January 2024, 5 Books Read

I thought one of the things I would do this year is keep a monthly list of books I have read and post it at the beginning of each month for the reading done in the previous month. Since this is early February you will see today books I finished during January. I will also say here that being on airplanes or in airports waiting for a connecting flight makes it easier for this list to be a bit longer that will probably be usual for the months later this year.

For January 2024 I finished the following 5 books.

1. Sing Wild Bird, Sing: A Novel by Jacqueline O'Mahony
2. Just After Midnight: A Novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde
3. The Last Phone Booth in Manhattan by Beth Merlin and Danielle Modafferi
4. The Ice Maiden: A Fast Paced Murder Thriller (Doug Bateman Thrillers Book 1) by B.D. Smith
5. The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor

I read all these on my Kindle or the Kindle app on my phone and I got them either free through Prime Reading or as a monthly First Reads choice. I have an Amazon affiliate link below if you are interested in going shopping for some new reads or anything at all.

What have you read lately? Any recommendations? Would love to hear all about them so leave a comment.

I'll be sharing more about my trip to Vietnam in the coming days!

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!

45 Books Loved and Read in 2023

The title says loved and read. I do love books but maybe I wouldn't say loved for all of them. Each book has something to offer though, in learning or a simple escape to another place and/or time. Last year, 2023, I had 45 pleasant times spent with someone else's work and words. Here's the list...

1. The Easy Life in Kamusari (Forest Book 1) by Shion Miura
2. The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel
3. Vanished: A Gripping Serial Killer Psychological Thriller (The Baudin and Dixon Series) by Victor Methos
4. Reluctantly Home by Imogen Clark
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
6. Contents Under Pressure by Edna Buchanan
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8. The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel
9. The Tracker (Sam Callahan Book 1) by Chad Zunker
10. She's Up to No Good by Sara Goodman Confino
11. No Ordinary Thursday by Anoop Judge
12. When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde
13. The World Played Chess: A Novel by Robert Dugoni
14. Rich Blood (Jason Rich Book 1) by Robert Bailey
15. City Dark: A Thriller by Roger A Canaff
16. An Impossible Return: A Novel by Caroline Laurent
17. The Second Mrs. Astor: A Heartbreaking Historical Novel of the Titanic by Shana Abe
18. The Bookstore Sisters: A Short Story by Alice Hoffman
19. A Girl Called Samson: A Novel by Amy Harmon
20. My Evil Mother: A Short Story by Margaret Atwood
21. Shogun: A Novel of Japan Volume 1 by James Clavell
22. Wild, Beautiful and Free by Sophfronia Scott
23. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken
24. Someone Else's Life: A Thriller by Lyn Liao Butler
25. Shogun: A Novel of Japan  Volume 2 by James Clavell
26. Lost Light by Michael Connelly
27. The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson
28. Invasion by Robin Cook
29. Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen
30. The Dry Grass of August: A Moving Southern Coming of Age Novel by Anna Jean Mayhew
31. They Came to Bagdad by Agatha Christie
32. N or M by Agatha Christie
33. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
34. The Undertaker's Assistant: a Captivating Post Civil War Novel of Southern Historical Fiction by Amanda Skenandore
35. The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas
36. Vietnam-Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture by Geoffrey Murray
37. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe
38. Dutch Uncle by Marilyn Durham
39. Speak to Me of Love by Dorothy Eden
40. What the Wind Knows by Amy Harman
41. A Chance Inheritance by Carolyn Brown
42. Never Lie: An Addictive Psychological Thriller by Freida McFadden
43. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. Black River by Matthew Spencer
45. There's No Turning Back from This: A Novel by Ann Garvin

There it is. This is the list of books read during the day, typically at lunch time, or at night on my Kindle. I read from 4 different sources of books, some were Prime Reading books or First Read choices from Amazon, some were gift books from Connie given to me by her daughters after she passed away and some were books I already owned and had saved during all my moves. After I read any of the paper books, I am passing them on the thrift stores or friends. 

Have you read any of these? What outstanding books have you read this year? Feel free to leave a comment. If you want to make a blogger smile all day just leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you, any you, except spam, I delete those.

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!

Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe

I recently finished reading Swan Light (affiliate link) by Phoebe Rowe. I think I added it on my Kindle because it was a First Reads choice earlier this year. First Reads is a program benefit for Amazon Prime members and our household has a membership. Each month Prime members can choose one or sometimes two books for free. These are typically books from new authors or books that are part one of a multibook series.

Swan Light was one of those twisted timeline books with one story told in the early 1900s and the other in the early 2000s, I enjoyed both story lines and found the historical events fascinating. I almost feel that the story of the families in the small Canadian town in the 1900s and their history would have, if fleshed out, been a great book all on its own. Historical Fiction has always been my favorite genre.

Do you have a favorite type of book to read? What have you finished recently or are reading now that you would like to share with me? Please, feel free to leave a comment!

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy! 

