HAPPY NEW YEAR!  May this be better than last for all of us.

I've picked up the first book of my 2014 Mystery Challenge list, Don't Ever Get Old / Daniel Friedman.  Becky said she enoyed the book and I've had more than one laugh out loud moment with the MC.  Another night of no sleep.  Sigh.

Marla, I won't lose my list of books, I have them saved on a flash drive as well as on my Clickfree backup system.  In fact have it on two flash drives, not that I'm paranoid or anything.            
 

Geri you are good, I finally had to buy into a back up service since apparently I am too lazy and tech challenged to do my own back ups.  Carbonite works like a charm.  Even great to get stuff loaded after buying a new device.  Looking forward to my stack of reading for 2014 here's wishing everyone a wonderful NEW YEAR.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

What should be a the first book for 2014 hmm. I feel like something light but mystery. Oh a cozy of course. so I will start

A Potion to Die For (Magic Potion, Bk 1) :: Heather Blake

I will let you know how it is.

Alice

Susan, Clickfree is very simple.  Plug in the USB to the computer and the little box and click yes.  It does the rest automatically every day!  It'll also backup every computer in the house without being attached to them.  First time but after that somehow it does it without being attached. 

Just beginning the first book I'll read for the 2014 Mystery Challenge. Jackson Square Jazz by Greg Herren. Not sure I'll have much reading time today - celebrating Christmas with my in-laws this afternoon/evening. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

The first book of the New year for me is The Chase by Clive Cussler.

Now I know how all of you mega readers do it.  Yesterday I sat in my chair all day and I read two books.  Granted they were not Michener books, just smallish historical mysteries finishing off a series, but I did read two in one day!!!  I was feeling pretty blue and could not manage to have the energy for chores but did not want to sit and stew so decided I would read --- think I will be doing the same thing today once the Rose Parade ends.  That is one of our traditional New Year's Day activities along with cooking black eyed peas with ham!!!  An Oklahoma "good luck" dish.

My first book of the year is "Dying in the Wool" by Frances Brody.  It is an historical mystery with the main character being a 31-year old WWI widow with a talent for finding "lost" people.  We shall see how she goes.

I want to say a very heartfelt thank you to each of my "Mysterious" pals for all of the prayers, good thoughts, cards and notes that helped me keep my head above water during 2013.  Each one of you is a tremendous blessing in my life.  May 2014 be a better year for each of us.

I am starting The Lewis Man by Peter May. This is the second in the trilogy which started with Blackhouse. I really enjoyed Blackhouse so I anticipate the same here (keeping fingers crossed).

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year to all! I finished 2013 with James Rollins/Rebecca Cantrell's Innocent Blood. Completely awesome read, but I would read the first book in the series as there is a lot of backstory that is absolutely needed for this second book.

Happy New Year!

My first book of the new year is "Killer Crust" by Chris Cavender (really Tim Myers, of course) in "A Pizza Lovers Mystery" series.  Really like this series featuring two sisters and a fun cast of characters. The sisters own a Pizzaria in Timber Ridge, North Carolina.  Fun series. 

Being the "night owl" sort, I started Forests of the Night/David Stuart Davies about 12:30 am.  It was a Christmas book.  MC is a private detective in 1940s London.  I had never heard of the author, but it is turning out to be a good book.  Very short...240 pgs.

Geri...Assuming I ever get all my books re-entered, I am most definitely getting a back up system!!!

I have something I sort of invented in the slow cooker...threw in black eyed peas and chopped cabbage (a German good luck tradition) along with sausage, tomatoes, onions.  We'll see how it turns out!!!!

I finished 11/22/63.  Wow!  I simply could not stop reading the book!  I laughed, cried and cringed in spots.  To me one of Stephen King's better efforts.  He does say that he began writing this in 1972.  I really enjoyed his first books even though they were horror/scary.  Until It.  That one terrified me into a DNF!  This is a time travel but not big time sci-fi. 

And, I began Don't Ever Get Old around 1 am.  That's a fast read for me too.

Marla --- Did you use dried black-eyed peas or frozen???  Your combination sounds really delicious.  What kind of sausage??  Does this sound like a cozy mystery????

My first book of the new year was Death Angel (Alex Cooper # 15) by Linda Fairstein.  I stayed up all night to finish it and it's packed up ready to be mailed.

I don't think she is the best writer, but I've enjoyed all of her books.  She is a prosecutor in NYC, mainly involoved in the sex crimes and abuse cases.  Her books usually center around cases set in different parts of NYC, some well known, others not.  This one centers around several murders in Central Park and the last one was in the main New York Public Library. There is a lot of history and geography involved and I always like books with maps involved.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!   

MANY THANKS FOR ALL OF THE GREAT BOOK SUGGESTIONS.  KEEP THEM COMING.

