Readers, Welcome to my blog (formerly Birds, Blooms, Books, etc). I'm entering a new decade taking on the challenge of moving from Maryland after living there 46 years and learning about my new home here in New England in the Live Free or Die state - New Hampshire. Join me as a write this new chapter of my life.

Monday, January 9, 2023

Here's my list of books I read in the last year.  The total is not as high as usual and I'm not sure why.  Maybe I was more discerning? Maybe I was busy blogging? Maybe?  Well, just don't know why.


I hadn't added to this list in my sidebar since book #51 which was several months ago.  Of the most recent additions I highly recommend #68 and #60 by Jenny Ashcroft.  A great historical fiction writer. Meet Me in Bombay was one I kept thinking about after I read it and wondering "what if ?" .  It's set during WWI and after.

#67 is a classic.  I had to wait a bit to get this one after reading Moonstone #6 also by Wilkie Collins.  He was a great mystery writer of the 1800s. I had read both so so many years ago that I remembered very little of either one.  Well worth reading.

I read a lot of mysteries and recently discovered Kathy Reichs #65, Ruth Rendell #63, and CJ Box #50 & 56.  They write very graphically and I find I can't read too many of them at a time.  Louise Penny though is always good and one she wrote with Hillary Clinton #51 was very current to the times.

Other good reads: #58 and #54.  

Scroll down to the bottom to see what's in my stack to read next.

68. Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft

67. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

66. Travels With George - In Search of Washington and His  Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick

65. Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs

64. Letter from a Stranger by Barbara Taylor Bradford

63. Murder Being Once Done by Ruth Rendell

62. The Vacationers by Emma Straub

61. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

60. Under the Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft

59. A Game of Fear by Charles Todd

58. West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

57. Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

56. Savage Run  by C.J. Box

55. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

54. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

53. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

52. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

51. State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny

50. Open Season by C.J. Box

49. Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

48. Fox Creek by William Kent Krueger

47. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

46. The Various Flavors of Coffee by Anthony Capella

45. The Lost Summers of Newport by B. Williams, L. Willig, And K. White

44. The Orphans of Mersea House by Marty Wingate

43. The All of It by Jeannette Haien

42. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk

41. Run by Ann Patchett

40. All of the Ways She Said Goodbye by B. Williams, L. Willig, And K. White

39. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

38. Provenance - How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo

37. Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden

36. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

35. Old Wounds by Vicki Lane

34. Lincoln Highway by Amor Towls

33. Art's Blood by Vicki Lane

32. Signs in the Blood by Vicki Lane

31. Trials of the Earth. The True Story of a Pioneer Woman by Mary Mann Hamilton

30. River of Gods - Genius, Courage, & Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard

29. The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

28 The Farfarers by Farley Mowat

27. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

26. Welfare Brat by Mary Childers

25. Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tingui Zhang

24. The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny

23. Death in the Air by Agatha Christie

22. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

21. Where You Once  Belonged by Kent Hurf

20. The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali

19. The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

18. A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear

17. The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen

16. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie

15. French Braid by Anne Tyler

14. Rules of Civility by Amor Towels

13. The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith

12. Spider's Web by Agatha Christie

11. The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan

10. The Rose & the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott aka Agatha Christie

9. The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa

8. Come, Let Me Tell How You Live by Agatha Christie

7. Miss Marple: The complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie

6. Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

5. Crooked House by Agatha Christie.

4. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

3. Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict

2. The Boys: A Memoir  of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard and Clint Howard

1. The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin


The one on the bottom I finished Saturday.  It's a reread for me from 2019 but didn't remember enough without rereading for book discussion coming up on the 17th. It's the second book I've read in 2023 with A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny being the first.

I purchased Michelle Obama's latest with birthday money and the other two I found at the library last week.

4 comments:

Tom said...

..I hope that you will have another busy year.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

You read a LOT this past year! I see some books I need to put on my reading list. I loved The Book woman's Daughter. Did you read the first book in this series? I read mostly mysteries but I do like to mix it up some. Enjoy your week. AND....I love your new banner! What a pretty lady you are!

Barbara Rogers said...

Oh boy, I love seeing other people's lists, and I never make one myself...maybe I'm just not organized enough! I then ask the library which ones you've mentioned that they might have, and often wait a while to get them. But I feel very rich these days, having purchased the last few hardbacks of Louise Penny's. I can now lend them to friends! Have you seen the "Three Pines" TV series that started on Prime?

Anvilcloud said...

You read a lot. I just did the Penny/Clinton collaboration, State or Terror. Not normally my thing, but it was a fun romp. I liked the connection to Three Pines and Gamache.