OK, Geri, will give Hillerman another chance and read the 2nd book.  Could have just been my mood last night!!

Marla, that was Mary.  I'm like you and the Hillerman book didn't appeal to me. 

Becky - so sorry to hear what you are going through. I have been through a lot of that lately and it is very hard on the soul. Hope things work out for the best.

Finishied the first Earl Emerson book - The Rainy City - and really enjoyed it. Have ordered the next one.

Just started THE ROARING BOY by Edward Marston, a title in  his Elizabethan Theatre series.

Denise

I finished reading Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay this morning.  Thought it was pretty good overall.  The one thing that I'm not crazy about is that she is introducing another romantic interest for Lindsey so now you're going to have the back and forth as to will it be him or him.  I get tired of that angle in a lot of the cozies that I read.

I received SYKM Newletter and found something I forgot about.  These will be released in December, hardcovers and paperbacks.  They have lists all the way to August right now.  Not many in August. 

Read Jonathan Kellerman's Survival of the Fittest and Linda Fairstein's Death Dance. Enjoyed them both. The former gets into the area of eugenics and some of the myths regarding those born with disabilities. Fairstein's mysteries are always good, but as an added bonus you get a historical perspective on New York City. This book starts with a murder at The Met, then moves to two more famous theaters - the Belasco and City Center. You'll also learn trivia about Annie Oakley and U.S. Grant. Always a fun read.

Hey, all!  I am just about three weeks post-op from my foot surgery, and am finally feeling like I may live through it!  :)  Last Tuesday I had the initial bulky dressing/cast taken off, 17 staples removed from my foot incision (which is healing well) and a very pink cast put on.  Much easier to move around.  Still won't be able to bear any weight on my foot until at least mid-December, when the cast should come off for good. I can tell you, having those 17 staples removed was not what I would call a good time.  It's a wonder you all didn't hear me yelp from wherever you live.  Of course maybe you did - it was me.

I have been very busy reading, however.  It seems like it has been the only thing I have felt like doing.  Believe it or not, I've read all the following books in the last 2 1/2 weeks:

• The Homicide Hustle - Ella Barick
• Going, Going, Ganache - Jenn McKinley
• Cloche and Dagger -  Jenn McKinley
• Angora Alibi  - Sally Goldenbaum
• Aunt Dimity and the Lost  Prince - Nancy Atherton
• Brush with Death - Karen McInnerney
• Rubbed Out - Riley Adams
• The Cakes of Wrath - Jaclyn Brady
• The Litter of the Law - Rita Mae Brown
• The Whole Enchilada - Dianne Mott Davidson
• Murder She Wrote: Prescription for Murder - Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
• Lethal Legacy - Irene Hannon
• One Dead Cookie - Virginia Lowell

Really liked each of the books, all of them from series I have read so I think of them as 'comfort' reads.  New among them was Jenn Mcklineys "Cloche and Dagger."  This is a new series, the MC flees from Florida after an extremely embarassing incident to London in order to help her cousin run the hat shop they both inherited from their aunt.  Great mystery and very amusing.

I have just started "A Killer's Christmas in Wales" by Elizabeth Duncan.

Geri - love the 2014 mystery challenge!

Becky - I'm so sorry about your Aunt.  Safe travels and I will pray for peace for all of you during this time.  And strength for you - you have been through way more than anyone should over the past months.  Hang in there - time will help ease the pain a little.   

So nice to "see" you Joy.  Pretty pink cast, with pretty pink toes too?  Can't help it, little chuckle.

Great list of reading.  Glad you like the challenge.  I wasn't sure about it but many people have said they like it.  How will I make it better in 2015?  Steal from all the previous challenges.    

Forgot to say I'm reading Hex on the Ex / Rochelle Staab.  I think this one (third) is the best of the series.

Geri - don't know if I said it before, but great challenge!!

Lots from my TBR but also several challenges to my reading habits. Looking forward to going off my "beaten path" and trying something new.

Thank you for all the work you put into this. It means a lot to me, as well as the rest of us, I'm sure. I've learned so much in the last year from this challenge in trying new authors.

Thank you all for you concern about my Aunt Betty.  Most amazingly she is improving every day.  She still has the bilateral pneumonia and a pretty severe kidney infection.  The kidney infection is responding pretty well at this point.  When she leaves the hospital she will go to a nursing home rehab section for a while.  So it looks like I will be able to leave next Friday as planned.

Becky - good news!!! So glad to hear your Aunt Betty is getting better.

Positive thoughts and prayers still going your way.

Made it through Bloodline/Jan Burke (630-some pages!!).  One in her Irene Kelly series.  This was sort of a prequel and it takes 1/3 of the book before Irene even appears.  It is also a cold case mystery (I could have kept it for the challenge!!).  One of those books where you need to pay close attention to all the characters!  Think I'll choose something lighter next!

Just starting a an Amish mystery Falling to Pieces (Shipshewana Amish, Bk 1) :: Vannetta Chapman. Book get good reviews. I tend to like books written about the Amish.

Leslie, thanks!  I worked on it trying for something different, a bit out of my comfort zone too.  So many people telling me they have many of the books on their TBR.  I had one in the main section and none in the bonus section. 

Becky, great news!!!  Good to hear your Aunt Betty is getting better.  Positive thoughts and prayers still going your way.

Marla, I thought that was a good one!  Save the next for the challenge.  It also involves a "cold case" if you can hold off that long. 

Going to try the first in a series, Drizzled With Death / Jessie Crockett.  I almost grabbed a challenge book by mistake.  They're now in another room semi hidden.  Pity sake, I had enough trouble finding them and ordering/requesting them and they're trickling in rather than pouring through the door.  Good thing I posted it in November cause I was waiting to see the chsllenge. 

Alice, I liked that series. Read them all.

Becky- Glad to hear your aunt is getting better.

I have been a little busy for the past couple weeks so my reading has been slow but I did finish The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly.

The Concrete Blonde was great lots of twist and turns.

Up next is First Family by David Baldacci. Time to check in with King & Maxwell.

Oh Becky, hopefully everything will go smoothly for your family - at least for a while. You've been through enough!  Safe travels!

I haven't been reading much lately either. I get too distracted and wander off doing other things. Not worried about it - I'll get back to it eventually - lol!

I hope everyone is safe, warm and dry!  Holy moly those were incredible storms yesterday.  Yes, mom and I are safe, warm and dry.  I don't know how because we were watching TV and I swear the storm was right on top of us.  We had one instance of very heavy rain, rain through the night but no damage in our immediate area.  Something to be truly Thankful for!

Glad you and your mother are okay, Geri. Those storms were incredible. I lived in the Midwest at least half of my life and never remember anything that vicious at this time of the year!

Just finished Doc Ford #1 Sanibel Flats-Randy Wade White going to be reading more of the series through the winter.

Had to take a quick detour tho with the release of the latest Pendergast Novel White Fire-Douglas Preston & Lee Child . Pendergast is by far one of my favorite characters.  Just started this one and I'm sure its going to be one that I won't be putting down often.

-RD

I like Pendergast too Rob. From what I've read this latest book promises to be much better than the last few - kind of back to the Pendergast we all initially "knew". - lol!

Have finished "A Killer's Christmas in Wales" by Elizabeth Duncan, and "True Devotion" by Dee Henderson.  I'm now working on "Sweet Tea Revenge" by Laura Childs. 

Becky, good news to hear about your aunt improving. 

Geri - so glad you and Mom are okay after those storms yesterday.  What horrific pictures and stories are showing up on the news today.  Just awful.

Joy --- I am happy you got a bright pink cast on your foot.  Hopefully this surgery will really do the trick with your foot problems. 

Joy - Good news that you should be up, if not running, in time for Christmas.

Have been hearing about the Midwest storms from lots of people. Seems a strange time of year for tornadoes.

Read Lost Light by Michael Connelly. It was a Harry Bosch cold case, so I could have saved it, but there will be other cold cases. The ending made me very happy.

Now I'm reading Life Without Parole by O'Donohue. This is the 2nd in series in which the MC is TV producer.

I've haven't been reading as much lately because I got sidetracked on genealogy. One of my friends felt "genealogically isolated," so I took his parents names, dates, and places, and started a tree for him in Ancestry. I managed to take most of his lines back to the mid 1700s. Then my 2nd cousin showed up on Ancestry. I hadn't been in contact with her for over 10 years; she dropped off the grid while she was dealing with breast cancer. Now she's trying to put together family histories for a Christmas present. She should be able to piggback on my tree for a lot of information. Ironically, she's the one who got my started on the right track back in 1980, but then had to put research aside to take care of a new baby. I was also researchng for my college boyfriend. His paternal ancestors came from Germany and Poland, which I'm very familiar with, but his mother was from Mexico, which is a brand new challenge. I haven't had time to get in any trouble lately. LOL