For the Love of Reading.....What's on Your Bookshelf

Welcome to my What's On Your BookShelf post. The #WOYB link party is hosted by Deb, Jo and Sue....all gals I follow on a few other link parties. I love their blogs. Go check them out. #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge

My rating system:

⭐ DNF (which there's a reason), story lacking any depth, grammatical or spelling errors (too many), just did not enjoy it and enough to it that I wouldn't recommend. Don't bother reading

⭐⭐ Story line is a bit all over the place, struggle to read it but maybe it had some redeeming parts. Characters  or story line weren't believable or too unrealistic. I wouldn't want to read it again. Too many storylines going on at the same time. Read it or don't read it.

⭐⭐⭐ Solid story line and characters. I liked it but didn't necessarily LOVE it, but I didn't HATE it either. I may have felt that it dragged on, or had parts that weren't necessary to the story. Maybe was a little hard to follow. Probably wouldn't recommend but it wasn't a total disaster.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ A really great read that I enjoyed picking up each time. I enjoyed it from front to back. The characters and storyline were really good.  As someone said "a truly good book, but missing the cherry on top".  Go ahead and read it

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book knocked it out of the park and I couldn't put it down. OR it was a book that really opened my eyes to something or taught me something about someones life. One I have bookmarked and even taken notes. It left me wanting to read more by the author or more in the series. Definitely go read. 

February was a big reading month for me. March is off to a bit of a slow start, but that's okay, some months are like that. 

February Reads: 

Gone for Gouda (Cheese Shop Mystery #2) by Korina Moss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm enjoying this series, especially because there's cheese and there are recipes that use cheese at the end of each book. I had to work backwards on this one because I started with book 5 but have almost caught up..our main character Willa and her friends once again are on the hunt for the killer of a popular influencer who was slated to do a book signing at Willa's cheese chop. This series is a fun read, it's fun learning some cheese facts and it makes me want to visit a cheese shop..We visited one when we were in Canada and while small, it was so neat. 

Bed Breakfast and a Body: A Cobbler Cove Cozy Mystery by Lillian Matthews  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book fulfilled my February read for the Murder they Write monthly challenge. February was "takes place in a hotel or airbnb/b&b, etc". One of my goals this year is to read the books I currently own on my physical book shelf and my kindle and purchase as few as possible...however, I couldn't find one that fit the theme so I did a search for "cozy mysteries set in a hotel"...this one popped up and I was able to read it for free on my trial through Kindle unlimited. It was only 100 pages but it was good. Our sleuth is Julia who owns a charming bed and breakfast who is about to be interviewed by a top magazine, however, a body in her garden makes for a situation that needs solving fast. Along with her best friend and her beagle she takes matters into her own hands in order to solve the crime AND not ruin. her reputation! 

Goats Just Wanna Have Fun: A Zen Goat Mystery by Janna Rollins ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This second book in the Zen Goat Mysteries did not disappoint. It's fair season and Callie is taking her goats along to offer goat yoga sessions during the fair. They're a big hit, however, like all cozies, there's a dead body! Callie tries hard to stay out of it, but it doesn't quite happen. There's a budding romance, some laughs and I'll say I wasn't expecting the guilty party to be who it was. I was able to read this as an ARC for the author who lives near me. 

Cheddar Off Dead (Cheese Shop Mystery #1) by Korina Moss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I mentioned in another post that I was working my way through catching up in the series...I started several books in.  If you like cozies, get started on this one. You don't need to read them in order, HOWEVER, I like to get a better idea of who is who and they sometimes refer to past cases. Book one finally introduced me to the characters I'd come to love in the first book I had read, which I think was book #5. We meet Willa for the first time. She's making a fresh start after being jilted by her fiance and her best friend. She's getting her cheese shop off the ground and has some great help and new friends. However, it's never good when the much disliked food critic is found dead with one of your cheese knives in his body. I love how, in this series, her friends gather around a large table in the cheese shop and try to solve the mysteries over none other than....cheese! 

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I listened to this book on audiobook. It was for my in person book club. It was a beautiful story, a sad story. I gave this one 4 stars because honestly, while it was a great book, there were some sexual references that I didn't care for. Born with ocular albinism which gives him red pupils, Sam goes through life being bullied and struggling to find his way and his purpose. We follow him through adulthood as he struggles and embraces who he is and what he is meant to do. It was beautifully written.  

Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was for my Pass along bookclub. I rated it four stars because there were parts that were a bit hard to follow and I feel like it had too abrupt of an ending. It sort of left me hanging. This is a dual timeline book. In New England 2022 single mom Mallory is set on a journey no parent wants to go through, her son eats a poisonous mushroom at camp and is fighting for his life. He'll need a kidney transplant, and not wanting to involve the father (not going to give too much away), she and her sister set out to find a donor kidney, which leads them to discover some family secrets (a timeline from her mother and grandmothers generation) and leads Mallory to confront her past and her sons father (her own past timeline). So we are having to follow 3 timelines. It is a story of lost love, forbidden love, family secrets. It was not what I thought it would be by the title but it was a good read.

Archaeology and Assassination: A cozy Mystery (Museum Book 1) by Melanie Myers

⭐⭐⭐

I read this one for the March prompt for the Murder, They Write book challenge. It was just Meh! To be honest, I can't remember why I rated it a three star...I really need to start writing reviews and thoughts on the books immediately or as thoughts occur...why are some habits hard to form. Maybe I'll try another in the series and see how it goes. It was good enough, but not so good that I just had to read one more page. Looking up at how I choose to rate my books, it does fit I suppose with my feelings on it. I accidentally read it and then realized I was still in February. 

Curds of Prey: (A Cheese Shop Mystery #3) by Korina Moss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I told you I'm on a mission to catch up in this series. In book 3 Willa again is in the "dead" center of another murder when the fiance of a client is found dead. She's providing a cheese bar at a wedding of one of the wealthiest families in the valley. She's hoping that it will also help give her cheese shop more of a boost. It turns out the deceased is the mayors nephew and the mayor enlists Willa to help find the killer. There are so many questions as to who the killer could be. I feel like a good mystery keeps you guessing. This series does that. The downside is that I read the 5th book so I was trying to remember if certain people were in that one (because then I could rule them out as suspects). 

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I listened to this one on Audio. The beginning was very "technical/scientific" I guess would be the words I'd use and I wasn't sure I'd like it. I also wasn't sure if he was going to side just one way politically. The author discusses his thoughts and makes an argument about why poverty still persists in America, claiming that it's "Because the rest of us benefit from it". It was very interesting, eye opening and controversial. I found myself agreeing with some of what he said, but also saying "hmmm...I don't quite see it that way". It's worth the listen. I would be interested in listening to another book he has in which I believe he addresses poverty from the angle of those who are in it, rather than those who are "better off" and the role they play in keeping people in poverty. 

As I might have mentioned before, I always want to be learning and willing to listen to various views on topics that I don't fully understand. 

Foster by Claire Keegan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was another book I listened to and a VERY short listen. Just over an hour long. For such a short book it was touching. It takes place in Ireland. A young girl is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm for the summer. She doesn't know how long she will be there. While there she finds love, acceptance, and a warmth she has not experienced. She blossoms under their care. It is beautiful and sad and at the very end I thought "wait, what just happened"..it left me wondering if I missed something. 

Currently Reading: By the time this post publishes I have finished several books but will share those next month. Currently I'm reading:

Stake & Eggs by Laura Childs

I picked this book up at a book sale (I think), or Goodwill. It's been on my bookshelf and it fits one of the prompts for the 52 book club "author has won an edgar award". It is not the first in the series "Cackleberry Club" and I am having a bit of hard time getting into it. It follows a group of friends, who together run a restaurant. Suzanne finds the body of a local banker and when a local townsperson becomes a suspect he begs her to help clear his name. That's about as far as I've gotten. 

Case of the Bleus: A Cheese Shop Mystery #4 by Korina Moss

This one will have me all caught up on the Cheese Shop series. I just started this one so can't say much about it, but obviously there will be a dead body, Willa will get in the middle of it and who knows what will happen. I know there is a group of cheesemongers in town for a Northwest Cheese Invitational. She will also be gathering with old colleagues to honor the memory of her former boss who has died and who is the one that encouraged her to open her own shop...I'm sure all of these things will be tied into the murder whenever it happens and whoever it is. 

Updating my 52 book club...I'm not sure if any of the others I read in February fit other prompts but this is what I have so far. 

For the Murder, They Write book club prompts, the March book I read in February..haha..I did end up finishing another that fit the prompt which was "has an archaeologist in it". I already know which one I'm reading for April and it's one I already have in my kindle. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin