Robertgreaves is still ROOTING in 2026

2025 was here.

My target for 2026 is 72 ROOTs. All books acquired up until 31 December 2025 will count as ROOTs during 2026.

My potential ROOTS as of today (02 January 2026) consist of 51 treebooks and 50 ebooks, making a total of 101 ROOTs, up from 87 ROOTs this time last year.

I reached my numerical goal last year with 51% of the books I read being ROOTs.

Since ebooks are always available and always tempting I am going to try to limit myself to:

1. next in a series (if I am up to date on the 6 ROOTs per month needed to reach my goal);
2. bookclub/reading group books;
3. celebrations.

My 2026 ticker:

The treebook ROOTs for 2026:

My No. 1 for 2026 is Carnival of Lies by D. V. Bishop. This is also my first ROOT for 2026.

I'll be especially interested to know how you like Dissolution. I don't act like I like this series because I'm so slow to read them but I do like it and hope to settle into the next one for me soon.

Looks like a good selection of books for the year!

Hi Robert, starring your thread and I will be back.

I wish you a healthy and happy New Year filled with many exciting books. May all your wishes come true.

>2 Robertgreaves: Oh, that looks great. I've read Dissolution 6½ years ago and liked it very much.

Welcome back -- good luck with the treebooks and enjoy the ebooks.

Thanks for dropping in, >4 clue:, >5 rabbitprincess:, >6 connie53:, >7 Ameise1:, >8 detailmuse:. Hope to see what books 2026 brings you.

Starting my No. 2, The Orange Lilies by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, which is also my second ROOT for 2026. It fits the Coloured CoverKIT.

My review of Carnival of Lies:

An attempt is made on Cosimo de' Medici's life but this is only a feint. The real plot means a trip to Venice for Aldo, the one place he has always sworn he would never return to.

This episode is not so much a mystery as a very enjoyable spy thriller full of crosses and double crosses. Though the ending hints at where Aldo's story might go next, I do think the Contessa needs her own series.

Starting my No. 3, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling. As a re-read off my own shelves, this counts as my third ROOT for 2026. I'm reading it now for the SFFKIT and for my book club.

My review of The Orange Lillies:

After the revelations in the previous book, genealogist Morton Ferrier, an adoptee, decides to research his biological family, at least on his mother's side, particularly focussing on one of his great-grandfathers, who fought in WW1.

The dual timelines were effective, though I guessed the twist in the WW1 timeline very early on. The present-day (actually 2014) story had unexpected revelations, hinting at where Morton's story is going next.

Looking at your shelves I saw Apprentice to the Villain. That was a fast fun read for me. Hope it's the same for you.

>11 Familyhistorian: I read the first one in the series, Assistant to the Villain. I enjoyed it while I was reading it but never felt any strong urge to pick it back up again when I had to pause, so although I do have Apprentice to the Villain, I'm in no hurry to get to it.

Glad to see you’re back in action, Robert!

Good luck with your reading goals this year, Robert, and I hope 2026 is good to you.

That’s a clever move, putting all the physical book ROOTs together - I imagine it’s encouraging to see the pile diminish!

>13 MissWatson: >14 floremolla: Thanks for dropping by Birgit and Donna.

>13 MissWatson: Unfortunately, it doesn't stay diminished

Starting my No. 4, In Sunlight or In Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block. This ebook is not a ROOT but fits the ArtsCAT.

My review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling, not much changed from when I read it 20 years ago:

Harry's first outing. Very readable and enjoyable children's fiction.

>2 Robertgreaves: your treebook roots is amazing, enjoy the challenge and Happy Rooting & Reading for 2026

Also reading my No. 5, The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. It is my fourth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook shelf to 49. I am reading this now for my Reading Group.

>2 Robertgreaves: oh I absolutely love the included photo!

Starting the next in the series, The Last Olympian, as my No. 6, which brings the treebook shelf to 48.

My review of The Battle of the Labyrinth (additions to my review from last time I read it):

Percy Jackson enters Daedalus's Labyrinth to persuade Daedalus to side with Camp Half-Blood and the Olympian gods against the Titans. Percy had already killed the Minotaur in book 1 but there are still lots of monsters to fight in the Labyrinth.

Very exciting and I just sped through.

My review of The Last Olympian:

The climax to the series.

I was a bit confused at first, as quite a lot seems to have happened between the previous book and this one. The final battle went on for a bit too long for my tastes but then I'm not a boy in his early teens. A very satisfactory ending after the battle, though.

Starting my No. 7, The Lost Hero, part of an omnibus edition containing the first in each of three of Rick Riordan's series. This book is not a ROOT.

My review of The Lost Hero:

A new series with a new Great Prophecy, a new quest, and demigods fighting monsters but the gods (or at least some of them) are being more helpful, since this time round it is prophesied that the enemy can only be defeated by demigods and gods working together.