The Undertaker's Assistant by Amanda Skenandore

I finished a great story last night before going to sleep. This time the book was written by Amanda Skenandore. My one whine here is that this book has one of those titles that I think are just silly. The title in full is The Undertaker's Assistant: A Captivating Post-Civil War Era Novel of Southern Historical Fiction. Oh really?!

Okay whine over, the book was captivating. This author has written several books and I plan on reading more of her works. She is an excellent storyteller. She was able to blend the past and present of the main character, Effie, in a dare I say captivating way that kept the story moving forward and the reader more than ready to find out what came next.

I got this book through Prime Reading from our family Prime membership, but it is also available as a paperback. I highly recommend it. 

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy! 

A Sister's Birthday

My Mom had 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. I am the oldest. The sister next to me in age is having a birthday today. I hope today is full of fun and laughter for her. I will send her a text later and maybe a call to let her know I am thinking of her.

She is a very creative person. Where I love hand work when I create, she is more mechanical although she does know how to knit and crochet. She has created with cameras, sewing machines, embroidery machines, sandblasting, and lately laser engraving. She has all the toys and knows how to use them. Sometimes I envy those skills she has but then I remind myself how content I am to sit quietly and knit for a couple hours in an afternoon. I remind myself how boring it would be if we were all the same.

We are also great readers and spend part of every day with a book. When we were taking care of Mom and her house earlier this year, we found out that we share an appreciation for the offerings that Prime Reading has. We didn't know it before but found out we both had read several books by Catherine Ryan Hyde and liked them very much. All 5 of us are readers and in a busy, chaotic world I am glad that we have that in common, even if there is little else. 

Somehow all 3 of us girls have ended up in Arizona a few hours from each other in retirement. This is the closest we 3 have lived to each other in many years. So far it has been a great comfort to have my sisters closer and I think they feel the same. 

So, after a bit of babbling, I wish you a happy birthday Sis, and many more!

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy! 

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Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen

Last night on my Kindle I finished a book I had borrowed from Amazon Prime. Did you know that if you have a Prime membership (affiliate link to a list of benefits) you can have up to 10 books at a time from the Prime library? There are thousands of books rotating through with something to read for everyone. You don't have to have a Kindle either. You can use the Kindle app on any phone or tablet. I use both apps and a Kindle depending on where I am when time for reading happens.

So last night reading before sleep came, I finished Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen. It was a charming story of a young woman who finds love and a sense of purpose in her life. Along the path of the story she solves a murder mystery too. I like the way this author develops characters and they way she has them interact. One of my favorites in the book was the French Chef. In the end he was a typical but charming hero.

I'll leave it there because I don't want to spoil this book for anyone who is considering reading it for themselves. 

So, if you have read this post so far, I have one last request. Leave a comment telling me what you are reading.

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy!  

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

I finished reading The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken. The story was written about 3 women, a grandmother, mother and a daughter. 

Grandmother, who kept journals but never talked about what she lived through as a survivor of The Holodomor which happened during Stalin's reign. This was a man-made famine in the early 1930's that killed millions of people.

The mother, raised by this survivor, never knew anything about this part of her mother's life. She was raised to live in the moment and to look forward and not back.

The granddaughter in this story is a young widow with a daughter. Her grandmother gives her the task of translating the journals which she kept from Ukranian to English and in this way the story is told. Not able to do the translation herself, the love interest comes into play as a neighbor who has those skills and helps with the translation.

There is a lot of tragedy in this book but a lot of joy too. Told in two timelines, the 1930's and the early 2000's, this book kept me captivated from beginning to end.

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy!

This post contains affiliate links to the book.

Yesterday I finished reading "A Girl Called Samson" by Amy Harmon. I really enjoyed this book. I would like to think that I could do brave and hard things like the women I read about in the books I love but fear my efforts would be short I what I imagine. I have heard of women passing for men in the Civil War as well as the Revolutionary War where this novel is set. This is a novel and not a biography however many of the characters were real people. 

Here is what Amazon has to say about this book from Amy Harmon who writes historical fiction very well.

From New York Times bestselling author Amy Harmon comes the saga of a young woman who dares to chart her own destiny in life and love during the American Revolutionary War.

In 1760, Deborah Samson is born to Puritan parents in Plympton, Massachusetts. When her father abandons the family and her mother is unable to support them, Deborah is bound out as an indentured servant. From that moment on, she yearns for a life of liberation and adventure.

Twenty years later, as the American colonies begin to buckle in their battle for independence, Deborah, impassioned by the cause, disguises herself as a soldier and enlists in the Continental Army. Her impressive height and lanky build make her transformation a convincing one, and it isn’t long before she finds herself confronting the horrors of war head-on.

But as Deborah fights for her country’s freedom, she must contend with the secret of who she is—and, ultimately, a surprising love she can’t deny.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

First 5 Kindle Books Read This Year

Are you a Kindle reader like I am? I use the app on my phone to read and I keep my Kindle Oasis on my nightstand for reading in bed before I go to sleep each night. I like to keep track of what I read and Kindle makes it easy. With the reading insights you can see consecutive days or weeks of reading. Currently I have read 98 weeks in a row and 313 days in a row. 

