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I wasn't going to do this challenge, but it's the first annual, so what the heck! I'm hoping this will help me focus on some series that I either want to complete or make serious progress with this next year.

1. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy 4/8/2022, 5/5 stars
2. The Thai Amulet, by Lyn Hamilton 1/25/2022, 4/5 stars
3. The Magyar Venus, by Lyn Hamilton 2/4/2022, 4/5 stars
4. The Moai Murders, by Lyn Hamilton 2/18/2022
5. The Orkney Scroll, by Lyn Hamilton 2/25/2022, 4/5 stars
6. The Chinese Alchemist, by Lyn Hamilton 3/3/2022, 5/5 stars
7. The Blue Last, by Martha Grimes, 4/19/2022, 5/5 stars
8. The Grave Maurice, by Martha Grimes, 4/28/2022, 4/5 stars
9. The Winds of Change, by Martha Grimes, 5/18/2022, 5/5 stars
10. The Old Wine Shades, by Martha Grimes
11. The Bookshop on the Corner, by Jenny Colgan
12. The Lake Never Tells, by Alex Tully, 5/8/2022, 4/5 stars

Alternates:
1. The Baseball Whisperer: A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams, by Michael Tackett 5/15/2022, 4/5 stars
2. Out of the Silence: After the Crash, by Eduardo Strauch Urioste 6/2/2022. 3/5 stars
3. Poland, by James A. Michener
4. The Figaro Murders, by Laura Lebow

Interesting list! I've never read Lynn Hamilton. Have to check those out. Have enjoyed Martha Grimes & Jenny Colgan & I did enjoy War and Peace years ago.
Happy Reading!

Good luck! The only Michener l've read is The Covenant.

Good luck with your challenge. I haven't read any of the books on your list

I've enjoyed both the Hamilton and Grimes' series. Good choices. I hope to read more of them in the future.

Good luck, I haven't readany of these

War and Peace! James Michener! Wow...you are going for the ambitious type of challenge, Karol! Good luck, I think it was smart to put some mysteries on your list too, in case you aren't in the mood for the bricks. I haven't read any of these books either. :-)

Lea wrote: "I haven't read any of these books either. :-)"

And neither did I, but I respect any list that starts with War and Peace!
My only James A. Michener was The Bridge at Andau which I really liked, and I have a few others on my TBR. Someday...
Good luck with your choices.

War & Peace is the only one I am familiar with; but I do have the 1st book in the Richard Jury series on my TBR somewhere.

Good luck and enjoy your reading.

Best of luck, Karol! 🐾

John wrote: "Good luck! The only Michener l've read is The Covenant."

I will probably read that one relatively soon also. My mom recently gave me her hard-cover copies of both Poland, and The Covenant.

Lea wrote: "War and Peace! James Michener! Wow...you are going for the ambitious type of challenge, Karol! Good luck, I think it was smart to put some mysteries on your list too, in case you aren't in the mood..."

My thoughts exactly! It should make for an interesting and varied reading year.

Thank you everyone for all of your comments!

I haven't read any of your selections but wish you the best of luck on your challenge.

Checking in - can't believe I haven't stopped by since the start of the new year.

I so enjoyed finishing the archeological mystery series by Lyn Hamilton. I especially liked the last 3-4 books. Sadly, the author passed away not so long after publishing her 11th book. I wish there were more, but I'm glad that I had the chance to read all 11 - thanks to my sister who loaned the series to me last summer.

Now I am reading War and Peace. Going from cozy mystery to serious literature is probably good for my soul. About 25% of the way through that one.

Karol wrote: "Checking in - can't believe I haven't stopped by since the start of the new year.

I so enjoyed finishing the archeological mystery series by Lyn Hamilton. I especially liked the last 3-4 books. Sa..."

I've read a few of the Lyn Hamilton books and have enjoyed them so far.

Just put the first one on my TBR shelf.

Karol wrote: "Checking in - can't believe I haven't stopped by since the start of the new year.

I so enjoyed finishing the archeological mystery series by Lyn Hamilton. I especially liked the last 3-4 books. Sa..."

Regardless of not stopping by; you've made great progress on your list! Woot!

Woot! I finally read War and Peace. I think I will carry the scenes and characters in this novel around in my head for a long time.