My inner 12 year old greatly enjoyed the adventures even if at times the expansion of the universe in the first books felt rather forced. I'm keeping my eyes open for the next in the series, though.

Starting my No. 8, Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson. This ebook is not a ROOT.

My review of In Sunlight or In Shadow:

An enjoyable collection of short stories inspired by Edward Hopper's paintings, some very tangentially. Towards the end, the collection did get a bit repetitive with the theme of predatory sex coming up a bit too often. I'd particularly recommend the stories by Jill D. Block, Nicholas Christopher, and Michael Connolly.

Also reading my No. 9, Ordeal By Innocence by Agatha Christie. This is my sixth ROOT for 2026. It fits the DecadesCAT.

Starting my No. 10, Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie. This is my seventh ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook TBR to 47. It fits the DecadesCAT and the Coloured CoverKIT.

My review of Ordeal by Innocence:

Dr Calgary returns from an expedition to find that he could have provided an alibi for a young man who without his evidence was found guilty of murder and died in prison of pneumonia. He goes to apologise to Jacko's family but they are less than pleased with the news, forced to consider that if Jacko was innocent someone else in the household actually committed the crime, but who?

Somewhat different from Christie's other work in that the focus is on who is psychologically the most likely to be guilty rather than on the physical evidence. It still had me turning the pages, though.

My review of Cat Among The Pigeons:

The games mistress at an exclusive girls' school is found dead in the gym. Is there a connection with a fortune in jewels smuggled out of a collapsing Middle Eastern regime?

In the beginning this read like one of Christie's spy stories, which I find less interesting than her detection-focussed works. However, we were back on familiar territory when the story shifts to the school even if Poirot only puts in an appearance about 2/3 of the way through. Entertaining and I loved the headmistress, even if (or because?) I did keep thinking of Alistair Sims in St. Trinians (not helped by the Joyce Grenfell reference in the book).

Starting my No. 11, The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore by W. B. Yeats. This book fits the AlphaKIT.

My review of Lighthousekeeping:

An orphan girl is adopted by a lighthouse keeper who tells her stories of the lighthouse's builders and past keepers.

I couldn't follow this at all and gave up. DNF

Starting my No. 12, Ethics: A Very Short Introduction by Simon Blackburn. This is my eighth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook TBR shelf to 47 again (I bought a book last weekend). It fits the AlphaKIT.

I'm going to start again with The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore because I think it will work better as an audiobook.

>28 Robertgreaves: I did read one book by Jeanette Winterson and did not like it very much. That book was Sinaasappels zijn niet de enige vruchten and I read it to the end, because it was for a challenge, but I did not appreciate it at all.

>30 connie53: I have read a couple of others by her - re-tellings of the myth of Atlas and Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. Both had a good beginning and ending but the middle was rather heavy going.

Starting my No.13, Death and the Brewery Queen by Frances Brody. This ebook is my ninth ROOT for 2026 and fits the AlphaKIT and the MysteryKIT.

My review of Ethics: A Very Short Introduction:

Admirably clear discussion of what ethics are. The author defends ethics against the perils of relativism while not denying that there are local variations, and also sees off the views that ethical statements are just more or less blatant power plays and that we have no choice but to act out the orders of our selfish genes.

Good luck tackling the shelves this year, Robert!

You're making good progress on your ROOTs, Robert. Pays to be organized it seems.

Thanks for dropping by, Meg

Starting the next in the series, and the latest so far though another is rumoured for later this year, A Mansion for Murder as my No. 14. This ebook is not a ROOT but also fits the AlphaKIT and MysteryKIT.

My review of Death and the Brewery Queen:

When the owner of a brewery comes to consult Kate Shackleton about unexplained losses of business and general uneasiness that something is wrong, she sends Mr Sykes to have a look round. But then the brewery's efficient secretary is run over while cycling to work and Kate has to take part in the investigation herself.

Although I enjoyed visiting Kate and her supporting cast, I felt the two murders didn't really gel. Either would have been fine as its own story, perhaps as a novella, while here I was half expecting the second murder to exonerate the first suspect.

Starting my No. 15, The Mysterious Commission by Michael Innes. This ebook is not a ROOT, but it does fit the ArtsCAT.

My review of A Mansion for Murder:

Kate Shackleton receives a letter asking for her help uncovering some unspecified past wrongdoing. But when she arrives in Saltaire to meet her correspondent, she finds he has drowned, possibly by accident, possibly not.

The plot was fairly straightforward, but I could have done with a family tree to keep everybody straight.

Starting my No. 16, The Appleby File. This ebook is not a ROOT but it does fit the AlphaKIT.

My review of The Mysterious Commission:

Charles Honeybath, the portrait painter, undertakes a commission in strange circumstances: he has a fortnight to paint the portrait in an unknown location without being told the identity of the sitter. When he returns home after completing the portrait he finds his studio has been used to rob the bank next door. Despite the Holmesian echoes, Honeybath thinks the bank robbery was not the primary motive.

Great fun, but as ever, it is the urbanity and humour of Innes's language that is the main draw rather than the plot.

Starting my No 17, The Devil's Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo. This ebook is not a ROOT but it fits the Coloured CoverKIT, the AlphaKIT, and the DecadesCAT.

My review of The Appleby File:

A collection of short stories featuring Appleby. Some good, but others seemed a bit repetitive, with just the names changed.

Starting my No. 18, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. This is my tenth ROOT for 2026.

My review of The Devil's Flute Murders:

Mineko Tsubaki asks for Kosuke Kindaichi's help looking into the death of her father to reassure her mother, who insists she is being haunted by his ghost. The febrile atmosphere at the family home is only increased by a seance to get in touch with his spirit and then the deaths start mounting up, accompanied by the playing of flute music Tsubaki composed shortly before his death.

Another book where a family tree was needed to keep everybody's relationships straight. The book was published in 1953 but I cannot imagine Dame Agatha coming up with a back story like this for murders.

Starting my No. 19, A More Perfect Heaven by Dava Sobel. This ebook is not a ROOT, but it works as a bridge between January's NonFictionCAT and February's Coloured CoverKIT.

My review of Brave New World from when I last read it 15 years ago:

After describing civilized life some 600 years in the future, Aldous Huxley introduces a 'savage' from a New Mexico reservation into England.

A great story introduces questions like how far human nature is malleable, and how far a society would, could, and should go in the search of happiness.

ETA 2026 I had no memory of the ending. If asked I would've said John Savage and Lenina went back to the reservation.

My review of The Celtic Twilight:

Not what I was expecting from the title. Also very much a book for dipping into rather than reading straight through.

Possible reading for February 2026:

Starting my No. 20, Abduction of a Slave by Dana Stabenow. This ebook is not a ROOT. I am reading it now for my online reading group.

My review of A More Perfect Heaven:

A biography of Copernicus.

The author is obviously struggling with a lack of material, such that she ends up quoting a novel for general historical background and the centre-piece of the book is a dramatisation of Rheticus's discipleship with Copernicus towards the end of the latter's life as he persuaded him to publish his work.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting account of the story behind a name everybody knows but doesn't know much about.

Starting my No. 21, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.. This is my eleventh ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook TBR to 48.

My review of Abduction of A Slave:

Neb and Sheri give their new ship, Hapi II, a test voyage to Cyrene to find out why siliphium has vanished as a trade item. Since Sheri is going anyway, Cleopatra asks her to deliver a message to Pompey's widow, Cornelia Metella.

Although this is billed as a mystery, it isn't really. The murder and its solution are afterthoughts and its best read as straight historical fiction. There are lots of semi-cryptic references to previous events in the series, so read those first. It's been a while since I did so the book suffered through the weakness of my memory.

Starting my No. 22, The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. This ebook is my twelfth ROOT for 2026 and fits the DecadesCAT and AlphaKIT.

My review of A Canticle of Leibowitz almost unchanged since I last read it nearly 20 years ago:

>46 Robertgreaves: I didn't realise it was that old. Before the self publishing days; there were very few post-apoc/dystopian books and this has always been on my to read list when I came across a copy. Finally got around to reading On the Beach last year - published in the same decade - and that was rather heavy hitting in it's finality of the human race, especially with the 50's prose.

>47 Ignatius777: My book club read On the Beach a couple of years ago, and yes it did hit hard

Starting my No. 23, The Haunted Abbot by Peter Tremayne. This ebook is my thirteenth ROOT for 2026. It fits the MysteryKIT and the AlphaKIT.

My review of The Rape of the Lock:

Nice pics, though apparently my copy doesn't have all of Beardsley's illustrations. The poem could have done with some notes, particularly on the game of ombre.

>47 Ignatius777: Downloaded De laatste oever by Nevil Shute just now. I had it somewhere in my gigantic digital book-pile.

Starting the same author's An Ensuing Evil and Others, a collection of short stories, including one featuring Sister Fidelma as my No. 24. This ebook is not a ROOT but fits the MysteryKIT and the AlphaKIT.

My review of The Haunted Abbot:

Brother Botulf, a friend of Brother Eadulf's, asks him to visit the abbey where he lives but when Eadulf and Sister Fidelma arrive at the abbey the attitude of the monks varies from unwelcoming to downright hostile and Botulf has been murdered.

I enjoyed the mystery and the tense, exciting atmosphere very much. I did start to find the usually tolerant Fidelma's attitude of cultural superiority over the Saxons and her contempt for their culture troubling but when eventually Eadulf called her out over it, she dismissed it as an emotional outburst he would soon get over and in fact the press of events forced them to drop the subject and it was never renewed.

Starting the next Sister Fidelma novel, Badger's Moon, as my No. 25. This ebook is not a ROOT but fits the MysteryKIT and the AlphaKIT.

My review of An Ensuing Evil and Others:

A collection of mystery short stories featuring MacBeth, Charles Dickens, Sherlock Holmes, and in the last story Sister Fidelma herself as the detectives. Less well-known detectives were Constable Hardy Drew solving mysteries in and around Shakespeare's Globe theatre, Inspector Ram Jayram in Victorian India, and Dr Fane, solving a murder on board an aircraft.

The stand alone stories worked better - where the same detective appeared in more than one story there was a lot of repetition. On the whole I would not recommend this particular edition - too many missing apostrophes and either hyphens or spaces.

Starting the next in the series, The Leper's Bell as my No. 26. This ebook is not a ROOT but fits the MysteryKIT and the AlphaKIT.

My review of Badger's Moon:

Becc, chieftain of the Cinel na Aeda, sends for Fidelma as there appears to be a serial killer in his lands targetting young girls at the full moon.

An excellent entry in this series. After a very spooky beginning, the investigation got more and more intriguing as different threads wove together and separated. There was one point where I thought something was introduced simply to prolong the action but in fact it was a logical development. Highly recommended. I wasn't intending to read the next one just yet, but we ended on such a cliffhanger I'm forced to carry on.

Starting my No. 27, Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger. This ebook is my fourteenth ROOT for 2026. I'm hoping it will fit the SFFKIT.

My review of The Leper's Bell:

On their return to Cashel, Fidelma and Eadulf find their son's wetnurse has been murdered and their son abducted.

Although I couldn't work out whodunnit, I did manage to recognise most of the red herrings as such and had a pretty good idea of how they were going to play out. The result was my mind did wander quite a bit while I was reading.

Starting the next in the trilogy, Defy or Defend, as my No. 28. This ebook is not a ROOT.

My review of Poison or Protect:

Preshea and Gavin are each sent on a mission to Lord Snodgrove's country estate. But are their missions compatible and are they?

The missions and the main characters' testing each other out were fun but I'm ambivalent about the sex scenes. I suppose that level of detail was necessary for the story and to illuminate their characters but I would still have preferred a fade to black.

Starting my No. 29, The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr. This ebook is my fifteenth ROOT for 2026. It fits the Coloured CoverKIT and the AlphaKIT.

My review of Defy or Defend:

DNF. I've found the author's other works set in a steampunk urban fantasy world very entertaining but although I still appreciate the humour, I found moving the romance to the foreground made this trilogy set in the same universe something of a chore to get through. I managed the first in the trilogy but gave up about a third of the way through the second.

Also reading my No. 30, Buddha by Karen Armstrong. This is my sixteenth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook TBR shelf to 47. I'm reading it now for my book club and it also fits the AlphaKIT.

My review of Buddha:

This Penguin Life is hampered by the fact that we don't actually know a lot about the life of the Buddha, just a few episodes, much embellished by legend to bring out their significance. As a result the author spends a lot of the book describing the social setting and historical epoch that produced him and explaining key features of Buddhism.

There was little in here that I found to be new, just a reminder of names and details here and there. I did find her use of Pali terms mildly irritating in that the Anglicised Sanskrit terms are, I think, better known to the English reader (Nirvana vs Nibbana - no idea how to type the diacritics or how to pronounce them). Having said that, the book's focus on a single figure means it avoids some of the faults of her religious histories I've read, so if you really don't know anything it's probably a good place to start.

Starting my No. 31, The Galactic Gourmet by James White. This ebook is not a ROOT. It fits the RandomKIT.

My review of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers:

After the death of the main mother figure in his life, who was a talented cruciverbalist and founder of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, Clayton Stumper decides to track down his biological parents.

A quick, fun, read which allows the reader to solve the puzzles along with the main character. I declined the invitation with the cryptogrid (a combination substitution code and find the words), though, as I felt it would be doable but tedious. Apart from that, I really enjoyed it.

Starting the next in the series, Final Diagnosis, as my No. 32. This ebook is not a ROOT. It does fit the RandomKIT.

My review of The Galactic Gourmet:

Gurronsevas, the greatest chef in the Galaxy, is appointed as Chief Dietician to Sector General. Unfortunately, running the kitchens of a splendid hotel, however varied its guests, is not quite the same as improving the dining experience of medical personnel and patients in a multi-species hospital.

If "to seek out new life and new civilizations" was more your thing than ray guns and lasers, you can't go wrong with this series set in Sector General Hospital.

Next in the series is Mind Changer as my No. 33. This ebook is not a ROOT. It does fit the RandomKIT.

My review of Final Diagnosis:

Patient Hewlitt has been admitted to Sector General with an unexplained general allergy to all medication, but apart from that he seems to be in peak physical and mental condition. Once and for all, is he a hypochondriac with an overactive imagination or is there something more unsettling at work here?

