You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Challenge thread for 2025
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/readingchal...

Alphabetical authors plan R = reported

A Richard Armitage Geneva 😝 R
B Michael Ball The Empire 😝 R
C Kate Colquhoun Mr Briggs' Hat: A Sensational Account of Britain's First Railway Murder 😝 R
D
E Edgar Mittelholzer My Bones and My Flu te 😝 R
F
G Mike Gayle All the Lonely People 😝 R
H Robin Hobb Assassin's Apprentice 😝 R
I
J
K Stephen King Holly 😝 R
L James Lovegrove Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Dust 😝 R
M Maria Adolfsson Wild Shores: Doggerland, Book 2 😝 R
N
O Chris Ould The Blood Strand 😝 R
P Percival Everett James 😝 R
Q Qiu Xiaolong Death of a Red Heroine
R Robert McCammon The Listener 😝 R
S
T Toshikazu Kawaguchi Before the Coffee Gets Cold 😝 R
U Ursula Hegi
V Val McDermid The Distant Echo 😝 R
W Colson Whitehead Harlem Shuffle
Y Yangsze Choo The Fox Wife
Z

Themes x15

📍B - Books about books - The Ghost 😝
📍C - Childhood - The Railway Children
📍D - Dogs Devoted 😝
📍F - Fantasy The Alloy of Law 😝
📍G - Ghosts Abaddon’s Gate 😝
📍H - History The Cardinal's Man 😝
📍L - Love - Run to the Western Shore 😝
📍M - Mythology - The Stardust Grail 😝
📍N - Nature - The Witchdoctor's Bones 😝
📍P - Pirates - Revenger 😝
📍R - Religion - The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur 😝
📍S - Survival The City of Lost Fortunes 😝
📍T - True Crime - Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime
📍V - Villainy – The Magic Cottage 😝
📍W - Women - Fatal Isles 😝


Requesting a badge template

WoF Name: Annerlee
Badge One
1. List, Task

reserved

reserved

Badge 1 - Book #14 on the list .. V for Villany
List 1. Book 1 (my first post)

3. Link – The Magic Cottage
4. Listened to Audiobook, 12:18 hours.
5. Read a book with a theme of villainy.
6. Classic tale of good vs evil magic. The ‘bad magician’ and source of evil magic, when pictured looming in the doorway, is likened to Bela Lugosi. Can’t get more villainous than that!

Yay for the fist book done and reported. :)

Yay! So good to get 2025 underway.

Badge 1 book#2
List 1. S for survival
G for Ghosts

3. Link – Abaddon’s Gate
4. Listened to Audiobook, 18:34 hours.
5. Theme of ghosts
6. Ghosts are a recurring theme. (view spoiler)[ The main character (Holden) is guided by a vision of Miller who he believes to be a ghost - he knows is dead. There is confusion about who is behind sabotage and murder in the space fleet - one theory is that the long dead Jenny Mao is behind them. In a previous book, an alien protomolecule has assimulated the bodies and souls of colonists and they are feared to be part of the new alien structure introduced in this installment. So a definite theme of possible dead / undead / ghost entities in this installment. (hide spoiler)]


5. Read a book about survival
6. Humanity’s survival is at stake against an alien threat. “A complex plot is unfolding, with the destruction of Holden (MC) at its core and there are multiple pitched battles between factions, where characters fight to kill or be killed. Luckily for the series, at least some of our main characters survive.

That series are all quite thrilling, I don't think I've read past book 3.

I like them very much too. There is always something happening, but they are all quite long and I tend to devour them. I then need to take a break before starting the next installment 😜

Badge 1 book#3
List 1. M for mythology

3. Link – The Stardust Grail
4. Listened to Audiobook, 9:43 hours.
5. Read a book with a theme of M for mythology
6. As suggested in the title, the story echoes the search for the Holy grail. In this case this is an artefact that is presumed to be a myth but that may save an alien species from extinction if found - like a search for the mythical holy grail in space.

Badge 1 book #4
List 1: L is for Love

3. Run to the Western Shore
4. Hardback with 208 pages
5. Theme of love
6. A Roman slave runs away with his master’s betrothed and they become lovers.

Badge 1 book #5
List 1: H - History

3. The Cardinal's Man
4. Audiobook 10 hours 34 mins
5. Theme of history
6. Set in France in the time of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu (1640s)

Badge 1 book #6
List 1: R -Religion

3. The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur
4. Paperback, 495 pages
5. Theme of religion
6. Narrative is set in Southern Britain in the dark ages and heavily involves conflict between followers of disappearing Roman and Egyption beliefs, ancient druid practices and the emergence of Christianity.

Theme for Abaddon’s Gate in message 9 changed from survival to ghost. Message updated.

Thanks Annerlee.

