Thursday Thirteen 447: 2016 Year in Books

Hello everyone! This week I have my annual look back on the previous year's reading. About half of these have been featured for Teaser Tuesday and all have been mentioned in Recently Read posts at some point during the year, so be sure to check out those links in the right hand sidebar if you're interested in a brief glimpse at what I've been reading.



01. Number of Books read: I had a goal of 80 and read 84. That's 23,415 pages. The shortest was Walking by Henry David Thoreau (48) and the longest was The Insider by Ridley Pearson (609). Average book length was 289 pages. Among those was a mini goal of ten classics, which I also achieved.

02. Genres/Authors I read: Among genres read were Classics, Romance, Mystery, Young Adult, and Literary Fiction. I read 58 different authors, and 11.5 by male authors (one was by a husband/wife team).

03. New-to-me authors: 23, including: Albert Camus, Jacqueline Winspear, Betty Hechtman, Amanda Flower, Fannie Flagg, David Sedaris, Rainbow Rowell, Diane Vallere, Helen Simonson.

04. Authors I read more than once: Juliet Blackwell, Agatha Christie, Kate Collins, Sheila Connolly, Roald Dahl, Charlaine Harris, Julie Hyzy, Amanda Lee, Nora Roberts, Barbara Ross, Amanda Stevens, Leann Sweeney, Diane Vallere, and Marty Wingate.

05. Most-read Author: Nora Roberts, with five books. She was followed by Sheila Connolly and Roald Dahl, at four books each, and Amanda Lee, Agatha Christie and Barbara Ross at three books each.

06. Authors I plan to read again: Ellery Adams, Nancy Atherton, Patricia Briggs, Agatha Christie, Kate Collins, Sheila Connolly, Julie Hyzy, Amanda Lee, Nora Roberts, Barbara Ross, Amanda Stevens, Leann Sweeney . . . to name but a few.

07. Classics Read: Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; Walking by Henry David Thoreau; The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain; Third Girl by Agatha Christie; The Call of the Wild by Jack London; Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer; The Stranger by Albert Camus

08. Book I did not finish: Far From the Madding Crowd. I made it about halfway through, then set it aside to read other books and never got back to it, though I would like to finish.

09. Best reads overall: O, Pioneers by Willa Cather (a reread), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, United We Spy by Ally Carter (the book that made me miss my bus stop!), A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg, Starry Night by Debbie Macomber, Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson.

10. Biggest Disappointment: Criminal Confections by Colette London and Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris.

11. Most imaginative world(s): Ridley Pearson (The Insider), Amanda Stevens (The Visitor), and Charlaine Harris (Midnight Crossroad).

12. Weirdest read: Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, which I reread at beginning of 2016 for a classics group.

13. Reading goal for 2017: This is my seventh consecutive year joining the Goodreads Reading Challenge. In recent years I have set a goal of 100 books per year, but due to life changes lowered that goal to 80 books last year, and have set the same goal again this year. Within that are mini-goals, such as reading at least 10 classics and catching up on some of the favorite authors/series in Mount TBR.


What about you? What was your year in books like? What was the best book you read?

For a complete list of books read, click on the "Books 2016" tab at top of the page.



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Thursday Thirteen 445: Recently Read

Below are featured the latest books read, all but two of which were finished in 2016. I exceeded my goal in the Goodreads Challenge, finishing the year with 84/80 books read. I have set my 2017 goal at 80 once again. As always, click on any cover or link for more information.














ABOUT THE BOOKS:


ROW 1: The Cat, The Collector and The Killer is book seven of a favorite series by Leann Sweeney called "Cats in Trouble," and Grace Against the Clock is book five in the "Manor House" series by Julie Hyzy. I enjoyed both of these. Hooked on Murder is book one in the "Crochet" series by Betty Hechtman, who was the November Featured Author in the Cozy Mysteries group.

ROW 2: One Book in the Grave is book five in the “Bibliophile” series by Kate Carlisle. I have quite a few more to catch up on in this series. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse is book three in the “Aurora Teagarden” series by Charlaine Harris. I plucked this one out of Mount TBR after attending a discussion with Harris during the Wisconsin Book Festival (plus, it fit a mini reading challenge). Again, several more in the series — not to mention three other series by Harris— to catch up on. Passenger to Frankfurt was the December group read for an Agatha Christie group at GR. Though written in 1970, there were many passages that eerily described what has been happening in this country (and the world) recently. Too bad the general unrest and divisiveness around the world cannot be as easily resolved as it can in a novel.

ROW 3: The Visitor is the long-anticipated fourth book in the “Graveyard Queen” series by Amanda Stevens. I look forward to books five and six, and learning where the plot is going! Rest Ye Murdered Gentleman is book one of the "Year-Round Christmas" series by Vicki Delany, and was a good start to the series. The Nights Before Christmas is an older book by Vicki Lewis Thompson and was a nice, steamy read to heat things up for the holidays.