The medical puzzle was very intriguing and I really liked Patient Hewlett himself, so I hope we see him again in the regrettably few books left in the series. And the habit of the medical personnel addressing and talking about all patients as Patient Name or Registration Number as culturally appropriate and having 'it' as a pronoun for 'sentient but not of my species' were nice touches.

Starting the last in the series, posthumously published as Double Contact, as my No. 34. This ebook is not a ROOT. It does fit the RandomKIT.

My review of Mind Changer:

O'Mara is kicked upstairs with orders to find and train a replacement and then retire. He looks back over some highlights of his career, most of which are new to the reader.

Some intriguing cases, especially the last one with Tunneckis. I am not sure how the series can continue without O'Mara in the background but he certainly went out with a bang and deserves his HEA.

Starting my No. 35, Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw. This ebook is not a ROOT. It fits the DecadesCAT.

My review of Double Contact:

Responding to a distress call, the crew of the space ambulance Rhabwar find themselves having to simultaneously manage two first contact situations where the patients believe they are predators on the hunt.

A fine conclusion to this series. This time the main POV character is Dr Prilicla, one of my favourite characters in the series, who to my surprise turns out to be male although I'd always assumed they were female.

I've enjoyed this series so much I'm tempted to go back and read the whole series again from the beginning.

Starting my No. 36, Samarkand by Amin Maalouf. This ebook is not a ROOT. It fits the CultureCAT.

My review of Androcles and the Lion:

I read the play at school but don't really remember that much about it apart from the gist of the well-known story which forms the basic plot. I don't think we read GBS's preface.

>64 Robertgreaves: I'm a big fan of Maalouf. I hope you enjoy!

>65 Cecilturtle: I'm enjoying it so far. It's the third one of his I've read after Leo Africanus and The Gardens of Light. I'm probably going to re-read The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam

Possible reading for March 2026:

Also reading my No. 37, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam translated and adapted by Edward Fitzgerald. As a re-read from my own shelves this counts as my seventeenth ROOT for 2026.

My review of Samarkand:

The narrator tells the story of Omar Khayyam's own manuscript of his rubaiyat in two parts, the first focussing on Khayyam's life and the first century of the Seljuk empire and the second on Persia in the late 19th and pre-WWI 20th centuries when the country was subject to the machinations of Britain and Russia, both determined that democracy should not take root there.

Both parts were fascinating and given the events of the last few days an unexpectedly timely read.

Starting Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome by Jane Draycott. This ebook is not a ROOT. I am reading it now for my online reading group.

My review of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

A collection of originally independent Persian quatrains as strung together by an English 19th century translator to form a more-or-less coherent development of thought. Eminently quotable in a rather camp way. The academic intro by the editor was a bit of a struggle to get through, though.

Starting my No. 39, The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke. This is my eighteenth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook TBR shelf to 47. It fits the SFFKIT.

My review of Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All The Rules in Ancient Rome:

Although we know more about Fulvia than about most women of late Republican Rome, it still doesn't amount to very much so a lot of the book is generalisations about women of her class and time rather than about Fulvia herself. Tying this in with some sloppy editing or proofreading (a couple of real howlers got through) and a very poor family tree, the book was a disappointment.

>71 Robertgreaves: Ouch. I have seen the book about Fulvia in the bookshops and was tempted. Thanks for taking one for the team.

Starting my No. 40, Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction by Roger Scruton. This is my nineteenth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook TBR shelf to 46. It fits the AlphaKIT and the RandomKIT.

My review of The Sands of Mars:

Journalist flies on the first passenger spaceship's inaugural flight to Mars but when he arrives he realises there are secret plans afoot.

Clarke's first novel is rather slow-paced and at times feels as if it's been padded out from a core short story. Also, although we now know Mars isn't like the way it's shown, it's the changes in social context that stand out far more - not just the lack of female characters but also that Mars seems to be overwhelmingly dominated by the British professional classes. Having said all that, I did still enjoy it as a light read.

Starting my No. 41, The Secret River by Kate Grenville. This book is my twentieth ROOT for 2026. I am reading it for my book club but it also fits the AlphaKIT.

My review of Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction:

DNF. It wasn't really an introduction. I had to go scurrying round the internet to find out what Spinoza meant by "extension" because the book didn't bother to explain. There was also a lot of why the author thinks Spinoza was wrong rather than an explanation of what Spinoza thought.

Starting my No. 42, A Moveable Feast by Jennifer Ashley. This ebook is not a ROOT. It does fit the DecadesCAT and the Coloured CoverKIT.

My review of The Secret River:

In 1806, waterman William Thornhill is caught stealing from a cargo of timber and sentenced to be transported to Australia. His wife volunteers to go with him, taking their young children.

The author has some beautiful descriptions of places and the scenery of London and the early beginnings of Sydney. Unfortunately she didn't seem to be able to bring her characters to life in quite the same way so I found this a bit of a slog to get through.

Starting my No. 43, Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle. This ebook is not a ROOT but will, I hope, fit the ArtsCAT.

My review of A Moveable Feast:

Kate Holloway is told only the day before that she is to take over for the Easter Sunday feast at the house of one of her mistress's friends, whose own cook has been taken ill. As it means transporting everything she's already prepared to the new location, she's not very happy and is even less so when she arrives there.

Enjoyable but fairly run-of-the-mill mystery novella. Some of my favourite characters from this series only get walk-on parts so the description of Victorian cooking is the main feature.

Wow, Robert. You are moving along with some speed. 43 books read in 2,5 months. Not all ROOTs, I know but lots of reading there.

>77 connie53: Thanks for dropping by, Connie. Yes, at the moment I think just under half of my books read are ROOTs.

Starting my No. 44, The World of Null-A/Universe Maker by A. E. Van Vogt. This book is not a ROOT but it fits the SFFKIT and the AlphaKIT.

My review of Bury Your Gays:

Screenwriter Misha Byrne wants the third season of his series to end with the two agents sharing a lesbian kiss but he's been told by the studio that if he does that then he will have to kill them off. A bigger problem is that some of the most horrific of the monsters he has created for films seem to be coming to life and have him in their sights.

I was expecting this to be a lot funnier than it actually was. However, once I'd adjusted my expectations I enjoyed it despite the torture scene (gore I can take, but not torture).

Starting the sequel, The Pawns of Null-A, as my No. 45. This book is my twenty-first ROOT of 2026. It fits the AlphaKIT, the SFFKIT, and the HomeCAT.

My review of The World of Null-A:

When Gilbert Gosseyn tries to register for the Machine's games, he finds out his whole remembered existence is a lie. Can he track down his real identity?

When I first read this as a teenager, I was fascinated by the whole idea of Null-A and wanted to explore the world of General Semantics more but unfortunately in the days before the internet that was more difficult.

Reading it 50+ years on, the ideas are still interesting, but the setting of an interstellar Empire wanting to take over Earth and Venus seems ludicrous and not just because of the advance of astronomical knowledge. It did not help that I kept forgetting which of the characters was on which side in the plotting and counterplotting.

My review of The Pawns of Null-A:

Gilbert Gosseyn learns more about who is controlling events and how the events on Earth and Venus fit in with the wider galactic struggle for power.

Again the whole idea of Null-A was far more interesting than the convoluted plot, which I'm not sure would work, given Gosseyn's powers, anyway.

Starting The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch as my No. 46. This ebook is not a ROOT. It does fit the Coloured CoverKIT.

My review of Universe Maker:

Morton Cargill is involved in a drunk-driving incident in which a woman died shortly before he leaves the US for the Korean War. On his return to the US he finds himself snatched 400 years into the future where the woman's descendant will have the chance to witness his execution in compensation for the generational trauma she has been a victim of.

I probably read this when I was going through my Van Vogt phase but I have no memory of it. It wraps the time loop up well but it feels like a rough outline for a much longer book.

Starting my No. 47, Tales from Shakespeare by Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb, which I am going to read as a combination ebook and audiobook. This is my twenty-second ROOT of 2026. It fits the RandomKIT and as I will still be reading it next month it also fits the DecadesCAT since it was first published in 1807.

Also reading my No. 48, Christmas at Candleshoe by Michael Innes. This is my twenty-third ROOT of 2026. It fits the Coloured CoverKIT.

My review of The Sea, The Sea:

Charles Arrowby retires from his life as a director, playwright, and actor to an isolated house by the sea, where he starts journalling what may turn into a memoir or autobiography. Although he's hoping for a quiet life, figures from his past and his own self-delusions ensure that it is anything but.

From the beginning the descriptions of the natural world of weather, sea, land, and wildlife and plants and the cataloguing of meals (written in the 1970s but you just know that given the chance he would be taking photos of every meal) really drew me in.

And then other people started appearing. First came Lizzie, whose preliminary letter left me feeling exhausted and dreading what she would be like in person. Then Arrowby's first love appears and the extent of his self-delusion soon becomes apparent. Yes, he wants to rescue her from what he sees as an abusive marriage, but, really, let the poor woman get a word in edgeways.

It inevitably all ends badly but even worse than I would have predicted. There were certain passages which seemed familiar so I might have read it a long time ago but forgotten most of it.

Starting my No. 49, The Gay Phoenix by Michael Innes. This ebook is not a ROOT.

My review of Christmas at Candleshoe:

Touring the south of England, American Grant Feathers and his mother arrive at decrepit Candleshoe Manor only to find that they may be involved in a seige.

