Books from the Backlog - On Borrowed Time

Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog.  I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!

Goodreads:  On Borrowed Time (Library Lovers Mysteries #5) by Jenn McKinlay

Blurb:  Between preparing the library for the holidays and juggling the affections of ex-boyfriend, Captain Mike Sullivan, and her new crush, actor Robbie Vine, Lindsey has her hands full. But the mysterious disappearance of her world-traveling playboy brother takes precedence over all.

Afraid that involving the police could brew trouble for Jack, Lindsey takes matters into her own hands. But as her quest for her brother embroils her in a strange case involving South American business dealings and an enigmatic and exotic woman, it’ll take the help of both her library book club—the crafternooners—and her eager-to-please suitors to keep Jack from ending up in hot water…

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  I'm really focusing on getting caught up on series this year and this is one I only have a few left in.  Plus, it's a favorite.

Ten Series I Want to Finish By The End of The Year

 

My main focus reading-wise for 2021 is to catch up on series.  There are so many that I've read most of or half of or read the last few but missed the first ones and I really want to fix that.  So looking over the books I currently own I picked out 10 series I want to finish in 2021.  I'm going to list the next book in the series I have to read just so I'll have a concrete goal.  I do love a check list that's easy to mark off.

1. Live and Let Pie by Ellie Alexander (The Bakeshop Mystery) - This is a bit of a cheat since I'm actively reading it but it's one of my very favorite series and somehow I missed one that involves an old missing persons case which is one of my very favorite types of mysteries.

2.  Bells, Spells, and Murder by Carol J. Perry (Witch City Mystery) - I read a few of these years ago and really liked them but in 2020 I started from the beginning of the series in audio and absolutely fell in love.  I can't wait to finish this series this year.

3.  Tulle Death Do Us Part by Annette Blair (A Vintage Magic Mystery) - This is the book that really made me start thinking about series.  It's the last book in a series involving a vintage clothing shop where the owner sees ghosts and has visions related to the previous owners of the clothes she sells.  I enjoyed the previous books in the series but for some reason never read this one even though it's been sitting on my shelf for literally years.  

4.  A Curio Killing by Mary Ellen Hughes (A Keepsake Cove Mystery) - Another last book in the series (probably) and another that's been sitting on my shelf for far too long unread.

5.  On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinley (Library Lover's Mysteries) - I've read the first four and the last few and really enjoy this series.  I just need to read the books in the middle!

6.  Scandal in Skibbereen by Sheila Connolly (County Cork Mysteries) - Pretty much ditto above though I've found this series a bit inconsistent so I want to read a little bit more and see if it is one I want to continue.

7.  The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley (The Seven Sisters) - There's no way I'll finish this series this year because the books are huge but I'd like to make a little more progress.  I'm listening to the 3rd book now and loving it so I want to at least get the 4th book in before the end of the year.'

8.  A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn (Veronica Speedwell Mysteries) - This is another series where I've read the first few and the last few but somehow missed the ones in the middle.  I've only got two and then the new release this year so it should be manageable.

9.  The God of the Hive by Laurie R. King (Mary Russel and Sherlock Holmes Mysteries) - I almost didn't include this one because I'm not exactly sure what I want to do about this series.  I really enjoy it but at this point it's been probably 20 years since I read the first book and I'm not sure I ever read all of them.  I have a hard time remembering all the details so I kind of feel like I need to go back to the beginning but since I already own this one I thought I'd try continuing first.

10. Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber (Verity Kent Mysteries) - I've read book 1 and 3 in this historical mystery series set right after World War 1 and really enjoyed both so I need to read 2 and 4.

Do you have any series you'd like to catch up on?

Top Ten Tuesday - Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021

 1. An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn - I enjoy this series and I can't wait to read this one!

2.  A Wicked Conceit by Anna Lee Huber - This is a historical mystery series that I've really grown to love.  I'm hoping this year to go back and read the earlier books in the series but that won't keep me from being excited about the new one.

3.  Murder on Wall Street by Victoria Thompson - Another historical mystery!  I'm not sure I'm going to try and go back to the beginning with this series because there's a lot of them but I am looking forward to this one.

4.  Haunted Hibiscus by Laura Childs - I've really been enjoying this series set around a tea shop in Charleston, SC.  Since I won't be traveling for awhile this may be the best way to visit Charleston.

5.  The Art of Betrayal by Connie Berry - I read the 2nd book in this series last year and really enjoyed it so I'm excited to read the 3rd book.  And of course I have to go find the 1st book!

6.  Off the Wild Coast of Brittany by Juliet Blackwell - I've read a bunch of her cozies and finally read one of her fiction books in 2020 and loved it.  This sounds wonderful and I must read it.

7.  Miss Jeffries Demands Justice by Emily Brightwell - This comes out at the end of the month and I have really come to love this upstairs downstairs historical mystery.  I'd love to catch up and read the beginning books in the series but there are a billion of them so I'm not sure that I'll be able to do that this year.

8.  Undercover Kitty by Sofie Ryan - I love this series involving a junk store and a cat who has more then a little bit of personality.

9.  The Unforgiven by Heather Graham - Every year Heather Graham puts out a new trilogy in the Krewe of Hunters series and every year I buy them.  This year is no different.

10. The Princess Spy: The True Story of World War II Spy Aline Griffiths, Countess of Romanones by Larry Loftis - I read a book written by Aline Griffiths when I was a kid and became obsessed.  I'm curious to read about the real story!

What books are you looking forward to picking up in the first half of 2021?

A Look Back at 2020 Reading

 

 

I think I can safely say that 2020 did not go like anyone expected.  For us there was an unexpected diagnosis for our son and an very unexpected move so that he could undergo treatment for Leukemia in Memphis.  Then the move back right before Christmas.  There were a few small reading slumps but for the most part reading was one of my constants this year and I surpassed my goal and significantly increased my reading from 2019.

Book Total:  172

Most Read Genre: Cozy Mysteries at 74 which isn't a shock

Least Read Genre: Nonfiction at 5.  Honestly I'm a bit surprised I read this many.

Breakdown:

Audio: 41

Classic Mysteries: 21

Rereads:  23

Romantic Suspense: 7

Romance: 14

Middle Grade: 11

Historical Mystery: 18

Fiction: 13

Mystery: 8

Challenges:

I did 2 personal challenges this year.  One was trying to read a book with a title from every letter in the alphabet and the other was to see how many states I could "visit".  

Alphabet Goal:  Completed!  I had 2 small cheats;  For J I used Darkest Journey and for X I used The Unexpected Mrs. Polifax.  No words start with "x" but it has 2 in the title so I'm saying it counts!

Armchair Traveling:  I went to 47 states.  I didn't visit North Dakota, Delaware, or Nebraska but I managed the rest.  My most traveled to states were California (11) and Massachusetts (7).  I visited Maine, Connecticut and New York 5 times.

I went to England 39 times though very rarely was it present day England.  I also visited Ireland, Albania, Canada, Norway, Egypt, Scotland, France, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, Italy and Greece.  

How was your 2020 reading?  

Life with Leukemia (and Some Reading) - January 3

 

It's Sunday Post time!  This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.

This has been a tough week.  Will's energy level has been super low.  He slept through most of his birthday though he did wake up to open presents which he was excited about though he hasn't been able to play with much.  He had a spinal tap scheduled for Wednesday but that was canceled at the last minute because his platelet count was too low.  I'm obviously very glad they didn't take the risk and canceled the surgery but he gets so nervous before and I hate that he will have to go through that stress again.  It will most likely be rescheduled for the week after next but we won't know for sure until we get his counts for next week and see how he's trending.  By the time we got home from the hospital he was pretty much worn out so he slept New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  He did wake up long enough to watch the New Year's Countdown on Animal Crossing New Horizons so that was fun.  

We are pretty much unpacked now and settled in from our move home.  I'm trying to get my bookish goals figured out for this year now that I have all my books around me and I've been really enjoying that.  I had thought about trying to get rid of some of the books that I have decided I don't want to read but after I started looking I decided I couldn't possibly get rid of any of them!  

Currently:

Reading:  The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly and Live and Let Pie by Ellie Alexander

Listening:  The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

Watching:  Not much but we have been finishing up the latest season of The Great British Bake-Off on Netflix and really enjoying it.

Have a great week and happy reading!

Ten Classic Mysteries on my 2021 TBR

 

1.  The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie - Really I'm hoping to finish all of the Miss Marple books this year but this is the next one on my list.

2.  The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth - Another book that is the next in a series that I'm hoping to finish this year.  I've been reading Miss Silver for ages but this is the first time I've ever read them all in order and I've discovered a couple that I've missed over the years so I'm excited to keep going

3.  Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers - Somehow I've never read very much by Sayers and I really need to fix that so I'm going to pick up the next Lord PeterWimsey mystery this year.

4.  The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - Last year I read the first two Mrs. Pollifax mysteries and had the best time with them so I'm really looking forward to continuing the series.

5.  The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -  I listened to the first Sherlock Holmes mystery in 2019 and really meant to continue in order but then completely forgot.

6.   The Religious Body by Catherine Aird - I discovered Catherine Aird a number of years ago and have read two books by her.  I really enjoyed both but somehow never read anything else by her.  This year I'm hoping to change that.  

7.  The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart - I'm a little confused about this one.  Some things I've read say it's just a rewrite of The Circular Staircase which I read in 2020 and really enjoyed.  But it also sounds really different.  So I decided to put my curiosity to rest and just read this and compare!

8.  Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey - While I have read Daughter of Time several times I have neglected Tey's other books and am looking forward to giving this one a try.

9.  The Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cozy by James Anderson - I know nothing about this one and was surprised to see that it wasn't quite as classic as I thought it was but the title sounds incredibly classic so I'm keeping it in the list.

10. Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart - I'm not sure exactly how much of a mystery this one is as Mary Stewart has surprised me on that end in the past but it sounds good and spooky so I'm counting it!

Have you read any of these?

First Books of 2021

 

Happy New Year everyone!  This feature has been run for years by the amazing Sheila over at Book Journey and it is so fun to see what everyone has picked for their first book of the year and why.  I didn't get my act together enough to send in a picture (or take a picture) so I'm participating unofficially.  For 2021 my goals are a bit loose.  My primary focus is trying to catch up on series that I have neglected or left unfinished.  I also want to read more of my own books and focus less on review books.

My First Book of 2021:

Live and Let Pie by Ellie Alexander - This is a series I'm caught up on except for this one which is kind of in the middle that I somehow weirdly missed.  

My First Kindle Book of 2021

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly - This one just looks gorgeous and my friend Tina really enjoyed it so I'm excited to read it!

My First Audio Book of 2021

The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley - This is the 3rd book in a series that I've been enjoying but making very slow progress on.

My First Library Book of 2021:

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh - I just put this one on hold at the library and I can't wait.  I enjoyed the first book but had pretty much given up on this one.  I'm looking forward to reading it and to using the library again!

What books are you starting 2021 with?