Reading for Me

The Books I Have Read…..Just for Me

Jan 5

Ready or Not (January 5, 2026)

by kennithfreeman

Happy New Year! I hope that 2026 arrived in your corner of the world with the promises of prosperity, love, and lots of great reading ahead. As the calendar turns to January, I find myself coming to the end of a much needed break. After spending just over 3 weeks at home, it is time to begin the journey back to Texas to begin another semester of work. Since I’m not ready to return to reality, I dove deep into my reading this week.

I want to give you fair warning….this post is a bit longer than normal. In addition to this week’s finishes and what I’m currently reading, I have also included a look back at my December reading as well as a review of the year in reading.

What I Finished This Week

Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand. My final book of 2025 was finished on Wednesday afternoon. Once again, I returned to the story of the Quinn family. This installment in the story was not as compelling as that in Winter Street. With Patrick in jail and Bart still missing in action, Winter Stroll focuses on how those left behind in Nantucket are dealing with their absences. I thought the story lines that focused on Mitzi, Margaret, Julie, and Barrett were really well written. Ava’s petty love triangle between two men — neither of whom are treating her very well, honestly — as well as the issues between Kevin and Isabelle as they begin their family were trite and lessened the impact of the stories about the suffering of mothers, addiction, and the impact an absent father has on children. 3 stars.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. My first finish of 2026 was a book from My Library Shelf that I thoroughly enjoyed. Written in a dual timeline, the story focuses on the growing relationship between Henry and Keiko. Henry is a 5th grade Chinese-American living in Seattle as the Second World War rages in Europe. His parents are very traditional and see everyone who is not either Chinese or Caucasian as the enemy. While attending a predominately white school, Henry meets Keiko, a Japanese-American student. Their friendship continues to grow until Keiko and her family are resettled into a Japanese internment camp, ultimately ending up in Idaho. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a beautiful story of love, acceptance, and tragedy. This story will definitely stay with me for many years to come. 5 stars.

The Inn at Ocean’s Edge by Colleen Coble. I needed a new audiobook and randomly selected Coble’s novel in my Libby subscription. It wasn’t until completing the book that I learned that Colleen Coble is an author of Christian fiction — a genre I typically don’t enjoy. (I find that Christian fiction tends to hit you over the head with the moral of the story rather than simply letting the characters speak directly to the reader’s heart.) Claire is the daughter of a wealthy businessman who has returned to the coastal village that was the site of her abduction and return when she was four. Haunted by memories of her past that she cannot piece together, she seeks the truth of what happened during her missing year. On the coast, Claire meets Luke, a member of the Coast Guard whose mother disappeared on the same night as Claire’s abduction. Were the two events connected? Coble creates a lovely mystery that is filled with moments of hope and faith. I discovered a new author to enjoy! 4 stars.

What I’m Currently Reading

Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble (2:22 of 8:54). This is the second book in the Sunset Cove series. After enjoying The Inn at Ocean’s Edge so much, I decided that it only made sense to continue the story. When I found the entire series available as a single credit download on Audible, the purchase was a no-brainer since I have several long drives coming up this month. The story returns to the coastal Maine community with many of our favorite characters returning, but this time the focus is on Mallory, a single mother dealing with the guilt of past mistakes and the apparent murder of her father on his boat in the quiet town.

Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser (p. 133 of 446). I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this read! I understand why the book has gotten so much good press and was selected as the 2025 Barnes and Noble Book of the Year as well as earning Schlesser France’s 2025 Author of the Year award. Mona is a young girl who lost her sight for a horrifying 63 minutes. Doctors are uncertain of the cause, but fear that Mona may lose her sight permanently within the next year. The family is advised to consult a child psychiarist; her beloved grandfather has a different plan for the child’s emotional health. Each week, Mona and her grandfather visit one of Paris’ great museums to intently study a single work of art before launching into a discussion about what they see there. The descriptions Schlesser provides about the masterpieces are as beautiful as the images themselves. Each chapter of the novel focuses on a different artwork, so I am slowing my progress a bit so I can find an image of the piece to examine for myself before entering into Mona’s journey. So far, it is a lovely experience.

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri (p. 250 of 387). I am continuing my descent into Hell with Dante and Virgil. I am now in the final third of the pit and encountering some of the most memorable scenes of the work. I only read a handful of cantos this week, but as the end is coming into sight, I am finding myself drawn back to the journey. I’m about to begin Canto 20 this week; there are only 34 in the entire work.

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (p. 204 of 1304). I hope you are ready to get a lot of updates about this brick of a book for the next few months! Hugo’s novel is the first book of 2026 in The Active Mind Book Club. If I can stay on track with the proposed reading plan, I should finish the novel the week of February 9. This week’s reading (Week 1) has been challenging and extremely slow. Not only was there a lot of detail about minor characters that I know do not play pivotal roles in the work as a whole, but I have found the new translation by Christine Donougher (for the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) to be stodgy at times. I’m hoping that improves as I get more comfortable with her rhythm and style. As I neared the end of this week’s section, things were a bit better as I encountered familiar characters including Valjean, Fantine, and Javert. I have been struck by the novel’s focus on punishment and how it is impossible for a tiger to change its stripes. I’m looking forward to getting into the revolutionary themes in the weeks ahead. Wish me luck as I continue to plow through!

December in Review

  • Books read in December: 13 books (up 4 books from November)
    • 5 physical
    • 5 digital
    • 3 audio
  • Pages read in December: 4,510 (up 2,115 pages from November)
  • Highest rated book: Good Spirits by B.K. Borison – 5 stars
  • Lowest rated book: The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan – 3 stars

2025 Reading By the Numbers

2025 was an outstanding reading year for me. It was by far my most productive year. What do I attribute the success to? I think there were a couple of things at play. First, just setting a realistic daily goal of 20 pages was life changing. I found myself making my way into a book most days since I wasn’t making a huge time commitment. Once I started reading, I relaxed into the activity and normally would spend about an hour in the pages of a beloved story. Second, I responded very well to the prompts provided by The 52 Book Club. My reading now had direction rather than just wandering through the stacks in search of my next read. Not every read was a great experience, but because I knew it was only one prompt, I was confident that another exceptional read was just a few days away. It also provided me a regular stack of “next reads” — I was never uncertain of what book was coming next.

Let’s look at the numbers for 2025. I crushed my goal of 52 books for the year and finished the year with 87 books read! Just so there’s no question that I was only reading tiny works, I had a grand total of 31,620 pages read. With 9 books earning 5 stars, I had a year of really good reading. (In fact, I gave 43 of the year’s books 4 stars or higher.) I tended to finish the books I started too….only 4 DNFs for 2025.

Best Book of 2025?

I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about the books I have read in the last 12 months. They brought me laughter and tears. They allowed me to explore new ideas and interact with characters that became friends. As I look back at the 9 books that I rated the highest — 5 stars — I have special memories from each of them. However, one book has stayed with me and I constantly find my thoughts returning to it. The best book I read in 2025 was…..

PANCHINKO by MIN JIN LEE!

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Dec 8

In the Holiday Spirit (December 8, 2025)

by kennithfreeman

It is officially the Christmas season! I love the sights, the sounds, and the smells. I’m also a sucker for a good Christmas story. I expect to see a lot of Christmas tree farms, Santa suits, baking competitions, and naughty Christmas spirits in my reading for the next few weeks. And since there is a Christmas Bingo board from The 52 Book Club, I get to play a game while reading. Let the fun of the seasonal reading get into full swing.

What I Finished This Week

The Mistletoe Kisser by Lucy Score. As soon as Thanksgiving is over, I begin to celebrate Christmas. I love the season and I love all of the cheesy Hallmark movies. So it should be no surprise that I also enjoy reading holiday romances. Sammy received her first kiss under the mistletoe at a holiday festival in her small town. Many years pass and her “mistletoe kisser” returns to help with a family emergency. There’s only one problem….the man who returned is not her Christmas fantasy. Sure, he shares his first name with his cousin — the real “mistletoe kisser” — but that is where the similarity ends. This Ryan is grumpy and a bit of a Scrooge. The book was a cute enemies-to-lovers tale set during the holidays. The spice level was relatively mild until one massive chapter in the middle of the book…..Reader, you have been warned! I’m using this as part of the December 2025 bingo challenge — a novel set in a small town. 3.5 stars.

