel she's never seen with her own eyes—she's stunned. Although she could make a fortune by selling it, she discovers it contains clues to finding what could be the last library in the world. She needs that treasure, but she will have to face a fearsome foe in order to get it.


2. The Body in the Bookstore by Ellie Alexander—I'm listening to this cozy mystery on audio. It's the first in a new series starring Annie Murray, a bookseller with a degree in criminology. When a dead body is discovered during the book festival she organized, she's horrified. She's even more shocked when the dead woman turns out to be someone she once knew. In order to get justice for her acquaintance (no matter how much she disliked her), Annie must channel everything she knows about detecting and solve the puzzling murder.


3. Better Off Read by Nora Page—When a storm damages her town's library almost beyond repair, librarian Cleo Watkins refuses to just let it close. She takes to her trusty bookmobile to rally support for the library. She's not sure what to think when a man checks out all the books she has about getting away with murder—and then ends up dead. Cleo's best friend is accused of the killing, which can't be right. Using all the detecting skills she's learned from books, the librarian sets out to solve the case. 


4. The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss—This non-fiction title does exactly what is says it's going to: presents a history of bookstores in the U.S. It begins with Benjamin Franklin's shop in Philadelphia, stops in various other famous stores, and even takes a look at Amazon's bookselling empire. Sounds super interesting.


5. That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk—I've highlighted this thriller before, but since I still haven't read it, I'm going to include it again. On the eve of their graduation from college, seven students gather in the rare books library at their university. No one's supposed to be in the building after closing time, but they can't resist the atmospheric setting for an ancient Greek ritual they want to perform. It takes only minutes for the whole thing to go sideways. Soon, one student is dead. Then two. Who is the murderer? And will any of them survive the night?


6. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron—This non-fiction book was hugely popular here in the book blogosphere when it came out in 2008. Somehow, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. It tells the true story of an abandoned, frostbitten kitten who was shoved through the book return of a library in the small town of Spencer, Iowa. The employees took in the forlorn creature and nurtured him back to health. In return, he spread his warmth and love to all who knew him, earning him international fame.


7. An Irish Bookshop Murder by Lucy Connelly—Another cozy series opener, this one features twin sisters who receive a surprising inheritance from their grandfather: an antique bookstore in Ireland. Not long after they arrive in Shamrock Cove, they discover a well-known resident dying on his own doorstep. With his last breath and within hearing of many townspeople, he accuses one of the sisters of murder. Desperate to clear her name, the twins must band together to solve the case.


8. The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne—A winter storm traps several lonely people inside a library in a small Colorado town. As they ride out the weather, they share secrets, struggles, and strength. This sounds like such a warm-hearted, hopeful read!


9. Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly—I don't know any book lover who isn't envious of the Beast's library in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. Who cares if it's a cartoon? That place is #personallibrarygoals. In this YA novel, Belle discovers a magical book on the library shelves that offers her everything she's ever dreamed of. Can she trust the promise of this tantalizing volume? Or is she safer staying put, even if she is being held prisoner by a snarly beast?


10. Double Booked for Death by Ali Brandon—This series opener sounds like a combination of #2 and #7. Darla Pettistone moves from Texas to New York when she inherits her great aunt's bookstore. Determined to prove she's up to the task of running the shop, she throws herself into organizing an author event. It's a roaring success...until the author ends up dead. The police call it an accident, but Darla's not so sure...

There you go, ten books on my TBR list whose covers feature bookshelves. Have you read any of these? What other books can you recommend that would fit this prompt? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also respond to comments left here.

Happy TTT!

Saturday, November 02, 2024

The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: November Book Ideas and Link-Up for Reviews

 


Welp, it's November...somehow. Is it just me or does this time of year fly by at warp speed? Some people have even finished decorating for Christmas already! I'm a staunch no-Christmas-until-after-Thanksgiving person, so that nonsense won't be happening around here yet. 

Anyway, I managed to read a few bookish books in October:


Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan—I'm not sure when this book about India is supposed to be set, but it mentions computers, so not too long ago. It's about a young girl whose arranged marriage goes awry, leaving her trapped in an unhappy situation. When her father-in-law teaches her how to read—against the wishes of her mother-in-law—it opens up to new worlds for her.


Unsinkable Cayenne by Jessica Vitalis—To be honest, I can't remember why this MG novel-in-verse is bookish. Curse my aging memory...


The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare—This YA classic was my book club's choice for October. It's about an outspoken teenage girl in 1687 who moves from Barbados to Connecticut after her guardian dies. Her looser island ways shock the Puritans in her new town, who accuse her of being a witch. There are several bookish characters in this novel and a subplot about the main character teaching a young girl how to read.

All three of these were quick, enjoyable reads for me.

What's on my docket for November? Right now, I'm reading this middle-grade novel:


Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales by Wendy S. Swore—As you can tell from its charming cover, the story stars a girl who loves to read. She's especially enamored with fairy tales and fantasy novels. I'll talk more about this one next month.

I'm also planning to read these two this month:


The Legend of the Last Library by Frank L. Cole—After the Blight destroyed all of the trees, paper has become a valuable commodity. To earn money, Juni scavenges for any scraps she can find, desperate to earn enough to pay for the medical treatment her grandfather desperately needs. When she discovers an actual book, she can't wait to sell it for profit. To her amazement, though, the book reveals clues to find what might be the last library in existence, sending Juni on a race against time and dangerous enemies to unearth the greatest treasure of all.


The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare from Oblivion by Ann Bausum—This children's book is a contender for the Cybils Awards in one of the categories I'm judging. Sounds interesting!

What bookish books are you planning to read in November?

If you are participating in the 2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your November reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party.
 

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