Claudia's 2016 Reading

Aha! I just wanted a place to list books read, with ratings, and basically no reviews - except ER wins and unless I have the crazy urge to make a comment or two for myself. And here it is!

I don't plan to join any challenges this year, but I'll start with a goal of 50 books for 2016. I love tickers and lists, so that's what I will concentrate on. This is for me. I welcome anyone to read my thread and/or make appropriate comments... or not.

I have some wonderful friends on LT and I do lurk from time to time. However, I just need to relax and read... no pressure... no excess computer time. So, my apologies for staying in my shell.

My star ratings:

*****Five stars- Amazing Favorite! Outstanding either for the content, the style, or the impact

****1/2 - Excellent, well written & well worth reading and re-reading

****Four stars- Loved this book! Counted among my better reads & highly recommended.

***1/2 stars - interesting, fun, informative, different, but would not read again

***Three stars- good read, has redeeming qualities if perhaps a few flaws or somewhat uninteresting

**1/2 stars - not well written but has a thought or two to ponder

**Two stars- waste of time considering all the books TBR in the world

*1/2 stars - Someone, somewhere probably likes this book, but not me.

*One star- Quit, Yuck, Ptooey! This star is only for the author's effort and success in finishing a book.

2016 Books Read:

#1 OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET by C S Lewis 4.8 stars
#2 HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE by Alice Munro 5 stars
#3 PERELANDRA by C S Lewis 3.8 stars
#4 BLACK EARTH: A JOURNEY THROUGH RUSSIA AFTER THE FALL by Andrew Meier 4 stars
#5 A SYMPHONY OF ECHOES by Jodi Taylor 3.75 stars
#6 FACELESS KILLERS By Henning Mankell 3.75 stars
#7 A SECOND CHANCE By Jodi Taylor 3.8 stars
#8 ELEANOR by Jason Gurley 4.5 stars ER Win
#9 STEERING THE STARS by Autumn Doughton 3 stars
#10 THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE by Neil Gaiman 4 stars
#11 THE ROSIE PROJECT BY Graeme Samson 4 stars
#12 THE MAYTREES by Annie Dillard 5 stars
#13 CLEOPATRA by Stacy Schiff 2.5 stars
#14 A TRAIL THROUGH TIME By Jodi Taylor 3.8 stars
#15 OLD AGE: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE by Michael Kinsley 4 stars ER Win
#16 FLORENCE GORDON by Brian Morton 4 stars
#17 CITIZENS OF LONDON BY Lynne Olson 4.5 stars
#18 THE WARRIOR WITH ALZHEIMER'S by Stephen Woodfin 3 stars
#19 ANCILLARY JUSTICE by Ann Beckie 4 stars
#20 THE GRAND SOPHY by Georgette Heyer 4.4 stars
#21 EVICTED: POVERTY AND PROFIT IN THE AMERICAN CITY by Mathew Desmond ER Win 5 stars
#22 VINTAGE MUNRO by Alice Munro 4.5 stars
#23 ONE WILD BIRD AT A TIME by Bernd Heinrich 5 stars
#24 OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham 3.6 stars
#25 THE LIBRARY AT MOUNT CHAR by Scott Hawkins ER win 3.4 stars
#26 THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY by Monica Wood 4.5 stars
#27 THE STORY OF MY HEART by Richard Jefferies, Brooke Williams, & Terry Tempest Williams 4.5 stars
#28 THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner 4.2 stars
#29 HOW TO LIVE: OR A LIFE OF MONTAIGNE IN ONE QUESTION AND TWENTY ATTEMPTS by Sarah Bakewell 3.8 stars
#30 THE WRIGHT BROTHERS by David McCullough 4.4 stars
#31 NO TIME LIKE THE PAST by Jodi Taylor 3.5 stars
#32 LAB GIRL by Hope Jahren 5 stars
#33 SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane 4 stars
#34 BRAVING IT BY JAMES CAMPBELL 3.6 stars
#35 WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG by Jodi Taylor 4 stars
#36 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr 4.2 stars
#37 UNDER THE STONE PAW by Theresa Crater 3 stars
#38 ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN by Heidi Telpher 4 stars
#39 COMPLICATIONS by Atul Gawande 5 stars
#40 AWAKENING TO GOD; THE LIFELONG JOURNEY OF A SPIRITUAL HEALER by Helen Nelson 3.5 stars
#41 LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND HISTORY by Jodi Taylor 4 stars
#42 AUGUST GALE by Barbara Walsh 3.8 stars
#43 I AM NO ONE: A NOVEL by Patrick Flanery 4 stars
#44 A GOD IN RUINS by Kate Atkinson 5 stars
#45 RADICAL ACCEPTANCE by Tara Brach 4 stars
#46 MY DREAM OF YOU by Nuala O'Faolain 2 stars
#47 DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch ER win 5 stars
#48 HOUNDED by Kevin Hearne 4 stars
#49 THE SUNLIGHT PILGRIMS by Jenni Fagan ER win 4 stars
#50 SEA SMOKE by Miriam Nesset 3.7 stars
#51 THE SUGAR QUEEN by Sarah Addison Allen 3 stars
#52 THE LITTLE BOOKSTORE OF BIG STONE GAP by Wendy Welch 3.6 stars
#53 SLEEPING GIANTS by Sylvain Neuvel 3.7 stars
#54 WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalaithi (reread) 4.5 stars
#55 THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE by Dougas Adams 3.5 stars
#56 THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO by Atul Gawande 5 stars
#57 NO STONE UNTURNED: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MAGGIE KUHN by Maggie Kuhn 4.6 stars
#58 BOOK OF AGES: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore 4.5 stars
#59 MIRAMONT'S GHOST by Elizabeth Hall 3.4 stars
#60 THE CAT WHO WASN'T THERE by Lillian Jackson Braun 3 stars
#61 THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Eileen Pollack ER Win 5 stars
#62 DARKANGEL by Christine Pope 3.6 stars
#63 DARKNIGHT by Christine Pope 3 stars
#64 DARKMOON by Christine Pope 3.6 stars
#65 LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 4.7 stars
#66 THE MIRACLE OF MINDFULNESS, Gift Edition by Thich Nhat Hanh ER win 5 stars
#67 TIMEBOUND by Rysa Walker 4 stars
#68 A WORLD ELSEWHERE by Sigrid MacRae 5 stars
#69 THE MAGNOLIA STORY by Chip and Joanna Gaines 4.5 stars
#70 TIME'S EDGE by Rysa Walker 3.8 stars
#71 HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny 4.6 stars
#72 LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry 5 stars
#73 THE ABUNDANCE by Annie Dillard 5 stars
#74 UNACCUSTOMED EARTH by Jhumpa Lahiri 5 stars
#75 THE ROUND HOUSE by Louise Erdrich 4.5 stars

INTERESTING TO ME STATS 2016:

TOTAL books read: 75
includes BOTS (books off the shelf): 14

Fiction: 49
Non-Fiction: 26
Poetry: 0

male author: 30
female author: 45

US authors: 50
authors from other countries: 25

living author: 65
deceased author: 10

Welcome! No challenges and no pressures here.

Read on.

So happy to find you, Cee

:-)

Hey! Just found you.

Think of you often.

:-)

On this last day of 2016:

I am surprised that I wound up reading 75 books this past year. I'm thinking it has become habit. I read about as much from day to day as I always have - pressure or no pressure from the outside world.

I have missed being an active part of the 75'ers thread and all the good people there. Yet I have enjoyed the peace of being in my own little world.

I don't know what to do for 2017. Oh well, keep reading of course!

If anyone reads this - I wish you a joyful and prosperous new year. I wish us all family and world peace. I can dream, can't I?

World peace. Me too :)
Glad you got to 75 without the pressure of the group! I got to 63 last year, and felt pretty good about that. 4 x 5-star reads, not too bad! (they were Fingersmith, White Noise, M Train, and The Women's Room in case you are interested.)
Best of the new year to you!!

Hi Cee!

Hi! Megan and Kath... nice to "see" you!

Megan, of your 4 favorites I've only read Fingersmith and loved it myself. I'll have to check out the others. Thanks for letting me know. I do tend to seek out 5* books of other LTers.

Wow! I read 15 5* books last year. I did try to pick books/authors I would love, so maybe that is why.

So, now I am faced with a huge decision. I need a home for tracking my 2017 books and am tempted to join the 75ers again... but tremble at the thought of all those threads I'll want to read. It was so much less stress, less computer time, and more reading time having this somewhat hidden thread and lurking a bit here and there. Oh, but I do miss the absolute best group on LT. I guess I'll take the plunge and hope I am not "voted off the Island of 75" for lurking and low participation.

Bye bye 2016.... I'm letting go now... sigh
Now I have to figure out how to do this.