The Viscount Who Loved Me

 Book 31 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from March 2 - 4

The Viscount Who Loved Me

by Julia Quinn

published 2000

2 stars

This is the second book in the Bridgerton series and hopefully my least favorite one.  I don't love the 'enemies to lovers' romance trope anyway but especially in this book, Anthony was so mean and insensitive that it felt hard to come back from.

I will continue the series though.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 31st book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

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

Geek Parenting

 Book 30 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from March 1 - 3

Geek Parenting

by Stephen H. Segal and Valya Dudycz Lupescu

published 2016

2 stars

Unique concept but cookie cutter parenting advice.  I expected more humor and I was skimming by the end.  It was interesting to see how many characters I recognized (more than I expected).

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 30th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

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

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

 Book 29 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from March 1 - 3

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio:

How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less

by Terry Ryan

4 stars

This was an interesting, entertaining read.  The timing of things coming through sounds too good to be true but I don't discount the effort Evelyn Ryan put into her contesting and it's good to read about a little magic during tough times.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 29th 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 'P' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

Trial by Ambush

Book 28 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from March 1 - 2

Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, 

and the Truth About the Case of Barbara Graham

by Marcia Clark

4 stars

I chose this book from the options in Amazon's First Reads.  I went in blind with absolutely no familiarity with the case.  The foreword said the trial seemed harsh and a movie about her (for which the leading actress won an Oscar) went the other direction and made her saintly.  I can't speak for the movie but I agree about the trial.  Incredibly frustrating, especially for a death penalty case, to have the prosecution act so unfairly (and the judge for allowing it).  

I'm against the death penalty generally but am especially glad they changed the blanket application of it applying anyone involved in a crime (for example, the driver of a getaway car where someone else killed someone is no longer eligible for the death penalty).  I agree with the author that Barbara Graham was there that night but I also agree with the author that it doesn't appear she committed any violence; she was brought as a decoy to get the victim to open the door in their plan to rob her.  I also agree that as the laws were written at the time, Graham likely still would've been found guilty for murder even if the prosecution hadn't hidden things but maybe she wouldn't have been sentenced to death.

The book was informative and a quick read.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 28th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

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

The Duke & I

 Book 27 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 28 - March 2

The Duke & I

by Julia Quinn

published 2000

3 stars

Jumping on the bandwagon for the Bridgerton series.  I've finally seen enough clips of the show on TikTok that I decided to give the books a try.

This was a quick read and I liked it but I'm rating it 3 stars because if I had read this before the show/knowing the backstories and what's to come, I would've been more confused and less invested.  My favorite part was the banter between the characters; I'm a sucker for witty dialogue.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 27th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

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)