2022 Reading Challenge

Welcome to the 2022 Reading Challenge. Come on in, bring your favorite beverage and join us.

Hi everyone & welcome!

I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. That being said, I find it beneficial to have topics such as this one to help me find my next literary adventure.

FAQS:

How many books do I have to read?

  • It's entirely up to you. Each of us has different goals and priorities. Set whatever goal you think you can make. If you reach it great. It's all about having fun reading and sometimes finding out about a new author.
[B]How do I post my books?[/B]
  • Some may choose to only list the book and what number it is for them.
  • If you choose to write a short review, we welcome it.
  • Some may choose to list the genre or their opinion of the book.
  • Whatever makes you happy go with it.
[B]I found this thread and its the middle of the year. Can I still join?[/B]
  • Yes. All are welcome no matter when they find us. Jump right in and enjoy.
[B]Do all books count?[/B]
  • That is completely up to you. Some include comics, how to books, trade-books, textbooks, children's books, craft books, novels, audio books and everything between.
[B]Do rereads count?[/B]
  • It's a matter of personal preference. No stress here just lots of fun and good discussion.
[B]Happy reading![/B]

1. Y El Shofar Sono (And the Shofar Blew) by Francine Rivers - A novel about a young pastor’s struggle to choose between his own ambition and his true calling. This is a long novel, but compelling. I don’t read a lot of fiction, but this one was well worth the time.

  1. A Heart Adrift - by Laura Frantz
    I love books set in Colonial America and they are getting hard to find - new releases, that is. Laura does a great job of setting the reader in the mid-1700s with this one.

I haven’t read this one, but I’ve read many other books by Francine Rivers. She’s a very good author!

1: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman. Second of the Thursday Murder Club stories, and a very entertaining read.

I loved those books so much. Here’s hoping they keep the movie British!

The Healer by Dee Henderson - It’s been years since I was heavy into anything that Dee Henderson wrote but this was an enjoyable re-read. This series follows the O’Malley family, a group of hurting children who form up their own family when, through circumstances, they are all together at a children’s home. Written more than twenty years ago, the constant reference to “pagers” is amusing - we are so much more technologically advanced now! Light reading.

@annekepoot
I was cleaning my book shelf this week and came across the books I have in this series. Since, I remember nothing from them I put them on my To Read list for this year. My intention is to re-read them and determine if I want to keep them or pass them along.

Thank you for your review. I saw online that she has a couple newer books and a couple of Bible studies available as well.

@hereami - that’s the great thing about my senior memory - I can barely remember what I read last week, so these books are all “new” for me - ha, ha.

1 Like

Y’all have piqued my interest. Partly because I was in a group home and then a wonderful foster home in the late 70s. I downloaded the first O’Malley book from my library on audio. They appear to have the entire series available.

2: The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror edited by Stephen Jones. A collection of horror stories (a Christmas gift from my son). As usual, bit of a mixed bag but nothing I’d rate lower than good, and some really excellent ones. 4/5

  1. Moon Spinners by Sally Goldenbaum
  2. Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
  3. One Corpse too Many by Ellis Peters
  4. Plenty by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon NF 1
  5. The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker NF 2

I’ve been meaning to read The Dorito Effect for a while now and keep forgetting. Plus I just finished several light fiction books and was wanting something nf so now I know what I’m reading next!

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins -Excellent Victorian-era book of fiction which was a fad in its heyday. Suspense novel that in the words of someone who said “why use one word when you can use ten?” - very long but intriguing.

just a note… I ran into this book at the big box bookseller here in Ca, yesterday. (B&N)
I didn’t buy it. Nice to know I can purchase a brand new copy if I wanted to.

3: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. A fairly indescribable book, part history, part war story, part romance, part comedy. 4/5
4: At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie. One of my favourite mysteries, featuring the inimitable Miss Marple. 5/5

  1. The Vanishing at Loxby Manor - by Abigail Wilson

I picked this novel out for a 2022 reading challenge I’ve joined. It’s a good story. If you like a darker mystery/suspense story wrapped around the prominent romance - this is right up your alley. It delivers all the elements and wraps up with a satisfying ending.

It’s written in first person point of view, which I don’t typically read. The whole story is delivered from a single point of view, which means there is a good bit of navel-gazing throughout. But if that’s what you enjoy, then this book is for you. It’s just not my preferred style.

  1. A Racing Murder by Frances Evesham - I started this series at the end of last year and I’m really enjoying it. I would classify these as cozy mysteries.
  2. Grounds for Murder by Tara Lush (NTM 1) - This is the first book in a cozy series as well but I was really disappointed. I like to look for ones set in coffee shops or knitting shops or anything that’s NOT a bakery! lol But the characters just didn’t appeal to me.
  3. The Negotiator by Dee Henderson (NTM 2) - Bk 1 of The O’Malley Series, I decided to try this one after @annekepoot and @hereami both mentioned enjoying them. I can add a 3rd recommendation as I really enjoyed it. I already downloaded book 2. I think the discussions about faith and belief or lack thereof might be more than some people enjoy but it really only consisted of a small portion of the book. Personally I could really identify as I’ve had those conversations with people so many times and really vibed with the characters approach of not being pushy and loving them through it whether they come to believe like you do or not.
  4. The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs (NTM 3) by Nick Trout - I spent the first half of this book trying to decide if I wanted to finish it or not as I found the main character really annoying. But it was pretty obvious that the development of this man was kind of the point. A young veterinarian who hasn’t actually ever practiced on live animals and who was estranged from his father for years has to go home and figure out what to do with his father’s veterinary practice after his death. Other than really wanting to give him a smack in the back of the head many times, it ended up being a heartwarming book.
  5. The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker (NTM 4) - I have had this book for a couple of years and never read it but was reminded after @crosstitchlinda mentioned it. I have read a number of books about similar issues and my favorite is still Salt, Sugar and Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss but I learned a few things from this one that I didn’t know but did not surprise me. Schatzker was a little self-indulgent, spending a LOT of time talking about his own pursuit of heritage chickens and tomatos but the books is definitely still worth reading. SO many people really don’t understand how fully our food supply has been frankensteined or how harmful it can be to ignore the problem. I guess all the times my mom always said that chickens and tomatoes didn’t taste like they did when she was a kid, she wasn’t imagining it. And that’s even though we always raised our own. There were some real problems and dangers that he either didn’t think of or didn’t include that still make me want to recommend other books over this one but it’s worth a read for sure.

@KnitsWithHorses - glad you enjoyed the Henderson books - I know I ran through the series in no time flat - I also read the Salt, Sugar and Fat book - an eye-opener for sure, but I wasn’t surprised at all as all you have to do, as they say, is follow the money (I’ll squelch the temptation to bring that one into today’s scenario.). Also read the Dorito Effect - but I guess it didn’t resonate with me because I hardly remember anything about it!

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - A riveting, yet disturbing autobiography by a Somali Muslim woman fleeing an arranged marriage and her journey to the Netherlands to become a politician in the Dutch government working to free Muslim women from outdated practices such as FGM. She came to notoriety when Theo van Gogh, a film maker who directed Submission, an indictment of Islam, was murdered in Amsterdam by a Moroccan incensed at the “evil” of Western civilization. Ayaan had written the script for Submission.