Reading Challenge: The Backlist Reader

Just so I remember:

Book need to be on my TBR list somewhere before signing up for this challenge.
Doesn’t metter if I own the book or borrow it from the library. Or buy it during the year as long as it was on my list.
Book publishing date needs to be before 2021 so 2020 downward.

  • Challenge Website: Link
  • Goal: 20
  • Challenge Post: Link

Gingerbread to Die For

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Gingerbread to Die For
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, Book # 2
Red Cottage Books
November 1st 2019
eBook
220
English
December 29, 2022 December 31, 2022
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Cookies and corpses, not the picture-perfect Christmas Chris and Alicia Mallory had planned.

Recipe for a Christmas Murder:

Take one gingerbread competition, one mayor looking for publicity, one egocentric celebrity chef and a killer with an axe to grind. Mix thoroughly for the perfect Christmas murder.

Well, almost perfect.

It’s one month until Christmas in Dunbarton and the town is buzzing with the news that a famous celebrity chef is coming to judge and televise the gingerbread competition at the new community centre. Confident that the event will attract hordes of food-loving visitors to town, the mayor has Dunbarton decked out in all its Christmas finery and directs Alicia and the deputy mayor to make sure everything runs smoothly.

All is going as planned until a body is found in the life-sized gingerbread house outside the community centre, with a gingerbread dove stuffed in the victim’s mouth. The distraught mayor once again calls on Alicia and Chris to solve the murder before it sounds a death-knell to the holiday festivities.

It’s not long before Alicia and Chris discover that it’s not all sugar and spice in the world of big-time baking and that one too many cookies can be the death of you.

What I think

Last book of the year and last book for the Cloak and Dagger challenge.

I can’t give more than 3 stars even if I liked it better than the first book. Too simple to give Alicia the ‘oh it was him’ idea and leave it there. This particular one didn’t make me give more stars.

I know they’re not cops, but I found the case underdeveloped. It’s also too simple to have Alicia come to the solution (complete with a light bulb) and go “oh the killer was….” without saying how she found out. I understand how she found the murder weapon, but from there to say who the killer is (without saying why you think such a thing) is preposterous. Anyone could take it (the weapon) to kill.

I like Alicia and Chris as characters, maybe I’ll start reading the series and not just the Christmas ones, but I already have too many series to finish, so I don’t know.

There was more Christmas in this book and I enjoyed it more. But nothing exceptional, obviously I recommend it, but read it at Christmas time.

The Reindeer Caper

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The Reindeer Caper
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, Book # 1
Red Cottage Books
November 9th 2017
eBook
252
English
December 23, 2022 December 28, 2022
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With a missing reindeer, a murdered elf, and a mayor one Christmas Carol short of a breakdown, it looks like Christmas festivities in Dunbarton are in danger of being cancelled - especially since Santa is in jail, charged with murder!

It's coming up to Christmas and everyone in Dunbarton is filled with excitement at the arrival of a reindeer, a gift from their twin town in Norway. But when Dasher disappears, children and parents alike are devastated, and the mayor fears an international incident.

In desperation, the mayor turns to the Mallorys to save the town's Christmas, but the more Chris and Alicia investigate, the more they realize it isn't just Christmas that's in jeopardy.

What I think

The story is pleasant, I was hoping for more Christmas atmosphere but apart from saying that the fair starts in a certain number of days and the lights put up by Chris around his house, I haven’t felt it that much. Be that as it may, I never thought that the killer was that person.

The book has some grammatical and spelling errors but since it is a “free” book it can be overlooked.

I haven’t read the previous books because I honestly wanted to read the Christmas book after this one and since I read the books in order of publication, I had to read this one first, but I didn’t want to read the books before this one because there are too many and I wanted Christmas. Maybe I’ll pick up the series later.

Dickens’ Christmas Collection

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Dickens' Christmas Collection


Peter Haddock Publishing
1843
Hardcover
English
December 15, 2022 December 18, 2022
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During the hectic Christmas season, slow down with these heartwarming stories from some of literature’s most beloved writers.

Curl up by the fire this holiday season with a timeless Christmas tale.

Perhaps no Christmas novel is more beloved by readers than Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol—the Victorian story of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. This giftable edition of Dickens’s 1843 work will delight those who already know the perennial classic, as well as any collector of beautiful case-bound books.

First of all, I have only read A Christmas Carol of the collection, the other stories are too “dense” and I easily lose attention. I like reading about Scrooge near Christmas, but I have to get more Christmas stories or I always end up reading the same story. There isn’t much to say about this book that hasn’t already been said. I enjoyed it, as always, maybe I “learned” something more from my first reading.

Obviously I read it in English, I thought it was a more difficult and sophisticated English but I understood everything. Maybe I’ve gotten better since I first read it.

Mao, Vol. 7

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MAO 7
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, Book # 7
VIZ Media LLC
January 18th 2021
Paperback
192
Japanese
November 27, 2022 November 27, 2022

When Nanoka is transported back in time to a supernatural early 20th century, she gets recruited by aloof exorcist Mao. What thread of fate connects them? Together, they seek answers...and kick some demon butt along the way!

The ancient relationships and rivalries of the Goko Clan continue to wreak havoc in the Taisho era, while Mao and Nanoka pursue a mysterious doctor who violates the directive to “first do no harm.” Mysterious human hairs reveal the secret location of Shiranui’s lair as well as a long-lost love. And then Kamon is captured. Who—and what—can save him?

Mao, Vol. 6

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MAO 6
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, Book # 7
VIZ Media LLC
October 16th 2020
Paperback
192
Japanese
November 9, 2022 November 9, 2022

When Nanoka is transported back in time to a supernatural early 20th century, she gets recruited by aloof exorcist Mao. What thread of fate connects them? Together, they seek answers...and kick some demon butt along the way!

The reason for Shiranui’s bitter grudge against Mao is revealed. And now he demands that Mao give him the Taizanfukun spell, which has the power to control lifespans. But Shiranui isn’t the only one who wants it! Then, when the gang floats theories about the origin of Byoki and his powers, Nanoka recruits Shiraha again to help with her research in the present day. Will Shiraha’s crush on Nanoka ever be requited, or does she only have cat eyes for Mao? Plus, the attack that left the scar under Mao’s eye!