Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

OVERVIEW:
2023 was a great year for reading! I prioritized ME time over unpacking and settling into my new house (although I did unpack � just on a relaxed and as the spirit moved me schedule). And the yard wasn’t a huge summer priority, because I needed to see what was already here. I did plant a few new shrubs, set up the fairy garden and some water features, did some cleanup of unwanted things, and then planted about 150 bulbs that will come up in the spring. So 2024 is when I can begin landscaping and gardening in earnest. In honor of that, one of my new themes will be Garden titles.

I love to make lists. My TBR category on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ contains over 3,000 titles. The lists aim to focus my choices on something more manageable â€� I’ll try to keep it under 300 this year â€� from which I aim to read at least 50 books. Themes are the heart and soul of my reading choices throughout the year. These might revolve around a word, a time period, a specific location, etc. but I also randomly pick reads from my TBR ocean in several different fixed group categories: non-fiction, Welsh and Arthurian fiction, historical fiction (pre-20th century), other fiction (20th/21st centuries, sci fi, fantasy), and series (divided into new series started and old series continued). I used to have quarterly “mini-themesâ€� but these have morphed into lists added under Time and Place. Then there are always leftovers from the previous year (or years), and new online group reads and challenges that spark my interest. No, my goal is NOT to read every book in these lists. One from each list would be ambitious enough! I always want to read far more than I will ever accomplish.

I am also resurrecting my old Pyramid Goal scheme that I used to do: 12 of something, 11 something else, 10, etc. which would be 78 titles if they were all different, but I allow books to count in more than one group.

Finally, an explanation of my color rating scale. I don't like the limitations of Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 1-5 star rating system, so I add colors to my ratings to give it a little more nuance.

Ratings
Gold = 5+ stars (Gold medal, my highest rating)
Purple = about 5 stars (Grand Champion ribbon)
Blue = between 4.5 and 5 stars (Blue ribbon, 1st prize)
Red = about 4 stars (2nd prize ribbon)
Pink = between 3.5 and 4 stars (tickled pink, in the pink, ...but not quite red?)
Green = about 3 stars (Green for Go, not outstanding, but I'd read more by this author - or not)
Yellow = between 2.5 and 3 stars (Caution)
Orange = about 2 stars (Hazard Warning, LOL!)
Black = about 1 star (Black-balled and also probably not finished)
Gray = DNF (not rated)

THEMES
Themes are the heart and soul of my reading choices. I like to pick at least one new annual theme every year. This year it’s two. Sometimes a theme gets carried over for another year (or two). I also keep adding titles for old themes to my TBR, so that has become a whole category in itself. Some of those themes are Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, Music, Birds, Stars, and “Wife� titles. I used to have quarterly themes, but those tend to be specific locations or time periods, so I've moved them to that category.

Laurel Opens a New Door MAIN THEME - NEW
Already read:
READ 2019 A Wind in the Door
READ 2023 The Revolving Door of Life

READ 1. The Ten Thousand Doors of January
2. The Door
READ 3. The Door in the Wall
4. Mary Poppins Opens the Door
READ 5. The Door to Camelot
6. The Door of No Return
7. Under the Whispering Door
READ 8. The House with the Golden Door (#2 of trilogy, read The Wolf Den first)
9. The House of Doors
READ 10. Behind Closed Doors
11. The Doors of Eden
12. The Book of Doors
___________________________(a few more)
13. Leopard at the Door
14. Winter at the Door
15. Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog
16. The Door in the Hedge
17. The House of Closed Doors

Gardens NEW
1. The Forgotten Garden
READ 2. Murder in a Scottish Garden
3. The Garden by the Sea
4. The Garden of Evening Mists
READ 5. The Secret Garden (reread)
READ 6. The Rose Garden
7. In the Night Garden
8. The Victory Garden
9. The Forbidden Garden
10. The Garden of Earthly Delights
11. The Last Garden in England
12. The Garden
_______________________________
13. In Her Garden
14. The Serpent Garden
15. The Red Garden
16. The Twilight Garden
17. The Samurai's Garden - Chirp purchase

Keeping It Light continued from 2023
1. The Brighter the Light
2. A Vision of Light
3. The Fall of Light
4. A Marvellous Light
5. The Light Years
6. Claire of the Sea Light
7. Light Changes Everything
8. The Light Through the Leaves
9. Light to the Hills
10. Painting the Light
11. Woman of Light
12. Pillars of Light

The Odyssey I keep listing this one, and never starting it! Maybe this is the year? Originally, my themes revolved around a literary classic, so it’s nice to have at least one literary theme going.
Obviously, I have to start with
The Odyssey and The Iliad so those aren't part of this list...
1. The World of Odysseus
2. An Orchestra of Minorities
3. Ulysses and
Ulysses: Complete Text with Integrated Study Guide from Shmoop
4. An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic
5. Omeros
6. Olympus, Texas
7. The Penelopiad
8. The Oceans and the Stars
9. Ilium
10. Ransom
11. Over the Wine-Dark Sea
12. The Siege of Troy

Old Themes: Random Picks
1. A Year of Ravens (birds)
READ 2. The Ice Swan (birds)
3. The Winter Rose (winter)
4. Second Star to the Left (stars)
5. The Drago Tree (trees)
6. The Watery Part of the World (Moby Dick)
7. The Piano Teacher (music)
READ 8. Lovely War (music)
9. 1932 (Pride and Prejudice)
10. The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh (Pride and Prejudice)
11. The Ninth Wife (wife titles)
12. The Chocolate Maker's Wife (wife titles)

TIME AND PLACE

The Ancient World: NEW, with titles drawn from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to The Ultimate Reading List (URL)
1. I, Claudius (URL)
2. The Assyrian (URL)
3. The Beacon at Alexandria (I think I’ve read this years ago�) (URL)
4. Gates of Fire (URL)
5. The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther (URL)
6. The Hippopotamus Marsh (URL)
7. King and Goddess (URL)
8. One for Sorrow (an old leftover�)
9. The Eagle and the Raven
10. Roman Blood (URL)
11. The Silver Pigs (URL)
READ 12. People of the Wolf (URL)

Macbeth/Thorfinn/Vikings: (continued from 2022)
1. King Hereafter
READ 2. Lady Macbeth
3. Macbeth: A Novel
4. Macbeth
5. A Sacred Storm
6. Tomb for an Eagle
7. Flight of the Wren
8. The Golden Horn
9. The Half-Drowned King
10. The Whale Road
11. Viking Warlord: A Saga of Thorkell the Great
12. The Swan's Road

The Plantagenets/Wars of the Roses (continued from 2022)
1. The Summer Queen
2. Queen By Right
3. Bloodline
4. Eleanor de Montfort: A Rebel Countess in Medieval England
5. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors
6. Blood & Roses: the Paston Family and the Wars of the Roses
7. Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The Wars Of The Roses
8. Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses
9. Cecily Neville: Mother of Richard III
10. The Queen’s Rival
READ 11. The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case
12. Brothers York