You can also set goals for yourself about the number of books you want to read in a year. Last year I read 70 books. Actually I read a few more that that but the others were "real" books and I track those in a reading notebook. Confession, I am a list maker and have to stop myself sometimes from seeing list making equivalent to actually doing something. That is why I don't create To Do lists anymore. But getting back on track here. So far this year I have read and enjoyed 5 Kindle books so far.

1. Knitting and Murder by Gillian Larkin.
2. The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry
3. The Wise Ass by Tom McCaffrey
4. Hummingbird Land by Carolyn Brown
5. Half a Heart by Karen McQuestion.

The books on my Kindle are from the Prime Reading Library or one of the First Reads choices available each month for free. I am a bit frugal when it comes to reading. Prime Reading and libraries can easily keep me in material for the rest of my life.

You are interested in a Kindle of your own I will share links to what I have and the cover I use too. (These are affiliate links and I may earn a bit from qualified purchases.)

This Kindle is an update from mine that is a couple years old. Find it here.

This is the cover or case I have and have been very happy with how is has help up with a couple years of use so far. You could get yours in blue or another color here.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

A Polar Bear Dawn (Book 1)

This book, A Polar Bear Dawn, written by Lyle Nicholson would have been a great read but...….

I liked the characters. I liked the plot. Each turn and twist in this thriller kept me turning pages to find out what came next. The ending however was no ending at all. I am so tired of writers thinking all their ideas need to be in a series and to sell the series the earlier books are obviously incomplete. If you are a writer listen to me. Write one hell of a story with great characters and with a complete story line and I will be back for more. Just sayin'.

The other great flaw in a book I really wanted to like was the very poor proofreading and editing. It was so distracting to come across a passage like this, "The helicopter pilot he had hired was definitely post-Vietnam War era, but luckily pre-Korean War." Really? After Vietnam and before Korea? There were more issues but I am only giving you one of them here today.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

If you would like to check out this story since you are prepared now to look past the mistakes the affiliate link in the ad above will take you to the book's page on Amazon.

I am also giving you links to a couple more recent reads you might like. 

If you use a rss reader that blocks html then you may want to check out the blog post directly so you can see the links.

The Art Forger

I recently finished reading The Art Forger by B. A.  Shapiro. This was a book I was able to read free through Amazon Prime books. You can have up to 10 titles at a time downloaded and I always do, stored on your Kindle app or I suppose on a Kindle device which I don't have. Now I can return this book and get another just like using a library. Prime reading has about 1500 titles so I will be sure to find something new.

From the book's page on Amazon.

Almost twenty-five years after the infamous art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—still the largest unsolved art theft in history—one of the stolen Degas paintings is delivered to the Boston studio of a young artist. Claire Roth has entered into a Faustian bargain with a powerful gallery owner by agreeing to forge the Degas in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But as she begins her work, she starts to suspect that this long-missing masterpiece—the very one that had been hanging at the Gardner for one hundred years—may itself be a forgery. The Art Forger is a thrilling novel about seeing—and not seeing—the secrets that lie beneath the canvas.

I enjoyed reading about the technical details of painting, forgery and determining authenticity of art works. The plot was interesting, paced well and kept the digital pages turning. The character of Claire Roth was a mystery to me. How and why she made some of her choices were beyond my way of thinking but I like to read books with characters very different from me. After all reading about someone just like me would be boring, been there, done that, kind of boring.


Amazon has several versions of The Art Forger to fit your reading preferences, Audible, Kindle, paperback, hardcover and and audio CD.

Affiliate links for shopping below and in the text above if you would like to read this book yourself.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Amazon Prime Reading

In our house we have an Amazon Prime subscription and enjoy the benefits. My husband has become a shopper and packages show up often for things like his favorite Trader Joe's mints and coffee since we don't have a store in Jackson. He has also found boat parts and other hard to find locally items.

I, on the other hand, am not a big shopper. I feel like I am coming to the time in my life where it makes sense to move toward living more minimally. However I do enjoy a couple of Prime benefits, namely Prime Video and Prime Reading.

With Prime Reading you can have 10 books at a time out on your account. When you finish one you return it and get another. With about 1300 books available for Prime Reading I have plenty to choose from and I am sure the selections change over time so I am not afraid of running out of enjoyable reading. Being able to have 10 at a time means I can download onto my tablet and have vacation reading on that slim device and not have to pack heavier books. Having 10 at a time means also that if I download one that I really don't like, which for me is very rare but happens, I am not left with nothing to read. I love this!

The last two that I read and returned are The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and The Physician by Noah Gordan. The former was okay but I admit to just skimming parts of it when I felt the author went too deep into the most minor details of his thoughts. As for whether you believe in God or not I leave that up to you. The Physician was a wonderful book. It was historical fiction about a boy driven by a desire to be a doctor that takes him from being an orphan in England to studying in the Middle East and back again during the Middle Ages. I don't want to put spoilers for books in my posts. Let's just say this one was a great read!

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

The ads below are affiliate links. Clicking on them to shop on Amazon will not cost you anything but could add a few pennies to my yarn fund. Thanks in advance for clicking and shopping!