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Category: 2019 Reads

The Chestnut Man Ends My 2019 Reading Year.

So I ended 2019 having read 53 books. That’s 19 books from my unrealistic goal of 72 books. I only read three books in December. The first  bookI read was Brad Thor’s Use of Force. That was followed by Torpedo Juice from Tim Dorsey. The last was The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup.

I have read  books by both Thor and Dorsey previously, more from Thor than Dorsey. In the early 2000s I read the first 7 books in Thor’s Scot Harvath series. Use of Force is book 17 in the series that now consists of 19 books. read more

Torpedo Juice from Tim Dorsey is one Wild Rumpus!

Torpedo Juice (Serge A. Storms #7) 

Tonight, I finished Torpedo Juice by Tim Dorsey it is the fifty-second (52) book I have read in 2019. And while I will finish well below the goal of 72 books read I set at the beginning of the year, I will have at the least read one book a week for 2019. Which I think is always a great accomplishment.

Book 52 was Torpedo Juice book seven (7) in the Serge Storms series from Tim Dorsey. I reality wasn’t planning to read Torpedo Juice  at this time. In fact, I am in the process of reading three other books. Two of the books are mysteries The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup and Only to Sleep from Lawrence Osborne.  The third is a thriller Games of Snipers from Stephen Hunter. However, the other night I decided with all this impeachment stuff and the abhorrent behavior of Trump, I needed to laugh more! I felt all this murder and mayhem was adding to my unhappiness. read more

November Reads – Part One – Providence Rag

After reading five books in October I only read three books in December. Reading fewer books over the last three months of the year has typical for most years since I began keeping track of what I read in the late 1980s.

I think it’s a result of all four sports being played during those months. So I’m watching more sports instead of reading. Over the last few weeks my wife and I have been babysitting our grandchildren Zoe and Logan more often. Consequently, that cuts down on the free time I have to read. Anyway, the three books that I did manage to finish this month, brought the total number of books I’ve read this year to 50! While that total is way below the number I challenged myself to read, I think it’s still a respectable total. read more

Desperate Creed Another Winner from Alex Kava

Desperate Creed  ( Book #5 Ryder Creed) by Alex Kava

So today in addition to running this morning, I also finished the 40th book I’ve read this year. The book was Desperate Creed by Alex Kava. Desperate Creed is the fifth book in Kava’s Ryder Creed series.

I became a fan of Alex Kava’s books after reading her debut novel  A Perfect Evil in June of 2003. By September of 2003 I had read the first of Alex Kava’s book. All of those  books featured FBI agent Maggie O’Dell. Since then I have read all but one of the twelve books that are included in the Maggie O’Dell series. read more

A Beautiful Corpse – Christi Daugherty

A Beautiful Corpse – Christi Daugherty (Book #2 – Harper McClain)

A Beautiful Corpse is the second book in Christi Daugherty’s series featuring newspaper crime reporter Harper McClain. I read the first book in the series The Echo Killing earlier this year. Both were really, really good. In both books the murders that form the core of the book have a connection to Harper. In The Echo Killing the murder eerily resembles her mother’s unsolved murder. While in A Beautiful Corpse the victim Naomi Scott a law student tends bar in an establishment that Harper frequents and where her best friend works. read more

The Disappearing – Lori Roy – Edgar Worthy!

The Disappearing – Lori Roy

Lori Roy’s first novel Bent Road was published in 2011. In 2012 it won an Edgar Award for best first novel. Lori’s third book Let Me Die in His Footsteps was published in 2015. It won an Edgar for Best Novel in 2016. That win made Lori thee first woman to win An Edgar Allen Poe Award for both  Best First Novel and Best Novel. She’s only the third person to do it overall!

Her latest release The Disappearing was released last year to rave reviews. After finishing the book the other day I’m ready to join that group who have  raved about the book. While it’s not the type of book I usually read I truly enjoyed the book. read more

Eighteen Below – Stefan Ahnhem – A Cut Above!

Well I didn’t do badly in writing in January,  it over the last week I have been slipping behind. Here’s a short post to try to catch up a little.

Eighteen Below – Stefan Ahnhem (Fabian Risk #3)

Yesterday, I finished my second read for February. It was Eighteen Below by Stefan Ahnhem. It is the third book in the Fabian Risk series. I read books one and two Victim without a Face and The Ninth Grave In 2018. The series has quickly become one of my favorites.

In this install Fabian a member of the Helsingborg crime squad……..

A Pause for some Geography – Where is Helsingborg?

Time out. It, time to learn a little geography’ read more

Six Great Books Start 2019 with a Bang!!

Here are the book I read in January of 2019. They certainly have gotten my reading year off to a great start!

  1. 1. She Rides Shotgun – Jordan Harper

The she that is riding shotgun is young Polly McCluskey .And she’s riding shotgun with her father Nate McCluskey. Nate is just getting out of prison when he runs afoul of the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. The leader put out a green light on his murder . That puts everyone he cares for including his ex-wife and daughter Polly in danger.

Soon Nate and Polly are riding for their lives and freedom. This is a great book with great characters. It’s one of those books that works on multiple levels to teach us about love, life and family. So Check It Out! Here’s a great review read more

Van Jones’ Beyond the Messy Truth Kick Starts My 2019 Reading!

Van Jones’ Beyond the Messy Truth – How We Came Apart-How We Come Together Kicks Starts 2019

So last year I reached what I thought was an unreachable Reading Challenge goal of reading 65 books. At some point in the next week or two I will recap what I read and how those books fit into my various sub-Reading Challenges! Additionally, I will be creating and writing about my 2019 Reading Challenges.

However, let’s get started by writing about what I have already read in 2019. As well as,  the books that I plan to read in January.

Beyond the Messy Truth – How we Came Apart – How We Come Together

First the first book I finished, actually on the first day of January, was Van Jones’ Beyond the Messy Truth – How we Came Apart – How We Come Together read more