ROW 4: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris is a book I had heard about at Goodreads, and which many recommended. Aside from the first story, "The Santaland Diaries," and one or two other shorter ones, I was greatly disappointed. It wasn’t as funny as I’d been led to believe — or maybe it just isn’t my brand of humor. In any case, I did not like it overall. Thankfully, the next two books read were much more to my liking. A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg was a December 2010 group read for TNBBC, but I only recently came across a copy of the book. I’m surprised Hallmark hasn’t made this one into a movie, as it would fit their December lineup perfectly. Similarly, Starry Night by Debbie Macomber is a perfect fit for the holiday season. While Holidays on Ice may be destined for the library monthly used book sale, these two are definite keepers.

ROW 5: The Stranger by Albert Camus was the November group read for a Classics group at GR. This book read surprisingly fast and was often difficult to put down. In fact, I nearly finished it on the bus to work, and stood at the bus stop to read the last page. The novel is divided into two parts, and people were generally disturbed by how part two played out. Definitely thought-provoking!


Your turn: What are you reading?



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Thursday Thirteen 406: Recently Read

Here's what I've been reading the last couple months.















ROW 1: The books in this row were all read in December 2015. All I Want for Christmas is You is a free novella I picked up from B&N for the Nook, and the most recent romance read. Pecan Pies is the third book in Ellery Adams “Charmed Pie Shoppe” series, and I have book four in Mount TBR. Death of a Dapper Snowman was another freebie from B&N (at time of purchase), and was an okay read, though the later chapters especially would have benefited from better editing.

ROW 2: I kicked off the year with three books for the 2016 Ultimate Challenge, starting with a 600-pager, The Insider by Ridley Pearson, the last book in his Kingdom Keepers series. Next was The BFG by Roald Dahl, a movie adaptation of which will be in theaters this July. I was not planning to reread Metamorphosis by Kafka when it was chosen as the March classic group read, but it fit the criteria of a book read in high school, was short, and was included in a “classics” anthology on my ereader, so I did. Just as weird and depressing as I remembered it!

ROW 3: I have read a lot of cozy mysteries over the last couple months, as these next two rows show. All of these fit multiple challenges, including monthly mini challenges, the 2016 Ultimate, or the “winter” challenge. The Merlot Murders was actually read in December, and Ellen Crosby was a new-to-me author. I received a couple of B&N gift cards for Christmas, and some of my purchases included the two most recent books by Kate Collins, from her Flower Shop mystery series: A Root Awakening and Florist Grump. This is a favorite series I’ve been following for years, and I look forward to the next one out this spring. I read these this month for mini challenges, but they also fit the Ultimate criteria of a NY Times Bestseller.

ROW 4: Nancy J. Parra was the September cozy featured author. While I had this book since then, I wasn’t able to fit it in before this month, for two different challenges. Lea Wait was a new-to-me author, and Twisted Threads the first book in one of her two embroidery series. Thread End is also from a favorite mystery series, "Embroidery Shop", and fit the Ultimate criteria of a character with my occupation (craft/retail).

ROW 5: Rhys Bowen was the December featured author for the Cozy Mysteries group. While I did not get to the book I had by her, I did read this short prequel to one of her two popular series.


Your turn: What are you reading these days? Is there anything you’ve read recently you would recommend to others?




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Thursday Thirteen 363: Recently Read

As one might expect, there were many holiday-themed books read at the end of 2014. Here's a look at those books, as well as the first few read for 2015. As always, click on any cover or link for more information.















ROW 1: Antiques Slay Ride, Christmas in High Heels, and How the In-Laws Wrecked Christmas were all free reads read over Christmas. The first two were okay, while the last was rather depressing.

ROW 2: The Christmas Violin and Christmas Truce were free reads read over Christmas. Hercule Poirot's Christmas was a December group read for TNBBC, and was the first book purchased on the eReader received for Christmas. Greatly enjoyed this one, but how could you possibly go wrong with Agatha Christie?

ROW 3: The steamy romance Christmas selections, and ones I think Paige especially would like. Naughty Christmas Nights was borrowed from a friend, Vampire for Christmas was a free novella and was pretty good. Last Chance Christmas is the final Sons of Chance book by Vicki Lewis Thompson.

ROW 4: The Collector by Nora Roberts was her most recent single title rom-suspense, which has a Rear Window-esque beginning. PD James was the December featured author for the Cozy Mysteries group -- The Lighthouse was my chosen selection solely because I found it in our local Little Free Library. I did feel a bit lost, not having read previous books in the series, so may go back at some point and read book one. This book straddled December and January. Free Fall is an older contemporary romance plucked out of Mount TBR for a January mini-challenge.

ROW 5: Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales was a free book read over Christmas, and one I think both Colleen and Anita would like for those story-telling basics. I began with a childhood favorite, The Snow Queen, then started back at the beginning. It was interesting re-reading some of these, as well as those I don't remember reading previously.



LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen 362: Year in Books

It's time for my annual reading review. Here is how 2014 shaped up:


Number of Books read: I had a goal of 100; I read 109. I also had a goal of 10-12 classics and read 20, so nicely exceeded both goals.


Genres I read: Classics, Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Literary Fiction — some in the romance, mystery and YA genres with paranormal elements.


