Tess is Serious about Series

Hi, my name is Tess and I teach high school and college history and research skills. Most of my reading centers around history or historical fiction (imagine!) and classics. Sometimes though, I step out of my comfort zone with detective novels, young adult reads (grandkids), and comteporary/pop fiction and mysteries. I also have yearly reads that I've done for the last 10-20 years: The Bible (sometimes not all of it), The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Evangeline, because they are both beautiful and hauntingly sad.

I have 6 grandchildren between the ages of 1-17 upon whom I dote. I live with my husband of 42 years on 5 acres of heaven where I tinker with gardening in the summer and try to freeze the excess.

I love to travel and have been to 38/50 states and also England, France, and Israel. I will be traveling to Hawaii in April 2017 and my goal for 2018 is Rome and Athens.

I love to read series books and this is what I want to focus on this year as well as removing a couple of dozen of real paper books from my shelves! I also want to try the bingo card thingies and category reads---but I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew.

I have over 500 books on my shelves that are yet unread and hope to clear at least 100 of them off with various challenges this year.

Serious about the Series

I read books 1-6 in the Outlander Series last year, this year I want to read books 7-8, and 9 if the author finishes it in 2017.



1. An Echo in the Bone COMPLETED
2.
3.

Have already read book 1 of Hunt's Legacies of the Ancient Rivers. Need to finish off books 2-3



1. Brothers
2. Journey (no touchstone)

Have read book 1 of Wallace's The Righteous series. Have 7 more to go!



Books 2-8
2. Mighty and Strong
3. The Wicked (Righteous, #3)
4.The Blessed and the Damned (Righteous, #4)
5.Destroying Angel (Righteous, #5)
6,The Gates of Babylon (Righteous, #6)
7.Hell's Fortress (Righteous, #7)
8. Blood of the Faithful (Righteous, #8)

The Judas Chronicles Books 1-3

1. The Warden COMPLETED
2. Barchester Towers
3. Dr. Thorne
4. Framely Parsonage
5. The Small House at Allington
6. The Last Chronicle of Barset

1. The Doctor's Family
2. The Rector
3. Salem Chapel Vol.1,2
4. The Perpetual Curate
5. Miss Marjoribanks
6. Phoebe, Junior

1. Highland Solution
2. Highland Courage
3. Highland Intrigue

The Hollywood ABC Mysteries



1. Hollywood Blood
2. Hollywood Crazy: A Holllywood Alphabet Series Thriller (A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller Book 3
3. Hollywood Enemy

Little Town on the Prairie-Read them all when I was young, than again about age 40 and now again! Read the first 4 in 2016 and want to finish them off in 2016.



1. Farmer Boy
2. Little Town on the Prairie

Fairy Tales--it's been awhile. My mother read the Shirley Temple book to me when I was young, maybe 55 years ago. I was fortunate enough to find a copy in great condition. I also have never read the REAL Grimm's Brothers, so it's about time!



1. Shirley Temple's Favorite Tales of Long Ago
2. Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales
3. Swan Lake by Mark Helprin
4. A City In Winter by Mark Helprin
5. The Veil of Snows by Mark Helprin

4 Gothic reads---I have my own Gothic group on LT--please join me if you can--no pressure to read anything--but just IF you read a gothic novel--share with us! http://www.librarything.com/group/gothicnovels



1. Jane Eyre (re-read)
2. The House of the Seven Gables
3. Dracula's Guest
4. The Haunting of Hill House

12 Books off My Shelf! Hopefully these books will help fill in the "blanks" I need for bingo cards or cat reads or whatever path I choose to meander.

1. Winter Garden by Kristin HannahCOMPLETED
2. The Eight TBR
3. Bio/Work Thomas Jefferson
4. Bio/Work James Madison
5. Bio/ Work James Monroe
6. Cranford COMPLETED Elizabeth Gaskell
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

January 2017
For this month’s RandomCAT, I challenge you to read a book that meets any of the following criteria:

- contains the word “search” (or a synonym) in the title
- contains the word “rescue” (or a synonym) in the title
- is about a search for a specific person or object (a quest!)
- is about rescuing someone or something

On 2nd thought, I'm going to continue my read of Moby Dick. I am doing that through Serial Reader (a great free app) at 10-17 minutes per day--that's about all I can handle!

February 2017--Read a book with a possessive in the title--from my Kindle I'm going to read
Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield



Individual Months:
January-First Encounters-Shogun by James Clavell
February-Storico Italia The Witch of Napoli by Michael Schmicker
March-Meeting Madness-Will read something about Thomas Jefferson
April
May Oh What a State of Affairs!
June Fight for Your Rights
July
August
September
October-Gothic The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
November-Noir or Dark The Suspect: A true story of love, betrayal, marriage and murder by Jenny Friel
December

Quarterly reads
January-16th Century-Shogun (began in 16th century (1598).
Apr-Jun - 17th Century Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks
Jul-Sep - 18th Century WHISPER MY SECRET by J.B. Rowley
Oct-Dec - Napoleonic Era Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution a gift from by SantaThing Santa, ty LibraryCin!

1. A satire Gulliver's Travels
2. Set in a country you've never been to Shogun
3. Color in the title Black Ships
4. Set in a place you want to visit Shogun
5. One-word title Shogun
6. Author uses initials Behind Closed Doors B.A. Parris
7. Appeals to the senses Fig Eater
8. Published in the 1940s-1960s Forest Rose: A Tale of the Ohio Frontier 1959
9. Made into a movie Shogun
10. Collection of short stories Great Tales from English History: The Truth About King Arthur, Lady Godiva, Richard the Lionheart, and More
11. Book about books Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore by Robin Sloan
12. Title refers to another literary work (for example, the title is a quote from another book) No Country for Old Men from 1926 poem by W.B. Yeats
13. Author shares your first and last initials Land, A Stranded Novel Teresa Shaver
14. Owned for more than 5 years Blizzard: The Storm that Changed America
15. Science-related Lunatic: The Rise and Fall of an American Asylum
16. Author was born in 1930s Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
17. Author abroad*
18. Author born/book published in 1917 Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maude Montgomery
19. Debut work Children of Hamelin
20. About an animal/animal in title Moby Dick
21. Place name in title The Witch of Napoli
22. Set in a beach community/resort
23. Set in a time before you were born Shogun
24. Next book in a series you've started An Echo in the Bone
25. Read a CAT (this is usually the center/free square) Winter Garden

Group question:

Where do I find those bingo cards?

Link to the group Bible read: https://www.librarything.com/topic/243886

Can't help with the bingo cards I'm afraid, but it's good to see you here. I'm not a big series reader, but I'll be interested in your thoughts on the Barchester Chronicles (which I keep meaning to read at some point). Also I see you've got Jane Eyre on your list for January - I'm reading that at the moment and am hoping to finish it by Christmas (I'm about 3/5 of the way through currently).

>17 Tess_W: Tess, I believe the Bingo Cards are currently being developed and should make an appearance soon.

I am also working my through the Diana Gabaldon series. I am currently listening to A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

Great challenge set up!

I love your set up! I am also reading/listening to The Barchester Chronicles this year! I'm going to do one every other month starting in February.

Are you still interested in Moby Dick? I plan to start in mid January.

I am running off to check out your Gothic group! I loved The Haunting of Hill House.

>26 VivienneR: I am currently reading Moby Dick via Serial Reader, I'm about half way through. I'm still not a fan, but I can take it in 15-17 minutes doses. I would like to at least read other's posts, so keep me apprised. Actually, I may not be finished by then anyway!

Good luck with those series! They are so easy to start and so difficult to complete. And working through the Outlander books definitely merits a category of its own!

Serial Reader sounds like the best way to tackle Moby Dick.

Love your approach to series reading!

Hi Tess, it's so nice to see you here! I hope you'll enjoy the Barchester Chronicles as much as I did. And I'm curious about Mrs Oliphant's Carlingford series, she's a recent discovery for me.

Good luck with the plan. I keep telling myself to limit my series reading to maybe 10 series, but then I feel too constrained. I keep thinking about it though.

Great categories! I'm hoping to continue with Anthony Trollope's series and will read Dr Thorne sometime this year.

Hello Tess! Nice to see you here. Love your categories - you're making me want to reread the Little House series. Haven't done that since I was a kid.

Group question: I have a book that will suffice for both Bingo Dog and Random Cat....can I do that or should I choose different reads?

Yes, you can absolutely do that. What book are you thinking of reading?

>17 Tess_W: The bingo cards are now available at
http://www.librarything.com/topic/233008#5839134
(message 52 on the BingoDOG suggestion thread).

>28 Tess_W: Fine to read same book for BingoDOG and a CAT. Many people try to find books that they can read for multiple CATs; this is the same principle. Also, we each interpret our own challenges.

>30 sallylou61: ty so much sally!

I do also love historical fiction so I will again follow your thread with interest. In fact my first book for the year is from the Brother Cadfael series, one I have been picking at now and again for a while. I love how so many of us pledge to read books we already own. We all have the same problem of not being able to walk past a book we might read and adding to the problem. Hope 2017 is a wonderful year for you!

Hi Tess - great set-up! I was thinking about including The Chronicles of Carlingford, but I don't have Miss Marjoribanks yet. Continuing the Outlander series was also a contender - preparing for this year's challenge was a challenge: so hard to narrow down the number of series I wanted to progress.

Good luck!

"removing a couple of dozen of real paper books from my shelves"
Big goal for me too!

Love the pug!

Hi Tess! I love history (though admittedly I do better with narrative NF than expository) and historical fiction myself, and am looking forward to seeing how your reading year unfolds!

I've been to 27 of the US states, plus DC and Puerto Rico; Canada (Montreal), Mexico (Cozumel); Jamaica (Montego Bay); England (London,) Ireland (Dublin) & Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Orkney Isles, Shetland Isle, Fair Isle); and I'm brushing up on my French because next Summer, it looks like I'll be in the Loire Valley, France! I would also like to go to Iceland, Barcelona, Alaska (before all the glaciers melt!), and back to Scotland (Western Isles this time)...

I'm exploring Asia through books this year. I've never really had any burning desire to visit that part of the world; if only because I'm part Asian and Mixed-Asians sometimes aren't well received :-/ But I'm intrigued my the romanticism of their pasts, and the roles they play in our present...

I saw Gulliver's Travels on your list - I'm planning on reading it in July to coincide with the AlphaKit. Want to join me?

>37 cyderry: Sure!

Hi Tess!

>Hello!

Nice set up Tess! I like how you have most of your bingo reading planned, I need to do that so I don't get sidetracked .

Great categories, and it looks like I'll be taking a few BBs from you!

Hello Tess, looking forward to seeing what you read this year.

And thanks for the pointer to Bingo cards & user guide!

You've got a great mix of the serious and the entertaining lined up for 2017. I've read two of the Barsetshire chronicles. I hope to get to Doctor Thorne this year.

Good luck with your 2017 challenge

Happy new year, Tess. Great challenge here! Thanks for stopping by my thread.

So cold yesterday-today. Went to bed at sub-zero temps last night and it's a warm 9 degrees right now! Luckily I made a pot of chili this week and some home-made egg rolls. Have 2-3 inches of snow on ground, not much to speak of. Hubby is keeping fire going, so all I need to do is a couple of loads of laundry and read--I'm in the midst of 2 chunksters, An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, 31 hours to go according to Kindle and the ever tiresome Moby Dick, but I am 67% completed on that one. Once I finish off these 2 I can really get going on all my challenges!

Mmmm chili is perfect for a cold winter's day! Right now our temperature is -15 C with a windchill of -18 (5 F, windchill about 0 F), which is *warmer* than it was earlier.

Wow, tackling 2 chunksters at the same time! I am almost through the audio of A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon and it's been a long one - but really holds my attention.

Amazon Christmas gift card hauls:

>51 Tess_W: Oh, I loved The Eight.

Gaskell is on my list and North and South might be a good choice of Victorian novel to begin the year.

Some good series there. Last year I read the Barchester Chronicles and was sad to reach the end. The Chronicles of Carlingford looks like another good one to tackle.

>51 Tess_W: Great haul, Tess! I hope you enjoy the Gaskell books, they are among my favourites.

You picked up some great books with your gift cards! I remember really being impressed with King Rat. I, too, have plans to eventually read Elizabeth Gaskell and expect I will start with North and South.

Happy New Year Tess!

>53 RidgewayGirl:, >56 DeltaQueen50: I loved North and South. This should make @RidgewayGirl particularly nervous as we rarely enjoy the same books, LOL. Good luck!

Finished book #1 from my Bingo dog, set in a time before you were born-Shogun by James Clavell.



The Dutch ship, The Eramus, is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan and the Captain, John Blackthorne, and his crew are taken captive. While captive Blackthorne encounters the Jesuits (who are anything but Christlike)and various war-lords and samurai on the verge of a great war. Blackthorne saves Lord Toranaga's life more than once and is awarded the title Samurai and also awarded 200 Samurai of his own. Thoughout the story Blackthorne loves and loses and is betrayed many times. Finally, when Blackthorne is "given" his freedom, he finds out that his ship has been burned and he and his crew are "stranded" in Japan. The book is violent, bloody, gory, and beautiful at the same time. This is the story of the rich, famous, and elite. Even at that, women are just a commodity and have no value. Feudal Japanese politics were very difficult to grasp. The writing and the actions were abrupt--perhaps that is the only reason it can be read with some ease? As the story line goes, it's was superb in 1980's and just as good in 2017. 1192 pages, 5 stars 1192 pages, 5 stars

I'm halfway through North and South and I'm loving it. I am definitely going to read more by Gaskell, starting with Mary Barton next.

Hang in there with Moby Dick!

As a follow up to Shogun I read the 90 page PDF file: Learning from Shogun/Japanese History and Western Fantasy, 90 pages, 5 stars. This went into detail how correct or incorrect the book was; concluding that it was very well researched. Since this was written and published by joint USC/UCLA staff I feel confident it is a reputable critique.

http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/Learning_from_shogun_txt.pdf
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When I was in high school I really loved the big thick books, especially historical fiction. I think it was because I was just too lazy to look for another book too soon. Clavell and Michener were among my favorites. Enjoy!

>61 mamzel: I did that in middle school -- we had reading times of a set length and we were told to stay at our desks for the whole time; we weren't even allowed to get up to get a new book from the bookshelves in the corner if we finished our book early. So I ended up reading a lot of Tom Clancy and John le Carré and other thick books like that, to make sure I would be occupied for the whole period.

An interesting read with copious and exhaustive footnotes. At least in the Kindle version, these footnotes work very well. (Select footnotes and it takes reader to the link and then hit back and it takes reader back to the text). This book confirms some of the things that I have observed/concluded about the last 8 years. A bit of new information that I had not thought about before is the following quote: "He (Obama) was aided by a cast of thousands." This book does give one something to think about.

3.

>63 Tess_W: That book looks extremely partisan. I am sure that there are different perspectives in the USA but from abroad he has done much to enhance the reputation of the US.

It seems to me that one can criticise Obama for some things. Guantanamo Bay is still open, his foreign policy caution in Syria over the use of chemical weapons looks like a wrong decision at this time, and his failure to truly stand up to the interests of certain elites seems directly connected with the failure of the Democratic Party to make better headway in the recent elections. It is notable that where leaks of information have drawn attention to abuses of power, it is those leaking the information who have been punished and not those abusing the power.

So yes, a balanced view cannot say this was America's greatest president, but would anyone seriously think he was worse than James Buchanan? I could name more modern candidates for presidents worse than Obama too, but part of the problem here is that memories are short, so if you ask people to list the best and worst in any category, the most recent ones will figure in both.

And there is another issue: what will be Obama's lasting legacy? It is too early to say. If Obama is even listed among the bad presidents or good presidents in 50 years time is not something we can really predict just yet. It will perhaps depend on what happens next. James Buchanan himself might have been judged a little less harshly by history had the Civil War not happened shortly after he left office.

Personally I like Obama. I think he has been good for America. Probably not good enough, but a long long way from the worst thing that ever happened.

I would read a book that sought to change my mind, but not one that looked like Republican propaganda.

Still, there is an incoming president who, some might say, truly embodies American values. Let's see how that works out. ;)

>64 sirfurboy:, sorry to say I'm not here to debate politics, just read books! All books are biased in some way, are they not?

>65 Tess_W: Yes they are.

My point was more to say, I am unconvinced that this one has anything useful to say because of the way it sells itself.

Also, apologies, I did not want to create a debate either (I am not well clued enough on Obama's domestic policies to do so in any case) but did want to share that from an international perspective, Obama has actually been very impressive.

Sheer sheet of ice today, traveler's advisory so I'm not going out! I have about 6 loads of laundry to do (haven't done any in 2 weeks), and READING! I hope to get Tai Pan and Cranford finished and read some both in Moby Dick and An Echo in the Bone (about 1/2 or more finished in both of these). Also have the makings of homemade cream of tomato soup and going to make some jam bars. Hope it's nice enough for me to go to church on Sunday, but if not some more of the same!

Wow - I thought I had a lot of series to catch up on. :) I've been wanting to reread the Little House books too. I'm trying to make room though, by rereading the majority of my YA/middle reader books one more time and then donating them, and I don't think I want to give those away! Last year I reread the Betsy-Tacy books planning to get rid of them, and before she was out of high school I wanted to keep them again.

Love the look of the Shirley Temple's Tales book!

>58 Tess_W: - That is such a great story! Now I want to re-watch the miniseries.

Sorry to learn that the weather in your area has required travel advisories. Best to stay indoors when that happens.

Goal for this weekend: 1) Finish An Echo in the Bone Kindle says I have 3 hours remaining 2) Finish Cranford Kindle says I have 2 hours remaining! 3) Read heartily Moby Dick, which I'm 75% finished.

I finished Cranford today. It was a re-read of at least 20 years ago, so I had forgotten some of it. A delightful book of 193 pages taking place during the industrial revolution in England. It is the story of manners and local customs as mostly seen through the eyes of females. The life of a woman was hard and oft times unhappy; this book proved that it was no exception to that "rule". A great read! 5 stars

What a day for completions---I didn't complete Moby Dick, but I did complete The Warden by Anthony Trollope. This is the first Trollope book I've read and it was slow-moving and somewhat mediocre. However, I have been promised that the ones that follow are better! That being said, the story revolves around the question of the possible misuse of charitable funds by Septimus Harding, a well-liked clergyman in the town of Barhcester, who is also the warden of a man's alms house. The chief protagonist who suggests the accusations against the warden is also in love with the Harding's daughter and there is the conflict of duty and love. Definitely a Victorian read. 3 stars

We are reading a lot of the same things this year. The Warden is up for me in February. I started MD but I'm in Vegas so I'll wait until I get back to get into it. I loved my first Gaskell this month, North & South. I am definitely reading more by her.

Finished An Echo in the Bone, number 7/8 in the Outlander series. One more to go! This is the best series I've read in years, really loving it!

Good job on your reading so far this year... and a collection of large tomes as well, I see!

>75 lkernagh: Yes, and I started them all in December!

I am sorry, but I can't keep up here. With a CAT and a Bingo card and my other group RTT it's just too "programed", although I know that I set my own limits. I'm in over my head. It's been a good time, but I'm going to say goodbye and good reading!

Sorry to lose you. Hope all goes well for you.

>77 Tess_W: We'll miss you! But reading definitely shouldn't be a chore or a source of stress. Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your reading this year!

I'm so sorry to see that you're leaving us. Good luck and good reading and I hope you come back when you aren't feeling so pressed.

I'm also sorry to see you leave us, but reading should be enjoyable. I hope to see you over in the ROOT. Take care.

I'm a little a lot behind on LT threads. Fun checking out your categories and thread. I'm especially interested in your gothic reads from this year.