The denizens of Candleshoe Manor have an even less secure connection with the present day than is often the case with Innes's other eccentrics, which made the beginning and end of the book very funny. I was literally laughing out loud. The action in the central part, on the other hand, felt rather cursory - almost as if Innes had had some great ideas for characters but wasn't quite sure what to do with them.

Starting my No. 50, The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis. This is my twenty-fourth ROOT of 2026 and brings the treebook TBR shelf to 43 books. I'm reading it now for my online reading group. It can serve as a bridge between March and April since it fits the March DecadesCAT (set in AD 89) and the April MysteryKIT (stars a PI aka private informer).

My review of The Gay Phoenix:

When brothers Charles and Arthur Povey run into a storm while sailing across the Pacific, Charles is killed and Arthur concussed by a falling mast. When he comes to, Arthur decides to throw the much wealthier Charles's body overboard and impersonate him. Easy enough to do when he lands in Australia but can he keep it up in the UK where he may meet people who know them well enough to tell them apart?

It was entertaining but I definitely felt tropes were being recycled from Innes's earlier books.

Possible reading for April 2026:

Starting the second in the series, Enemies At Home, as my No. 51. As a re-read this ebook is my twenty-fifth ROOT for 2026.

My review of The Ides of April repeated from last time I read it (in 2014).

Next up as my No. 52 is The Spook Who Spoke Again, which I remember as the funniest of the series. This ebook is my twenty-sixth of 2026.

My review of Enemies At Home from 2017:

Leaping ahead for my No. 53 to one in this series I haven't read but I have had long enough for it to count as my twenty-seventh ROOT of 2026, The Grove of the Caesars.

My review of The Spook Who Spoke Again (from 2017):

Starting my No. 54, A Full Plate by Kim Fielding. This ebook is not a ROOT but does fit the AlphaKIT and the HomeCAT.

My review of The Grove of the Caesars:

A serial rapist/killer is haunting Caesar's Transtiberine Gardens, where Flavia Albia's husband's building firm is clearing out a disused grotto. The workers find a cache of buried scrolls but are they genuine ancient works?

The main case kept me interested even though I found the secondary case of the forged scrolls less engaging, mainly because I kept forgetting who was who amongst the scroll dealers and their connections.

Starting my No. 55, Defekt by Nino Cipri, which I hope will fit the SFFKIT. This ebook is not a ROOT.

My review of A Full Plate:

Tully agrees to take on Sage, a colleague's cousin, as a flatmate in exchange for cooking and light cleaning. Could this proximity lead to something more? Not if Eddie, Tully's ex, has anything to say about it.

It started off rather bland but got a bit more interesting as the guys' backgrounds were explored. It wasn't terrible, but even so I'm not rushing out to find more the author's work.

Starting my No. 56, The Amazons by Adrienne Mayor. This ebook is not a ROOT. It fits the Coloured CoverKIT and the NonFictionCAT.

My review of Defekt:

An IKEA-esque store which contains wormholes leading to alternative worlds is infested with defekta - household goods that have come alive. Can a crack team of exterminators get rid of them?

Enjoyable but not quite as good as the first one in the series. I'd still like to read any further installments.

Also reading my No. 57, Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar. This ebook is not a ROOT but it fits the Coloured CoverKIT and the AlphaKIT.

>93 Robertgreaves: That sounds really cute! I look forward to your review.

Starting my No. 58, Saturnalian Gifts by Ashley Gardner. This ebook is not a ROOT.

My review of Four Eids and a Funeral:

Tiwa and Said lose contact and grow estranged when Said goes away to a boarding school. Can the rift between them be bridged as they work together to help save their town's Islamic Centre?

Since, as per their Wikipedia bios, neither of the authors seems to have any connection with the US, I'm not sure why this book is set in Vermont. Some OK rom, not a lot of com. Meh.

Starting my No. 59, Plato: A Very Short Introduction by Julia Annas. This is my twenty-eighth ROOT of 2026.

My review of Saturnalian Gifts:

Nero tasks Leonidas and Cassia with tracking down a pickpocket who has robbed a senator at the Games.

A disappointing novella which shows up the author's lack of research into the setting and has a twist ending which is too obviously based on O Henry's "Gift of the Magi".

Starting my No. 60, The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. This is my twenty-ninth ROOT of 2026. It fits the AlphaKIT.

My review of Plato: A Very Short Introduction:

A good overview of Plato's works, stressing that Plato was trying to inculcate a method or approach rather than to establish dogmas and thus we shouldn't let the inconsistencies between one dialogue and another bother us too much.

Starting my No. 61, The Ampersand Papers by Michael Innes. This is my thirtieth ROOT of 2026 and brings the treebook TBR shelf to 41. It fits the Coloured CoverKIT, the AlphaKIT, and the RandomKIT.

My review of The Chrysalids (slightly adapted from when I read it during the pandemic):

A group of telepathic children grow up in a post apocalyptic society where genetic purity and the eradication of mutants are primary values.