Number of Different Authors: 75 authors, 26 of whom were men, the bulk of those in the classics genre. Seventeen of the twenty classics read were by men.


New-to-me authors: I read 36 new-to-me authors in 2014.


Authors I read more than once: Avery Aames, Vivien Arends, Nancy Atherton, Patricia Briggs, Agatha Christie, Casey Daniels, Martha Grimes, Victoria Laurie, Jenn McKinlay, Julie Miller, Ridley Pearson, Rick Riordan, Nora Roberts, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Debra Webb, Wendy Lyn Watson


Most-read Author: Nora Roberts (15 total — four trilogies plus three single title releases)


Authors I plan to read again: Nancy Atherton, Patricia Briggs, Agatha Christie, Kate Collins, Catherine Coulter, Charles Dickens, Jeaniene Frost, Kay Hooper, Elizabeth Lowell, Carla Neggers, Nora Roberts . . . to name but a few.


Book I did not finish: Emma by Jane Austen. It's been a long time since there was a book I could not finish — more than a decade. I gave Emma a valiant effort, but could not get past the halfway mark in this book — and this was my second attempt to get through it. I think one of the biggest problems with trying to finish is that there isn't a likable character in the entire book. Definitely my least favorite Austen. I may make a stab at finishing it this year, as one of the items on the Ultimate Reading Challenge is a book you did not finish.


Best overall mystery: I'm going with the classics for this one — The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, and both The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie.


Biggest Disappointment: It's a tie between The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss, The Widow’s Walk by Robert Barclay, and First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones. I have seen part of a movie version based on the first, so was looking forward to the book, but did not enjoy it much — I think it would have seemed much more plausible to its original audience. The second was a book I won from Goodreads and which I looked forward to reading. The intro and premise pulled me in, but the editing was disappointing. The author used "just then" at least once in every chapter, and as many as five times in one chapter near the end of the book. How an editor could let an author get away with this lazy and weak writing is beyond me. The book over-sensitized me to the phrase "just then" and began my year-long crusade against it. I had heard a lot of praise about the last book (which even won a RITA), but did not like it — plus I was seriously annoyed by the overuse of "just then," especially coming so soon after the previously mentioned book.


Most imaginative world(s): Ridley Pearson and Rick Riordan.


Weirdest read: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.



I am tired of: Authors who use the lazy and weak "just then" in their writing. In every instance I saw it crop up in 2014, it was unnecessary and the sentence/overall writing would have been stronger without it. There are a couple authors I will no longer read due to their overuse of this trite phrase.


Reading goal for next year: For a sixth consecutive year, I have joined the Goodreads Reading Challenge. In recent years I have set a goal of 100 books, but am starting a bit lower this year — 80 books, with an option to increase it later — due to some life changes. Within that are mini-goals, such as reading at least 10 classics and catching up on some of the favorite authors/series in Mount TBR. And I want to finish the "Read the USA Mystery Challenge" once and for all. Only states books to go, and I have books for all, so shouldn't be that difficult, right?



What about you? What was your year in books like? What was the best book you read?

For a complete list of books read, click on the Books 2014 tab at top of the page.



LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen 358: Recently Read

My last Recently Read post of the year! Here's a look at what I've read the last couple months. For a fifth consecutive year, I have successfully completed my Goodreads challenge of 100 books in a year — and I did it before Christmas this year. Last year I was struggling to get that last book in before New Year's Eve. It will be interesting to see how many over I go this year. As always, click on any cover to find out more about a book.














BOOK NOTES

ROW 1: I started November by catching up on a couple books in the "Pepper Martin" series by Casey Daniels, Dead Man Talking (#5) and Tomb With a View (#6). Three more to go . . . The Mournful Teddy was read for a November mini challenge and is first in a "Bear Collectors" series.

ROW 2: Under the Hill is a short mystery story by Sheila Connolly that is currently free at B&N and Amazon. Biting the Moon and Dakota are books one and two respectively in the "Andi Oliver" series by Martha Grimes. Dakota was chosen for a "Read the USA" mystery challenge (North Dakota was one of several difficult states to find). I recommend reading these in order, as I did. Also note that both contain gritty material some readers may not like.

ROW 3: I am trying to catch up on Lisa Scottoline's books, beginning with Think Twice, (Rosato & Associates #11). Two more to go there, as well as a couple non-series books. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is a classic children's book I had never read before and loved. I highly recommend this to writers and those who love word play. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham was read for a quarterly group read. I liked this one a lot more than anticipated.

ROW 4: The Aristocrat by Catherine Coulter is a slightly older romance plucked out of Mount TBR for an "Autumn/Fall" challenge. A White Cougar Christmas is a Christmas novella that is currently free at B&N and Amazon. I won The Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak through a contest at Goodreads. It is book seven in her "Whiskey Creek" series, but other than some confusion on relationships, I didn't feel I missed much by not reading the previous six books.

ROW 5: Book number 100 in my Goodreads annual challenge is by a favorite author, Vicki Lewis Thompson. A Last Chance Christmas is book seventeen in her "Sons of Chance" series.



YOUR TURN: What are you reading right now?


LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen