I do love my library. They come through with many books and audiobooks that I want to read and these are two that I enjoyed. Gone Before Goodbye is a Reese Witherspoon/Harlan Coben confab and it was a good one. It had the thriller aspect that I've come to love from Coben, and the storytelling of Reese Witherspoon. Before I Forget was a blog recommendation, but I honestly can't remember who recommended it.

I have now read or listened to 8 of the books recommended to me in the 12 Friends/12 Books Challenge. I recently read Just one Damn Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary's #1) by Jodi Taylor recommended by Nicki @ Secret Library Book Blog and Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson recommended by Misty @ Misty's Book Space…

This meme was originally created by Meggy @Chocolate’n’Waffles to spread some positivity amongst all the doom and gloom on social media and in the news. Meggy isn’t blogging any more, so Nicki @Secret Library Book Blog is now hosting. Feel free to join in with your own Happy Friday post, and link to this post if you want to. I always enjoyed participating before, so look forward to doing it again.

As week 3 of reading Ireland comes to a close, I am posting my 7th and 8th review of books by Irish authors. I want to thank Cathy@746 Books for my copy of Leonard and Hungry Paul. I won it on her blog several years ago, and I finally read it. I really enjoyed it and now I see there is a TV show made about the characters in the book.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Lucky Winners by K.L. Slater. A young couple struggling to make ends meet win a house of their dreams and half a million pounds to go with it. What a dream, or is it?

While waiting for my flight home (3 hours) and the flight home (3.5 hours), I was able to listen to 3 short stories by authors I enjoy. Leave it up to Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey is about a would be author who is hired to be a ghost writer for one of her favourite authors. The Last Father-Daughter Dance takes us to the Blue Ridge Mountains where a top athlete goes home to spend time with her dying father, and The Recital by Gregg Hurwitz is a short story that has us seeing another side to Joey, as well as some of Evan's allies and a short mission that Evan Smoak takes on.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

Those of you who regularly follow my blog know that I enjoy a good cozy mystery. I've read a few heavy books lately, so these books were a nice break. I've had Six Feet Deep Dish on my TBR shelf for a few years now, and finding the audiobook at my library, I decided it was time to start the series.

Welcome to It’s Monday! What are you Reading? It’s hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind.

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, books for review from authors, Netgalley, Edelweiss or publishers, as well as gifts or books you won.

With week two of Reading Ireland in the bag, I am sharing my reviews for my 5th and 6th books I've listened to. One was a women's fiction story that shared three generations of women living on a small island off the coast of Ireland. The second is a cozy mystery. Twin sisters who didn't know they had a grandfather living in Ireland, but he found them and left them his home and antique bookstore in a small Irish Village.

Over the last few years I've been trying to read a couple of classic books a year. I don't know if everyone agrees that The Wind in the Willows is a classic, but it's my first pick for 2026. I don't think I ever read it, but remember watching a televsion series when I was a kid. I got both the audiobook and ebook from the library, but read this one.

We are into the second week of Reading Ireland, and I have read or listened to 6 books. I am sharing my thoughts on the third and fourth ones today. The Dark Hours is a crime thriller set in Cork by Irish author Amy Jordan. The next is The Lost Letters of Ireland by Susanne O'Leary. It is part of the Starlight Cottages series I've been reading set in Kerry and is a romance, leaning a bit toward women's fiction.

One of my goals this year (and in past years) is to read more of my backlist books, especially those from Netgalley and Edelweiss. This challenge helps me focus on that. These are two of the oldest books on my Netgalley list, published in 2014. I really enjoyed both of them, and once again, wish I had read them years ago.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

Welcome to It’s Monday! What are you Reading? It’s hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind.

We are beginning the second week of Reading Ireland, and I have read or listened to 3 books. I am sharing my thoughts on the first two today. The first is a book that was recommended to me by Jonetta@Blue Mood Café. I probably wouldn't have picked up The Elements by John Boyne, as it is a long one. It was originally published as 4 separate books, but is now published with all of them in one volume.

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, books for review from authors, Netgalley, Edelweiss or publishers, as well as gifts or books you won.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Death at the Dock, the third book in Carmen Radtke's Alyssa Chalmers Mystery. I jumped into this series at this point, and this book read fine as a standalone, but I will be going back to read books 1 and 2 to find out about Alyssa and her group of friends sailing to British Columbia from Australia to become brides.

During the month of February I had picked out some romance stories that were on my NG shelf. Unfortunately, I didn't get to them due to my monthly challenge and Black History Month. I still wanted to read them, so finished them this month. All are from Boldwood, and I have to say they have some great romcom/romance authors. These books find us with a character that realizes she has not life but work trying to become a managing partner in her law firm, so she quits.

Welcome to my stop on the blot tour for The Girl With The List by Shari J. Ryan. This is a WW2 story set in Auschwitz, where 2 young people in love with do everything they can to save each other.

My goal for the Nonfiction Challenge this year is to read 2 nonfiction books each month, and hopefully, 1 from each category. These are the 3rd, 4th and 5th books. The Gilmore Girls Pop Culture Reference Guide fits the television category, and Nobody's Girl fits the Biography/Memoir. The last is Stand by Your Pan: 100 Easy and Affordable Comfort Food Recipes So Good They'll Hurt People's Feelin’s, a lovely cookbook that fits the food category.

I've had This is How it Ends sitting on my bookshelf at home since 2018 and I decided it was time to pick up this slow burn story. Next I was able to get the audiobooks from the library of two recently released thriller. One from a series I love, Quinn & Costa, and the other from an author that I enjoy.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. If you’re continuing with WOW, feel free to link up as well! Find out more here. This week, I’m waiting for ….

