Clue's 2018 ROOTS

My 2017 goal was 40 and I will end the year at reading 43.

* I'm participating in Alpha CAT and normally choose books by the author's last name. In January I'll read M and V authors. I'm going to look at that month's Alpha possibilities and, because I know I have some I will probably never read I'm going to remove those. These will not be counted toward the 30 goal but I'll have a ticker for them. I think removing them monthly will be easier than trying to tackle the whole TBR.

* This is something I'm going to try: when I check out the shelves for Alpha CAT I'm also going to see if there are books that are part of a series but aren't the next book I need to read. If I've had that TBR more than one year, I'm going to acquire the book I need to read next, hopefully from the library, read it, and count it as a ROOT. I'm hoping this will help spur me on to reading those series books that have patiently waiting for their turn.

* The goal for next year will be 30 because I'm hoping to read more big books. I only read 2 in 2017 over 600 pages and I have at least 10 more on my TBR.

* In 2017 I set a goal of buying no more than 24 books and that is what I bought. These are just books I buy for "pleasure" reading. I'm not counting books that I'm given, books I buy for research projects, or books I buy for book club reading (actually they've been few if any, but in 2017 we started a history book club at the National Historic Site where I'm a volunteer docent/researcher/ and most of these I'll need to buy). I'm basically trying to limit impulse buying.

* Last year I read 9 of the 24 books I bought. In 2018 I'm going to set a goal of no more than 24 purchased with 12 read by year end.

* I need to determine what my TBR total is and will post here once I figure it out!

Two hours later: well, I've figured it out and I'm horrified to have 509 TBR!

* I read 77 books in 2017, 43 or 56%, were ROOTS.

PURCHASED

1. Stolen Beauty - Laurie Lico Albanese
2. The Fossil Hunter
3. Gull on the Roof - Derek Tangye
4. The Rooster Bar - John Grisham
5. The Crossing Places - Elly Griffiths Completed 4/2018
6. My Friends the Miss Boyds - Jane Duncan
7. All-American Murder - James Patterson Completed 2/26/2018
8. Fundraising the Dead - Sheila Connolly
9. War Brides - Helen Bryan
10. The Jersey Brothers - Sally Freeman
11. A Robot in the Garden - Deborah Install
12. A Durable Fire by Barbara Keating
13. The Velveteen Daughter by Laurel Davis Huber Completed 4/26/2018
14. Mum's the Word by Kate Collins
15. Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal
16. The Taster by V.S. Alexander
17. The Perfect Couple - Elin Hilderbrand Completed 6/20/18
18. Howards End is on the Landing - Susan Hill
19. Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
20. Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures 1935-1961
21. Second Wind: A Sunfish Sailor, an Island, and the Voyage That Brought a Family Together - Nathaniel Philbrick
22. Murder in the Mystery Suite - Ellery Adams - Completed 11/18
23. A Baker's Life: 100 Recipes from Childhood Bakes to Five - Star Excellence
24. Anne of the Island - L.M. Montgomery Tilghman Completed
25. Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and the Wickedest Town in the American West - Stephanie Dray
26. To the Stars Through Difficulties - Romalyn Tilghman Completed 6/28/18
27. My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton - Stephanie Dray Completed 11/11/18
28. The Dry - Jane Harper
29. Pachinko - Min Jin Lee
30. Anatomy of a Scandal - Sarah Vaughan
31. Two Steps Forward - Graeme Simsion
32. The Man From St. Petersburg - Ken Follett
33. The Address - Fiona Davis
34. The Word is Murder - Anthony Horowitz
35. Varina - Charles Frazier
36. The Bettencourt Affair - Tom Sancton
37. Warlight - Michael Obdaatje
38. Theater of a Separate War - Thomas W. Cutrer
39. Our Man in Charleston - Christopher Dickey
40. Velazquez And The Surrender of Breda - Anthony Bailey
41. My Absolute Darling - Gabriel Tallent
42. The Middle-Man - Olen Steinhauer
43. The Vengeance of Mothers - Jim Fergus
44. The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden

BEGIN TBR = 947

1. The Arthur Avenue Cookbook: Recipes And Memories From The Real Little Italy by Ann Volkwein

Arthur Avenue is the Little Italy of the Bronx. It's a three block area where businesses have primarily been run by the same families for sixty years or more. Volkwein takes us down the street introducing us to each of the owners and gives us a short history of each store. Some are meat markets, some bakeries, some restaurants. There are photographs and recipes from each one. Although the neighborhood has changed through the years, the families that have moved to other parts of the city still come back to do their shopping on Arthur Avenue and are part of the reason the businesses have continued to thrive. But when a shop owner considers a customer part of his family, how could you "take your trade", as my grandmother used to say, anywhere else? For those of us who live too far from Arthur Ave to shop there, it's comforting to know such places still exist.

3.5/5

Happy ROOTing!

Good luck and happy reading!

ETA: I totally feel for you about series. Good luck with that!

Good to see you, Luanne and good luck with ROOTing

Here's to rooting in 2018!!

Welcome back and have fun going through your TBR!

Good luck with your 2018 ROOTing!

Sounds like you have a plan. Good luck with your ROOTing in 2018.

I've been trying for several years to catch up on my series reads but since I have close to 200 series on my radar it's hard. I'm going to try to figure out a way to get some of those that have been languishing moved to the top of the mountain.

Hi Luanne, nice to see you here, and good luck with meeting all those goals in 2018!

Happy New Year, Luanne!

Welcome back, and happy ROOTing!

Happy reading in 2018, Luanne!

Good luck on your goals! I like your idea of limiting book buys - I've had a huge problem with that myself, buying and letting books sit on my bookshelf for years or decades. I might "borrow" this plan and use it too!

2. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan

A novella about the last day a Red Lobster in New England is open for business. I loved it. I think I have another O'Nan on the TBR and look forward to reading it.

4.5/5

Thanks to all for the good wishes for 2018. I'm looking forward to sharing a good reading year with you as we read toward our best intentions.

3. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

4/5

January Recap:

I won't finish another one tomorrow so my total for the month is 3/30.

1. The Arthur Avenue Cookbook: Recipes and Memories from the Real Little Italy by Ann Volkwein
2. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
3. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

19 Books removed from my shelves!

February Recap:

This month 3 of the 4 were from the mystery bookcase, I have some books I don't have room to shelve there.

End of month standing: 7/30

4. Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini
5. The Jasmine Moon Murder by Laura Childs
6. Chamomile Mourning by Laura Childs
7. Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Marty Wingate

I pulled 25 books to go to the library and Goodwill, a total of 44 moved out of the house for the year.

I won't get another ROOT finished for this month. I didn't read as many as I had planned but I'm still okay to my goal of 30.

March Recap:

8. The Nest by Catherine D'Aprix Sweeney 3.5*
9. Maman's Homesick Pie by Donia Bijan 4*
10. The Woman on the Orient Express by Erin Lindsay McCabe 3*

I pulled another 14 from the shelves this month for a total of 58 removed for the year.

I bought 6 in March for a total of 13 for the year. Since my goal is to purchase no more than 24 for the year this is looking a little out of kilter!

Good Job, Luanne, You are pulling a lot of books from the shelves. Maybe I should do the same. Walking past my bookcases I see titles I know I will never read. I think I'm going to spend a day in the may-break and attempt to do just that. Getting the pile down and making room for new ones might give me a spring- cleaning feeling.

APRIL



Recap:

I won't finish another ROOT this month so my total for April is 4:

11. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann 4.0
12. Season of Yellow Leaf by Douglas C. Jones 4.0
13. Miss Zukas and the Raven's Dance by Jo Dereske 3.5
14. Blood Sisters by Barbara Keating 4.0

I pulled another 5 from my shelves for a total of 62 for the year.

I bought 3 books this month for a total of 16 for the year.

MAY RECAP

I completed 3 ROOTS this month:

15. Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside by Andrea di Robilant
16. Blood Orange Brewing by Laura Childs
17. Through a Glass Darkly by Kathleen Koen

So far I'm staying ahead of goal with 17 out of 30 read.

I pulled another 6 from my shelves for a total of 68 for the year. I have primarily pulled fiction this year but our Friends of the Library have the Nonfiction Adult Book Sale in August. I don't have as many nonfiction as fiction so I can get through all of those next month and will probably pull a larger number than I have the last 2 months.

I bought 3 in April for a total of 16.

This month went so fast to me!!

Congrats on staying ahead of your goal!

You go, Luanne!

JUNE Recap

I read 3 ROOTS in June:

18. The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
19. Storm in the Village by Miss Read
20. The Daughter's Walk by Jane Kilpatrick

So 20 out of 30 complete

I don't know whether to be glad or sad about book acquisitions this month. At the end of last month I had bought 16 this year and this month bought 15 more! It wasn't just summer madness that drove the frenzy, I took a trip with friends and we ran onto an incredible used bookstore, a charity shop for a hospital. The store was near an upscale neighborhood where most of their inventory apparently comes from. There was even a table of donated new releases. The women running it were as professional as any bookseller and as knowledgeable. The store was well organized, very clean and all books in great condition. And even greater, everything was marked down from the usual low price because they're moving to a larger location next month. We had so much fun there!

I've pulled a total of 81 books from the shelves this year.

Congrats on your ROOTing progress. Buying books feels much better when it's for a good cause, doesn't it?

JULY RECAP:

21. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
22. Reply to a Letter From Helga by Bergaveinn Birgisson
23. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
24. Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
25. Hot Money by Dick Francis

I liked all of them for different reasons but The Essex Serpent was my favorite of the month.

Only 5 more to meet the goal of 30.

I removed another 16 from the shelves in July, wow, that's a total of 97!

I think I need to add 2 to the Purchased list for a total of 33 - and the goal was 24 for the year. Why do I bother with a goal??

I read 3 ROOTS in August:

26. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
27. Dragonwell Dead by Laura Childs
28. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear

I only have 2 more to go so I should complete the challenge in September.

I went through my nonfiction shelves, pulled what I didn't want to keep, and donated them to the adult nonfiction book sale at the library. I've now pulled a total of 119 from the shelves this year. I've bought a whole lot less than that but it doesn't seem like the shelves have shrunk that much...all books are in the shelves though and not stacked here and there.

That sounds like a very satisfying cull!

I read 3 ROOTS in September which put me 1 over the goal of 30:

29. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
30. The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag
31. The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

Next month I have a new big book planned and may only work in 1 ROOT. I still hope to get in at least 5 more this year though.

Congratulations on meeting your goal!

Excellent work! :D

Congrats on meeting your goal!

Congrats, Luanne! Great job.

32. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
33. My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
34. Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams

I didn't work the big book in that I had planned for this month and probably won't read it until next year. Another year on the shelf (sigh).

34/30