December's End

This year I read 61 books. I didn't read any during this month.....Well technically I tried to read two books but I couldn't get into them at all. I tried to read The Headmaster's Wife by Christopher Thomas Greene and A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice. They didn't pull me in at the start so I couldn't finish them have had some bad news delivered to me about my dad, and that has pretty much taken up my mind. I am trying to be positive and not borrow trouble until we know for sure what is going on but that's hard for me to do.
I got two new books for Christmas that I am excited to start....The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-old  Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James and The Harbor by Carla Neggers.
I am going to partake in the 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge..it has 52 prompts in the challenge. It took me awhile to get a book for each prompt.
Some of these books are definitely outside my regular reading box but maybe it will open me up to reading other things. I also have two columns on the list that say date started/date finished. I would like to surpass my reading goal from this year and read more than 61 books, this challenge has 52 so just ten more shouldn't be hard, I mean I have a ton on my TBR pile I am sure I can squeeze them in somewhere.
Here's to a great new year!

2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge
Prompt	Title	Author
A book made into a movie that you have seen	The Virgin Sucides	Jeffrey Eugenides
True Crime	Too Late to say Goodbye	Ann Rule
The next book in the series you started	City of Heavenly Fire	Cassandra Calre
A book involving a heist	Camino Island	John Grisham
Nordic Noir	The Snowman	Jo Nesbo
A novel based on a real person	Stalking Jack the Ripper	kari Mansicalco
A book set in a country that fascinates you	A Week in Winter	Maeve Binchy
A book with a time of day in the title	The Night Circus	Erin Morganstern
A book about a villian or anithero	You	Caroline Kepnes
A book about death or grief	This Is Where It Ends	Marieke Nijkamp
A book with your favorite color in the title	Blue Bloods	Melissa de la Cruz
A book with alliteration in the title	Magpie Murders	Anthony Harbach
A book about time travel	The Time Travler's Wife	Audrey Niffenegger
A book with a weather element in the title	The Hurricane Sisters	Dorothea Benton Frank
A book set at sea	Before the Fall	Noah Hawley
Abook with an animal in the title	Turtles All the Way Down	John Green
A book set on a different planet	Artemis	Andy Weir
A book with song lyrics in the title	Helter Skelter	Vincent Bugliosi
A book about or set on Halloween	Hallowe'en Party	Agatha Christie
A book with the Characters who are twins	Two Little Girls in Blue	Mary Higgins Clark
A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym	Naked in Death	J.D Robb
A book with an LGBTQ protagonist	At the Edge of the Universe	Shaun David hutchinson
Abook that is also a stage play or musical	And then there were none	Agatha Christie
A book by an author of a different ethinticity than you	Everything I never Told You	Celeste Ng
A book about feminism	The Bell Jar	Slyvia Plath
A book about mental health	Girl, Interrupted	Susanna Kaysen
A book you borrowed or was given as a gift to you	Good Me Bad Me	Ali Land
A book by two authors	Sleeping Beauties	Stephen King and Owen King
A book by about or involving a sport	The Art of Fielding	Chad Harbach
A book by a local author
A book mentioned in another book	Murder on the Orient Express	Agatha Christie
A book from a celebrity bookclub	The Rules of Magic	Alice Hoffman
A childhood classic you've never read	Are You There God? Its Me Margret	Judy Blume
A book that’s published in 2018
A pastGoodreads Choice Awards winner	Columbine	Dave Cullen
A book set in the decade you were born	Eleanor and Park	Rainbow Rowell
A book  you meant to read in 2017	The Good Daughter	Karin Slaughter
A book with an ugly cover	The Secret History	Donna Tartt
A book that involves a bookstore or library	Farenhieit 451	Ray Bradbury
Your favorite prompt from a previous challenge	13 Little Blue Envelopes	Maureen Johnson
~Advanced List~
A bestseller from the year you graduated H.S	School Days	Robert Parker
A cyperpunk book	Cinder	Marissa Meyer
A book that was being read by a stranger in public	ACOTAR	Sarah J. Mass
A book tied to your ancestry	Cirlce of Friends	Maeve Binchy
A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title	Orange is the New Black	Piper Kermen
An Allegory	1984	George Orwell
A book by an author with your first or last name	Downfall of a Good Girl	Kimberly Lang
A microhistory	The Devil in White City	Erik Larson
A book about a problem facing society today	Nineteen Minutes	Jodi Picoult
A book reccomended by someone else doing the challenge	Little Fires Everywhere	Celeste Ng

November Wrap up

Well its been a hectic few months for and its just going to get worse I feel for some reason. I read 5 books this month and that's less than I would have liked but I glad I got those in. Let's start with
The Sixes by Kate White. When new teacher Phoebe Hall undertakes the dangerous quest of uncovering the truth behind the ghastly recent happenings, her investigation will send her into the clutches of a deadly secret society—the Sixes—and unearth the dark relics of her own long-buried past. I really enjoyed this book, I wasn't sure how it was all going to tie in and wrap things up but White did an amazing job. I have recently gotten on a kick with books set at school or universities. I am not sure why, but I love them. I liked the main character from the beginning and felt bad for her at some parts just because she was having to relive things in her past.
The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford
Dana Catrell is shocked when her neighbor Celia is brutally murdered. To Dana’s horror, she was the last person to see Celia alive. Suffering from mania, the result of her bipolar disorder, she has troubling holes in her memory, including what happened on the afternoon of Celia’s death.
Her husband’s odd behavior and the probing of Detective Jack Moss create further complications as she searches for answers. The closer she comes to piecing together the shards of her broken memory, the more Dana falls apart. Is there a murderer lurking inside her . . . or is there one out there in the shadows of reality, waiting to strike again? This was a book that I bought on a whim at the Dollar Tree for a dollar.It was a little bit hard for me to get into but once I did I really just wanted to finish it just to get my questions answered. It's definitely a book about marriage, murder and madness. I was mad trying to figure out was going on, and I didn't really care for her husband. I had it in my mind what had happened but when I finished it I was like well I could see that ending as well. I might try to read another book by this author. It wasn't a bad book , glad I only spent the dollar on it, and I donated it to the little free library in town. Hopefully someone will enjoy it too.
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.
However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined. This book was given to me. I liked it okay. Nothing to boast about. I mean I get that if you make the right choices in your life it will be easier but still you have to make mistakes or you will never learn. I didn't care for the fact that we never find out what happens to everyone else in the story. I mean they should have had to learn from their mistakes as well. The author takes you through everything that they are all going through but you only see the resolution in Sam's life. I had questions about her friends too. I was left with questions so I didn't care for that.
The Parts I Remember by A.K Mills
Welcome to Kelly Rockport’s existence at Haysville University, where responsibility is just an elective. After all, fake IDs, alter egos, and one-night stands are all part of the college experience, right? So what if she blacks out from time to time? Memory is overrated.
When freshman year lasts about as long as a one-night stand and is quickly followed by the Year of the Blackout, Kelly projects junior year to be nothing shy of amazing. But as shots, beer, cocaine and men mesh together in an intoxicating haze, Kelly’s reckless ways get her into serious trouble. The only problem is, she can't remember what happened. I had, had this book on my tablet for three years and I finally decided to read it and I am only mad at myself for not reading it sooner. OMG this book hit a nerve with me. I really liked it and would recommend it to anyone starting college. It reminded me of my time in college and before you say wow she must have been an alcoholic no I wasn't but the premise of the story hit me. I know there were things that I shouldn't have done and I know that the consequences that could have happened to me would have been bad. I had to keep reading just to see what was happening and why her parents were telling her everything. I really didn't like her sisters boyfriend he just pissed me off every time I had to read about him. I think that things escalated fast and then just came to an abrupt stop. I also really liked the author style of writing. I will be looking for more from them.
The Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardiner
A string of high-profile murder-suicides has San Francisco more rattled than the string of recent earthquakes. Hired by the SFPD to shed light on the victims' lives, forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett makes a shocking discovery: all the suicides belonged to a group of A-listers with lots of money and plenty to hide. And soon Jo finds herself trapped in a nightmare from her past when she gets invited to join the club. This book took me a few chapters for me to be pulled completely in; but once it did I was trying to figure out who was in the club and what they did to get in the club. I really liked Jo, I even liked Tang the officer working with Jo. I liked the concept of the book and I think it would be one that I would tell someone that they needed to read. I thought that I had the end figured out but it had a twist and then it made sense.
The Woods by Harlan Coben
Paul Copeland, a New Jersey county prosecutor, is still grieving the loss of his sister twenty years ago—the night she walked into the woods, never to be seen again. But now, a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to the disappearance. The victim could be the boy who vanished along with Paul's sister. And, as hope rises that his sister could still be alive, dangerous secrets from his family's past threaten to tear apart everything Paul has been trying to hold together...
I really liked this book and will definitely be reading more from him. I liked the main character for sure and felt that he made the book, I liked the fact that he made amends with his past. I also liked Lucy I felt that something was off with her and by the end of the book it made sense. I really liked how he ended it; and usually I don't like open ended endings but I feel that this was the best way that he could have. I mean I don't want to give it away but I think that the ending was perfect. Let her decide how things are she is the one that has to answer for things in the end.

I went to the library book store the other day and came out with Girl, Interrupted by Susana Kaysen, Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie, Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter, The Survivors Club by Lisa Gardner and Pure Murder by Corey Mitchell all for $3.25 so I thought that was definitely a score.

Percy has made his appearance at the house for the month of Christmas and he is already having fun and making messes. I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeves for the rest of the month.

As of right now I have read 60 books this year I hope to make it to my goal of 75 by the new year. I am only 15 books behind I think I can do it. I am going to try and do the 2018 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge ( advanced as well) I mean that's only 50 books. My thing is I am afraid I wont be able to read books about things I don't like. I don't like being told what to read and when to read it. So I guess we will see. I will post the challenge at the end of this page.