SusanG

Haven't read too much today, have been overdosing on all the great new shows, and of course the Rose Parade, on HGTV!  :)

Becky...Since I forgot about the black-eyed peas until yesterday, I just grabbed the canned ones.  Usually use frozen, but couldn't find them.  The recipe is one I have done before, this time, I substitued kilbasa for pork, black-eyed peas for garbanzo beans and chopped cabbage for chopped fresh spinach!!!  It turned out really good...sort of like a stew.  Made a pan of cornbread and husband asked if there was enough left over to have tomorrow night! (There was!)

Happy New Year! Since it is snowing outside, I decided it is a good day to start the Mystery Challenge. I'm starting the Bonus Home & Travel with Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass which takes place in my home state of Michigan. I'm also reading for Alaska ~ A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow.

I finished Don't Ever Get Old / Daniel Friedman.  MC is a retired police detective who reluctantly gets involved in a murder case.  He keeps saying , loudly and disgustedly I'M RETIRED!  People keep coming to him and saying find out who killed my...  I never suspected the bad guy and really didn't realize until the final confrontation.

I began Calculated in Death / J D Robb which makes me two behind in the series.  This is one series I would gobble up as soon as it hit the stands in the past.  How did I lose track of it?  Maybe a few too many cozies filled with crafts and food.   

I just finished Death by Killer Mop by Lois Winston and actually liked it. Got the first one free quite a while back for my Kindle, read it New Year's Eve and got the next one from the library and finished it yesterday.

Started Plain Murder by Emma Miller. A woman who used to be Amish moves back home, buys a B&B in her depressed hometown and tried to help her Amish uncle who is accused of murder and refuses to defend himself. Pretty good so far.

I read Murder, She Barked (Paws & Claws, Bk 1) Author: Krista Davis  Tuesday and enjoyed it.  I liked all of the characters, especially Trixie and Twinkletoes.  Sounds like a fun town to live in.

Yesterday I began One Hot Murder (Victoria Square, Bk 3) :: Lorraine Bartlett which I've had for a while. So far about half way through and liking it okay.

I'm almost finished with THE BOY FROM REACTOR 4 by Orest Stelmach.   This is a quick and easy read with short chapters and fast paced writing.  This thriller takes place mainly in Ukraine and Russia. A lotof background history about Chernobyl which is refered  to as "the zone." Good main character with a lot of bad guys chasing her. Not much of a mystery, but because of the unique settings and a lot of action....I think it is a good thriller.

Wishing everyone all the best in 2014!

Warm Regards,

Anna

When I think about it I sure did read a truck load of cozies in 2013.  2014 has begun with a different truck!  First, Don't Ever Get Old which wasn't a cozy, not even close!  Now I have Calculated in Deah / J D Robb and anyone who has read any of the In Death series knows they aren't cozies.  I've also began Random Violence / Jassy Mackenzie which is for the bonus section in the mystery challenge.  It takes place in Johnasburg, Africa.  Random violence, people live in houses that have fences with electrified wire on top, bars on their windows and alarm systems, some with multiple guard dogs.  Also reading Blackman's Coffin / Mark de Castrique.  I like his writing in the Buryin' Barry series and I think this might be a bit better.  I started it yesterday and I've almost finished it.  Sam Blackman is an amputee from the Iraq War and meets a woman who is murdered within a few days.  Her sister asks him to help her discover who and why she was murdered.  He was in the CID in the Marines so he's not grabbing his cup of coffee and heading out to investigate.  He also shares his findings with the police.  

I was hoping to read some of the books on my Kindle and Blackman's Coffin is the second one so far.  Those of you with an ereader - do you keep the books once you've read them?  I enjoyed 11/22/63 but can't see myself rereading it.        

Geri - I've read all the Jassy MacKenzie books so far and I've really enjoyed them. I always love reading a good mystery with info about a totally different culture!

So far, I've kept all of my e-books but I've archived most of them. I just delete those I didn't like.....One reason I keep them is that I don't want to end up ordering the same book twice so from time to time I check my Kindle library before ordering something!!!

Good Morning from Delaware --- We got about 8 inches of the lightest, fluffiest snow you can imagine.  Nothing like those of you in the Upper Midwest and the East, but a good bit for Delaware.  This morning the sun is shining so brightly it almost hurts one's eyes.  Cold, cold wind blowing.

Geri --- I do not know how to get rid of books from my Kindle!!!!  I tell it to remove them and they still lurk there just waiting to download once again.  Guess I need to do a bit of research on how to actually delete, as I have no desire to re-read any of the ones I have read. 

I am still working on "Dying in the Wool" but yesterday late started "The House at Tyneford" by Natasha Solomons and have not been able to put it down.  It is very "Downton Abbey" in WWII England.  Not a mystery as such, but thoroughly enjoyable if one enjoys historicals even a little bit.  Also reminiscent of the books by Kate Morton, "The House at Riverton", "The Forgotten Garden", etc.

Becky- to delete books from Kindle, go to the "manage your kindle" section at Amazon. Next to the book titles (on the far right) is a button labeled "actions". If you click on that it gives you options and one of them is to delete the book from your library. Just click on that and your book should be gone!