Badge 1 book #7
List 1: F - Fantasy

3. The Alloy of Law
4. Paperback, 336 pages
5. Theme of fantasy
6. Book main genre is fantasy

Badge 1 book #8
List 1: S-survival

3. The City of Lost Fortunes
4. Paperback, 477
5. Theme of survival
6. Main character caught up in a card game of life and death with mythological beings

Badge 1 book # 9
List 1: N - nature

3. The Witchdoctor's Bones
4. Paperback, 388 pages
5. Theme of nature
6. A group of tourists travelling through the great South African and Namibian wilderness to experience the raw natural world

That makes me think of the Princess Bride when they have a challenge with a poisoned drink - never bet with a Sicilian when death is on the line.

Janice wrote: "That makes me think of the Princess Bride when they have a challenge with a poisoned drink - never bet with a Sicilian when death is on the line."

Hmmm... must read that one... lol

Badge 1 book # 10
List 1: W - women

3. Fatal Isles on audiobook
4. Kindle, 507 pages
5. Theme of women
6. A woman author and woman detective with a female victim (view spoiler)[ Major themes are. women surviving mysogyny and making their way in a male dominated world, women who can or cannot have children and which women who are able to care for those children (or not) (hide spoiler)]

Annerlee wrote: "Janice wrote: "That makes me think of the Princess Bride when they have a challenge with a poisoned drink - never bet with a Sicilian when death is on the line."

Hmmm... must read that one... lol"

The movie was better than the book, and it's a classic.

I tried the book. Didn’t finish. So now to the movie…

Badge 1 book # 11
List 1: D - Dogs

3. Devoted
4. E-book 480 pages
5. Theme of dogs
6. A gifted community of dogs (and especially Kipp the golden lab) help protect a family from a conspiracy of violent evil-doers

Badge 1 book #12
List1: P - Pirates

3. Revenger by Alastair Reynolds
4. Audiobook. Hardcover has 425 pages
5. Theme of pirates
6. Two sisters run away to space. One is abducted by space pirates

Badge 1 book #13
List1: B - Books about books

3. The Ghost by Robert Harris
4. Paperback - 400 pages
5. Theme of books
6. The MC is a ghostwriter. The thriller is set around the latest book he is writing and the manuscript of his predecessor who has died in mysterious circumstances.

Badge 1 book #14
List1: C - Childhood

3. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
4. Paperback - 188 pages
5. Theme of childhood
6. Main characters are children and story describes their lives and childhood adventures. This is also a children’s book with ‘children’ in the title!

Badge 1 book #15
List1: T- True crime

3. Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime
4. Hardback - 202 pages
5. Theme of true crime
6. Book brings together previously unpublished material about the notorious Russell murder case in Victorian London. True crime is a main genre on Goodreads.

Fanfare! I did it ! 😝

🎉🎉 Woohoo! Badge 1 is done & dusted. Congrats.

Janice wrote: "🎉🎉 Woohoo! Badge 1 is done & dusted. Congrats."

Thank you Janice! Am very happy!

Next challenge: lists 3 and 4, male and female authors combined alphabetically.

My Badge no 2
list 3/4 combined authors
Reporting book #1

A for Richard Armitage
Geneva
Listened to Audiobook, paperback has 288 pages

Badge no 2
list 3/4 combined authors

Reporting book #2
B for Michael Ball
Book The Empire
Paperback 389 pages

Badge no 2
list combined authors

Reporting book #3
E Edgar Mittelholzer
Book My Bones and My Flu te
Paperback: 204 pages

Badge no 2
list combined authors

Reporting book #4
G for Mike Gayle
Book All the Lonely People
Read on audiobook
Hardcover 384 pages

Badge no 2
list combined authors

Reporting book #5
C for Kate Colquhoun
Book Mr Briggs' Hat: A Sensational Account of Britain's First Railway Murder
Read in hardback 339 pages

Badge no 2
list combined authors

Reporting book #6
L for James Lovegrove
Book Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Dust
Read on audiobook
Paperback 304 pages

Badge no 2
list combined authors

Reporting book #7
M for Maria Adolfsson
Book Wild Shores: Doggerland, Book 2
Read on ebook
Paperbook 463 pages

Badge no 2
list combined authors

Reporting book #8
P - Percival Everett
Book James
Read hardback : 303 pages

Badge no 2
list combined authors

Reporting book #9
R Robert McCammon The Listener
Read ebook
Hardback has 380 pages

Badge no2
list combined authors

Reporting book #10
H Robin Hobb Assassin's Apprentice
Read ebook
paperback has 460 pages

Badge no2
list combined authors

Reporting book #11
T Toshikazu Kawaguchi Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Read audiobook
paperback has 213 pages

Badge no2
list combined authors

Reporting book #12
V Val McDermid The Distant Echo
Read audiobook
Paperback 561 pages

Badge no2
List combined authors

Reporting book #13
O Chris Ould The Blood Strand
Read ebook
Paperback 448 pages

Badge no 2
List combined authors

Reporting book #14
K Stephen King Holly
Read audiobook
Hardbook 449 pages