Well paced picture of David becoming more aware of the nature of his society and the danger he is in as he grows up. The chase had its exciting moments, though I had forgotten the Sealander's speech about the evolutionary process.

My review of The Amazons:

Did stories of Amazons reflect growing Greek awareness of steppe dwellers, who, archaeology tells us, followed a horse-based nomadic lifestyle where both women and men could function as warriors and rulers?

The first half was very dry and although it was written in connected prose, the information could just as well have been presented in the form of lists of excavated tombs, their occupants, and the accompanying objects, and parallel features from stories about Amazons.

The second half, which moved from the Hellenistic West all the way Eastward to China exploring both written and oral legends and history, was more interesting.

Although the author doesn't make it explicit, the book does give the reader much to think about in terms of how social factors influence gender roles.

Starting my No. 62, The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith. This is my thirty-first ROOT for 2026 and brings the TBR shelf to 40. It fits the MysteryKIT.

My review of The Ampersand Papers:

Having arrived too early for an appointment, Appleby is killing time by taking a stroll on a beach beneath some cliffs, when Dr Sutch plummets to the ground in front of him amidst the ruins of a staircase. An unfortunate accident or deliberate sabotage?

A superb example of Innes's penchant for half-witted, if not completely dotty, aristos. I didn't come close to solving this one and yet the ending felt rather perfunctory.

>100 Robertgreaves: This is my favorite title in the series.

Starting my No. 63 Eucalyptus by Murray Bail. This ebook is my thirty-second ROOT for 2026. I am reading it now for my book club.

My review of The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon:

Mma Ramotswe is running the detective agency by herself because Mma Makutsi is on maternity leave. She has two cases, one involving the claimant to a inheritance who may or may not be an imposter, and the other involving the titular beauty salon, whose owner is being subjected to poison-pen leaflets and a whispering campaign.

Always a pleasure to visit Botswana in these stories which remain gentle despite the sometimes very dark back stories.

I've enjoyed the Mma Ramotswe books too, 17 of them by my count now, and it is always a pleasure to visit Botswana in the books. I have not seen the TV series. He's definitely a prolific author!

>102 Robertgreaves: I feel the same about this series - always a gentle and lovely way to spend a couple of hours.

Congrats on reading so many roots! I've enjoyed the Ladies Detective series, too.

>104 Jackie_K: >105 kaida46: Thanks for dropping by Jackie and Deb.

Starting my No. 64, Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald. This ebook is not a ROOT. It fits the AlphaKIT.

My review of Eucalyptus:

Holland claims to have an example of every eucalypt species in his grounds and offers his daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who can recognise and name all of them.

Each of the 39 chapter headings is the name of a eucalypt species but since all I know is that koalas eat the leaves and get high and they produce an oil which is good for stuffed up noses, the headings really didn't help orientate me and for most of the book, I felt I needed all the help I could get. Some beautiful prose which didn't really convey any meaning a lot of the time. If the book hadn't been for book club I doubt I would have persevered beyond the first page or two.

Happy World Book Day everybody.

In honour of the occasion, also reading my No. 65, The Christmas Present and Other Stories by Grazia Deledda. This ebook is not a ROOT. It fits the AlphaKIT.

My review of The Christmas Present and Other Stories:

1930 collection of slice-of-life stories and vignettes from a Nobel Prize winner, set in Sardinia. An enjoyable, easy read.

Starting my No. 65, The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. This ebook is my thirty-third ROOT for 2026. I'm hoping it fits the ARTCAT.

My review of Offshore:

Mildly engaging look at the lives of a group of people living on houseboats on Battersea Reach.

It was OK, but then just as it looked as if various threads might develop in interesting ways the author dispersed the characters and the book stopped.

Starting my No. 66, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. This is my thirty-fourth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook shelf to 39. It fits the AlphaKIT.

My review of The Personal Librarian:

A fictionalised biography of Belle Da Costa Greene, the personal librarian of J. P. Morgan and the first director of the Pierpoint Morgan Library and Museum.

A fascinating read after a somewhat shaky start but even so I felt the book was doing Miss Greene a dis-service although I can't really put my finger on why.

Illustrations or at least links to the artworks and books being discussed would have been nice.

Starting my No. 67 (should be 68), The Porpoise by Mark Haddon. This is my thirty-fifth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook shelf to 38. It fits the AlphaKIT and the Coloured CoverKIT.

My review of The Five People You Meet in Heaven:

Eddie (I don't think we were ever told his surname), the maintenance man for a fairground was killed saving a little girl from an accident on one of the rides. In the afterlife he meets five people who had a major effect on his life who now explain why things happened the way they did and help him heal from his traumas.

This sweet parable was a quick and enjoyable read.

Possible reading for May:

Post-splurge thread is here