Monday, January 2, 2023

2022 Books Read

These are my last two reviews of books read in 2022. 

Book Recommendations
The Librarian Spy
by Madeline Martin is a story that takes place during WWII in two locations - occupied Paris, France, and neutral Lisbon, Portugal. Each location follows a woman who's integral to war efforts - Elaine, a printer in the Resistance, and Ava, an American who's sent to Lisbon to take microfiche pictures of Resistance newspapers and flyers. While Elaine's involvement is high risk, and with food in short supply, she's facing the most difficult challenges, Ava too must be subversive when a spy can be anywhere. When Ava detects a coded message, she becomes involved in assisting Elaine and the Resistance to help two evacuees. 

Though I've read enough WWII stories to believe I understand hardships and persecution, knowing this doesn't making reading such stories any easier. This one is well-done though, and by a Tampa, Florida author too.

A word about the narrator, Saskia Maarleveld. She's top-notch! Her acting skills are spot-on in this book, and others she's narrated, includig The Rose Code and The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. I highly recommend these titles too.
 
Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

All Good People Here
by Ashley Flowers is a bit of a far-fetched story, with a few hard-to-believe moments, but overall was very entertaining.

Margo was six when January Jacobs, her best friend across the street, was missed from her home and later found in a ditch, dead. Working as a news reporter, Margo has escaped the small town of Wakarusa, Indiana. When her dear Uncle Luke shows signs of dementia at the age of 50, Margo returns to take care of him. However, just as she's arrived, another young girl has gone missing. Even though it's been decades since January's unsolved death happened, new messages arouse new suspicions, and Margo's determined to get to the bottom of what happened. Everyone believes the case died when January's mother committed suicide, but as Margo investigates, she comes to understand that no one has ever gotten to the truth. And there's more danger to Margo's life than she realizes. 

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

These last two 2022 book reviews bring my total reads to 99 for the year. While most of them were audiobooks, a few were print books. 

Here are all the books in order of my rankings, from the highest to lowest. You can find this list and those from 2020 and 2021 on the ALL BOOKS READ tab at the top of my blog home page. 

Hopefully, you can choose books to read and enjoy as much as I did.

Read Order

Month Read

Title

Author, Last

Author, First

Score of 5.0

1

01

Go Tell the Bees That I’m Gone

Gabaldon

Diana

5.0

84

11

The Water Keeper

Martin

Charles

4.7

88

11

The Mountain Between Us

Martin

Charles

4.7

75

10

When Crickets Cry

Martin

Charles

4.6

4

01

Apples Never Fall

Moriarty

Leanne

4.6

9

02

Once Upon a Wardrobe

Callaghan

Patti

4.6

22

05

The Girl in the Mirror

Carlyle

Rose

4.5

49

07

 The Diamond Eye

Quinn

Kate

4.5

86

11

The Letter Keeper

Martin

Charles

4.5

92

12

The Record Keeper

Martin

Charles

4.5

5

01

Mr. Nobody

Steadman

Catherine

4.4

54

08

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Van Pelt

Shelby

4.4

57

08

Dirt Creek

Scrivenor

Hayley

4.4

32

06

Not a Sound

Gudenkauf

Heather

4.3

50

07

Take Your Breath Away

Barclay

Linwood

4.3

63

08

The Reading List

Nisha Adams

Sara

4.3

74

10

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

Ford

Jamie

4.3

94

12

Send Down the Rain

Martin

Charles

4.3

97

12

The Locked Room

Griffiths

Elly

4.3

8

02

Firekeeper’s Daughter

Boulley

Angeline

4.2

11

03

The Fixer Upper

Andrews

Mary Kay

4.2

16

03

Keeping Lucy

Greenwood

T.

4.2

29

05

The Young Wife

Hepworth

Sally

4.2

37

06

The Good Sister

Hepworth

Sally

4.2

71

09

The Dark Angel

Griffiths

Elly

4.2

73

10

Daisy Darker

Feeney

Alice

4.2

77

10

The Stolen Marriage

Chamberlain

Diane

4.2

91

12

The Nighthawks

Griffiths

Elly

4.2

25

05

The Maid

Prose

Nita

4.1

31

06

Rock Paper Scissors

Feeney

Alice

4.1

72

10

All the Lonely People

Gayle

Mike

4.1

79

10 

The Dead Don’t Dance

Martin

Charles

4.1

81

10

The Tobacco Wives

Myers

Adele

4.1

6

01

Silent Voices

Cleeves

Ann

4.0

7

02

The Thirteenth Tale

Setterfield

Diane

4.0

10

03

A Different Blue

Harmon

Amy

4.0

15

03

The Newcomer

Andrews

Mary Kay

4.0

21

04

The Overnight Guest

Gudenkauf

Heather

4.0

24

05

When We Meet Again

Harmel

Kristin

4.0

26

05

The Marriage Lie

Belle

Kimberly

4.0

27

05

The Is How I Lied

Gudenkauf

Heather

4.0

33

06

The Crossing Places #1

Grifiths

Elly

4.0

34

06

The Janus Stone #2

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

38

06

The Fence

Jaffe

Meredith

4.0

39

06

Goodnight Beautiful

Molloy

Aimee

4.0

43

07

Between Two Kingdoms

Jaouad

Suleika

4.0

48

07

The Room Full of Bones

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

51

07

The Perfect Mother

Molloy

Aimee

4.0

53

08

The Edge of Summer

Shipman

Viola

4.0

56

08

The Dying Fall

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

61

08

The Golden Couple

Hendricks
Pekkanen

Greer
Sarah

4.0

62

08

The Other Woman

Jones

Sandi

4.0

65

09

The Ghost Fields

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

66

09

The Woman in Blue

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

69

09

The Chalk Pit 

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

76

10

Catherine de Medici 

Frieda

Leonie

4.0

78

10

The Stone Circle

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

80

10 

Maggie

Martin

Charles

4.0

85

11

The Lantern Man

Griffiths

Elly

4.0

93

12

The Marriage Portrait 

O’Farrell

Maggie

4.0

98

12

Librarian Spy

Martin

Madeline

4.0

99

12

All Good People Here

Flowers

Ashley

4.0

14

03

Hello Sunshine

Dave

Laura

3.9

36

06

Rabbit Cake

Hartnett

Annie

3.9

42

07

The Return

Sparks

Nicholas

3.9

45

07

The New Neighbor

Wilson

Carter

3.9

59

08

The Outcast Dead

Griffiths

Elly

3.9

60

08

Before She Was Found

Gudenkauf

Heather

3.9

68

09

Keeper of the Light

Chamberlain

Diane

3.9

87

11

The Cloisters

Hays

Katy

3.9

95

12

Covenant Child

Blackstock

Terri

3.9

2

01

Learning to Speak Southern

Rogers Cook

Lindsay

3.8

12

03

The Yellow Wife

Johnson

Sadeqa

3.8

18

03

The Stories We Tell

Callaghan

Patti

3.8

20

04

Irish Eyes

Andrews

Mary Kay

3.8

41

07

Jane of Austin

Manton Lodge

Hillary 

3.8

44

07

The House at Sea’s End

Griffiths

Elly

3.8

46

07

Best Friends Forever

Hunt

Margot

3.8

58

08

Violetta

Allende

Isabel

3.8

64

09

The Blame Game

Jones

Sandi

3.8

70

09

Buried in a Good Book

Eby

Tamara

3.8

83

11

Mistress of Rome

Quinn

Kate

3.8

90

12

Trespasses

Kennedy

Louise

3.8

13

03

Spring Fever

Andrews

Mary Kay

3.7

28

05

 The End of Her

Lapena

Shari

3.7

35

06

Dead Ringer

Scottoline

Lisa

3.7

40

07

The Unsinkable Greta James

Smith

Jennifer E.

3.7

3

01

Early Morning Riser

Heiny

Katherine

3.6

23

05

The Talented Miss Farwell

Tedrowe

Emily Gray

3.6

30

06

Come Back to Me

Foster

Sara

3.6

52

07

Tiny Little Thing

Williams

Beatriz

3.5

55

08

Ruth’s First Christmas Tree

Griffiths

Elly

3.5

82

10

28 Summers

Hilderbrand

Elin

3.5

96

12

The Girl in the Garden

Wallace

Melanie

3.5

17

03

The Sentence

Erdrich

Louise

3.4

89

11

Fellowship Point

Elliott Dark

Alice

3.4

19

04

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Doerr

Anthony

3.2

47

07

Since We Fell

LeHayne

Dennis

3.2

67

09

A Sparkle of Silver

Johnson

Liz

2.8

Our weekly Saturday morning Farmer's Market didn't happen December 24, so we were glad to have it open again on December 31. This is one week's worth of produce for the two of us. Our cost was $29.50 which I don't think is a bad investment in good health. 

What you see here:

  • 4 bunches of kale
  • 3 bunches of spinach
  • 4 cucumber
  • 4 Ruskin tomatoes
  • 4 peppers
  • 4 lemons
  • 1 red leaf lettuce
  • 1 crookneck squash
  • 1 avocado
In spite of eating vegetables, I have a terrible sweet tooth! In the last couple months I looked for spice drops at Publix, Walgreen, and Dollar Tree. No one had them so I ended up bringing home four small bags from Hy-Vee in Kansas City. Once those were gone, I ordered a 2.5 pound bag from Amazon (I rarely order anything from Amazon). They are yet to arrive - due January 14.

In the meantime, I shared my spice drop woes with a friend in South Florida MQG, Sherry. Look what arrived out of the blue!

Seven bags of spice drops! A note inside the parcel said, "Pace yourself, Linda!" Ha! Sherry explained that she took a prepaid letter envelope to Dollar Tree and stuffed it with as many bags as would fit. What a friend she is, right? In the meantime, it seems Publix's candy supply problem has been fixed, as spice drops are once again available.

Whew.  😅 

So we're off to a good start in 2023, right? Activities resume in full this week. It's the annual winter rush of let's-do-everything-while-seasonal-residents-are here! For me that means I'll need to leave a little earlier for ukulele club, quilting groups, line dance classes, and Bible study. Add two Zoom events this week, and this week's schedule is full. I'm on the run! Linda

9 comments:

  1. What a good friend indeed. I've not heard of spice drops (not something we have here). Are they jellies?

    Wow, you got through a fair few books this year. Thanks for listing them here - gives the rest of us some ideas for our next reads.

    I'm currently reading a book called 'Everyone in my family has killed someone'. It's been slow going and written in a quirky style. I'll keep at it though. I hope you have a wonderful, stitchy week :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for doing this. I saved it to my Google drive with your link and will refer to it throughout the year. You are so organized!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now I'm craving Spice Drops! Haha!!! There's a Dollar Tree a few doors down from the quilt shop, so I see if they're in stock when I work on Wednesday afternoon. You are so organized with your book records. I keep track on Goodreads and that's where it stops for me. When I need a book, I will definitely be looking back on your list, Linda! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow what a book list! Thanks for compiling the list as it gives me lots of ideas. I just keep reading one after another but never keep track. I get all my books from the library and mostly only read in bed so don't complete nearly the number you read. If I listened to audio books I don't think I'd pay much attention. I still prefer physical books.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the book list, Linda! Happy New Year. All those veggies topped off with spice drops- perfect. I have a sweet tooth, too, so understand the pilgrimage to find them in your local stores.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So much I can relate to in this post! I had a good chuckle, and I share your sweet tooth woes, as well as your veggie loves (I'm a longtime vegetarian, 33 years). For me it's chocolate. I've often thought if I read audio books I might be able to double my book total for the year but I prefer to listen to music when I sew and nature sounds when I walk each day. Glad to see how much you enjoyed Bees - I just loved it too, and hope it's not too many years before the next (and last) one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Linda, if you are enjoying the Dropcloth project, I'm sure you will be interested in exploring pintangle.com - a hand-stitching site conducted by Sharron, an American woman living in Canberra, Australia. LOTS of education and inspiration!. Cheers, Alice from Down Under.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for your book recommendations. I am thoroughly enjoying reading the Ruth Galloway mysteries. Just about to start book six in the series...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow! That's an impressive list of books! I kept a list years ago, but found I had almost no use for it, so I no longer know how many I've read. I have enjoyed hearing about some of yours.

    ReplyDelete

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