Janoo's 2022 Root Challenge

Last year, I included recently purchased books, ebooks and audio books -- this year, I want to read at least 20 paper books from my own shelves, and will keep track of all other books read on my 50 book challenge thread. Also, the ROOTS need to have been acquired at least one year before I read them, so, if I finish a book in July 2022 that I have had on my shelf since July of 2021, it will count.

Welcome back! Happy reading!

Welcome back and Happy ROOTing, Janiece!

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

Happy ROOTing!

Glad you're back!

It's been a slow start to the year -- I've only completed two ROOT books so far.

1. Black Plumes by Margery Allingham - finished reading on 1/27/22. I've had this book since sometime in the late 1980s - and remember it as one of my favorite Margery Allingham novels, but I honestly did not remember the plot, so I enjoyed reading it again. I give it 4 stars.

2. Intelligence and Crime Analysis: Critical Thinking Through Writing by David Cariens -- finished on 2/3/22. Good writing style guide for writers of intelligence reports, although the appendix with the entire report from the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 could have been left out. It was 220 pages, and not useful. Still a good reference book. 3 stars.

I finished another work related book:

3. Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters by Peter Langman -- finished 2/10/22. I've had this book since 2013. Good study of the minds of a small group of school shooters - up through the Virginia Tech shooter in 2007. I'm most interested in psychopathic shooters and how to recognize them before they become violent, and Langman includes two psychopathic shooters in this study. 3.5 stars

4. I actually took the morning off from work today so I could finish Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers -- finished 2/22/22. I've had this book since around 1987, but this is my first reading. Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane are newlyweds spending their honeymoon in an old cottage in a small English village. The mystery is about the death of the cottage's former owner, but the best parts are the scenes between Lord Peter, Harriet, and Bunter (Lord Peter's valet), especially Harriet's internal thoughts about Lord Peter and her love for him. 4.5 stars.

5. Another old mystery book finished today -- Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie -- finished 2/23/22. I have had this book since around 2001, it was my grandmother's. I am normally a fan of Christie (especially Miss Marple), but these short stories just weren't that good. Maybe they were too short - no room for character development, and Poirot was so conceited. I give it a dismal 2.5 stars.

>9 janoorani24: I really enjoyed the Lord Peter Wimsey novels when I was growing up - I haven't re-read them in ages, but whole-heartedly agree with your assessment that the character interactions are really what make these special.

Hi Janiece. I've been away from LT Threads for a while. Too much going on in my life the last months. I see you are still going strong with your reading. Keep up the good job.

>13 connie53: Hi Connie! I've been reading away -- but spent a couple of years away from doing much more than recording books I've read and adding books on LibraryThing. I think I've added over 2000 books from family members' estates in the past couple of years!

6. I have a very weird system of picking next books, and that's my excuse for reading Mary Poppins by P. l. Travers -- finished on 5 March. I have a 1981 hardback edition, and I bought it in a bookstore in London around 1989, although this book was published in the States. Anyway, I probably would have liked reading it to my kids, but don't think I ever did. I don't want to say anything bad about it, since it was the inspiration for one of my favorite movies, but Mary Poppins in the book is not nearly as wonderful as the movie versions. I did really enjoy the parts with the stars and Maia, so I give it 3.5 stars.

>16 janoorani24: I loved the movie too, never read the book though!

7. Finished Here, Right Matters by Alexander Vindman on 25 March. I've had the book since September 2021, so it hasn't been on my shelf for long. The author is the Army Lt. Col. who testified during former President Trump's first impeachment trial, and I liked the background to his impeachment testimony, but the best parts of the book are his descriptions of Russian political and diplomatic strategy, especially in light of Russia's criminal invasion of Ukraine. 4 stars.

>17 connie53: I don't really recommend the book unless you enjoy classical children's books. For a book about children's worlds, I recommend Five Children and It by E. Nesbit.

Hi Janiece! Here I am again. I hope you are still reading and enjoying your books!

8. Foundation by Isaac Asimov finished on 27 August. I've had the book since the 1990s, so it's definitely a ROOT; however this was a re-read, though I'm pretty sure I read it for the first time in the 70s. I'm trying to get through the foundation books this year and have read Robot Visions, Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation so far this year, but they were library books, not ROOTs. Anyway, Foundation isn't bad, but I'm sure I liked it a lot better in the seventies -- some of Asimov's "future" technology is pretty archaic now. I'm giving it 3.5 stars.

Waving at you!

Waving back! :-)

9. Finished one of my favorite books -- a re-read of The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey -- finished on 17 September. I've had a pocket paperback since 1988, when I bought it at a used bookstore in Montgomery, Alabama. Excellent investigation into a historical mystery involving Richard III of England. Always worth one of my rare 5 stars.