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

During the month of February, I try to read books by Authors of Colour, learning about Black History where possible. This year I didn't read as many as I usually do, but read 6 this month. Here are the links to the previous reviews this month, and the last two are included below. The Illegal by Lawrence Hill, We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartel…

Welcome to It’s Monday! What are you Reading? It’s hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind.

My personal January Challenge was to listen to the 15 books that I had wanted to read or listen to last year, or those audiobooks I had purchased. I easily completed that challenge. For February, I wanted to listen to 12 to 15 audiobooks that have been on my NG shelf the longest. The ones I listened to this week have been waiting for me to listen to them since June of 2024.

Reading Ireland Month (or The #Begorrathon as it is affectionately known) will return for the 12th year during March 2026, although this will only be the 6th year I have participated. It is hosted by Cathy @ 746 Books. Cathy is a supporter of everything Irish and a promoter of Irish culture. Check out her page for suggestions of what to read and listen to some wonderful Irish music from her spotify list.

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, books for review from authors, Netgalley, Edelweiss or publishers, as well as gifts or books you won.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Carolyn Arnold's newest addition to the Detective Amanda Steele series, Dead Woman Walking. This is one of my favourite crime thriller/police procedural series and one that I highly recommend.

I saw this bookish travel post on It’s All About Books and thought, I like this!! So, I decided to try and do it at the end of every month. Hopefully, I will be able to keep track. I would love to be able to travel more, but I have to settle for armchair travel. I am only including actual places which is fine as I don't read a lot of fantasy.

Historical Romance is a genre I enjoy every once in awhile. I do find that they often are a bit spicy and Ne'er Duke Well definitely is that. A Dilemma For The Duke is part of the Barrington's Brigade series which is not spicy at all, which makes these books very different from one another. I am working on finishing both of these series.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Helena Dixon's newest addition to her Miss Underhay Mystery Series. Murder at Sea is the 23rd book in the series and I'm still enjoying the books. This time the murder takes place on an ocean liner heading across the Atlantic to New York. A fun story!

Anatomy of an Alibi was one of my anticipated books for 2026, and it didn't disappoint. The other two books are more mystery/suspense than thriller, but they have some twists. Murder in my Backyard is the second book in the Inspector Ramsay series by Ann Cleeves, and What The River Knows is the first book in the Secrets of the Nile series by Isabel Ibañez, a historical mystery with a bit of fantasy.

My personal January Challenge was to listen to the 15 books that I had wanted to read or listen to last year, or those audiobooks I had purchased. I easily completed that challenge. For February, I wanted to listen to 12 to 15 audiobooks that have been on my NG shelf the longest. The ones I listened to this week have been waiting for me to listen to them since June of 2024.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

Welcome to It’s Monday! What are you Reading? It’s hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind.

Improbable Meet-Cute Second Chances is a collection of short stories by well-known romance authors, three of which I've never read before. They increase in steaminess from sweet, suspenseful and eventually steamy. I enjoyed them all and was able to fast forward through the few open door scenes in the last two stories. Each of them is set on or around Valentine's Day, but you can read them anytime.

Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for Have You Seen Him by Kimberly Lee. This is an action adventure story, one with twists and a mystery that kept me reading even after I should have gone to sleep. It is a bit different from other books in the genre, but I really enjoyed it. Scroll down to learn more about the book and see my thoughts, as well as to enter the giveaway for a chance to win an Amazon Gift Card

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, books for review from authors, Netgalley, Edelweiss or publishers, as well as gifts or books you won.

February is upon us and I wanted to read some romance this month. I had the Skymar Trilogy on my TBR shelf, so thought this would be a good time. I was able to get the audiobooks on hoopla, so listened to them. Penelope and Luke are siblings, and Izzy is their cousin who was raised with them after the loss of her parents.

This meme was started by Rae Longest at Powerful Women Readers, but as she is busy with her bookstore, she is not posting as much and asked me to take over. I hope some of you will join in and post those reviews of children's or middlegrade books on Saturdays. As I am a grandmother, who loves to read to her grandchildren, a mother who loved to read to and with her children, and a retired teacher librarian, this meme is right up my alley.

This meme was originally created by Meggy @Chocolate’n’Waffles to spread some positivity amongst all the doom and gloom on social media and in the news. Meggy isn’t blogging any more, so Nicki @Secret Library Book Blog is now hosting. Feel free to join in with your own Happy Friday post, and link to this post if you want to. I always enjoyed participating before, so look forward to doing it again.

Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X series has been a fun ride with lots of action, adventure and thrills, this is #11 in the series. I have been a fan of Rachel Hawkins since I read the first book and I've been anticipating The Storm. Although I enjoyed it, it didn't have the same thriller vibe as her other books, it was however suspenseful.

The 52 Book Club gives the participants 52 book prompts with the idea that you will read one per week. These are the last two books to fulfill all the prompts. These reviews fulfill the following prompts: If the Boot Fits #20 - A Fairy Tale Retelling and The Curse of the Flores Women #15 - Includes Latin American history

Hello all my blogging friends. I have seen this challenge on DiniPandaReads and Lucy at Bookworm Blogger and joined in back in 2023. Now that I've read all the recommended books for 2024, it is time to ask for your recommendations. This will be my 4th year participating. I have been introduced to 36 books that I would otherwise not have read.

I did it. I just finished the last three books to complete this challenge. I read 2 books to finish my tour of Canada: An Amish Forever Home, set in Prince Edward Island, and Coming Home: Stories From the Northwest Territories and Legacy set partially in South Dakota, to finish my trip across the United States. Legacy is also a physical book that I owned, so also fulfills one more book for that goal.

Here is our final check in for the year. This is your opportunity to check in and let us know how you are doing with your Finishing The Series Challenge.