Prime First Reads - April 2022

 Okay, this month's books: 

• Domestic Suspense - At the Quiet Edge (Victoria Helen Stone)
• Historical Fiction - The Half-life of Ruby Fielding (Lydia Kang)
• True Crime - The Vanishing Triangle: The Murdered Women Ireland Forgot (Claire McGowan)
• Book Club Fiction/Horror - Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold (Umar Turaki)
• Epic Fantasy - The Druid: The Dawning of Muirwood (Jeff Wheeler)
• Suspense - Strangers We Know (Elle Marr)
• Literary Fiction - The Last Goddess (Katerina Tuckova)
• Memoir - American Seoul: A Memoir (Helena Rho)
• Picture Book - I Am Able to Shine (Korey Watari)
  

Horror is out. Ditto for the Suspense/Serial Killers book.  The Fantasy doesn't look interesting, or the picture book.  Library owns Vanishing Triangle. So, WWII fiction, literary fiction, or memoir?  Lit fic has some bad reviews, as does the memoir, so I ended up with The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding.

First Reads - March 2022

 The choices for March:

1.   Domestic thriller - Or Else by Joe Hart
2. Historical fiction - Scarlet Carnation by Laila Ibrahim
3. Thriller - Say Her Name by Mitchell & Carter
   
4.  Memoir - This Time For Me by Alexandra Billings
5.  Historical thriller - Cleopatra's Dagger
6.  Women's fiction - Full by Julia Spiro
7. Memoir - The Betrayal: the true story of my brush with death in the world of Narcos and Launderers
8. Picture book - Before the World Wakes

The library has ordered all the ones I'm interested in (other than Full).  Cutting out the thrillers and the second memoir, and the picture book, leaves four to choose from.  I ended up going with Scarlet Carnation, but may put This Time For Me on hold at the library. 

First Reads - February 2022

 Another month when we get to choose 2 books. 

1.  Domestic thriller - Family Money
2. Historical fiction - A Train to Moscow
3. Fantasy - The Quarter Storm
4. Thriller - Death in the Sunshine
5. Memoir - North to Paradise
6. Romance - The Astronaut and the Star
7. Book club fiction - Like Me
8. Memoir - The Fallen Stones
9. Picture book - This is (Not) Enough

1 is out, thrillers aren't my thing.  3 seems like a fantasy/thriller.  4 is a thriller that wants to be a cozy mystery, with a group of retired cops finding the victim.  The book club fiction is in the thriller category too.  It's basically down to two memoirs, historical fiction, and the rom-com.  The library has one of the memoirs, so it looks like the other memoir (Fallen Stones) and A Train to Moscow this time. 

January First Reads

 January's First Reads choices:

1. Political thriller - Deep Sleep
   
2. Book club fiction (coming-of-age thriller) - The Night Burns Bright
   
3. Historical Fiction - the Lobotomist's Wife
4. Serial Killer - Base Notes
   
5. Women's Fiction - Impossible to Forget
   
6. Historical fantasy - The Raven Spell
   
7. Memoir - Almost Romance by Nancy Balbirer
   
8. Contemporary fiction - Deconstructed
   
9. Picture book - I Am You
   
10. Memoir - They Said They Wanted Revolution: a memoir of my parents
    

Nope to the thriller and serial killer.  #2 is a post 9/11 commune-cult storyline.  #5 is friends raising a woman's orphaned teen daughter. #8 - Friends, fashion, revenge, divorce, an affair.  

None of these do a whole lot to interest me, so I'm going with the picture book, first published in South Africa.

December First Reads

 December's books

1. True crime - Murder at Neal's Pond
2. Historical fiction - Half in Shadow (WWI fiction)
   
3. Family Drama - The Intangible
4. Thriller - No Way Back
5. Book club fiction - The Taste of Ginger
6. Romantic comedy - The Paid Bridesmaid
7. Memoir - Through the Banks of Red Cedar  (football memoir ish)
   
8.  Picture book - My Grandma's Photos
9.  
   

Taking out the thrillers and such, I'm going with The Taste of Ginger.  

More puzzles

 I've got more vintage puzzles on the way.  Someone online got a bunch of vintage from a friend, and doesn't care for them.  I posted about a vintage one I'd finished, and she asked if I'd like these, if I paid the shipping.  Yep. 

She's sending them in two boxes, for cheaper postage, and couldn't fit them all in, so I"m getting 7 or so of these.  I know I'm not getting the 3000-piece one on the right, but I am getting the oval one on the left.  Hoping I get the ship in the center.  

Watch this space for an update.  Ha ha.

I also bought these three on eBay, after asking very odd questions to make sure that the Eurographics Mediterranean Harbor is one with a random cut, or at least not an all-H cut.  All three of these met the criteria, so that's two more Euro and a Ravensberger added to the stash. 

November First Reads

This month's choices: 

 

1. Mystery- At First Light
2. Book club fictio - Three More Months
3. Domestic suspense - into the Sound
4. Historical Fiction - Last Rose of Shanghai
5. Memori - Flying on the Inside
6. Literary fiction - Bed Stuy
7. Contemporary romance - Read between the LInes
8.  Historical Fantasy - Innate Magic
9. Picture book - Dancing with Daddy

1 - serial killer, no thanks.  2 - woman's mom dies and she wakes up 3 months earlier, before the death.  Nope. 3 - more suspense with abuse and kidnapping, no thanks.  4 - jazz in Shanghai, could be interesting.  5 - widow with a brain tumor, sounds depressing. And it's the only one the library hasn't got on order. 6 - literary fiction but also a romance.   7 - Contemporary fluffy chick-lit romance.  8 - historical LGBTQ fantasy.  Meh.  

(Some reviewer has left a review with a count of the swears, f-bombs, and how many times "the Lord's name was taken in vain" - a lot of time on their hands.)

By process of elimination, I'm down to Last Rose and Bed Stuy.  Last Rose seems more interesting.