February #wrapup
True Diary - in person book club - 4⭐️
The Burden - #MaryWestmacottBookClub - 3.5⭐️
The Postcard - #EuropaCollective - 4.5⭐️
Housekeepers - 3.5⭐️
Killers - #AuldLangSpine - 4⭐️
February #wrapup
True Diary - in person book club - 4⭐️
The Burden - #MaryWestmacottBookClub - 3.5⭐️
The Postcard - #EuropaCollective - 4.5⭐️
Housekeepers - 3.5⭐️
Killers - #AuldLangSpine - 4⭐️
3.5/5⭐ It feels weird to say this about a book whose main characters are assassins and kill people throughout, but it is fun. It is refreshing to read about older kickass women. The writing is a little weak and repetitive, reminding the reader of events/details that are explained just the chapter before. #bookspin
#52bookclub24 - picked without reading the blurb
#12Booksof2023 This was my favorite book of August, as well as my favorite book for the year!
Four female assassins in their sixties, who've been working as a team for forty years, finally decide it's time to retire. What starts as a retirement celebration cruise ends much differently than they'd planned. @Andrew65
I read a lot of books that I really liked this year! But I think Killers of A Certain Age just really stuck with me because the premise of the story was one I hadn't read before. The Last Devil to Die was a very, very close second- I absolutely loved that entire series!
#Rushathon
I really had fun with this one—it reminded me of The Thursday Murder Club combined with the movie Red with Bruce Willis. The assassin & agency stuff was interesting & the characters entertaining & I enjoyed the mature woman-power vibe. I‘d love another book with these women & it made me want to move the author‘s other books higher on my TBR.
(Just one more book in the #BOTM challenge that I should finish sometime this week! 📚🎉📚)
Finished my first book for #CloakandDaggerChristmas ! Prompt: Last Christmas- read a book published last year.
A soft pick. I enjoyed the plotting/spy craft (this is more James Bond than Jane Marple), but the characters were a little blank. 4 female agents retire from an secret agency at 60 only to find themselves unfairly targeted for a crime. They band together to clear their names and get back at the men who have always underestimated them.
I can relate to that.
This was my first Deanna Raybourn book, and it was a fun read. It's like the Thursday Murder Club mixed with James Bond, but they're all women. I would recommend this to my mom, but it's a little too crass in places.
Old ladies can be surprising. Especially when they are assassins. Lots of fun.
I really enjoyed this story. Heard about it on a podcast & loved the premise of older women assassins. Has a lot of killing, as you would expect from a book about assassins, but it was fun to see how they planned. Liked the characters as well. 4⭐️
There were things about this book that irked me (not just the high body count), but in the end I enjoyed the Deanna Raybourn of it. Humor, insight, and little bit of raunchiness. It also gets at least half a star for one character‘s monologue on women‘s guilt, which reminded me a little of America Ferrara‘s speech from the Barbie movie.
Another book completed for #summersendreadathon and extended #rushathon
Great beginning. Unique concept. It was funny and different, but fell flat for me the further in I got. I just thought the story drug on a bit and I got bored toward the middle of the book. I never really connected with the characters fully and I felt like the story was missing something. It wasn‘t terrible, but it wasn‘t as good as I expected it to be.
Bit of a shout FOR feminism and AGAINST ageism, but mostly just well-paced, well-plotted violent fun.
More action adventure than spy mystery, with a 'gang's all here' feel. Sort of like an assassin's travelogue/memoir. 1/?
Head cannon: The old house these to-be-assassins are gathering at in the flashback is the same estate that Speedwell and Stoker live on in Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell series. 😊
Four retiring female assassins for a secret organization set off on a retirement cruise as a gift from their organization. Only to find out that they are being targeted themselves. It was a good listen over audio. The very end of the book was a little cryptic. I might need to find a physical copy to reread the end. Otherwise an enjoyable read. #bookspin book
Evidently off white, red and black (plus blade!) are a winning combination for murder books, whether American or translated Japanese. Here's hoping it's a colour scheme that works out better for me than the violet/magenta one did!
This book as a lot of momentum, I started it at bedtime and read it straight through. If you like The Kingsman movies you will like this book. Men really need to stop underestimating women. Would make a good movie.
Another book full of coincidences. These 4 women retired from a secret organization called The Museum. Their mission-at the beginning was to hunting down the neo by nazis and later this vision expanded. Now, they are in danger and they want to know why, they will investigate this why and who is behind that mission.
The ending was so abrupt. 3⭐️
#TheForgottenBookClub
#ISpyBingo July bold fount @Clwojick
#BookSpinBingo (#2) @TheAromaOfBooks
Four women, instead of the retirement package they expected, find themselves on the wrong end of a kill order from the very organization of assassins they worked for. Good thing these ladies know what they‘re doing.
An absolutely delightful romp, with four charming assassins & their entourage. Fast paced, & intense action. I would have liked a little more character depth & the flashbacks felt unnecessary, but I had a lot of fun! 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Well this book was fun! I adored the four main women in this book. They were some funny badasses. The plot moved quickly and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. It was different to see Deanna Raybourn writing a contemporary book, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
"My mother always says it's common as pig tracks to go around with a run in your stocking," Helen says, eyeing Billie's ripped hosiery critically.
