staci426 reads in 2023

Talk2023 Category Challenge

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1staci426
Jan 7, 2023, 8:44 pm

Hi everyone! I am Staci, from NJ. Even though I have never been a very active member of this group, I have always enjoyed my time here and look forward to a new reading year. Last year was one of my best reading years in a long time, both in quality and quantity. I read a variety of genres leaning towards fantasy and mystery. I’ve also been slowly making my way through The 1001 Books You must Read Before You Die, up to 271. Almost all of my reading is done via audio now due to my vision impairment, I just can’t read a physical book any more and even e-books are difficult now. I recently gained access to my state’s library for the blind, which has so many more audio editions available than I had expected, even a lot of my older, out of print books which has been great! Some of my hobbies outside of reading are playing Dungeons & Dragons, building Lego, hiking and can’t forget the cats, Snowbell, Pepper & Cinnamon!

Some of my goals for this year:
Make more progress in and try to finish a lot of the over 60 active series I have going right now.
More progress in the 1001 books list
Read books I own, last year, I made a spreadsheet with all of my unread Audible books, Kindle books and physical books, which turned out to be a lot more than I realized, over 350, so I really need to start reading some of these
Be more active in all of my online groups, not just this one

I didn’t want to just do all of the same categories that I’ve been using for the past few years, so I came up with some different options. And this year, I’m gong to put each book into only one category, instead of any category it might fit into. I decided to go with 13 categories for 2023. Happy reading everyone!

8staci426
Edited: Dec 31, 2023, 12:32 pm

6. Vision & Blindness
This will be books by blind/visually impaired authors, with blind/vi characters, eyes on the cover, or some type of vision/blindness related word in the title.

1. The Parable of the Blind by Gert Hofmann, 3.5*
2. Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander, 3.5*
3. Artificial Divide by various, 3.5*
4. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, 4*
5. Bird Box by Josh Malerman, 4.5*
6. Monteverde by Lola Robles, 4*
7. Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed, 3*
8. Blind Man with a Pistol by Chester Hines, 2.5*
9. The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland, 5*
10. The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster, 4*

9staci426
Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 5:46 pm

7. Science & Nature
Books about science or nature, or with science & nature types of words in the title.

1. Atomic Habits by James Clear, 4*
2. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, 4
3. The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu, 4*
4. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch, 4*
5. The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel, 5*
6. Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs, 4*
7. Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 3.5*
8. The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan, 4*
9. Empire of Dirt by Philip C. Quaintrell, 3.5*
10. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie, 4*
11. Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo, 4*
12. Spring Flowers, Spring Frost by Ismail Kadare, 2.5*
13. The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian, 3.75*
14. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, 4*
15. The Centre: A Novel by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, 4.5*

10staci426
Edited: Nov 29, 2023, 5:23 pm

8. Internationsl
Anything set outside of the US or by a non-US author.

1. The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, 3.5* England/Germany
2. War with the Newts by pKarel Capek, 4* Czech
3. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, 4* India
4. A Voice in the Night by Andrea Camilleri, 4* Italy
5. A Nest of Vipers by Andrea Camilleri, 3.5* Italy
6. Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie, 3.5* Middle East
7. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin, 3.5* Scotland
8. The Dark Child by Camara Laye, 3.5* Guinea
9. The Considerate Killer by Lene Kaaberbol, 3* Denmark & Philippines
10. The Bitter Glass by Eilis Dillon, 3.5* Ireland
11. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, 5* Finland
12. Live From Mongolia by Patricia Sexton, 3.5* Mongolia
13. Le petit prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 5*
French
14. Trouble in Nuala by Harriet Steel, 3.5* Ceylon/Sri Lanka
15. Don't Eat Me by Colin Cotterill, 4* Laos
16. The Second Biggest Nothing by Colin Cotterill, 3.5* Laos
17. The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot by Colin Cotterill, 4* Laos
18. The Pyramid of Mud by Andrea Camilleri, 4* Italy
19. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri, 4* Italy
20. The Other End of the Line by Andrea Camilleri, 4* Italy
21. The Guest List by Lucy Foley, 3.5* Ireland
22. Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, 3.5* Sweden
23. The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, 4* Sweden
24. The Locked Room by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, 3.5* Sweden
25. The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis, 3* ancient Rome
26. Cop Killer by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, 3.5* Sweden
27. The Terrorists by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, 4* Sweden
28. Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor, 4* Nigeria
29. A Question of Power by Bessie Head, 4* Botswana/South Africa
30. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, 4.25*, Caribbean
31. The Safety Net by Andrea Camilleri, 4* Italy
32. Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal, 3* Czech
33. Noor by Nnedi Okorafor, 4* Nigeria
34. All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny, 4* Paris/Québec
35. Rise of the Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste, 3* Caribbean
36. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min, 3.75 China
37. Nemesis by Jo Nesbo, 4*, Norway
38. Malice by Keigo Higashino, 4*, Japan
39. Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland, 3.5*, France
40. The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric, 3*, Seriba

11staci426
Edited: Dec 31, 2023, 12:34 pm

9. Off the Shelf
I probably won't be reading the edition I own, unless it's an Audible or libro.fm title, but I really want to get to as many of these as I can. I also will list every book here that fits even if I put it in another category, just to keep track. This will only be books purchased prior to 2023.

1. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, purchased on Kindle, 2/13/15
2. The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes, purchased paperback 8/29/10 & Audible 9/23/22
3. Her Name is Knight by Yasmin Angoe, purchased Audible edition 11/27/22
4. The 100 by Kass Morgan, purchased on Kindle 12/29/14, DNF
5. The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett, purchased used paperback 8/20/11
6. Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan, purchased paperback 3/19/09
7. Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer, purchased Audible edition 11/27/22
8. Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland, purchased paperback sometime before 2009
9. Worldbinder by David Farland, purchased hardcover sometime before 2009
10. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, part of an omnibus, Five Complete Novels of Murder and Detection purchased 6/25/11
11. The House by the River by Lena Manta, free Kindle purchase on 4/20/18
12. The Hunger by Alma Katsu, from libro.fm on 7/28/22
13. The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee, purchased paperback 7/26/10
14. Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, purchased Kindle edition 12/9/09
15. Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander, purchased the paperbakc 8/30/15
16. Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly, purchased Kindle edition 1/10/14
17. A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay, purchased paperback 8/30/15
18. Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee, dnf, purchased hardcover 1/26/09
19. The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte, purchased paperback 1/7/11
20. Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie, purchased hardcover 4/2/11
21. Ten Women by Marcela Serrano, purchased for Kindle 4/20/18
22. Artificial Divide by various, purchased on Audible, 9/23/22
23. Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott, purchased on Audible 11/27/22
24. Helen of Troy by Margaret George, DNF, purchased hardcover 1/26/09
25. 18 Seconds by George D. Shuman, purchased paperback 10/14/09
26. Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, purchased from Audible, 4/29/22, also own an omnibus of The First Chronicles of Amber purchased 7/17/08
27. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, purchased from Libro.fm 7/28/22
28. The Orphan's Promise by Pierre Grimbert, purchased Kindle edition 1/21/14
29. Unsouled by Will Wight, purchased on Audible 4/29/22
30. Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester, purchased on Kindle 5/29/14
31. Live From Mongolia by Patricia Sexton, purchased from Kindle 12/20/16
32. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, purchased from Kindle 1/28/13
33. Andrea Vernon and the Big Axe Acquisition by Alexander C. Kane, purchased rom Audible, 9/23/22
34. Mexico by James Michener, purchased some time before 2009
35. Monteverde by Lola Robles, purchased on Kindle 2/26/22
36. One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories by various, purchased on kindle 3/21/19
37. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, purchased hardcover sometime before 2009
38. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, obtained paperback soetime before 11/2011
39. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, purchased from Audible 10/8/22
40. The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn, purchased on Kindle 11/26/22
41. The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler purchased on Kindle 2/22/20
42. Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch purchased on Audible 9/23/22
43. The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters, purchased paperback some time before 10/3/15
44. Havoc by Steven F. Freeman, purchased on Kindle 2/20/15
45. Scala by Christina Bauer, purchased on Kindle 10/13/14
46. Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed, purchased on Kindle 2/22/19
47. The Shipping News by E. annie Proulx, purchased paperback 6/25/11
48. The Devil's Novice by Ellis Peters, purchased on Kindle 2/12/16
49. Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams, purchased hardcover 2/8/11
50. Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, part of an omnibus edition of The Chronicles of Amber purchased 7/17/08
51. The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker, purchased on Kindle 10/02/19
52. Empire of Dirt by Philip C. Quaintrell, purchased on Audible 9/22/22
53. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie, purchased hard cover 4/2/11
54. The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland, purchased audio cassette 2/1/08
55. Vathek by William Beckford, purchased the French & English Kindle editions on 10/8/15
56. Bitter Gold Hearts by Glen Cook, part of the omnibus The Garrett Files featuring books 1-3 purchased 11/13/07
57. The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters, purchased paperback 8/30/15
58. Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, purchased trade paperback 11/7/09 and Audible edition 6/11/22
59. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 edited by Dave Eggars, purchased on Kindle 2/25/12
60. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min, purchased hard cover sometime before 11/22/09
61. The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith purchased on Kindle 9/3/19
62. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, purchased on Audible 10/8/22
63. The Sword & Sorcery Anthology by various, purchased on Kindle, 8/26/19
64. Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell, purchased hard cover 1/20/14
65. Invisible Planets translated by Ken Liu, purchased on Kindle 7/1/19
66. Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, purchased as part of the collection, The Berlin Stories, on Kindle 7/10/14
67. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, purchased on Audible 11/26/22
68. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, purchased on Kindle 6/7/12
69. The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley, purchased on Kindle 4/24/15
70. Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland, purchased hard cover 10/14/09
71. The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric, purchased paperback 12/27/11
72. The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds by Selina Siak Chin Yoke, purchased on Kindle 10/2/16
73. Clouds of Witness and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers, never read, purchased hardcover 11/6/10
74. The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster, purchased trade paperback 11/6/10

12staci426
Edited: Dec 20, 2023, 10:58 am

10. Short Stuff
I own a lot of short story collections on Kindle, so want to get to some of these, will also list novellas here & individual short stories I might get to, and maybe even some comics if I can manage.

1. Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie, collection of 4 Hercule Poirot mysteries
2. The Devil and the Deep by various, collection of horror short stories
3. Mistress of Geese by Antonija Meznaric, 4.5*
4. The Impossible Resurrection of Grief by Octavia Cade, 3.5*
5. The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad, 3.5*
6. One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories by various 3*
7. Lost in the Moment & Found by Seanan McGuire, 4.5*
8. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol, 3.5*
9. The Cubs and Other Stories by Mario Vargas Llosa, 3*
10. Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville, 3.5*
11. Great Classic Hauntings by various, 3.5*
12. It Eats Us From the Inside by Antonija Meznaric, 3.5*
13. The Sword & Sorcery Anthology by various 3*
14. Invisible Planets translated by Ken Liu, 3.5*
15. Christmas at Thompson Hall by Anthony Trollope, 4*
16. A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry, 3*
17. Christmas Day at Kirkby Cottage by Anthony Trollope, 3*
18. The Christmas Guest: A Novella by Peter Swanson, 3*

13staci426
Edited: Dec 14, 2023, 9:28 pm

11. Speculative Fiction
This is usually my most popular genre, so figured it needed it's own category.

1. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, 4*
2. Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, 3.5*
3. The Coward by Stephen Aryan, 4*
4. Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott, 4.5*
5. The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, 3.5*
6. Unsouled by Will Wight, 3.5*
7. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, 4*
8. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, 3.75*
9. The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin, 3*
10. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, 4.5*
11. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, 3*
12. Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, 4*
13. Bitter Gold Hearts by Glen Cook, 3.5*
14. Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes, 3.5*
15. Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, 4*
16. System Collapse by Martha Wells, 3.5*
17. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan, 3.75*

14staci426
Edited: Dec 10, 2023, 8:55 pm

12. Mystery/Crime/Thriller
My second most popular genre, so it gets a category too.

1. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, 4*
2. Play With Fire by Dana Stabenow, 3*
3. Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton, 4*
4. The Novice's Tale by Margaret Frazer, 3.5*
5. Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker, 3*
6. Nemesis by Agatha Christie, 4*
7. Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie, 4*
8. By Book or by Crook by Eva Grant, 3.5*
9. The Devil's Novice by Ellis Peters, 4*
10. Dead Man's Ransom by Ellis Peters, 3.5*
11. The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters, 3.5*
12. We Wish You a Murderous Christmas by Vicki Delany, 3.5*

15staci426
Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 5:51 pm

13. Everything Else
I'm sure there will be something that I can't fit anywhere else, so it will go here.

1. It by Stephen King, 4*
2. Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner, 4*
3. Misery by Stephen King, 4*
4. Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon, 4*
5. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx, 4.5*
6. Cane by Jean Toomer, 4*
7. Bedside Manor by Jack Townsend, 3.5*
8. Under the Net by Iris Murdoch, 3.75*
9. Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, 3.5*
10. The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, 3*
11. Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell, 3.5*
12. Metamorphoses by Ovid, 4*
13. The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain, 4*

DNF
1. We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson
2. The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty
3. The House by the River by Lena Manta
4. Elizabeth Costello by J. M. Coetzee
5. Helen of Troy by Margaret George
6/284. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado
7. Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester
8. Mexico by James Michener
9. The Likeness by Tana French
10. The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver
11. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
12. Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams
13. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
14. The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith
312/15. The Information by Martin Amis
16. The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley

16staci426
Edited: Dec 21, 2023, 11:34 am

CATS & KITS

January
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, Alpha S
The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, Classics & Alpha S
An Immense World by Ed Yong, Alpha I
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, Random, hidden gems, Series: start a new one
Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie, Mystery, TV
The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes, Random, hidden gems
War with the Newts by Karel Capek, Geo-Eastern Europe
A Better Man by Louise Penny, Mystery-TV
It by Stephen King, Alpha -S & I
Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, Series: first in a new on, Alpha: S & I

February
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, Alpha F
Sky Coyote by Kage Baker, Random: 2
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan, Random: 2
A Voice in the Night by Andrea Camilleri, Series: translation
A Nest of Vipers by Andrea Camilleri, Series: translation
Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, Classics: Pre-1900, Series: translation, Geo: place you want to go, Alpha: F, Random: 2
Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer, Random: 2, Alpha J

March
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Classics: adaptation, Alpha: A, Random: water
The Hunger by Alma Katsu, Alpha: A
The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee, Alpha: G
Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Classics: movies, Alpha: A
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch, Random: water, Mystery: paranormal, Alpha A
Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander, Alpha A & G
Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton, Alpha G

April
Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly, SFF: historical
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay, SFF: historical; Random: 7 ages
The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte, Alpha: D
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie, Classics: Mystery; Series: out of order; Alpha: D
Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin, Mystery: Scottish noir
He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum, Alpha: W
Ten Women by Marcela Serrano, Geo: Chile, Alpha: W
Artificial Divide by various, Alpha: D
The Dark Child by Camara Laye, Alpha: D, Random: 7 stages
The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, Alpha: D

May
The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad, Geo: Water, Alpha: C
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott, Alpha: U
18 Seconds by George D. Shuman, Random: royals
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazney, SFF: science fantasy, Alpha Z
The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazney, SFF: science fantasy, Alpha Z
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, Geo: islands
Unsouled by Will Wight, Alpha: U, SFF: science fantasy
Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey, Series: trilogies, Alpha: C
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker, Mystery: true crime
Bird Box by Josh Malerman, H Scardy: surviving
Le petit prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: Kiddy, classics; Classics: children's

June
Aunty Lee's Deadly Special by Ovidia Yu, Geo: SE Asia
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Alpha: K
Andrea Vernon and the Big Axe Acquisition by Alexander C. Kane: SFF, humor; Alpha: B & K
Nemesis by Agatha Christie: Mystery, vintage; Series, favorite author
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie: Mystery, vintage; Series, favorite author
Misery by Stephen King, Scardy: King, Alpha: K
Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett: Series, favorite author; SFF, humor
Trouble in Nuala by Harriet Steel: Geo, S/SE Asia
Don't Eat Me by Colin Cotterill: Geo, S/SE Asia
The Second Biggest Nothing by Colin Cotterill: Geo, S/SE Asia; Alpha, B
The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot by Colin Cotterill: Geo, S/SE Asia
The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri, Alpha K

July
The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin, SFF: series
The Guest List by Lucy Foley, Geo: Western Europe
Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, Geo: W. Europe, Mystery: police, Random: Muppets, Alpha: P
The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, Geo: W. Europe, Mystery: police, Random: Muppets, Alpha: P
The Locked Room by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, Geo: W. Europe, Mystery: police, Random: Muppets, Alpha: P
Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky, SFF: series
Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire, SFF: series
Pulp Friction by Julie Anne Lindsey, Alpha P
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, Geo: W. Europe, Random: Muppets, Alpha: P
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, SFF: series, Alpha: O
The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan, SFF: series
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, SFF: series
Cop Killer by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, Geo: W. Europe, Mystery: police, Random: Muppets, Alpha: P
The Terrorists by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, Geo: W. Europe, Mystery: police, Random: Muppets, Alpha: P
The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn, Geo: W. Europe, Random: muppets

August
Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SFFF: space, Mystery: future
The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters, Mystery: past
Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor, Kiddy: series
Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb, Series: want to get back to it
By Book or by Crook by Eva Grant, Random: something good
The Devil's Novice by Ellis Peters, Mystery: past & future
Dead Man's Ransom by Ellis Peters, Mystery: past & future; Alpha: M
A Question of Power by Bessie Head, Alpha Q
Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, Alpha Z
Empire of Dirt by Philip C. Quaintrell, Alpha Q

September
Cheese by Willem Elsschot, Alpha E
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie, Series: over 50 years old
Murder Past Due by Miranda James, Mystery: universities
The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirahk, SFF: International
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland, Alpha V
Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, Geo: Africa, Alpha: E & Z
Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman, Series: started over 50 years ago; Geo: Africa
Vathek by William Beckford, Alpha V
The Cubs and Other Stories by Mario Vargas Llosa, Alpha V
Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters, Alpha E
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor, Geo: Africa
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo, Alpha V & E
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo, Alpha V
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo, Alpha V

October
The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian, Random: Treats
All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny, Geo: Canada, Alpha: H
Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge by Ovidia Yu, Series: Asian
Meddling and Murder by Ovidia Yu, Series: Asian
Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes, Scardy: Tricks
Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, Scardy: Tricks, Alpha: H
Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, Classics: women
Great Classic Hauntings by various, Scardy: Tricks, Alpha: H

November
Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief by Dorothy Gilman, Mystery: seniors, Alpha: T
Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes by Rob Wilkins, Alpha: T & L
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, Alpha: L
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, Alpha: T
The Sword & Sorcery Anthology by various, SFF: short stories
Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell, Series: historical
Invisible Planets translated by Ken Liu, Geo: East Asia, SFF: short stories
Metamorphoses by Ovid, Classics: ancient
Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Alpha: L
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, Alpha: T
The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain, Alpha: L
Malice by Keigo Higashino, Geo: East Asia
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland, Random: light

December
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Classics: reread
We Wish You a Murderous Christmas by Vicki Delany, Random: trees, Mystery: cozy, Alpha: Y
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan, SFF: wrap up, Alpha: R
The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds by Selina Siak Chin Yoke, Series: Place I don't live, Geo: place you missed, Alpha: Y
A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry, Geo: place you missed
The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani, Geo: place you missed, Random: trees
The Christmas Guest: A Novella by Peter Swanson, Random: trees
Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost, Random: tree

17staci426
Edited: Oct 17, 2023, 10:11 pm

BingoDog
Love this card design with the darker background.

1. Arts & Crafts: The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
2. Popular author's first book: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
3. Topic you don't usually read: Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon
4. Taught you something: An Immense World by Ed Yong
5. Bestseller from 20 years ago: Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs
6. STEM topic: The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel
7. Author under 30: Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan, 28
8. Number or quantity in the title: Ten Women by Marcela Serrano
9. Author is a Taurus: Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
10. Features an inn or hotel: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews
11. Next in a series: The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
12. Features music or a musician: A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
13. Read a CAT: Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
14. Small-town/rural setting: In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
15. Features journalism or a journalist: Live From Mongolia by Patricia Sexton
16. Set on a train, plane or ship: The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad
17. Memoir: The Dark Child by Camara Laye
18. Features a feline: Murder Past Due by Miranda James
19. >1000 copies on LT: The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, 2440 member
20. Involves an accident: All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny
21. Book on the cover: By Book or by Crook by Eva Grant
22. 4+ LT rating: Atomic Habits by James Clear, 4.11*
23. Switched/stolen identities: Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
24. Local or regional author: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman
25. Plant in title or on cover: Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

18Tess_W
Jan 7, 2023, 10:09 pm

You have some great categories! Good luck with your 2023 reading!

19rabbitprincess
Jan 7, 2023, 11:00 pm

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

20DeltaQueen50
Jan 8, 2023, 2:33 am

Enjoy your reading year!

21MissWatson
Jan 8, 2023, 8:20 am

Great categories. Have fun with your reading!

22dudes22
Jan 8, 2023, 9:19 am

I really like some of your categories. Have a great reading year.

23lowelibrary
Jan 8, 2023, 10:55 am

Good luck with your 2023 reading

24lkernagh
Jan 8, 2023, 9:50 pm

Wishing you a wonderful year of reading.

25staci426
Jan 8, 2023, 10:16 pm

Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

I’m a little lat to the party here, but that’s ok. So far, I’m off to a good start for the year. I’ve managed to finish four books so far:

1. Atomic Habits by James Clear, 4*
Narrated by the author, 5:35 hours, borrowed from NJ BARD

This was a good book to start off the year. In it, Clear talks about making small changes to help improve your success of making good habits, rather than jumiping in full steam at the beginning and expecting progress right away. He had a lot of great recommendations to offer here and I plan to implement some of them. I also want to check out the supplemental information he mentioned that was available on his website. He did a really good job with the narration of the audio. I was glad to see that they had the regular audio version available at the Library for the Blind because sometimes, the audio editions they offer are recorded specifically for them. I put this one into my Science & Nature category because atomic is a scientific word. I am using this one for Bingo square 4+ LT rating, has 4.11.

2. The Republic of Thieves bu Scott Lynch, 4*
Narrated by Jon Huffman, 28:30 hours , borrowed from NJ BARD

This is book 3 in The Gentlemen Bastards series which takes off right where book 2 left off. I fon’t really want to say much about it for fear of spoilers, but there was a dual time-line, which I really enjoyed, and some interesting revelations made. Looking forward to getting to book 4 in less than the over four years it took me to get to book 3. I ended up picking a ramdon number from my list of series and got this one and am glad to have finally gotten bak to it. This edition was not the tradionally published audio version that you would have gotten on Audible, but it was still pretty good. I thought this narrator did a good job. Thi one ended up in my SFF category. It fits for the AlphaKIT, S this month and I am using it in Bingo square, read the next book in a series.

3. The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, 3.5*
Narrated by Anton Lesser, 10:09 hours, borrowed from Audible +

Carruthers is invited to join his friend, Davies, on a yacht trip in the Baltic. When he gets there, things are not what he was expecting, they are the only 2 on the boat and Davies has not been completely honest about his intentions. I picked this up without reading the description, based on it being mentioned as a possibility for adventure classics, knowing it was on the 1001 books list and that I was able to find it for free through Audible +. I was enjoying it quite a bit in the beginning, but then once all of the adventuring and spy stuff started, I was not as drawn to the story. I did really like the narration and overall, it was enjoyable, and I am glad to have gotten another book checked off the 1001 list. One thing that I also found interesting was that this book was written in 1903. I don’t remember hearing a year in the text, but I was picturing it some between WWI & WWII, so was surprised to see it was before both. I put this one into my international category, the author is Irish & the book is set in England and the Baltic area. This one counts for ClassicsCAT, adventure & AlphaKIT, S and Bingo square, more than 1000 LT libraries.

4. An Immense World by Ed Yong, 4*
Narrated by the author, 14:17 hours, borrowed from NJBARD

The subtitle of this, How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, is a perfect description of this book. Yong looks at all of the different senses and how they come into play in the animal world and how they are vastly different between species. There was a lot of fascinating information presented here in an accessible way to someone who does not read a lot of science related works. Yong’s narration was excellent. I wouldn’t listening to him as a narrator for other things than his own work. I came across this after watching a video where the NYTimes staff talked about their top 10 books on 2022 and am glad that I gave it a chance. I put this one in my Animals category. It fits for AlphaKIT I and Bingo square, taught me something.

Next up, I think, will be A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, this one has been on my Kindle shelf since 2015.
And I’ve just started my second ever manga, Junji Ito’s Cat Diaries: Yon & Mu, and it’s a physical book. I didn’t think I’d be able to read comics, manga, graphic novels, etc. any more because of my vision, but I just got a really good digital magnifier and I think I will be able to do it. I just made it through the first chapter of this and I think it went really well. I can’t make out 100% of everything in the drawings, but I’m able to get most of it and can follow what is happening. We’ll see how I progress through the rest of it, but I’m excited about this.

26Zozette
Jan 8, 2023, 10:42 pm

You have some interesting categories. I hope you have a great reading year.

27Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 9, 2023, 6:32 am

Dropping a star! Interested in audiobooks and have already picked up a BB here, The Riddle of the Sands (by Erskine Childers; narrated by Anton Lesser). Lesser is one of my favorite narrators, the topic of pre-WWI intrigue interests me (I’m in the middle of reading & listening to WWI-related material now as part of the Reading Through Time quarterly prompt) and, since I also have access to the Audible+ offerings, the price point is right! :-)

28staci426
Jan 9, 2023, 5:08 pm

>26 Zozette: Thanks!

>27 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Oh good. I hope you like it! I'm usually not big on war or spy related stuff, but this one was interesting. And I agree about Lesserr, he's an excellent narrator, so that definitely contributed to the enjoyment.

29rabbitprincess
Jan 9, 2023, 6:15 pm

If Anton Lesser narrates The Riddle of the Sands, that might tempt me to finally read it.

And I have An Immense World on my holds list at the library. Hoping it comes soon!

30Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 11, 2023, 4:02 am

>25 staci426: >29 rabbitprincess: I have both of Ed Yong’s titles in ebook format. I just haven’t made space for them yet in my metaphorical nightstand. Seems like I’m getting a signal from the universe to bump at least one of them up! 🙂

31staci426
Jan 23, 2023, 10:11 pm

My next batch of books:

5. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, fantasy 4*
Narrated by Kate Reading, 10:17 hours, borrowed from the library

This is book 1 in the Memoirs of Lady Trent series. Isabella looks back at her early years growing up in a society where girls are not encouraged to pursue an interest in sciences, especially dragons, and at her first, and what she believes at the time will be her only, expedition to see and study actual dragons out in the wild. This was such a delightful read. I can’t believe it took me so long to get to this. I had this sitting on my Kindle shelf since 2015. For some reason, I might have thought this was YA, which I don’t read a lot of, but it definitely is not. I was immediately pulled into the world and characters that Brennan has created here. The excellent narration by Kate Reading also helped to make this a memorable experience. I will not be waiting as long to get to the next book in the series. I put this one into my Science & Nature category, because Isabella is a true scientist when it comes to the study of her dragons. This will also go into Off the Shelf since I had purchased the Kindle book several years ago. This one will fit for RandomCAT-hidden gems and SeriesCAT-first in a new series.

6. Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie, 3.75*
Narrated by Nigel Hawthorne, 6.46 hours, borrowed from the library

This was a collection of four short stories featuring Hercule Poirot. I actually forgot that when I first started listening and was wondering why it seemed like things were wrapping up really quickly. This was a pretty good collection. My favorite of the bunch would be Dead Man’s Mirror. I put this one into my Short Stuff category and read it for the MysteryKIT-TV detective.

7. The Devil and the Deep edited by Ellen Datlow, 3.5*
Narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal & Tim Campbell, 12:05 hours, from Audible

This was a collection of horror stories centered around the water. I had started listening to this one last year in October, I would listen to a few stories here and there and finally got it finished now. Like a lot of collections, there’s a mixture of good and not so good. I think there were more good here. Some of them I wouldn’t really consider horror, they had more of a thriller or mystery feel than actual horror. The only author in the collection that I was familiar with was Seanan McGuire. I really enjoyed hers, Sister, Dearest Sister, Let Me Show You the Sea. Stephen Graham Jones was in there too, his Broken Record was really interesting. This one also goes in my Short Stuff category.

8/272. The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes, 4*
Narrated by Tony Chiroldes, Translated by: Alfred MacAdam, 12:11 hours from Audible

Artemio Cruz is on his death bed. He is a 72 year old Mexican newspaper owner & land baron who was able to make a name for himself coming from nothing. The first chapter of this book pulled me right in and I kept going even though, Cruz was one of the most unlikable characters I’ve come across. The writing style here is what hooked me. I don’t think it will be for everyone. There was first, second and third person perspectives throughout the book. The scenes with Cruz as he is dying were told in a stream of consciousness type of style and there were scenes from his past interspersed with those. I just couldn’t stop listening. This one is going into my Name category and also fits Off the Shelf. I actually own two copies of this, a paperback I bought back in 2010 and the Audible edition I bought last year. I’m considering this a hidden gem for RandomCAT (even though I don’t know if everyone would agree with that). And this is another one marked off the 1001 list.

9/273. War with the Newts by Karel Capek, 4*
Narrated by James DeLotel, translated by Ewald Osers, 9:59 hours, borrowed from BARD library

This is the description from the library website: Captain van Toch discovers a previously unknown species of intelligent salamanders off the coast of an island near Sumatra. He teaches these "newts" how to harvest pearls and dreams of turning their skills into a profitable enterprise. But the clever creatures plot to continue their activities along other coastlines, invading, if necessary, the land preferred by humans. The only hope is for a war of newts against newts. There’s obviously much more going on here . All of the talk in the GeoCAT thread led me to pick this up and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this early satirical sci fi work. I did want to talk about the audio a little. I was glad to find an actual audio edition available through the BARD library, but it was orginaly an audio cassette recording from 1991. The sound quality was not the greatest and the narrator sounded like someone reading the news. Although that did work for parts of this, now that I think about it. Not the greatest, but at least it was available for me to mbe able to listen to this one. I put this one into my International category, author is Czech and obviously used for GeoCAT-Eastern Europe. And this was another one off the 1001 list.

10. A Better Man by Louise Penny, 4*
Narrated by Robert Bathurst, 13:08 hours

Book 15 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Three Pines series. Don’t really want to say much about the plot since it is book 15, but there’s obviously going to be a murder near Three Pines . It was great to be back with the gang here. I enjoyed this one more than the last, I think. I decided to put this into my Arts & Entertainment category, it might be a bit of a stretch, but art does come into play a bit in the story and one of the characters is a former football player. And I read this for the MysteryKIT-TV detectives (also binged the show and really enjoyed it).

What am I currently working on:
Still slowly making my way through Junji Ito’s Cat Diaries: Yon & Mu, really enjoying this.
Started We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson, but am struggling with it. I’m contemplating making it a DNF, but it was for a book group, so I want to try to finish it.
And I finally decided to get back to my reading Stephen King in publication order by picking upIt. I have been stalling on this one for almost a year, not sure why, but am glad I’ve finally decided to give it a reread.

32Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 24, 2023, 1:13 am

I'm reading/listening to Stephen King's novels in publication order too! I do fudge a little bit here and there, i.e. I listened to The Shining (narrated by Campbell Scott) and Dr. Sleep (narrated by Will Patton) back-to-back and; Last year, in an effort to get to Pet Sematary (narrated by Michael C. Hall) before the end of 2022, I skipped over Christine. This year I plan on reading Christine and then listening to the two Jack Sawyer books, The Talisman & Black House (co-written with Peter Straub and both narrated by Frank Muller). So yeah, still only in the 1980s!

33staci426
Jan 25, 2023, 10:16 am

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Yeah, I've been very slow going on this, but that's ok, nobody set a time limit lol. That's a good idea to read the connected books together. I'm actually planning on doing that with the Dark Tower series. I think I"m almost up to number two so was going to reread The Gunslinger and then go through the rest of the series back to back. I also just realized I accidentally skipped over The Eyes of the Dragon, so I think that will be next, then The Dark Tower.
I reallyh enjoyed The Talisamn and iddn't realize there was another one. Look forward to eventually getting to that one!

34Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 25, 2023, 10:27 pm

>28 staci426: >29 rabbitprincess: I finished up The Riddle of the Sands yesterday and, like you, ended up giving it 3.5 stars. I had a little trouble seeing my through all the nautical terminology and getting myself oriented even with the maps; but I did like the atmospheric descriptions, dialogue and overall plot. Also, I had to slow down the recording to .9x (This is something I've been having to do with a few recordings dnloaded from Audible in the past year) to make it sound like the narrator was speaking at a normal pace; but otherwise, he remains one of my favorite narrators. I will probably go back to it one day now that I know what to expect. :-)

35staci426
Feb 11, 2023, 6:25 pm

Finished a few more books in January and my first two for February:

11. It by Stephen King, 4*
Narrated by Steven Weber, 44:55 hours borrowed from library

Classic coming of age plus horror. Seven kids band together one summer to fight the evil that’s been plaguing their town of Derry, ME. Almost 30 years later they are called back to fulfil the promise they made as kids. One of my favorites of King so far. This was a reread for me, but didn’t remember much about it from the first time around, which was probably close to 30 years ago. Even with it being so long, I was able to breeze through the audio in less than a week. Weber’s narration was great. This one ended up in my Everything Else category, couldn’t fit it into any of the other ones. And it worked for AlphaKIT, both S & I.

12. Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, 3.5*
Narrated by Emily Ellet, about 9ish hours, from BARD library

Book 1 in the Innkeeper Chronicles series. Dina runs a quiet bed & breakfast in Texas with her dog, Beast, but things are not as they appear. The inn is magical and a place where otherworldly travellers are welcome. Dina finds herself in the middle of a vampire dispute and ends up getting some help from the handsome new werewolf in town. This was just what I needed after It. I don’t read a lot of urban fantasy types of books and have been wanting to branch out more. This was a fun quick listen with an interesting take on the supernatural creatures. Will be continuing on with the series. This edition was a specific recording for the Library of the Blind and included the first 4 books. I thought the narrator was really good. I put this one into my Speculative Fiction category. It fits for AlphaKIT, S & I and SeriesKIT, first in a new one. And then also fit Bingo square, features an inn, hotel, etc.

13. How Not to Die by Michael Greger, 4*
Narrated by the author, 17:10 hours from Audible

Dr. Greger goes into a lot of the science and studies behind why eating a whole food, plant based diet can help to possibly prevent many of the diseases that kill Americans each year. I like to give this a re-listen every so often to remind myself why I should eat a more healthy diet. I have gone back to trying to follow his advice from this book, mostly. This one goes into the Food category.

14/274. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, 4*
Narrated by John Lee, 24:31 minutes, borrowed from the library

The book opens in 1975, Inda, where we get to know our four main characters. They are brought together by chance and form an unlikely friendship. We get to go back in time to learn about their pasts and what brought them to the current situation. This was my second time trying to read this book, first one was a DNF, I can’t remember why though. I’m really glad I gave it a second chance. I really enjoyed going back in time to learn about the characters pasts in the beginning. I did have a bit of a struggle at around the halfway point but am glad I persevered. The ending was excellent. Another great book I would never have read if not for the 1001 Books list. I put this one in my International category since it takes place in India. It works for the AlphaKIT, F

15. Her Name is Knight by Yasmin Angoe, 4.5*
Narrated by Tameka Katon-Donegal, 14:47 hours from Audible

Nina Knight is an elite assassin for a group known as The Tribe. Sold into slaverly as a child after her Ghanaian village was raided and destroyed, the book bounces back and forth between before and after to tell how she got to where she is in her life now. This book is not going to be for everyone. There are some major trigger warnings which the author addresses at the beginning of the book. There is a lot of graphic violence depicted here, but I think the author handled it well. I really enjoyed the dual time lines and seeing the growth of Nina. The audio narration was also a big plus for this one in my opinion as well. The narrator did a great job of portraying Nina during the two different time lines, as well as all of the other characters in the story. It wasn’t a perfect book, there were some unbelievable parts, but for me, it just worked. This one goes in the Names category, Knight is her last name. It also fits Off the Shelf, it’s a fairly new, 11/2022, Audible purchase. No CATS or KITS for this one..

What am I working on:
The Coward by Stephen Aryan
Sky Coyote by Kage Baker
Mistress of Geese by Antonija Meznaric
Junji Ito’s Cat Diaries: Yon & Mu by Junji Ito

36rabbitprincess
Feb 11, 2023, 6:54 pm

>35 staci426: Glad you liked A Fine Balance! It's sitting on my "read this soon" shelf, but the size is a bit daunting. I do want to at least get it started this year though.

37Tanya-dogearedcopy
Feb 11, 2023, 7:13 pm

>35 staci426: I’m going to try Clean Sweep. I’m in the middle of a couple intense NF books right now and could stand for something completely different!

I have It in my audio library; but even tough I’ve read/heard amazing reviews for Steven Weber’s performance, I think the earliest I’ll get to it is next year.

38staci426
Feb 12, 2023, 11:18 am

>36 rabbitprincess: Yeah. I'm glad I gave it a second chance. After finishing It, the size wasn't too bad for me, but it is still a chunky one.

>37 Tanya-dogearedcopy: That should be a good break between all of the heavy stuff. You have to be in the right frame of mind for It. I kept putting it off all last year, but am glad I finally got to it.

39staci426
Mar 5, 2023, 7:17 pm

Finished quite a few more books since my last post. I need to work on posting about them right away, so there aren’t so many at once. I think I’’ll just list them here and then talk about some highlights?

16. Mistress of Geese by Antonija Meznaric, horror 4.5*
17. The Coward by Stephen Aryan, fantasy 4*
275/18. The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett, noir 3.5*
19. Sky Coyote by Kage Baker, sci fi, 3*
20. Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan, historical fantasy 4*
21. A Voice in the Night by Andrea Camilleri, mystery 4*
22. A Nest of Vipers by Andrea Camilleri, mystery 3.5*
276/23. Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, classics 4*
24. Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer, thriller 4*
277/25. The Parable of the Blind by Gert hofmann, fiction 3.5*
26. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, mystery 4*

I thought Mistress of Geese was an excellent collection of folk horror stories, enjoyed every story in the bunch which is not usually the case with collections. Highly recommend this one. Happy to have finished 3 more books off the 1001 list. One of which, Father Gorio, ended up being the book that fit in more CATS & KITS than anything in all of my years doing this I think. It worked for: Series-in translation, Classics-pre 1900, Geo-a place I’d like to visit (Paris), Random-2 word title and Alpha-F. A nice discovery I made was that Audible has several of the Montalbano books available for free through Audible plus, so listened to two of those. I’m getting close to the end of this series, maybe I can it finished this year.

I did not list them above, but did also add a few books to my Off the Shelf category. I’ve decided to include books here even if they were a DNF or a book I decided I don’t want to read any longer. The 100 by Kass Morgan, I did start this one, but it was feeling way too teen-angsty YA for my current reading tastes. And then there are two books in a series I’ve decided I’m not going to finish, The Brotherhood of the Wolf & Worldbinder by David Farland, books 2 & 6 in the Runelords series. I read the first book back in 2009 and have never felt compelled to continue on.

40Tanya-dogearedcopy
Mar 5, 2023, 7:52 pm

>39 staci426: I can always tell when my husband has read an Inspector Montalbano mystery-- He develops a mission to locate a restaurant that serves, or a recipe that will help him create-- an authentic Siciilan dish! :-D

41staci426
Mar 5, 2023, 8:22 pm

>40 Tanya-dogearedcopy: lol. Yes, even though I wouldn't eat most of the meals described in thsee books (I don't eat seafood), the descriptions of Montalbano's enjoyment of them are so enjoyable to read.

42staci426
Mar 5, 2023, 10:27 pm

I have been following along with some BookTube year-long reading challenges, and decided I want to keep track of them here. I will be using these challenges to hopefully make some progress in my Off the Shelf category. I will do a separate post for each of the challenges.

43staci426
Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 3:22 pm

Buzzwordathon hosted by Books and Lala. Each month’s word or theme should be featured in the title. I am going to try to pick books I own, any format for these, or books off the 1001 list.

January: Life of Death – The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes
February: Verbs – Her Name is Knight by Yasmin Angoe
March: Secret – Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
April: Emotions – He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum
May: Flavors – In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
June: Other – The Other End of the Line by Andrea Camilleri
July: Weather words – The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler
August: Body Parts – Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed
September: Game words – Bitter Gold Hearts by Glen Cook
October: Magic words – The Sword & Sorcery Anthology by various
November: Good - Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
December: Sound related words –

44staci426
Edited: Oct 22, 2023, 3:17 pm

Read Your Bookshelf Challenge hosted by Chantel Reads All Day. Each month builds off the prior month’s selection. I think I will just pick from Kindle or physical books for this one.

January: Starts with A or The: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
February: Covers have a complementary cover: white was the main color from January, so went with black, The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett
March: Title starts with the next letter: I am going with H, not U, for this one – The Hunger by Alma Katsu, horror
April: A different genre – Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie, mystery 256 pages
May: More pages – Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, 641 pages
June: ½ as many letters in the title – One World by various
July: Set in a different country or world – The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
August: Same genre – The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker
September: Find a word on pg 50 & find it in a title – The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 edited by Dave Eggers, the word is "reading"
October: Starts with first letter of author’s last name – Empress Orchid by Anchee Min, set in mid 19th century
November: Set in a different time period –
December: Has 20 pages +/- from the last book –

45staci426
Edited: Oct 15, 2023, 5:40 pm

TBR Tackle Spin hosted by Freshly Read Books & Book Bully. For this one, pick 12 books you want to definitely read this year and they will spin the wheel for the theme each month. I missed January & February, so am starting with 10 books. These are all physical books I have owned for a long time.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
June: ~~Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke~~
October: ~~Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres~~
~~Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson~~
March: ~~The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee~~
~~Alaska~~ by ~~James Michener~~
April: ~~The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte~~
August: ~~The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx~~
July: ~~Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym~~
MAY ~~18 Seconds by George D. Shuman~~
~~Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett~~
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg
September: ~~The Passion of Artemesia by Susan Vreeland~~

March: Swap out your longest book for a new one
This was Alaska. I replaced it with Red Harvest
Then the category was book with a beautiful cover
None of my covers were that great. I will go with The Gaslight Dogs for this one as the most interesting of the bunch to me.

April: There were two choices, one was a swap out based on pages read so far added to something else. I decided not to go with that one.
The second option that came up on the wheel was to read a book by an author you've already read. I went with The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte for this one.

MAY: Even number of pages. I had a few choices that would fit for this one. Decided to go with 18 Seconds with 320 pages.

JUNE: First spin was a swap: oldest published book from the list, Red Harvest published 1929, with the most recent published book on the shelf. I'm only using the physical books I own for this and haven't bought any new ones in quite a while, so my newest book is The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg, published 2010.
Then they spin again for the prompt which was a book with at least 5 words in the title. My only option for this is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, counting & as a word.

JULY: Read a book published the year your crush was born, +/- 10 years.
First person that came to mind was Orlando Bloom born in 1977 and one book ended up being published in 1977, Quartet in Autumn.

AUGUST: Features a protagonist of a diffeerent race/gender/sexuality. I went with The Shipping News, the main character is a man, I'm a woman

September: About a real person or person from history. I don't think any of my remaining books fit (Quicksilver might somewhat from what I can tell in the description, but not really sure), so I am going to do a swap out. I have a book that definitely fits that I've been wanting to get to since 2008 and am not sure why it's taking so long: The Passion of Artemesia by Susan Vreeland about 17th century artist, Artemisia Gentileschi. So I am going with that. I think I will swap out Quicksilver.

October: A book set in a small town
I am picking Corelli's Mandolin for this one. It takes place mostly in a small village on the island of Cephelonia in Greece

November:

46lowelibrary
Mar 5, 2023, 11:03 pm

These seem like very interesting challenges and I look forward to following along.

47rabbitprincess
Mar 6, 2023, 4:23 pm

Ooh I love a good challenge! These seem like very fun ways to choose what to read next.

48staci426
Apr 1, 2023, 3:49 pm

Ended up in a bit of a slump for March. After my last post, I managed to finish three books early in the month and started a chunkster which ended up taking most of the month to finish. I also had 2 DNFs. Then I didn’t touch a book for almost two weeks until I finally finished the big guy and then breezed through four mysteries in four days.

27. The Hunger by Alma Katsu, 3.5*
Historical horror about the Donner Party. This was ok overall, but felt like the end was a little rushed. This one is an off the shelf pick, worked for AlphaKIT-A and was also my pick for the Read Your Shelf challenge for March, a book starting with the next letter after February’s choice (see post 44 for details if interested).

28. The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee, 2.5*
This was a disappointing steampunk with what felt like a Native American influence. I had high hopes for this, had purchased it shortly after it came out, don’t remember how I heard about it. It started off pretty good, but then it just ended, with no real resolutions or character development and backstory. I think this was supposed to be a series which never got finished, but even as a first book, it left a lot of holes. At least it is one more off the shelf. This one also worked for Alpha G and my TBR Tackle Spin (see post 43) for March, book with most beautiful cover (none of the books had great covers, this was the best of the lot).

29. Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, 4*
This was a fast paced, Victorian sensation novel which I am so glad to have finally read. This was one of my very first Kindle book purchases back in 2009. I am not sure why I never got around to reading it until now, but it was so much fun. Even though I had an idea of where things were going, it was still a fun read. This is another one off the shelf. It was also my Buzzword pick for March-secrets (see post 43 for details). This one fits for ClassicsCAT-adaptations and AlphaKIT A. And I used this one for Bingo Square: switched or stolen identities.

The DNFs:
Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty, this was book 2 in the Devabad trilogy. I think I’m in the minority on not enjoying this. I just never really connected with any of the characters here and it felt like it was going to start going with some plot devices I really do not like, so I gave it up and won’t be continuing with this series.
The House by the River by Lena Manta, I really wanted to like this as it would have been only my second book translated from the Greek to have read. I just could not get on with the writing, not sure if it was an issue with translation or the writing itself, it just wasn’t working. This was a Kindle book I’ve owned for a while, so I am still counting it for Off the Shelf.

30. The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu, 4*
This was my chunkster, over 800 pages & 30+ hours on audio. This is book 2 of the Dandelion Dynasty which is an Asian inspired fantasy series. Even though this was slow-going, I really enjoyed this installment and look forward to getting to the next one. This one didn’t fit any challenges this month.

31. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, 4*
This is book one in the Clare Ferguson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series which takes place in Upstate NY. This had been on my radar for a while because of that Upstate setting, my family spent summers going to upstate NY, the Finger Lakes area and not the Adirondacks where this book was set, but the area did still have a similar feel from what I remember. I’m glad to have finally gotten around to this one. I really like the main characters and look forward to visiting with them again. This one I used for Bingo Square: small town/rural setting.

32. Play with Fire by Dana Stabenow, 3*
This is book 5 in the Kate Shugak, Alaskan mystery series. This was probably my lease favorite so far, I was not satisfied by the ending. But it was still an enjoyable read. This one didn’t fit any challenges.

33. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaranovitch, 4*
Another book 5 in the series, Rivers of London, urban fantasy featuring Peter Grant, a London police officer who investigates crimes with magical aspects. I’ve really been enjoying this series and this one was no exception. This one fit for Random-water, Mystery-paranormal and Alpha A and also used it for Bingo Square-plant in title or cover.

34. Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton, 4*
Book 17 in the Kinsey Milhone series. This was a good one, enjoyed the mystery here as well as the side plots of her family and the two older guys she was working with. According to the author’s note at the end this was actually based on a true unsolved crime and she was hoping this book would help to lead to some new clues. I want to look it up to see if they were able to get any help. This one fit for Alpha G and Bingo square: author shares your sign, Taurus.

There was one more book I started in March, Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is a stand alone fantasy which I’m not sure I want to continue. I really enjoyed the first chapter, then the book flashes back in time and I guess, it’s going to show us how we got to that point. But I’m finding it a bit boring for some reason. I’ve really enjoyed the other two books I’ve read from this author, so am wondering if this one is just off to a bit of a slow start. I think I’m going to put it aside for now and maybe come back to it later.

For April, I’m starting the month off with A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay. This is one of his earlier books that I have not read yet.

49mathgirl40
Apr 2, 2023, 2:10 pm

>48 staci426: I liked very much the first two books in the Daevabad trilogy, but for some reason, I've completely lost the motivation to read the third book. So I guess, for me, they were enjoyable at the time but left no lasting impression and the trilogy as a whole may end up as a DNF for me as well.

I loved A Song for Arbonne, and I hope you'll enjoy it too.

50Tanya-dogearedcopy
Edited: Apr 2, 2023, 5:32 pm

I love the Rivers of London series and the narration of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith! I fell off a couple years ago though when Aaronovitch was only producing novellas and comics— but I need to get back to it!

51christina_reads
Apr 3, 2023, 10:05 am

>48 staci426: I remember having a similar reaction to The Gaslight Dogs -- I felt like it had a lot of potential, but it left way too many questions unanswered! I think it was supposed to be the first book in a series, but either the author or the publisher decided not to continue.

52staci426
Apr 30, 2023, 9:23 pm

April ended up a great reading month for me. I wasn’t feeling in a posting mood this month, but I did a lot of reading and ended up with two 5* reads and 15 books finished!

36. The Impossible Resurrection of Grief by Octavia Cade sci fi 3.5*
This was an interesting novella that someone in the group recommended.
37. The Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly, mystery 3.5*
This was an historical mystery taking place in 1920s Hollywood with a bit of a fantasy element. This one fit for SFFKit for historical and I put this in my Animals category, not only for the title, but the three Chows that were main characters in the story. This was also another book for Off the Shelf, I purchased a Kindle edition of this one many years ago.
38. A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay, fantasy 5*
I never got around to this one when I had first discovered Kay many years ago and am so glad to have finally read it. Another 5* read from him for me. The audio on this one was also excellent, the narrator sand all of the songs that were part of the story. This one also fits for the historical SFFKit this month and RandomKIT 7 ages: lovers and soldiers. I also used this one for bingo square involving music. This was also another one for off the shelf, I completely forgot I had owned a copy of this until I went to add the audio edition to my library.
39. The Rat Catchers' Olympics by Colin Cotterill, mystery 4*
It's always fun taking a trip to Laos to visit with Dr. Siri. This one actually takes place mostly in Russia for the 1980 Olympic Games where Siri is the team doctor for the athletes and of course, ends up involved in a murder investigation. I picked this one for RandomCAT, for the wise old man and corpse.
40. The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King, biography 4.5*
Excellent biography of a fascinating man, Fred Rogers. As a child of the 70s/80s, I of course, grew up watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. The narration on the audio was also excellently done by Levar Burton.
279/41. The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte fiction 4*
This was a quick moving literary thriller about a book detective hired to authenticate a manuscript from The Three Musketeers and ends up drawn into a deadly twisting plot. This was a lot of fun and had a lot of references to classic adventure stories. This was another one off the shelf plus another one off the 1001 Books list. It also fits for AlphaKIT: D. This was my pick for the TBR Tackle Spin for April. The prompt was to read a book from an author you had previously read.
42. Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie, mystery 3.5*
Another installment in the Hercule Poirot series which I picked up for the ClassicsCAT and also fits for SeriesCAT since you don’t really have to read these in order. I also own a copy of this one so it counts for off the shelf. I also used this one for the Read Your Shelf BookTube challenge for April. The theme was a different genre from last month’s book, which was a horror.
43. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin, mystery 3.5*
This is book 1 in the Inspector Rebus mystery series which I picked up for the MysteryKIT, Scottish noir. This was my first Scottish mystery and I thought it was good. I don’t think I’m going to continue with the series right now though. I don’t really want to add another very long series to my very long list of ongoing series, but I wouldn’t be opposed to reading more of these.
44. He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum, mystery 4*
This is book 3 in the Inspector Sejer, Norwegian mystery series. I had forgotten about his series until I was looking for a book for this month’s Buzzwordathon theme of emotions. This was in my library wishlist since I had read the first two books, many years ago. This also worked for AlphaKIT W.
45. Ten Women by Marcela Serrano, fiction 4*
I picked this one for the GeoCAT, the author is from Chile. The book is about a therapist and nine of her patients. She brings them all together and they take turns telling their stories of life in modern Chile. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I don’t read a lot of general fiction. I really enjoyed Serrano’s writing and getting to know each of these women. I think this was her first book translated into English and I will be looking to see if there have been more. This one also fit for AlphaKIT: W and I used it for Bingo square, number in the title. This was also a Kindle book that I owned, so it’s another one off the shelf.
46. Artificial Divide by various, short stories 3.5*
This was a short story collection by blind and visually impaired authors featuring blind and visually impaired characters. Some stories were better than others, but as a visually impaired person, I appreciate that something like this exists. I listened to the audio and I will say, the audio quality was not the greatest. This one works for AlphaKIT D and I bought the Audible version last year, so that counts for off the shelf.
280/47. The Dark Child by Camara Laye, autobiography 3.5*
This was a quick listen that I picked as a random book off the 1001 Books list. This is a memoir of the author’s childhood growing up in French Guinea in the first half of the 20th century. This one fits for the RandomCAT: schoolboy stage and AlphaKIT: D and I used it for Bingo square: memoir.
48. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, fantasy 4*
This was one of the first Stephen King books that I read back in the day and it was always a favorite of mine. I didn’t remember anything of the story when I reread it, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. This was another one for AlphaKIT: D. I own a copy of this, but since it is a reread, I’m not counting it for off the shelf.
49. The Considerate Killer by Lene Kaaberbol, mystery 3*
This is the fourth and final book in the Nina Borg, Danish mystery series. Nina is a red cross nurse who always manages to get involved in a case which ends up putting her life into danger. I had some issues with this installment, especially involving her family and also the motivations of the antagonist. But I’m glad to have read this so I can mark off a series as complete from my list.
50. The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel, fiction 5*
This was an impulse read/purchase just today. I heard someone mention it on BookTube, she said scientist and trying to bring back mammoths and I was intrigued. I was wanting to find something for the STEM topic Bingo square and I have a soft spot for elephant related things. I am so glad I read this. This was a beautiful story about family and grief amidst the background of paleobiology. This is another type of book that I don’t normally read, but I am so glad I took a chance on this.

I did also have one DNF for the month, Elizabeth Costello by J. M. Coetzee. This was one off the 1001 Books list. i made it about half way through and decided I just didn't care anymore. I am counting it as read for the 1001 list and also counting it for off the shelf, since I did own a copy of it.

Next up, I will be starting:
Helen of Troy by Margaret George
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

53rabbitprincess
Apr 30, 2023, 10:00 pm

Woo hoo! Two five-star books is an excellent month!

54DeltaQueen50
May 1, 2023, 4:40 pm

Wow! Congratulations on your excellent reading month.

55staci426
May 12, 2023, 10:03 pm

Things started off a bit shaky for the month, with two DNFs right off the bat. But then things improved and I’ve managed to finish 8 books already:

281/51. The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad, classics 3.5*

This was a quick listen of a book off the 1001 Books to Read list about a sailor getting ready to head home, but gets an opportunity to captain his first ship. This was an interesting read. I enjoyed the writing but am not sure I understood everything he was trying to get at. This one ended up working out for the GeoCAT since it takes place mostly at sea and also fits AlphaKIT C. I also used this one for bingo square set on a ship, train or plane.

52. Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott, sci fi 4.5*

This was a pleasant surprise. This was a fun military space opera inspired by Alexander the Great with a large female cast of characters. It was a bit of a slow start, but once things got moving, they did not stop. Really enjoyed Elliott’s writing and the world she has created here. I almost went right on to the second book, but when I saw it was over 31 hours, decided to wait, but am looking forward to getting to it soon. This one fits for AlphaKIT U. It is also another book taken off the shelf, having purchased the Audible edition late last year.

53. 18 Seconds by George D. Shuman, mystery 3.5*

This was a book I bought a long time ago that I decided to use for this month’s TBR Tackle spin, a book with an even number of pages. I didn’t remember anything about it except I thought it might have a blind character. Which it does. It was also set mostly in New Jersey, Wildwood, which is also a bonus for me since I am a Jersey girl. Sherry became blind as a child after an injury, but developed the ability to see the last 18 seconds of someone’s life after they have died and now uses this ability to help solve crimes. This was really interesting. I enjoyed the mystery aspects. But I was disappointed in how the blindness was portrayed. He kept referring to her white cane as a walking stick, which is not correct. And he also kept having characters grab her arm to lead her around, without asking if she needed assistance. When guiding someone who is blind, it is better for them to grab onto the guide’s arm. But overall, I enjoyed it enough to want to keep going in the series (I didn’t realize it even was a series when I started it). This one ended up working for the RandomKIT royals and is one more book off the shelf.

54. The Novice’s Tale by Margaret Frazer, historical mystery, 3.5*

This is book 1 in the Dame Frevisse medieval mystery series taking place at a convent in 15th century. This series has been on my want to read list for a long time now and am glad to have finally gotten around to it. This didn’t fit any of the CATS/KITS or challenges for the month, but it was still worth the read.

55 & 57. Nine Princes in Amber and Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, fantasy 3.5* each

Books 1 & 2 in the Chronicles of Amber. I’ve been wanting to do a reread of book 1 to continue on with the rest of the series since it’s been so long since I read it and am glad this month’s SFFKIT finally got me to do it. I really like the audio narrator, Alessandro Juliani. I liked the weaving between our world and the world of Amber and look forward to seeing where the rest of the series goes. Both of these fit for AlphaKIT: Z. Guns of Avalon is one off the shelf, I own an Audible edition and it’s also part of an omnibus collection of the entire series that I own in hardcover.

282/56. The Bitter Glass by Eilis Dillon, fiction 3.5*

This was a short book off the 1001 Books to Read list that takes place during the Irish Civil War. A group of young folks heading to the country end up isolated in a remote farmhouse after an IRA attack. The writing here was beautiful. You really got a feel for the place and the characters. This was a pleasant surprise off the list, something I had not heard of before and probably never would have picked up. It was also available on Kindle Unlimited, which was a nice find.

283/58. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, fiction 5*

This was another short gem off the 1001 list that I am so glad to have discovered. Sophia is a 6 year old girl spending the summer at the family cottage on an unnamed Finnish island with her father and grandmother, mostly focusing on the relationship between Sophia and her grandmother. The writing was simple, but beautiful. This was another one where you really got a feel for the place, I felt like I was there on the island with them the whole time I was listening. So glad to have discovered this one. This one works for GeoCAT islands and is also another one taken off the shelf, I picked this up on Libro.fm last year.

For the DNFs
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix; I picked this up for ScardyKIT, but only made it about 5% in on the audio before deciding I couldn’t go on. I was not enjoying the narrator or liking the main character.

Helen of Troy by Margaret George; I made it about a third of the way in on this one, but was finding Helen to be a bit too whiney for my liking and it was feeling a bit too romancey for me as well. I kept not wanting to go back to it, so decided to give it up. It will count for Off the Shelf, I picked up a hardcover of this back in 2009. I have a Kindle book called Helen of Sparta by Amalia Carosella, so maybe I will enjoy this version of Helen better when I get to it.

And one more book that I didn’t read, but am counting for off the shelf, The Orphan’s Promise by Pierre Grimbert. This was book 2 in The Secret of Ji series which I had picked up on Kindle back in 2014. I started listening to book 1, Six Heirs, and when I went to add it to my library, realized I had already read it back in 2016. I had no recollection at all of having read it, and looking back at my thread from 2016, saw that I didn’t really enjoy it and didn’t want to continue the series, so book 2 is coming off the shelf now.

Now, I am working on:
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado, this is my book for the buzzwordathon for May: featuring flavors, seasonings or spices (I couldn’t find a single book that I owned that fit, so picked one off the 1001 list).
Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester, this will be my Kindle read since I’ve already read the Six Heirs, which was the first book that came up for Kindle this month.

56staci426
Jun 11, 2023, 2:27 pm

My next batch of books. May was a good month numbers wise, but feel like I have been having a lot of DNFs lately.

59. Unsouled by Will Wight, fantasy 3.5*
This was fun, my first foray into progression fantasy. Interested to see how things do progress. This one counted for AlphaKIT: U and is one more for off the shelf.

285/60. In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan, fiction 3*
Not really sure what to say about this. It was one of the strangest books I’ve read and feel like it was way over my head. It marks one more off the 1001 list and I used it for my Buzzword for May challenge of flavors, seasoning & spices since watermelon can be a flavor as well as a fruit (see post 43 for details on this if interested).

61. Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey, fantasy 4*
Glad to have finally gotten back to this series. I love Carey’s writing and hopefully won’t wait as long to get to the last book. This one fit for AlphaKIT: C and SeriesCAT: trilogies

62. Monster, She Wrote, Lisa Kroger, non-fiction 4*
I found this on Audible+ and thought it was going to be a collection of short stories by women horror writers, but it was actually a collection of short biographies about women horror writers throughout history. It was very interesting and found a lot of new authors to check out.

63. Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker, non-fiction 3*
This was a disappointing account of the unsolved case of a serial killer in Long Island who targeted prostitutes from Craigslist. It was an interesting case, but I felt the book was all over the place and found it hard to keep track of everything. Picked this one for the MysteryKIT, unsolved true crime.

64. Bird Box by Josh Malerman, horror 4.5*
Glad I finally got around to reading this. One of the best horrors I’ve read in a long time. Picked it for the ScardyKIT: surviving.

65. Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs, mystery 4*
It’s been a while since I’ve read one of these books. This is book 6 in the Temperance Brennan forensic anthropology mystery series. In this one, she is in NC and stumbles upon a bag of bear bones at a party.

66. Live from Mongolia by Patricia Sexton, memoir 3.5*
This was an interesting memoir. The author was a Wall Street banker who decides to give up her career to pursue her dreams of becoming a journalist. She takers a summer internship to work at a TV station in Mongolia. I know absolutely nothing about modern Mongolia, so it was interesting to learn a bit about it, even if it was from an outsider’s perspective. I used this one for Bingo square: journalism. This one also counts for off the shelf, purchased Kindle edition several years ago.

67. Le petit prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, classics 5*
This is an all-time favorite of mine. I found a French/English audio edition, so decided to give it a try listening in French. I’ve never listened to a French audiobook, so thought this would be a good start since I was familiar with the story. It was just as good as I remember. This one fit for both Kiddy & ClassicsCAT for May.

Onto June:

68. Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials by Ovidia Yu, mystery 4*
This is book 2 in the cozy mysery series that features Aunty Lee, she owns a restaurant in Singapore and in this one, two people die after eating one of her specialties at a party. This is a fun series, looking forward to reading more. Picked this one for the GeoCAT: South/SE Asia.

69. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, dystopia 4*
This is book one in the YA dystopian Chaos Walking series. This was a pleasant surprise. I was really drawn into this world that Ness has created here. Will definitely be continuing on with this series. This is one that I’ve owned on Kindle for quite awhile so am glad to have finally gotten to it and to be able to mark another one off the shelf. This one fits for this month’s AlphaKIT: K

70. Andrea Vernon and the Big Axe Acquisition by Alexander C. Kane, superheroes 3.5*
This was book 3 in a fun series about superheroes told from the perspective of Andrea who is not a superhero, but the assistant to the head of the company. This one counts for off the shelf. And it fits for AlphaKIT: B & K and SFFKIT: humor

71. Nemesis by Agatha Christie, mystery 4*
72. Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie, mystery 4*

The last two books in the Miss Marple series. Much better than the previous one, in my opinion. I am sad to see the series end, it’s always a delight to visit with Miss Marple. I think I might still have some short stories, so that is something to look forward to. These fit for both the MysteryKIT: vintage & SeriesCAT: favorite author.

286/73. Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner, classics 4*
This was a nice find off the 1001 list. I was not familiar with this book or author before coming across it on the list. It was actually a good fit for Pride month as the author was a lesbian and this is an early work depicting a lesbian relationship. It was written in 1939 and takes place during the French Revolution of 1848. I really enjoyed her writing and the character of Sophie. I will be on the look out for more from this writer.

I have a few more DNFs:

Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado, I just felt like nothing was really happening and I didn’t care for any of the characters, so I gave up around the halfway point. I am counting it as number 284 off the 1001 list.

Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester: it sounded like
it was going to be interesting, about a kidnapping in Peru, but I found it boring, I did not like the husband, whos’ perspective we are getting in the story, I didn’t care if he ever got his wife back. This was an old Kindle book that I had purchased, so it deos at least count for off the shelf.

Mexico by James Michener, this is one of the oldest books on my shelf, purchased some time before I started tracking my purchases in 2009. This was just way more about bullfighting than I ever needed to know. I was hoping for a more traditional historical fiction account of Mexican history than what this was.

Now I am working on:
Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett for SFFKIT
Misery by Stephen King for ScardyKIT
Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco, I’ve slowly been working on this one, I contemplated abandoning it, but I think I do want to finish it. This was my pick for Read Your Shelf challenge for May, more pages than April’s book (see post 44 for more details on this if interested).

57staci426
Jul 4, 2023, 9:02 pm

Finished out June with focusing on some series at the very end:

74. Misery by Stephen King, horror 4*

This was next up in my reading/rereading of King in publication order and worked out nicely for the ScardyKIT. I first read this back in high school and didn’t remember just how crazy Annie Wilks was. This one also fit for AlphaKIT: K.

75. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, fantasy 3.75*

This was an enjoyable installment of the Discworld featuring Death. I took off a bit in my rating because I did not enjoy the audio edition. It had multiple narrators, which was a bit confusing at times and the overall audio quality seemed quite poor. I felt like I had to have the volume up to almost max to actually hear it. But still a fun read overall. This one fit for SFFKIT: humor and SeriesCAT: favorite authors.

287/76. Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee, autobiography 4.5*

This was a random pick off the 1001 books list. It is an autobiography of Lee’s childhood growing up in the English countryside in the time between the wars. Lee’s writing was beautiful. He was able to evoke such a feel for the place. I will definitely be looking for more from him.

77. Trouble in Nuala by Harriet Steel, mystery 3.5*

I picked this up in a recent Audible sale, mainly because of the elephants on the cover, but it also sounded like it would be interesting, and decided to read it now for the GeoCAT: south/southeast Asia. This is book 1 in the Inspector de Silva series which takes place in 1930s Ceylon (Sri Lanka). This was fun. The mystery itself was not overly exciting, but I loved her descriptions of everything and the characters are interesting, so I will keep going with the series.

78. Don't Eat Me by Colin Cotterill, mystery 4*
79. The Second Biggest Nothing by Colin Cotterill, mystery 3.5*
81. The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot by Colin Cotterill, mystery 4*

The last three books in the Dr. Siri mystery series taking place in 1980s Laos. So sad to be finished with these. It has been such a treat visiting Laos with Siri and the rest of the gang. I decided to pick these up now for the south/southeast Asia GeoCAT. The Second Biggest Nothing also fits for AlphaKIT: B.

80. Monteverde by Lola Robles, sci fi 4*

I was bored sitting on the porch one morning and picked a random book off my Kindle list to start and this was it. I don’t remember why I purchased it originally, but it was quite an interesting story. The subtitle of the book is Memoirs of an Interstellar Linguist, which is exactly what the story was. I didn’t realize this was going to fit into my blindness category until partway through. One of the groups that the main character studies and gets to know is blind. It was interesting to thing about how language can be affected if you live in a community that cannot see. I was also interested to learn that the author is visually impaired, so has firsthand knowledge of dealing with loss of vision. I was hoping to find more from her, but this appears to be her only work translated into English that I can find.

82. The Pyramid of Mud by Andrea Camilleri, mystery 4*
83. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri, mystery 4*
84. The Other End of the Line by Andrea Camilleri, mystery 4*

Then I finished out the month in Sicily with Inspector Montalbano, books 22-24. All three were solid installments in the series. The Overnight Kidnapper fit for AlphaKIT K
I finished my first July book:
85. One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories by various, 3*

I started this in June as my Read Your Bookshelf Challenge pick (see post 44 for details). We had to pick a book with half as many letters in the title as May’s book which was Foucault’s Pendulum, 17 letters. This has 8. This was a mediocre collection in my opinion. The stand out story was by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Third and Final Continent. I realize that I tend to enjoy short stories that are not general fiction, I prefer sci fi/fantasy/mystery & horror in my short stories.

I am still working on my June pick for the TBR tackle spin (see post 45}, which was a book with at least 5 words in the title. I picked Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I’m enjoying it, but finding it a bit slow going at the moment.

I did not read a book for the June buzzwordathon (see post 43 for details), which was a book with Other in the title. I could not find anything that caught my interest for this one right now. Maybe I can come back to it later in the year.

I am also currently reading The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin to finish out the Great Cities Duology.

I am wanting to put an emphasis on making progress in series this summer. Not sure what I want to work on yet, but there are a few that I only need to read 1 book to be finished or up to date, so should probably start with those.

58staci426
Jul 31, 2023, 9:01 pm

I have not posted any of my July reads yet and this has been my month with the most books read so far. Here is the list:

86. The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin, sci fi 3*
87. The Guest List by Lucy Foley, thriller 3.5*
88. Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, mystery 3.5*
89. The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, mystery 4*
90. The Locked Room by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, mystery 3.5*
91. Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky, sci fi 3.5*
92. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, fantasy 3.5*
93. Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire, fantasy 4.5*
94. Pulp Friction by Julie Anne Lindsey, cozy mystery 3.75*
95. The Cider Shop Rules by Julie Anne Lindsey, cozy mystery 3.5*
96. A Stich in Crime by Tess Rothery, cozy mystery 3*
97. Boardwalks and Ballistics by Julia Koty, cozy mystery 3*
288/98. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, fiction 3.5*
99. The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis, mystery 3*
100. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, sci fi 4.5*
101. Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey, fantasy 4.5*
102. Cop Killer by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, mystery 3.5*
103. Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan, fantasy 4*
104. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, sci fi 3*
105. The Terrorists by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, mystery 4*
106. The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn, thriller 3.5*

Most of the books have been part of series which is something I’ve been focusing on for this summer. I’ve managesd to finish off a few, the Martin Beck series by Sjowall & Wahloo and the Moirin trilogy by Carey and get caught up in a few more, Wayward children by McGuire & the Cider Shop Mystery series by Lindsey (although not sure if there are going to be more in this one). I will conitinue working on series in August as well. I have at least 60 that I am working on, so hope to keep making a dent in some of them.

I’ve also been making pretty good progess with reading books off my shelf this year: physical, audio & Kindle shelves. So far this year I’m up to 41. One of the oldest was from this month: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I purchased sometime before I started keeping track of these things in 2009. Hopefully I will continue to make more progress in this area as well.

For my July BookTube related challenges, see posts 43, 44 & 45 for more details if interested
Buzzword theme was weather word, I picked The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler, but ended up not finishing it. I did not care for the narrator at all and was not that interested in the story to try to find another way of reading this one. But this is one that counts for off the shelf since I owned the Kindle edition.

The read your shelf theme for July was to read a book set in a different country/world from June’s book. My June book was a collection of short stories set in multiple different countries, so I went with a book set in space for July, The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

The TBR Tackle spin landed on read a book published the year your crush was born +/- 10 years. I think I’m a bit past the having crushes stage, but I do like Orlando Bloom who was born in 1977. And I actually had a book on my list that was published that year, Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym.

I can't believe I've managed to finish over 100 books so far this year. Hopefully I will be able to keep the momentum going for the rest of the year.

59MissWatson
Aug 1, 2023, 2:47 am

Wow, that's a lot of books! I hope you enjoyed them all.

60christina_reads
Aug 1, 2023, 10:07 am

>58 staci426: Very impressive reading month, especially considering how huge Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is!

61staci426
Aug 1, 2023, 12:28 pm

>59 MissWatson: There's been a few duds in there, but overall I've enjoyed most of them.

>60 christina_reads: Thanks. Yes, that was a long one, actually started it in June and it was very slow going. I usually have a couple of books going at once, so I took a lot of breaks with that one.

62staci426
Aug 12, 2023, 2:11 pm

Off to a slower start for August. Think I overdid things a bit last month with so many books finished. I know I will not read as much this month especially since I have a vacation planned at the end of the month and tend not to read when I go away.

107. Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, 4*

This is book 7 in the Retrieval Artist series, a sci mystery series taking place some time in the future, this one was set on the Moon where prominent leaders are getting attacked. Miles Flint is called in to help figure out what is going on. It was a lot of fun getting back into this world. It’s a fast moving story with interesting characters. We got some resolutions in this one, but I think there will be a main situation that needs to get resolved throughout the rest of the series. I picked this one up for the MysteryKIT, past & future, it also fits for SeriesKIT, series I wanted to get back to and SFFKIT, set on something in space-the Moon. This is also another book off the shelf, purchased it from Audible last year.

288/108. The Passion by Jeanette Winterson, 4*

This is historical fiction set during the Napoleonic War. This is the story of Henri, a soldier in Napoleon’s army & Villanelle a Venetian urchin and how their paths eventually become entwined. I picked this up on a whim, I couldn’t figure out what I was in the mood for, so just picked one of my random Audible books. I really like Winterson’s writing here. She always manages to pull me into her books. This was an enjoyable quick listen, plus has the added bonus of being another book off the 100 Books to Read… Even though I do own this on Audible, I’m not counting it for Off the Shelf, since I bought it this year, I’m only counting books bought before 2023 there.

109. The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters, 4*

This is book 7 in Brother Cadfail mystery series. In this one, a traveling performer claims sanctuary at the monestary after his is accused of theft & murder of his patron from that night. I always enjoy a visit with Brother Cadfael. This was an enteretaining quick installment in the series. I picked it up specifically for the MysteryKIT, past & future and it also worked for SeriesKIT, since it’s been over a year since I read the last one. And I also purchased a paperback copy of this back in 2015, so definitely counts for off the shelf.

110. Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor, 4*

This is book 2 in the Nsibidi Scripts series which is a YA fantasy series thaking place in Nigeria where there is a magical world that most people don’t know about. Sunny, a teenager who has moved with her family back to her partens home in Nigeria finds herself immersed in this new magical world. In this installment, she is still learning and getting herself into trouble. I don’t read a lot of YA, but am really enjoyhing this series. I usually find kids around this age annoying, but I don’t feel that way about Sunny and her group of friends. I read this one for this month’s KiddyCAT, series.

111. Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb, 4*

This is book 2 in the Rain Wilds Chronicles and book 11 in the overall Realm of the Elderlings series. I had been putting off reading this one because I don’t like the narrator on the regular audiobook and it was a long one to try to read in eformat for me. I ended up finding a different audio version that was recording specifically for the Library for the Blind, so finally gave it a listen. Enjoyed this narrator much more. I’ve seen a lot of negative comments about this series, but I don’t understand why. It was great to be back in this amazing world again that Hobb has created. Hopefully, I won’t wait as long to get to the next one. This one fits for the SeriesKIT, a series I’ve been wanting to get back to.

I also had two DNFs:
The Likeness by Tana French: I know a lot of people really like this series, but I just could not get into this one. I knew the overall premise going in, and I know that this type of a scenario sometimes makes me uncomfortable to read for some reason. We hadn’t even gotten to that part yet and I was already getting those feelings, so I’ve decided to give this one a pass. I think I’ve heard that this series is not a traditional format of having to read each one in order, so I might give the next one a try.

The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver: I had been wanting to read this ever since I saw the TV show a few years ago and finally decided to give it a try. But this writing was making me slightly uncomfortable also. The main character is a quadriplegic and he started referring to himself as a crip, I just couldn’t continue.

I am currently reading:
A Question of Power by Bessie Head
Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon
Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed

63JayneCM
Aug 13, 2023, 3:00 am

>62 staci426: I really must start Robin Hobb - I know I will love it once I start!

64staci426
Sep 24, 2023, 6:13 pm

I have waited way too long since my last post to talk about the books I’ve finished. I’m just going to list them now since there are so many. I ended up finishing more than expected for August with almost a full week of not reading a thing when I was on vacation. And then for September, I decided to focus on shorter books, mostly under 200 pages and mostly off of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. So, even though it is a lot of books, they were mostly really quick listens.

112. Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon, historical fiction 4*
113. By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates, mystery 3.5*
114. Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed, short stories 3*
290/115. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx, fiction 4.5*
116. The Devil's Novice by Ellis Peters, mystery 4*
117. Dead Man's Ransom by Ellis Peters, mystery 3.5*
291/118. A Question of Power by Bessie Head, fiction 4*
119. Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, SFF 3.5*
120. Empire of Dirt by Philip C. Quaintrell, fantasy 3.5*
SEPTEMBER
121. The 13 Clocks by James Thurber, children's fantasy 4*
292/122. Cane by Jean Toomer, fiction 4*
293/123. Cheese by Willem Elsschot, fiction 3.5*
124. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie, mystery 4*
125. Bedside Manor by Jack Townsend, horror 3.5*
126. The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirahk, fantasy 4.5*
294/127. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol, classics 3.5*
295/128. Silk by Alessandro Baricco, historical 3.5*
296/129. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, fiction 4.25*
130. The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland, historical 4*. This is my TBR Tackle Spin book for September, a book about someone from history (see post 45 for details).
297/131. Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, fiction 4*
132. The Safety Net by Andrea Camilleri, mystery 4*
133. Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman, cozy spy 4*
298/134. Vathek by William Beckford, classics 3*
299/135. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, fiction 4*
300/136. Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal, fiction 3*
301/137. The Cubs and Other Stories by Mario Vargas Llosa, short stories 3*
138. The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters, mystery 3.5*
139. Noor by Nnedi Okorafor, science fiction 4*
140. The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo, fantasy 4*
141. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo, fantasy 4*
142. Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo, fantasy 4*
143. Mammoths at the Gate by Nghi Vo, fantasy 5*
144. Bitter Gold Hearts by Glen Cook, fantasy 3.5*. This is my pick for the Buzzwordathon (see post 43 for details), a game related word in the title.
302/145. Blind Man with a Pistol by Chester Hines, crime 2.5*
303/146. Under the Net by Iris Murdoch, fiction 3.75*
304/147. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, fiction 4*
305/148. Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, fiction 4*
306/149. Spring Flowers, Spring Frost by Ismail Kadare, fiction 2.5*

I am currently working on:
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 edited by Dave Eggers, this is for the Read Your Shelf September challenge (see post 44 for details). This is also an experiment in trying to read an e-book. I put the font up to the largest setting and have been reading on my phone. It’s slow going, but I’m enjoying this.
Invisible Planets a collection of Chinese science fiction translated by Ken Liu
The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd

65mathgirl40
Sep 25, 2023, 10:34 pm

>64 staci426: Invisible Planets sounds interesting, and it's nice to see Ken Liu as the translator. I've been reading several Chinese short stories nominated for this year's Hugo award. They had to be translated in a hurry and are of varying quality in that respect.

66staci426
Oct 15, 2023, 6:15 pm

October is back to a normal reading pace for me. Halfway through the month, nine books finished, one was a short story and one I had mostly finished in September. I am trying to focus on more mystery/spooky/gothic/horror types of reads for this month. But am not limiting myself to that.

307/150. Bartleby & Co. by Enrique Vila-Matas, fiction 3.5*
This was an interesting book about a Spanish man working on a work of footnotes about authors throughout history. I was surprised by how much Arthur Rimbaud was mentioned here. I have a soft spot for Rimbaud as I did my senior paper on him in college as a French major. This was a quick read off the 1001 list that I’m glad to have discovered.
151. Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville, fiction 3.5*
I decided to read the short story which was part of the inspiration for Bartleby & Co, so gave this one a quick listen. This was an interesting story which seems to be an account of a man’s decline into depression.
308/152. Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, historical 5*
This was my pick for this month’s TBR Tackle Spin (see post 45 for details). I was hesitant to pick this one up because it was tagged romance and took place during WWII which is a period of time I usually do not enjoy reading about. But I am so glad to have finally read this. I was immediately drawn into this world and didn’t want to put it down. I also want to give praise to the narrator of the audio, Stephen Lang, who was excellent here. This was another excellent selection off the 1001 list. I was also able to take two books off the shelf with the one, I own a trade paperback and the Audible edition.

153. The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian, cozy mystery 3.75*
This was a fun paranormal cozy mystery featuring alchemist, Zoe Faust, who has just moved to Portland, Oregon and finds a gargoyle who has stowed away in her belongings. I thought the cover was cute and had never read anything featuring gargoyles except The Sandman, so decided to give this a try. I will definitely be continuing with the series.
154. Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes, sci fi/horror 3.5*
This was a sci fi horror told in two timelines, then, where a ship discovers an old distress signal and decides to investigate and now, the captain tries to explain what happened to the authorities. This was interesting, but I was slightly disappointed in the reveal.
155. All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny, mystery 4*
Book 16 in the Armand Gamache Three Pines series. I was looking forward to this being a good fit for this month’s GeoCAT since the books take place in Québec, but this one ended up taking place in Paris. I guess it still fts since the author is Canadian. This was another solid installment in the series.
156. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 edited by Dave Eggars, anthology 3*
I started this in September for the Read Your Shelf challenge (see post 44 for details). The prompt was to pick a word from page 50 of last month’s book, The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker and find a book with that word in the title. It was the end of a chapter, so was a short page and there were not a lot of good options, so I went with “reading”. This was an odd collection of lists, short stories, articles and essays. I DNF’d a lot of the stories. Some of the memorable ones were The Deep by Anthony Doerr about a boy born in the early 1900s with a hole in his heart; Roger Ebert: The Essential Man by Chris Jones, written after he was no longer able to eat or speak and Orange by Neil Gaiman, an interview of the brother of a girl who turned orange and then left in a space ship. The interview did not include the questions, just his answers. This collection also started with an excellent introduction by Guillermo del Toro about the love of books and reading.

157. Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge by Ovidia Yu, cozy mystery 3.5*
158. Meddling and Murder by Ovidia Yu, cozy mystery 3*
Books 3 & 4 in the Aunty Lee Singaporean cozy mystery series. Aunty Lee is a widow living in Singapore who runs a restaurant with the help of her domestic helper, Nina. She manages to get herself involved in multiple murder investigations. The last book was the weakest in the series in my opinion, using tropes that I really dislike. But overall, this was a fun series. I think this is the end since there hasn’t been any new ones since 2017.

I am currently working on:
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe which I am finding to be very slow going
Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins which is quite strange
It Eats Us from the Inside by Antonija Meznaric, which is also slow going, but only because I am reading the Kindle edition and not listening.

I have put aside two books that I had been working on:
Invisible Planets, the Chinese sci fi collection, I do plan to get back to it, just wanted a break. I tend to do that sometimes with short story collections.
The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd, I was finding myself not wanting to pick this one up for some reason, I want to find out where the story is going but am struggling with it. I'm not sure if I will come back to it but will not count it as an official DNF yet.

67staci426
Nov 6, 2023, 7:04 pm

Here are the rest of my October reads and the start to November:

159. Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, 4*
This was a strange book, not really sure how to classify it, fantasy with horror elements, maybe. I did quite enjoy it.

309/160. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, gothic 3.5*
This was quite slow going and way over the top, but I’m glad to have finally gotten around to reading this one.
161. Great Classic Hauntings by various, horror 3.5*
I found this for free on Audible and was just planning on doing a re-read of The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe because I wanted to read What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. I ended up reading the whole collection since it was short, there were only six stories I think. I especially liked the one from Saki, The Open Window.

162. Rise of the Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste, horror 3*
This is book two in a middle grade horror series based on Caribbean folklore. I enjoyed the first book more than this one, but it was still a fun read, and I will definitely finish out the series.

163. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min, historical 3.75*
This is an historical fiction taking place in mid-19th century China. I’ve owned the hard cover since before 2009 and had tried listening to the audio at one point, but kept hearing the narrator taking breaths during the reading which was extremely distracting, so wasn’t able to finish it. I found a different audio edition which was so much better and am glad I gave this a second chance. This was my pick for October’s read your shelf challenge (see post 44) where the title had to start with the first letter of September’s author’s last name (Dave Eggers).

164. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, horror 3.5*
This has been on my TBR for years. I’ve never seen the movie so wasn’t sure what to expect. It was good. I did find Rosemary slightly frustrating, but overall, I’m glad to have finally read this.

165. It Eats Us From the Inside by Antonija Meznaric, horror 3.5*
I read a short story collection from this author earlier in the year and really enjoyed it, so wanted to try more of her work. This was a novella about a woman who goes back to her hometown with her wife to see her dying father. This was good. I didn’t see mention of a translator anywhere, so I am guessing the author wrote this in English (she is Croatian). There were some clunky bits in the English that didn’t really flow well. But overall it was an entertaining story.

166. The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland, memoir 5*
This was an excellent memoir about a man losing his sight to a condition called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). I might be slightly biased in my opinion of this because I also have RP. I could relate to almost everything that he wrote about his experiences. I hope that sighted as well as blind people will give this a try. He just captures things so well and the writing is also quite good which is not always the case with these kinds of memoirs. Highly recommended this one.

167. Nemesis by Jo Nesbo, mystery 4*
This is book 4 of the Harry Hole series,. In this one, Harry is home in Norway and investigating a bank robbery/murder. I enjoy this series and it’s been a while since I had read book 3, so it was nice to get back to it.
NOVEMBER

168. My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones, horror 4*
Started this one in October, but did not finish until November. I was not into watching the slasher movies that were such an integral part of this story, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of this. Jones has created such an interesting character in Jade and I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the trilogy.

169. Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief by Dorothy Gilman, mystery 4*
Picked this one up for the MysteryKIT, senior sleuths. This is book 10 in the series. In this one, Mrs. Pollifax travels to Sicily to help an old friend. It’s always a fun time going on these adventures with her. This one also fits for AlphaKIT: T for this month.

170. Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes by Rob Wilkins, biography 5*
I discovered this book while browsing amongst the playlists on libro.fm to see if there were any interesting books I wanted to try and am so glad to have discovered it. This was an excellent biography of the life of one of my favorite authors written by his personal assistant. This one fits for AlphaKIT T & L for this month.

171. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, sci fi 3.5*
This is book 1 of a military sci fi series. Captain Cheris ends up fused with a revenant disgraced general to halp fight an upcoming battle. This was a bit confusing. We are thrown into this world with no real explanation on what’s going on. There is a lot of math going on here and references to the calendar. It was an interesting premise and world, but I’m still a bit confused. I think I will keep going with the series to see if things start to make more sense. This is another book for AlphaKIT: L and this is also a book to take off the shelf for me.

I have a few DNF’s for October:
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher: I’ve heard goog things about this book which is based on Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher. But I just could not listen to the audio narrator, so was not able to finish this. I also was not really clicking with the story itself for some reason.

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith: I had picked this up for my Buzzword book for this month, which is a magic related word. But this one was also not clicking for me.

I am currently working on:

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, started this in October, but have been finding it slow going, so have not finished yer

The Sword & Sorcery Anthology, I had started this back in 2018 and had read the first few stores, but never finished it. Decided to go back to It for the October Buzzword magic related book since I didn’t finish the other one. I read quite a few more of the stories, but did not finish it yet. I do think I will get it done this month.

Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, this is my Kindle pick that I am actually reading with my eyes rather than listening to, so will probably take some time to finish, even though it is pretty short.

68staci426
Edited: Dec 10, 2023, 9:39 pm

Here is the rest of my November reads and first few for December. Can’t believe I might hit 200 books read this year. That will be a first for me. I am excited to start working on my 2024 plans. Probably won't get my new thread up until after Christmas, though. Still tring to get everything figured out.

172. The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, horror 3*
This was my first time reading this and I almost abandoned it. I was finding the parts with Gard annoying. But I kept going. Things did not really get much better, but I’m glad to have finished it.

173. The Sword & Sorcery Anthology by various, fantasy 3*
I started this several years ago and read the first 3 or 4 stories. Finally finished the whole thing for the SFFKit short story themed month. Nothing really stood out here except for the story by George RR Martin which felt like it was taken right out of one of Daenerys’s chapters from one of the books.

174. Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell, historical 3.5*
This is book 6 in the Saxon Chronicles. Been a while since I’ve read the earlier books, so it was good to get back to this series.

175. Invisible Planets translated by Ken Liu, sci fi 3.5*
This was a collection of Chinese sci fi stories. It was a decent collection. I did DNF one or two of the stories, but overall, it was good. I enjoyed the stories from Xia Jia & Cixin Liu the most.

