Perfect Crime Party

 Book 26 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 26 - 28

Perfect Crime Party

2 stars

This is the first time I've seen the short story format in a graphic novel.  There were 25 different stories by multiple authors.

Unique format but ultimately didn't work for me.  I don't know if it was because they're graphic novels or because they all have a crime theme but they felt too short and there were nuances I felt like I didn't pick up.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 26th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'P' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

Saturday Night

 Book 25 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 12 - 28

Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live

by Doug Hill & Jeff Weingrad

3 stars

The text of the book was published in 1986.  Although my paperback copy says "updated 50th Anniversary Edition", the only updating was an acknowledgment before the epilogue that obviously we know more about how the people have fared since it was written.  On one hand I liked having the book stay as it was written, including the epilogue predictions, because it captured the freshness of the interviews; if some of the people were interviewed today their answers may be softer either out of time healing wounds or out of political correctness.  On the other hand there were grammatical errors and repeating paragraphs that surely could've been taken care of in this edition without changing the meaning of the text and the epilogue felt long because there was so much speculation that time has proven true or untrue.

Interesting note: they could say the 'n' word but not "pissed off".

I really enjoy reading the lore of SNL but I think I've become oversaturated, especially reading about the early days.  Basically, people acted like assholes but we've decided it's okay because the product remains all these years later.  I'm less amused with the 'creative antics' each time I read about them.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 25th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)

The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency

 Book 24 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 20 - 27

The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency

by Lydia Travers

3 stars

It started strong but by the time the book was halfway through and the author kept adding many crimes/mysteries/characters, I gave up trying to follow the clues and just finished the book.

The characters have potential and I wouldn't rule out reading the second book in the series to give it another try but reading almost 300 pages to have the biggest mystery solved through a brand-new character naming someone followed by that someone's confession/monologue after one question wasn't the most satisfying ending.

And what happened to the wrongly accused character in jail...no wrap up for him?

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 24th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

The Ultimate Serial Killer Trivia Book

 Book 23 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 19 - 21

The Ultimate Serial Killer Trivia Book

by Jack Rosewood

published 2022

3 stars

I picked this up before Christmas as part of a "buy 2 get 1 free" sale on Amazon.  It was fine.  There were interesting tidbits and definitely people I hadn't heard of but it was also mostly surface level.  Framing it as a trivia book meant the author didn't have to make connections or transitions; instead it was a question such as "who was..." or "what was..." followed by a paragraph or so of the answer.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 23rd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)

- Title starting with 'U' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

Memorial Drive

 Book 22 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on February 18

Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir

by Natasha Trethewey

published 2020

4 stars

Gwen Grimmette was murdered.  Domestic violence is frustratingly frightening because even with all signs and notice her ex-husband gave that he wanted to kill her, including jail time for previous violence against her, it wasn't enough to protect her.  It gave me little consolation to look it up and see that he was given life sentences for his crimes.

This book written by her daughter processes trauma in a surprisingly lyrical way (or I guess not surprising given the author's success in poetry).  It was a very high 4 star read for me and I read it in a day.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 22nd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'M' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

 Book 21 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 8 - 17

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford

published 2009

3 stars

Good but not great for me.  It felt halting, stopping just short of deeper emotional connections for me at different points throughout the book for me by changing focus and moving on.  It felt like it took a long time to get somewhere and then ended abruptly.  I wanted more.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 21st book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'H' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

The Toy Car

 Book 20 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on February 15

The Toy Car

by Rose Tremain

published 2025

3 stars

I read this short story on an e-reader through Amazon Prime Reading.  Although it feels weird to classify a short story as a book, it's listed individually on Goodreads so it counts for my reading challenge.

The story was fine.  I wish he had given London more of a chance but the story arced in a way that made sense.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 20th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'T' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)