Reading Challenges 2017

Total books for the year
Read at least 100 books in 2017

2017 - 346/100 completed

2016 - 136/100 completed

2015 - 276/100 completed

2014 - 206/100 completed

2013 - 134/100 completed

2012 - 104/100 completed

2011 - 156/100 completed

*****

2017 Around the World 13/13 DONE

Read at least one book set in each location

US/Canada: 

U.S. - Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich ****

Central America/Caribbean: 
Haiti - The Admiral's Mark by Steve Berry ****

South America: 
Chile - Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende *****

British Isles/Ireland:
England - The Lake House by Kate Morton *****

Polar Regions/Scandinavia: 
Norway - The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder ****

Western Europe:
France - By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coehlo ****

Eastern Europe: 
Russia - The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden *****

Middle East/North Africa:
Tunisia - The African Quest by Lyn Hamilton ***

Sub-Saharan Africa:
Botswana - The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith ***

East Asia:
Japan - Shiju by Laura Joh Rowland *****

South Asia:
Philippines - When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe *****

Australia/Oceania:
Australia - Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood *****

Islands/Bodies of Water:
Guernsey -- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer ****

*****

2017 Non-fiction 11/12

Read at least 12 non-fiction books

1. The Little Book of Pocket Spells by Akasha Moon ***

2. Guide to the Everyday Witch Tarot by Deborah Blake *****

3. The Ultimate Guide to Tarot by Liz Dean *****

4. Tarot Journeys by Yasmine Galenorn *****

5. Witchcraft on a Shoestring by Deborah Blake *****

6. Words that Changed a Nation by Barack Obama *****

7. Famous Imposters by Bram Stoker **

8. Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven *****

9. Writing Mysteries by Sue Grafton *****

10. Writing the Paranormal Novel by Steven Harper *****

11. A Year and A Day of Everyday Witchcraft by Deborah Blake ****

12.

Everyday Witch A to Z by Deborah Blake

Everyday Witch Book of Ritual by Deborah Blake

Circle, Coven & Grove by Deborah Blake

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Writing About Magic by Rayne Hall

*****

2017 Genres 12/12 DONE

Read at least one book in each genre

Mystery/Thriller/Crime - The Lake House by Kate Morton *****

Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy - Bewitching Bedlam by Yasmine Galenorn *****

Paranormal - Ghostly Paws by Leighann Hobbs ****

Sci-Fi/High Fantasy - Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance ***

Women’s Fiction - The Secrets of Ghosts by Sarah Painter ***

Historical Fiction - The House at Riverton by Kate Morton ****

Erotic - Pleasure by Lucia Jordan **

Humor - Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich ****

Romance - Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende *****

Non-Fiction - Guide to the Everyday Witch Tarot by Deborah Blake *****

Memoir - Mishap and Mayhem by Bernhard Riegler **

Classics - 1984 by George Orwell *****

*****

Books Read - November 2016

(none)

Books Read - October 2016

Abbott, Victoria

The Hammett Hex ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Book Collector cozy mystery series.  Jordan and Tyler are off on a vacation in San Francisco.  Unbeknownst to Jordan, Tyler has a mission in mind.  He is reconnecting with his long lost grandmother.  While riding on a cable car, someone pushes Jordan out, into the swarm of traffic.

Adams, Ellery

Breach of Crust ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Charmed Pie Shoppe paranormal cozy mysteries.  Ella Mae has lost her magickal powers, but she is still a wonderful pie chef.  She is hired to spend a weekend teaching members of the prestigious Camellia Club how to make pies at the Havenwood Resort, but when members begin dying, she suspects magickal elements are the issue.

Murder in the Paperback Parlor ****

Fiction.  Second in the Storyton Hall cozy mystery series.  Jane is preparing for a week-long event at the Hall.  Romancing the Readers will feature romance writers and events related to romance.  When the most famous of the features authors is found dead. Jane and the Fins seek to help the police solve the murder.

Arlington, Lucy

- Off the Books ***

Fiction.  Fifth in the Inspiration Valley cozy mystery series.  Lila is a literary agent working for a publishing company set in a beautiful valley in the North Carolina mountains.  The entire town has a literary theme and stages many events during the year.  This event is set on brides and weddings, and one of Lila’s new authors will be speaking at her first presentation at the art center.  When notified that the refrigeration in the kitchen has gone off, Lila rushes to check on the situation and finds the handyman face down in a wedding cake.

Charles, Ann

The Rowdy Coyote Rumble ****

Fiction.  Fourth book in the humorous cozy mystery series of Jackrabbit Junction.  The girls are still in danger from a mystery person seeking the diamonds that Ronnie and Claire found a month ago.  Kate is suffering from the crazies of being pregnant with Butch’s baby.  Mac and Claire investigate the Humdigger mine that recently came into ownership by Ruby.

The Wild Turkey Tango ****

Fiction.  A novella in the Jackrabbit Junction cozy series.  The gang is getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner, but when the girls attempt to set a live turkey free, they run into all kinds of trouble.

Dams, Jeanne M.

Blood Will Tell ****

Fiction.  17th book in the Dorothy Martin mystery series.  Dorothy’s husband is giving a talk at Cambridge, and Dorothy accompanies him for the week.  While wandering around the campus, she mistakenly enters a zoology lab and spies a large pool of blood on the floor.  She looks up just in time to see the tail end of a lab coat disappearing around the corner, but suddenly afraid, she retreats and runs to find her husband.

Galenorn, Yasmine

Flight from Mayhem *****

Fiction.  Second in the Fly By Night urban fantasy series.  Shimmer, the blue dragon, works for Alex, a vampire who also happens to be her lover.  A serial killer is roaming Seattle killing off Fae and stealing their money.  Chase Johnson, head of the FH-CSI, asks Alex to investigate the killings and to help stop the killer.  Tonya, Shimmer’s witch friend from Port Townsend, flees a stalker and moves in with Shimmer until the stalker can be stopped.

Shadow Silence *****

Fiction.  Second in the Whisper Hollow urban fantasy series.  Kerris Fellwater, the town’s spirit shaman, must save her town from evil influences.  The Hounds are causing problems, and Veronica, Queen of the Unliving, requires her presence at a meeting.  Peggin, Kerris’ best friend is being kicked out of her rental home and decides to move into a rundown Victorian on the shore of the lake, which is much too close to the Lady’s domain to suit Kerris.

Jones, Sarah Marie

Grace-Ella: Spells for Beginners ****

Fiction.  Grace-Ella is nine years old and has just found out she’s a witch.  While she’s never been great in school, she takes naturally to her spellwork with the assistance of Mr. Whiskins, the black cat who came to stay with her.  She takes on the school bully by using a bit of magick and has the time of her life at the school Halloween party.

Rajchel, Diana

Samhain ****

Non-fiction.  Lore, rituals, crafts, and recipes of Samhain.

Shelton, Paige

The Cracked Spine ****

Fiction.  First in the Scottish Bookshop cozy mystery series set in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Delaney has been laid off from her museum job in Wichita and answers an online ad for a job in Scotland.  She’s never been out of Kansas before but is ready for an adventure.  An adventure, she’s found, as the sister of her new boss is murdered during Delaney’s first week there.  As she gets to know her co-workers, the city of Edinburg, a handsome pub owner wearing a kilt, Delaney sets out to answer questions in the murder.

Silver, Samantha

The Purr-fect Crime *

Fiction.  First in a paranormal cozy mystery series set in a small town on the Oregon coast.  A witch veterinarian who can speak with animals lives with her sister and her best friend.  Early one morning as she arrives at work, she notices the door is ajar.  Walking into her exam room, she finds a body on the floor, and the women decide to solve the mystery.

Wiseman, D.J.

A Habit of Dying ****

Fiction.  Lydia buys a box at an auction sale containing  several photo albums, a ledger, and a few other items.  She’s bought them to solve the mystery of whose family owned the albums in the hope that she can reunite them with a family member.  She slowly weaves a tapestry of the family and realizes that there is another mystery attached to the ledger that needs to be solved.

Books Read - September 2016

Beaton, M.C.

Busy Body ****

Fiction.  21st book in the Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series.  The village should be putting up Christmas lights and decorations, but a new healthy and safety man has announced he will be fining anyone doing any decorating.  Agatha attends a meeting in nearby Odley Creusis, where the villagers gather to discuss how to rid themselves of this new man, John Sunday.  As the discussion takes place, a noise is heard outside, and to the villagers’ surprise, the bloody body of John Sunday appears in the window.  Somebody has killed him.

A Spoonful of Poison ****

Fiction.  Book 19 in the Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series.  Agatha’s detective agency is quite busy, but when Mrs. Bloxby introduces Agatha to the vicar of a neighboring village who wants to hire her to help organize the local fête, Agatha is happy to do so...after she sees the handsome man also helping the vicar.  When two women at the fête die after ingesting LSD-laced jam, Agatha must use her detective skills to discover who put the LSD in the jam.

There Goes the Bride ****

Fiction.  Book 20 in the Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series.  Agatha’s ex-husband, James Lacey, is getting remarried, and Agatha is invited to the wedding.  But when the time came for the bride to walk down the aisle, she didn’t.  The bride was later found shot to  death in her bedroom, and James is one of the suspects.

Blackwell, Juliet

Letters from Paris *****

Fiction.  Claire’s grandmother is ill, and though Claire is devastated, the timing seems fortuitous.  She packs up and leaves Chicago to head down to Louisiana’s bayou country to take care of her grandmother in her last days.  In the attic, she finds a long lost broken mask of a mysterious beautiful woman and remembers that when she was young, she would tell the mask her greatest secrets as if the woman were alive.  Before her grandmother passes, she urges Claire to fly to Paris and solve the mystery of the mask woman’s identity...and Claire’s journey is just beginning.

Fluke, Joanna

The Wedding Cake Murder ***

Fiction.  23rd book in the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series.  Hannah is looking forward to her wedding and also to participating in a television dessert cooking show.  The head judge is harsh to most of the contestants, but when he’s found dead, Hannah feels it necessary to try to solve his murder.

Funke, Cornelia

Inkdeath *****

Fiction.  Final book in the Inkworld trilogy.  The children of Ombra are hidden by the robbers for fear that the Adderhead will enslave them all in the mines.  Meggie and her mother go with them, but the Bluejay, Mo, must surrender in order to keep them all safe.

Inkheart ****

Fiction.  First in the Inkworld trilogy.  Meggie’s father has a special gift.  He can sometimes read characters out of books.  Unfortunately, he cannot pick and choose which characters will emerge, or who in his life will disappear into a book.  When evil characters from a book called Inkheart enter our world, his wife disappears into its pages.  Ever since then, he has refused to read aloud from a book, and he and Meggie have moved from home to home to flee an evil man named Capricorn who came out of Inkheart.

Inkspell *****

Fiction.  Second in the Inkworld trilogy.  Meggie, her father, and her mother, are reunited at Elinor’s house.  But evil follows them there, when Basta and Mortola force their way into the manor and demand that Mo read them back into Inkworld.  Another reader, Orpheus, appears, who also can read people into and out of stories, but he has no conscience about his actions.  Farid begs Meggie to read him into Inkworld to find Dustfinger, but Meggie ends up sending  more than one person into the story when she reads the words.

Giltenan, Ceci

The Pocket Watch ****

Fiction.  Maggie Mitchell is suffering from heartbreak, when a strange woman approaches her at a park and offers to let Maggie swap souls with someone from a different place and time.  Maggie believes the woman to be mentally disturbed, but agrees to follow her instructions.  Surprisingly, Maggie wakes to find herself clinging to the back of a galloping horse headed directly for a cliff’s edge.

