For the Love of Reading.....What's On Your Book Shelf

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. 

I always have every intention of starting this post early and it never happens. May was was pretty strong reading month. I wasn't sure when it started out. I was able to add a few more books to my 52 book challenge. I'll share that below. There are also some on that graphic that I finished in June but will talk about next month. 

What I read in May:

When the Moon Turns Blue by Pamela Terry ⭐⭐⭐1/2

This book was in my Kindle Library and it also fit the 52 book club prompt of "I think it was blue". The story takes place in the heart of the south. The main character, Marietta is reeling after the death of her husband. A controversial statue is found destroyed, the following morning after a freak ice storm and Mariettas home ends up being grand central for many of her friends/family for various reasons. Once again I'm failing at writing my reviews right when I finish a book so I honestly can't remember what exactly I did or didn't like. Mariettas character longs to salvage all the broken relationships and struggles in the wake of seeing beneath the surface at who people really are. (She tends to be a Pollyanna). It is was a good read though. 

Down the River Unto the Sea (King Oliver, #1) by Walter Mosley ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I grabbed this one because I was looking for books that fit the prompt author has won an edgar award. I listened to this on audio. Joe King Oliver is a NYC detective who is framed and spends time at Rikers. Once out he becomes a PI. He takes on a case that seems to run parallel to his own and he strikes out to solve both cases. With the help of his daughter and a few others from his past he journeys down a path that will bring him to the truth. It was one that kept me on my toes and I didn't see it coming who was behind his framing. It involves police corruption. It's a series so I knew he'd come out fine in the end. It was a heavy read but a good one.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed this one, as heartbreaking as it is. I had never heard of the Blue People. The main character, Cussy Mary is young, and the last of her kind (so she thinks). Ostracized by the community for the most part, she finds her purpose in being a packhorse librarian. The people seem to be able to mostly see past her color because they want the books. It follows her journey, and her fathers desire to marry her off and see her provided for, which on one occasion doesn't end well. It addresses prejudices based on differences and is heartbreaking to realize that sometimes it just doesn't matter what is done, people won't see past it or believe what is actually true (in her case, what causes the blueness). There is a second book called The Book Womans Daughter that I'd like to read. 

An Irish Bookshop Murder (Mercy McCarthy Mystery) by Lucy Connelly ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After some heavy reads, I needed something lighter. I introduced this book in my last post. I really enjoyed it and I think it will be a fun series. Of course I love it because it involves a bookshop and it's set in another country, which is equally fun. The two sisters are likable and learning more about the grandfather they never met or knew about is sweet...the author does leave something hanging...their father...it seems they never found him after he went off to war and he and his father were estranged, so I wonder if he'll eventually show up. They had never met him either. 

We Solve Murders  (We Solve Murders #1) by Richard Osman ⭐⭐⭐

This was for my Passalong book club and I had hoped I'd enjoy it more because people seem to really like the author. To be fair, maybe I need to read another one by him because I just struggled to get into this one. The writing style was odd and I couldn't seem to follow. It took me so long, I literally rushed through it in order to send it to the next person. I thought of listening to it, but the narrators voice wasn't jiving with me. 

Clover Covered Corpse by Jackie Layton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another fun cozy, I introduced in the last post. Jackie is a great author and I've read two in this Flower Farmer series. I enjoyed it. A cozy has to be really poorly written for me to give it less than 5 stars. If it's fun, keeps me engaged and makes me feel like I'm solving it too, it gets a 5. Bonus if there's recipes at the end. 

Bait and Swiss (Cheese Shop Mysteries #6) by Korina Moss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm sad...this was the last in the Cheese Shop Mysteries. The author said that choice was made by the publisher and she didn't know until this book was done so she couldn't tie it in a pretty bow like she would have liked to. I think this is a series I would buy all the books for, the physical copies, especially because they have recipes at the end. I don't think I introduced this book in my last post, but again it follows Willa and her team cheese crew to solve yet another mystery, this time involving her ex fiance and ex best friend (who betrayed Willa and are now together). We learn more about what happened there, and when a murder happens, they seek her help in solving it. The whodunit surprised me a little bit. 

What I'm currently reading: 

Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life by Sarah Jakes Roberts

I'm listening to this on audiobook and haven't gotten very far. I finished my other one (which I'll discuss next month since I finished it in June) and was looking for a new one to listen to. I needed something a little "lighter". Sarah is a Christian author and in this book dives into a different perspective of Eve (the woman who gets blamed for everything). She shows you how the disappointments and even mistakes of our past can be used today to come who we are intended to be. Our focus should not be on who we were, but who we can become. I think it will be good. 

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

This is for my passalong book club and I'm not sure I'll get it finished before I have to send it off next week, but I'll try. It is a dual timeline and starts in the current year with a woman finding a mysterious letter in the drawer of a desk in her aunts antique shop that appears to have never gotten to the intended recipient. It flashes back and forth between the past (I'm assuming what leads up to the letter), and her trying to find who the letter belongs to. It surrounds the topic of illegal abortion, and illegal (I think) adoption (when women were sent to a home to have their babies and give them up). Jane is apparently a code word for a network created by a group of women to provide safer abortions than going to "butchers" on the street. When I read what it was about I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it. I'm not that far in and so the verdict is still out. I know this is a controversial subject, but I always want to read about and/or learn the perspective of others even if I don't change my mind on what I believe. 

I also have another audio that came through to listen to, but I don't know if I'll have time. It's by Alton Brown. 

I'm getting there with my 52 book challenge, though I'm not sure I'll get it finished. There are some categories I'm not sure of, and I don't like reading books that I just won't enjoy for the sake of a category. we'll see. 

This challenge is a fun one. I've already picked my book for the July read. Junes was "has an animal on the cover". May's was "takes you to a new destination".

Here's hoping I can do better at reviewing books right after I read them.  

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin