FEBRUARY ROOT - Progress Thread

Our love of books will keep us going through the next month.
We started off strong and lots of stars were handed out but we can do better!
Below is the current list of members that have identified a ROOT goal for 2018 and how many books they read by the end of January.
The percentage is calculated and a star awarded for those on target to reach their goals. More stars for farther toward their goal.

If anyone's number is incorrect, please let me know and I will make the necessary adjustments.
So go out there and dig those ROOTs.

Amberfly 8 / 40 ★★ 20.0%
Ameise1 1 / 10 ★ 10.0%
anoplph0ra 0 / 20 0.0%
avanders 0 / 24 0.0%
avidmom 3 / 10 ★★★ 30.0%
Benita? 6 / 50 ★ 12.0%
bragan 10 / 100 ★ 10.0%
brakketh 1 / 40 2.5%
brewergirl 10 / 30 ★★★★ 33.3%
Britt84 8 / 60 ★ 13.3%
Caramellunacy 0 / 12 0.0%
clue 3 / 30 ★ 10.0%
Coach_of_Alva 4 / 50 8.0%
connie53 6 / 36 ★★ 16.7%
crazy4reading 5 / 30 ★★ 16.7%
CurrerBell 7 / 75 ★ 9.3%
cyderry 11 / 72 ★ 15.3%
DeborahJade 0 / 50 0.0%
deep220 2 / 75 2.7%
deern 3 / 24 ★ 12.5%
detailmuse 7 / 40 ★★ 17.5%
DisassemblyOfReason 5 / 75 6.7%
EEasyReaderII 0 / 60 0.0%
elliepotten 1 / 30 3.3%
enemyanniemae 5 / 36 ★ 13.9%
Erratic_Charmer 3 / 30 ★ 10.0%
FAMeulstee 17 / 200 ★ 8.5%
Familyhistorian 6 / 55 ★ 10.9%
floremolla 10 / 60 ★★ 16.7%
funky_george 0 / 30 0.0%
fuzzi 2 / 100 2.0%
Guanhumara 1 / 12 ★ 8.3%
Heather19 0 / 50 0.0%
HelenBaker 5 / 48 ★ 10.4%
Helenoel 1 / 25 4.0%
Henrik_Madsen 5 / 40 ★ 12.5%
h-mb 4 / 40 ★ 10.0%
Jackie_K 8 / 48 ★★ 16.7%
janoorani24 2 / 25 8.0%
JBarringer 0 / 365 0.0%
johanna414 6 / 25 ★★ 24.0%
kac522 4 / 40 ★ 10.0%
karenmarie 5 / 42 ★ 11.9%
katayseb 0 / 15 0.0%
kkunker 3 / 40 7.5%
Kristelh 8 / 35 ★★ 22.9%
KWharton 0 / 10 0.0%
LadyBookworth 3 / 24 ★ 12.5%
lahochstetler 1 / 50 2.0%
LauraBrook 21 / 100 ★★ 21.0%
leslie98 17 / 100 ★★ 17.0%
LibraryLover23 2 / 40 5.0%
lilisin 1 / 50 2.0%
linda.newman 0 / 25 0.0%
lindapanzo 5 / 72 6.9%
lkernagh 8 / 60 ★ 13.3%
Lisa805 1 0 12 ★ 8.3%
LoraShouse 2 / 20 ★ 10.0%
luvamystery65 2 / 40 5.0%
mabith 2 / 20 ★ 10.0%
madhatter22 6 / 50 ★ 12.0%
majkia 7 / 50 ★ 14.0%
mandymarie20 1 / 25 4.0%
martencat 2 / 30 6.7%
MissSos 2 / 20 ★ 10.0%
MissWatson 7 / 75 ★ 9.3%
Montarville 0 / 12 0.0%
nancynova 6 / 75 8.0%
nebula21 5 / 35 ★ 14.3%
Nickelini 2 / 20 ★ 10.0%
novawalsh 3 / 30 ★ 10.0%
okeres 0 / 25 0.0%
pageturner3 0 / 50 0.0%
Quasifesto 0 / 36 0.0%
quigui 2 / 12 ★★ 16.7%
rabbitprincess 7 / 50 ★ 14.0%
rainpebble 0 / 24 0.0%
RavenHill 9 / 91 ★ 9.9%
readingtangent 13 / 46 ★★★ 28.3%
Rebeki 3 / 18 ★★ 16.7%
Robertgreaves 5 / 78 6.4%
sallylou61 8 / 36 ★★ 22.2%
si 3 / 24 ★ 12.5%
sibyx 3 / 24 ★ 12.5%
slategreyskies 0 / 50 0.0%
Tanya-dogearedcopy 7 / 50 ★ 14.0%
torontoc 3 / 30 ★ 10.0%
vestafan 4 / 50 8.0%

This month's total goal is 692

Don't forget if you don't have a ticker, be sure to let me know what your total was at the end of the month.

>1 cyderry: Hi Cheli - actually my total for January was 7 not 8, but I finished my 8th ROOT this afternoon and adjusted my ticker but not the group one. I'm not sure if that means that the 8th has been added to the group ticker by you when you were doing the tallies, or if it still needs to be added? I'm going to leave it in case it has already been added, and wait for you to advise. I need to remember in future not to be so enthusiastic about ticker updating when I finish something on the 1st of the month before the new group thread is up!

I need 8 ROOTS to get a star. Fingers crossed.

How are stars earned? I earned two. I think that is pretty good for me, and I may not keep up this pace that I set in January but January was an exceptional month of reading.

I have decided on a goal. I completed 4 titles this month. I believe that I can do 50 this year.
So: 4/50 8%

Is the introductory post duplicated or have I had too much wine tonight?

Congrats everyone on reaching our goal in January and thanks to Chèli for all her efforts in compiling stats and putting in all the work to manage this group!

>3 Jackie_K: No problem - 1 extra won't make a difference this time.

>5 Kristelh: Stars are earned by reaching the percentage needed for each month. 1/12th of your goal = 8.3% if you reach 16.7% which is 2 months worth you would get 2 stars and so on. SO if you got 2 stars then you read 2 months worth of ROOTS and if you stay on target you would finish in November.

I hope that explains it.

>6 Coach_of_Alva: Added.

>7 leslie.98: Thanks for telling me about the duplicate, I changed it.

Some authors born under the sign of Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18):

24 Jan Edith Wharton
25 Jan Virginia Woolf
27 Jan Lewis Carroll
28 Jan Colette
29 Jan Anton Chekhov
31 Jan Norman Mailer
1 Feb Langston Hughes and Muriel Spark
2 Feb James Joyce and Ayn Rand
3 Feb James Michener
7 Feb Laura Ingalls Wilder and Sinclair Lewis
8 Feb Jules Verne and John Grisham
9 Feb Alice Walker
12 Feb Judy Blume
16 Feb Richard Ford
17 Feb Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Margaret Truman, Chaim Potok and Ruth Rendell
18 Feb Toni Morrison

for a longer list: http://librarybooklists.org/literarybirths/index.htm

I changed my goal (and my ticker) so my stats above should be 6/60 instead of 6/50. Thanks. :)

First ROOT of the month done -- I am off to update my thread and the tickers...

Finished my first ROOT of the month, puts me at 4/40 total. All tickers updated.

>9 kac522:. Thanks for this, I had forgotten to plan my February read for this challenge.

Finished my first tome for February, Shadowshaper by Daniel José Olden. Audio downloaded August 2017.

#14
How did you like that book? I have it on my TBR list.

I really read more in January but had forgot that they were Roots
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, purchased April 7, 2013
A Hundred Lifetimes by David C. A. Zink, acquired March 2017
And finished
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older, acquired August 2017

Total roots 10 for the year

On Friday I declared my long-standing audiobook to be my first ROOT of February: At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by Bill Bryson (read by the author). It was interesting, but I want to listen to something else now ;)

And today I just finished my second ROOT of February: Arthurian Romances, by Chrétien de Troyes, a reread from my university days (complete with sticky notes flagging passages for some now-obscure reason).

Both my personal ticker and the group ticker have been updated.

I finished my first ROOT for February. I read Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave. It started out slow but the last quarter of the novel was very good and I couldn’t put it down wondering how it would end.

My 1st root for the month, The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout 10/10. I am loving this writer. This is the 3rd book of hers I have read this year.

Reporting ROOT # 7 for the year, # 1 for Februari

Het rendiervolk by Megan Lindholm

All tickers updated.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have been informed that somewhere there are some upsetting political discussions amidst our threads. We all have our own opinions, however, I feel that here we are attempting to discuss books, not debate politics. There are groups at LT that are for that. Can we please try to just stick to the books and leave politics to the groups that are designated for that.

Thank you for your consideration of others who are only interested in a book discussion.

Finished ROOT #4 - and my first ROOT for the month- review is on my thread!

>24 torontoc: me too! I just finished my first ROOT of the month also. Personal ticker updated.

>23 cyderry: thank you.

Enid Bagnold, The Squire
Winifred Watson, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Read for iamnobird321's Persephone readathon.

1st & 2nd for February, 8/75 & 9/75

Jack London: Novels and Social Writings (Library of America)

3d for February, 10/75

Two books completed so far for February - #11 Leviathan and #12 The Accidental - 12/60 for 2018.

Both tickers updated.

#5 ROOT - review is on my thread and no tickers updated. ( that is 2 ROOTs for Feb so far)

Added my third ROOT for February to the group ticker and my personal ticker. Campbell's Kingdom, by Hammond Innes, was an impulse purchase at a book sale and will be passed along to my mum now that I've finished.

Finished reading the lovely Station Eleven last night and updated my ticker.

Just added my third ROOT for February, personal ticker updated.

Reporting ROOT # 8 for the year, # 2 for February

Wolfs broeder by Megan Lindholm

All tickers updated.

Four so far this month!

I have finished my 2nd ROOT of the month -- my thread and all tickers updated.

Just finished my first ever reading of Fahrenheit 451 and it was excellent. 2nd book ROOT for February!

An audiobook ROOT done - my thread & tickers have been updated

Just realized I'd forgotten to add a ROOT from earlier in the week: Kipling A Selection of Stories and Poems, Volume 1, by Rudyard Kipling. I'm now up to 4 ROOTs for February and 11 for the year so far! I've updated my ticker and the group ticker.

Reporting ROOT # 9 for the year, # 3 for February

Later by Rosamund Lupton

All tickers updated.

Over lunch I finally finished Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance 1985-1995, by Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack, and Jason Schneider. I've been reading this since last April, so it is a big achievement for me :)

And just now I found some chores to do so that I could finish listening to The Diary of River Song, Series 2. I love Big Finish audio dramas. They make sweeping floors and doing dishes much more exciting.

My ROOT total for February is now 6, and the year-to-date total is 13. I've updated my personal ticker and the group ticker.

I have finished #7 for this challenge. I am finding my title challenge is introducing me to a diverse range of authors. I have just read Coromandel Sea Change by Rumer Godden.

>42 HelenBaker: i really like that one. Not my favorite Godden, but I definitely like it. My own liking for Godden is principally for her "culture clash" novels as opposed to the more religiously oriented ones like In This House of Brede and Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy.

Earle Lord, Jack London: An American Life

4th for February, 11/75. I'll need two more ROOTs to keep my star and I'm doing a lot of non-ROOTing right now, but I should be OK with still half-a-month to go.

Two more ROOTs to report - Hamilton Square and The Observations - brings the total for February to four - 14/60 for 2018. Both tickers updated.

Three complete so far:

Cross-Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini - Didn't like this one
The Jasmine Moon Murder by Laura Childs - Good, setting is a tea room in Charleston
Between a Rock and a Hard Place - by Marty Wingate - Good, features an American gardener working in England.

6/30

Currently reading a library book and the one after that will be a new book.

ROOT #6 -review is on my thread( a book that I should have just given away and not read as I have some really interesting books I should have read first)- no tickers updated and this is my third Root book for Feb

I finished another one - The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency I'm really surprised at how interesting the story came out. I thought that it would be deadly dull but informative, but instead it was very entertaining as well as giving a very interesting insight into FDR before and after polio.

Finished my 3rd ROOT, the first for February: Searoad by Ursula K. Le Guin. All tickers updated

I've finished my first ROOT of February and my fourth of the year. Both tickers have been updated.

(I've yet to review it, mind, or catch up with my thread and visit others', but I'm hoping to do all that in the next few days!)

I feel like 756 page chunksters like The Gilded Hour should count for more than one on the ticker . . . I'll have to read something short now to make my goal for February! :-)

Just finished reading The Handmaid's Tale which I adored.

>52 MissSos: I totally agree. Most of my current books are pretty long (one c1200 pages, another just under 600, and another around 450 which is a lot for me!), and it's definitely eating into my totals! I think some people sometimes track total pages read as well as individual books, that might be interesting and make the slog a bit less arduous!

>52 MissSos: >54 Jackie_K: For those 600+ pages, you might both want to pop on over to the Big Fat Book Challenge, if you're not already aware of it, and consider joining.

I've finished my fourth ROOT for the month, Chamomile Mourning by Laura Childs. I've started a library book and have a new purchase in progress. Might be able to sneak a short one in at the end of the month.

I finished listening to Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz. This is a children's novel and it was a Newbery Honor Book for 2016. Like the other Gidwitz book I have read, I am having trouble understanding why this one was given such a prestigous award. But never mind. It was entertaining.

Interesting - I'll have to check it out!

I just finished my sixth ROOT of February!

Personal ticker updated. :)

Frances Hardinge, The Lie Tree (4****)
The Complete Works of Nathanael West (2½**)

5th & 6th for February, 13/75 to keep my star.

I just finished my 15 TBR and it says 8 of 35 at top, is it safe then for me to add 7 to the group ticker? I don't remember when I last updated the group ticker.

I have managed to finally get another ROOT done, amid my stack of library books -- my thread and all tickers updated.

>61 Kristelh: If you are pretty sure that you haven't updated it this month, then I would say go ahead. But Cheli would be the one to ask.

Bruce Gordon, The Swiss Reformation

7th for February, 14/75, and moving right along.

>61 Kristelh: The number for you in the Opening post is where you stood at the end of January. If you have read 8 more (wow!) by all means you can update the ticker!

Finished my first print ROOT of the month... My thread and all tickers updated.

#8 & #9 for this challenge. Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell 8.5/10 and The Night Book by Charlotte Grimshaw8/10. The 2nd title is the first in a trilogy which has me heading to the next in the series which won't count for this challenge as it's a reread for me. I can afford this as I am on track still.

Spent the weekend celebrating my grandson's birthday, his expression was priceless!

Yes, that's the right word. congrats!

>67 cyderry: aw, lovely! thanks for sharing Chèli :)

>67 cyderry:. Delightful! One happy boy there...

UPDATED the group ticker today with my February reads, Total for year #14.

Finished reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea last night and it was excellent.

>72 lilisin: I read that last month, and absolutely agree with you.

I finished Cobra by Deon Meyer over the weekend. I love this author's thrillers about South Africa so much that I ordered a copy of the latest in this series. (The series is the Benny Griessel series.) So I took a ROOT off the shelf and will put one on. Net gain = 0.

I've added my #2 for February (#9 for the year) to all tickers.

I have finished 5 ROOTs this month, so far, and my own ticker is up-to-date. Next up is a loan from my sister, not a ROOT, and after that a 700-page chunkster I probably won't finish this month...

Yesterday I finished the excellent Malice Aforethought, by Francis Iles (#14 for the year). All tickers have been updated.

Reporting ROOT # 10 for the year, # 4 for February

De chemicus by Stephenie Meyer

All tickers updated.

Less than a week left in the month... I have finished an audiobook ROOT but still have a couple of paperbacks sitting on my table that I had hoped to read this month. Fingers crossed!

My thread and all tickers updated.

Three more ROOTs - Gillespie and I, The Trick is to Keep Breathing and Hunting Unicorns - that's seven total so far for February and 17/60 for 2018. Both tickers updated.

Joyce Carol Oates, Blonde

8th for February, 15/75 ... maybe I'll be getting two stars this month???

finished #7 -review on my thread and no tickers updated- this is my fourth ROOT for Feb.

Five ROOTs so far in February, group tickers not updated. Also filled the slot for Aquarius in my author-horoscope sub-challenge with the excellent collection of essays, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan.

I'm up to six ROOTs now, because I forgot to mention ...alle Bitternis der Welt, a collection of stories by Vsevolod Garshin. He was born in February, so he fits the Aquarius slot, too.

I finished listening to another ROOT today. Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton is a YA fantasy novel that I almost gave up on. It started slow but got better as it went along. Still I am going to be in no hurry to get to the sequel.

Here is my review of the recorded book I just finished this morning.