Wales/Arthurian: Random Picks
1. Unholy Island
2. Sing Them Home
3. Excalibur Rising: Book One of an Arthurian Saga
4. King of the World's Edge
5. Dark Age Monarch: The Reign of King Arthur
6. Among Others
7. A Welsh Childhood
8. Lancelot And The Wolf
9. The Silent Quarry
10. The Strictly Business Proposal
11. Shoes for Anthony
12. The Long Walk Home

Historical Fiction: Random Picks
1. Jade Dragon Mountain
2. The Woman with the Blue Star
3. Essex Dogs
4. John the Pupil
5. Jane the Quene
6. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock
7. Hodd
8. The King's Witch
9. Queen of the North
10. Drake - Tudor Corsair
11. Stone's Fall
12. Paris

Other Fiction: Random Picks
1. The Paying Guests
2. The Children of the King
3. Americanah
4. The Magician
5. Animal Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland
6. Flight Risk
7. The Poison Tide
8. The Habitation of the Blessed
9. The Hills Were Joyful Together
READ 10. The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn
11. Cloudstreet
12. Murder of a Straw Man

Non-fiction: Random Picks
1. Shakespeare's Wife
2. Giving Up the Ghost
3. Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II
4. The Otters' Tale
5. My Venice and Other Essays
READ 6. The Life and Prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi
7. A Wood of One's Own
8. She Wolves: The Notorious Queens of Medieval England
9. Wanderland
10. Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland
11. Fathoms: The World in the Whale
12. The Lost Words

SERIES and AUTHORS
Next-in-Series: Random Picks (Starred titles are within 1 or 2 of finishing the series.)
READ 1. Poison, Your Grace (Simon & Elizabeth, #2 of 4)
2. *A God in Ruins (Todd Family, #2 of 2)
3. *The Kremlin's Candidate (Red Sparrow Trilogy, #3 of 3)
READ 4. *The Heart of Summer (Finfarran Peninsula, #6 of 8)
5. *The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3 of 3)
6. Dead Water (Shetland Island, #5 of 8)
7. Real Tigers (Slough House, #3 of 8)
8. Peach Pies and Alibis (Charmed Pie Shoppe, #2 of 5)
9. *Big Sky (Jackson Brodie, #5 of 5)
READ 10. The Curse of the Pharaohs (Amelia Peabody, #2 reread of 20)
11. Home (Gilead, #2 of 4)
12. The Lost Gardens (English Garden Mystery, #2 of 6)

New Series: Random Picks
READ 1. Bloody Jack
2. Apollo's Raven
3. The Cost of the Dream
4. Chaucer and the House of Fame
5. The Golden Crucifix
6. Murder at Melrose Court
READ 7. To Shield the Queen
8. The Silent Woman
READ 9. Anne of Green Gables
10. A Sorcerer's Treason
11. A Dark Anatomy
READ 12. Books Can Be Deceiving

Ongoing long term series
1. Alexander McCall Smith � 44 Scotland Street series
READ 2023 The Revolving Door of Life #10 of 17
READ The Bertie Project #11 of 17
READ A Time of Love and Tartan #12 of 17
The Peppermint Tea Chronicles #13 of 17

2. Rita Mae Brown � Mrs. Murphy series (rereading, #18 will be new)
Sour Puss #14 of 31

3. Donna Andrews � Meg Langslow series
READ Cockatiels at Seven #9 of 34
READ Six Geese A-Slaying #10 of 37
Swan for the Money #11 of 37

4. Diana Gabaldon � reread in chronological order
Outlander

5. Madeleine L’Engle
The Other Side of the Sun
The Small Rain

6. Alan Bradley � Flavia De Luce series (rereading) (#5 will be new)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (reread)

7. Alexander McCall Smith - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (rereading) (#4 will be new)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe

8. Elizabeth Chadwick - all series in chronological order...
First Knight
The Conquest
The Winter Mantle

9. Candace Robb - Owen Archer series
The Lady Chapel
The Nun's Tale

10. Fiona Leitch - Nosey Parker mysteries
*A Cornish Recipe for Murder (#5 of 6)
*A Cornish Seaside Murder (#6 of 6)

11.
12.

Next to read not listed above:
1. A Crown of Lights (Merrily Watkins, #3)
2. A Terrible Village Poisoning (Dinner Lady Detectives, #3)
3. Due or Die (A Library Lover's Mystery, #2)
4. The Mummy Case (Amelia Peabody, #3)
READ 5. The Doublet Affair (Ursula Blanchard, #2)
6. Queen's Ransom (Ursula Blanchard, #3)
7. A Corpse at St Andrews Chapel (Hugh de Singleton Chronicles, #2)
8. Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady (Bloody Jack, #2)
9. Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)
10. Murder at a Scottish Social (Scottish Shire, #3)
11. A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Gamache, #2)
12. Mortal Fall (Glacier Mysteries, #2)
READ *13. The Temple of Fortuna (Wolf Den trilogy, #3)
14. Murder, Simply Stitched (Amish Quilt Shop, #2) There is also a prequel...
15. Plainly Murder
16. Raiders of the Nile (Gordianus the Finder, #2)
*17. The Quest for Carbonek (Pendragon's Heir, #2)
READ *18. A Game of Lies (DC Morgan, #2)
*19, The Lady Flirts with Death Simon and Elizabeth #3)
*20. The Year of Lost and Found (Finfarran, #7)
*21. Other People's Houses (DC Morgan, #3, coming in 2025)
*22. The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Katherine Parr (Ladies in Waiting, #2)
23. Raw Material (DI Beatrice Stubbs, #2)
24. The Lily Pond (A Faraway Island, #2)
25. People of the Fire (North America's Forgotten Past, #2)
26. Trouble In The Town Hall (Dorothy Martin Mystery Series, #2)

LEFTOVERS and LIBRARY BOOKS
A combination of old and new. Sort of a catch-all for anything that doesn't fit above. I have leftovers from 2021, mostly from A Good Yarn, and finishing up my previous alphabet challenge. Books that are the oldest in my TBR ocean. Books that have been started but abandoned, and then of course there is new stuff that catches my eye and gets checked out from the library....

2023 Leftovers not finished:
READ 1. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
READ 2. Moby-Dick or, the Whale - reread
3. Wolf Hall #1 of 3
4. ...And Ladies of the Club
5. The Evening Chorus
6. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
7. Queen By Right
8. The Summer Queen
9. The Fall of Atlantis
READ 10. The Wild Inside (A Good Yarn, G is for Glacier National Park)
11. Miss Eliza's English Kitchen
12. King Hereafter
13. Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel

2023 Leftovers not started:
1. Her Royal Spyness
2. Shards of Honor
3. Cup of Blood
READ 4. Midwinter of the Spirit
READ 5. The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford
6. Key Witness: A Hermann Preiss Mystery
7. City of Masks
8. Laurentian Divide
9. Ambrosius Aureliani
10. The Crown Jewels Conspiracy
11. Death at La Fenice
12. The Road to Avalon

The 12 Oldest in My TBR Ocean:
1. The Long Walk Home (owned)
2. Within the Fetterlock
3. Thirteenth Night
4. Kilt Dead (owned)
5. The Tale of Hill Top Farm
6. Her Royal Spyness (owned)
7. The Last Troubadour
8. The Book of Joby (owned)
9. The Fall of Atlantis (owned)
10. Mozart's Sister
11. Vivaldi's Virgins
12. The Expected One (owned)

Shiny New Things:
1. Hester � have ARC
READ 2. The Last Party � have ARC
3. The House of Lincoln (have ARC)
4. Menewood (have ARC) sequel to Hild
5. The Running Grave (purchased)
READ 6. The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case (purchased)
7. Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales (Christmas present)
READ 8. The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner: And Other Stories and READ Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales
READ 9. The Wild Robot Protects
READ 10. The Enchanted April - Chirp purchase
READ 11. Go Be Free: The Story of Jacob Milliron - An American Pioneer
12.

