A HUMBLE QUEST TO READ 100 BOOKS IN 2018
by Jenne
- Books read this month: 13
- Books read so far this year: 27
It was another mystery heavy month, but I’m not going to apologize for that. I’ve been trying to read mysteries without murders in them, so that Aunt Dimity books, the Amelia Peabody books and the Mrs. Pollifax books all fit that bill. Additionally I read some great YA books this month, which is a hazard/perk of being a children’s librarian!
My favorites:
- Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson- Johnson is one of my favorite YA authors and her new mystery series does not disappoint. It’s set at an eccentric school for young geniuses of various types. Stevie, the main character, is obsessed with true crime, specifically the disappearance and murder of the wife and daughter of the school’s founder decades earlier, which she is bent on solving. When a real life crime hits the school, Stevie takes it upon herself to solve that crime as well, and is quickly entangled in a web of deceit and villainy.
- Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton– As previously stated, I am trying to find mysteries sans murders and this was a great one. It was cozy and quirky and I loved it so much that I added the next 25 books in the series to my Goodreads “to-read” shelf. Lori Shepherd is going through a rough patch. But her life is turned upside down when she receives a letter telling her that her Aunt Dimity has passed away. Lori is shocked by the news, since as far as she knew Aunt Dimity was only a character in her mother’s bedtime stories…
- When My Heart Joins the Thousands by A.J. Stieger- I liked this book from the start but I wasn’t sure if I really liked it or I just felt like I should like it. It wasn’t until ⅔ of the way through that I fell in love with it. Alvie has always been different. She understands animals much better than she understands people and she sees no need for friends. All she wants is to be left alone and to be independent. But all of that changes when she meets Stanley. For the first time, Alvie is drawn to someone, for reasons she can’t quite explain. As Stanley and Alvie grow closer, she realizes that while her differences make it hard for her to understand people, they don’t mean that she has to be alone.
- Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews– These lighthearted murder mysteries center around Meg Langlow, a blacksmith with a wacky family and a penchant for stumbling across murders.
Full list of February Reads:
- The Jesus Cow by Michael Perry
- Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson
- Killing Thyme (A Spice Shop Mystery #3) by Leslie Budewitz
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Awkward (Awkward #1) by Svetlana Chmakova
- Aunt Dimity’s Death (Aunt Dimity Mystery #1) by Nancy Atherton
- Murder with Peacocks (Meg Langslow #1) by Donna Andrews
- Murder with Puffins (Meg Langslow #2) by Donna Andrews
- Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1) by Elizabeth Peters
- The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (Mrs. Pollifax #1) by Dorothy Gilman
- Aunt Dimity and the Duke (Aunt Dimity Mystery #2) by Nancy Atherton
- Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos (Meg Langslow #3) by Donna Andrews
- When My Heart Joins the Thousands by A.J. Stieger