Rosepoint Reviews – November Recap – Is Your December a Ho Ho Ho or a Hum Bug?

November wasted no time getting us right into the winter mood with an early snow and frigid temps. Of course, we celebrate Thanksgiving and that’s usually about the time Mother Nature rears back and blows an ill wind. We got a weather break both coming and going to southern Illinois to celebrate with our daughter and enjoyed dinner with our son as well, although our granddaughter and her family were not able to join us with our great-grandchildren. Fortunately, they are not so far that there won’t be other opportunities. Unfortunately, it appears a four-hour auto ride is harder on us than it used to be.

Hoping to get a good Christmas pic of Punkin to post, but nothing successful so far. In the meantime, our son got into the mood with his dog, Cooper, whom I’ve written about before. We think she’s part mini-Aussie and Jack Russell. The mini-Aussie part comes out in boundless energy and smarts and the rest with personality and more smarts. Also—it appears she is photogenic! I used to take yearly Christmas pics of the family until the idea was met with groans all round. Now, everyone is scattered around the country. Not so easy to gather for a family photo anymore.

Reading and reviewing is hit and miss—it’s that time of year. Thank heaven for audiobooks! We reviewed a total of thirteen books in November—six in audiobook form, with the CE contributing three (ebooks). As always, the major source of our books is the library (audiobooks as well as ebooks), NetGalley, author and publisher requests. The links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.

Rosepoint Publishing - November Recap

The Gift from Aelius by Michael Colon (CE review)
Soaring Above by Amanda Hughes
Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt (audiobook)
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (audiobook)
Greetings from Lavender Valley by Tammy L Grace
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (Audiobook-Bookclub)
A Walk Among Heroes by James McDevitt (CE review – 5*)
Muddled Through by Barbara Ross
Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben (audiobook)
Grid Zero by Andrew Diamond (CE review)
Judge and Jury by Stephen Penner
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci (audiobook)
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

The CE gave five stars to A Walk Among Heroes and in fairness must award the favorite to his five stars. It was a good month for ebooks as well as audiobooks!

Favorite for November – A Walk Among Heroes

My Reading Challenges page…sorry still didn’t get it caught up. I swear, I’m not sure how I got so far behind.

I’m trying to promote my posts more quickly with social media as well as blog hopping. The Goodreads landing page now shows 173 books read of a goal of 150, so I’m at 115% of the challenge. A JavaScript problem, I guess, is that the code stopped at 136, and won’t ever show I’ve achieved the 2025 goal. That will impact a number of other little Goodreads goals. I’ve actually achieved their little ribbons for every month (last being November, of course). Assuming December, that should open to other ribbon goals, including the Grand Slam and Nailed It. Have you checked your Goodreads Achievement ribbons lately?

As you no doubt noticed, I tried this year to include some Christmas reads, audiobooks, and movies this year—something cheery for the holidays. Not easy, as I usually avoid those. And I actually found a couple I enjoyed! Hope you did as well.

Thank you again for your visits and comments. I always appreciate your comments and I’m trying to respond faster. Keep those likes and comments coming—and I thank you for each and every one!

Have a great week!

You Love Christmas Themed Books? Great! Here’s Two More

Christmas Reads

I mentioned something last week about the advent of Holiday Books beginning to cross the bloggers’ post paths. I always marvel at the beautiful, colorful book covers. Somehow, though, I’m just not one to read Christmas-themed books and, granted, there are more than just cozy mysteries and Hallmark romances. But yes, this week I found a Traditional Detective Mystery and a Cozy Culinary Mystery that you are bound to love.

This week I discovered a murder mystery read and reviewed by Jen Lucas at Jen Med’s Book Reviews, White Christmas by Mark L Fowler. (Told you they weren’t all candy canes and romance.) I love her review of the story “packed with mystery and misdirection.” It’s a Tyler & Mills Mystery series that takes place in Stoke (UK) and does sound a bit cheeky. There is an amicable relationship between the two, respect, and a sense of humor. Sounds good!

Okay, then Tari Hann over at Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery wrote a lovely review for Crescent City Christmas Chaos by Ellen Byron. Yes! We will read a cozy mystery by Ellen Byron because (like Tari) we loved Cajun Country Mysteries. One of my absolute favs. It’s based around New Orleans and always atmospheric to the point of hearing that iconic music and spelling those Cajun fragrances at the street side cafes. Tari says of the protagonist, “Ricki was one busy shopkeeper this Christmas season…She had all her virtual plates spinning in the air as she tackled running the shop, helping her friends with a cookbook project, sleuthing a murder case…”

Who Started This Anyway?

Jodie, of That Happy Reader is again hosting the Christmas Reading Challenge for 2025 that she started in 2022. Her challenge runs from October 1 through December 31 (but you can start any time and read how ever many you want). She loves reading Christmas-themed books AND watching Hallmark Christmas movies! And who knows, I may add a Christmas movie as the CE loves those things.

Someone else have a holiday-themed challenge I missed? Want me to add it to this blog post? Send me the link. Otherwise, I’ll be looking for your Christmas book reviews—are there any you don’t recommend?

Rosepoint Reviews – October Recap – Can Holiday Books Be Around the Corner?

Rosepoint Reviews - October Recap

October harkens not just a change of season or weather for us, but personally, the mad dash to the end of the year beginning with our daughter’s birthday the middle of October. Then it’s on to Halloween, followed in quick succession with Thanksgiving in November and Christmas and end of year holidays.

Our trip to southern Illinois for her birthday found us exploring a botanical garden in Springfield, somewhat disappointing with not only the size but end of season flower displays. Usually, we love botanical gardens this time of year as they yield some interesting seeds (shush!), but there weren’t many of those yet either. We loved the bell tower though, the sound much like an active cathedral. Unusual trees—but unfortunately no name plates to tell us what they were. Also, our granddaughter arrived with her family to celebrate her mother’s birthday so we got to see our great-grandchildren. Good grief, have they grown!!

The CE and I joined the “Summer Sizzle” promo at our Y, attended extra exercise classes and were awarded our free t-shirts. Keeping with the social interaction, the Y also started a Bingo get-together once a month, using the holiday theme (Halloween for October, of course) for prizes and lunch (pumpkin pie—I suspect we’ll also have the pie again in November). Lunch was delicious and the Bingo (although it gave me flashbacks to the years I worked the Bingo kitchen for our kids’ high school bands) was fun.

October 8^th marked our second year with our little rescue Pomeranian, Punkin, now seven years old. She’s pretty much housebroken at this point. She’s allowed me to pet her a couple times—but not approach her unbidden. Unfortunately, she’ll likely never understand what a toy is. She enjoys going outside now—but only when she’s ready. Also, she’s decided my treadmill is a good place to relax. At least it gets some use.

Well, needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of clean-up done on my garden—still trying for one last harvest, but with the consistent cool weather, nothing is ripening. That’s the end of the garden this year. (sad face)

Also, as you might have guessed, October saw more audiobooks than ebooks. We reviewed a total of thirteen books in October—for the first time the majority in audiobook form–with the CE contributing two (ebooks). As always, the major source of our books is the library (audiobooks as well as ebooks), NetGalley, author and publisher requests. The links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.

Rosepoint Reviews - November Recap

The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver (audiobook)
Asa James by Jodi Lew-Smith (CE review)
After You by Jojo Moyes
Our Souls at Night by Ken Haruf (book club-audiobook)
Imposter Syndrome by Andrew Mayne (CE review)
Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen
The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel (audiobook)
Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand (audiobook)
The Night Fire by Michael Connelly (audiobook)
I Know How This Ends by Holly Smale (audiobook)
Every Last One by Carolyn Arnold
Allied Flames by Jean Grainer
The Intruder by Freida McFadden (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

The CE gave five stars to Asa James, one of only two he read in October. I did enjoy several books, but only one to the extent of five stars—and that is Michael Connelly’s book, The Night Fire.

Favorite for October – The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

My Reading Challenges page…Another extremely busy month. Family, traveling, the last of the outdoor activities for the season. I’ll try to catch up with Challenges next month.

Yes, I’m still behind on catching up on reviews and my Goodreads landing page shows 159 of a goal of 150, so I’m at 105% of the challenge. I’ll have to catch the others up to figure out what I need to do to win the challenges for Audiobooks, Historical Fiction, and NetGalley, although I suspect the Audiobooks Challenge has been met.

Holiday Books

Are They Just Printed Hallmark Romances?

Yes, the holidays are quickly gaining on us and I usually have a spate of blogging buddies who read and review Christmas or holiday books—not something I usually read! So I wanted to include a shout-out to those who do. There are so many different kinds of holiday novels from romance to cozy mysteries that I thought it would be fun to highlight a few that I run across beginning with the post by Carla at Carla Loves to Read. You might find a whole new reason to check out a holiday book. Please read her blog tour review of Missing at Christmas by Deena Alexander.

Thank you sooo much for your visits and comments. I do appreciate your comments and apologize if I’m slow to respond. Keep those likes and comments coming—and I thank you for each and every one!

Happy Autumn Weekend to you from Rosepoint Publishing

Die Again: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen #BookReview #MedicalThriller

Editors’ pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Rizzoli & Isles #11

Goodreads Choice Award-Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2015)

Book Blurb:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are back—and they’re going into the wild to find a killer. Die Again is the latest heart-pounding thriller in Tess Gerritsen’s bestselling series, the inspiration behind TNT’s hit show Rizzoli & Isles.

When Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are summoned to a crime scene, they find a killing worthy of the most ferocious beast—right down to the claw marks on the corpse. But only the most sinister human hands could have left renowned big-game hunter and taxidermist Leon Gott gruesomely displayed like the once-proud animals whose heads adorn his walls. Did Gott unwittingly awaken a predator more dangerous than any he’s ever hunted?

Maura fears that this isn’t the killer’s first slaughter, and that it won’t be the last. After linking the crime to a series of unsolved homicides in wilderness areas across the country, she wonders if the answers might actually be found in a remote corner of Africa.

Six years earlier, a group of tourists on safari fell prey to a killer in their midst. Marooned deep in the bush of Botswana, with no means of communication and nothing but a rifle-toting guide for protection, the terrified tourists desperately hoped for rescue before their worst instincts—or the wild animals prowling in the shadows—could tear them apart. But the deadliest predator was already among them, and within a week, he walked away with the blood of all but one of them on his hands.

Now this killer has chosen Boston as his new hunting ground, and Rizzoli and Isles must find a way to lure him out of the shadows and into a cage. Even if it means dangling the bait no hunter can resist: the one victim who got away.

My Review:

Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are back in the eleventh installment of the series, and Jane again pursues with the heart of a pit bull. I always enjoy the female buddy leads who often bring an emotional quality to the novel not found in male-dominated crime fiction.

The first part of the book is first person by the lone survivor of a mass killing in Botswana. A tourist safari gone way, way wrong. The suspense starts the novel on a high note and seldom falls as the intermittent voice of the African survivor is plunked into the narrative of the gruesome murder in Boston, revealing details about the unique death.

“A woman in love is a poor judge of character.”

The account of the survivor and how she manages to live is gripping. Unfortunately, the killer also begins his unique MO in Boston and guess who discovers it? The settings are descriptive down to the buzzing of the insects and calls of the wild. Jane, herself, becomes a tiger, sure she’s caught her man until an operation proves otherwise. Still, she perseveres.

There are a few twists; it wasn’t easy to catch this guy but it’s always the ride, not the destination, right?

I enjoy how the two, Rizzoli and Maura work together, although opposites in manner and procedure. (Also a popular series on TNT). They are not so fleshed at this point in the series; assumed by now you know their intimate details. (I could do without the Jane mom thing though.) I think you’d still be able to pick up Book 11 of the series and enjoy independently.

Loved The Spy Coast back in November 2023, the first in a new series. A proven author you can really look forward to reading. Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Medical Fiction, Medical Thrillers
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 978-0345543868
ASIN: B00JI4ZSDI
Print Length: 353 pages
Publication Date: December 30, 2014
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.

While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction and in 1987, her first novel, Call After Midnight, was published. It was just the first of 32 suspense novels that she’s written over a 36-year writing career. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift,” which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.

Tess’s 1996 medical thriller, Harvest, marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list and her novels have hit bestseller lists around the world ever since. Among her titles are Gravity, The Surgeon, Vanish, Listen to Me, and her upcoming spy thriller, The Spy Coast, which has just been optioned by Amazon Studios for a television series. Her books have been translated into 40 languages, and more than 40 million copies have been sold around the world.

Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

She lives in Maine.

For more information on Tess Gerritsen and her novels, visit her website: http://www.tessgerritsen.com or
http://www.tessgerritsen.co.uk.

#TuesdayBookblog banner

4 Bestseller Publication Lists—Will You Use One to Find Your Next Book Purchase?

It’s been awhile since I discussed bestseller lists. The last, “NYT Bestsellers and Bestselling Authors – Literary Genius or Luck?” concentrated more on how they actually got on that list. I’ll wager it was a great deal more complex than you’d ever imagined, especially given that the status on the list can be kept or lost week to week or even day to day.

I recently read and reviewed another (“instant #1) NYTimes bestseller that hit the Amazon Charts at #9 and was a Reese’s Book Club Pick. (Is it just me or does she pick some duds?) Obviously, I’m well out of the loop. I didn’t care for it. NYTimes bestseller doesn’t necessarily equate a good book. Well, then, who do you trust?

There is no one standard for judging bestsellers as each has a different method of counting sales, or in the instance of the NYTimes—curating the list(? It’s up to the editor).

So, I got to thinking about a few of the other reviews of that book. There were those who agreed with me. Then I got to thinking about the big publishers who print those lists. There used to be five considered to wield the most weight with their bestseller lists. Then The Wall Street Journal dropped out in November, 2023.

Now we look to the big four:

NYTimes
USA Today
Publishers Weekly
Amazon Charts

New York Times

Probably the most prominent and the one I discussed previously at length is the New York Times bestsellers list. They’ve published that list since 1931. The NYTimes usually tracks book sales from various sources including national and independent bookstores that includes Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Both the NYTimes and USA Today look for sales totaling a minimum of 5,000 copies in a single week and is across diverse retailers AND multiple geographic locations. However, the list is a curated list (not necessarily a list of the top sellers) as the editors pick which of those bestselling books to include on the list. (They may include both wholesale and retail sales.) Their system of analyzing sales data is secret.

Does it seem like there are so many more NYTimes bestselling authors these days? Does every other book gain the title of bestseller? Maybe there are a greater number of new bestsellers along with the older ones.

For one thing, there are upwards of eleven categories now of bestsellers (with 20 or so titles per sublist). And two, publishers have cultivated gaming techniques meant to kick sales (engineered sales on launch week)—if even for one week—the title will stick.

What are the eleven bestseller lists?

Fiction:

Combined Print & E-book Fiction
Hardcover Fiction
Paperback Trade Fiction

Nonfiction:

Combined Print & E-book Fiction
Hardcover Nonfiction
Paperback Nonfiction
Advice, How-to & Miscellaneous

Children’s:

Middle Grade Hardcover
Young Adult Hardcover
Picture Books

Good grief! Eleven categories, ten titles per list(?)—that’s a lot of books and authors. But wait, there seems to be a lot of difference between sources regarding the actual number of titles per list. Things are getting dizzying and perhaps well beyond the capacity of this blogger. Gees, I thought I had a simple question:

What are the chances of an author landing on the NYTimes bestsellers list? That seems to stump most web sources I viewed. Anywhere from 0.00208% (1 in 48,000) to 0.08%?

USA Today

There are actually 150 bestselling books published on USATODAY.COM on Wednesdays and the top 50 books in print on Thursdays. USA Today publishes (according to AI Overview) a few key requirements: They typically produce a weekly list that ranks top-selling books across multiple sales platforms and sales must be from retailers in the US.

Minimum prices at $.99 or higher and reported from Monday to Sunday.

Other Considerations:

Tuesday releases

Book is available through various platforms; i.e., Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo…

Strong social media presence

Stacked promos

iBooks and Nook won’t report numbers until at least 500 US sales have been made in the week.

Publisher support, and strategic marketing campaigns (i.e., BookBub ads or Featured Deals) as well as pre-order period can increase the author’s chances.)

As noted above, they look for combined sales of 5-9,000 within a single week. (Sales in the US only.) That can fluctuate based on the number of new releases each week and KDP titles are not eligible.

Lends some legitimacy to adding the title on the book covers, huh? And yes, even if you’re only on the list for a week once, you can still claim that label for life. A more attainable goal, but still sadly at estimates of 0.1%

Publishers Weekly

As with the first two lists, this trade publication gathers sales data from a range of retailers and must be able to track a high sales volume (5,000 to 10,000) across various reporting channels during the track week. However, they primarily focus on books from traditional publishers but will consider self-published authors via BookLife. (They rely heavily on data from NPD BookScan (previously Nielsen BookScan, then merged in 2023 and renamed Circana BookScan), which covers around 85% of US print book sales.) Again, sales would include online and physical stores.

Additional Considerations:

Publishers Weekly will accept requests for a book review consideration using their Galley Tracker platform. (As of March 24, 2025, PW charges $25 for every book submitted for consideration.)

They will want both a digital galley as well as two physical galleys for review.

Submission for the book to be reviewed should be provided well prior to the proposed publication date, preferably three to four months.

And they will look for both a strong media presence and marketing strategy.

No, no online guess was found for the percentage of chance to attain their bestseller list.

Amazon.com

Amazon, the dominant online retailer, creates its bestseller lists based on sales that are updated hourly. They have a weekly bestseller list they call Amazon Charts. (Of course, you’ll still see “bestseller” or “bestselling author”.) There are campaigns that can take advantage of adjustments to boost the book, albeit temporarily, for better rankings. Even the weight and price of a book can affect it’s position since Amazon favors hardcover books whereas The New York Times does better with mass market paperbacks.

Amazon tracks all types of books from print to digital and audio and the list is posted every Wednesday.

As with the first three noted above, most of the criteria remains the same with the exception that Amazon looks for thousands of book sales within a 24-hour period. You knew that though, huh. WHOA! That means, of course, that in some niche categories, the number of sales needed to reach #1 can be lower, depending on how you’ve chosen your category. I got a chuckle out of that one, as I’ve seen some new and wildly interesting category names recently. (Bangsian Fantasy, Cli-Fi, Epistolary—yeah, I think I’ve read one of those recently.)

And, always of interest, Amazon Charts also ranks books by the average number of daily Kindle readers and Audible listeners.

Not likely we’ll ever see a percentage of chance to land on their Charts lists. Still, AI Overview notes that an author’s chances of landing on their bestsellers lists at 1 in 100,000 depending on the category.

Since some lists are compiled using Bookscan (a reporting system from book retailers) and some don’t (i.e. Amazon), how can you get a true list of bestselling books? You definitely can’t gauge one you’ll like by their sales and I’m less inclined to believe a 5 star Amazon review over a 4 star Goodreads review.

Do you actually use one of those lists to track your reading requests or purchases? I don’t think I ever have, but I do lean very heavily on Goodreads; their Choice awards, recommendations, and new releases, not to mention all your own suggestions and reviews.

Have a great week!

In addition to those links noted above, I picked up a lot of info from AI Overview and Wikipedia.