The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan. This was the first read for My Library Shelf and also represented a book with a leafy green cover for the “starter course” of the May 2025 mini challenge. Set alternately in Los Angeles and Iran, the novel focuses on the lives of the women in one wealthy Jewish-Iranian family. Women are meant to be silent and unobserved. Their only purpose is to bear children — and those children only have worth if they are sons. While the writing is sometimes stilted, the story is gripping and the plight of the women grabs your heart. This is a prime example of why I love reading my way through a library shelf; I never would have picked up this book on my own. I’m so glad that I did. 3 stars.

The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig. Christmas is for children, so this seemed like the perfect time to dip my toe back into children’s literature. This 2016 novel is a really charming read about how Amelia, a young orphan girl in Victorian London, helped Father Christmas and saved the holiday. Complete with elves, trolls, a depressing children’s workhouse, and lots of magic, The Girl Who Saved Christmas was an outstanding read that will keep the attention of the most reluctant reader. With appearances from Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and Charles Dickens, the book is packed with adult humor that is creatively woven into the text — making this a perfect option for a family read-aloud as you head into Christmas. 4 stars.

What I’m Currently Reading

Good Elf Gone Wrong by Alina Jacobs (3:56 of 13:47). With a busy week of driving ahead, I wanted to get a start on an audiobook. Of course, I got pulled into the story and have kept dipping back in to see what will happen next! Gracie was checking on the Christmas cinnamon rolls the night before her Christmas Day wedding when she caught her fiance canoodling with her sister under the tree! A year later, Gracie is headed back home for the holidays….and the Christmas Day wedding of her sister and her cheating ex. Gracie is convinced that this wedding should not happen and enlists the help of Hudson, a mysterious bad boy she encountered on the bus, to rip the couple apart. How? Hudson will pose as Gracie’s boy toy…..and will flirt with her sister mercilessly. The story features some hysterical characters and outrageous scenes. However, it is not for the meek! Language and scenes are graphic.

Billionaire Secret Santa by Lena Michaels (p. 32 of 178). I picked up this holiday romance on a whim on Saturday night because I needed to take a break from the children’s story. The set up of the story is straight out of a cheesy holiday rom-com. At his office’s holiday party, Bruce DeVos poses as Santa so he can watch his employees without them realizing it. He is assisted by a woman dressed in an elf costume who goes by the name “Snowy.” Bruce is intrigued by her and cannot take his eyes off of her. The two share a kiss at the end of the night, but Snowy never shares her true identity. When Holly arrives in the office on Monday morning as a possible new employee, Bruce recognizes his mystery elf immediately and the sexual tension begins. This is not high literature, but it’s a fun, quick romance before I hit the road on Tuesday evening.

Christmas Bingo!

The December mini-challenge appeared early in the month and that gave me permission to start all of the Christmas reading. I’ve completed two prompts so far, putting me in a pretty good place with my Bingo board. Here’s how things are shaping up after a week of Christmas reading.

Upcoming Plans

With the driving and a holiday performance in Nashville on Friday evening, I’m not entirely sure how much reading I’ll actually get done this week. I expect to finish both of my current reads. Then I have a few more recent additions to my TBR calling my name.

  • Holiday Ever After – Hannah Grace
  • Good Spirits – B.K. Borison
  • Where Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster
  • Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros

I guess we will all just have to wait until next Monday to see what I actually dive into as I continue Reading for Me.

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Dec 1

Gobble, Gobble (December 1, 2025)

by kennithfreeman

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. As usual, I spent most of the holiday week with my parents in Arkansas. The food was good. The rest was needed. The meal was awkward and uncomfortable. The reading time was heavenly. Three out of four ain’t bad, I suppose. Now it is time to get back to work for the last week of classes before administering finals….then a whirlwind trip back to Arkansas for Christmas.

What I Finished This Week

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli. I have never enjoyed science. As a student, I have taken the minimum number of classes in the field at the most general level of understanding and did not perform well in the courses. It wasn’t that the material was especially difficult. I simply didn’t find the topic interesting. When the prompt appeared in the November 2025 minis to read a book from the 500s of the Dewey Decimal system (science), I immediately assumed that would be the prompt for the month that I did not complete. While packing to travel for Thanksgiving, the thought of lugging around Iron Flame to continue Rebecca Yarros’ series was too much. So I searched the library for a small book about science that I thought I could handle. An international bestseller, Seven Brief Lessons is written in a conversational style with lots of practical illustrations to help the novice scientist understand the basic concepts of physics. If I was more interested in the topic in general, I think I would have probably enjoyed this read. Having said that, I see its appeal. While it wasn’t a personal favorite for me, I will still give it a good star rating. 3 stars.

Among Friends by Hal Ebbott. This novel was very slow moving. Two couples have been good friends since college, especially the two husbands. While spending a weekend together in upstate New York, things begin to unravel — an injured ankle, an argument over a lemon tart, and a teenage daughter is allegedly groped by her father’s best friend while she is doing laundry upstairs. Once the allegation is made, the novel improves greatly. Anna, the victim, questions what actually happened and if it is worth telling anyone about. Her mother is convinced that Anna lied about the assault in order to get out of trouble when she is caught shoplifting. Anna’s father doesn’t know who to believe — his daughter, his wife, or his best friend. The friend (and alleged predator) simply asks “Why would Anna say this?” While I nearly DNF’d the book when it was not moving at all, the second half showed glimpses of brilliance and hope that Ebbott will develop into a talented writer. This is the author’s first novel. 3 stars.

And with that finish, I also completed the November 2025 mini-challenge of The 52 Book Club.

What I’m Currently Reading

The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan (p. 184 of 271). I went to the library this week in search of a book with a leafy green cover. That was the entire basis of this selection and I could not have been happier with the results if I had searched painstakingly for a great read. The novel tells the story of a Jewish family that immigrated to the US after facing violence in Iran. The narrative shifts between the current timeline in Los Angeles and the challenges faced in Iran. The shifts occur through the narrator’s memories of her treasured gardens in both locales. I know that the synopsis I have provided sounds very bleak; I would be lying if I tried to tell you that the story is not dark. But yet, there is a sense of hope as those who are victimized look to their family and their faith for support.

The Mistletoe Kisser by Lucy Score (p. 52 of 267). Once the Thanksgiving turkey was put away, it was time to begin some Christmas reading. Since I am a sucker for a good romance during the holidays, this book seemed like a good choice on a recent bookstore visit. The premise is much as we would expect. A teenage girl meets a young Ryan Reynolds look alike at the town holiday festival and receives her first kiss under a grove of mistletoe. Now as adults, Ryan — a true holiday grouch — returns to the small town to save his uncle’s farm and surprisingly runs into the girl he first kissed, though now all grown up. Very early in this one, but I am already enjoying the humor and finding myself laughing out loud as I read.

November in Review

  • Books read in November: 9 books (up 1 from October)
    • 6 physical
    • 1 ebook
    • 1 audiobook
    • 1 combined audio & physical
  • Pages read in November: 2,395 pages (down 1,059 pages from October)
  • Highest rated book: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee – 5 stars
  • Lowest rated book: Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline – 2.75 stars

My Library Shelf

As though I don’t have enough going on in my reading life, I decided this week to bring back another personal challenge to my literary life. My Library Shelf project was first introduced to me in 2014 when I read Phyllis Rose’s The Shelf: Adventures in Extreme Reading. When visiting her local library, Rose realized that the book she planned to pick up was not going to be a good fit for her in that moment. That’s when she decided to venture into the unknown and select a shelf of the library at random to read her way through.

I have worked through a couple of shelves at various libraries since 2014 with mixed results. I have a few basic guidelines. The shelf must include at least one book that I consider a classic. The other stipulation is that no author can be represented by more than five books on the shelf. What I like about shelf reading is that it introduces me to new authors and forces me to explore genres I might typically avoid. I am still free to DNF any book I encounter as long as I give it enough of a read to get a taste for the material. I don’t put a timeline on the reading project, but I’m hoping to complete this task before the end of 2026.

Last Monday morning (November 24, 2025), I visited Unger Memorial Library in Plainview, Texas. Using the guidelines above, I set out to select a library shelf to read through. I was also looking for a book with a leafy green cover, so once I found a book that would fit that criteria, I would examine the shelf to see if it would fit my challenge. One of the pitfalls I quickly ran into was due to the large number of complete series that are shelved in my local library. It took me quite a while to find a shelf that contained less than 5 books by any single author. The shelf that I settled on was FORD-FORS.

My shelf contains 23 volumes representing 11 authors. Here’s the list of books that will be included in the current edition of My Library Shelf.

Ford, Ford MadoxThe Good Soldier
Ford, JackChariot on the Mountain
Ford, JamieHotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Ford, JamieLove and Other Consolation Prizes
Ford, JamieThe Many Daughters of Afong Moy
Ford, JamieSongs of Willow Frost
Ford, JeffreyA Girl in the Glass
Ford, JeffreyA Natural History of Hell
Ford, Kelly J.Real Bad Things
Forest, KristinaThe Partner Plot
Foreman, GayleLeave Me
Foroutan, ParnazThe Girl from the Garden
Forster, E.M.The Collected Tales of E.M. Forster
Forster, E.M.Maurice
Forster, E.M.A Passage to India
Forster, E.M.A Room with a View
Forster, E.M.Where Angels Fear to Tread
Forstchen, William R.48 Hours
Forstchen, William R.The Final Day
Forstchen, William R.One Second After
Forstchen, William R.One Year After
Forsyth, FrederickAvenger
Forsyth, FrederickThe Day of the Jackal

As you can see, I have a wide variety of books to explore — everything from classics to thrillers and family sagas. If something will fit one of the 2026 prompts for the reading challenge, I’ll certainly use it there. So far, it seems that only a few of them will fit into my plans for the challenge. Perhaps the mini-challenges is where they will fit? Either way, I’m rather excited about exploring some of these works as I have begun to look at the basic ideas surrounding them. We will just have to see what the results are as I continue my off-the-path reading adventure.

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Feb 21

#4: A Darkness More Than Night (Michael Connelly)

by kennithfreeman

It seems that I am constantly playing catch up in my blogging. February has not been a nice month. There was simply no time to read….much less write about my reading! I finished reading the 7th of the Harry Bosch novels back in the middle of January and I’m just getting to blogging about it over a month later. As you can see, I wasn’t terribly excited to write about this book.

A Darkness More Than Night is a bit of a departure from what we have come to expect from Connelly’s plots. Harry is testifying in a murder trial against a Hollywood powerhouse while he is also being investigated as a suspect in another case. The new police detectives introduced in this story are not as fully developed as the cast of characters we have grown to love in the series, making the novel feel shallow and ill conceived.

I have shared my feelings about this novel with others who have read the series and they shared my sentiments about the abruptness of the changes in the structure. However, they did encourage me to continue reading the series as they think that I will continue to enjoy the books. I don’t know that I will finish the series though. I began reading the books as part of the My Library Shelf project and Darkness was the last of Connelly’s books on my shelf. I have a good feel for his writing and his voice. I have enjoyed the books, but I think there are many other authors that I would rather explore rather than devoting so much time and energy to this single storyteller.

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Nov 29

#27: Angels Flight (Michael Connelly)

by kennithfreeman

November was not a kind month for my blogging, but I actually managed to get some reading done during the month. What was the problem on my end? There were a few things. I’ve fought a cold for most of the month that finally turned the corner and became a mild case of bronchitis. It’s also the season of voice competitions and various auditions that require video recordings for my singers. There have been job applications to complete. (Yes, I’m looking for a new place to land. Have a lead for an open position for a collaborative pianist and teacher? I’m all ears!) Just to add to the fun, my portable keyboard decided that the keys now need to stick which makes typing at home much more challenging than it should be. I could use the iMac, but I’ve gotten spoiled by writing from the comfort of my recliner and sharing my thoughts with you, dear readers. Alas, this blog is not designed to tell you about the challenges in my personal life…..so let’s get back to the books.

Early in November, I read Michael Connelly’s Angels Flight, another of the Harry Bosch novels that I have been reading as part of My Library Shelf challenge. In this book, Harry finds himself called to investigate a mysterious hit outside of his normal jurisdiction. Why? Because the victim was a prominent lawyer who was in the process of bringing a case against the LAPD for corruption and racial bias. This novel finds Harry facing off with some old foes while trying to maintain relationships that he has built. Of all of the Harry Bosch novels that I have read thus far, this was by far the most enjoyable. Angels Flight captivated me not only with its intense plot, but Connelly’s excellent character development as well. While I wouldn’t recommend reading this one as a stand alone because the relationships that have been built in previous novels are all important to the story, this definitely suggests that Connelly has found his best voice and that the following installments in the Bosch series will continue to benefit as a result.

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Dec 8

#31: Over the Edge (Mary Connealy)

by kennithfreeman

It has been far too long since I have finished reading a novel, but the dry spell finally ended today! As my students were turning in their exam, I was working through the final pages of the novel. Rather than returning to the office right away to get things graded, I sat quietly in the classroom to finally reach the series’ conclusion.

Over the Edge is the final volume of Mary Connealy’s Kincaid Brides trilogy. In this installment, our focus is on Seth, the brother who was horribly injured in a hiking accident as a child. Seth now finds himself reconnected with the wife he has forgotten and a child he never knew about. When danger threatens Callie, Seth faces his own demons and returns to the cavern where all of his torment began. Will he be able to overcome the darkness that has haunted him for so many years? Or will he finally discover the power of exposing our troublesome pasts to the light of truth?

Over the Edge finally answers questions that readers have searched for throughout the trilogy. The conclusion was satisfying, but I don’t know that I will say that everything is resolved. There were still loose ends that need to be tied up. I’m not sure if there are additional stories about the Kincaid family or not…..and I’m not sure that I am invested enough to continue reading them if there are.

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Nov 13

The View From My Reading Chair – November 13, 2021

by kennithfreeman

I am slowly returning to my life as a multi-book reader. I don’t necessarily enjoy reading this way, but at times it is necessary. Since I have decided to enroll in a graduate class in January (19th Century British History), I need to get a jump start on one of the four (!) book reviews required in this 8-week course. (Yeah, I’m thinking the professor just condensed his normal 16-week course and decided to have us do all of the work in half the time. Crickey!) So I’m slowly making my way through a historical biography and reading a piece of fluff fiction on the side.

The biography on my side table at the moment is Disraeli by Robert Blake. I must admit that I know very little about Disraeli’s role in British history other than that he ultimately served as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Currently, I’m reading about his early life with a special attention to his first novel, Vivian Grey. I’m finding Disraeli an interesting figure to read about and the writing itself is fairly easy to follow. (The same cannot be said for the first book I attempted to read for this assignment. I still don’t really know what I read in the first few chapters of A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People?: England 1783-1846 by B.A. Hilton!)

When I returned my last book to the local library, I decided it was time to return to My Library Shelf project — I really would like to finish reading that shelf someday! — and picked up two books. Right now, I’m enjoying the last book in Mary Connealy’s The Kincaid Brides trilogy. Over the Edge opens with a stage coach robbery and the discovery that Seth Kincaid’s wife and child — both of which he doesn’t remember — are making their way to Colorado in search of Seth and the benefits of marriage. The situation is made more problematic because Seth has already deserted his young wife once and she does not trust him — but she needs help. A romance that is both a Western and Christian are not my normal fare, but I have enjoyed the previous two books in the series. It’s an easy read so far, so that is a nice change of pace after reading about British history!

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Sep 25

#26: Trunk Music (Michael Connelly)

by kennithfreeman

I am so excited to share with you that I finished a book this week! That really is excellent news for me. I dropped the ball in other areas of my life, but I think I have managed to get back into the groove of reading daily for pleasure.

Trunk Music was another of the Harry Bosch novels that I have discovered as part of My Library Shelf project. In this installment, Harry and his partners find a corpse in the trunk of a white Rolls Royce overlooking the summer finale performance of the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. (I love those kind of details….I can picture the scene clearly in my mind’s eye!) Once the dead man is identified as a second-rate movie mogul who has been laundering money for criminals, everything points to the murder as a mob hit. Harry follows the case to the seedier side of Las Vegas and finds the murderer.

At least, he *thinks* he has found the murderer. Connelly sets up so many twists and turns in this plot that your reading feels like an exciting roller coaster ride. I was never fully certain where I was going to end up, but I knew that I was enjoying the ride! Life-changing things are happening for Bosch on the personal front as well at the close of the novel — he marries Eleanor finally! I’m definitely a fan of the Harry Bosch novels, but I’m ready for something a little different in my reading life for the coming week.

So what’s the next book that I’m diving into? I decided to stick with My Library Shelf and am reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. This is definitely not something I would normally pick up, but I have to admit that I am intrigued by what I have learned about the novel so far. First published in 1868, the novel took London by storm when it first appeared in a serialized form in Charles Dickens’ weekly magazine. It seems to be one of the first versions of the genre we now know as “detective stories.” I’m only a few pages into the book on this chilly Saturday and have found myself struggling to get into the writing. So far, much of the story has been setting the stage about the history of this strange “moonstone” gem and the supposed curse that follows it. As I am beginning the story proper, I’m really hoping that the story will become more engaging. The library card jacket suggests that it is included on Accelerated Reader lists in the city, so I’m anxious to see if I think it can hold the attention of a young reader. It is rather long — 464 pages — so I’m hoping that it grabs my attention and is a rather quick read. I don’t want to spend my time wading through a novel that I’m just not enjoying.

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May 4

#10: The Last Coyote (Michael Connelly)

by kennithfreeman

With the end of the semester, I found myself ready to dive back into some reading to kick the summer off in the right way. I decided that it was time to return to the world of Harry Bosch and see what was happening with my new favorite detective. Unfortunately, this installment in the Bosch series was challenging for me to read….but I’m not entirely certain why.

The story should have been enthralling to me. Bosch finds himself on administrative leave from the LAPD and takes a look at the archived murder book that contains the details of his mother’s unsolved murder many years ago. Clearly, Bosch is invested in seeing this case closed and is willing to go to any extreme necessary to find out the truth of what really happened. What I did not find as enjoyable was the exploration of Bosch’s inner struggle and the mandated visits to the psychologist to return to the police force. While those are typically themes that would be very interesting to me, in this case, I found them distracting from the case at hand.

The other BIG problem with this reading experience was hard to overlook. The Unger Library did not have a stand-alone copy of The Last Coyote. Instead, I read the novel from a large collection of the Bosch novels. It was impossible to find a way to hold the book at just the right angle without feeling as though I was putting undue pressure on my hands and wrists. Why do publishers think these massive volumes are good ideas for readers? My reading pace slowed significantly simply because I could not hold the book for long stretches of time. I think the physical discomfort put me in a bad mindset that carried over into my reading experience. Yes, I’m sure I could have found a copy of the e-book. I simply don’t enjoy reading on a digital device. Since I spend the majority of my work day with my iPad as an extension of my hand, I don’t find it relaxing to continue using it when I am trying to move into pleasure reading. I will occasionally read an e-book on the device, but it is typically something that I don’t want to admit that I’m reading or something that I don’t really care how long it takes me to work through.

Because of the extreme weight that accompanied The Last Coyote, I next reading adventures are in audio and paperback formats. I’m finding both of them enriching and a joy to read again. I may just have to pick up the digital version of the next Bosch novel to avoid spending any more time with this ENORMOUS book.

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Apr 18

Reading Update: Books 7-9

by kennithfreeman

I have been very negligent in updating you on the books that I have been reading. The end of March and the first half of April was a busy time, but I managed to make my way through three novels. Here’s a quick update on what I’ve read and enjoyed.

#7: The Four Winds (Kristin Hannah)

I received this novel through the Book of the Month Club and it has been one of my favorite novels of the year so far. I cannot give it high enough praise! The story starts in rural west Texas (where I’m living these days) and progresses to the cotton fields of southern California in the height of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. In many ways, I think of it as a modern retelling of The Grapes of Wrath with female protagonists. Excellent novel that I did not want to put down!

#8: In Too Deep (Mary Connealy)

As the semester was winding down, I wanted to devote a few weeks of my reading to making more progress through My Library Shelf Project. This novel is the second volume of The Kincaid Brides series, a Christian romance series set in the wild west of Colorado. I found this volume much more entertaining than the first and did not feel as though it was quite as formulaic in its structure. I have one more book in the series on my shelf to read, so I’m hoping the writing continues to follow the upward trend. If you are looking for a quaint romance without the sultry sexiness on every page, this just might be the perfect book for you.

#9: The Concrete Blonde (Michael Connelly)

This is one of the hidden gems I have discovered on My Library Shelf. I am officially a fan of the Harry Bosch crime novels. This novel centers around the civil case resulting from Bosch’s killing of an unarmed suspect as he reached for his toupee hidden beneath his pillow. The event was alluded to in the earlier novels, so I was very happy to see the issue dealt with in greater detail and explained more fully in this novel. I began reading this novel just before bedtime and decided it was not a good nighttime choice. The story was too engaging and I simply did not want to wait to find out what happened next. I tore through this novel in just a few days and plan to pick up the next in the series tomorrow from the local library.

historical My Library Shelf romance thriller update

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