BOOK GROUPS
Daytimers is one of the book clubs I run for the library. We read a different genre or category each month. This will probably be the last year I will be participating since I am retiring at the end of year, and we are down to 4 members. Perspectives is my church book club. They read about 9 books a year, and I am not committed to reading all of them. Various online groups that I follow have monthly group reads. I don’t participate often, but I would like to do more of them. A Good Yarn is a group I lead that reads our own books based on themes. For the past year we have been reading through the alphabet geographically with the choice of reading a specific location, or a generic place, or both...

Daytimers Book Club
READ 2023 Jan: Miss Benson's Beetle
READ Feb: The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
DNF Mar: The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
READ 2023 Apr: The Maid
READ May: The Seed Keeper
READ Jun: The Quarry Girls
READ Jul: The Personal Librarian
READ Aug: Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom
READ Sep: The Woman in the Library
READ Oct: West with Giraffes
READ Nov: Remarkably Bright Creatures
READ Dec: Lessons in Chemistry

Perspectives Book Club
READ Jan: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
READ Feb: Our Missing Hearts
READ Mar: The Mountains Sing
READ Apr: The Seed Keeper
READ May: The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
Summer/Sep: This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
READ Oct: The Covenant of Water
READ Nov: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
READ Dec: Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World
Next year:
Jan: The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family
Feb: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

A Good Yarn: Random picks
Jan: Locations beginning with N
READ The Weaver and the Witch Queen (Norway)
READ The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn (Nova Scotia)

Feb/Mar: Locations beginning with O
READ The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings (The Orville, outer space)
Tomb for an Eagle (Orkney)
READ The Unquiet Bones (Oxfordshire)

Apr/May: Locations beginning with P
READ The Wolf Den (Pompeii)

Jun/Jul: Locations beginning with Q
READ Still Life (Quebec)
READ The Quarry Girls (a quarry)
READ Murder, Plain and Simple (a quilt shop)

Aug/Sep: Locations beginning with R
READ The Seven Wonders (Roman empire)
READ The Rose Garden (a rose garden)

Oct/Nov: Locations beginning with S
READ West With Giraffes (San Diego)
READ Lady Macbeth (Scotland)

Dec/Jan 2025: Locations beginning with T
READ The Temple of Fortuna


Reading Through Time
Quarterly themes:
Jan-Mar: Prehistoric
READ People of the Wolf

Apr-Jun: Ancient/Biblical Times
READ The Wolf Den - ancient Pompeii
READ The House with the Golden Door - ancient Pompeii
READ The Seven Wonders
The Assyrian

Jul-Sep: Arthurian Britain
READ The Romance of Tristan
READ The Door to Camelot
First Knight
Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel
Ambrosius Aureliani
The Road to Avalon

Oct-Dec: Medieval/Vikings
READ Lady Macbeth
READ The Door in the Wall

Monthly themes:
January: Janus - doors, gates, twins, duality, past vs. future,
READ Midwinter of the Spirit - I think this could fit here, with its juxtaposition of old traditions/paganism and "New Age" spirituality
READ The Ten Thousand Doors of January

February: Aquarius & Amethyst - apparently both space travel and water are associated with Aquarius...
READ The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings
READ Bloody Jack

March: Medicine & Epidemics -
READ Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
READ The Unquiet Bones - protagonist is a surgeon

April: characters with disabilities -
READ Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies - protagonist has Bipolar disorder

May: International Labour Day -
READ Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World - how women are able to succeed in their careers thanks to generous family leave and government day care programs

June: Wonders of the World -
READ The Seven Wonders

July: Vive la France -
READ Still Life (Quebec)
READ The Ice Swan
Paris

August: Joy of Reading
READ Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom
READ The Personal Librarian

September: Royal to the Bone
READ Poison, Your Grace

October: Adultery
READ To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

November: Biographies & Memoirs
READ The Life and Prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi

December: Reader's Choice
READ Six Geese A-Slaying
READ The Body in the Transept


Various Online Groups
Most of these I won't read, but I list them here to keep track of who is reading what. I'll star the ones I plan to try to read...

Jan:
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (All About Books)
READ 2023 The Bookshop on the Corner (The Reading Loft)
Bess of Hardwick First Lady of Chatsworth (Tudor History Lovers)
Lady Tan's Circle of Women (Historical Fictionistas)

Jan/Feb:
Mansfield Park (Reading for Pleasure, classic group read over Jan and Feb)

Feb:
*Tooth and Claw (The Reading Loft)
READ *The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case (On the Porch Swing, open discussion, but we had to commit to our selection by Dec. 12... so I picked this one.
Death in Delft (English Mysteries Club)
The Queen of Subtleties: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (Tudor History Lovers)

Mar:
The Library of Lost and Found (The Reading Loft)
*The Winter Sea (Historical Fictionistas)
Silver Lies (Historical Mystery Lovers)
The House of Doors (Constant Reader, starts Mar. 15)

Mar 17 through May 24:
*Far From the Madding Crowd (Works of Thomas Hardy)

Apr:
READ The Cloisters (The Reading Loft)
The Great Alone (All About Books)
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England (All About Books)
Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey (Tudor History Lovers)

May:
The Fair Botanists (The Reading Loft)
Far From the Madding Crowd (Reading for Pleasure) AND (All About Books)
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear (Non Fiction Book Club)
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (Constant Reader)
Murder at the Bookstore (Cozy Mysteries)
A Curious Beginning (Historical Mystery Lovers)
The Lost Tudor Princess: The Life of Lady Margaret Douglas (Tudor History Lovers)
Happiness Falls (Bound Together)

April-June:
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession (On the Same Page, 2Q Nonfiction Group Read)

June:
This Is Happiness (On the Porch Swing)
The Dead Fathers Club (The Reading Loft)
The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World (Non-fiction Group)
The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England (Tudor History Lovers)
The Wren, the Wren (All About Books)
The Sun Down Motel (Reading for Pleasure)
West With Giraffes (Historical Fictionistas)
City of Lies (Historical Mystery Lovers)

July:
The Dubrovnik Book Club (The Reading Loft)
North Woods (Constant Reader)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (Reading for Pleasure)
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading (On the Same Page)
The Women (Bound Together)
The Last Boleyn (Tudor History Lovers)

July-August:
A Prayer for Owen Meany (Reading for Pleasure classics read)
O Pioneers! (All About Books, classic read)

August:
The Housemaid (The Reading Loft)
Every Crooked Nanny (On the Porch Swing)
Neuromancer (All About Books)
A Lost Lady (Constant Reader, classics)

Sept:
The Odyssey, trans. by Wilson (Constant Reader, classics)
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (The Reading Loft)
To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (Tudor History Lovers)
The Midnight Library (All About Books)

Oct:
James (Constant Reader)
Inheritance (The Reading Loft)
Table for Two (All About Books)
Jamaica Inn (Reading for Pleasure)

Nov:
Of Human Bondage (Constant Reader, classics)
The Wren, the Wren (Constant Reader)
The Great Divide (All About Books)

Dec:
Wandering Stars (Constant Reader)

CHALLENGES
Alphabet (A-Z titles) challenge.
This is a long term personal challenge. The only rule here, is that I have to read the alphabet in order. And no rule on how long to spend on each letter. The focus is on the letter B this year, but there are still A titles I am finishing/adding, and I may begin C later in the year�.

READ Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
All My Fortunes (reread)
The Amber Spyglass
Ambrosius Aureliani
Americanah
...And Ladies of the Club
READ Anne of Green Gables
The Assyrian
----------------------------------------
The Beacon at Alexandria
Beartown
READ Behind Closed Doors
READ The Bertie Project
Big Sky
READ Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies
Bloodline
READ Bloody Jack
READ The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn
The Book of Doors
The Book of Joby
READ Books Can Be Deceiving
Braids of Song: Weaving Welsh Music into the American Soul
The Brighter the Light
Brothers York

---------------------------------------

The Chinese Sailor
The Chocolatier's Ghost
City of Masks
A Conspiracy of Friends
Corrag
Courting Mr. Lincoln
Crimson Shore
The Crystal Cave
The Cuckoo's Cry
Cup of Blood


Laurel's One From Each List Challenge (On the Same Page 3rd Annual 12 + 4 Reading Challenge
Since I have roughly 16 lists going, I thought I would pick one book from each list. The aim is to read at least 12�
READ 1. Behind Closed Doors
READ 2. The Secret Garden
3. Light to the Hills
4. The Penelopiad
5. 1932
6. One for Sorrow
READ 7. Lady Macbeth
8. Bloodline
9. The Long Walk Home
10. Queen of the North
READ 11. The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn
12. Wanderland
-------------------------------------------------------
13. Dead Water
READ 14. Books Can Be Deceiving
15. The Evening Chorus
16. Her Royal Spyness


Rebecca's List:
This is a group challenge on LibraryThing's Club Read 2024 (continued from 2022 and 2023) to collectively read all the books on a late member's reading list. This is not a promise to read all of these, but potentially to read...These are some that are of interest to me, that no one else has read yet.
1. The World of Odysseus - a likely candidate because of my Odyssey theme!
2. The Bear: History of a Fallen King
3. The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia - someone else has read this one...
4. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
5. The Power of Music
6. Genes, Peoples, and Languages
7. Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages
8. The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong
9. The Fairy's Return
10. Stars of the Long Night
READ 11. The Romance of Tristan
12. The Romance of the Rose
-----------------------------
13. The Book of Lamentations
14. The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars
15. Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot
16. A History of Dogs in the Early Americas


#FoodandLit2024
Jan: Ghana
Feb: New Zealand
Mar: South Korea
Apr: Venezuela
May: Spain
Jun: Iceland
Jul: Turkey
Aug: Jamaica
Sep: Malaysia
Oct: Botswana
Nov: Canada
Dec: Finland


On the Same Page monthly genre challenge:
Jan: Science Fiction
READ The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings

Feb: Romance
READ The Romance of Tristan
READ Lovely War

Mar: Mystery
READ Books Can Be Deceiving
READ The Curse of the Pharaohs

April: Historical fiction
READ The Wolf Den (ancient Pompeii)
The Summer Queen
READ To Shield the Queen
READ The Unquiet Bones
READ Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

May: Non-fiction
READ The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

June: Thrillers
READ The Quarry Girls

July: Fantasy
READ The Door to Camelot

August: Humor/Comedy
READ Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair
READ Cockatiels at Seven
Mister Darcy's Dogs

September: Young Adult
READ Go Be Free: The Story of Jacob Milliron - An American Pioneer
READ Poison, Your Grace

October: Horror
DNF Cat Out of Hell
The Book of Witching

November: Domestic suspense
READ I Let You Go

December: Holiday reads
READ Six Geese A-Slaying
READ The Body in the Transept


On the Same Page cover color challenge:
Jan: White or Sky Blue
READ
READ

Feb: Light Pink or Chocolate Brown
READ
READ

Mar: Goldenrod or Purple
READ
READ

Apr: Bright Deep Green (not neon: think emerald or green crayon) or Pewter Gray
READ
READ

May: Ruby Red or Sapphire Blue
READ

Jun: Lavender or Yellow
READ

Jul: Burgundy or Pale Gold (think the color of a nice white wine)
READ
READ

Aug: Hot Pink or Forest Green
READ

Sep: Cream/Beige or Salmon/Coral
READ

Oct: Deep Orange or Black
READ

Nov: Teal or Violet
READ

Dec: Silver or Holiday Red
READ

GOALS

Books: 60
Cumulative Pages: 18,000

At the time of this writing (Nov. 26), I still have 9 books to go to meet my 2023 goal of 60 books, but my previous record is 52 and I will certainly beat that. So I think I will say 60 books again for 2024 and/or a cumulative page total of 18,000 (previous record: 17,384). This is a stretch, but that’s the point of setting goals, isn’t it!

Laurel’s Pyramid Goals

12 From 12 Different Lists (Done)
Midwinter of the Spirit (Leftovers, not started)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (New theme: Doors)
The Romance of Tristan (Challenges, Rebecca's List)
Lovely War (Old Themes, Random Picks)
The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn (Time and Place, Other Fiction)
Books Can Be Deceiving (New Series, Random Picks)
The Curse of the Pharaohs (Next to Read in Series)
The Secret Garden (Themes: Garden titles)
The Wild Inside (Leftovers, Not Finished)
The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case (Time and Place, The Plantagenets)
Lady Macbeth (Time and Place, Macbeth/Vikings)
The Life and Prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi (Non-fiction, Random Picks)
People of the Wolf (Time and Place, The Ancient World)

11 Historical Fiction (done)
The Curse of the Pharaohs (1890s)
The Wolf Den (ancient Pompeii)
To Shield the Queen (16th century England)
The Doublet Affair (16th century England
The Unquiet Bones
Her Highness' First Murder (16th century England)
The House with the Golden Door (Pompeii, 76 A.D.)
The Seven Wonders (1st c. BC)
The Personal Librarian
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer (19th century)
Poison, Your Grace (16th century England)
Lady Macbeth (11th century Scotland)
The Temple of Fortuna (79 AD - Rome and Pompeii)
The Door in the Wall (14th century England)

10 Themes (old or new) (done)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Doors)
Lovely War (music)
The Secret Garden (garden titles)
Murder in a Scottish Garden (garden titles)
The House with the Golden Door (Doors)
The Door to Camelot (Doors)
The Rose Garden (garden titles)
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer (Moby Dick)
Behind Closed Doors (doors)
The Door in the Wall (doors)

9 Leftovers (Done)
Midwinter of the Spirit
The Wild Inside
Moby-Dick or, The Whale
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
Lady Macbeth
Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom - leftover from earlier in the year
The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford
A Faraway Island
The Ice Swan

8 Next-in-Series (done)
An Unfortunate Christmas Murder
The Curse of the Pharaohs
The Wild Robot Protects
The Doublet Affair
Murder in a Scottish Garden
The Bertie Project
Poison, Your Grace
The Heart of Summer
A Game of Lies
The Temple of Fortuna

7 Titles That Start With B (Done)
Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies
The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn
Books Can Be Deceiving
Bloody Jack
The Bertie Project
Behind Closed Doors
The Body in the Transept

6 New to me Authors (done)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
Lovely War
Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies (J.J. Marsh)
The Mountains Sing
Books Can Be Deceiving (Jenn McKinlay)
Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales (Terry Pratchett) - yes, believe it or not, I have never read any Terry Pratchett....
Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World
The Wolf Den
The Seed Keeper
The Cloisters
The Enchanted April
The Unquiet Bones
Still Life
The Seven Wonders
The Door to Camelot

5 Nonfiction (Done)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World
The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey
The Life and Prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi

4 Translated Books (not originally English) (done)
The Romance of Tristan (medieval French)
The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn (Scottish Gaelic)
The Caiman (Spanish)
A Faraway Island (Swedish)

3 Chunky Books (over 500 pages) (done)
Midwinter of the Spirit - 544 p.
Moby-Dick or, The Whale - 720 p.
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - 668 p.
The Covenant of Water - 724 p.

2 Welsh authors (done)
An Unfortunate Christmas Murder
Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies
The Last Party

1 Classic (done)
The Romance of Tristan
The Secret Garden
Anne of Green Gables

I haven't drawn any of my random picks yet, and there's a month to go before I sort out what's leftover. I also haven't done the Daytimers book club list yet. I will post again when those are filled in!

This is an ambitious list and has a lot of great books. I love the categories, which make it fun.

Good luck with the gardening for 2024. I haven't gotten bulbs yet, but really need to do so. I haven't planted any in over 5 years; but I really want to get some in the ground. We tend to have warmer winters, so I will wait until end of January to plant, per usual.

Good luck and happy reading.

What interesting challenges. Enjoy!

I love the themes!! i myself have noticed a have titles with the same word and was THISCLOSE to making that a challenge. maybe for 2025 haha

Lots of variety with your challenges. Good luck! :-)

I did my Daytimers book club list for 2024 today, and added it to message #6.

Random theme picks is added and message #2 is complete.

Message #3 is complete.

I think it is all filled in now. There may be some minor tweaking here and there....

Your themed challenges are very cool. Have fun reading!

I am enjoying your themes. Good luck.

Great idea with the themes! Looks like fun. Happy Reading!

Thank you, all! Looking forward to starting, but still finishing up 2023!

January Plans

I am currently reading 4 books, all of which I think will be finished by the end of 2023. That's the plan anyway!
READ 2023 Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle - 60 pages left.
READ 2023 Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners - audiobook for Daytimers (meets Dec. 29) - about 3 1/2 hours left
READ 2023 A Cornish Christmas Murder - about 100 pages left
READ The Weaver and the Witch Queen - 286 pages left. I can carry this one into 2024 if necessary, but I'm going to try and finish it.

Next on audio - I've already read January's book club book, so I can indulge in something that might take awhile. I have wanted to read
READ Midwinter of the Spirit for 5 years now and the season has gotten away from me every year. I own this on Audible, so I will start it as soon as I finish Evergreen Tidings. After that, I have a Libby hold on
READ The Ten Thousand Doors of January - It is telling me there is a 4-week wait.

Other possibilities:
READ The Ice Swan for the January cover color challenge. Available on Libby (no waiting).
Sing Them Home for A Good Yarn (N is for Nebraska). Available on Libby (no waiting).
The Running Grave - purchased on Audible.

For Perspectives I have
READ Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President checked out from the library. The audiobook on Libby was going to be "several months" so print it is.
Another "N" book for A Good Yarn from my lists is
READ The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn (Nova Scotia) and it also fits the January cover color challenge.
My first book of the New Year might be
A Midwinter's Tail - it was on my Dec. 2023 plans but didn't get to it. It's not too long and it would be a fun, cozy read for New Year's Day.

In leftovers and chunky books, I'd like to get to
READ The Wild Inside - I've started it a couple of times, and if I don't read it soon, it never will be.
Looking at my chunky book leftovers (may take more than one month...) I've settled on finishing
READ Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer and
READ Moby-Dick or, The Whale - I don't need to start them over I don't think, but they have been long paused - since they got packed up when I moved, and I didn't get to them in 2023. I didn't get to ANY of them in 2023 - I wanted to read new things. But now I feel motivated to pick them up again.

So wish me luck!

Love your themes, especially the Door one! Good luck on all of your challenges. And, yay! Love to hear that you prioritized yourself. We all need to do that. Happy reading in 2024

In addition to posting monthly plans, I've decided to add a monthly log...

January Log

Finished:
Midwinter of the Spirit - finished Jan. 15
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President - for Perspectives Book Club - finished Jan. 21
The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings - January genre challenge (sci fi) and cover color challenge (sky blue) - finished Jan. 31

Currently reading:
The Weaver and the Witch Queen
An Unfortunate Christmas Murder - started Dec. 30
The Ten Thousand Doors of January - audiobook, Libby, started Jan. 17
The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn - started Jan. 24
The Romance of Tristan - started Jan. 29

Ongoing Longer Reads:
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - restarted Jan 8
Moby-Dick or, The Whale - restarted Jan 8

Next up:
The Doors of Eden - Jan. genre challenge and cover color challenge - purchased on Chirp books
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot - audiobook, checked out on Jan. 16 but then another hold came in, so this is postponed...

Holds Pending:
Our Missing Hearts - for Perspectives book club
Lovely War - Feb. genre and cover color challenges

New Acquisitions:
The Fallen from Paradise - purchased with Audible credit - fits the Jan sci fi genre and blue color cover challenge
Wild and Distant Seas - ARC - Moby Dick theme...
Within The Fetterlock - purchased print copy on Amazon
Last Night - Kindle, Amazon first picks
This Impossible Brightness - Kindle, Amazon first picks

I've acquired 5 books today. See post above (#24). The Fallen from Paradise was highlighted by Audible in their daily email, and the description of it as both a book and a musical with 9 songs and soundtrack intrigued me. Since I need a Sci Fi book for the On the Same Page monthly genre challenge and it also fits the cover color challenge, I used one of my Audible credits to purchase it. I had one Sci Fi book in my lists that I had placed a hold on, but the waiting list is 16 weeks. Definitely not going to get it in January!

I am starting Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President today. It is for my Perspectives book club which meets on the 23rd. About a chapter a day will have it read in time.

