Mount TBR Challenge 2023 discussion

I am starting a new mountain, as I successfully conquered Ararat. Will I make it to the top of this one, too? We shall see...

49. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Stieg Larsson Bad language and some other things aside, I really enjoyed this trilogy.
49. Dust Kara Swanson A Peter Pan retelling. Not bad, but it ends in a cliffhanger and I don't have the next volume yet.
50. Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs Mary Jane Hathaway Not horrible, and I know its sensuality was very mild, but it was still a little off-putting to me. I may check the reviews when she retells Sense and Sensibility, but besides that I do not intend to continue the series.
51. Mexican Gothic Silvia Moreno-Garcia I liked it at first, as I recognized some places and references, but by the end I was more meh. It would make a film with a lot of jump scenes and some others with a gross-out factor, but for creeping me out, We Have Always Lived in the Castle beat it hands down. This story lacked subtlety.
52. To Dust You Shall ReturnDonna Fletcher Crow Not my favorite in the series. The crime story was good, but our main characters seemed to be repeating the same mistakes they were making in the last book, and that was frustrating to me.
53. The Hidden Palace One of my favorites this year! I may have liked it even better than the The Golem and the Jinni. I also appreciate Wecker's language and her delicacy in handling intimate situations without details I do not need to hear. But the story, and the tension between being who we are and adapting sufficiently enough to be able to function in relationships and society was very well done.
54. The Beast of Talesend Kyle Robert Shultz This was a fun read! It mixes a hard-boiled magic-debunking detective with a situation where he must help stop someone is trying to take over the world with a magical artifact. I plan to continue the series.
55. Peter Pan in Scarlet Geraldine McCaughrean Despite a few good turns of phrase, and plenty of characters and action, this left me rather cold. I had to force myself to finish it. Oh well, at least back when I bought it, the money went to a good cause.

56. The Maul and the Pear Tree P.D. James True crime may not be my thing. It took me a while to get through this, although I see its importance as one of the first crimes where we have records of the investigation.
57. The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories Michael Cox Not tooo scary. I found it interesting to compare the motivations of the ghosts in the different stories.
58. In the Region of the Summer Stars Stephen R. Lawhead Pretty good, and a twist I didn't expect. I will finish the series eventually, but it wasn't so good that I just wanted to rush into the next book.
59. Germ: If You Breathe, It Will Find You Robert Liparulo Not entirely believable, but exciting and a bit frightening, Crichton does it better, but this book had its merits.
60. The Thursday Murder Club Richard Osman I was thrown off at first by the present-tense narration--I have to get into the story before that stops annoying me enough to enjoy the ride. But I loved it once I got into it. It is funny and poignant at the same time. I definitely need to keep going in this series.