Samantha_kathy's Attempt to Pull Some ROOTS from her TBR Stack in 2013

My main goal this year will be to catch up to my series, I’m reading so much of them and I keep lagging behind. And adding new ones! So I’m going to try and catch up. At the same time, I want to get through the many TBR books I own. Therefore I’ve joined this group. My overall goal will be 50 ROOTS, aka books I already owned on 1 January 2013. Many of the books I own are part of a series (either already started or new), so the two goals can work together.

My reading habits are pretty easy to follow. Every month I plan to read:

1 book for the Reading Through Time Monthly Theme
1 book for the Reading Through Time Quarterly Theme
1 book for my European Challenge
1 book that’s part of a series (that I’d started before 2013)
1 book for my World War Two challenge OR 1 book for the US Presidential Challenge OR 1 book for the Reading Globally Quarterly Theme (switching off each month which challenge I read for)

After that, I can pick whichever book I want to read, although series books or owned books have a preference of course. For the planned reads above, I will also try and read as many books I already own. And hopefully my books read ticker will go faster than my books acquired ticker!







Books that entered the house in 2013:

1. For the King by Catherine Delors (saved for Oct-Dec RTT theme read)
2. Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
3. The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan (saved for Apr-Jun RTT theme read)
4. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie READ
5. Third Girl by Agatha Christie (saved for Agatha Christie oeuvre challenge)
6. Curtain by Agatha Christie (saved for Agatha Christie oeuvre challenge)
7. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie (saved for Agatha Christie oeuvre challenge)
8. A Soul's Calling by Scott Bishop
9. Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
10. Sea Scoundrel by Annette Blair
11. An Undeniable Rogue by Annette Blair
12. Where's My Hero by Julia Quinn et al.
13. Rachel's Secret by Shelley Sanders (saved for European Challenge)

I will only post here about ROOTS, so for all books I read this year (and more general remarks about books and life) I refer you to my 75 books challenge thread.

Looks like you've got a well thought out plan, Samantha! Good luck!

2> Nice to see you over here.

Well thought out plan - yes. Actually following the plan....that's always harder :D.

Stopping by to wish you good luck with your ROOT challenge!

Good Luck with all the plans!

Thanks!

I did my stats from 2012 for how many books that I read I owned and how many were from the library:

Books owned: 70 %
Books from library: 30 %

Looking at that, it sounds like I did pretty well with ROOTS - not so. Many of the books I read were newly acquired, and I acquired more books than I read in total last year.

Hopefully this year will be better, as I'm determined not to buy (much).

But if you hadn't read them they'd be ROOTS this year! See, anything can be justified here!

Samantha,

Catchup on my series is my main goal this year too, so for my category challenge I made specific categories to help me!

I'm using the fictfact website, and starting with the series that's closest (in percentages) to being "current." It keeps me from having to decide which series to read next.

Just finished my very first book of 2013! Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy became available today for Kindle, and as I'd pre-ordered it, it was downloaded automatically. I just finished it - 18 minutes after midnight - and I must say it's a great way to start the new reading year. The book was awesome! I'll put up a full review tomorrow.

I will be counting it as a ROOT book, because it was owned before 2013 began. But I have to admit, it feels a little bit as cheating ;).

Sounds like a great start indeed! Happy new year! :)

1. Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy (5 stars)



In this latest book of the White House Chef series, Ollie is confronted with her families past. As she goes on a personal quest to learn the truth, she has no idea that it could have more far reaching consequences. This plot allows the reader to learn more about Ollie, which I liked. It also brings her closer together with Gav – and I must say I love the way her relationship with him is developing. I also love the semi-friendship she now has with Peter Everett Sargeant – and how the rest of the kitchen staff is baffled by it. As always, this was an awesome book! I highly recommend it, but would advise reading the series in order.

Congratulations on your first ROOT finish. I think it definitely counts!

Thanks!

Just got word that 2 books I ordered at the end of December will be arriving tomorrow (if the mail doesn't get delayed, again).

I'm wondering if I should up my ROOTS TBR goal each time I get new books - making sure that my TBR stack is down by 50 at the end of the year, no matter how many books I buy this year. On the other hand, I can just shoot for 50 now, and if I make that goal before the end of the year, read an extra amount of books equal to the amount of books that entered the house since 1 January.... Decisions, decisions.

I got Fonduing Fathers too! 5***** - wow! glad I have such a good one to look forward too!

17> Have you read the other books in the series? I loved them too, and there are several developments there that help make sense of this one. *Can't say more without spoilers*

Read them all and loved them all!

Here we go, the first day and I already have a bullet!

19> In that case, I predict you're going to love this one as well.

20> But it's a really good bullet!

********

Working from home today - with some breaks build in to write the review for Mr. Churchill's Secretary, which I finished yesterday, and reading. Because as much as I want to work straight through, I cannot focus for more than an hour or two on scientific articles before starting to make mistakes.

2. Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal (5 stars)



Despite what the title and blurb might have you expect, this book is not in any way a cozy mystery. It has a dark tone, violence, and even in the lighter moments there’s a thread of desperation beneath the merriment that feels real in the face of war. It’s a compelling story of life in London in World War Two, and the historical details are superbly done. It felt like stepping back in time.

The characters of the series are all well fleshed-out, complicated, and none were simply black-and-white, not even the villains. I loved the main character, Maggie, and empathized with. Maggie’s frustration at being shunted aside despite her abilities and intelligence just because she’s a woman sparkles off the page. It made me stop and think about how far we’ve come with emancipation since then – even though we might not be completely there yet.

But the crowning glory of this book, in my opinion, was the plot. It was far more intricate than I had expected – in a good way. It was believable, the pace was realistic, and it wasn’t a ‘one woman show’ where Maggie did everything alone. This gave the plot that ‘it could have really happened’ spark that I like so much in historical novels. I’m not going to say more about the plot, despite the fact that I want to gush about it, so as not to spoil it for anyone. I’ll simply say: read the book, take the ride the plot offers, and let the story unfold. You won’t regret it. Highly recommended!

This book was already on my radar so I am glad to see such a positive review! :)

23> It's a good book, and I enjoyed it enough to want to read the next one in the series.

**********

Two books entered the house today. For the King and Maze of Bones. The first one I'm keeping aside for a theme read at the end of the year, the other one was simply on my 'want' list.

I've decided to make a list of all books entering the house this year and then trying to read them all on top of the ROOTS I'm pulling this year. That should result in my TBR stack being 50 books smaller than at the start of the year - because all new books will have been read!

Two books read so far and both 5 star reads! What a great start to your challenge. Luckily, Mr. Churchill's Secretary is already on my wishlist or I would have been severly wounded by a book bullet!

Another book entered the house today - although in my defense, this book was ordered in December. Still, The Twentieth Wife if going on my 'incoming' list - but it's already reserved for a theme read this year, so I'll get to it soon.

3. Letters from High Latitudes by Lord Dufferin (3.5 stars)



Letters from High Latitude is a travelogue – one of the earliest – in the form of letters to the author’s mother. The author being Lord Dufferin, a well-educated Englishman who loves adventure, history, and discovering new things and meeting new people. He made a trip in 1856 by ship to the Hebrides, Iceland, Jan Mayen, Norway, Spitzbergen, and Denmark – although he was not everywhere equally long. I primarily picked up this book because he also went to Jan Mayen – a visit which is only 4 pages long – but I am glad I did.

The letters are written in wonderful descriptive language. The parts in which he describes the landscape are the best of the book. Take for instance this first glimps of Jan Mayen:
“A few minutes more, and slowly, silently, in a manner you could take no count of, its dusky hem first deepened to a violet tinge, then gradually lifting, displayed a long line of coast—in reality but the roots of Beerenberg—dyed of the darkest purple; while, obedient to a common impulse, the clouds that wrapped its summit gently disengaged themselves, and left the mountain standing in all the magnificence of his 6,870 feet, girdled by a single zone of pearly vapour, from underneath whose floating folds seven enormous glaciers rolled down into the sea!”

I think, due to the poetic descriptions and the many sagas/myths he writes down as well, this would make a great audiobook. But, he could get a bit long-winded sometimes. The only downside was that the first few letters were a bit boring. The real fun starts around letter V, so if you find the first few letters hard to get through like me, hang on! For everyone who likes travel stories, I would recommend this one. It was a nice read.

4. Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She’s Dead by Christiana Miller (3.5 stars)



Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She’s Dead has a title that just draws your attention. And the book lives up to its fun title. There’s magic and quirky characters and lots of humor. I loved Mara’s voice – humoristic and a little sarcastic. Aside from that, there’s also an intriguing plot, especially in the second part of the book when the mystery-part really kicks off. And we end with a thrilling bang. All in all, a fun read and a good start to a series I will definitely be keeping my eye on. Recommended for those that like paranormal humoristic stories with a suspense twist.

Great progress with four books already!

wow Samantha, you're really chugging along here. Double wow for two 5 star books to start off the year. Fonduing Fathers looks like a hoot. I'll see if my library carries them.

ETA: I just requested State of the Onion from my library. It looks like the first in the series. Is that correct?

29, susanj67 > Yes, I'm surprising myself with my reading pace :D.

30, Carmenere > Yes, State of the Onion is the first in the series. It had a bit of a slow start, in my opinion, (slow, but not boring), but it really picked up the pace half-way through. And the series gets better with each book. I hope you enjoy it.

Another 3 books added to the household. However, all three are for my Agatha Christie oeuvre challenge; including, most importantly, the very first book I need to start with - since I will be going in chronological order.

Well, that's really a challenge! Who many books did Agatha Christie write?

If you just count her detective novels and short stories (and I counted right): 66 novels and 152 short stories. I’ve set up a thread here.

Another book entered the house today: Poirot Investigates which is a bundle of short stories. It's set aside for my Agatha Christie reading challenge.

I got offered a free review book by an author today and accepted - which means another book entered the house today (albeit electronically). Up goes the tally again, for A Soul's Calling.

5. Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (5 stars)



Do you know those fireworks shows, where there’s lots of great fireworks and then an amazing ending? The Artemis Fowl series is like that fireworks show, with each book like a piece of great firework – and this last book is the amazing ending. In The Last Guardian, Colfer completes the circle by taking the action back to Fowl Manor, just like in the first book. The criminal is familiar, as are the other characters, but the action is much larger in scope than in any of the other books. The stakes are high, right from the beginning, and things only get worse. But what I liked most about this book is that it showcases – without sacrificing any of the story or preaching about the environment like in The Atlantis Complex – the growth Artemis has gone through in the series. It shows that Artemis has learned from his mistakes, unlike the ‘love to hate’ Opal Koboi. All in all, it’s a spectacular ending to a great series, and I for one highly recommend it.

Cool.... your fifth ROOT read was a 5-star read!

6. Witch Blood by Anya Bast

I had this one on my TBR stack for a long time. I read the first book in this series in 2010 and immediatle after mooched the sequel Witch Blood. But the entire series is just not appealing to me anymore, so I put the book on bookmooch. It's no longer on my TBR stack, so another ROOT down!

7. Orion’s Belt by John Michelet (4 stars)



Orion’s Belt is a Cold War thriller that takes place in 1977 in Svalbard. This book is not a fast-paced, action-packed thriller. Instead the tension and malevolence simmers under the surface, keeping me riveted. The bleak prospects for main character are evident right from the start and you just know the chances of a happy ending are slim to none. Still, I kept reading as the story slowly unfolded. The writing style was harsh and direct, with no lyrical prose, which fit the tone of the book. But what I liked most was that Svalbard – the land, the ice, the weather, the spirit of the place – is almost like another character in the book. Recommended!

January in review:

Books read: 9
Read for TBR stack: 6
Series books: 6
New series started: 2

7 fiction and 2 non-fiction books
6 paper books and 3 Kindle books
8 books owned and 2 from the library

6 female authors and 3 male authors
4 authors from the USA, 3 from the UK, and 2 from Europe

2 books set in the USA, 3 in the UK, 3 in Europe and 1 in Africa

Books left over from my January planned reads: yes, Elizabeth I. I’m half-way through.

Five-star books:

Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy

Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeil

Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

As you can see, no ROOTs in February, and none yet for March. But I did end up putting a new book on my TBR stack: Princess Elizabeth's Spy. *sigh*

Just keep on trying, Samantha!!

3 books culled from the TBR stack!

8. The Wounded Land by Stephen Donaldson
9. The One Tree by Stephen Donaldson
10. White Gold Wielder by Stephen Donaldson

They were books I was never going to read.

Culled another fantasy trilogy from my shelves that I am never going to read.

11. The Ring of Five Dragons by Eric van Lustbader
12. The Veil of a Thousand Tears by Eric van Lustbader
13. The Cage of Nine Banestones by Eric van Lustbader

Another book culled from the TBR stack. I bought this one when there was a bit of a hype about it, but I'm just not that interested in it anymore.

14. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

Another book culled. I managed to get about 1/4 into the book, but it was boring and just not what I was expecting from it. I put it aside, hoping that maybe I was just not in the mood for it at that time. But I've realized I am never going to finish this book, so away it goes!

15. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

16. Dissolution by C.J. Sansom (5 stars)



It’s hard to write a review about Dissolution without giving too much of the plot away. The most brilliant thing of the entire book is the plot and how all the different strands were woven into a cohesive whole. Aside from the plot itself, I also loved how the events in the book impacted on the main character. Matthew Shardlake is a hunchback lawyer and avid Reformer who works for Thomas Cromwell. When he is tasked with investigating the dead of one of Cromwell’s commissioners who had been tasked with closing down a monastery, things spiral out of control fast. Shardlake is not unaffected by what he finds in the monastery – in fact, he is much changed by the end of the book. I like this, as it’s far more realistic that extraordinary events make a person reassess their worldview.

Aside from the wonderful plot and characters, the situation of 1537 in Tudor England comes to life on the page. Enough historical details abound to make the reader really feel like they’re there, but it never becomes an exercise in showing off research. All in all, Dissolution is historical fiction at its best and I highly recommend it to both mystery lovers and historical fiction fanatics!

Two books added to my TBR pile: Sea Scoundrel and An Undeniable Rogue, both by Annette Blair. They were free downloads for the Kindle, and I've enjoyed quite a few of Annette Blair's books, so I took advantage of the limited-time offer. Who can resist when it's free?

17. DNF: One Moldavian Summer by Ionel Teodoreanu (1 star)

One Moldavian Summer is said to be one of the best books in Romanian literature. I sincerely hope that people are talking about the original novel and that it’s much, much better than the translation I read. If not, I have to wonder of Romania actually has any books deserving of the title literature! My copy was an English translation done by Eugenia Farca. It was published as part of the East European Monographs in cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House and distributed by Columbia University Press in 1992. So you would expect a fairly good translation. Alas, such was not the case. Verbs occurring in the wrong tenses, Mrs. instead of Mr. and he instead of she were common errors. Sometimes, words appear to be missing in a sentence. I hope this is just a reflection on the translation and that these errors do not occur in the original text.

But, aside from the translation issue. I did not like this book. The plot – there wasn’t one really – bored me to tears. I did not like two of the three main characters. Danut is a petulant little boy who lives in a dream world. Olguta is a spoiled brat of a girl. Monica might be the only one likeable, albeit because she’s a grey little mouse who’s a follower. But even her behavior started to get on my nerves. The almost telegram style of writing only underscored these issues.

I gave One Moldavian Summer 100 pages to convince me to read it. It failed, badly. I’m not convinced it's worth my time to read, so I gave up on it. I highly recommend any potential reader to pass this book by. It’s truly not worth your time to read it. All in all, a very disappointing experience for me.

But even though I did not finish this book, it's still another ROOT gone from the TBR stack!

You have been really clearing the shelves - and from the ridiculous (Teodoreanu) to the sublime (Sansom).

I was tempted by some very positive reviews of Pope Joan shortly after it was published but then cooler heads had other opinions. I'm glad I didn't try it after all. I hate abandoning a book unfinished.

Great review of Dissolution, Samantha! I own it and hope to get a chance to slip it into my reading plan this year.

Too bad about the bad translation. Have you ever considered learning Romanian? ;0)

Finished three more ROOTS in March: Murder on the Links (18), The Confessions of Catherine de Medici (19), and The Demigod Files (20). I'll put up reviews tomorrow.

18. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie (4 stars)



World War One is over, and Captain Hastings and Hercule Poirot are sharing an apartment in London. Poirot has started working as a private detective, and he’s hired by a wealthy gentleman. But when Poirot and Hastings get to France, it’s already too late – Poirot’s client has been murdered. Poirot feels honor bound to solve the murder. But with his investigation he pits himself against the famous French detective Giraud, a member of the French La Sûreté Nationale – the National Police, France’s version of Scotland Yard.

Poirot is not as annoying as I remember him. Perhaps because it’s only the second book he appears in and Agatha Christie’s third novel overall, she is not yet confident enough to truly make Poirot’s quirks take center stage. Or it could be because I was distracted by my annoyance at Hastings. Shouldn’t Hastings know – especially after the Styles case – that the unimportant things Poirot interests himself in usually are important clues? And the whole ‘falling in love at the drop of a hat’ thing he has going for him – in the last book, and now again – is annoying as well. I cannot say I mind that Hastings doesn’t appear often after this book. His clueless bumbling, without seeming to learn from his mistakes, will not be missed by me.

As for the mystery, I liked it. Some parts of the plot I actually figured out before the reveal, but most of it I didn’t – exactly how I like my mysteries. The competitive element between Poirot and Giraud is fun, especially considering their very different methods of coming to a conclusion. All in all, a good, strong mystery which I recommend.

19. The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner (5 stars)



This fabulous historical novel follows the life of Catherine de Medici from her time in Italy as a little girl, through her marriage with the eventual king of France, until her time as regent and power behind the throne of her sons and eventual death. The story flows very naturally, the writing pulls you in and that makes this book a fairly quick read, despite the sometimes heavy topic.

The one part of this book that might deter some historical novel fans from picking it up is the fact that Catherine sometimes has visions. But, as the author explains, this is based on historical evidence – many of Catherine’s friends and acquaintances wrote down instances of these visions. Only those instances were put into the story by Gortner. I, myself, did not find it out of place in this novel. Catherine’s attitude to religion, her visions, and the paranormal are in keeping with the time period.

What I liked most about this book is the fact that the author took a woman history has painted black and made her human. He looked at the evidence – the true evidence, not the propaganda spouted by her political enemies – and found a complex woman living in a complex time. She was more tolerant than most Catholic rulers in her time, but she had flaws and made mistakes – sometimes with tragic and bloody consequences. In the end, it is Catherine who made this novel amazing for me. I loved it from beginning to end and I highly recommend it!

20. The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan (3 stars)



The Demigod Files is a companion book to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It has some short interviews with some of the characters, a few character profiles, some puzzles, and a few other odds and ends about the series in it. It also contains three short stories – two of which can take place anytime within the series, but the third one takes place between book four and book five. Therefore, that’s the best time to read this booklet. It’s not a necessary thing to read this – you can enjoy and follow the series without it. Recommended for those who love the series, but otherwise not very special.

No new ROOTs read - no books read period in the last month and a half.

Just hang in there, Samantha! You can make up for it.
I hope I am mistaken: You did not read any books? I hope there is nothing terribly wrong!

58 > Nothing seriously wrong, just a really crappy time in general. But yes, I did not read anything. Just yesterday I finished a book which was the first time I picked up a book for reading since the beginning of April. So I'm counting that as a sign the tide is turning :D

I'm happy to hear that you are reading again! Big hug for you.