Rajchel, Diana

Mabon ****

Non-fiction.  Lore, celebration, crafts, recipes, spells, and rituals of Mabon.

Rowling, J.K.

Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide ***

Fiction.  Trivia guide to Hogwarts.

Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies *****

Fction.  Stories of beloved characters of the HP world.

Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Political and Pesky Poltergeists ****

Fiction.  Stories of not-so-beloved characters of the HP world.

Books Read - August 2016

Allende, Isabel

• The Japanese Lover *****

Fiction.  Irina has traveled from another country and works at Lark House, an eldercare facility.  One of her charges is Alma Belasco, another refugee from a foreign country.  Both women have secrets from their pasts that drive their current lives, and it’s only at the end when their secrets comes to light that they can move forward.

Arthur, Keri

• Kissing Sin ***

Fiction.  Second in the Riley Jensen UF series set in Australia.  Riley escapes from a genetic research facility and is determined to bring down the person responsible for her capture.

Carriger, Gail

• The Curious Case of the Werewolf That Wasn’t, the Mummy That Was, and the Cat in a Jar ****

Fiction.  Prequel to the Parasol Protectorate paranormal series.  Preternatural Alessandro Tarabotti is in Egypt to have his aunt’s deceased cat mummified, but his work accompanies him, and soon danger comes calling.

• Soulless *****

Fiction.  First book in the Parasol Protectorate paranormal series.  Alexia Tarabotti is a 26-year-old spinster in the 1850’s London.  She’s resigned herself to the fact that she might never marry, not only because of her age, but also her appearance, and the fact that her tongue has a mind of its own, which causes her many problems.  Werewolves and vampires are accepted members of society, except by a small group of scientists determined to study them to extermination.  Alexia finds herself falling for the Alpha werewolf, Lord Maccon, and in an unbelievable turnabout, she learns that he is falling for her.

Charles, Ann

• A Wild Fright in Deadwood *****

Fiction.  Seventh in the Deadwood mystery series.  Violet must face off again with Caly, who is determined to take Violet with her into the otherworld, but she has to wait in line behind Wilda, who is using Cornelius to lure  Violet into her clutches.  Meanwhile, Violet is struggling with saying those three little words to Doc.  Not because she doesn’t feel them, but because she is afraid of his reaction.

• Cold Flame ****

Fiction.  Third of the Deadwood Shorts stories.  Aunt Zoe finally tells Violet about her love affair with Reid.

Jackson, Shirley

• The Lottery and Other Stories *****

Fiction.  Collection of short stories about the calamities of life and the human condition.

Kavanagh, Brian

• The Embroidered Corpse **

Fiction.  First in a mystery series set in England.  A piece of the Bayeaux tapestry has been found and unlocks the location to a treasure people are willing to kill for.

Marquis, Melanie

• Lughnasadh *****

Non-fiction.  History, lore, crafts, spells, and rituals of the first harvest festival in the Pagan year.

Nahai, Gina

• Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith *****

Fiction.  The multi-generational tale of a family of women that begins in Tehran and ends in Los Angeles.  A tale of loss, magic, and redemption.

Perona, Elizabeth

• Murder on the Bucket List *

Fiction.  Five senior women stumble across a dead body as they try to knock an item off their bucket list.  One of their husbands is suspected of murder, but the women try their best to find another suspect.

Rowling, J.K.

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ****

Fiction.  Compendium of the magical creatures of the Harry Potter world.

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets *****

Fiction.  Second in the Harry Potter series.  Harry has been locked in his room at the Dursley’s, when Ron, Fred, and George rescue him and Hedwig using an illegal flying car belonging to Mr. Weasley.  Breaking one school law after another, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set forth to find out who is scribbling eerie messages on the castle walls at Hogwarts, and who is responsible for harming the students there.  Harry finds an old diary that has no writing in it, but the answer to the mysteries lie within its pages.

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows *****

Fiction.  Seventh in the Harry Potter series.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione have left Hogwarts to trace down and destroy the Horcruxes.  But Voldemort has been gaining power, and his army of Death Eaters has taken over the Ministry, and they are rounding up and punishing all the mudbloods and blood traitors they can find.  The final battle between Harry and Voldemort takes places on the grounds of Hogwarts, but Harry has a secret weapon that even he doesn’t know about.

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Harry Potter series.  Hogwarts is full  of excitement this year.  The Triwizard Tournament will be held for the first time in many years.  Three schools will be entering a champion to perform three tasks in the hope of winning the contest and bringing honor and prestige to the winning school.  The Goblet of Fire has chosen a champion from each school, when it suddenly spits out another name, and though underage, Harry Potter must face the challenge.

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince *****

Fiction.  Sixth in the Harry Potter series.  Harry is using a used copy of an Advanced Potions book and finds that someone who owned it before him has scribbled notes all through the book.  In potions class, Harry decides to follow some of the instructions left by the scribbler instead of following directions listed in the book, and suddenly he is excelling in the class.  In addition to the mixing directions, the book includes many handwritten spells, and Harry begins to try them out, only finding out too late that one is very deadly.

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban *****

Fiction.  Third in the Harry Potter series.  Dementors are called on to protect Hogwarts while the search goes on for Sirius Black, and Harry is having trouble dealing with them.  Hagrid must mount a defense for Buckbeak, a hippogriff who attacked Draco Malfoy.  Harry’s godfather is revealed.

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Harry Potter series.  Harry is in his fifth year at Hogwarts and is spending the year getting ready to take his O.W.L.s at the end of the school year.  The pressure is on, and the teachers are assigning much homework.  Harry’s scar has been hurting more and more, and Dumbledore tells Harry that Professor Snape will be training him in Occulmency to help protect Harry from Voldemort.  In addition, Harry and his friends have begun a new club at school, Defense Against the Dark Arts, in response to a new Head Inquisitor established by the Ministry of Magic.

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone *****

Fiction.  1st in the Harry Potter series.  Harry has been living with his aunt and uncle’s family for eleven years, and those have not been easy years for him.  When he receives a letter in the mail, he’s shocked to find out he is a wizard and has been admitted to the greatest wizarding school in Britain.  

• The Tales of Beedle the Bard ****

Fiction.  Children’s tales of the magical sort.

Smith, Alexander McCall

• Morality for Beautiful Girls ****

Fiction.  Third in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency cozy mystery series.  Mma Ramotse is engaged, but her fiancé is suffering from depression and has quit dealing with his autobody business, so Mma Ramotse  and her assistant at the detective agency take over running both businesses.

Spark, Muriel

• Not to Disturb *

Fiction.  Domestic help plan the deaths of their employers while marrying the upstairs maid to the lunatic son of the house locked in the attic.

Books Read - July 2016

Allende, Isabel

• Ripper *****

Fiction.  Amanda Martín is the gamesmaster of an online sleuthing club known as Ripper.  The members of the group use their sleuthing skills to solve murders.  Their current case is a group of murders taking place in San Francisco, where Amanda lives with her mother and grandfather.  Ripper must use all of their resources when the danger becomes all too real and all too close for comfort.

Blackwell, Juliet

• A Toxic Trousseau *****

Fiction.  Eighth in the Witchcraft Mystery paranormal cozy series.  Oscar has gotten into trouble, and Lily has been served with a summons.  When she visits the woman who is suing her, she finds her dead and a cursed trousseau nearby.

Blake, Deborah

• The Witch’s Broom *****

Non-fiction.  Lore, rituals, crafting ideas on making and using a witch’s broom.

Carr-Gorm, Phillip

• DruidCraft ****

Non-fiction.  The blending of Wicca and Druidry creates an interesting spiritual/magickal path.

Dolan, John

• Everyone Burns ****

Fiction.  First in the Time, Blood, and Karma mystery series. David Braddock has hidden secrets of his own, as he plies his trade of private detective/psychologist on the Thai island of Samui.  Asked by the police chief to assist in investigating two murders, he finds that several of his cases are tied into that case, and he walks a narrow line as his personal and professional lives come together.

Gaiman, Neil

• The American Gods ****

Fiction.  Shadow is released from jail to find that his wife has been killed in an auto accident.  At loose ends, he accepts a job  with a mysterious Mr. Wednesday, which leads him on a fantastical journey that ends in a battle between the old gods and the new.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Fury Rising *****

Fiction.  First in the Fury Unbound post-apocalyptic series set in Seattle.  Fury, a minor goddess attached to Hecate, is charged with finding  the Thunderstrike, a powerful weapon that can be used to wreak weather magic across the land.  Along with her two friends, Jason and Tam, Fury goes underground in order to locate the instrument.

Herr, Michael A.

• The Old Queen’s Murder ****

Fiction.  Second in the Kohala Coast mystery series.  A serial killer is on the loose, and he’s come  to the Queen’s Beach and Resort to stalk his next victim.  On a visit to the Pono Family Hale for the luau, he finds the perfect person.

• The Old Queen’s Treasure ****

Fiction.  Third in the Kohala Coast mystery series.  An archaeological team comes to the Big Island to recover some ancient bones found in a construction site, but greed takes place when an earthquake opens a lava tubes and the treasures that have ben hidden for hundreds of years.

Hilderbrand, Elin

• The Island ****

Fiction.  Women’s fiction about four women who spend a month on Tuckernuck Island to recuperate from the chaos of their lives.

LaManna, Gina

• Hex on the Beach ****

Fiction.  First in the Magic & Mixology paranormal cozy mystery series set on The Isle, which is located in Lake Superior.  Lily is preparing for the biggest presentation of her career, when everything begins to go wrong.  After losing her job, she stops off at the local bar to soothe her woes, when two very strange women appear claiming to be her aunts.  Against her better judgment, she accompanies them on a trip that will change her life.

• Witchy Sour *****

Fiction.  Second in the Magic & Mixology paranormal cozy mystery series.  Lily’s magickal grimoire, the Manual of Mixology, has been stolen from her shop without setting off any of the numerous alarms and spells cast on the safe.  Poppy is in dire need of her Vamp’s Vitamins, but the one ingredient Lily hasn’t been able to find is located deep in The Forest, forcing her to head out alone into the dangerous quadrant of The Isle.

Myers, Tim

• Reservations for Murder *

Fiction.  Second in the Lighthouse Inn series.  Alex owns the inn and has agreed to let Shantara host her craft fair on the grounds.  His maid, Elise, leaves for a family emergency, leaving Alex to take care of all the chores.  On the first day of the  fair, one of the blacksmiths is murdered, and Alex decides to do some sleuthing on his own to find the murderer.

Ness, Patrick

• A Monster Calls ****

Fiction.  Poignant tale of a boy whose mother is ill with cancer, and how a monster helps him deal with it.

Rowling, J.K.

• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ***

Fiction.  The script of the play production.  Harry and his friends are grown and have children of their own.  Albus Severus Potter is having a rough time at Hogwarts.  He doesn’t seem to be good at anything, and he’s been sorted into the Slytherin house.  There he meets the son of Draco Malfoy, Scorpius, who has troubles of his own.  Everyone believes him to be the true son of Voldemort.    Their adventures endanger everyone around them, and it’s only with love that everything is set right again.

Winspear, Jacqueline

• Birds of a Feather ****

Fiction.  Second in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series.  Maisie is hired to find a wealthy businessman’s daughter who has runaway.  As Maisie and Billy work on the case, they discover  that it isn’t a simply missing person’s case, but rather a serial killer case, and Maisie must find the missing woman before she becomes the next victim.