Books I Read in January & My Start to the 52 Book Challenge

 My January got off to a bit of a slow start, reading wise. I barely managed to read/listen to 8 books! We just had such a busy month and I had a hard time concentrating on stories. But I did read some good books this month and started on my 52 Book Challenge. 

1. Murder at the Elms (A Gilded Newport Mystery, book 11) by Alyssa Maxwell-- I picked up a copy of this book when we went to the Newport Mansions and enjoyed this fun murder mystery meets historical fiction novel.  Set in Newport Rhode Island during the gilded age, Emma Cross and her new husband are attending a musical concert at the Elms mansion when a body is found that cuts the concert short. Emma, a newspaper reporter by trade, can not help investigating. I definitely plan to read the others in this series. 

2. Philly Barker is on the Case (book 2 in the Philly Barker Mysteries) by Joanne Tracey-- I have yet to read a Joanne Tracey book that I don't like! In book 2, Philly is working with the police to track down some missing antiques when they uncover a ring of burglaries, mischief, and intimidation of some elderly, single farmers out in the country. These old farmers are quite feisty and were such a fun addition to the story. 

3. Hot Ice by Nora Roberts-- I listened to this book on my Libby app and though I liked the story I had a hard time with the actual voice and set up of the narration.  Douglas Lord is on the run from some men that want to kill him when he jumps into the car of debutante Whitney MacAllister.  Whitney is not your run of the mill debutante though and really rises to the challenge, agreeing to foot the bill for Douglas' treasure hunt in Madagascar on the condition that she will be accompanying him. The two have quite the adventure and start to fall for one another despite each of their attempts not to. 

4. The Book Proposal by KJ Micciche-- When Gracie drunkenly emails her old high school crush one night, she never expected him to email back. They strike up an unlikely friendship that's destined to be more.  It was cute, if a bit odd at times. Gracie definitely is quirky but so fun. 

5. One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus-- I was surprised that this second book in the series had a completely different set of main characters.  I also listened to this book on my Libby app and barely managed to finish before it was due to be returned... it was a great story but my January was busy and I had little time to listen. This time there is a Truth or Dare game that has been started in the high school and anyone that chooses not to play gets a secret about them revealed to the entire school. Phoebe, Maeve, and Knox are desperately drying to figure out who is behind the texts fueling this game but it soon turns deadly,

6. Betting on You by Lynn Painter-- when Bailey meets Charlie for the first time, they don't exactly hit it off.  So when he turns out to be a coworker 3 years later they're both surprised when they start hanging out together.  Bailey and Charlie have a bet going on whether two of their co-workers will end up hooking up because Charlie believes men and women can't be friends and Bailey wants to prove him wrong. But when Charlie and Bailey start "fake dating" to try and run off her mom's new boyfriend the two are trying not to fall for one another and rink disturbing their friendship.

7. The Summer of Broken Rules by K. L. Walther-- Meredith Fox and her family have not been back to their family compound on Martha's Vineyard ever since her sister died a year and a half ago. But this summer Meredith's cousin is getting married and the WHOLE family is going and better yet they are going to be playing an old family favorite game called "assassin." Meredith wants to win at all costs since assassin was her sister's favorite game so she makes an alliance with one of the groomsmen.  Only Meredith starts to get distracted by the adorable boy. 

8. Ultra Processed People: The Science Behind Food that Isn't Food by Chris Can Tulleken-- I equally loved and hated this book.  I loved it because it really looked at unbiased research on the effects of processed foods (and boy are they staggering!) but I hated it because it made me want to throw out all our foods.. and gave me no great alternative solutions since it also talked about how even things we think of when we think unprocessed foods like fruit and vegetables have been manipulated, changed, and crossbred so there really is no such thing as unprocessed foods.  

Where they fit into the 52 Book Challenge:

Linking up with: Thinking Out Loud, Spread the kindness,