LibraryLover23's 2017 Reading Challenge

Happy 2017! My reading goal for this year is to read at least 75 books (I made it last year so I don't foresee a problem, and this year I should have more free time as well since my work schedule will be vastly different). I'm also going to set a personal challenge of not buying any books...at least until June. June is when one of my favorite book sales takes place and I want to see if I can hold out that long, and also make a dent in my TBR stack. We shall see. Below are my previous challenge threads, good luck everyone with your reading goals!

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2016

Reading List

January
1. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2. The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift As A Viable Alternative Lifestyle by Amy Dacyczyn
3. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
4. Too Many Crooks Spoil The Broth by Tamar Myers

February
5. The Ghost Of Blackwood Hall by Carolyn Keene
6. Suspension by Richard E. Crabbe
7. I Could Pee On This: And Other Poems By Cats by Francesco Marciuliano
8. Broken Prey by John Sandford

March
9. Last Scene Alive by Charlaine Harris
10. Made In America: An Informal History Of The English Language In The United States by Bill Bryson
11. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

April
12. My First Five Husbands...And The Ones Who Got Away by Rue McClanahan
13. Where There's A Will by Rex Stout
14. Day Four by Sarah Lotz
15. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

May
16. The Scam by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
17. One Thousand White Women: The Journals Of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
18. The Mitford Bedside Companion: A Treasury Of Favorite Mitford Moments, Author Reflections On The Bestselling Series, And More, Much More by Jan Karon
19. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
20. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
21. Man's Search For Meaning: Young Readers' Edition by Viktor E. Frankl

June
22. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
23. The Clear Skin Diet by Alan C. Logan and Valori Treloar
24. Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume
25. Golden Prey by John Sandford
26. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
27. Cats Cats Cats: A Collection Of Great Cat Cartoons edited by S. Gross
28. Lucky by Alice Sebold

July
29. Undead And Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
30. Bait And Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit Of The American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich
31. Becoming Little Women: A Novel About Louisa May At Fruitlands by Jeannine Atkins
32. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
33. McNally's Risk by Lawrence Sanders
34. Five Days At Memorial: Life And Death In A Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

August
35. Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
36. Inferno by Dan Brown
37. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
38. The Charming Quirks Of Others by Alexander McCall Smith
39. The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

September
40. The River At Night by Erica Ferencik
41. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun
42. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun
43. The Cat Who Turned On And Off by Lillian Jackson Braun
44. Night Shift by Charlaine Harris

October
45. The Sixth Wife by Jean Plaidy
46. White Heat by M.J. McGrath
47. Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
48. How To Retire The Cheapskate Way: The Ultimate Cheapskate's Guide To A Better, Earlier, Happier Retirement by Jeff Yeager
49. The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
50. The Blind Mirror by Christopher Pike

November
51. The Wicked Boy: The Mystery Of A Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale
52. All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
53. Book Lust: Recommended Reading For Every Mood, Moment, And Reason by Nancy Pearl

December
54. A Little House Christmas Treasury: Festive Holiday Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder
55. The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks
56. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
57. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
58. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
59. Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
60. Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Here's a list of the series I'm currently reading, or ones that I hope to start soon. I don't necessarily intend to finish all of these series this year, it's more a place for me to keep track.

Aidan, Pamela—Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series (read 1 out of 3) Next up: Duty And Desire
Alexander, Lloyd—The Prydain Chronicles (read 0 out of 5) Next up: The Book Of Three
Banks, Lynne Reid—The Indian In The Cupboard series (read 1 out of 5 but want to reread them all) Next up: The Indian In The Cupboard
Bradley, Alan—Flavia de Luce series (read 2 out of 9) Next up: A Red Herring Without Mustard
Castillo, Linda—Kate Burkholder series (read 8 out of 9) Next up: Down A Dark Road
Castle, Richard—Nikki Heat series (read 2 out of 9) Next up: Heat Rises
Cronin, Justin—The Passage Trilogy (read 1 out of 3) Next up: The Twelve
Dobson, Joanne—Karen Pelletier series (read 2 out of 6) Next up: The Raven And The Nightingale: A Modern Mystery Of Edgar Allan Poe
Evanovich, Janet—Stephanie Plum series (read 23 out of 24) Next up: Hardcore Twenty-Four
Grafton, Sue—Alphabet Mysteries (read 3 out of 25) Next up: “D" Is For Deadbeat
Harris, Charlaine—Harper Connelly series (read 2 out of 4) Next up: An Ice Cold Grave
Harris, Thomas—Hannibal Lecter series (read 1 out of 4) Next up: The Silence Of The Lambs
Littlefield, Sophie—Stella Hardesty series (read 3 out of 5) Next up: A Bad Day For Mercy
Martin, George R.R.—A Song Of Ice And Fire series (read 4 out of 7) Next up: A Dance With Dragons
Nix, Garth—The Abhorsen Trilogy (read 0 out of 3) Next up: Sabriel
Penny, Louise—Three Pines series (read 10 out of 13) Next up: The Nature Of The Beast
Pullman, Philip—His Dark Materials series (read 1 out of 3) Next up: The Subtle Knife
Quinn, Spencer—Chet and Bernie Mysteries (read 8 out of 8) Next up: ???
Smith, Alexander McCall—Isabel Dalhousie series (read 7 out of 11) Next up: The Forgotten Affairs Of Youth
Smith, Alexander McCall—No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series (read 11 out of 18) Next up: The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
Spencer-Fleming, Julia—Reverend Clare Fergusson series (read 5 out of 9) Next up: I Shall Not Want
Stewart, Mary—Arthurian Saga series (read 0 out of 5) Next up: The Crystal Cave
Tolkien, J.R.R.—Lord Of The Rings (read 1 out of 4) Next up: The Fellowship Of The Ring

These are the remaining Stephen King books I have to read as part of the King's Dear Constant Readers readalong. I'll be sad to see this challenge end as I've been working on it for years now, but as prolific as what he is, I'm sure there's going to be many more titles to come.

I've read his entire bibliography up to this point, these are the ones that are left (I'm skipping some of the e-books and things). Titles came from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King_bibliography although of course, more can be added at any time.

Doctor Sleep
Mr. Mercedes
Revival
Finders Keepers
The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams
End Of Watch
Charlie The Choo-Choo
Sleeping Beauties

Welcome back LL for another year in the group.

Thank you Paul! I love being here.

Welcome back!

>7 drneutron: Thank you drneutron! And thank you, as always, for getting the group started!

>9 The_Hibernator: Thank you! Happy New Year to you too!

I am part of the group.
I love being part of the group.
I love the friendships bestowed upon my by dint of my membership of this wonderful fellowship.
I love that race and creed and gender and age and sexuality and nationality make absolutely no difference to our being a valued member of the group.

Thank you for also being part of the group.

Happy reading in 2017!

>11 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul! Happy New Year!

>12 FAMeulstee: Thank you Anita, and same to you!

Happy New Year.
I have fallen so far behind the Kings Dear Constant reader challenge. I need to remedy that.

>14 cal8769: I fell behind in posting anything in the group but I am determined to finish the challenge regardless!

1. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (531 p.)
My reading year's off to a good start with this World War II-set novel about a German boy and a French girl, their experiences during the war, and how their lives intersect. The chapters are super short and alternate in perspective, and although I found Werner's storyline the more compelling of the two, I enjoyed the book very much overall.

>16 LibraryLover23: That one is on my list for this year. I doubt it will be this month, but soon!

>16 LibraryLover23: I enjoyed All the Light We Cannot See.

>17 thornton37814: I hope you like it as much as I did!

>18 cal8769: It was good, wasn't it? The short chapters made the book go faster. It was easy to say, "I'll just read one more."

2. The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift As A Viable Alternative Lifestyle by Amy Dacyczyn (959 p.)
My personal finance bible, if you're a fan of this book we're automatically best friends for life, no questions asked. As I've done since I bought it, I read it in bits and pieces and as soon as I'm done, I flip back to the beginning and start over again. This just happened to be the time that I finished my current read-through. If you have an interest in personal finance, simple living, environmentalism, etc. this is a great resource, although a warning that some of her tips are quite a bit dated. But the basic message never gets old.

>20 LibraryLover23: Adding it to the wishlist!

>21 scaifea: Yay! My work here is done. ;)

>22 LibraryLover23: *grins*
I'm already pretty much a tightwad, but I'm always open to more tips to improve my tightwaddedness...

>23 scaifea: Me too!

3. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Kindle)
Sequel to The Shining, but other than some brief flashbacks at the beginning, I think it would work fine as a standalone. Dan Torrance is all grown up now and using alcohol to tamp down his psychic ability, which he's always viewed as a handicap. But when a young girl with powers much stronger than his starts to make contact, he ends up drawn into a battle with a group of vampire-like people who call themselves the True Knot. Overall I liked this one a lot, it was interesting to see where Danny ended up and, as I said before, the story was strong enough to stand on its own.

4. Too Many Crooks Spoil The Broth by Tamar Myers (240 p.)
Cozy mystery set in a fictional Pennsylvania Dutch town. The "Dutch" connection is what made me pick up the book in the first place, but I'm afraid I didn't care for it at all. The characters were frustratingly one-note, although the main character, Mags, grew on me a bit by the end. Still, I won't be bothering with the others in this series.

>26 LibraryLover23: I gave up on that series years ago, but my mother loved them and would ask for more, so I kept having to pick up more at the used bookstore just for her.

>27 thornton37814: I'm guessing the series improved with time, it just wasn't really for me. But I'm glad your mom liked them!

January Books Read
1. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2. The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift As A Viable Alternative Lifestyle by Amy Dacyczyn
3. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
4. Too Many Crooks Spoil The Broth by Tamar Myers

January Books Acquired
None!

Off to a slow start this year, but that's because I started a new job this month which took up 99.99% of my brain power. But things are improving, and I'm hoping for more reading time as I get back into a groove.

5. The Ghost Of Blackwood Hall by Carolyn Keene (216 p.)
If my life depended on it I don't think I could accurately describe the plot of this Nancy Drew book. The gist of it has to do with a group of charlatans who swindle people out of money by holding fake séances. But there was also some quicksand, a hypnotized woman who almost drowns, hidden panels, stolen jewels, messages left in a tree, a dog who tracks down his owner, and a fake photographer in New Orleans. Usually I find these books charming (albeit with uncomfortable representations of anyone who isn't WASPy), but this one was a slog since I had no idea what the heck was going on.

6. Suspension by Richard E. Crabbe (436 p.)
Historical fiction/murder mystery set in the late 19th century and centered around a group of former Confederate soldiers who plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, a symbol of the North's wealth and power. Hot on their trail is Detective Tom Braddock, a character who, to my mind, had a few too many 21st century sensibilities to be wholly believable. But the book itself was good, a little draggy at times, but overall it held my interest.

7. I Could Pee On This: And Other Poems By Cats by Francesco Marciuliano (111 p.)
This one's my favorite:

Sometimes when I lie on your warm chest
And hear your every happy sigh
I gaze into your two kind eyes
And wonder, "Who is that?"

8. Broken Prey by John Sandford (481 p.)
There's nothing like a dark, gritty Lucas Davenport novel to get the reading juices flowing again. This one's about a killer posing as a doctor at a mental institution, but it takes Lucas an inordinately long time to figure it out. Still, the short paragraph breaks and whiplash action keep the pages flying by.

February Books Read
5. The Ghost Of Blackwood Hall by Carolyn Keene
6. Suspension by Richard E. Crabbe
7. I Could Pee On This: And Other Poems By Cats by Francesco Marciuliano
8. Broken Prey by John Sandford

February Books Acquired
None!

9. Last Scene Alive by Charlaine Harris (248 p.)
One of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries (7th?), of which I've never read any. I didn't have a problem following it though, Harris' Southern mysteries definitely have a sameness about them, but I love them anyway. In this one a film crew comes to town to make a movie about a crime that I assume was a plot line from one of the earlier books. When the actress playing Roe ends up dead, pretty much everyone connected with the film becomes a suspect. I don't see myself going back and rereading the earlier entries in this series, but for a quick Harris fix, it fit the bill.

10. Made In America: An Informal History Of The English Language In The United States by Bill Bryson (417 p.)
Pretty self-explanatory, Bryson looks at different areas of American life (travel, sports, food, etc.) through a language lens. Similar to his other books, Bryson's wry humor and need to poke fun at some of our more outlandish creations made for a funny, quirky read.

11. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (290 p.)
I'm a big fan of Allen's whimsical, Southern-set magical realism stories. I've read that whichever of her books you read first remains your favorite, which in my case holds true with The Sugar Queen. But I still enjoyed this one very much - two sisters trying to come to terms with their past, figuring out their love lives, and also trying to keep neighbors from a magical apple tree in their backyard whose fruit reveals the future to whoever eats from it.

March Books Read
9. Last Scene Alive by Charlaine Harris
10. Made In America: An Informal History Of The English Language In The United States by Bill Bryson
11. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

March Books Acquired
None!

My reading progress this year has been excruciatingly slow. I thought with my new job I'd have oodles of free time but so far that hasn't been the case at all. On the plus side, I haven't purchased any books for myself since October of last year and that is an accomplishment I'm proud of.

12. My First Five Husbands...And The Ones Who Got Away by Rue McClanahan (341 p.)
I'm a huge Golden Girls fan (who isn't?) and my sister gave me this memoir to read, all about Blanche Devereaux's Rue McClanahan's career and love life. The fact that she so closely mirrors Blanche's sensibilities when it comes to men was funny to me, even if the book itself was a little slapdash and moved along at a whiplash-inducing pace. I had no idea who half the people mentioned were and I had trouble keeping track of the various people's comings and goings, but as I said before, I'm a big fan of GG and by extension, the ladies who played them.

13. Where There's A Will by Rex Stout (audiobook)
Nancy Pearl recommends the Nero Wolfe series, and if Nancy Pearl recommends something, I'm game to try it. I was surprised to find that these books were written in the 30's, I thought they were more recent than that. But I definitely enjoyed it, I'd be willing to try others in this series.

14. Day Four by Sarah Lotz (345 p.)
Great premise - a cruise ship is stranded on the fourth day of travel with no internet access or outside communication, but I'm afraid about halfway through it became a struggle to finish. The chapters alternate in perspective between crew members and passengers, but when ghosts and other supernatural goings-on occur, some of the characters' actions seemed confusing and out-of-place. Still I'm not sorry I read it, like I said before it had a great premise.

15. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler (198 p.)
I love anything Anne Tyler writes, bar none. She zeroes in on her characters so closely that they are fully realized, three-dimensional people, even with a shorter work like this one. But also with her books you've got to expect a pervading sense of melancholy, it's just one of her hallmarks. This one particularly fit that tone, as it follows Aaron after his wife dies, but it is so, so worth it.

April Books Read
12. My First Five Husbands...And The Ones Who Got Away by Rue McClanahan
13. Where There's A Will by Rex Stout
14. Day Four by Sarah Lotz
15. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

April Books Acquired
Man's Search For Meaning: Young Adult Edition by Viktor E. Frankl (won through LT's Early Reviewers)
The Clear Skin Diet by Alan C. Logan and Valori Treloar (a gift)

16. The Scam by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (audiobook)
How dare they take a run-of-the-mill Kate O'Hare/Nick Fox book and give it a crazy cliffhanger ending! I was shocked, that's not usually Evanovich's MO, but I'm thrilled to find out what happens next in this mystery series featuring an FBI agent and her con man love interest.

17. One Thousand White Women: The Journals Of May Dodd by Jim Fergus (436 p.)
Fergus takes a real-life event (a Cheyenne Indian chief visited President Grant in the 1800's), and imagines that he asks for 1,000 white women to assimilate into the Cheyenne culture. This is a "journal" of one such woman, May Dodd, and her life among the Plains. A few times I found May a little too stupid to live, but the overall depiction of life on the prairie, descriptions of Native American life, and heart-pounding action more than made up for it.

18. The Mitford Bedside Companion: A Treasury Of Favorite Mitford Moments, Author Reflections On The Bestselling Series, And More, Much More by Jan Karon (487 p.)
I've been reading this one in snippets over the past few months. The title explains it all really, it's chicken soup for the soul from one of my favorite series.

19. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (audiobook)
I love this one. Yes, it's New Agey and hokey at times, but it puts me in the right frame of mind. It's like taking a dose of Felix Felicis.

20. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline (341 p.)
Above-average mystery about a reporter who thinks her adopted son might be one of the kids featured on a "have you seen me?" card. The chapters are short and snappy, which keep the pages moving, and all threads are tied up neatly by the end.

21. Man's Search For Meaning: Young Readers' Edition by Viktor E. Frankl (159 p.)
Incredibly moving account of the author's time spent in a concentration camp. As a psychotherapist he details his time in the camps with an almost clinical, detached air, but then he'll switch to some incredibly personal, profound anecdote that humanizes the narrative again. It also tied in with my personal philosophy, in that life is really all in what you make of it, not what others try to make of you.

May Books Read
16. The Scam by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
17. One Thousand White Women: The Journals Of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
18. The Mitford Bedside Companion: A Treasury Of Favorite Mitford Moments, Author Reflections On The Bestselling Series, And More, Much More by Jan Karon
19. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
20. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
21. Man's Search For Meaning: Young Readers' Edition by Viktor E. Frankl

May Books Acquired
The Windfall by Diksha Basu (Won through LT's Early Reviewers and I have no idea why, this is in no way familiar looking to me at all. The only thing I can think is that I must have accidentally hit "request" when I was scrolling through the choices. Looks pretty interesting though, so I'm not disappointed.)

Delurking to say HI!

>51 cal8769: Hiya cal! Thanks for delurking. I'm the same way, I check up on others' reading but don't always leave comments. Looks like you're having a great reading year though, keep it up! :)

22. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (371 p.)
Meh. This story follows three women during World War II - Iris, the postmistress of the title, Emma, the doctor's new wife who moves to the town where Iris lives, and Frankie, an American war correspondent reporting on the war from London. Frankie was my least favorite character and unfortunately most of the book was told from her perspective. Iris, to me the most interesting of the three, (and again, the title character!) was relegated to the sidelines for some reason. I didn't care for the book overall but I'll pass it on, and maybe someone else will enjoy it more than I did.

23. The Clear Skin Diet by Alan C. Logan and Valori Treloar (281 p.)
Pretty revelatory stuff, I've had doctors tell me to my face that diet has absolutely no bearing on your skin (which I've always thought was a bunch of baloney) and this book scientifically proves me right. It's all common sense really: eating healthy, getting enough exercise, reducing stress, and getting adequate sleep. But these doctors present it in a way that's well-thought out and ultimately leaves me with a sense of hope.

24. Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume (296 p.)
Three friends navigate life, including starting junior high and dealing with troubled home life situations. Blume is flawless in her execution as always, with a realistic portrayal of friendship in the early teen years.

25. Golden Prey by John Sandford (392 p.)
Newest entry in the Lucas Davenport series. Lucas is now a US Marshal (when did that happen? I must not have read the previous entry). Anyway, this opens up a new path for the series, as Lucas will now be working throughout the country and not just in Minnesota. This one finds him in Texas, chasing two bad guys who stole money from a drug cartel, and the drug cartel is not far behind. The action is nonstop and the twists and turns keep coming. This is a great series, a can't-miss for mystery fans.

26. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (592 p.)
Weird but good. After he gets out of prison, Shadow gets recruited in a battle of old gods (Odin, Loki, Easter) vs. new (Media, Technology, etc.). My favorite parts of the book were the "Coming to America" interludes, where you see how immigrants brought their belief systems with them, as well as the whole Lakeside section, which is a town where Shadow stays to hide out but ends up solving a mystery involving missing children. Like I said before, weird but good.

27. Cats Cats Cats: A Collection Of Great Cat Cartoons edited by S. Gross (252 p.)
Pretty self-explanatory, my favorite was "Cat Brain Teaser" by Roz Chast which, sadly, I can't seem to find online. Oh well, it's a cute book for cat lovers like me.

28. Lucky by Alice Sebold (246 p.)
Riveting, searing memoir of the author's rape and its aftermath. I remember reading her The Lovely Bones and being devastated by the rape scene in that book, now I know how she could write something so realistic. It was very, very good but a tough read for sure. And now I think I have to switch to something light, fluffy and happy next.

June Books Read
22. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
23. The Clear Skin Diet by Alan C. Logan and Valori Treloar
24. Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume
25. Golden Prey by John Sandford
26. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
27. Cats Cats Cats: A Collection Of Great Cat Cartoons edited by S. Gross
28. Lucky by Alice Sebold

June Books Acquired
After a 6+ month dry spell of not buying any books, I went a little crazy this month. In my defense I knew it was coming, and I still met my goal of not buying books for the first half of the year. For the rest of the year, I'm not going to set any goals, I'll just see where life takes me, reading and book-buying wise.

The World Of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes That Inspired The Little House Books by Marta McDowell (won through LT's Early Reviewers - does the algorithm know me or what?)
The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (bought from the "Books to Take You Away from the Madness" table at the Strand in NYC)
The Alienist by Caleb Carr (bought at the "Staff Recommendations" table at the Strand in NYC)
After Dead by Charlaine Harris
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
The Queen Of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen
Fever by Mary Beth Keane
Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Bridal Wreath by Sigrid Undset
Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Mistress Of Husaby by Sigrid Undset
Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross by Sigrid Undset
A Drink Before The War by Dennis Lehane
The Year Of The Flood by Margaret Atwood (all used, from a library book sale)
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
The Girl In The Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (from a great used book sale at a church in Bethany Beach, DE, these three cost a total of $2.50)

29. Undead And Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson (277 p.)
Nice, fluffy, light read, which is just what I was in the mood for. After she gets hit by a car, Betsy wakes up in the morgue to find out she's been turned into a vampire. And not just any vampire, but the prophesied new queen who has to overthrow the current leader with help from her new vamp friends. It reminded me a lot of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series, with its vampires and take-no-guff protagonist. I liked it a lot; it fit the bill.

30. Bait And Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit Of The American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich (237 p.)
As she did with blue collar workers in Nickel And Dimed, Ehrenreich attempts to infiltrate the world of white collar workers in Bait And Switch. The only problem is, despite months of searching, networking and talking to career coaches (and going undercover by not letting on she was "on assignment"), she was ultimately unable to find anything because no one would hire her. Although Ehrenreich writes in a breezy, laugh-out-loud style, this one hit a little too close to home for me. I could identify too closely with the glaring problems in corporate culture, right down to taking (and in my case, failing!) a personality test. But Ehrenreich deftly points out the problems inherent in that culture and shines a light on ways it needs to change.

31. Becoming Little Women: A Novel About Louisa May At Fruitlands by Jeannine Atkins (202 p.)
I thought this one was great - a children's story about the year the Alcott family spent on a farm trying to create a utopia and living off the land. It vastly appealed to my love of homesteading/pioneer stories and it makes me want to read more about the experiment and this family, in particular, dad Bronson.

32. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (306 p.)
Oh man, this book. I could hardly bear to put it down, but it was also so tense and disturbing at times I could also barely stand to read it. Cora is a slave on a Georgia plantation who makes a run for freedom on the Underground Railroad, in this book's case, an actual railroad that runs underground. Thought-provoking, sad, but well worth it.

33. McNally's Risk by Lawrence Sanders (325 p.)
I realized it was far too long since I caught up with one of my favorite characters, Archy McNally, so I decided to dust this book off and jump into his world of Palm Beach, FL intrigue. I don't remember the exact plots of each of these books before reading, just the general spirit of the story - wealthy, snooty clients enlisting Archy's help in solving their problems. I love the food descriptions, the characters, the setting, and most of all, Archy himself.

34. Five Days At Memorial: Life And Death In A Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink (565 p.)
Riveting, thought-provoking and resonant. Fink examines Memorial Hospital in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and in particular relates the story of patients who were deemed too sick to move and were ultimately euthanized. Reading this book from the comfort of my living room, it's hard to imagine how difficult the situation would be for the people who lived it, and Fink raises great questions and observations about the moral and ethical implications of it all. It would all seem kind of murky if not for one patient, Emmett Everett, who for me tipped the scales to murder, plain and simple. It's really a fascinating book that raises a lot of important questions, and is well worth the reader's time.

July Books Read
29. Undead And Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
30. Bait And Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit Of The American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich
31. Becoming Little Women: A Novel About Louisa May At Fruitlands by Jeannine Atkins
32. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
33. McNally's Risk by Lawrence Sanders
34. Five Days At Memorial: Life And Death In A Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

July Books Acquired
Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook (a freebie)

35. Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King (58 p.)
Not just any copy my friends, but the original manuscript. I visited Maine recently and if you ask nicely and if King's personal assistant approves it, you can view his original manuscripts at the University of Maine, King's alma mater. (I also looked at The Eyes of the Dragon and various college literary journals which contained his and Tabitha's first published work.) Anyway, Shawshank is a great story, my favorite short story of his, and I'm very grateful that I got a chance to see it in this way.

36. Inferno by Dan Brown (463 p.)
Brown's thrillers have a bit more of a literary edge to them, but the short chapters that all end on cliffhangers keep the pages flying. I was a bit "meh" on this one overall though, although the statistics on how overpopulation will be the end of our species were just chilling.

37. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (297 p.)
Very good story about what happens to a family when the favored daughter dies. The only problem is, I didn't really warm to any of the characters. I pitied them, yes, but they also worked on my nerves a bit.

38. The Charming Quirks Of Others by Alexander McCall Smith (Kindle library loan)
Seventh in the Isabel Dalhousie series. Isabel is a Scottish philosopher who inevitably gets drawn into people's sticky moral situations whenever she tries to help them out. Not a whole lot happens in this series (don't expect major plot twists and turns), but it's a nice, gentle portrait of upper crust Edinburgh life.

>68 LibraryLover23: Holy cow! That is exciting. A great story read in such a special way.

>72 cal8769: I know, it was great! I was tempted to ask for more manuscripts but I didn't want to push it since I wasn't sure how the whole process worked exactly. But the librarians at the Fogler Library were super nice and helpful, it was really a great experience.

39. The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (501 p.)
Eh. Unfortunately I was over halfway through this chunkster when I realized I didn't like it very much. It wasn't horrible, it just never really grabbed me. I also had a hard time believing the actions of some of the characters, Prudence in particular. But the life story of Alma Whittaker, a wealthy woman botanist, wasn't all bad, it just wasn't for me.

August Books Read
35. Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
36. Inferno by Dan Brown
37. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
38. The Charming Quirks Of Others by Alexander McCall Smith
39. The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

August Books Acquired
Favorite Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron
Simple Food For The Good Life: An Alternative Cookbook by Helen Nearing (signed by the author)
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew (all bought at various bookstores in Portland, ME)

40. The River At Night by Erica Ferencik (294 p.)
A very good thriller about a group of four women who head to remote upstate Maine for a white water rafting trip, only to run into trouble. It was very fast-paced, one of the reviews I read likened it to the movie The River Wild, which I could agree with. Recommended if you like suspense/adventure stories and books about female friendships.

41. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun (191 p.)
First in a long-running mystery series about news reporter Jim Qwilleran and his sidekick, a Siamese cat named Koko. I thought it was a pretty good read, I liked the setting and the secondary characters. I'm going to try to read the next two books in the series back-to-back, while everyone and everything is still fresh in my mind.

42. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun (192 p.)
I was wondering about the title of this one, but I now know it's a Danish modern chair, one that Koko, the Siamese cat, chews. In this installment Qwilleran has moved from the art beat to an interior decorating magazine, but the same murder and mayhem occur. There's also a new cat sidekick, Yum Yum, who I think will be a nice addition to the series. The descriptions of cat behavior are spot-on too, which add some funny moments as well.

I haven't read the Cat Who books in years. I need to pick them up again.

>79 cal8769: They're nice light, easy reads, which I'm appreciating right now. :)

I too loved the Cat Who books when they came out. The last few installments fell a bit flat, but it was remarkable Ms. Braun continued to write books as late in life as she did.

>81 thornton37814: It is remarkable, and it's interesting how she had a gap between writing the first three and then publishing the later installments.

43. The Cat Who Turned On And Off by Lillian Jackson Braun (186 p.)
Instead of art or interior decorating, Qwilleran has now moved on to antiques, taking on a Christmas story about Junktown, a town made up primarily of antique stores. One of the Junktown owners died from a fall not long before Qwilleran starts his story, and with the cats' help he decides to investigate, since all is not quite what it seems. This is the last book I own in this series, which means I'll be moving on to something else next, but overall I enjoyed these light-hearted mysteries about a reporter and his two faithful feline companions.

Favorite quote: "'No one ever owns a cat,' he corrected her. 'You share a common habitation on a basis of equal rights and mutual respect...although somehow the cat always comes out ahead of the deal.'" (p. 128)

>83 LibraryLover23: Yes. The cat always has it best!

>84 thornton37814: Agreed!

44. Night Shift by Charlaine Harris (308 p.)
Satisfying conclusion to the Midnight, Texas trilogy, about a small town made up of supernatural residents. A demon who was trapped under the town crossroads hundreds of years ago begins to reawaken, and Fiji, the town witch, has to make a personal sacrifice in order for him to stay underground. I liked how the townspeople had to band together in this one, and that everyone's storyline was neatly wrapped up by the end.

September Books Read
40. The River At Night by Erica Ferencik
41. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun
42. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun
43. The Cat Who Turned On And Off by Lillian Jackson Braun
44. Night Shift by Charlaine Harris

September Books Acquired
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean
50 Ways To Save Lancaster County: An Environmental And Social Guide To What You Can Do To Help Save Our County by Philip R. Holzinger (both used, from a book sale)

45. The Sixth Wife by Jean Plaidy (263 p.)
So-so historical fiction about Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's sixth, and final, wife. It was interesting, I didn't know much about Katherine before reading this, and I liked the fictionalized glimpse of Elizabeth I's childhood, but overall I wasn't too impressed. Maybe a biography would have been better.

46. White Heat by M.J. McGrath (audiobook)
Above-average mystery that takes place in the Canadian Arctic and features an Inuit teacher and hunter named Edie Kiglatuk. While leading two men on a hunting expedition one of them gets shot and killed, which leads to Edie trying to unravel whodunit and why, while also encountering other mysteries along the way. The setting in this one was fabulous, I find the Arctic to be a fascinating place. I may not necessarily want to visit there, but this book almost makes it seem worthwhile.

47. Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min (337 p.)
More historical fiction, this one about Chairman Mao's wife as we follow her from her childhood to her eventual downfall after Mao's death. I'm afraid I didn't care for this one too much, there was some odd phrasing (something lost in the translation between cultures maybe?), along with an unusual writing style where the paragraphs shifted from first- to third-person and back again. But I learned some things about China's history that I didn't know before, so for that it was worthwhile.

48. How To Retire The Cheapskate Way: The Ultimate Cheapskate's Guide To A Better, Earlier, Happier Retirement by Jeff Yeager (308 p.)
I'm massively interested in anything that has to do with personal finance, frugality, thriftiness, financial independence, early retirement, etc. Yeager, aka the Ultimate Cheapskate, is a good writer, he's funny and he presents his PF ideas in a relatable way. He doesn't quite take things to the next (extreme) level as my man Mr. Money Mustache does, but it's worthwhile to read things like this and give myself reminders and pointers on my own frugal journey.

49. The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (audiobook)
After the cliff-hanger of the previous book in this series I was anxious to find out what happened to Nick Fox (con man) and Kate O'Hare (FBI agent). It turns out it continued on with the couple's usual hijinks, kooky cast of supporting characters, and excellent narration by reader Scott Brick. This is a great series, but pure, guilty-pleasure fluff.

50. The Blind Mirror by Christopher Pike (390 p.)
I'm a huge fan of Christopher Pike's young adult novels, but I can't quite say the same about his novels for adults, of which this is one. It has all the classic Pike hallmarks - a blend of horror, science fiction and fantasy, a California setting, track meets, a stoner character, references to high school days, etc. Things get rather bizarre by the end though, although I was curious enough to keep going and see how it all worked out. I will continue to adore his YA books, but I'm probably not going to rush out and read any of his other adult books anytime soon.

October Books Read
45. The Sixth Wife by Jean Plaidy
46. White Heat by M.J. McGrath
47. Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
48. How To Retire The Cheapskate Way: The Ultimate Cheapskate's Guide To A Better, Earlier, Happier Retirement by Jeff Yeager
49. The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
50. The Blind Mirror by Christopher Pike

October Books Acquired
Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood
Living Well On A Shoestring by the editors of Yankee Magazine (all gifts/freebies)

51. The Wicked Boy: The Mystery Of A Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale (378 p.)
Fantastic non-fiction about a boy, Robert Coombes, who murdered his mother when he was just thirteen years old. What's amazing is what his life was like after the murder, including serving with distinction in World War I. The epilogue in particular, which contained a bit of a twist ending, put the whole story in perspective, and left me marveling at how complex people can be.

>4 LibraryLover23: Hey Martha. I tagged your thread, thanks to you joining the Swap.

I like the Stephen King bucket list thread. I've read pretty much everything of his over the years. But I have spent the last couple rereading (or mostly listening) to the back catalog. He always delivers at least an interesting read.

>96 mahsdad: Agreed. I've done pretty terribly with that challenge this year, but I look forward to going back and rereading some old favorites sometime!

52. All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (302 p.)
Western coming-of-age novel about a teenage boy who travels to Mexico and learns some hard life lessons about love, friendship, and finding your place in the world. I was in a bit of a major book/life funk when I read this one, so unfortunately it took me forever to read and I couldn't give it the full attention it deserved. But some of the spare, haunting prose did put me in mind of John Steinbeck, which from me is pretty high praise.

This is a time of year when I as a non-American ponder over what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this group and its ability to keep me sane during topsy-turvy times.

I am thankful that you are part of this group.

I am thankful for this opportunity to say thank you.

>99 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul! And Happy Thanksgiving! (Even if you are a "non-American.") :)

53. Book Lust: Recommended Reading For Every Mood, Moment, And Reason by Nancy Pearl (287 p.)
I find myself rereading a "Book Lust" book every year or so; Pearl never fails to get me back in the reading spirit. And she's such a voracious reader! She'll say something like, "I love rereading this 40-volume series, and these 10 are my favorite." And she does that like 15 times! It's mind-boggling.

November Books Read
51. The Wicked Boy: The Mystery Of A Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale
52. All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
53. Book Lust: Recommended Reading For Every Mood, Moment, And Reason by Nancy Pearl

November Books Acquired
McNally's Gamble by Lawrence Sanders
Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI by David Grann (both used)

54. A Little House Christmas Treasury: Festive Holiday Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder (139 p.)
My annual Christmas reread. I like the "Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus" chapter best.

>103 LibraryLover23: That sounds like fun! I always loved the Christmas scenes in her books.

>104 thornton37814: It's cute. And nostalgic!

55. The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks (420 p.)
Out of all the Sparks' books that I've read, this one's my favorite. It's about a firefighter and a single mother who start dating after he rescues her and her son from a car crash. I partly like it because it deals with poverty in a realistic way, and the action scenes of other rescues keep the plot moving at a pretty brisk pace.

56. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter (audiobook)
If you couldn't already tell by my other reading this year, I'm 100% a cat person. This one was super-cute and had me hysterically laughing and nodding with recognition throughout. Dewey Readmore Books was found one freezing cold morning in the book chute of the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa, and went on to become the library's mascot and a touchstone for the town. Heartily recommended for other cat enthusiasts.

57. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (80 p.)
Another traditional holiday reread for me - about the worst kids in town taking all the main roles in the Christmas pageant. Sheer perfection on this snowy December day.

58. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (286 p.)
Immaculate writing and top-notch characterization make up this collection of stories about an irascible woman named Olive Kitteridge, and the family members and townspeople who make up her life. My favorite story was the first one, "Pharmacy," about Olive's husband Henry and his relationship with his pharmacy assistant. My only quibble with the book was that the stories themselves were pretty unrelentingly bleak, but for that first story alone, it was worth it.

Wishing you all good things this holiday season and beyond.

>110 PaulCranswick: Merry Christmas Paul!

59. Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh (334 p.)
Fascinating portrait of a Pennsylvania coal mining town at its height and eventual decline, told through the lens of the Novaks, a Polish-Italian family made up of three girls and two boys. The story is mainly told from the perspective of the girls: Dorothy, Joyce and Lucy, and I found the writing to be clear and elegant. I liked it a lot.

60. Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (81 p.)
I went to Portland, ME last summer and one of the things I did was tour Longfellow's childhood home, which is where I picked up this slim little volume. My favorites are "The Day Is Done," "Christmas Bells," and the translation of "Retribution."

December Books Read
54. A Little House Christmas Treasury: Festive Holiday Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder
55. The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks
56. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
57. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
58. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
59. Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
60. Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

December Books Acquired
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? by Sidney Sheldon
The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
In This House Of Brede by Rumer Godden
Clabbered Dirt, Sweet Grass by Gary Paulsen
The Raven And The Nightingale: A Modern Mystery Of Edgar Allan Poe by Joanne Dobson (all gifts)

Moving over to the 2018 group - see you there!

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