21. A Witch Alone by Marian Green (4 stars)



This book is meant as a workbook for solitary practitioners of paganism. Each chapter has excercises and is meant to take you one moon – from new moon to new moon – to complete, although skills learned do need to continue to be practiced. It’s a very down-to-earth book, with a heavy emphasis on discovering things for yourself. Marian Green points you in the right direction, but that’s all. If you don’t do the work, the book won’t have anything to offer. There are no recipes or rituals in here.

As for those who are not pagans themselves, but are interested in paganism and folklore, this is still an interesting book. It’s all about traces of pre-Christianity that can still be found in today’s culture and landscape. Although here too it’s simply the author pointing in the right direction, it gives some great food for thought. And while the book is focused on the UK, it’s easily translatable to other countries because it’s more about where and how to look for traces of surviving paganism than a list of surviving traces in the UK.

All in all a good book that’s interesting for two groups of people, but ultimately you’ll need to do a lot of the work – thinking and researching – yourself. If you’re not prepared to do that, then this is not the book for you.

22 If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton (5 stars)



This book is the first in the Country Cooking School Mystery series, in which Isabelle “Betts” Winston teaches at her grandmother’s cooking school in her hometown Broken Rope, Missouri – famous for its past of outlaws, knife battles, and hangings. When her grandmother becomes the prime suspect in the murder of local theater owner Everett Morningside, Betts tries to clear her name. But that’s not all she has to worry about!

I loved this book! I have to admit that I was surprised that this was a supernatural mystery, with a good old-fashioned cowboy ghost, but that only made it more fun. It’s a typical cozy mystery, set in a small town with plenty of colorful characters. The plot was great, the side stories interesting, and for once the police was neither dumb nor incompetent! All in all a great start to a new series and I for one can’t wait to read the next one. Highly recommended for cozy mystery lovers.

I've been culling books from my TRB stack this year - those books that I'm never going to read even though they sounded interesting when I acquired them. I've either let my impulsiveness get the best of me or (more frequently) my reading tastes have changed since getting the book and I'm simply no longer interested.

But there's this one book that I just can't decide on. It's Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder. It's the second in a trilogy and I loved, loved, loved the first book to pieces. However, it's been years since I read it, and while the ending was kind of bittersweet, it was perfect. The second book has a different premise entirely than the first, and while the main pairing might get their happy ending after all, it could also very well be they'll never see each other again. Either way, I'm wary of picking it up, being disappointed and having it mar my enjoyable memories of the first book. So I'm kinda thinking of pulling it off my TBR shelf and getting rid of it. On the other hand, it's only a trilogy...just two more books...maybe I'll like it just as much or more as the first one?

Any advice/opinions?

If it were me, I'd let it go. If the first book had such an impact on me, I wouldn't want to spoil it.

I have the trilogy on the shelves, unread of course. But I know people who read them all. Would you like me to ask them about it?

Quite a dilemma. I always thought Star Wars part IV had a perfect ending. I'm still glad I saw The Empire Strikes Back, but there was really no way of knowing in advance. I would probably read the last two books because I would just be too curious to let it be.

Then again, I might be the wrong person to ask. I tend to finish all books and series. They have to actively annoy me to be given up. Actually I'm reluctant to start new series for this very reason: I know I'll feel I "should" read the whole thing.

Maybe you should try to check out the ratings and reviews of the next book in the series? If they are on par with the first one, it indicates, that other fans have enjoyed the sequel.

Samantha, most of my friends on my forum think the first book is the best. Book 2 and 3 are certainly not bad (and according to some of them book 2 and book 3 could have been one book. They belong strongly together), but 1 is very good. So....

But Henrik gave you a golden tip. So perhaps is that what you should do to help make up your mind.

Samantha, for what it's worth, I have read and enjoyed the whole trilogy. But you're right that the first book has a great ending and can easily stand alone, so you should just do what you want to do. Super helpful, I know. :)

Thank you all very much for the help. After thinking it through, and reading some of the reviews, I've decided not to read the rest of the trilogy. It seemed from the reviews I read that the things I loved most in the first book were not present in the second one. In order not to spoil my enjoyment of the first book, I will pull this ROOT unread from my stack.

23. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder