let's read out the decade - lesmel - 2020

Unlike 99.9999% of the population, I'm going to read out the decade this year.
I refuse to bow to public opinion that a decade starts in 00. January is 01, not 00.
P.S. I'm never consistent in my logic. I am consistent about having an opinion. Fairly warned.

#1 Ayesha at Last -- funny and poignant and barely related to Pride and Prejudice (for which I'm grateful)
#2 A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet -- is sci-fi supposed to make you cry? maybe even break your heart a little?

>2 lesmel: Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is all about chosen family. I just re-read it last month and appreciated it more second time around.

#3 A Closed and Common Orbit -- Again, with a little bit of heartbreak. This series is really good.

>3 2wonderY: It's about acceptance, identity, chosen family, intolerance, etc etc etc. Everything happening in the world right now. I feel like I was meant to read these books now.

#4 Record of a Spaceborn Few -- Hardly any action; barely qualifies as "space opera" in my opinion. Still a good book.

#5 To Be Taught, If Fortunate -- A lot more philosophical than most sci-fi space opera-y books.

#6 I Am Still Alive -- I spent a lot of time thinking I had already read this book; but I can't place why. I know it's like Hatchet; but that isn't what caused my deja vu. I would have rated it higher; but I'm not a fan of the author killing off Bo for the sake of some readers' heartstrings. That's straight up bull shit.

#7 In West Mills -- I skimmed for bookclub that I missed b/c of flu.
#8 Searching for Sylvie Lee -- Good read! Only reason I won't give it a full 5 is the lack of closure in the Jim storyline. The author could have easily incorporated a way to alert the authorities in NY & still have her sad ending

#9 Two Girls Down -- Good book. Nearly read the thing in one sitting. Not sure I will read the rest of the series, though.

Huh. 3 months since my last visit. Not surprising. I'm fairly sure this will be the year I read the absolutely least possible. I have no ability to concentrate when I'm done with work. The only thing keeping me reading is my two book clubs. Good Reads says I'm 13 books behind for the year. I don't know wether I should laugh, cry, or cheer as my (self imposed) reading goal goes down in flames. I'm not stressed over the goal. After the year I read 246 books in 365 days, I don't really stress over the goal. Although, I do like having a goal to strive for.

So, let's get caught up:

#10 The Governess Affair, Milan
#11 The Duchess War, Milan
#12 A Kiss for Midwinter, Milan
#13 The Heiress Effect, Milan
#14 The Countess Conspiracy, Milan
#15 The Suffragette Scandal, Milan
#16 Talk Sweetly to Me, Milan
#17 Miracle Creek, Kim (bookclub)
#18 Air Fry Genius, Laurence
#19 Golden in Death, Robb
#20 Epic Air Fryer Cookbook, Paster
#21 Keto Kitchen (not in LT yet)
#22 A Pale Light in the Black, Wagers
#23 Air Fryer Perfection
#24 Good Housekeeping Air Fryer Cookbook, Westmoreland
#25 Taste of Home What Can I Cook...
#26 Skinnytaste One and Done...
#27 The Healthy 5-Ingredient Air Fryer Cookbook, Matthews
#28 The Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook, Homolka
#29 Ellie and the Harpmaker, Prior
#30 The Lager Queen of Minnesota, Stradal

I missed two bookclub books. I will at least make an attempt to read them sometime soon.

Star markup:
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss2.gif" / -
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss4.gif" / -
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss6.gif" / -
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss8.gif" / -

Not a shabby list at all. But I too have been experiencing an inability to concentrate on reading. My numbers are way down for the time of year.

#31 How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
#32 The Farm, Ramos
#33 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
#34 Find Me, Frasier
#35 The Wedding Date, Guillory

I'm still struggling to read; but it's gotten better. I'm making an effort to dig into my digital libraries from Nook and Kindle again. GR says I'm twenty books behind in my reading goal for the year. I'm like "whatevs." I'll get there if I get there.

I'm making up for lost time, all of a sudden! The Amazon Prime shorts helped. I may look at another string of those.

#36 Lord of the Fading Lands
#37 Bone Rattler
#38 Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World
#39 In the Heart of the Fire
#40 Photographing the Dead
#41 Praying Mantis Bride
#42 Red Rain, Koontz
#43 Mercy of Snakes
#44 Memories of Tomorrow
#45 Mermaid's Sister, Noble
#46 Girl Who was Supposed to Die

I don't know what seal broke; but I'm reading like the wind lately.

#47 Sweep, Auxier
#48 A Curse So Lonely and Dark, Kemmerer
#49 The Seduction of Elliot McBride, Ashley
#50 The Untamed MacKenzie, Ashley
#51 A MacKenzie Christmas, Ashley
#52 Scandal and the Duchess, Ashley
#53 Wicked Deeds of Daniel MacKenzie, Ashley
#54 Rules for a Proper Governess, Ashley
#55 The Stolen MacKenzie Bride, Ashley
#56 A MacKenzie Clan Gathering, Ashley

I never would have picked up Ashley's Highlander series again if it hadn't been for a book bullet here on LT. I have a complicated relationship with romance. For the most part, I don't read more than a handful a year any more. However, sometimes, romance is exactly what I need to escape. Romance has a notorious reputation for a variety of reasons. I have found I can't tolerate a lot of the stuff I read in the 90s...but I remember the reading of them fondly. My grandmother and I swapped a lot of romance while I was in high school and college.

Star markup:
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss2.gif" / -
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss4.gif" / -
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss6.gif" / -
- img src="https://static.librarything.com/pics/ss8.gif" / -

#57 The Heir, Burrowes
#58 The Soldier, Burrowes
#59 The Virtuoso, Burrowes
#60 With the Fire on High
#61 Alec Mackenzie's Art of Seduction, Ashley
#62 The Devilish Lord Will, Ashley
#63 A Rogue Meets a Scandalous Lady
#64 A Mackenzie Yuletide, Ashley
#65 Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish, Burrowes
#66 Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal, Burrowes
#67 Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight, Burrowes
#68 Lady Eve's Indiscretion, Burrowes
#69 Lady Jenny's Christmas Portrait, Burrowes
#70 Lazarus Vol 1, Rucka
#71 The Old Guard Book One, Rucka
#72 Black Magick Vol 1, Rucka
#73 Undiscovered Country Volume 1, Snyder

Well, I somehow (spoiler alert: historical romance is my brain candy) found my second wind. I have a (physical) book from the library. It was weird going into the library; but I wasn't too worried once I realized just how empty the building was (and the very clear signage directing foot traffic).

#74 Queen's Bargain, Bishop
#75 The Last Book Party, Dukess
#76 Nothing to Fear, Boston
#77 The Bromance Book Club, Adams
#78 Nothing to Gain, Boston
#79 Nothing to Hide, Boston
#80 Nothing to Lose, Boston
#81 You're Not Listening, Murphy
#82 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, Hendrix
#83 The Guest Book, Blake
#84 The Hob's Bargain, Briggs
#85 Homebaking, Alford
#86 American Spy, Wilkinson
#87 Zingerman's Bakehouse, Emberling
#88 Long Bright River, Moore
#89 This Tender Land, Krueger
#90 Evvie Drake Starts Over, Holmes
#91 IQ, Ide
#92 Shadows in Death, Robb
#93 Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss, Balasubramanyam
#94 The Water Dancer, Coates

Great Courses has nearly/all their courses on sale right now. I ended up impulse buying four courses:

Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy
Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature
The Secrets of Great Mystery and Suspense Fiction
How Great Science Fiction Works

I'm hoping the courses will spark my joy in reading again.

Those sound like they’ll be fascinating!

>19 2wonderY: I hope they are. The guidebooks made the courses seem very appealing!

Ok, this is going to be weird; but I'm breaking up my reading so I can maybe actually continue this thread into next year with the continue button.

#10 The Governess Affair, Milan

#11 The Duchess War, Milan

#12 A Kiss for Midwinter, Milan

#13 The Heiress Effect, Milan

#14 The Countess Conspiracy, Milan

#15 The Suffragette Scandal, Milan

#16 Talk Sweetly to Me, Milan

#17 Miracle Creek, Kim (bookclub)

bookclub title

#18 Air Fry Genius, Laurence

#19 Golden in Death, Robb

#20 Epic Air Fryer Cookbook, Paster

#21 Keto Kitchen, Sanders

#22 A Pale Light in the Black, Wagers

This is an interesting read. I like K.B. Wagers. I like the Indranan Wars trilogy. I'm beginning to like the Farian War trilogy. I'm reserving judgment on this series/trilogy for now.

#23 Air Fryer Perfection

#24 Good Housekeeping Air Fryer Cookbook, Westmoreland

#25 Taste of Home What Can I Cook...

I love Taste of Home Magazine. The recipes remind me of my grandmother and mother. I couldn't resist borrowing this.

#26 Skinnytaste One and Done...

#27 The Healthy 5-Ingredient Air Fryer Cookbook, Matthews

#28 The Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook, Homolka

#29 Ellie and the Harpmaker, Prior

bookclub title

#30 The Lager Queen of Minnesota, Stradal

bookclub title

#31 How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

#32 The Farm, Ramos

bookclub title

#33 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

bookclub title

I liked this for the history of the packhorse librarians and the Blue Fugates of Kentucky

#34 Find Me, Frasier

#35 The Wedding Date, Guillory

bookclub title

Sort of surprised this made it to the bookclub. It's a cute, fast read. Not sure I'd read the rest of the series: The Wedding Date.

#36 Lord of the Fading Lands

I think this was a BB from LT. I can't remember now.

#37 Bone Rattler

Struggled to read this one. That'll be a big N-O for the rest of the series: Bone Rattler

#38 Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

#39 In the Heart of the Fire

Decided to try some of the Amazon singles. I like old Dean Koontz. This feels like his old writing.

#40 Photographing the Dead

#41 Praying Mantis Bride

#42 Red Rain, Koontz

#43 Mercy of Snakes

#44 Memories of Tomorrow

Here's where old Koontz gets overtaken by new Koontz. I don't like new Koontz much.

#45 Mermaid's Sister, Noble

#46 Girl Who was Supposed to Die

#47 Sweep, Auxier

#48 A Curse So Lonely and Dark, Kemmerer

Liked it; but maybe not enough to finish the series: The Cursebreaker

#49 The Seduction of Elliot McBride, Ashley

One of my favorite go-to romance titles is The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I have read the rest of the series just for a chance to "see" Ian along the way. heh.

#50 The Untamed MacKenzie, Ashley

#51 A MacKenzie Christmas, Ashley

#52 Scandal and the Duchess, Ashley

#53 Wicked Deeds of Daniel MacKenzie, Ashley

#54 Rules for a Proper Governess, Ashley

#55 The Stolen MacKenzie Bride, Ashley

#56 A MacKenzie Clan Gathering, Ashley

#57 The Heir, Burrowes

#58 The Soldier, Burrowes

#59 The Virtuoso, Burrowes

#60 With the Fire on High

bookclub title

#61 Alec Mackenzie's Art of Seduction, Ashley

#62 The Devilish Lord Will, Ashley

#63 A Rogue Meets a Scandalous Lady

#64 A Mackenzie Yuletide, Ashley

#65 Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish, Burrowes

#66 Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal, Burrowes

#67 Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight, Burrowes

#68 Lady Eve's Indiscretion, Burrowes

#69 Lady Jenny's Christmas Portrait, Burrowes

Pandemic times call for a glut of guaranteed HEA.

#70 Lazarus Vol 1, Rucka

#71 The Old Guard Book One, Rucka

#72 Black Magick Vol 1, Rucka

#73 Undiscovered Country Volume 1, Snyder

Extremely weird graphic novel. Extremely.

#74 Queen's Bargain, Bishop

I can't believe Anne Bishop is writing more Black Jewels titles. I figured Twilight's Dawn would be the last. Color me thrilled.

#75 The Last Book Party, Dukess

bookclub title - the only reason I read this and finished it.

#76 Nothing to Fear, Boston

#77 The Bromance Book Club, Adams

Worth the read. Not sure it's worth the rest of the series Bromance Book Club

#78 Nothing to Gain, Boston

#79 Nothing to Hide, Boston

#80 Nothing to Lose, Boston

#81 You're Not Listening, Murphy

Excellent read. I need to re-read it. I listened to most of it. It's worth the time.

#82 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, Hendrix

A repeated recommendation from various people. Good, but not great.

#83 The Guest Book, Blake

bookclub title -- again, the only reason I read and finished it.

#84 The Hob's Bargain, Briggs

I think this was also a BB from LT.

#85 Homebaking, Alford

#86 American Spy, Wilkinson

bookclub title

#87 Zingerman's Bakehouse, Emberling

#88 Long Bright River, Moore

#89 This Tender Land, Krueger

bookclub title - excellent read! might be my favorite of the year.

#90 Evvie Drake Starts Over, Holmes

bookclub title - I think this was one of those "imperfect books at the perfect time." Really enjoyed it.

#91 IQ, Ide

interesting book. might continue the series: Isaiah "IQ" Quintabe

#92 Shadows in Death, Robb

#93 Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss, Balasubramanyam

bookclub title

#94 The Water Dancer, Coates

bookclub title

#95 The Dearly Beloved, Wall

bookclub title - I probably would never have read this without bookclub and would have missed a really great book.

#96 The Black Wolf, Thomas-Sundstrom

#97 Code Wolf, Thomas-Sundstrom

#98 Awakening the Shifter, Godman

#99 Enticing the Dragon, Godman

#100 Captivating the Bear, Godman

The previous books (96 -100) were an effort to find something mindless and maybe happy-ish. 2020 just really really sucks.

#101 The Secrets We Kept, Prescott

bookclub title - good read. I bought a copy of Dr. Zhivago because of this book.

#102 Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, DeConnick

I binged a Marvel docuseries. There was an episode about women and comics -- readers, writers, and artists. That lead me to going on a hunt for some comics to catch up on.

#103 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: BFF, Reeder

#104 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Cosmic Cooties, Reeder

#105 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: The Smartest There Is, Reeder

#106 Angel Catbird, Atwood

I can't remember what I saw or read that brought this to my attention; but I'm not reading any more of the series.

#107 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Girl-Moon, Reeder

#108 The Electronic Resources Troubleshooting Guide, Talbott

Read this for work. It mostly just confirmed I'm doing everything I can for my coworkers and the library users. Especially now.

#109 Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten Holy, Stevenson

Eh. This is supposed to be pretty well received. I find it annoying.

At first I thought “Wow! How did I miss so many posts?!” You’re just ripping through the month. Way to go!
Makes it easy to favorite the ones that sound good for future reference ;)

There's one more book for bookclub this year. I'm about 1/2 way through and don't like it. I'll probably listen to it while I drove to my parents on Saturday.

If it's any indication, I'm listening to the audiobook at 1.5 speed.

>123 2wonderY: Side benefits!

GR says I'm behind again; but I have a stack of easy-to-read romance that I've been holding onto until the holidays. Plus, I have my Kindle. Plus plus, I never count my re-reads in my yearly count.

Craftmas takes priority at the moment. I have a quilt on my sewing table that has to be finished by 5pm on Friday.

I just binged Truth Be Told on Apple TV. 2/3 through the show, I found out it is based on Are You Sleeping, Kathleen Barber (which was republished as Truth Be Told). If you haven't watched it. It's intense and compelling. Now I'm going to have to read the book. Heh.

I haven't had a ton of time to read; but I am getting there. Hope everyone has a lovely holiday!

#110 The Search, Roberts

#111 The Obsession, Roberts

#112 Wheat Belly, Davis

#113 Nightchaser
Bouchet is oddly appealing. Is it 2020 reasons, holiday reasons, or is she really that appealing?

#114 A Promise of Fire

#115 Chasing Fire

#116 Sentient
Why do graphic novels run to violence? This is actually a really interesting story; but I really hate the level of violence depicted.

#117 Breath of Fire

#118 Delayed Rays of a Star
Meh. Meh. Meh.

#119 Cat's Cafe
Non-violent graphic novel! Heh.

#120 I will judge you by your bookshelf
Not as appealing as I expected/anticipated.

#121 They Called Us Enemy
Everyone should read this.

Best read of the year: This Tender Land

I'm not sure why this book really captured my heart this year. I have a fondness for some American literature because of my English degree. I'm not a super-fan of Twain; but, you can't deny the similarities to Huck Finn and this book.

Other really good reads:

A Closed and Common Orbit
A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Evvie Drake Starts Over
The Wedding Date
With the Fire on High
Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Most disappointing read of the year: Lumberjanes

I heard really great things about this series. I hated the first volume.

Other flops of the year:

Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss
Delayed Rays of a Star

I did a lot of rereading this year. I never count my rereads in my annual totals. I can't remember all I reread; but I read four titles from The Others by Anne Bishop.

It was a struggle to read this year. I read up until the last minute of the year to make my self-imposed goal. I mean, really. If you are 1 book short of your goal, what else are you going to do? lol

I

need

a few

more

posts

to hit the continuation link...

oops...