Kerry's (CDVicarage) Thread for 2026 - year 16

It has not been a good start to the year. I had hoped to set up a thread in the empty days between Christmas and New Year but instead I was laid low by a nasty cough/cold bug and didn’t feel up to doing anything, although I did manage to do some reading. I’m still not completely recovered but I think I can string some sentences together.
Last year was a good reading year for me in terms of quantity, in terms of quality all my five star reads were re-reads but there were some 4½ star books and plenty of 4 star books. Amongst the three and two star reads there were some disappointments, sometimes because I had expected more but sometimes because I just didn’t ‘get’ them. This was often because of cultural differences – I’m British so many of the nuances of books set in America and Japan escaped me.
My user name reflects my address when I joined LibraryThing and, although I've moved house twice since then I haven't changed it. I now live in Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, famous these days as the birthplace of Harry Styles. It feels fairly amazing that this is my sixteenth year in this group and I shall mark my nineteenth Thingaversary in May. When I imported my Excel file into LibraryThing it was just for more efficient cataloguing, I had no interest in the social side at all. Well that soon changed!

January reading:

1. Murder Under the Sun, 1st January
2. Murder at Martingale Manor, read by Zara Ramm, 2nd January
3. The Black Wolf, 2nd January
4. The Eights, 4th January
5. The Thirteen Days of Christmas, 6th January
6. The Private Side of Friendship, 7th January
7. News from Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, 8th January
8. Marble Hall Murders, 11th January
9. Out of Time, read by Zara Ramm, 12th January
10. Battles at Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, 15th January
11. Return to Thrush Green, 17th January
12. Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife, 23rd January
13. Love in the Time of Bertie, read by David Rintoul, 24th January
14. Just One Damned Thing after Another, read by Zara Ramm, 24th January
15. Gossip from Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, 28th January
16. Thrush Green, read by June Barrie, 28th January
17. Births, Deaths and Marriages, 29th January

Abandoned: Isabella's Not Dead, 14th January
The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop, 22nd January

February:

18. A Symphony of Echoes, read by Zara Ramm, 2nd February
19. When a Child is Born, read by Zara Ramm, 2nd February
20. Affairs at Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, 3rd February
21. A Second Chance, read by Zara Ramm, 6th February
22. Roman Holiday, read by Zara Ramm, 7th February
23. At Home in Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, 11th February
24. A Trail Through Time, read by Zara Ramm, 12th February
25. Christmas Present, read by Zara Ramm, 12th February
26. The School at Thrush Green, 13th February
27, You Are Here, 13th February
28. Private Enterprise, 13th February
29. A Trap for Catherine, 13th February
30. No Time Like the Past, read by Zara Ramm, 18th February
31. Friends at Thrush Green, read by Zara Ramm, 19th February
32. Meet the Newmans, 22nd February
33. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, read by Zara Ramm, 23rd February
34. Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings, read by Zara Ramm, 23rd February
35. Celebrations at Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, 24th February
36. Lies, Damned Lies and History, read by Zara Ramm, 26th February
37. The Great St Mary's Day Out, read by Zara Ramm, 26th February
38. The Year at thrush Green, 26th February
39. Murder at Mallowan Hall, 28th February
40. The Very First Damn Thing, read by Zara Ramm, 28th February

Abandoned:
The Wind Knows My Name, 4th February
In My Life: a music memoir, 4th February
Giant's Bread, 24th February

March:

41. The Wish, 1st March
42. And the Rest Is History, read by Zara Ramm, 4th March
43. A Perfect Storm, read by Zara Ramm, 4th March
44. Love Among the Ruins, 5th March
45. Christmas Past, read by Zara Ramm, 6th March
46. The Battersea Barricades, read by Zara Ramm, 7th March
47. The Old Bank House, 9th March
48. County Chronicle, 11th March
49. The Duke's Daughter, 13th March
50. Frederica, read by Joe Jameson, 14th March
51. An Argumentation of Historians, read by Zara Ramm, 14th March
52. The Steam Pump Jump, read by Zara Ramm, 14th March
53. Appointment with Venus, 14th March
54. Ripeness, 19th March
55. Hope For The Best, read by Zara Ramm, 19th March
56. A Problem for the Chalet School, 19th March
57. The Enigma of Garlic, read by David Rintoul, finished 20th March
58. Why Is Nothing Ever Simple?, read by Zara Ramm, 20th March
59. Funny Thing, Getting Older: And Other Reflections, 21st March
60. Plan For the Worst, read by Zara Ramm, 25th March
61. The Ordeal of the Haunted Room, read by Zara Ramm, 26th March
62. The Other Bennett Sister, 26th March
63. Happy Return, 29th March
64. Jutland Cottage, 30th March

April:

65. The Warden, read by Timothy West, 1st April
66. Another Time, Another Place, read by Zara Ramm, 2nd April
67. The Toast of Time, read by Zara Ramm, 3rd April
68. The New Mistress at the Chalet School, 3rd April
69. What Did It mean?, 5th April
70. Slightly Foxed 85: A Matter of Compression, 5th April
71. A Catalogue of Catastrophe, read by Zara Ramm, 6th April
72. Devil's Cub, read by Michael Maloney, 9th April
73. Enter Sir Robert, 9th April
74. Never Too Late, 14th April
75. The Good, the Bad and the History, read by Zara Ramm, 14th April
76. Christmas Pie, read by Zara Ramm, 16th April
77. Lights! Camera! Mayhem!, read by Zara Ramm, 17th April
78. Back To School, 17th April
79. The Corinthian, read by Georgina Sutton, 18th April
80. A Double Affair, 20th April
81. Close Quarters, 21st April
82. Doing Time, read by Zara Ramm, 25th April
83. Village School, read by Phyllida Nash, 28th April
84. Love at All Ages, 28th April
85. Hard Time, read by Zara Ramm, 29th April

May:

86. Saving Time, read by Zara Ramm, 3rd May
87. Three Score and Ten, 4th May
88. Blue Sisters, 6th May
89. About Time, read by Zara Ramm, 8th May
90. Village Diary, read by Gwen Watford, 9th May
91. Santa Grint, read by Zara Ramm, 9th May
92. A Dangerous Train of Thought, 10th May
93. Killing Time, read by Zara Ramm, 15th May
94. The Great Western Beach, 16th May
95. Bookish: A Love Letter to Reading, 20th May
96. Storm in the Village & The Fairacre Festival, read by June Barrie, 21st May
97. The Chalet School in Peril, 22nd May
98. Goodbye Mog, 23rd May
99. The Abbey Girls Go Back to School, 24th May
100. Square Haunting, 25th May
101. The Ambermere Treasure, 28th May
102. A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, 31st May

June:

103. Excitements at the Chalet School, 1st June
104. The Riddle of the Sands, read by Anton Lesser, 2nd June
105. Ancestors, 2nd June
106. When the Cranes Fly South, 3rd June
107. What Katy Did at School, 3rd June
108. The Best of Intentions, 5th June
109. Sarum, read by Roger Davis, unfinished 7th June
110. Answer in the Negative, 8th June
111. Happier Here With You, 10th June
112. A Trace of Poison, 11th June
113. The Second Sleep, 12th June
114. Murder by Invitation Only, 12th June
115. The Stellar Debut of Galactica MacFee, read by David Rintoul, 13th June
116. The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records, 13th June
117. Murder Takes the Stage, 13th June
118. Two Truths and a Murder, 14th June
119. Woodspring, 15th June
120. Who Let the Gods Out?, 16th June
121. Bertie's Theory of Ice Cream, read by David Rintoul, 21st June
122. Little Women, 21st June
123. Summer on the Italian Lakes, 23rd June
124. Tyler's Row, read by Gwen Watford, 26th June
125. The Life Impossible, 26th June
126. The Thirty-One Kings, 28th June
127. Breakfast in Bed, 30th June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Although I haven't been posting for a while I have managed to read through your threads - for quite a while you were all wishing each other Happy New Year - but real conversations are now beginning which, of course require more effort! I'm sure I'm not alone in suffering from ill health but I hope you are all doing well now and I can add my wishes for a Happy New Year to all my readers!

New Year greetings from Kuala Lumpur. My project is at least physically completed and an addition to the city scape.

Look forward to keeping up with you in 2026, Kerry.

I am relieved that you are feeling a lot better. I was a bit worried that you weren't coming to the party!

Welcome back!

I'm glad you are back--and that you are feeling better! I think a lot of us come down with things around the holidays--even when we tried to avoid the "crud." I'm trying really hard to stay on top of LibraryThing this year. I'll see how it goes.

Happy new year/thread, Kerry!

Happy new year! I wish you a healthy 2026 filled with lots of good readings.
Here in Switzerland, the flu epidemic also peaked over the festive season. I hope you'll be back on your feet soon. Get well soon and take care of yourself. 🍯🫖

Thank you >15 PaulCranswick:, Paul, >16 drneutron:, Jim, >17 thornton37814:, Lori, >18 quondame:, Susan and >19 Ameise1:, Barbara for your welcoming wishes. I haven't yet commented on your threads - and I've completely missed Paul's first one! - but I will be going round over the next week or so, I hope.

Unfortunately, as well as my temporary poor health we are dealing with my mother's failing health. She had small stroke just over a year ago and, although she seemed to recover well, it left her lacking in confidence in her abilities. We have had some cold and wet weather recently which makes her unwilling to go out much, which then makes her bored, lonely and depressed. Normally I see her or speak to her everyday but not when I was unwell and she seemed to do nothing, including not eating during that time. The less she does and goes out, the less she wants to do and go out, which is downward spiral. She has agreed that we should consult her GP but she already said 'I don't want/need it' when I suggest she might benefit from physiotherapy or from having help in the house or with personal care so I forsee difficult times ahead. She will probably accept the doctor's advice where she won't take mine - after all, I'm only her daughter!

>20 CDVicarage: Sorry to hear about your mum, Kerry. I will keep both of you in my thoughts and prayers.

Since the beginning of the year I've finished seven titles:

1. Murder Under the Sun, finished 1st January.

2. Murder at Martingale Manor, read by Zara Ramm, finished 2nd January. This was a swift re-read as I finished the print version after Christmas.

3. The Black wolf, finished 2nd January.

4. The Eights, finished 4th January.

5. The Thirteen Days of Christmas, finished 6th January.

6. The Private Side of Friendship, finished 7th January.

7. News from Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, finished 8th January.

Quite a good start to the reading year - eight titles finished in the first ten days: one paper book, four ebooks and two audiobooks. Four titles were new to me and four were re-reads. Although I like to re-read books I would like to keep the new-to-me titles at more than fifty percent over the year ahead.

>22 CDVicarage: I think I've only read one or two in this series. Not sure when I'll make it to the next one.

>24 CDVicarage: I really didn't like The Grey Wolf that well, and I don't expect I'll like this one any better.

Happy New Year, Kerry. I hope 2026 is good to you and yours. You are having a good start to the year, reading wise.

I don't like the thriller turn to the Three Pines books either. These last two were so over the top.

Not surprised Kerry that you have made a great reading start. This week?

Stopping by to say hi, Kerry. I am glad you enjoyed The Eights. That was a DNF for me last year as it seemed not much was happening.

This cold bug has been very debilitating and I still haven't completely shaken it off. My mother is improving but still needs quite a lot of attention so I haven't got back into regular things like my LT reports. The 1st of February seems a promising day to restart life - fingers crossed it continues!

Ten titles finished since my last update:

8. Marble Hall Murders, finished 11th January.

9. Out of Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 12th January.

10. Battles at Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, finished 15th January.

11. Return to Thrush Green, finished 17th January.

12. Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife, finished 23rd January.

13. Love in the Time of Bertie, read by David Rintoul, finished 24th January.

14. Just One Damned Thing After Another, read by Zara Ramm, finished 24th January.

15. Gossip from Thrush green, read by Gwen Watford, finished 28th January.

16. Thrush Green, read by June Barrie, finished 28th January.

17. Births, Deaths and Marriages, finished 29th January.

I've pruned my Currently Reading collection - it's now 'only' 43 titles - but I think there are a few more which will shortly be abandoned. Unfortunately, although I have several (many) titles on the go there is nothing that I am really keen to read, which makes it too easy to start a new book before I have finished one.

I have been knitting again, which means I can listen to an audiobook at the same time and don't need to restrict myself to those audiobooks which are suitable for bedtime reading. My grandson, Toby, is very keen on jigsaw puzzles at the moment and wants to do large ones, so we are working our way through the 1,000 piece ones available from the library. Fortunately he doesn't insist on putting in every piece himself so I am able to work on them between his visits - and can listen to an audiobook, too.

I forgot to do a monthly round-up earlier.

I finished seventeen titles in January, which doesn't seem many given that the month must have been well over one hundred days long!
Only one paper book, eight ebooks and eight audiobooks. Nine titles were new to me and the other eight were re-reads.
I also abandoned two titles, and removed several books, which were part-read, from my Currently Reading collection but with the intention of (probably) going back to them in the future.

Hello Kerry, I'm sorry to hear that this virus has weakened you so much. The same thing happened to me two years ago. It took me almost eight weeks to feel fit again. Get well soon, take care of yourself and don't push yourself too hard.

Hope you're feeling more the thing, Kerry!

I hope you enjoy Murder at Mallowan Hall, Kerry. I think you will.

Here we are, nearly at the end of February, and I haven't reported on anything I've read this month yet. I've finished ten titles so far, of which eight have been audiobooks, which is a much higher proportion that usual, and abandoned two titles.

A Symphony of Echoes, read by Zara Ramm, finished 2nd February.

When a Child is Born, read by Zara Ramm, finished 2nd February.

Affairs at Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, finished 3rd February.

A Second Chance, read by Zara Ramm, finished 6th February.

Roman Holiday, Read by Zara Ramm, finished 7th February

At Home in Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, finished 11th February.

A Trail Through Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 12th February.

Christmas Present, read by Zara Ramm, finished 12th february

The School at Thrush Green, finished 13th February. No audio version available for this title so read in print.

Private Enterprise, finished 13th Febraury.

Two abandoned titles:

The Wind Knows my name. This was a bookgroup choice and I wasn't really keen to read it anyway. Although on an important subject, it read more like non-fiction than a novel, the plot felt contrived and I didn't engage with the characters.

In my Life: a music memoir. This was quite interesting but covered much of the same ground as his autobigraphies, which I had already read so I didn't feel inclined to continue to the end.

Having just checked my Currently Reading collection I discovered another title I'd finished:

You Are Here, finished 13th February.

And yet more:

A Trap for Catherine, finished 13th February.

No Time Like the Past, read by Zara Ramm, finished 18th February.

Friends at Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, finished 19th February.

I finished nine titles this week, although several were short stories - three ebooks and six audiobooks:

Meet the Newmans, finished 22nd February.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, read by Zara Ramm, finished 23rd February.

Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings, read by Zara Ramm, finished 23rd February.

Celebrations at Thrush Green, read by Gwen Watford, finished 24th February.

Lies, Damned Lies and History, read by Zara Ramm, finished 26th February.

The Great St Mary's Day Out, read by Zara Ramm, finished 26th February.

The Year at Thrush Green, finished 26th February. I read this in print as I didn't like the reader of the audio version I have.

Murder at Mallowan Hall, finished 28th February.

The Long and Short of It, Read by Zara Ramm, finished 28th February. Two stories from this: The Very First Damned Thing and My Name is Markham.

I'm worried that I'm becoming parochial in my outlook as I'm increasingly having trouble with books not set in Britain or written by British writers. I always feel I'm missing things when the books are set in 'foreign' (to me) settings and cultures. If the setting is historical I can cope better but contemporary or recent settings often leave me confused or unsure. British cultural references convey a lot of unspoken information to me - names, places and types of accomodation, food eaten, transport for instance, give me an idea of a character's likely social position and other features, but I don't get the same information from an American- or Japanese-set story (for instance). In some ways it isn't an issue - there are plenty of unread British books for me to read in the years left to me, but I still don't want to miss out on 'foreign' books that are recommended here.

I finished twenty four titles in February (some were short stories) and abandoned three titles. Of those I finished one was a paper book, six were ebooks and seventeen were audiobooks. Only five were new to me.

March is starting well with five titles (including two short stories) finished this week.

The Wish, finished 1st march.

And the Rest Is History, read by Zara Ramm, finished 4th March.

A Perfect Storm, read by Zara Ramm, finished 4th March.

Love Among the Ruins, finished 5th March.

The Battersea Barricades, read by Zara Ramm, finished 7th March.

>79 CDVicarage: They are patronising and demanding of the 'lower orders', I think that’s the reason I only ever read one book in this series!

>81 SandDune: Same here. In fact, I couldn't even make it to the end of the first book. I tried this series because I love Trollope. Even though he has his prejudices, I think he was even a bit more open-minded.

>81 SandDune:, >82 kac522: While agreeing with what you say I am finding them strangely compulsive! There are large chunks in most books that I read with gritted teeth but the bits in between and a lot of the characters are very entertaining, if not to be taken at all seriously.

I am certainly not consistent with how I react to authors' real characters and whether I will or will not read a book by someone of whom I strongly disapprove. Similarly in some books I can read through aspects of life, history, character that I don't like and enjoy the bits in beteween. I often enjoy 'Ripping Yarns' but dislike the sexism, classism, imperialism etc usually contained therein.
Angela Thirkell's books are, for me, in that position of being dated but will fairly soon be historical, which also changes my viewpoint. When I read Longbourn, which I didn't particularly care for, I was quite shocked at the idea that Jane Austen was uncaring towards her servant characters. Austen was writing for the time and the unwritten parts would have been understood by her comtemporary readers in a way that we don't today and I feel Thirkell was in the same position - she wrote for people like her, who probably held the same views!

A busy reading week with seven titles finished (some were short stories) and I have a review from a title I forgot to include from last week:

Christmas Past, read by Zara Ramm, finished 6th March.

The Old Bank House, finished 9th March.

County Chronicle, finished 11th March.

The Duke's Daughter, finished 13th March.

Frederica, read by Joe Jameson, finished 14th March.

An Argumentation of Historians, read by Zara Ramm, finished 14th March.

The Steam Pump Jump, read by Zara Ramm, finished 14th March.

Appointment with Venus, finished 14th March.

Six titles finished this week:

Ripeness, finished 19th March.

Hope for the Best, read by Zara Ramm, finished 19th March.

A Problem for the Chalet School, finished 19th March.

The Enigma of Garlic, read by David Rintoul, finished 20th March.

Why is Nothing Ever Simple?, read Zara Ramm, finished 20th March.

Funny Thing, Getting Older: And Other Reflections, finished 21st March.

Only four titles finished this week, including one short story:

Plan for the Worst, read by Zara Ramm, finished 25th March.

The Ordeal of the Haunted Room, read by Zara Ramm, finished 26th March.

The Other Bennett Sister, finished 26th March.

Happy Return, finished 29th March.

Five titles finished this week:

Jutland Cottage, finished 30th March.

The Warden, read by Timothy West, finished 1st April.

Another Time, Another Place, read by Zara Ramm, finished 2nd April.

The Toast of Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 3rd April.

The New Mistress at the Chalet school, finished 3rd April.

I finished twenty four titles during March: three paper books, nine ebooks and twelve audiobooks. Six of the audiobooks were short stories but that's still quite a high number for audio reading this month. No books abandoned this month!

I'm nearly up to 75 and will probably get there in April as I have two short holidays and several long journeys planned.

>103 CDVicarage: Ahh, I love Mr Harding and his "air" cello--one of my favorite characters in all of Trollope.

>108 kac522: Some years ago @Lyzard tutored us through the whole of the Barchester and Palliser series and I enjoyed them very much and I loved the TV adaptation (from the 80s?) with Donald Pleasence as Mr Harding, Nigel Hawthorne as the Archdeacon and Alan Rickman as Obadiah Slope. The audiobooks are all read by Timothy West whose reading suits the conversational style of Anthony Trollope's writing.

>109 CDVicarage: Yes, I do miss Liz. Unfortunately, I didn't find the Trollope reads with Liz until The Eustace Diamonds, but stayed with them from then on. I actually own that TV adaptation, which I originally borrowed from the library, but then found a used one at a library sale and felt very, very lucky! Alan Rickman was SO perfect as Mr Slope!

>108 kac522: & >109 CDVicarage: Have we had any update about Liz? I am another who misses her unique presence in the group.

Hope you have a splendid weekend, Kerry.

>111 PaulCranswick: Haven't heard anything, Paul.

>112 kac522: Troubling, isn't it?

>113 PaulCranswick: Very. I kept up with her thread and noticed within a week or two from her last post on her 2024 75ers thread, which I think was in March, 2024: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356481

I've had nearly three weeks away from LT, although I have followed the threads as much as I can. I first had five days in Tenerife with most of my family - daughter Clare, son Andrew, son-in-law, Richard and grandson Toby (now 5 years old). It was both relaxing and hectic - there was a five year old involved. The weather was just right - warm and sunny but not too hot - the accommodation was comfortable and eating and drinking was both quite cheap and good. Our flights went smoothly - no hold-ups going through security and passport control.
I got back just as my sister came up to visit, so enjoyed some local trips out with her and my mother. I then went back to stay with my sister for a few days. She lives next to the New Forest and the seaside and we had a few days of warmish sunny weather. I then had a lovely long train journey home. So, I have done a lot of reading but nothing 'heavy' or serious, it's all been quite light.

In the last three weeks I've finished fourteen titles, mostly in two different series:

What Did It Mean?, finished 5th April.

Slightly Foxed 85, finished 5th April.

A Catalogue of Catastrophe, read by Zara Ramm, finished 6th April.

Devil's Cub, read by Michael Maloney, finished 9th April.

Enter Sir Robert, finished 9th April.

Never Too Late, finished 14th April.

The Good, the Bad and the History, read by Zara Ramm, finished 14th April.

Christmas Pie, read by Zara Ramm, finished 16th April.

Lights! Camera! Mayhem!, read by Zara Ramm, finished 17th April.

Back to School, finished 17th April.

The Corinthian, read by Georgina Sutton, finished 18th April.

A Double Affair, finished 20th April.

Close Quarters, finished 21st April.

Doing Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 25th April.

We love so many of the same authors! Heyer, Thirkell, Taylor . . And I adore Zara Ram as a reader, can't resist her reading of the Time books. I'll have to go check out the latest, Lights! Camera! Mayhem!

Thanks so much for stopping by my thread now and then.

Four titles finished this week and still more audiobooks than print, which is unusual.

Village School, read by Phyllida Nash, finished 28th April.
This has been my bedtime book - suitably familiar and easy for falling asleep to!

Love at All Ages, finished 28th April. I'm quite sorry that this series is coming to an end, even though at one stage I decided I might not continue.

Hard Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 29th April.

Saving Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 3rd May.

April Reading:

I finished twenty-one titles this month, passing my first '75'. Three were paper books, six were ebooks and twelve were audiobooks. This preponderance of audiobooks is unusual but at the moment my lifestyle seems to accommodate daytime listening. I have been working my way through the audio versions of The Chronicles of St Mary's and the Time Police books and some of them are short stories rather than full novels, so that has increased my numbers. In print I have been working my way through the Barsetshire Books and have now reached the 29th (and final) book - Three Score and Ten. At about book fifteen I began to dislike the series - Angela Thirkell very much disliked the post-war Labour government and showed it but, either I got used to her opinions, or things improved when the government changed in 1951, I began to like the stories again and want to know more about the characters. I particularly enjoyed the Happy Endings that most characters got. I didn't expect to re-read the series but it is so long since I started it - thirteen years! - that I think I might revisit the first books to remind myself about the original happenings.

>135 CDVicarage: Congratulations on 75! Your first is great!

Congrats on reaching the magic number, Kerry!

Well done for passing 75 already, Kerry.

>136 quondame:, >137 MickyFine:, >138 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Susan, Micky and Paul. I feel a bit of a fraud as quite a few of the 75 were short stories or easy re-reads!

Anyway, I finished, or almost finished, five titles this week:

Three Score and Ten, finished 4th May.

Blue Sisters, finished 6th May.

About Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 8th May.

A Dangerous Train of Thought, finished 10th May.

I'm approaching my birthday and my 19th Thingaversary so I have been considering books to buy to mark the occasion(s).

So far I have added:
Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age, in ebook format
Enlightenment, in ebook format
A Countryman's Spring Notebook and A Countryman's Summer Notebook, in paper format
The Chalet school in Peril, in paper format
The Tiger in the Well, in ebook format
and I have taken out a subscription to The Bookwormery - Lucy Mangan's 'bookish bits and bookish pieces' Substack

All of which is, I feel, plenty to be going on with but there will be more...

A slower week with only two titles finished, but I also have a title I missed earler to include:

Village Diary, read by Gwen Watford, finished 8th May.

Now this week's reading:

Killing Time, read by Zara Ramm, finished 15th May.

The Great Western Beach, finished 16th May.

My Currently Reading collection is out of control again - it contains 42 titles. I am really reading about half of them - on and off - and dipping into others - mostly non-fiction - from time to time. I'm trying to make a decision about re-starting some, for instance I started reading, (and got nearly half-way through) The Pillars of the Earth about three years ago - can I remember enough of the plot to go on now or do I need to remind myself of the beginning? It's about 1,000 pages long so it's a bit daunting. There are also some ER books that I must read and review but none of them seems as attractive as when I chose them...

And, as I noted above I am buying new books for my approaching Thingaversary, so I don't think the problem is going to go away.

>146 CDVicarage: I loved that one. I need to seek out the sequel and maybe The Far Cry.

>147 CDVicarage: I am Currently Reading too many books and I relate to what you say about forgetting the start before finishing a book. A few years ago I just worked my way through a lot of half read story anthologies and a crime trilogy omnibus edition, beginning again from the start - it took ages, reading alongside other books over a period of years. Then during COVID I somehow made very little progress with anything I was reading for 6 months and gradually built up my reading again from September.

Maybe if you really want to read a book start it again and see how it goes, because for a really big book like Pillars of the Earth (that I've never read!) I think you are more likely to enjoy it if you can still remember the beginning - I definitely would forget far too much over 3 years. Or give yourself permission to just give up for now, and come back to books you still want to read and start again, when you want to.

I should take my own advice.

>149 elkiedee: Thanks, Luci, good advice! I have finished a few titles this week - more than I have started - and I have been continuing some of my long-term reads so I may be reducing the Currently Reading collection gradually.

Four titles finished this week:

Bookish: A Love Letter to Reading, finished 20th May.

Storm in the Village & The Fairacre Festival, read by June Barrie, finished 21st May.

The Chalet School in Peril, finished 22nd May.

Goodbye Mog, finished 23rd May.

Four titles finished this week and all fairly long-term members of my Currently Reading collection - it's down to only thirty-six titles now!

The Abbey Girls Go Back to school, finished 24th May.

Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars, finished 25th May.

The Ambermere Treasure, finished 28th May

A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, finished 31st May.

It's also the end of the month so time for a monthly round-up.
Seventeen titles finished this month: four paper books, seven ebooks and six audiobooks. Eleven titles were new to me and the other six (all audiobooks) were many times re-reads.
I'm doing quite well in reducing my Currently Reading collection and, apart from Book Group books, haven't added to it this month.

Seven titles finished this week and I have reduced my Currently Reading collection!

Excitements at the Chalet School, finished 1st June.

The Riddle of the Sands, read by Anton Lesser, finished 2nd June.

Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials, finished 2nd June.

When the Cranes Fly South, finished 3rd June.

What Katy Did at school, finished 3rd June.

The Best of Intentions, finished 5th June.

Sarum, read by Roger Davis, finished 7th June. Well, I didn't finish but gave up half -way through.

My Currently Reading collection is down to 35 titles! More decisions about finishing or abandoning next week...

Eight titles finished this week and my Currently Reading collection is down to 34!

Answer in the Negative, finished 8th June.

Happier Here With You, finished 10th June.

A Trace of Poison, finished 11th June.

The Second Sleep, finished 12th June.

Murder by Invitation Only, finished 12th June.

The Stellar Debut of Galactica MacFee, read by David Rintoul, finished 13th June.

The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records, finished 13th June.

Murder Takes the Stage, finished 13th June.

Five titles finished this week:

Two Truths and a Murder, finished 14th June.

Woodspring, finished 15th June.

Who Let the Gods Out?, finished 16th June.

Bertie's Theory of Ice Cream, read by David Rintoul, finished 21st June.

Little Women & Good Wives, finished 21st June.

I had a lovely weekend away for an annual meeting of a group of friends in Cambridge this year. Saturday was spent at the party and on Sunday we had a punting trip along the river, a walk around the city and a lovely lunch, all in glorious sunshine. My sister and I stayed at Madingley Hall - our room was at the top of a tower but neither of us has long hair so we couldn't have enacted Rapunzel even if we'd needed to!

Because I was away I didn't make my usual Sunday update so I shall report to the end of June and then start a continuation thread.

Five titles finished since my last report:

Summer on the Italian lakes, finished 23rd June.

Tyler's Row, read by Gwen Watford, finished 26th June.

The Life Impossible, finished 26th June.

The Thirty-One Kings, finished 28th June.

Breakfast in bed, finished 30th June.

I finished twenty-four titles in June: three paper books, sixteen ebooks and five audio books. Eighteen titles were new to me (although I had previously read some audio titles in print) and only six were re-reads.

My Currently Reading collection stands at 36 books at the moment, although it has been lower, and I'm definitely reading six of those titles at the moment - the others are paused.

The year is half way through so I shall start a new thread - I hope you'll join me.

On course for 250 books, Kerry. Good going.

I must say that I don't know of anyone else who has 36 books ongoing. I think my most is a third of that number.