My Life in Books 2014

Got this meme from a couple of bloggers a few years ago and have done it the past three years.  My Life in Books, Join in if you like. It can be fun. 

Which book (titles) read in 2014 describe your life so far?

Describe myself:
Sweet and Deadly

How do I feel:
OMG...Am I a Witch?

Describe where I currently live:
 The Sea Garden

 If I could go anywhere, where I would go:
Fog Island Mountains

My favorite form of transportation:
Last Train to Paris

My best friend(s) is/are:
Dark Spies 

My friends and I are:
Keeping Mum

What’s the weather like:
Stillwater

Favorite Time of Day:
Night of the Living Thread

What is life to you:
Butterflies in November

You fear:
 The Demon Who Peddled Longing

What is the best advice you have to give:
 Think Like a Freak

Thought for the day:
You Cannoli Die Once

How I would like to die:
Aground on St Thomas

My soul’s present condition:
One Step Too Far 

I looked up past memes and see I filled out some for 2011 and before. Join in and have fun with it.

Click on each book title to see the review of it.

Books Read 2014

These two challenges, The 100+ Book Challenge 2014 and 100 Books in a Year 2014 originally prompted me to keep a list of the books read this year.

Here is my Books Read list, under several genres. Click on the titles to see my reviews or my ratings on Goodreads. Seems I've read about 130 books this year.

Mystery/Thriller
1. Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber
2. Zero Degree Murder by M.L. Rowland
3. Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof by Blaize Clement
4. Paws for Murder by Annie Knox
5. After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman
6. Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman, also historical fiction
7.The Girl With a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
8. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
9. Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs
10. The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie
11. Death of a Policeman by M.C. Beaton
12. The Accident by Chris Pavone
13. Murder in Pigalle by Cara Black
14. Keeping Mum by Alyse Carlson
15. The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley
16. The Riot by Laura Wilson
17. Nursing a Grudge by Diana Orgain
18. Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel
19.Telegraph Hill by John F. Nardizzi
20. Widow's Tears by Susan Wittig Albert
21. The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen
22. Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
23. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
24. Destroyer Angel by Nevada Barr
25. Death Money by Henry Chang
26. The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill
27. Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara
28. A Tiger's Tale by Laura Morrigan
29. Night of the Living Thread by Janet Bolin
30. A Spider in the Cup by Barbara Cleverly
31. You Cannoli Die Once by Shelley Costa
32. Death on Eat Street by J. J. Cook
33. Summer Garden Murder by Ann Ripley
34. The Lady of Sorrows by Anne Zouroudi
35. Fleur de Lies by Maddy Hunter
36. Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko
37. A Dangerous Fiction by Barbara Rogan
38. The Hidden Girl by Louise Millar
39. Tailing a Tabby by Laurie Cass
40. The Witchdoctor's Bones by Lisa de Nicolits
41. Claws of the Cat by Susan Spann
42. Billionaire Blend by Cleo Coyle
43. W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
44. Scene of the Climb by Kate E. Dyer-Seeley
45. Tahoe Ghost Boat by Todd Borg
46. Clam Wake by Mary Daheim
47. Maxwell Street Blues by Marc Krulewitch
48. Blade of the Samurai by Susan Spann
49. Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn
50. Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance
51. Dark Spies by Matthew Dunn
52. Nightmares Can Be Murder by Mary Kennedy
53. Dog Beach by John Fusco
54. This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
55. The Blood of an Englishman by M.C. Beaton
56. The Wolfe Widow by Victoria Abbott
57. Ghost Month by Ed Lin
58. The Wedding Soup Murder by Rosie Genova
59. The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen
60. A Possibility of Violence by D. A. Mishani
61. Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials by Ovidia Yu
62. For the Dead by Timothy Hallinan
63. Gossamer Ghost by Laura Childs
64. Gilt Trip by Laura Childs
65. Bless Her Dead Little Heart by Miranda James
66. Sons of Sparta by Jeffrey Siger
67. Desert Rage by Betty Webb
68. The Red Room by Ridley Pearson
69. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
70. Her by Harriet Lane
71. Tahoe Deathfall by Todd Borg
72. The Pocket Wife by Susan H. Crawford
73. Aground on St Thomas by Rebecca M. Hale
74. Meow If It's Murder by T.C. LoTempio
75. Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
76. The Iris Fan by Laura Joh Rowland
77. Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris
78. Cane and Abe by James Grippando
79. Doctor Death by by Lene Kaaberbol

General/literary fiction
1. Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope
2. While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax
3. A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
4. This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
5. Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley
6. The Korean Word for Butterfly by James Zerndt
7. Gemini by Carol Cassella
8. When the Cypress Whispers by Yvette Manessis Corporon
9. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
10. Bee Summers by Melanie Dugan
11. The Idea of Him by Holly Peterson
12. The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell
13. Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok
14. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
15. The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
16. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
17. Us: A Novel by David Nicholls
18. A Man Called Ove  by Fredrick Backman
19. A Hero for the People by Arthur Powers
20. I Take You by Eliza Kennedy
21. The Demon Who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha
22. One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis
24. Fog Island Mountains by Michelle Bailat-Jones
25. Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Brian FitzGibbon (Translation)
26. Secrets of a Thousand Beauties by Mingmei Yip

 Historical fiction
1. Lantern in the Mist by Liliana Shelbrook
2. A Different Sun by Elaine Neil Orr
3. Last Train to Paris by Michele Zackheim
4. I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War by Jerome Charyn
5. The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh
6. The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose
7. The Medici Boy by John L'Heureux
8. The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli
9.The Sea Garden by Deborah Lawrenson
10. The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin
11. Becoming Josephine by Heather Webber
12. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
13. Stillwater by Nicole Helget
14. Dark Aemilia by Sally O'Reilly
15. The Moonlight Palace by Liz Rosenberg
16. The Spoils of Avalon by Mary F. Burns, historical mystery
17. The Visitors by Sally Beauman

Nonfiction/Memoir/Poetry 
1. Short Leash by Janice Gary, memoir
2. My Mother's Funeral by Adriana Paramo, memoir
3. Think Like a Freak by Levitt and Dubner
4. Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series by Tyler Knott Gregson
5. Lust by Diana Raab, poetry

Children's fiction
1. OMG...Am I a Witch? by Talia Aikens-Nunee
2. The Poodle Tales: The Modeling Poo by Toni Tuso Faber
3. Whiny Whiny Rhino by McBoop

I used to rate the books I read, but really, I liked them all, at least 95 percent of them. Check goodreads for my ratings. Did you keep a list of your books read this year?

Mailbox Monday: Doctor Death by Lene Kaaberbol

Mailbox Monday lists your new books - downloaded, purchased, or sent to you in the mail.

Here is what I downloaded from Netflix and am currently reading.

Doctor Death: A Madeline Karno Mystery by Lene Kaaberbol
To be published February 17, 2015; Atria Books
Genre: historical mystery, thriller, coming-of-age
Source: publicist

I don't read many books online or on my ereader, but this Danish thriller author is one of my favorite writers and this novel is intriguing as were her others, notably The Boy in the Suitcase (click on title to see my review).

Here is the publisher's description:

From the New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Boy in the Suitcase, a gripping historical thriller and poignant coming-of-age story set in nineteenth-century France. Madeleine Karno is an ambitious young woman eager to shatter the confines of her provincial French town. Driven and strong headed,

Madeleine is set apart by her unusual occupation: assisting her father, Dr. Albert Karno, in his job as a forensic doctor. The year is 1894, and a young girl is found dead on the snowy streets of Varbourg. Dr. Karno is called in to determine the cause of her death, but before he can examine the body, the girl’s family forbids the autopsy from taking place. The only anomaly he manages to find is in the form of a mite in her nostril. Shortly after, several other dead bodies are discovered throughout the city, and Madeleine, her father, and the city commissioner must use the new science of forensic evidence to solve the mysterious cases before they all become the next victims of a deadly disease—or of a heinous murderer.

What did you get in your mailbox last week? 

Sunday Salon: Books on My Shelves I

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday: What Are You Reading hosted by Book Journey,

Sharing with you throughout the new year a few books at a time, randomly pulled from my shelves. The start of something new? Here's the first post.

Silent Auction: A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery by Jane Cleland
Published April 13, 2010; Minotaur Books

A blend of coziness, crime, and collectibles... 
The autumn foliage is in full fiery glory in the little coastal town of Rocky Point, New Hampshire. Josie Prescott arrives at the town’s renovated lighthouse to conduct an antiques appraisal and is horrified to discover the body of her neighbor Zoë’s beloved nephew, Frankie. The owners of the lighthouse are avid antiques collectors, and Josie soon begins to suspect that a scrimshaw tooth from their collection may be the key to solving the crime that has shaken Rocky Point, and broken her dear friend’s heart. (publisher)

I just love this series as antiques are an interest of mine though I'm not a collector. 

The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie
Published October 27, 2011; Headline Review
Genre: historical fiction

Grieving the sudden death of her fiance, Madeline Moretti is sent by her Italian grandmother to Tuscany to heal. Once there, Maddie finds herself immersed in the restoration of a medieval garden, and in the mystery of a ruined villa.

Italian settings for novels are some of my favorites. Any books on your shelves you want to share? 
Click on the book titles for more info about both books.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Best wishes for the holidays, and Happy Reading to you! May there be many books under your holiday tree.

Hush, Hush by Laura Lippman

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. 

In a new book in her mystery series, Laura Lippman has her private detective Tess Monaghan in a mystery that plunges the new parent into a case involving murder and a manipulative mother. 

First paragraph, first chapter (from an Advance Readers Edition; final copy may differ):

Monday 9:30 a.m.

The first note appeared on Tess Monaghan's car on a March day that was cranky as a toddler -- wet, tired, prone to squalls. But Tess did not know the note was the first of anything. There is no first until the second arrives. So this note was a mere curiosity, a plain piece of paper folded and placed under the windshield wiper on her car. 

Book description: On a searing August day, Melisandre Harris Dawes left her two-month-old daughter locked in a car. Melisandre was found not guilty by reason of criminal insanity, although there was much skepticism about her mental state. Now that’s she’s a mother herself, private investigator Tess Monaghan wants nothing to do with a woman crazy enough to have killed her own child. But Melisandre’s lawyer has asked Tess to assess Melisandre’s security needs. Tess tries to ignore the discomfort she feels around the confident, manipulative Melisandre. But that gets tricky after Melisandre becomes a prime suspect in a murder.

Yet as her suspicions deepen, Tess realizes that just as she’s been scrutinizing Melisandre, a judgmental stalker has been watching her every move as well. . . .
The book is scheduled for release February 24, 2015.

What do you think? Is this a mystery novel you would continue reading?

Sunday Salon: Slow Reading

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday: What Are You Reading hosted by Book Journey, and Tynga at Stacking the Shelves.

Haven't been reading as much as I used to. Must be the holidays keeping me busier than normal - decluttering, tidying and filing, putting up a tree, getting ready to wrap presents, etc. We plan a relatively quiet Christmas this year, however. 

A book came for a tour I signed up for though I don't know the dates yet. I'm getting into it though and enjoying the idea of a book about moving to a South Pacific island.

The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli is to be released February 10, 2015 by St. Martin's Press. I received an Advanced Readers Edition for review. Here is a brief synopsis: "a novel set on an island resort, where guests attempting to flee their troubles realize they can’t escape who they are."

But it seems a coral atoll might be a nice place to try.

I also have lined up a cozy read, a Library Lover's Mystery by Jenn McKinlay - On Borrowed Time, the fifth in the series. 

I have liked previous novels in this series. This one is described as a cozy about the mysterious disappearance of the librarian's  world-traveling playboy brother. Hopefully, a light read over a busy holiday.

What have you planned for holiday reading?