For the Love of Reading.....#WOYBS & Share Your 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

I also decided to link this with #shareyourshelf hosted by some great bloggers I follow, like Joanne. I'll link it on the week they post theirs, which I think is the first Thursday of each month. I missed their October link up as we were on vacation. I'll link this one to their next months post.

For the second month in a row I've struggled to find how to link the #WOYBS post to the link party...maybe I missed an announcement...can someone tell me? So I'm posting it to Natalies #Weekendcoffeeshare since I didn't have time to write my usual post as I'm working at our local pumpkin patch in October. 

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've probably already said it....I love my rating system, but I'm not always great at following it. I hate leaving low ratings...lol. 

What I read in September:

I finished up the Mountain Country K-9 Unit series ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I read 6 of them in September. I finished the last two on vacation. The series, part of the Love Inspired Suspense books all have different authors but follow the same K-9 unit, each book highlighting a different officer and "case". It was a great, easy read series, that did have me guessing at times. It is predictable because the "highlighted" officer always ends up falling in love with the person they are "protecting" etc...but not to the point that it's not an enjoyable read. It does amaze me how they can be written by different authors and yet flow so well between books. 

Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

This was my September choice for the Murder They Write Challenge, which was a book with leaves on the cover. I described this book last month. It was a great read and I'll read more in the series. She did a great job in the cozy mystery world. 

Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was the first book by the author that I've read by the author and it was more a book filled with stories from his life. The gist is putting love to action. He believes that "when Love does, life gets interesting. Each day turns into a hilarious, whimsical, meaningful chance that makes faith simple and real". I enjoyed it, but kind of wished there was more than just stories. I listened to the book and it was enjoyable and there were certainly some great takeaways. I would read more by him. 

The Answer is No by Fredrick Backman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In looking for books for the 52 book club, this one popped up and since I'd read a few others by Backman I decided to give it a try..plus it was short! It was a really good read! It had me laughing, nodding my head in agreement, and just overall enjoyed the book. So many good truths woven into the story. Lucas is a man who likes to be alone, people complicate things. He thinks the key to happiness is being by yourself doing things you love. However, living in an apartment complex, complicates that theory and things spin hilariously out of control. 

With Sugar on Round Top by Virginia K. Bennett ⭐⭐⭐

Again, why do I not immediately write my thoughts on a book as I'm reading it...I even have notebooks to do this! I need to create a new habit. I believe I read this for an Amazon Cozy Mystery Bookclub read...somehow I found this "club" but have only read this one book and I don't think I saw or looked for a discussion. I only gave it 3 stars so I must have found it lacking somehow. Kirstins 2026 resolution....get better at reviewing...haha! It follows librarian Rebecca Ramsey as she recreates her childhood favorite fall event, the Haunted Hike...only a murder occurs and she (who loves mysteries) feels the need to help her boyfriend (the chief) solve the mystery. I suppose according to my rating system, it wasn't terrible, but didn't have me regretting it ending. Who knows.

A Honeybee Heart has Five Openings: A Year of Keeping Bees by Helen Jukes ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have no desire to be a beekeeper but this book which I listened to on Audio was fascinating. It is a true story and I loved how it wove lessons for life throughout her experience with beekeeping. The author tries to adjust to a new job and home and realizes she needs to make some changes  if she wants her life to be meaningful. She receives a gift of a colony of bees and embarks on a journey of discovery. It was beautifully done. One of my friends who has bees and listened to it also really enjoyed it. 

What I'm currently reading:

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg

This has been good but it's taking me forever. I may try to get it on audio. Or I need to commit to reading so many pages a day. 

Shadows of Serenity: A Culinary Cozy Mystery Set in Thailand (A Harry  Sinclair Cozy Travel Myster #1) by Sabina O

This was for the Amazon bookclub. I've just started it. It follows travel blogger Harry Sinclair as he arrives at a yoga retreat. However, knowing it's a cozy mystery, we know someone is going to die and Harry (who is a female) embarks to find the truth. I haven't figured out where culinary comes to play in it yet since I've barely started (as in the first page).

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives #1) by Hisashi Kashiwai

This author has several other books that I've had on my TBR list and a few on here have read. This one sounded really good and since I love food and cooking I thought it would be great. I am listening to this on audio and enjoying it. It follows a father/daughter duo as they run a very special restaurant. Their detective work doesn't involve crime, but helping recreate recipes that held special memories for clients that they struggle to remember (the recipes and sometimes the memories)..they hunt for the lost recipes to recreate for their clients. 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

This book is for my passalong book club. I will probably need to check it out from the library as I need to get it sent off next week to the next person. I was gone the first week and a half on vacation so got a late start. A well off family who owns a summer camp, two children gone missing, years apart (brother and sister of the family) and stories and secrets unravel. I am not far into this but it's pretty good. There are a lot of characters to sort out. I'm curious as to what will happen. 

Reading Challenges: I'm doing decent on the 52 book challenge but I'm still not sure I'll get it finished. Like I said, I'm probably not going to read a book that I don't like just for a prompt...and sometimes finding a book to read can be tricky. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin