Healthy Body, Mind and Soul
Follow me:
  • WELCOME
    • About
  • HEALTHY BODY BLOG
  • RECIPES
    • Breakfast and Snacks
    • Casseroles
    • Chicken
    • Dips, Dressings and Sauces
    • Fish
    • Pasta
    • Pizza
    • Rice
    • Shakes and Smoothies
    • Turkey
    • Vegetables
  • HEALTHY MIND BLOG
  • Disclaimer, Terms & Conditions
  • Contact

Female Sherlock Holmes anyone?

11/20/2020

0 Comments

 
Here is another treat for you! If you know me and/or have been following my blog, you know that I love a good murder mystery. When it comes to historical fiction murder mysteries, however, new books released have big shoes to fit since I have pretty great expectations. While I shouldn't, I often compare those books to books by Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As you can see, the bar is high. 

With that being said, I will tell you about a book that ranks quite high up in my list of books that deserve my personal "Agatha and Arthur Book Award." But first, a brief synopsis of the book, so you know what I'm talking about when I tell you my thoughts:
Picture
​Winter, 1920. Amateur sleuth Lady Eleanor Swift is feeling festive. She is playing host to the entire village at Henley Hall for gifts, games and gingerbread. She’s also purchased perfect presents for each of her household – not forgetting the biggest bone in the butcher’s shop for her partner in crime, Gladstone the bulldog – and is looking forward to celebrating her first English country Christmas.

As snowflakes fall, Eleanor is cheering on contestants in the traditional Christmas fun run in the grounds of the Hall. But tragedy strikes when one of the runners drops dead at the finish line. Dashing Detective Seldon is convinced it’s just a heart attack, but Eleanor isn’t so sure. When she finds a rather distinctive key where the man fell, Eleanor knows she’ll never rest until she finds out the truth about what happened in her own home.

Next the vicar is taken ill with what looks like poison and Eleanor starts to wonder if the two cases are linked. When someone tries to frame her by planting poisoned berries in her own kitchen, she knows speed is of the essence. But the entire village was at Henley Hall for the festivities and Eleanor has enough suspects to stuff a town full of turkeys. Can she nail the true killer and clear her name in time for Christmas?
This is book #4 in the "A Lady Eleanor Swift Murder Mystery" series. I have not read the first three books, but can tell you that that is perfectly fine! Based on this book, I can say that you do not have to read the books in order. However, as with many series, it does help to read them in order in particular when it comes to some of the characters and their relationship. I'm intrigued by Eleanor and her bond with Detective Seldon! So much so, that I will read the first three books too. I just have to know how this special relationship developed over time. Eleanor is not your typical 1920s English lady. She reminded me a lot of a book I recently read about the Flappers of the 1920s. Female sleuth is a job title that was not very common during those years, but I love, love, love it when women escape their "golden cages of femininity" and wow us with skills that render even the toughest and smartest male detectives speechless. Lady Swift is one of those! She is a lady, yet she is blunt, not scared to voice her opinion, and she is certainly smart. She has the wit of a Miss Marple and the noble attitude of a Hercule Poirot!

In this book, you find a lot of suspects and lots of motives. I have to admit that I found out in the end that the person I suspected in the last few chapters before the murderer was revealed was in fact the one behind the murder. HOWEVER, and that is a big however, there was a twist for me since my reasoning deviated quite a bit from what actually happened and why. This book was fun to read! 
About the author(s):
​

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humor, before embarking on their first historical mystery. 
Click on the image on the right for the Amazon link to the series!
Picture

Disclaimer:
I am not affiliated with Amazon and do not receive any kind of compensation for linking to this book on their website!
This book is part of a Bookouture Blog Tour! Thank you, Bookouture, for a complimentary copy of this novel!  
0 Comments

My 2020 Around The Year In 52 Books Challenge results

11/4/2020

0 Comments

 
One of the challenges I completed in 2019 was the Around the Year in 52 Books challenge on Goodreads. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to complete it again in 2020. Why do I like the challenge? Well, not only does it make me venture out of my comfort zone and read books I would otherwise not pick up, but the prompts are also selected and voted on by the members of the group! Members can suggest prompts, then they are included in mini polls, and the members vote on their top and bottom picks. This is repeated until there are 52 prompts. Well, technically, there are also prompts that are filled by members who won one of the mini challenges ATY hosts throughout the year. The admins host quarterly challenges and in some of those a winner is picked who can then create a prompt that goes straight to the prompt list for the next year. The group also has monthly book discussions. You can participate in as many challenges and finish as many prompts as you want/can handle. No pressure, no obligations! It's all about finding great books and having fun reading them! If you are interested, you can find the group here!

Now, let's look at my selection of books I read for the challenge. This is a list of all books I read for the annual challenge. Scroll down if you would like to see my Top 10 of the best books on that list and my Top 5 of the worst books on that list, as well as some statistics (star rating, genre, format)!
Picture
Picture
These 52 books fill the following 52 prompts and when I finished the book for each prompt:
Picture
Now, let's take a look at my Top 10 of the best books read for the challenge. Please note that this list is in no particular order. This is just a list of the ten books I loved the most.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Genres:
Horror: 2x
Fantasy: 2x
Sci-Fi: 3x
Mystery/suspense 1x
Contemporary: x
Nonfiction: 1x
Format:
Audio: 8x
Ebook: 2x

How about the worst books I read during the challenge? Here is the Top 5. Once again, they are not in any particular order!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
I had such high hopes for Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater and Queens of the Resistance: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Unfortunately, both books were a disappointment. I think I have a love-hate relationship with Maggie Stiefvater. There are books that I really like, but the Raven Boys series is just not on that list. Maybe I read these books at the wrong time in my life, I don't know! I might give them another try in the future. You can find my review of the book about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the reasons why this book was such a disappointment here! 
I also found that I have a hard time with the old classics. The new classics are mostly interesting to read, but the old classics seem to be too far out of my comfort zone. For example, I did like the idea and plot of Le Morte d'Arthur, but the language of that time is just not my cup of tea. I know a lot of English natives have difficulties with the old English language, now put yourself in my shoes...English is not my native language. I think that explains the difficulties I was facing reading this book. 
Side note:
I'm always interested in finding out which format I read the most and which genres. Here are a few statistics related to the list of 52 prompts:
Format:
Audio: 40x
Ebook: 12x
Print: 0x
Type of book:
Novel: 36x
Graphic novel: 4x
Nonfiction: 10x
Genres:
I selected the genre based on Goodreads main page genres!

Fantasy: 8x
Thriller: 1x
Horror: 2x
Sci-Fi: 9x
Contemporary: 8x
Mystery/suspense: 3x
Autobiography/memoir: 9x
Anthology: 2x
Historical fiction: 8x
Other nonfiction: 2x
Star rating:

5 stars: 28x
4 stars: 21x
3 stars: 2x
2 stars: 1x
1 star: 0x

​Average rating: 4.47 stars
0 Comments

    Author

    This part of my blog is all about books and reading! I believe in reading aloud to my kids and being creative with books (e.g., in the form of Bible journaling). 
    My goal for 2021 is --just as in 2020-- to continue to minimize my electronics time (mindless TV watching, binge-watching shows on Netflix, game apps, social media scrolling). Instead, I will continue to replace those hours with reading challenges, audiobooks, and reading time with my kids. 

    Archives

    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    February 2020
    February 2019
    January 2019

    Categories

    All
    Books Read In 2019
    Reading Challenges

    RSS Feed

Home

Disclaimer

Blog

Recipes

Contact

Copyright © 2014-2020