For the Love of Reading: #WOYBS and #shareyourshelf

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 You can link up on the third Thursday of the month.

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 is the first Thursday of each month. 

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.

Happy 2026! I had a great reading year for 2025 reading more books than I have in a long time. I can't believe I never thought of audiobooks, but have grown to love them. 

Challenges I'm participating in again:

Goodreads challenge...Last year I read 104 books. This year I set a goal of 115. That might be a stretch, but we'll see. I'm okay if I don't hit it, but I'm planning on working towards it. See below the books I read. I tried to put photos in a collage but it kept cutting off some of the books. 

52 book challenge....This was fun and I'm going to do it again. Some of the prompts seem tricky, but I'll do what I can. 

The MTW challenge through the Murder They Write FB group I'm in. If they do this again I'll participate but I haven't seen anything.

New Challenges I'm going to try:

You know the Spiel.....I follow Rosalie Spielman cozy mystery author and she has a fun monthly challenge. 

Book Frolic Cozy Mystery Challenge....Read a book where an authors last name begins with a letter in the alphabet. Not sure I'll complete this one. 

I will also participate in my in person book club and I decided to re-join the pass along book club I was a part of. I almost decided not to, but it was fun, so I'll at least do it for this year. 

Another goal I have for next year is to do a better job documenting my reading and reviewing the books I read. I have a few reading journals that I haven't used. I also want to utilize my blog IG page (which I never use) for doing book reviews, bookish thoughts, quick videos with recipes from the book....we'll see how it goes. I've discovered I'm my own worst critic and haven't been liking how I sound or look when I'm talking on video...I may push through or just come up with some other creative way to share lol. 

Let's get on to the final month of 2025

What I read in December: I finished the year strong despite being so busy with work and preparing for the holidays. 

Just like Beverly: A Biography of Beverly Cleary by Vicki Conrad ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was such a fun book. I needed something for one of the prompts for the 52 book challenge and this was on the list, and I used to love her. The story is geared towards kids (my grandkids really liked this book). It was so interesting to learn about a young Beverly. 

Christmas, Cabernet & Chaos by Wendy Day  ⭐⭐⭐

I think if I could I'd give this a 3 1/2. I was cute and the characters were likable. I love when the characters are my age and these two were. Sally and her friend and roommate Pearl head to a small town known for it's Christmas spirit for the holidays. No one dies, but one of the residents is just positive someone is trying to kill her, so these two spunky gals decide to solve the mystery. I think I'll read a few others (this was the second in the series, though it said enough about the first that I could follow along). Maybe if I read another, I'll up my rating.

Maame by Jessica George ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I read this for my pass along book club. I have seen it circulating through various groups I follow, but hadn't picked it up. I ended up listening to it on audio book and I enjoyed it. The accents really make it come to life. It contained some F bombs and a couple intimate scenes/inuendos. I might have given a 5 but felt the ending was too abrupt even though I feel like it did tie up neatly.

Yule Regret It (Northwoods Mystery #4) by Annie McEwen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book number 4 in the series, and it came out on my birthday! This is a fun cozy series that follows Emmy Cooper as she once again finds herself finding a dead body. 

Holidays and Homicides: short story collection  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I grabbed this because a couple of my favorite cozy mystery authors had short stories in it and I thought it would be good to "try out" a few authors I hadn't heard of. Most of the stories were great. A few fell short, but it is a fun anthology of Holiday shorts. 

Christmas Corpse (A Christmas Cozy Mystery, #1) by Mona Marple⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a cute read. I won't say much because it was fun to have the aha moment. It was cute, kind of cheesy, but a fun read. It left me wanting to read the next in the series to see what happens. 

Christmas at Copper Mountain (Taming of the Sheenans #1, Copper Mountain Christmas #4) by Jane Porter ⭐⭐⭐

This had it's really good parts, but there were just a few things that made it fall short for me. Harley takes a temporary job as a housekeeper and cook at a ranch after the loss of her family in a plane crash. Trying to escape and clear her head, she enjoys what she does but is also finding herself attracted to her boss, I won't spoil anything I'll just say, I probably wouldn't read others in the series. 

What I'm Currently Reading:

Mother Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

I've chosen this as my January read for the pass along book club. I've had it on my bookshelf for awhile after picking it up either at a Little Free Library or at my local library book sale. I don't remember. I'm not too far into it. It features a high powered business woman who is hit with a medical issue that lands here staying with her daughter and granddaughter in the "less than desireable home, and town" at least in her opinion. She finds herself working to solve a crime after her granddaughter becomes the main suspect. So far it's intriguing, sometimes funny and easy to read. 

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes 

I am listening to this on audio and I'm enjoying it. Not quite as much as the two historical books I listened to last year that were taking place during Hitlers time and revolved around bookstores. This one is seeming more political. We'll see how it rates when I'm done. It follows 3 different women in 3 different timelines which can get confusing. I should write them all down. Each woman has various friends or companions and sometimes they seem to have intersected at one point or another. Not as easy to follow as others I've read or listened to. It is inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime and the desire to use books as "weapons in the war of ideas". 

Living in Bliss by Sara Isabelle

I won this in a giveaway last year and decided to finally read it. It's a fun, cozy read with a slight touch of paranormal (Lyssa hears the voice of her recently deceased father like he was sitting right with her). Lyssa returns to Bliss, Iowa after the death of her father. She is trying to navigate her new life after quitting a job she doesn't love and a recent divorce. It's a cozy, there will be murder, but it hasn't happened yet. 

I'm also almost done with The Book of Joy, that I feel like I've been reading forever (I have). 

Here's to an amazing 2026 of reading.

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin