What are we reading in January ?

Happy New Year!

What is everyone reading?

I've finished The Body in the Boudoir and Death on the Nile.

Something right up your alley, Lisa!

The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett

Happy New Year!

I'm kicking off the new year with The Hooded Hawke, a historical mystery with Elizabeth I as sleuth. I'm still listening to The Nature of the Beast, which I didn't manage to finish before the end of the year.

Yesterday I leapt out of the 2016 Pool (of potential reads) and picked up a reread: Tales of the Greek Heroes, as compiled by Roger Lancelyn Green. The BF and I had watched the Disney movie Hercules over New Year's Eve and I wanted to go back to a more accurate retelling ;)

And still working on David Copperfield, but I'm up to Chapter 37 now! Read 4 chapters yesterday which was somewhat of an achievement.

I'm reading Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania (and its Romanian translation, Grand Bazar Romania). It's got small (2-3 page) vignettes of the author's various interactions and observations over many years in Romania. As a former expat there myself I am enjoying it a lot, although there have been a few 'ouch' moments of recognition.

>4 rabbitprincess: David Copperfield is my favourite Dickens novel (of the ones I've read, but it would take an awful lot for any of the others to top it). I can't think how many times I read and reread it in my teens and twenties (haven't read it since then, must rectify that) but there is one chapter in particular which is absolutely guaranteed to have me in tears! I always had to make sure, when I knew that chapter was coming up, that I was going to be on my own when I read it! Definitely not one for public transport! :D

I kicked off the year with a Georgette Heyer mystery, No Wind of Blame, and I've also started War and Peace. Next up will be The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles for the GeoCAT.

Finished A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen, and am now reading Toll the Hounds in the Malazan series, and Zer0es by Chuck Wendig

I finished The End Is Now, an anthology of apocalyptic stories, and am now reading a 1960s thriller, The Expendable Man. I gave myself a lovely NYRB edition for Christmas/New Year's.

I'm mostly reading from The Fifties which is a left-over from December and Skinwalkers by Hillerman. But I've read a little of War and Peace and I need to get to Being Mortal since it has to go back to the library soon.

The Fifties is a real brick of a book but so far I've been learning a lot and find the non-political chapters particularly interesting.

Finished With Baited Breath by Lorraine Bartlett which filled bingo squares on both my cards and fit the Random CAT challenge. Nice way to start! Also, working on Dino by Nick Tosches and Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

I've already finished The Black Echo by Michael Connelly, the first book in the Harry Bosch series. Now I'm reading Beg, Borrow, Steal by Michael Greenberg which is my book this month for the Dewey Cat. I also have a couple of leftovers from last year - The Town That Food Saved and To Darkness and To Death which is my ebook for the treadmill which I didn't spend a lot of time on in Dec.

I'm reading The Moment. Can I count that as a one word title?

In fiction, I have Sinister Sprinkles in process. I'm reading the Beth Moore Bible Study To Live Is Christ at the moment. I have one of three books that I need to review for a publication in process also. I'll post a short review here when done but try not to steal the thunder of my more formal and lengthier review for the publication.

A friend sent me a copy of Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present by Alison Matthews David, and I'm enjoying it enormously. I'm learning about all sorts of poisons and hazards in the manufacture of clothing, from arsenic green, to mercury in the manufacture of hats.

I just started Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth, and I'm about halfway through the audio of The Nature of the Beast, the latest in Louise Penny's Three Pines series.

I am kind of doing that multi-book reading thing.... which will continue for a couple of months. I just finished reading The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill for the BAC (and which also qualifies as a square for both Bingo cards). I have started my year long read of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, put in one hour of audiobook listening time in War and Peace and about to start my second physical book read of the year: The Wikipedia Revolution by Andrew Lih for the January DeweyCAT.

Finished a mystery from the library: Dark Winter, by David Mark. Continuing the mystery trend with Death of an Airman, by Christopher St. John Sprigg.

I'm reading Restless cities and shooting straight guns, gays and george clooney

Just finished The Martian and, as everyone told me I would, I loved it. I am also reading Stonemouth by Iain Banks and just starting Darkness, Be My Friend by John Marsden.

I am about finished with The Continental Op.
Next up: The Time it Takes to Fall by Margaret Lazarus Dean. So looking forward to this one.

My first finish was Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: The Doll's House. Currently reading Le Morte d'Arthur and a collection of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's works. My goal is to read sixteen books per quarter (one for each category I've chosen).

I just finished Let Him Go, all I have to say is wow, it was perfection and a five star read for me. What appeared to be a slowly told story became so suspenseful I couldn't stop reading until I finished. I had to know what happens!

>22 lsh63: "Wow" was pretty much my reaction to Let Him Go as well, Lisa! Simply a great read.

>4 rabbitprincess: I'm determined to finally read David Copperfield this year. That and Middlemarch have been sitting on my shelves and staring at me accusingly for yeeeeears.

>22 lsh63: I read these two glowing reviews and was thinking I should get this book since I loved Montana 1948, and then I thought "Do I have this book??" Just checked. Totally do. Thanks for reminding me to dig it out. On The List for this year.

This year one of my goals is to (mostly) clear out my intermediate reader/young adult bookcase. I wanted to read almost everything in it one more time, so this month I'm starting with that. I just read Caddie Woodlawn and now I'm reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Next I'm thinking more Roald Dahl and either the Anne of Green Gables or Betsy-Tacy series.

I just finished Land of Marvels and I'm getting ready to start The Upstairs Wife.

I'm working on (and will be working on for a while...) War and Peace for the group read, The Book of Lost Books for the DeweyCAT, and am about to start House of Spirits for the GeoCAT.

I started to read - and abandoned half-way through - Tell it to the Lambs by Susan Bristol Brewster which was my Jan Random book and also fit into bingo squares on both Bingo cards.

I'm both intrigued and repelled by One of Us: Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad. It's fascinating, but parts are very difficult to read.

I've finished 5 books so far this year (just got off vacation yesterday...).

First was Train of Powder by Rebecca West which includes several essays from her days as a journalist. The essays covered the Nuremberg trials, a lynching trial in South Carolina, a murder trial in the UK and a treason trial in the UK. Very interesting reading!

I read two graphic novels - the first volumes of Locke and Key and Saga - very good!

I also read the first novel published by a girlfriend of mine from high school - Desperate Measures by Cindy Cromer - not bad.

Finished Stone Cold by David Baldacci yesterday and just started Grave Peril, the third book in the Dresden Files.

As I'm back to work, good chance I'll be slowing down a bit!

So I was stalking the library and saw that an authorI hadn't read before, Tessa Hadley, has a new book out, The Past. I was intrigued, so I decided to try a book of her short stories, Sunstroke and Other Stories, which I am enjoying.

Oh, and the book I was stalking, I was ableto put a hold on, its the new Masie Dobbs Journey to Munich.

I'm reading an ARC of Staked by Kevin Hearne - it's part of the Iron Druid series. So far, so good, although I'm somewhat miffed that you have to read the novella "A Prelude to War" in Three Slices to understand the significance of what's happening. Not cool.

14> Ow, my second Book Bullet of the year with Fashion Victims.

19> I LOVED the Tomorrow Series.

29>I hope you're enjoying Harry Dresden. I just borrowed Saga - glad to hear from someone else who enjoyed it.

I'm reading A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, which I have put off for a good year. It's very well-written and I can see why the book has received so many awards. This is the first book that has given me nightmares, however, so I am not reading it just before I go to sleep anymore.

So, before bed, I'm reading The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes.

Kay I loved A Brief History of Seven Killings! I'm finishing up Saint Maybe and then I will start The Past.

I'm reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson and am almost finished with To Darkness and to Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming. If I walk on the treadmill a little longer this morning, I could finish it.

I finished a couple of short ones,: Black Sun by Edward Abbey and The Maltese Falcon,. Now reading The Water Knife.

>33 lsh63: Lisa, it's very good! I had thought the dialect bits would prove to be inscrutable, but they're surprisingly easy to follow. And the large cast of characters are, so far, so different from one another that I'm having no trouble keeping them straight in my head. But the story is intense.

>31 BookLizard: Loving Harry Dresden! With a birthday gift card I got the next 5 in the series and my nieces got me the next 2 after that for Christmas, so I'll be enjoying them for a while this year.

Looking forward to hearing how you like Saga - I need to pick up the next volumes in that series as well.

>31 BookLizard: I am loving the Tomorrow series and I also am going to try the Ellie trilogy as she is such a wonderful character.

I am currently reading The Dog Master by W. Bruce Cameron and about to start Ashes a YA dystopian by Ilsa Bick.

Just started Fates and Furies since it made the Tournament of Books short list. Also, moving right along with War and Peace and about halfway complete with Tender Bar and My Family and Other Animals.

I am still working on The Time it Takes to Fall.
Also about to begin a re-read of The Elfstones of Shannara with the Hubs. It's been a few years and we are having the most interesting conversations about the MTV series. It's funny what you retain and what you forget and what somehow weaves itself in from other genre works.

Victoria, is the series worth watching? I'm not a big fan of fantasy, but Dirk and the kids might like it if it's well done.

>41 RidgewayGirl:. It feels a bit cheesy to me. But you can't deny how gorgeous the New Zealand countryside is. Charlotte might enjoy it.

As long as there are not Game of Thrones levels of violence, we'll give it a try.

>43 RidgewayGirl: I don't watch GoT, but I think you're OK. Let me know what you think.

Finished two more - No One Writes to the Colonel, a novella by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Unquenchable Fire.

Just started Of Love and Other Demons, also by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I have about 50 pages left of More Book Lust.

I'm almost finished with Cold Comfort Farm by Stelle Gibbons and my new treadmill book is The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan. And I'm about to start The Sugar Camp Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini.

I finished The Water Knife and am now enjoying Daughter of Fortune, my GeoCat pick.

37> Sounds like you have through Turn Coat in the Dresden Files. Just a word of warning - when you get to Changes, you're going to want to have Ghost Story ready to go immediately! I hope you keep enjoying it.

Finished the first volume of Saga and I'm glad I finally read it. It was worth all the trouble I had to go through to be able to open it on my tablet. (Turns out I had an outdated version of Hoopla.)

38> As I recall, I didn't like the Ellie chronicles quite as much, but I still read and enjoyed all of them.

>48 BookLizard: I've got through White Knight - when I get the next few, I'll follow your advice!

I finished More Book Lust - even more book recommendations! And I also started Bizarre Books, another one for the DeweyCAT this month.

I am currently reading A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam and Hear No Evil by Georgie Hale.

I'm currently reading Willoughbyland for the GeoCAT and I'm listening to The Various Haunts of Men.

>46 dudes22: >50 DeltaQueen50: I really liked both The Sugar Camp Quilt and A Golden Age when I read them.

Finished Fates and Furies as well as My Family and Other Animals. Have also started The Whites as part of my tournament of books reading list.

I didn't get much reading done this weekend. Instead I binge-watched The Man in the High Castle on Amazon. Now I want to read the novel but 30-some people are waiting for it at the library. I hate queues.

I hear you about the library queues Victoria. 30 I think I can handle sometimes, but when I see 200 plus, well that just makes me pout!

I'm reading The Past and I'm finding it trying to get through.

I'm still reading A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. But I should finish in a few days, which will be good, because sometimes I can't stop reading it, even at night and then I dream about it.

I'm also reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I'm finding it self-important and not my thing, but I've also been able to pull a few useful tips out of it.

>55 RidgewayGirl: Kay, my favorite cleaning book is Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui. Remind me and I"ll let you borrow it.

>56 VictoriaPL: Will I have to pay attention to whether the recycling box is in the wealth corner?

>57 RidgewayGirl: LOL. Absolutely.

I am having trouble putting Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner down. This is a woman who lived a fascinating life. When I do manage to put it aside, I am reading The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett which isn't as impressive as I had hoped.

Just finished Bizarre Books: A Compendium of Classic Oddities; should finish Of Love and Demons shortly and have pulled The Unincorporated Man off the shelf.

>60 LisaMorr: Lisa, I have The Unincorporated Man on my TBR list. Will be interested in what you think of it.

Waiting for me at the library (on my way home) is Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker for my Shiny category. Looking forward to starting something new.

I've finished The Fifties and Chaos and replaced them with The Sea and the Jungle for the GeoCat and More Tales of Tennessee for the RandomCat.

I'm reading my January DeweyCAT selection: The Marsh Madness, by Victoria Abbott (the latest in a mystery series featuring a collector of rare books).

Finished Silent Joe and started Dancing With the Enemy: My Family's Holocaust Secret.

I finished Daughter of Fortune for the GeoCat and started The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood.

I'm reading Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler and listening to The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill.

I'm reading The Good Earth and thinking of possibilities for what's next.

My status is the same as in >26 -Eva-: above, except I've made headway in all three books. :)

I just finished Anything for You by Kristan Higgins and have started Quick Curtain by Alan Melville. Also still reading War and Peace for the group read!

I am totally engrossed right nowwith both The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie and Buried Strangers by Leighton Gage.

I'm reading Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy and Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf.

I finished Dancing with the Enemy and have started A land more kind than home. Trying to keep a balance between fiction and non-fiction.

>61 VictoriaPL: I'm a few chapters in to The Unincorporated Man and I'm enjoying it.

>73 LisaMorr: Excellent!

Picking up a library book because it's due back soon and I've already renewed it twice (yikes): Underground, Overground: A Passenger's History of the Tube, by Andrew Martin.

I've finished several books including All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr and Strange Meeting by Susan Hill. Currently enjoying a YA, fire colour one by Jenny Valentine.

Also finally reading a book (Library of Souls) so I can return it - I've had it since at least October. And just starting my first Susan Hill - The Woman in Black.
(Library of Souls touchstoning to The Scarlet Letter? Odd.)

I've just finished the excellent The Turner House by Angela Flournoy, which is one of the contestants in this year's Tournament of Books.

I'm reading The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck.

Just started The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde, which has been languishing on my shelves for far too long!

Reading 100 Days of Happiness by Fausto Brizzi and pushing myself to continue with it, also The secret in their eyes by Eduado Sacheri.

I've just finished Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy. I'm going to start The Whites by Richard Price, one of the Tournament of Books books. I'm still reading Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (another TOB book) and The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan (my treadmill ebook).

I'm working on Nobody's Fool gotta love that Sully! Also The Revenant.

I'll be starting Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson next. Love me some Longmire!

>83 VictoriaPL: - I have the first book in the series and I'm hoping to take it on vacation next month and start.

>84 dudes22: Betty, the first is still my favorite. I envy you reading it for the first time!

I am nearly finished with Saint Maybe and I've started the audio of The Richest Woman in America.

Well, I ended up loving 100 days of happiness, a real tear jerker. Also finished The songs of kings by Barry Unsworth, so now going with The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth and a YA Prisoner of Fog and Night by Anne Blankman.

I finished The Heart Goes Last and started Lost Canyon.

I hope to finish both The Christmas Virtues and The Library at Night this weekend. I have about 100 pages to go in each one so I should be able to do it.

I finished Nobody's Fool and will start on The Revenant and Whatever Happened To Baby Jane

I'll probably spend a fair bit of time this weekend with The Klondike Fever, by Pierre Berton.

I finished The Unincorporated Man today. I have a huge pile to consider for what's next, I think maybe I may start with The Martian.

I'm dividing my time between Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff and The Whites by Richard Price, both Tournament of Books contestants. I'm not (yet) in love with either of them.

Off topic, but this is probably the best place to ask. Has anyone read Being Mortal? My cat is really sick - possibly dying. My friend said I should read this book - that it would help - but she's not always the most reliable judge of things like that. Would it help me decide how far I should go to treat her and when it's time to let go?

You can respond on my thread so I don't hijack this one:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/213846

Thanks.

>93 RidgewayGirl: - I wasn't that keen on The Whites when I started it, but I came to appreciate the writing, if not the story.

>90 lsh63: On a made-into-movies kick, or just coincidental? :)

>96 madhatter22: Hi Shauna :A happy coincidence . Nobody's Fool was for my American Authors category , I started it this month thinking it would carry me into February. I had no idea this was a movie until recently. It's not like me to miss anything with Paul Newman !

>97 lsh63: That man has aged better than any ordinary mortal.

I'll be closing out the month with The Klondike Fever, by Pierre Berton; Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande; and my RandomCAT selection City of Death, a Doctor Who TV soundtrack with linking narration by Lalla Ward.

One last book finished for the month: The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan. Going into Feb reading A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King which will be my Random book for Feb and I think Twelve Drummers Drumming by C.C. Benison will be my new treadmill book.

I reviewed my January reading today: Finished six books (which is half of what I read in all of 2015). If I keep this up and complete my quarterly reading goals, each quarter (sixteen books per), I'll...still have over three hundred books on my TBR list. Bookworm problems, right?