I've added Moby-Dick or, The Whale and Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer into the daily mix of scheduled reads. This gives me a time-table to follow and aims to prevent letting them lapse. My other books are "unscheduled" - meaning I'll finish them when I finish them. It's been over a year since these two books were paused. I was maybe about 25% on both, but I am restarting them. I've set Moby Dick at 3 chapters/day and Ahab's Wife at 15 pages/day. If I stay on track I will finish them both on Feb. 21 and then I'll pick up another of my long-paused books.

Mid-January update:
Since I started most of my current reads right around the turn of the year, I have yet to actually finish anything, so I feel like I'm behind already. Nevermind that 3 of the books I'm reading are over 500 pages long, and two more are over 300... Well my audiobook, Midwinter of the Spirit is within reach, and since I have been hibernating with the cold weather on this long holiday weekend, I decided to listen to it in the bath last night. 2 1/2 hours left now. And we are getting to the denouement. So I hope to get it finished by tomorrow. It was a good choice to read right around Christmas time - like Dicken's Christmas Carol with its ghosts and visitations. I am enjoying the juxtaposition of the Church of England vs. the pagan lore of Herefordshire as well as "New Age" spirituality, the newness of having women clergy and the resistance to that, and then what is actual paranormal activity vs. people with evil intent.

Otherwise, I am keeping up with all my "scheduled" reads, but the other books are in grave danger of going by the wayside, since it is late by the time I get to bed, and my lighter bedtime reading gets abandoned... or I fall asleep on the sofa, and wake up at 3:30 am....

Someone in another group asked me about how Moby Dick and Ahab's Wife work together. Only one week into a six-week read at this point, but I am noting some interesting parallels. Clearly the author of Ahab's Wife has structured her book on Moby Dick. There are "excerpts" (quotations from various other literature) as a sort of "preface" in both books. The chapters are mostly short, and I can tell there are going to be a lot miscellaneous ruminations about all manner of things. The book is also illustrated with woodcuts reminiscent of the 1930 edition of Moby Dick with illustrations by Rockwell Kent. Reading them in parallel, I had no sooner read a chapter titled "Nantucket" in one, to find a chapter titled "Nantucket" in the other. Also having just read about Ishmael and Queegueg attending a service at the Seamen's Bethel Chapel, then we have Una and her parents attending the same chapel with its prow of a ship for a pulpit. Then we have Ishmael and Queequeg eating chowder at the Try Pots Tavern, run by Mrs. Hosea Hussey and comments about the cow whose milk is rather "fishy" because of what the cow eats. In the other book we have Kit and Giles arriving at the Lighthouse where Una lives with her aunt and uncle. They have chowder for supper, and her aunt says she got the recipe from Mrs. Hussey at the Try Pots, and Giles and Kit regale them with descriptions of Mrs. Hussey's necklace made of fish (cod) vertebrae, and the cow dining on fish remnants out back. So I would say they jive very well together.

1. Midwinter of the Spirit
4 red stars.

This was a good choice to read right around Christmas time - like Dicken's Christmas Carol with its ghosts and visitations. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the Church of England vs. the pagan lore of Herefordshire as well as "New Age" spirituality, the newness of having women clergy and the resistance to that, and then what is actual paranormal activity vs. people with evil intent. This felt so terribly dated, but I have to remind myself that 1999 really was almost 25 years ago, not yesterday (even if it feels like it), plus the ordination of women in the Church of England came 20 years after the Episcopal Church in the U.S. began ordaining women clergy. Nevertheless, it felt to me more like the 197os when "New Age" spirituality became part of popular culture and I was a young graduate student wrestling with matters of faith and spirituality, and keenly interested in paranormal phenomena, being a bit psychic myself. I was also the daughter of a minister, so I can appreciate that while Merrily is being pulled into her role as a clergyperson and finding comfort in tradition, her daughter Jane is just at the age where she is rebelling against all things "church", but does not yet have the maturity to sort out what might be truly harmful. I wouldn't put this book in the horror category, but there is certainly a lot of suspense, and the author doesn't want us to easily discern what is truly going on either.

This book was made into a 3-part TV miniseries, and I am looking forward to watching it.

Description: When offered the post once styled Church of England Deliverance Minister, the Reverend Merrily Watkins -- parish priest and single parent -- cannot easily refuse. But the retiring exorcist, strongly objecting to women priests, not only refuses to help Merrily but ensures that she's soon exposed to the job at its most terrifying. And things get no easier as an early winter slices through the old city of Hereford, a body is found in the River Wye, an ancient church is desecrated and there are signs of dark ritual on a hill overlooking the city.

Cumulative pages: 544

Some thoughts on the miniseries vs. the book:
I watched the ITV production of Midwinter of the Spirit last night. It was pretty good. I would watch it again. I'm sure it was intended to lead to an extended series, but alas, that didn't happen. Here's an overview by someone who has not read the book:

I wholeheartedly agree that a film must be allowed to be its own thing, and that you can't pare a 544 p. book down into 140 minutes without leaving a great deal out. So having said I thought it was pretty good, it definitely strayed quite a bit.

What I liked:
I do think in general they captured the essence of the book.
I liked the actor that portrayed Merrily. It really emphasized just how young she was (even if she did have a 16-year-old daughter).
I think the film managed to keep the ambiguity of the paranormal - you could go either way with it.

What I didn't like:
Wrong season. I got no sense of it being wintertime at all.
The relationship between Merrily and Jane. In the film, Jane was an out and out rebel, despising her mother's profession. Yes, she did this in the book, too, but it was more ambivalent. She came across as much more savvy in the book, and she was able to come around on her own, even helping and supporting her mother in the final scene at the Cathedral.
The Satanists or whatever they were. First of all - everything in the film was tied into this group, and it was such a mishmash that I never got any sense of what exactly they were trying to do. It was all too unfocused. I'm not explaining that very well.
Some very key people in the book were left out of the film entirely. I think this contributed to my overall feeling that the book was just too "diluted" in the film.

#2 Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
4.5 blue stars rounded up.

Although I attended Garfield Elementary School (one of many so named), I knew next to nothing about this president. How did he come to be so honored when he only served a few months as president? I'm not sure this book answers that question - it is not a biography. It's a narrative history mainly of those few months. As portrayed here, you might think that Garfield is quite a heroic figure, along with Alexander Graham Bell, against the despicable Charles Guiteau and Dr. Doctor Bliss. But I don't rate a book for what it is not. It's a snapshot of people and a time and a place in history and it is fascinating to think about all the what if's - what if Garfield had survived and served out his term? What if medical practice had been quicker to adopt the necessity of sterilization put forth by Joseph Lister? Would Alexander Graham Bell still have invented his induction balance device? You quickly realize that we are caught between two worlds in politics and in medicine, and that some things never change - the allure of corruption, or our inability to address mental illness, for example. One bright spot here - the redemption of Chester Arthur and just who is this Julia Sand? Now there's a whole other book to be written... This is a book that will make you want to learn more about, well, everything - Garfield's early life, his wife Lucretia, Garfield's writing (we only get tantalizing quotes at the beginning of each chapter), how politics changed (at least temporarily) for the better - and a book that does that is a good book.

Description: James A. Garfield may have been the most extraordinary man ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what hap­pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur­moil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his con­dition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet.

Cumulative pages: 883

Laurel wrote: "#2 [book:Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President|1..."

Laurel - just WOW! It's admirable that anyone would take on a nonfiction book of such length, but it sounds like a most intriguing book to read. I'll see if my library has it - it does seem fairly unique for its genre.

Karol wrote: "It's admirable that anyone would take on a nonfiction book of such length"

It's not that long! "Cumulative pages" is my running total of all books for the year! It's 339 pages, and a good bit of that is bibliography, notes, and index...

I always feel like I am behind, but I'm usually reading a longer or more detailed novel at the first of the year. I am trying to get back to my weekend reader (novella); a work book (daily read of 400+ pg); and a graphic novel or kindle-book for in between.

That method usually keeps me on track.

Kudos on knocking out those first few, Laurel.

I started yet another book last night, so now have 6 on the go again. My book clubs met today, and it was a book for A Good Yarn - "N" locations - and I wanted to be able to say I had at least started it: The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn (Nova Scotia). My other N book is The Weaver and the Witch Queen (Norway) which has gotten somewhat paused, but I hope to resume this weekend.

January is fast disappearing! How did that happen? I've decided that any monthly challenges (A Good Yarn, the genre challenge, the cover color challenge, etc.) need to be at least started during the month in question - even if it takes me 6 months to finish, at least I started it in the right month. Ha ha. Okay. So I've had two possible sci fi picks lined up, both audiobooks, and both also fit the cover color challenge, but I already have a Good Yarn book started that also fits that. The problem is - the bluetooth went out in my car again. It has been a whole week and I haven't been able to listen to my current read (which I'd like to finish before I start a new one...) I'll try again this afternoon to get it reconnected, before my one hour drive to my women's choir rehearsal this evening. (I even tried plugging the phone in manually, which worked last time this happened, and maybe I should just do that ALL the time, but I couldn't get that to work either.) One way or another, I will get it working today. If nothing else, I will use ear buds! Anyway, with only 3 days left in January, I took a look at everything tagged sci fi in my TBR, and sorted by number of pages. I've got several chunky books going, and I really need something short that I can finish fast. So I just downloaded (Libby) the graphic novel The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings. I enjoyed the TV series very much! Perfect. Only about 80 pages. I might even get it read this afternoon!

#3 The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings
3 green stars.

If you are a fan of the TV show, you will like this. I am not sure this could stand alone. Obviously it would help to be familiar with the show and the characters. Consider these to be two mini-episodes that take place just after the end of season one. I thought the second story especially had some merit about a group of humans that have embraced the Krill's worship of Avis. There were some ideas there that could be expanded into a full episode. The artwork is colorful, the characters are recognizable. But this is all too short, and just a tease really.

Description: Picking up where season one of Seth MacFarlane's space adventure TV series leaves off, this volume contains four episodic chapters:

In part 1 of New Beginnings: Ed and Gordon follow a faint distress signal belonging to a long-lost Union vessel only to end up shot down on an irradiated, war-torn desert planet in the hands of an unknown species. In part 2 of New Beginnings: As Ed and Gordon uncover the truth of a century-old war, they fear that their eventual rescue may endanger the rest of the Orville crew. Not only does the crew's lives hang in the balance but all life on the entire planet.

In part 1 of The Word of Avis: The Orville intercepts a small Union ship en route to the interstellar territory of the easily aggravated Krill. They thought the passengers were just a simple group of xenoanthropologists, but they turn out to be something much more interesting. In part 2 of The Word of Avis: Dragged off course and into Krill territory, the Orville crew find themselves in a battle for their lives, with threats from both outside and within.

Cumulative pages: 979

Laurel wrote: "January is fast disappearing! How did that happen? I've decided that any monthly challenges (A Good Yarn, the genre challenge, the cover color challenge, etc.) need to be at least started during th..."

January came and went so fast. 2024 is putting us on notice! LOL

February plans:
Currently reading 7 books (yikes!) which is much too ambitious, but a couple of those are long term reads that I won't finish until the end of February. I won't list them here - see my February log which I'll post shortly.

When I finish the current audiobook, I'll be starting
READ The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot for my Daytimers book club. I need to read
READ Our Missing Hearts first for my Perspectives book club - they meet sooner - but I still have a two week hold. Hopefully it will come sooner.

The February genre challenge is "romance" and the cover color challenge is chocolate brown or pink. I have a hold on
READ Lovely War which fits both, but the hold is 5 weeks. I do have a couple other options for the color challenge...
The Forbidden Garden or
The Chocolate Maker's Wife. Not sure those would be considered a romance, but I am currently reading
READ The Romance of Tristan so that works...

A Good Yarn is doing "O" locations. I just finished
READ The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings which fits (both The Orville as a location, and outer space as a location.) Perhaps I should let it go at that while I get caught up, but we'll see. I can always add an update later.

I'll be starting
READ The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case soon for an online book club.

And that is plenty to contemplate for now....

February Log

Finished:
The Ten Thousand Doors of January - finished Feb. 3
The Romance of Tristan - finished Feb. 7
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot - finished Feb. 13
An Unfortunate Christmas Murder - finished Feb. 15
Our Missing Hearts - finished Feb. 20

Currently reading:
The Weaver and the Witch Queen
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - restarted on Jan. 8
Moby-Dick or, The Whale - restarted on Jan. 8
The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn - started Jan. 24, A Good Yarn "N" challenge (Nova Scotia), and January cover color challenge (sky blue)
The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case - started Feb. 7
Lovely War - Feb. genre challenge and cover color challenge - started Feb. 21
Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies - short (90 p.) Prequel to Behind Closed Doors - started on Feb. 21
The Ice Swan - for the Jan. cover color challenge - started on Feb. 23

Next up:
Tooth and Claw - group read for The Reading Loft
A Vision of Light random pick from my lists by a coworker
The Beacon at Alexandria
Tomb for an Eagle - owned on Kindle, A Good Yarn - O is for Orkney

Possibly Pending:
The Wild Inside- I've started it a couple of times, and if I don't read it soon, I never will.
Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World - on hold on Libby ~3 weeks
The Wolf Den - on hold on Libby ~12 weeks


New Acquisitions:
The Beacon at Alexandria - purchased on Kindle
A Vision of Light - used an Audible credit...
A Marriage of Lions - Kindle, on sale
Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph - Audible credit
The Beatrice Stubbs Boxset One - Audible credit
The song of Roland: the Oxford text; - Chirp audiobooks

Still might read:
A Midwinter's Tail - it was on my Dec. 2023 plans but didn't get to it. Save for Dec. 2024?
Sing Them Home for A Good Yarn (N is for Nebraska). Owned.
The Running Grave - purchased on Audible.
The Fallen from Paradise - owned on Audible - fits the Jan sci fi genre and blue color cover challenge
Wild and Distant Seas - ARC - Moby Dick theme...
Within The Fetterlock - purchased print copy on Amazon
The Doors of Eden - Fits the Jan. challenge criteria (genre AND cover color) - discounted on Chirp audio today (the 21st) so I bought it - my hold on Libby was over 16 weeks....
The Forbidden Garden - alternate Feb. cover color challenge
The Chocolate Maker's Wife - alternate Feb. cover color challenge

#4 The Ten Thousand Doors of January
4 red stars.

Not without its faults, but I enjoyed it and would read more by this author. I wasn't sure what this book wanted to be at first with its nested, book within a book structure. But once the pieces began to fall into place it got harder to put down. The writing is beautiful. It is full of metaphors about books, and doors, and the power of words. The tale is inventive, and full of adventure, with perhaps a tendency to be over the top occasionally. There are good guys and bad guys and a loveable dog. There are sailors and scholars (Scallers!), mad men, vampires, evil governesses, strong women, interconnected worlds, and lots and lots of doors. There probably won't be a sequel, but there were loose ends that leave at least the possibility.

Description: In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut. In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Cumulative pages: 1,353

Great progress, Laurel!!

That Alix Harrow book looks really interesting. I may need to add it.

I read mutliple books at once, as well. Each a different genre; different lengths. It helps because I get moody and may not want to read the same thing over a full week.

#5 The Romance of Tristan
4 red stars.

The original French text of Beroul is described as a poem, and this is a prose translation. I do wish the translator/editor had included at least a sample of the French poetry in his introduction, so that we could see the structure and rhyme scheme. Nor did he say much about Beroul. Admittedly, almost nothing is known. I would have liked a little more historical context. I found most of the introduction unenlightening. Perhaps I would get more out of his analysis reading it AFTER I had read the translation, so that's what I recommend. The prose translation itself is delightful, and unexpectedly humorous. The author is firmly on the side of the lovers, and presumes that God and his readers are too. They get into one predicament after another, but always manage to outwit the powers that be in a very clever manner. This is not the tragedy that other retellers have portrayed.

Description: This edition contains perhaps the earliest and most elemental version of the tragic legend of Tristan and Yseult in a distinguished prose translation. Alan S. Fredrick summarizes missing episodes and includes a translation of 'The Tale of Tristan's Madness.'

Cumulative pages: 1,529

#6 The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
5 purple stars

Without a doubt, this will be in my top ten this year. I adored Lenni and Margot both, and wish they were real people that I could hang out with. Margot, especially, had such an interesting life - I could listen to her stories all day. It's sad, and sometimes a bit heavy, but there is humor too, and philosophical ponderings about life. Their friendship is special. Margot and "Father" Arthur serve as surrogate parents for Lenni. Ultimately it is about finding love and being loved. I had a special older friend in my life, too, but I would be hard pressed to turn it into a book. Still, we all have stories to tell. The last line will stick with me for a long time.

Description: Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Though the teenager has been told she’s dying, she still has plenty of living to do. Joining the hospital’s arts and crafts class, she meets the magnificent Margot, an 83-year-old, purple-pajama-wearing, fruitcake-eating rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never imagined. As their friendship blooms, a world of stories opens for these unlikely companions who, between them, have been alive for one hundred years. Though their days are dwindling, both are determined to leave their mark on the world. With the help of Lenni’s doting palliative care nurse and Father Arthur, the hospital’s patient chaplain, Lenni and Margot devise a plan to create one hundred paintings showcasing the stories of the century they have lived—stories of love and loss, of courage and kindness, of unexpected tenderness and pure joy.

Cumulative pages: 1,851

#7 An Unfortunate Christmas Murder
3 pink stars

A pink star rating may be a tad generous, but I have the next book in the series. The plot was decent. I'm just not terribly enamored of the characters. Margery and Clementine are now married and Margery is now the school's kitchen manager. Clementine kind of took a backseat in this "episode" I thought. The rivalry between the two schools was kind of fun. And they manage to get into plenty of trouble, with Christmas trees catching on fire, spying on the neighboring school's Christmas pageant rehearsals, keeping on the good side of their neighbor, Dawn. A dog kidnapping. Climbing through air vents... No mention of ear trumpets this time, but I got seriously tired of everything being described as "ginormous." A couple of times is funny, but by the dozenth time it starts to be wearing. I like to sandwich cozies in between more serious reading, but the fact that this took me more than 6 weeks to finish says it was okay, but not very compelling. I probably won't pick up the next book until it shows up in my annual random reading picks.

Description: In the small town of Dewstow, 'tis the season for gold, frankincense, and murder... It’s Margery’s first year as kitchen manager for Summerview school and supported by her wife, Clementine, she is trying to stay focused. When a tragic accident claims the life of the music teacher during rehearsals for the Christmas concert planning, they are caught in the crossfire. Mrs Smith, the Head of Drama, becomes the prime suspect, and is desperate for the Dinner Lady Detectives to clear her name. Mrs Smith is convinced that it’s sabotage by her rival from Ittonvale Secondary, but there’s evidence that points to her own misdeeds. Can Margery and Clementine trust their friend? And when things start to heat up in the kitchen, will they make it out in time?

Cumulative pages: 2,137

Mid-February update:
I've significantly updated message number 39 above (February log). Now that I am starting to catch up with my reading, I've added a few more pending titles. I purchased
The Beacon at Alexandria on Kindle, and hope to get to that soon. Also added a short story which is a prequel to one of my "doors" theme titles:
READ Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies

Then I added another section of titles I've considered for challenges, or they were recently acquired. Those are probably farther out than "Possibly Pending" and some may get abandonned, but at this point I'm trying to keep them on my radar and not scattered in various update posts.

Laurel wrote: "#6 The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
5 purple stars

Without a doubt, this will be in my top ten this year."

I keep seeing this book and now based on your review have added it to my list.

I'll be finishing my current audiobook before book club tonight, and I don't have to start my next book club book for a couple of weeks, so I just asked my coworker for a random number, and that turned out to be A Vision of Light from my 2024 priority book shelf. Spent an Audible credit for it, so I'll be starting it tomorrow.

Okay. Nevermind. Just looked at what I already have checked out on Libby, and I need to listen to Lovely War first for the Feb. cover color challenge. I thought I was still on the waiting list...

#8 Our Missing Hearts
3.5 pink stars

This had some nice things going for it. The overall concept. The importance of art and storytelling in difficult times. The exploration of what makes a good parent. The characters of Bird and Sadie. Everyone else was rather underdeveloped. In fact, maybe underdeveloped is my overall description of this book. I loved the idea of heroic underground librarians, but again - underdeveloped. Everything they did was very passive. The idea of PACT was rather chilling, but whatever led up to it was not very credibly explained. And the ending - I feel like I'm still waiting for the conclusion.

Description: Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him. Then one day, Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will finally learn the truth about what happened to his mother, and what the future holds for them both. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and the power of art to create change.

Cumulative pages: 2,472

Update and an upcoming week off:

Ugh, I keep starting new books and then changing my mind on what is a priority, and I really need to try and finish some of the ones I'm currently reading.

I started
READ The Weaver and the Witch Queen back in December! So I really hope to get that finished this week.
READ The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton = Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile Ceap Breatainn isn't terribly long, so I will prioritize getting that finished as well.
READ Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies is only 90 pages, so that could be knocked out in a day. I started
READ The Ice Swan last night just because. Could I possibly get that read this week, too?