Karol wrote: "Woot! I finally read War and Peace. I think I will carry the scenes and characters in this novel around in my head for a long time."

And a 5 star book, too! Congrats!

Congrats on finishing War and Peace & so glad you enjoyed it! It's always nice to read a classic & not wonder how it got to be a classic!

Karol wrote: "Woot! I finally read War and Peace. I think I will carry the scenes and characters in this novel around in my head for a long time."

Congratulations! This is on my list and I love to hear that people enjoyed it. Anything else you finish this year is just extra. :-)

Ioana wrote: "Karol wrote: "Woot! I finally read War and Peace. I think I will carry the scenes and characters in this novel around in my head for a long time."

And a 5 star book, too! Congrats!"

Thank you - yes, I really did enjoy reading it.

Patricia wrote: "Congrats on finishing War and Peace & so glad you enjoyed it! It's always nice to read a classic & not wonder how it got to be a classic!"

Patricia, I couldn't agree more. There have been a few classics I read where my end response was "what the heck?!?" But not so with this one.

Lea wrote: Congratulations! This is on my list and I love to hear that people enjoyed it. Anything else you finish this year is just extra. :-)
"

I agree . . . I normally read around 70 books a year, I think, but I had a more modest goal of 50 due to this one and a couple of others that are quite long.

I've read two more books in the Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes (#7 and #8 on my challenge list). I have to saw that The Grave Maurice impacted my emotions strongly - it was a tremendous downer for me.

I think I will skip over #9 and #10 in my list (the next two books in the same series) and go on to # 11 and #12. At this point I think I will also read at least two of the alternates before I decide whether I will pick up the Richard Jury series again.

Sometimes I get really far into a series and either get bored (like a particular element of a story line that gets dragged out way too long), or I get mad at the author for some reason - two examples of that are (1) killing off my favorite characters and (2) constantly making fun of overweight people.

I may have reached my personal end with the Richard Jury series but not for any reasons like that. I do love Martha Grimes' writing style. It's just that some of her books go into areas that are difficult for me to deal with emotionally. There were two aspects of The Grave Maurice that got to me that way.

Just read The Lake Never Tells and loved it. It's a young adult book and I absolutely loved it. It's still a mystery with some dark stuff in it, but I'm glad I took a break from the Richard Jury series.

Three books to go, to hit 12 read from my 12 + 4 list this year.

You are almost there!!!! Great job!!

So, after a quick break I ultimately went back to the Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes to finish this challenge. I'm glad I did, because I thoroughly enjoyed both The Winds of Change and The Old Wine Shades

Challenge completed with 12 books, although I am likely to read some or all of the remaining 4 before the end of the year.

Congratulations Karol🎉📚🎉 Happy to see you also enjoyed the books you selected.

Wow, well done on finishing so early!

Karol wrote: "So, after a quick break I ultimately went back to the Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes to finish this challenge. I'm glad I did, because I thoroughly enjoyed both [book:The Winds of Change|9972..."

OMG! Wow, Carol! Congratulations! Are you the first to complete this years challenge??

What was your favorite out of the 12??? Are you going to read the rest?? Do a 2nd list??? 🤔🤔😏

Wow, May and you are already done with your list. A list that had War and Peace on it! Very impressive. Hope you enjoy the remaining books that you decide to read this year!

Alondra wrote: "OMG! Wow, Karol! Congratulations! Are you the first to complete this years challenge??

What was your favorite out of the 12??? Are you going to read the rest??"

Thanks, Alondra. Don't know if I'm the first.

My favorite of the 12 is War and Peace. How could it be otherwise? What Tolstoy accomplished in this work of historical fiction is truly amazing.

I plan to read at least some of the others I listed. (Right now, I'm reading one of them). I'm not sure I will get to them all. I'd like to take part in some group reads and then there are so many other books that seem to have found their way into my "To Read" list this year. So we'll see!

Congrats!!!
Someday, someday I'll have to read W&P and see it for myself...

Karol wrote: "My favorite of the 12 is War and Peace. How could it be otherwise? What Tolstoy accomplished in this work of historical fiction is truly amazing.

I plan to read at least some of the others I listed. (Right now, I'm reading one of them). I'm not sure I..."

It is on my tbr. I read through The Caine Mutiny pretty quickly, so I figured that W&P would be next for the doorstoppers.

Books have a habit of popping up out of nowhere. LOL