Before This New Year Gets Away From Me, Let Me Share My Bookish Resolutions!

 I'm joining Because Reading's Bookish Resolutions Challenge for 2023. You can still join via this link. 

You pick what you are resolved to do in 2023 as far as books go.  Here are the rules that Berls and Michelle put together:

Rules:

1. Create between 5 or more resolutions related to books/book blogging/writing (there are examples below but you can make up your own)(you can have as many resolutions as you would like, there is no limit) 
2. Create a signup post and add it to the Linky on this post (sign up before Feb 28th)
3. Since this is a year-long challenge we ask that you pick goals with some longevity. Pick a goal that will take you no less than 6 months to complete.
4. Once your goals are set you cannot change them.
5. Three times a year we will have an update to see how you are doing. March 1st, June 1st, and September 1st. The last update will be the wrap-up post.
6. For each goal you complete, you get one entry into the giveaway that will be in our wrap-up post on December 31, 2023

 I've tried to make my goals for the year simple for me so that I am able to stay on track. 

Resolution  1:  Read/Listen to one non-fiction book each month (this is done for January, yay!) 

Resolution 2:   Read 60 books in 2023

Resolution 3:  Read and review 1-2 Netgalley books each month

Resolution 4:  Post all my reviews on Goodreads, not just here--

Resolution 5: Go to at least one book signing in 2023 (In Person) 

Okay that's all I am ready to hold myself accountable for 2023. I think these resolutions are manageable and fun- 

How about you? Any Bookish Resolutions for 2023? 

#bookishres2023

When It Comes to Thrillers,

 Today I have a review of a physical book that was published 20 years ago.  Sometimes it's hard to believe 2001 was two full decades ago.  The book is called The Third Victim and it is by Lisa Gardner who has been writing for almost 30 years.  If you click on her name, that will take you to her website.  The Third Victim is part of a series, but you don't need to read the first book to enjoy this thriller. 

Major CW- The book is about a school shooting. 

When it comes to thrillers, I have reached the conclusion that I don't need the main character to be likeable or even realistic, I'll still read the book because I am invested in the ticking time clock of disaster looming.  In this book, the main female character, Raine, honestly didn't feel like a real person, she was more like an amalgam of 'strong' female cop tropes. And the villain was pretty ridiculous.  But the book was easy to pick up and put down, not a lot of characters to remember or get invested in, so it's a book you can keep in your car and read when you are waiting at an appointment, picking someone up, on lunch break, etc. 

My star rating of this book is 3 stars.  If I had to describe it in one word, I would say, it's fine. 

**********************************************************************

This weekend is our city's fest.  As part of the fest, they have bingo.  I have never bingo'd at the fest,but I'm planning to drag the husband there for bingo under the tent. This is a great year to do things I've never done before--maybe I'll win big!  I'll be sure to let you know how it goes! 

Have a great weekend! 

"Coffee is Serious Business!" A New Cozy Series from Emmeline Duncan!

 This cozy was so fun! A fresh new entry into cozy mystery land, Fresh Brewed Murder by Emmeline Duncan takes place in Portland, Oregon which right off the bat is a fresh location for a cozy series.

What I loved about this book:

*Coffee Talk! I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of how various popular coffee drinks are made.  Good coffee is a science and an art.

* Emmeline Duncan did a great job writing dialogue that sounded like people actually talk.

* Our amateur slueth Sage acted and sounded like an actual 27-year-old.

I also enjoyed that Sage because of her unusual upbringing, is good at reading people, it's like a little superpower that will help her solve murders in all the Ground Rules Mystery books to come.  In cozy mysteries, you have to suspend a little disbelief because often the potential suspects the sleuth speaks with share more information than would likely happen in real life.  In Fresh Brewed Murder,  Emmeline Duncan addresses this dilemma by having an amateur slueth who was taught from an early age how to act and she uses those skills to get people to confide in her early and often. So Clever! It puts me in mind of one of my favorite P.I's Veronica Mars. 

All in all this book is a solid 4, very enjoyable and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.  I would like to know Sage's thoughts on PSL's so I'm hoping the next book takes place in the fall. 

Psychological Thriller #TheNewHusband This dude is Sus!

 The first time we meet Simon, he is the hero who found the family dog after the family has been rocked by a tragedy. Strike one I say! 

And then....

The first time she invites him into her home, he shows up with her favorite meal?  Suspicious. Coincidence?  There are no coincidences in thrillers! 

 

From the beginning of The New Husband,  I was very suspicious of Simon.  I don't trust anyone who is almost superhumanly in tune with anyone else feelings and needs.  Frankly, I think that is a recipe for disaster. 