310/176. Metamorphoses by Ovid, classics 4*
This was a surprise for me as to how much I enjoyed this and how readable it was. I enjoyed this quite a bit.

311/177. Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, short stories 3*
This started off strong, but then I got bored as the stories progressed. Glad to get another book marked off the 1001 list.

178. 32 Yolks by Eric Ripert, memoir 4*
This was a random pick from my library wishlist about the early years of a French chef, ending when he moves to America at 18ish. This was interesting. I enjoy food related memoirs.

179. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, thriller 4*
I really enjoyed this one. Had no idea what to expect going in and I think that is the best way to experience this. I was slightly disappointed in the ending and explanation of what was going on, but overall a fun quick read.

180. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, non-fiction 4*
This has been on my TBR for years and am glad I finally got to it. I was surprised by how engaging her letters were and how she managed so well out there. It would have been interesting to see her friend’s letters as well.

181. The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, fiction 4.5*
This was something I picked up randomly after hearing several good reviews on YouTube and I am glad to have given it a go.

182. The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain, fiction 4*
This was a recommendation from a friend at work. I wouldn’t normally have picked this up, but am glad that I did. I was completely drawn into this story and am glad I tried something out of my comfort zone.

183. System Collapse by Martha Wells, sci fi 3.5*
Most recent installment in the Murderbot series. I love the character of Murderbot, but am getting a bit bored with the stories. I think I prefer these in novella format rather than the longer novels.

184. Malice by Kiego Higashino, mystery 4*
Japanese mystery with an interesting premise. We figure out the killer early on and then spend most of the book trying to figure out the motive.

185. Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland, historical 3.5*
This has been on my shelf for a very long time and am glad to have finally read it. This is about Louis XIV’s first mistress, Louise de Lavalliere. I enjoyed the earlier part of the book when she was a child to the later part once she made it to court and met Louis.

313/186. The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric, fiction 3*
I am glad I finally finished this book. This was one of the last physical book I tried to read back when my eyes were starting to get to the point where it was getting too hard for me to read physical books anymore, this was back in 2016. I was finally able to find an audio edition so I could finish this. The book itself ended up a bit of a disappointment, but glad it’s finally finished.

DECEMBER
187. The Sandman Act III by Neil Gaiman, graphic novel 4*
This was fun. I’m glad Audible has produced these audio editions of the graphic novels.

188. The Servant's Tale by Margaret Frazer, historical mystery 4*
This is book 2 in the Dame Frevisse, medieval mystery series. I didn’t realize that this one takes place right after Christmas, so it ended up being the perfect time of year to pick this one up. Enjoyed it a little more than the first one, I think, so will definitely be continuing with the series.

189. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, classics 4*
I decided to do a reread of this for the ClassicCAT and in preparation of finally reading The Hours by Michael Cunningham early next year.

190. We Wish You a Murderous Christmas by Vicki Delany, cozy mystery 3.5*
This is book 2 in the Year Round Christmas series. This is a fun series where the town celebrates Christmas all year. This one does happen to take place at Christmas.

I also read a short story, Christmas at Thompson Hall by Anthony Trollope, This was a fun little story about a couple trying to get back home to England for Christmas, but something happens in the hotel at Paris on the way. This reminds me how much I enjoy Trollope’s writing. This is part of a collection I have, Holiday Ultimate Collection it has over 400 novels & short stories. I know I will never finish the whole collection, but I like to dip in a bit this time of year. There are a few more Trollope stories I want to get to.

I have a few DNF’s as well:
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
The Information by Martin Amis, I am counting this as read for the 1001 books list, I made it about a third of the way in before deciding I did not want to finish it.
The Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky & The Lion of Senet by Jennifer Fallon, I started this much earlier in the year and was hoping to come back and finish them, but neither of them were holding my attention any time I tried to finish, so I am officially counting them as DNFs.

I am currently reading:
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
Zeno’s Conscience by Italo Svevo
The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds by Selina Siak Chin Yoke

69rabbitprincess
Dec 10, 2023, 10:02 pm

Wow, nearly 200 books! I'm cheering you on!

70NinieB
Dec 10, 2023, 10:44 pm

>68 staci426: On the Metamorphoses, which translation did you read? I'm always looking for good translations of ancient classics (of course whether I'll read them is another question).

I read Letters of a Woman Homesteader this year as well and agree about how engaging it is. And I wanted to read the other letters as well!

71Tanya-dogearedcopy
Edited: Dec 11, 2023, 2:31 am

>168 I’m in the middle of System Collapse now. I’m having to work a little harder with this one than with past Murderbot stories: This seems to be harder sci-fi than even Network Effect; I’m not hearing Murderbot’s voice or personality as strongly; And, I’m not really remembering the carry-over characters. The story is still engaging but it’s not flying by like the first five titles in the series. Maybe I should have refreshed my memory a bit before diving into this one… I’ll have to think about that if I pick up book 8 when it publishes.

staci426 reads in 2023

Talk2023 Category Challenge

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12staci426Edited: Dec 20, 2023, 10:58 am

13staci426Edited: Dec 14, 2023, 9:28 pm

14staci426Edited: Dec 10, 2023, 8:55 pm

15staci426Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 5:51 pm

16staci426Edited: Dec 21, 2023, 11:34 am

17staci426Edited: Oct 17, 2023, 10:11 pm

18Tess_WJan 7, 2023, 10:09 pm

19rabbitprincessJan 7, 2023, 11:00 pm

20DeltaQueen50Jan 8, 2023, 2:33 am

21MissWatsonJan 8, 2023, 8:20 am

22dudes22Jan 8, 2023, 9:19 am

23lowelibraryJan 8, 2023, 10:55 am

24lkernaghJan 8, 2023, 9:50 pm

25staci426Jan 8, 2023, 10:16 pm

26ZozetteJan 8, 2023, 10:42 pm

27Tanya-dogearedcopyJan 9, 2023, 6:32 am

28staci426Jan 9, 2023, 5:08 pm

29rabbitprincessJan 9, 2023, 6:15 pm

30Tanya-dogearedcopyJan 11, 2023, 4:02 am

31staci426Jan 23, 2023, 10:11 pm

32Tanya-dogearedcopyJan 24, 2023, 1:13 am

33staci426Jan 25, 2023, 10:16 am

34Tanya-dogearedcopyJan 25, 2023, 10:27 pm

35staci426Feb 11, 2023, 6:25 pm

36rabbitprincessFeb 11, 2023, 6:54 pm

37Tanya-dogearedcopyFeb 11, 2023, 7:13 pm

38staci426Feb 12, 2023, 11:18 am

39staci426Mar 5, 2023, 7:17 pm

40Tanya-dogearedcopyMar 5, 2023, 7:52 pm

41staci426Mar 5, 2023, 8:22 pm

42staci426Mar 5, 2023, 10:27 pm

43staci426Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 3:22 pm

44staci426Edited: Oct 22, 2023, 3:17 pm

45staci426Edited: Oct 15, 2023, 5:40 pm

46lowelibraryMar 5, 2023, 11:03 pm

47rabbitprincessMar 6, 2023, 4:23 pm

48staci426Apr 1, 2023, 3:49 pm

49mathgirl40Apr 2, 2023, 2:10 pm

50Tanya-dogearedcopyEdited: Apr 2, 2023, 5:32 pm

51christina_readsApr 3, 2023, 10:05 am

52staci426Apr 30, 2023, 9:23 pm

53rabbitprincessApr 30, 2023, 10:00 pm

54DeltaQueen50May 1, 2023, 4:40 pm

55staci426May 12, 2023, 10:03 pm

56staci426Jun 11, 2023, 2:27 pm

57staci426Jul 4, 2023, 9:02 pm

58staci426Jul 31, 2023, 9:01 pm

59MissWatsonAug 1, 2023, 2:47 am

60christina_readsAug 1, 2023, 10:07 am

61staci426Aug 1, 2023, 12:28 pm

62staci426Aug 12, 2023, 2:11 pm

63JayneCMAug 13, 2023, 3:00 am

64staci426Sep 24, 2023, 6:13 pm

65mathgirl40Sep 25, 2023, 10:34 pm

66staci426Oct 15, 2023, 6:15 pm

67staci426Nov 6, 2023, 7:04 pm

68staci426Edited: Dec 10, 2023, 9:39 pm

69rabbitprincessDec 10, 2023, 10:02 pm

70NinieBDec 10, 2023, 10:44 pm

71Tanya-dogearedcopyEdited: Dec 11, 2023, 2:31 am

Group: 2023 Category Challenge

About

Touchstones

Works

Authors

1staci426
Jan 7, 2023, 8:44 pm

2staci426
Edited: Dec 31, 2023, 12:31 pm

3staci426
Edited: Dec 26, 2023, 9:34 pm

4staci426
Edited: Sep 19, 2023, 1:01 pm

5staci426
Edited: Dec 19, 2023, 4:37 pm

6staci426
Edited: Dec 27, 2023, 10:27 pm

7staci426
Edited: Dec 21, 2023, 11:35 am

8staci426
Edited: Dec 31, 2023, 12:32 pm

9staci426
Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 5:46 pm

10staci426
Edited: Nov 29, 2023, 5:23 pm

11staci426
Edited: Dec 31, 2023, 12:34 pm

12staci426
Edited: Dec 20, 2023, 10:58 am

13staci426
Edited: Dec 14, 2023, 9:28 pm

14staci426
Edited: Dec 10, 2023, 8:55 pm

15staci426
Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 5:51 pm

16staci426
Edited: Dec 21, 2023, 11:34 am

17staci426
Edited: Oct 17, 2023, 10:11 pm

18Tess_W
Jan 7, 2023, 10:09 pm

19rabbitprincess
Jan 7, 2023, 11:00 pm

20DeltaQueen50
Jan 8, 2023, 2:33 am

21MissWatson
Jan 8, 2023, 8:20 am

22dudes22
Jan 8, 2023, 9:19 am

23lowelibrary
Jan 8, 2023, 10:55 am

24lkernagh
Jan 8, 2023, 9:50 pm

25staci426
Jan 8, 2023, 10:16 pm

26Zozette
Jan 8, 2023, 10:42 pm

27Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 9, 2023, 6:32 am

28staci426
Jan 9, 2023, 5:08 pm

29rabbitprincess
Jan 9, 2023, 6:15 pm

30Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 11, 2023, 4:02 am

31staci426
Jan 23, 2023, 10:11 pm

32Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 24, 2023, 1:13 am

33staci426
Jan 25, 2023, 10:16 am

34Tanya-dogearedcopy
Jan 25, 2023, 10:27 pm

35staci426
Feb 11, 2023, 6:25 pm

36rabbitprincess
Feb 11, 2023, 6:54 pm

37Tanya-dogearedcopy
Feb 11, 2023, 7:13 pm

38staci426
Feb 12, 2023, 11:18 am

39staci426
Mar 5, 2023, 7:17 pm

40Tanya-dogearedcopy
Mar 5, 2023, 7:52 pm

41staci426
Mar 5, 2023, 8:22 pm

42staci426
Mar 5, 2023, 10:27 pm

43staci426
Edited: Nov 25, 2023, 3:22 pm

44staci426
Edited: Oct 22, 2023, 3:17 pm

45staci426
Edited: Oct 15, 2023, 5:40 pm

46lowelibrary
Mar 5, 2023, 11:03 pm

47rabbitprincess
Mar 6, 2023, 4:23 pm

48staci426
Apr 1, 2023, 3:49 pm

49mathgirl40
Apr 2, 2023, 2:10 pm

50Tanya-dogearedcopy
Edited: Apr 2, 2023, 5:32 pm

51christina_reads
Apr 3, 2023, 10:05 am

52staci426
Apr 30, 2023, 9:23 pm

53rabbitprincess
Apr 30, 2023, 10:00 pm

54DeltaQueen50
May 1, 2023, 4:40 pm

55staci426
May 12, 2023, 10:03 pm

56staci426
Jun 11, 2023, 2:27 pm

57staci426
Jul 4, 2023, 9:02 pm

58staci426
Jul 31, 2023, 9:01 pm

59MissWatson
Aug 1, 2023, 2:47 am

60christina_reads
Aug 1, 2023, 10:07 am

61staci426
Aug 1, 2023, 12:28 pm

62staci426
Aug 12, 2023, 2:11 pm

63JayneCM
Aug 13, 2023, 3:00 am

64staci426
Sep 24, 2023, 6:13 pm

65mathgirl40
Sep 25, 2023, 10:34 pm

66staci426
Oct 15, 2023, 6:15 pm

67staci426
Nov 6, 2023, 7:04 pm

68staci426
Edited: Dec 10, 2023, 9:39 pm

69rabbitprincess
Dec 10, 2023, 10:02 pm

70NinieB
Dec 10, 2023, 10:44 pm

71Tanya-dogearedcopy
Edited: Dec 11, 2023, 2:31 am