I was slow to like Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton and, in fact, almost quit listening to it. The early stages of the novel were flat out boring. It began to pick up once the heroine was disillusioned and the good guy was turned into the bad guy. However, like so many of these novels that I read, all the problems could have been solved if the protagonists would just talk to each other. Instead, they lie to their best friends. Who does that? So unrealistic and unbelievable.

That makes me wonder who reads these things and what kind of example does this type of book set for young people? I don’t think that YA novels should be preachy, and they should be realistic, but come on, what this book teaches is to lie to your friends, not trust your parents, and go off on hair-brained schemes that, undoubtedly, are great adventures, but really rather silly. Oh - that sounds like teenagers!

The most interesting character (Maude) turned out to be one of the secondary characters. This was due to the moral choices that she had to make and the very real consequences of those decisions.

In the end, the fight scenes and the climax was interesting. The recording (narration) was well done. There were interesting characters in the novel with some great fight scene writing. That is enough to make this average fare for me.

I finished a few ROOTs this weekend -- yay! My thread and all tickers updated.

Met my February goal! 4 down, 20 to go.

I finished ROOTS 7 & 8 this month - updated my personal ticker but left the group one alone.

Just one ROOT for February - The Height of the Scream.

I'm stuck at five for February, but might get #6 done by tomorrow.

I'm four for February, 7/30, current book is from the library.

I've added my 3rd for February (10th for the year) to all tickers.

Eight ROOTS read. All tickers updated.

I finished another recorded book. This one was a short novella - actually more like a short story by Neil Gaiman. Sleeper and the Spindle. It was a fine performance, but the short story wasn't as good as I expected from Gaiman. I think he should have worked on this one a little more before publishing it.

I've been a busy woman reading like mad this month. 10 ROOTs.

Here is my report for February 2018:

UpROOTED books: 11
ROOTless books: 1
Added to the TBR shelves: 0

The ROOTs were:

Shifting Reality by Patty Jensen
A Preface to Paradise Lost by C. S. Lewis
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Copenhagen Connection by Elizabeth Peters
Unruly Passions by Kate Charles
Daily Devotions for Lent 2018 by Ann M. Garrido
I Am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch
Pastrix by Nadia Bolz-Weber
What the Bible Really Teaches by Keith Ward
Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett

ROOTs in YTD: 16

Tickers have been updated but hopefully not harmed in the making of this report.

Have only read 2 roots this month. Personal ticker only updated.

Gore Vidal, Hollywood

9th for February, 16/75 ... hoping that means 2**??? (my first ever!) ... and hoping to get one more book read this month, but it's an eBook so it won't count toward a ROOT

21 roots in February, making a total of 36/200. I added them to the group ticker.

I finished 2 more ROOTs for February, putting me at 6/40. Tickers updated.

Just to confirm no more ROOTs from me this month - totals stand at 7 for February and 17/60 for 2018.

Finished my 5th ROOT of February with just an hour and a half left in February. Very excited about March starting!

>100 FAMeulstee: wowowowow! Nice job.

I finished ROOT #6 last night, Pirate King, not the best in the Russell/Holmes series, but an okay read.

Total for 2018 is 8 ROOTs, personal ticker has been updated.

Addendum: I snuck in one more before midnight, The Mansions of the Gods to up my February total to 7 ROOTs read.

Personal ticker updated. :)

I got 8 done this month, for a total of 13. I updated my own ticker.

>100 FAMeulstee: GREAT job! That is awesome!!

>104 fuzzi: & >105 enemyanniemae: Thanks, I started a bit slow on the ROOTs in January. February was a way better month Rootwise :-)

Well, I've been terrible at posting this month, but, fortunately, a bit better at reading! I've finished another two ROOTs, making a total of three read in February. Both tickers updated.

I finished 6 ROOTS for the month. No tickers updated.

I got the following titles off my shelves and out of my TBR pile this month.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
Inquisitor's Tale, or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz
Los Angeles: People, Places, and the Castle on the Hill by A. M. Homes
Cobra by Deon Meyer
Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

I finished 4 ROOTs in the last few days to make my total ROOTs for the month 8. So that is 14/55 for the year so far.

I finished two books and one audiobook last month. My score: 7/50 14%

Two more roots taking me to 11/48

March thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/287865