D. J. Palmer got me right from the beginning because I needed to keep reading to find out if Simon is a terrible monster, or if there is going to be a turn of events that will show me I am a cynical suspicious person.  Either way, I'm invested in how this turns out. 

Since I don't write spoiler book reviews, if you would like to know how things turned out for me as a Simon-hater; you'll have to read The New Husband. 

#The Sunday Post - Last of Sunday of March is Here- Let's Make it Count!

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

How was your week?  I hope it was nice and low stress. I hope some of you got vaccinated or made your vaccination appointments. I am now eligible in my state and so the hunt is on- so far no dice! This upcoming week I have a routine surveillance CT scan. I would like to get the vaccine once that is done because the vaccine ramps up your immune system and that can make a CT scan look funky and I don't want any funkiness on my scan. I want boring unremarkable pictures of my insides.

I spend some time this week laying out my reading and reviewing plan for April.  Along with April Showers I'll be reading and sharing some good-looking books! 

Release Date 4/6/2021

Historical Romance - obviously! Out March 29, 2021

The second book in the Booklover's B&B Mysteries.  Out June 8, 2021

Plus a bunch more!  

In April I am planning to start spring cleaning my Goodreads shelves. Do you plan to engage in some cathartic spring cleaning this year? 

One Month from Now = Spring! #TheSundayPost

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Upcoming this week on the blog:

I'll be reviewing:

A Totally Awkward Love Story

Archangel's Kiss

and The Sign of Death

I am also listening to 

If I finish this one I'll review it too! 

Quick reminder tomorrow is release day for A Pocket In Time! You can read my review here

Happy Sunday!  One more week left in February and then March will be here, and you know what March means?  Yep, Springtime!!! The time of year for renewing and refreshing.  Speaking refreshing, how do you like my updated blog design?   I love my new header!  Thank you Michelle of Limabean Designs! Michelle does great work and you can click here to visit her website for info on her services! 

What's going on in your neck of the woods this week?  Any fun plans? 

#CozyMysteryBookClub #FebruaryReview Crime & Punctuation!

It is almost time for the February meeting of The Cozy Mystery Book Club! This coming Tuesday, Feb 23rd on YouTube at 7pm EST,  you can join in the live stream discussion of this month's book Crime & Punctuation by Kaithlyn Dunnett.  As you can see in my picture from an Instagram post I made, I borrowed the book from my local library. The cover of the book is a bit of an optical illusion,  looking like four-book spines. This is the first book in the Deadly Edits Series and after this book, there are two additional books so far--and the covers that look like book spines continue on book two and book three's covers. 

Mikki Lincoln, the protagonist of this series, is a retired school teacher. Additionally, she is a recent widow who has moved back to her hometown.  Mikki edits books on the side to help pay for renovations to her hundred-year-old home. If it weren't for The Cozy Mystery Book Club, I don't think I would have picked up this book.  I have so many cozy mysteries yet to read on my kindle and on my bookshelf.  Of course, that is one of the reasons I like to participate in the club, I wind up reading stories I would not have read otherwise. 

As I began reading Crime & Punctuation,  I realized I don't think I have read any book told from the POV of a woman who was in her late 60s. I've read plenty of books in my life and many of them are from a woman's POV but the vast majority of those books take place with characters who are under 40.   It would seem that the cozy mystery is a subgenre that allows for women who are older to be protagonists! I hope as more cozy mysteries are published, that the subgenre continues to broaden the types of people that get to be protagonists. I want more cozies told from the POV of Black and Brown women of all ages and also from members of the LBGTQIA community.  As a reader, I value stories written by and about people living completely different lives than me. 

Alright, back to the book. Mikki uses her skills as a former teacher and an editor to discover who killed Tiffany and why.  I enjoyed how Kaitlyn Dunnett uses a book manuscript as the central clue in this plot. In the book, Mikki talks about how new writers make mistakes in their writing and as I was reading  Mikki's critiques, I thought Kaitlyn Dunnett must have to be very careful in her writing so the character she created wouldn't tell her to fix her writing! The book takes place in the fall in a small town in the Catskills. Once again, which is very 2021 of me, I add the Catskills to my long list of places I would like to visit after the pandemic.

4.5 Stars to Crime & Punctuation a solid start for a mystery series: small town, curious sleuth, cat companion, a bookish job, and a big old house in a scenic area --and a cornucopia of townspeople! 

*****

My weather app says that Chicagoland should be getting temps in the 30s this weekend. I hope so, I want some of this snow to melt! 

This is how much snow we had on January 30th! 

This is how much snow we have now.

I think that's enough snow, I'm good with temps too high for snow moving forward!