Ok so after having read only two books in all of March, I finished my second book for April yesterday! The two books I’ve finished are Goodbye Girl by James Grippando and Innercise: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain’s Hidden Potential by John Assaraf. Goodbye Girl is the 18th book in Grippando’s Jack Swyteck series. While Innercise is a self-help book.
So for whatever reason I have never read a book written by Janes Patterson. As a result, I never discovered author Michael Ledwidge until I checked out Stop at Nothing book #1 in his Michael Gannon series from my library in July of 2021. It was great! I quickly quickly followed it up in August with book #2 in the series Run for Cover. Then I had to wait until January 2023 until book 3 Hard to Break was released. During that time Ledwidge had released a standalone novel Beach Wedding, which I put off reading until last month, when it became the seventh book I’ve read in 2024. Anyway, here is what I’ve missed out on by not reading Ledwidge’s work until now!
So I know us avid readers all have favorite authors. Those authors who you go right out and find and read their latest novel as soon as it is released, For me those authors include; James Lee Burke, C.J.Box and Karin Slaughter. You can see a complete list on this post – . You also have a set of authors whose books you really, really like but you may not get around to reading their books until after you’ve finished the new books from that top list. I myself have many authors that fall into that group. One of those authors is Charlie Donlea.
Ok so here we go again, you don’t know it but I have made several attempts to get back to writing this blog. All of them are still in the draft stages!
A myriad of reasons have colluded to keep me from posting. First, I’ve had an eye problem that has resulted in visits to several doctors. A visit to an ophthalmologist which led to a visit to a retina specialist. From there I went back to a cardiologist, as well as, my family doctor for various tests. None of the testing has revealed a cause for the problem. I do know now though that my heart is good with no blockages anywhere. The next step is a visit to a neuro-ophthalmologist.
The second impact on my blogging is more pleasant, however, it’s been more life changing. In February my daughter had a baby girl. Subsequently my wife, who was ready for retirement, took the plunge and did it. The result is that we are now babysitting four to five days a week from 7:00 am to 4:45. And even though there are two of us, it’s still tiring! With that said, we wouldn’t change it for the world! Emma is just a marvelous baby!
After three months, I am just getting settled into a schedule so i can re-start full workouts and running. Additionally,I am starting to read more! After reading only 3 books in September and 2 in October, I have read four books in November Whoo-hoo! After finishing Girl Gone Missing yesterday I have read 41 books in 2023. However, that leaves me 9 books behind the pace I need to be at to reach my goal of 55 for the year. Hopefully, I can read four or five books before the end of the year.
My Last Read – Girl Gone Missing (Cash Blackbear #2) – Marcie Rendon
So far I have finished two books this month. The first Blind Justice was my first visit to the world of Detective Sargent Aector McAvoy from David Mark. While the second Storm Watch was my 22nd visit to the world of C.J.Box‘s Joe Pickett.
I first met Joe Pickett and his family in 2003, when I read Savage Run the second book in the series. I soon read the Open Season book one in the series and I’ve only missed one book in the series! You can check out more here
Storm Watch (Joe Picket #23) -C.J. Box
Storm Watch begins with Joe performing his typical Game Warden duties. Joe receives a call regarding an elk cow that has been hit by a car and Joe responses and track the elk far into the mountains. After finding the elk Joe finds a mysterious building, when he explores it further he finds it is filled with a ton of computers. Oh, there is also a dead body stuck halfway in a window! Soon Joe is called by the Governor and told not to investigate the murder.
Meanwhile, Joe’s friend Nate Romanowski is approached by an ex-black ops operator to join an anti-government group that’s planning some big action.
So can Joe and Nate stay out of trouble? Are the murder and Nate’s request the join the Sovereign Nation group connected?
I was somewhat disappointed with Shadows Reel (book 22) in the series. I just didn’t think it was one of Box’s best. However, I do think he redeemed himself with this one! The only thing that didn’t happen was Joe’s truck finished the book unscathed!
Links for the Further Explorations of the Books of C.J.Box
Noir and Girl,Forgotten are the 43rd and 44th books I have read in 2022. Both were written by authors who are among my favorites. Cristopher Moore wrote Noir and Karin -Slaughrer penned Girl, Forgotten. Since Noir is book 43 I’ll write about it in Part 1…..
Through the years I have read and enjoyed many of Christopher Moore’s books.Typically, I find them extremely funny and Noir is just that…. From Moore’s website…
The absurdly outrageous, sarcastically satiric, and always entertaining New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore returns in finest madcap form with this zany noir set on the mean streets of post-World War II San Francisco, and featuring a diverse cast of characters, including a hapless bartender; his Chinese sidekick; a doll with sharp angles and dangerous curves; a tight-lipped Air Force general; a wisecracking waif; Petey, a black mamba; and many more. Read More
The Bottom Line is Noir deserves between around 4.5 thumbs ups. What the plot lacks, the setting and characters and Moore’s quick wit more than make up for, leaving me laughing and happy! But don’t just take my word for it here’s what some others say about Noir….
Moore is a master of metaphor and a sultan of simile. . . .It takes an author of remarkable talents to keep a profitably urinating snake, a dame named for a dairy product, and a slimy extraterrestrial all running through a narrative.”
– Washington Independent Review of Books
I have been reading c.J. Box‘s Joe Pickett books for a long time and Dark Sky the 21st book in the series is in my opinion one of his best!
In =&1=& Joe must lead an elk hunting trip for a famous tech mogul. Steve Price, better known as Steve-2, the founder of Aloft and the social media platform ConFab. Steve-2 wants to track, kill and dress an elk. Needless to say things don’t go well almost from the beginning. As the hunting party begins the hunting party are being watched by the Thomas family. Seems the father Earl has a score to settle with Steve-2 and he’s brought along his to sons Kirby and Brad to help him settle it!
Meanwhile Nate Romanowski and Sheridan Pickett Joe’s daughter who is also Nate’s falconry apprentice have their own problems. Seems someone is stealing from their falconry nests. And Nate is none to happy with that situation!
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