October AlphaKIT - N and H

Welcome to the 2023 AlphaKIT.
This is an unofficial challenge for the 2023 Category Challenge Group. Each month has two letters selected for you to use however you choose.

There are no rules. Just have fun and enjoy reading. October letters are: N and H

and

Please remember to update the wiki with your reading:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2023_AlphKIT#October:_-_Letters:_N_and_H

Thank you!

I am planning on reading "Horrorstör" by Grady Hendrix for Halloween

I think I will wait and see how "N" fits in with other challenges

Hopefully I'll get a few done!

Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club
Berried to the Hilt
✔Homicide by Hammer
✔Honey Drop Dead
How the Murder Crumbles
✔Lindbergh Nanny
Queen of our Times by Robert Hardman
Take the Long Way Home

Tentatively planning to read John Paul Brammer's Hola Papi and Natasha Lance Rogoff's Muppets in Moscow, though both feel more than usually likely to get bumped by something else before the month is over.

Right now, I'm considering reading The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen and The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys.

I'm planning on Nottingham and A Hole in the Sky at the moment anyway

I am planning on reading Exit Lines by Reginald Hill and Naked Nuns by Colin Watson.

I'm planning on reading No Gods for Drowning by Hailey Piper and The House of Drought by Dennis Mombauer for this month's letters.

I read A Hundred Vicious Turns for H.

For N, I read Philip Pullman's The Shadow in the North. I'm really enjoying the Sally Lockhart series thus far!

H: Celeste Holm Syndrome, David Lazar.

Currently reading Hard Reboot.

For both letters: A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers an anthology.

I read The Perfect Nine by Ngugi wa’Thiong’o

House Aretoli / K. M. Butler
3.75 stars

In 14th century Venice, when Niccolo and Flavio’s father was murdered by high-ranking senators, the city doge wants to cover it up. Their father was also high-ranking, in politics and as a merchant. Niccolo and Flavio have different ideas on how they want to settle things. Flavio makes a deal with the doge to keep things quiet in exchange for some perks, whereas Niccolo just wants revenge. But he is, of course, in danger with this attitude, so must leave the city to figure out how he will exact that revenge. Their two sisters and younger brother are torn on which brother they agree with.

I didn’t think Niccolo’s stance was terribly brilliant, but of course, I live in a very different place and time. So, initially I agreed with Flavio (in part… not necessarily with the deal he made, just that violence might not be the way to go). Of course, things didn’t quite go as Flavio had hoped. I actually was a bit bored with the very start of the book (up until their father was killed), but from that point on, it got much better, I thought. It was interesting to read the author’s note afterward – though the Aretoli family was fictional, there was a bit of a “mystery” surrounding the doge at that time in Venice, and some of the other characters were also based on real people.

N: The Number Ones, Tom Breihan.

N : Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

Another one for N: Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

I have completed both my AlphaKit reads for October with The Naked Nuns by Colin Watson and Exit Lines by Reginald Hill. I enjoyed both of these mysteries.

Starting a twofer, "The Night Hawks" by Elly Griffiths

I just finished the enjoyable Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.

November thread is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/354382

I finished The Glass-Sided Ants' Nest by Peter Dickinson for the N.

H : Blood Hunt by Ian Rankin
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

And for the H: The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins.

A couple more reads that will fit: Hazard by Stella Riley and Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

COMPLETED The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths

Another H--Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym.

>29 NinieB: That is a fave of mine! Maybe time for a re-read.

Missing You / Harlan Coben
4 stars

Kat is a police officer. 18 years earlier, not only was her (also police officer) father murdered, her fiance, Jeff, dumped her and she hasn’t seen him since. But she is still in love with him. Imagine her surprise when a friend insists on putting her on a dating site and there is Jeff! She is cryptic when she sends a message and the reply makes it seem like he has no idea who she is.

Meanwhile, a teenaged (?) boy comes to Kat; he thinks his mother is missing, and it’s suspicious. Even though his mother told him she was meeting a man she was dating. The other police Brandon had gone to didn’t believe him, so why is he coming to Kat and why does he think she’ll believe him?

There were a lot of different storylines happening in this book, but I found them all interesting. They did all come together at the end. There were times when we followed the POV of “bad guys” and I often find those parts in many books boring, or at least not nearly as interesting as the rest, but that wasn’t the case with this one. Not sure why that was. Maybe the dog helped! :-)