Deanna Raybourn always has fantastic opening lines.
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have spent their lives as deadly assassins for the Museum. When they set out on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own and realize they're marked for death. To get out alive, they have to turn against their own organization and teach them what it means to be a woman - and a killer - of a certain age.
Four female assassins in their sixties, who've been working as a team for forty years, finally decide it's time to retire. What starts as a retirement celebration cruise ends much differently than they'd planned.
This is a very fast-paced book. It is your typical assassin type plot where their organization turns on them, except the ladies are in their sixties.
It was very entertaining the whole way through, it's definitely worth a read.
#killersofacertainage #standalone
This was a lot of fun! Four retired female assassins have become targets by the very secretive organization they used to work for. They must band together to figure out why they were targeted and who in the organization is responsible for the order, so they can then turn the tables!
#bookspinbingo
#JoysofJune
Female assassins from a mysterious organization have become the target after their retirement. This group of ladies must band together to kill before they are killed themselves. Interesting to read this alongside The Bandit Queens. So many lady killers! It was hard not to compare this to the former which I enjoyed more. Still making my way through #auldlangspine 😊
Billie, Helen, Mary Alice and Natalie are retired assassins, and the organization they used to work for has put a contract out on them. The women have to kill or be killed. They create a plan to get their assassins first. Twist ending (who exactly put this contract in motion) - A fun and quick read. Must suspend a lot of belief - but worth it!
#BookSpinBingo
Make a great day everyone 🙂
This was a fun read. It was especially nice to read about characters my age instead of the usual 20-40 year-olds. Even though the book is about assassins, it wasn‘t that dark. My only quibble was with the character of Natalie; since I kept forgetting about her, I‘m not sure she was necessary. #audiowalk
May reading report. 14 books read. I would highly recommend all these books.
We went across the bay to watch the sunset this evening. It was so beautiful. I‘m about halfway through with Killers of a Certain Age, so I should be through in a couple of days. So far, I like it. #audiowalk
Billie said that having beignets is New Orleans is a cliche, but there‘s a reason everyone has them when they go there! 😄
This was a romp! A very…murder-y romp! Four female assassins are retiring after an illustrious career killing for a cause. But! Turns out, their old organization wants them dead. They've got to put their heads together (and kill some more people) to get out alive! I love seeing middle-aged women as protagonists. Definitely need to seek out more stories featuring older main characters, I always have fun when I read them, and this was no exception.
This seems like it‘s going to be fun. #audiowalk
I went in without expectations and was pleasantly surprised! It‘s not ground breaking or anything but it was a fun romp. I‘d like it if it were a movie I think.
I've already started my #20in4 readathon list - which is my goal for finishing out May - thanks for hosting @Andrew65 -
Make a great day everyone 🙂
This was such a fun book! Loved that it wasn‘t the same old group of young or middle aged women,but an older, wiser group of women who had a ton of experience as ‘hit women‘.
#Two4Tuesday (a day late) - here is my bookmark shelf - some of these are from @TheSpineView from a few years back and the first Litsy drawing I won !
Oh, and I have been known to dog-ear a book I own before, not very often (please don't judge me too harshly 😂)
Make a great day everyone 🙂
It was dark in the garden, just before dawn, when the air is grey and the nightbirds are singing. They were tired, those nightbirds, and their song was quieter now. But they were still singing, and they went on singing until dawn broke over the trees 🐦⬛🔪
Well, I loved this and it lived up to all of my expectations! Kickass women? Check. Older women kicking ass? Check check. Just awesome. As a sticker on a letter @TheBookHippie sent me recently said - “The Future is Female.” 👊🏻
Awesome idea, underwhelming execution.
A book about assassins, with barely any action. There are a few preparation sequences where the author tries to drive it up by withholding info, then the great “plan” is revealed, turning out not to be all that clever. The tension fizzles out—rinse & repeat.
And it isn‘t even all that funny 😑
Middle age women aren‘t made of menopause. Can‘t we have a joke about something else? Once?
2.5/5
I listened to this fantastic story yesterday and today, mostly while taking long walks and doing a little mushroom hunting. Yes, there‘s quite a bit of murder, as the main characters have made careers as assassins, but it‘s also an incredibly fun story of strong women working together. These four are great friends and teammates who will stop at nothing to protect each other as they head into retirement.
#LitsyBookClub #audiowalk #audiobook
Enjoying this read for #Litsybookclub for our meeting on April 30.
Bandette is helping me. ⚫️⚪️⚫️
#DogsOfLitsy
I love that Raybourne mentions Modesty Blaise right at the start of the book. ❤️
This was fun. I love a good heist story even if the so called heist is assassination. I can only hope I‘m still as good at my job as these four ladies are at theirs when I‘m their age.
My hold came in for this today but there‘s still a request list making it unable to be renewed. Basically I‘ve got to rethink my current tbr for the week and squeeze this in instead.
Next row of my #readinglogsnake is another #rplbooksandbrews read, Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. I really enjoyed the exploits of the Sphinxes as they search for the person who put a hit on them while avoiding assassination. Also made some interesting additions to my 'how to kill somone' list. 4/5 ⭐️ #ARRCReads #BooksAndCrafts