Robin Reads in 2016

I'm Robin and this is my 5th year in this group. Last year, I managed for the first time to make it all the way through the entire year, which is an accomplishment as I usually get to busy to find my way back to post about what I read. I always have time to read though!

I am 52 years old and am the wife of Ed and the mother of Beckham (14) and Keegan (almost 11). I almost forgot our two cats, Matisse and Picasso! We live in Dublin, OH, which is a suburb of Columbus, OH. I own a tax practice which I run out of my house, although I am slowing my practice down as I seem to spend more time taking my sons here and there. They are active in travel soccer, scouting and other school activities and keep me very busy.

I have loved to read all of my life, but my library on LT reflects those books that I have kept track of since I started as a member 5 years ago. I am slowly trying to capture books I have read before that time, but I'm guessing that a lot of books that I have read will never be recorded as I have forgotten them. I am totally an addict, and the daily deals on amazon for $1.99 will probably be my financial ruin. I just cannot help myself when it comes to a bargain of that sort!

I mainly read mysteries, science fiction, fantasy and children's/young adult books (along with my sons.) Specifically, most of the mysteries that I read are British mysteries in the style of the Golden Age of Detection and I enjoy soft scifi a bit more than hard scifi. I still try to read every evening to my sons, although as they get older, it becomes harder to do so. I also try to read several best sellers during the year. In school, I never had to read many of the classics, so I am also slowly going back to read some of those too.

I proudly consider myself to be a geek (okay, maybe a nerd too). My favorite TV shows are Sherlock (BBC version) and Doctor Who (both classic and new series). I am eagerly anticipating the miniseries return of the X-Files!! My other hobbies include making beaded jewelry and sometimes knitting. I love to travel, but since we have children who are quickly approaching college age, we don't do as much as we used to.

If we would win the lottery the first thing I would do (aside from paying off the mortgage and setting aside the funds for college for my sons) is to go back to school myself! I love to learn and would probably take lots of psychology, philosophy and literature courses.

Last year I added 322+ books to my library and I read 178. Many of the 322 books were added from Project Gutenberg as I tried to pick up some of the older classics. I am going to try this year not to add so many books and to read more of the books I already have. I'm afraid that my Kindle will start to run out of space soon - and then what will I do!!

I'm looking forward to catching up in 2016 with all the 75'er friends I made last year - and maybe I'll even do more than lurk this year!!

Books Read in 2016




List of Books Read in 2016

Books Read in January
Books Added to My Library in January

Books Read in February
Books Added to My Library in February

Books Read in March
Books Added to My Library in March

Books Read in April
Books Added to My Library in April

Books Read in May
Books Added to My Library in May

Kindle Preorders

Books To Read Next

Newbery Medal and Honors Reading List from ala.org Newbery Medal and Honors List 1922 to Present

Hugo Awards Reading List

Series I'm Reading

2015 Summary

Books read in 2015

Books added to my library: 322

Books read: 178

• Print: 21
  
• Kindle: 157
  
  
• Borrowed: 27
  
• Purchased new: 103 (?)
  
• TBR: 48 (48?)
  

Pages read: 47,358 (so my average book has approximately 266 pages)

Ratings:

• 10
  
• 12
  
• 77
  
• 31
  
• 37
  
• 8
  
• 1
  
• 2
  
  
• Average rating: 3.66
  

Books rated 4.5 or 5:

• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - reread
  
• Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde - reread
  
• Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling - reread
  
• Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling - reread
  
• Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling - reread
  
• Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual Spatial Learner by Linda Kreger Silverman
  
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - reread
  
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
  
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
  
• A Night Divided by Jennifer A Nielsen
  
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding - reread
  
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  
• To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
  
• The Stranger House by Reginald Hill
  
• Dodger by Terry Pratchett
  
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
  
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  
• Rough Cider by Peter Lovesey
  
• Queen Mab by Kate Danley
  
• Night by Elie Weisel
  
• El Deafo by Cece Bell
  
• A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths
  
  

Hi, Robin! Welcome back!!

Hi Robin, I'm Ella, and this is the first time I participate in this group.
I'll problably lurk a lot, the rest of the year, but just wanted to say hi to you now.
You have read a lot of books last year! I love Doctor Who as well...
Wishing you happy reading.

Books read in January

1. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams >12 rretzler:
   
2. Death at Bishop's Keep by Robin Paige >11 rretzler:
   
3. Death at Gallow's Green by Robin Paige >25 rretzler:
   
4. Death at Daisy's Folly by Robin Paige >27 rretzler:
   
5. When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro >28 rretzler:
   
6. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate >29 rretzler:
   
7. 7th Heaven by James Patterson >38 rretzler:
   
8. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins >47 rretzler:
   
9. The Folly Under the Lake by Salema Nazzal >48 rretzler:
   
10. Death of a Nurse by MC Beaton >51 rretzler:
    
11. Murder on the Hour by Elizabeth J Duncan >52 rretzler:
    
12. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro >53 rretzler:
    
    Favorite books in January: When We Were Orphans, The Woman in White and The Remains of the Day.
    
    Summary
    12 books read
    3,575 pages
    3.5 average rating
    
    Source
    3 ARC
    2 library
    3 new
    2 reread
    2 TBR
    
    Medium
    1 audiobook
    11 e-books
    
    Genre
    1 science fiction
    2 fiction
    1 middle grade
    8 mystery
    
    

Books added to my library in January

1. The Oddfits by Tiffany Tsao - Kindle First
   
2. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
   
3. The Autobiography of James T Kirk by David A Goodman
   
4. Death at Gallows Green by Robin Paige *
   
5. The Bittermeads Mystery by E R Punshon
   
6. Death at Daisy's Folly by Robin Paige *
   
7. The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths
   
8. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
   
9. Knock, Murderer, Knock! by Harriet Rutland
   
10. Murder a la Richelieu by Anita Blackmon
    
11. The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem Van Loon - from Project Gutenberg
    
12. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting - from Project Gutenberg
    
13. The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes - from Project Gutenberg
    
14. Youth by Isaac Asimov - from Project Gutenberg
    
15. Fire Watch by Connie Willis
    
16. The Big Brush-off by Michael Murphy - from NetGalley *
    
17. Murder on the Hour by Elizabeth J Duncan - from NetGalley *
    
18. Death of a Nurse by MC Beaton - from NetGalley *
    
19. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths - from NetGalley *
    
20. Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things by Carlos Bueno
    
21. The Story of Kullervo by JRR Tolkien - from NetGalley
    
22. Rope Enough by Oliver Tidy - from Smashwords
    
23. Time of Fog and Fire by Rhys Bowen - from NetGalley *
    
24. Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor - from NetGalley *
    
    * Now read.
    
    
    

>4 scaifea: Hi, Amber! Glad to be back. Hope I can do more than just read and lurk this year.

>5 EllaTim: Welcome, Ella. Glad to hear you like Doctor Who as well. Did you see the Christmas episode, The Husbands of River Song? What did you think?

Kindle Preorders

Keeping track of the books that I preorder on Amazon - these are mostly series books for which I am awaiting the next installment

1. Knock, Knock You're Dead by M.C. Beaton - Hamish Macbeth short story - February 9, 2016, received, read, reviewed
   
2. Death of a Nurse by M.C. Beaton - Hamish Macbeth #31 -February 23, 2016 - received ARC, read, reviewed
   
3. Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize by Emily Brightwell - Mrs Jeffries #34 - March 1, 2016 - received, read
   
4. The Marriage of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King - Mary Russell short story - March 15, 2016, received, read
   
5. Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear - Maisie Dobbs #12 - March 29, 2016, received
   
6. The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King - Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes #14 - April 4, 2016, received
   
7. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths - Ruth Galloway #8 - May 3, 2016 - received ARC, read, reviewed
   
8. Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure by Nancy Atherton - Aunt Dimity #21 - May 24, 2016
   
9. Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine by Alexander McCall Smith - Isabel Dalhousie short story - May 31, 2016
   
10. A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie - Psychic Eye #14 - July 5, 2016
    
11. Another One Goes Tonight by Peter Lovesey - Peter Diamond #16 - July 12, 2016
    
12. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling - Harry Potter #8 - July 31, 2016
    
13. Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen - Royal Spyness #10 - August 2, 2016
    
14. I Shot the Buddha by Colin Cotterill - Siri Paiboun #11 - August 2, 2016
    
15. Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley - Flavia de Luce #8 - September 20, 2016
    
16. The Fever Code by James Dashner - Maze Runner #5 or .5 - September 27, 2016
    
17. Crosstalk by Connie Willis - October 6, 2016
    
18. The Queen's Accomplice by Susan Elia Macneal - Maggie Hope #6 - October 6, 2016
    
19. Precious & Grace by Alexander McCall Smith - No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency #17 - October 11, 2016
    
20. Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths - Magic Men #3 - October 18, 2016
    
21. Bryant & May: Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler - Bryant & May #13 - December 13, 2016
    
    

Welcome to 2016, Robin!

1. Death at Bishop's Keep by Robin Paige



This is a reread for me. Apparently I read this book in 2012. As I was reading it, I kept thinking that it sounded vaguely familiar, but unfortunately it was not familiar enough for me to recall that I had actually read it until I entered it into LT. I'm not sure whether that is a function of my 52 year-old brain, or a comment on the book itself.

It was an enjoyable read, and I think would be liked by anyone who was into cozy, historical mysteries. I read the Kindle version, which I do not recommend. It seemed as though the text had been scanned instead of being typed in. Words with an r and n such as corner came out as comer and there were several other distracting types of errors.

I will read more by this author.

2. Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams



This is another reread. It is the second book in the classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I really enjoy Douglas Adams' humor, he has a very sly wit that I find enjoyable.

Hi Robin, lovely of you to drop by my thread with greetings for me and for Cairo : ). Big paw back to Matisse and Picasso (fab names!). Love this: I proudly consider myself to be a geek (okay, maybe a nerd too). We'll get along just fine : ).

Newbery List



Several years ago, when my older son was in the 5th grade Newbery Club, I decided that I wanted to try to read Newbery winners. I've been slowly working on it and now that my younger son is in Newbery Club, I have decided to pursue this goal a little more. I'm listing both Medal and Honors books that I've read.

ala.org Newbery Medal and Honors List 1922 to Present

2016 - Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson - Honors
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - Honors
2015 - El Deafo by Cece Bell - Honors
2014 - Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo - Medal
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes - Honors
2013 - The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate - Medal
2012 -
2011 -
2010 - When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - Medal
2009 - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Medal
2008 -
2007 - Rules by Cynthia Lord - Honors
2006 -
2005 -
2004 - The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo - Medal
2003 -
2002 -
2001 -
2000 -
1999 -
1998 -
1997 -
1996 -
1995 -
1994 - The Giver by Lois Lowry - Medal
1993 -
1992 -
1991 -
1990 -
1989 -
1988 -
1987 -
1986 -
1985 -
1984 -
1983 - Doctor DeSoto by William Steig - Honors
1982 -
1981 -
1980 -
1979 - The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - Medal
1978 - The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson - Medal
1977 -
1976 -
1975 -
1974 -
1973 -
1972 -
1971 -
1970 -
1969 - The High King by Lloyd Alexander - Medal
1968 - From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler by E L Konigsburg - Medal
1967 -
1966 - The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander - Honors
1965 -
1964 - Rascal by Sterling North - Honors
1963 - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - Medal
1962 -
1961 -
1960 -
1959 - The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - Medal
1958 -
1957 - Old Yeller by Fred Gipson - Honors
1956 -
1955 -
1954 -
1953 - Charlotte's Web by E B White - Honors
1952 - Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes - Medal
1951 -
1950 -
1949 - My Father's Dragon by Ruth Gannett - Honors
1948 - Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry - Honors
1947 -
1946 -
1945 -
1944 - These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Honors
1943 -
1942 - Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Honors
1941 - The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Honors
1940 - By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Honors
1939 - Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - Honors
1938 - On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Honors
1937 -
1936 - Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink - Medal
1935 -
1934 -
1933 -
1932 -
1931 -
1930 -
1929 - Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag - Honors
1928 -
1927 -
1926 -
1925 -
1924 -
1923 -
1922 -

Morning, Robin! Love the Newbery Reading! I've managed to get through all of the Medal winner and am now working through the Honor books. Did you know that they're announcing this year's Newbery, Caldecott and other children's books awards this morning?! I'm pretty excited. And you can watch the announcements via live stream, found here:

http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/presskits/youthmediaawards/alayouthmedi...

Welcome back!

Dropping my star here!

Starred!

>15 scaifea: Hi, Amber. My son is in the Newbery Club at his school, so we've been reading to prepare and I watched the announcements this morning. I was disappointed that A Night Divided by Jennifer A Nielsen did not even make the Honors list. Unfortunately we did not read any of the books, although, The War that Saved My Life is up next on our list.

>16 drneutron: Thanks, Jim. Glad to be back. Thanks for keeping us organized.

>17 thornton37814: Welcome, Lori. Always glad to see another mystery lover.

>18 kgodey: Welcome back, Kriti.

So, yes...I am disappointed in the Newbery Awards this year. My son and I read about 8 books that were supposedly short-listed and I really loved A Night Divided as did the rest of his Newbery Club. The Club watched the awards live before school this morning, and I am interested to see what the reaction was. We did not even have the winner on our short list. :-(

We do have one of the Honors books, The War that Saved My Life, on our list to read next. I don't know if we will tackle Echo as I think it is a bit long to keep my sons attention. I may tackle it some day, though. The winner Last Stop on Market Street was a picture book that was also an Honors book for the Caldecott. I doubt if we will read it as it is a book for younger children - although it does sound interesting.

Yesterday, I thought that I would definitely be adding to my Newbery list today, but I guess not. IMHO, I think the Newbery Committee blew it this year!

>8 rretzler: I LOVED The Husband of River Song! I don't know if it was elevated for me because it was so much better than pretty much all of S8-9, but either way, I thought it was fantastic.

Star dropped. I'm more of a lurker on other peoples threads. So I'll be quiet, but I'll be around.

Happy New Year!.

Hi Robin! Star dropped :-) And I'm always delighted to see Doctor Who fans around her. I loved The Husbands of River Song.

I see you might have been caught by the Kindle deal on The Watchmaker of Filigree Street?

>21 kgriffith: >23 archerygirl: I think I'm going to have to watch The Husbands of River Song again...I wasn't really all that crazy about it, but I can't articulate why. I guess part of it is because I've never really liked River all that much. The romance side of things with the Doctor just never seemed to ring true to me - I always felt that the Doctor was so much above that sort of thing (even though he really does have more emotion than he lets on). Perhaps its because I have been watching the classic episodes since the mid-80s and romance never really entered into those that I find it disappointing in the new version. It explains a lot that Donna is my favorite of the new companions - she is the only one who was not interested in a romance with the Doctor! Oh, well....

>22 mahsdad: Happy New Year, Jeff. I'm more of a lurker too, so I totally understand.

>23 archerygirl: Kathy, I was hooked by The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. It sounds intriguing.

3. Death at Gallow's Green by Robin Paige



This is the second book in the Kate Ardleigh and Sir Charles Sheridan series written by Susan Wittig Albert and her husband, Bill Albert.

In this book, a police sergeant is found dead in Mr. McGregor's garden. Yes, this is supposed to be the Mr. McGregor of Beatrix Potter fame. The police constable was a childhood friend of Ned Laken, another policeman whom we met in the first book, and Sir Charles Sheridan. Kate meets Beatrix Potter at a house party and they become fast friends. Kate and Beatrix, and Charles and Ned investigate the case the murder.

This book seemed a little slow to me, compared with the first book. It was not one of those books that I could not put down - but it wasn't horrible either. The biggest issue with the book was again the ebook issue. It seemed as though it had been scanned. Many times words with "rn" showed up as "m" - like "stem' instead of "stern" and "comer" instead of "corner". Very distracting.

I think I'll give this series one more try. I really love British cozy mysteries and these seem to have some historical accuracy, but unless you really like the genre, I would not recommend them.

I see that I missed saying hello to a couple of people - my bad!

>10 ronincats: Roni, glad to be back. Let's hope I can keep the reviews going better this year!!

>13 lit_chick: Nancy, do I detect a "kindred spirit"?

4. Death at Daisy's Folly by Robin Paige



This is the 3rd book in the Kate Ardleigh and Sir Charles Sheridan series.

Both Kate and Charles have been invited to a house party given by Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, and mistress of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Other members of the Marlbourough House set are in attendance when a groomsman of the Prince is discovered dead in the stables. Charles discovers that it was not an accident and is asked by the Prince to investigate when a member of the house party is found shot in the head.

I enjoyed this book a little better than the second book in the series as it kept my interest a little more. Dasiy Greville was a real person and an actual mistress of the future King Edward VII, and I believe other points are historically accurate as well. There were not as many misprints in the book, but enough that it was still somewhat annoying.

I think for now I will read other things and perhaps come back to this series at a later date but it certainly will not be a priority as there are better series out there.

5. When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro



Continuing my vow to read more Ishiguro this year, I thought When We Were Orphans might be a good pick as it is a mystery, of sorts, and I am in a mystery mood. I was not disappointed - Ishiguro is a fantastic author.

Christopher Banks was born in Shanghai, China near the turn of the last century. His mother and father both mysteriously disappeared when he was young, and he was sent back to England to live with an aunt, vowing someday to become a detective. The book is written in the first person at various stages in Christopher's life.

I honestly could not put this book down. It kept my interest the entire way through, even during the background parts of the book. Ishiguro is an author that I can read without any effort - I felt as though I was a part of the book instead of just reading the story. As I am finding with other of Ishiguro's novels, the ending was bitter-sweet but I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

6. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate



Crenshaw is another middle-grade book that was suggested for my son's Newbery Club. Katherine Applegate is the author of The One and Only Ivan which won the Newbery a few years ago (during my older son's involvement in the Newbery Club).

Jackson is an elementary school boy whose family consists of his mother, his father, his younger sister, Robin and his imaginary friend, Crenshaw. Crenshaw is a large, people-sized black and white cat, who first appeared to Jackson when his family had to live in their van for a period. He disappeared the day that Jackson met his best friend, Marisol, who lived in the new apartment complex that Jackson's family moved into, but has now come back. Jackson's father has MS, and it is hard for him to hold down a job. His mother was fired from her job and is having problems finding another, so both parents have part-time jobs to try to support the family. To Jackson, it seems that his family may again be losing their home.

This book had some pretty serious issues for a middle-grade book. Jackson's mother and father seem to be optimists and have not shared their financial worries with their children, but Jackson is smart enough to see the handwriting on the wall, and he wishes that his parents would tell him the truth. As one of his teachers says, he is "an old soul." It really made me think as a parent about the choices that we all make regarding our family situation and how we want to protect our children -- and whether this is the right thing to do. I'm not sure that a child reading the book would necessarily get that from the book, so I think that it is likely the author meant this book to be shared with parents as well.

It was a good book, but perhaps not a great book, that dealt with a heavy issue in a thought-provoking and warm way. It was an easy read for my son, and I think we both got different things from it.

Robin, thanks for the info re Kazuo Ishiguro. It looks like I better add When We Were Orphans to my wishlist!

When We Were Orphans sounds like it needs to hit my WL, too, Robin! Nice review.

>29 rretzler: I really wasn't a fan of The One and Only Ivan, but Crenshaw looks interesting to me. Someday I'll get round to it...

>30 vancouverdeb: >31 lit_chick: I think Ishiguro is fast becoming one of my favorites! His writing is just so...powerful (for lack of a better term.) I wish I had discovered him ages ago.

>32 scaifea: Amber, I liked The One and Only Ivan much better than Crenshaw. Keegan thought it was okay, but he did stay with it until the end, which says something. I just feel that the message is more of an adult one - I'm not sure what a kid would really take from the book (perhaps a better understanding/empathy with a social class that they have had little to no contact.) I had heard it compared to the movie, Harvey, with James Stewart, which is a favorite of mine, but aside from the imaginary friend angle, there is no similarity. I'll be curious to see what you think when you read it someday...

Currently reading Wilkie Collin's The Woman in White which has been on my TBR list forever. This book is one, along with several by Mary Roberts Rinehart, that my grandfather told me many years ago that I would love. I guess I did not believe him...or had other books to read at the time that I felt were more interesting. I'm only about 15% of the way through, but finding it fascinating. Even though it was written in 1860, it doesn't feel as "old" or irrelevant as some other books from that time do.

>34 rretzler: That's an excellent book!

>34 rretzler: I've had The Woman in White on my TBR list for ages. Sounds like I need to bump it up a bit!

I'm so excited. I just received Death of a Nurse by MC Beaton as an ARC from Net Galley! This has been a series that I have been following for many years. Let's hope its a good one!

7. 7th Heaven by James Patterson



I'm not a big James Patterson, especially as my impression is that he lets someone else write his books, but takes all the credit. I wonder how much Maxine Paetro gets to share in the profits from this series?

As I have read the first six books of this series, I purchased, many years ago, the next four on Audible. I have not listened to them but found myself needing an audiobook recently and decided that I might as well pick this one. The series is interesting, not my favorite, but I don't hate it either. The narrator is pleasant to listen to - I believe she has done all of the other books of this series as well.

I wasn't crazy about the way the book ended but overall it was okay. Someday, I'll likely listen to the others.

2016 TIOLI Challenge

Decided that I might try the TIOLI Challenge - influenced of course because I can TIOLI. I'll use this to keep track of what might qualify.

January

When We Were Orphans - #17
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - #17; ISBN 0345391810 - #1
Death at Bishop's Keep - ISBN 0425164357 - #1, #6, #13, #18
Death at Gallows Green - #6, #13, #18
Death at Daisy's Folly - #6, #13, #18
Crenshaw - ISBN 1250080223 - #1
7th Heaven - ISBN 0446536245 - #1

I wasted a bunch of reading time today tinkering with my thread to make it more interesting... Now I wish I would have used that time to read instead.

Found you Robin!

>34 rretzler: I love Wilkie Collins, although my current favourite is The Moonstone, which is superb. The Woman in White is just very good (although Marian is one of my favourite 19th century heroines). I was reading through his less well known works but seem to have stalled on that particular project for some reason.

>41 souloftherose: Heather, I've had The Moonstone on my TBR pile for some time. Looks like I'll have to move it up!

Hugo Awards



I also thought I would start keeping track of my Hugo Award reading. Honestly, I thought I had read more of these than I have!

Hugo Award for Best Novel List

2016 -
2015 -
2014 -
2013 - Redshirts by John Scalzi
2012 -
2011 -
2010 -
2009 - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2008 -
2007 -
2006 -
2005 - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
2004 -
2003 -
2002 - American Gods by Neil Gaiman
2001 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
2000 -
1999 - To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
1998 -
1997 -
1996 -
1995 -
1994 -
1993 - Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
1992 -
1991 -
1990 -
1989 -
1988 -
1987 - Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
1986 - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
1985 - Neuromancer by William Gibson
1984 -
1983 - Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
1982 -
1981 -
1980 -
1979 -
1978 -
1977 -
1976 - The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
1975 -
1974 -
1973 - The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
1972 -
1971 - Ringworld by Larry Niven
1970 -
1969 -
1968 -
1967 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
1966 - Dune by Frank Herbert
1965 -
1964 -
1963 - Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
1962 - Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
1961 - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
1960 -
1959 -
1958 -
1956 -
1955 -
1954 - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
1953 -
1951 -
1946 - The Mule from Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
1939 - The Sword in the Stone from The Once and Future King by TH White

>43 rretzler: Oh, nice set-up. It inspired me to take your list and check out how I stack up on the Hugos. I've read everything you have, and 28 more. Part of that is being quite a bit older than you and having read many of the selections from the 60s, 70s and 80s as they were published, plus being a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold and Connie Willis. I think I'll set up a tracker for myself, even though some of the missing ones are not ones I'm particularly eager to read. I do have 5 of them in my tbr pile, though. I might cross-reference with the Nebulas as well.

Your profile says you are reading the Sally Shaywitz book on dyslexia--wonderful book. I handed it out to fellow school psychs and parents routinely back before I retired.

>44 ronincats: Roni, you must be pretty far along with the Hugos, then. It surprised me that I hadn't read more of them, considering I've been reading sci-fi since the 70s as well - I didn't get into fantasy (except for Tolkien, until much later). Although, I guess quite a bit of it was Asimov, although I've read a lot of Heinlein, Clarke, Zelazny, Niven, Herbert, etc - but unfortunately not the Hugo winners.

It's funny - I always thought I had read the two most popular LeGuin novels - The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed many years ago. I have owned the paperbacks for many, many years, but when I look at them, they do not seem familiar to me. So, I don't have them marked as being read, but I honestly am almost certain that I did so!! I guess the old memory is going...

Yes, I am reading Sally Shaywitz's book. My younger son was diagnosed with dyslexia last fall. It's interesting because he reads at grade level, but given his IQ/ability should be reading at a much higher level. Apparently, this is called Stealth Dyslexia, and it can manifest itself in a number of ways which are nothing like the "typical" dyslexic. The Shaywitz book has been highly recommended to me many times, so its good to know its so highly thought of. I didn't realize that you were a school psych - I've been having many recent conversations with our school psych as I wind my way through the wonderful world of the IEP. Keegan has been something of an enigma to me - he's in 5th grade and I've been trying since Kindergarten to discover why the ability that I know he has doesn't show up in the classroom. We've visited various psychologists and had a lot of testing done, but he just continued to baffle me. This is a boy who at the age of three could name all of the soccer players on the Columbus Crew with their numbers, but could not remember the names of our cats (which he adored!) He could understand multiplication & division before Kindergarten, but could not pass a timed math facts test (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.) He can understand difficult math and logic problems and do them flawlessly, but at times uses his fingers to add. I could go on and on. Finally, last spring, I came across a video on Stealth Dyslexia, and it was all so clear to me! The issue has now been trying to get him the help he needs - because he gets mainly A's in his classes, and tests in the normal range on all of the achievement tests (as opposed to his very high ability range), none of his teachers seemed to think there was anything wrong. We finally went through all of the comprehensive testing and were successful in getting him an IEP for his writing. That's a start, although I'll likely try something else - an Orton-Gillingham approach, maybe - to see if I can further help him. I've also been doing a lot of reading about Visual-Spatial learners, which he certainly is, and have discovered that in order for people like this to remember things, they need to be meaningful to them. Hence the soccer players but not the cats, etc. It has been an interesting journey.

And I just realized that I've gone on and on about my pet passion - gifted kids, education and the twice-exceptional! If anyone else has any thoughts or experiences in this area, or just wants to weigh in, I'd love to have the conversation.

I've got the Newbery and Hugo awards, and I though it might be interesting to have something to mark my love of mysteries as well. Unfortunately, there are so many mystery awards out there, but none of them really reflect the type of mystery that I really love to read. The Edgar Awards are probably the best known, and I have read many novels by the Grand Master award winners, but none of the Best Novels themselves strike my fancy. The Agatha Awards and the Anthony Awards are probably more to my taste, but once again, I don't typically read that type of mystery. Maybe some day I'll give reading from the Agathas or Anthonys a try - once I read all of the Louise Penny books, I'll sadly have knocked out a majority of the winners.

Perhaps I'll make a list of the Edgar Grand Master and work from it.

8. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins



I enjoyed this book - it was very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat in anticipation. Not having read anything by Collins before, I was unsure for about half the book as to where things were going. Around the 50% mark, it suddenly became clear to me. I have to admit that I was fascinated with the book for about the first quarter of it and then it seemed to go a bit slower for me during the second quarter of the book. I started reading it on the 19th or 20th, and it took me until the 24th to get halfway. Once I hit halfway yesterday, things seemed to speed up again! I think the middle where things were getting set up seemed unnecessarily wordy to me, but overall it worked.

I was a bit concerned for some time that the ending would not come out the way I wanted it, but fortunately, it did not disappoint. I plan to move The Moonstone up on my reading list.

9. The Folly Under the Lake by Salema Nazzal



Walter Sinnet is a self-made millionaire with money to burn, so he builds a massive lake on his expansive estate with a glass room for entertaining under the lake. He and his wife, Blanche, give a country house party to show off the folly and the lake and invite various guests for the weekend. Among those invited are Aubrey, the childhood friend of Blanche, who is still in love with her; Joseph and Florence, a couple with no money who are the son and daughter-in-law of Walter's closest friend; George, a jewelry dealer from America; Cordelia, Blanche's widowed niece; Hattie, a girl from the nearby village; and Rose and Harry, Walter and Blanche's children. It turns out that Walter made his money by making unscrupulous business deals, and cheating his investors and others. None of the house party particularly like Walter, including his own family, and of course, Walter turns up murdered during a stormy night where no outsider could have gotten onto the property. A detective inspector is called in, and we must find out "whodunit."

This book is written in the style of a classic golden age detective mystery. However, I think it misses its mark. It was a very easy read and was somewhat entertaining. Golden age detection novels are my favorite genre - I have read everything by Agatha Christy, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and many books by others such as Margery Allingham and Georgette Heyer, who were considered the top in this genre. This book, unfortunately, does not come close. It felt to me to be very unpolished. I didn't feel that the dialogue was quite what I would expect from the 1930's. For instance, the inspector asked at one point, "Can you unpack that statement a bit more?". I'm not sure that this is an expression that would be used in the 1930's. Also, the hostess says, "She doesn't know anyone here so please be kind!" At an upper-class house party in the 1930's, a hostess would certainly not have had to say that, in my opinion. The main character was apparently dying of consumption, which was a term used in the 1800's for tuberculosis. By the early 1900's, I believe the term consumption had been dropped. I know that many other reviewers have said that they felt the writing and dialogue were true to that period, but as I have read literally hundreds of books written in that period, I cannot say the same.

My other concern with the book is that I didn't feel the build-up was as good as it could have been. There was not the time to get to understand why all of the characters might have wanted Walter dead, or why we as the reader would feel outraged or happy that he was murdered. There weren't many clues, and the police inspector did not do much except talk to the house guests, and demand that they tell him the truth. I won't give away the ending, but I thought it was not well developed; it came out of nowhere right at the end.

I think the author has potential, though, and if she wants to write more of this genre should study the masters more closely.

I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.

Series I'm reading


Next Series Book on FictFact

Waiting for the next book:

• Agatha Raisin #27
  
• Aunt Dimity #21
  
• Chief Inspector Barnaby #8
  
• Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne #9
  
• Dr Siri Paiboun #11
  
• Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #17
  
• Flavia de Luce #8
  
• Genevieve Lenard #8
  
• Goldy Bear #18
  
• Hamish Macbeth #32
  
• Thomas Lynley & Barbara Havers #20
  
• Maggie Hope #6
  
• Mary Russell #15
  
• No. 1 Ladies' Dectective Agency #17
  
• Oliver Swithin #4
  
• Peter Diamond #16
  
• Richard Jury #24
  
• Royal Spyness #10
  
• Ruth Galloway #9
  
• A Song of Ice and Fire #6
  
• Sunday Philosophy Club #11
  
• Thursday Next #8
  
• A Very English Mystery #3
  
• Peter Wimsey sequels #5
  

Slowly reading:

• Albert Campion #2
  
• Bryant & May #1
  
• Discworld #2
  
• Erskine Powell #5
  
• Fethering Mysteries #2
  
• Howl's Moving Castle #2
  
• Inspector Banks #7
  
• Inspector Wexford #2
  
• Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #4
  
• Maisie Dobbs #9
  
• Miss Silver #3
  
• Inspector Morse #4
  
• Mrs Bradley misc
  
• Mrs Jeffries misc
  
• Psychic Eye #10
  
• Robert Langdon #4
  
• Kay Scarpetta #20
  
• Sir Charles & Lady Kathryn Sheridan #4
  
• Sloan & Crosby #7
  
• Underland Chronicles #2
  
• Women's Murder Club #9
  
• Molly Murphy #2
  
• Sergeant Cribb #2
  
• Charles Paris #2
  
• Mrs Pargeter #2
  
• Mitchell & Markby #2
  
• Barsoom #6

>43 rretzler: Well, you've still managed to read a lot I haven't read! I'm also keeping track of which ones I've read but not setting myself any goals about how often to read the remaining ones.

>47 rretzler: Glad you enjoyed that one :-)

10. Death of a Nurse by MC Beaton



Death of a Nurse is the 31st book in the Hamish Macbeth series. I received an advance reader's copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hamish, a police sergeant in the small village of Lochdubh in northern Scotland, meets a very attractive woman, Gloria Dainty, who is new in town and the private nurse of Percy Harrison, who is also new in town. Hamish invites Gloria out for a date, but she never shows up. He and Charlie Carter, the police constable, are making their rounds when they spy a couple of young boys near the beach who are playing with a nurse's hat, just the kind that Gloria wore. Hamish and Charlie start to look up and down the beach and soon find Gloria's body; she has been strangled. They are soon joined in the investigation of the death by police Inspector Fiona Herring, as Hamish's nemesis, Inspector Blair is unavailable. Inspector Fiona soon becomes enamoured of Charlie, which complicates the investigation. After several more murders and numerous red herrings, Hamish once again succeeds in solving the crime.

This series has gone down in quality since the beginning, but I suppose that's to be expected as MC Beaton is getting older. However, Death of a Nurse while not as good as the early books in the series is an improvement over some of the most recent books. Still, there were parts of the story, such as a death in the middle, that did not make sense to the story -- it was unclear why the killer murdered this particular person, but this death did help lead Hamish to discover the murderer. I also thought the end was a little abrupt. The story seemed to be wrapped up, but then Hamish felt that it hadn't been solved correctly and almost out of the blue discovered the real murderer.

I have enjoyed the Hamish Macbeth series immensely, but I would recommend this book to someone who is already familiar with the series. I certainly would not start with this book.

11. Murder on the Hour by Elizabeth J Duncan



Murder on the Hour is the 7th book in the Penny Brannigan cozy mystery series. I received an advance reader's copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Penny Brannigan is a spa co-owner in the small town of LLanelen in North Wales. She has until recently been involved with Gareth Davies, who is head of the Llanelen CID, and has apparently been involved in helping to solve several murder cases. Llanelen is abuzz as Antiques Cymru, is coming to town to televise its show. The residents are searching their homes for items to bring to the town hall on the day of the televised show. Catrin Bellis brings an old quilt that has been on her parent's bed, and Haydn Williams brings an old clock. One of the evaluators of Antiques Cymru finds half of an old map hidden in the clock that appears to be drawn by a child. Catrin's quilt is not valued for much money, and she hurries home from the show as she is about to meet a potential boarder for her home. Other town residents soon find the boarder running into the street screaming as she has found Catrin dead in her home. Penny asks many questions and soon has led the police to the murderer.

This is the first book I have read of this series. It was an enjoyable, easy read, and it is very likely that I will read other books from the series. One criticism I have is that I honestly do not understand why the murderer killed Catrin, there was no motive at all, and it did not make sense to me. Thus, while I enjoyed the book, for the most part, I thought the ending was very weak.

12. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro



I had not read anything by Ishiguro until about this time last year, but after four books, I am now a big fan. I'm not sure what to say about this book that has not already been said. Ishiguro shows real insight into the soul of Stevens, a butler, who spent three decades serving Lord Darlington in the years leading up to World War II. To become the perfect butler, which Stevens sums up as being "dignified", Stevens has denied himself normal emotions, to support his employer in his endeavors. Looking back on his life, Stevens starts to realize that Lord Darlington may not have been the great man that Stevens has thought him all along and what that may have said about his life.

This was a powerful book, and if you have not read it, I would highly recommend it.

>45 rretzler: Well, I've been reading sf since the beginning of the 60s, actually. ;-)

Fascinating description of your son's learning issues--I always loved the detective work involved in being a school psych. Probably not so much fun from a parent's perspective, though. Thanks for sharing!

Robin, so glad you loved Remains of the Day. It made my list of the year's best when I read it a couple of years ago.

Books read in February

1. (13) The 8th Confession by James Patterson >59 rretzler:
   
2. (14) The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths >62 rretzler:
   
3. (15) Time of Fog and Fire by Rhys Bowen >73 rretzler:
   
4. (16) Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor >77 rretzler:
   
5. (17) The Big Brush-Off by Michael Murphy >78 rretzler:
   
6. (18) Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt >81 rretzler:
   
7. (19) Knock, Knock, You're Dead! by MC Beaton
   
8. (20) London's Glory by Christopher Fowler
   
9. (21) The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham - reread
   
10. (22) The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber - reread
    
11. (23) The Collectors by Philip Pullman
    
12. (24) Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
    
13. (25) The Locked Room Mystery by Jasper Fforde
    
14. (26) Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
    
15. (27) Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation (Grantchester) by James Runcie
    
16. (28) The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
    
17. (29) The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton
    
18. (30) For Dead Men Only by Paula Paul
    
19. (31) The Body Under the Bridge by Paul McCusker
    
20. (32) The Unforgotten by Laura Powell
    
21. (33) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
    
22. (34) A Lady in the Smoke by Karen Odden
    
    Favorite books in February: The Summer Before the War, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , Roller Girl, The Woman in Blue and Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation.
    
    Summary
    22 books read (34 YTD)
    5,790 pages (9,365 YTD)
    4.0 average rating (3.8)
    
    Source
    14 ARC (17 YTD)
    0 library (2 YTD)
    5 new (8 YTD)
    2 reread (4 YTD)
    1 TBR (3 YTD)
    
    Medium
    1 audiobook (2 YTD)
    18 e-books (29 YTD)
    3 print (3 YTD)
    
    Genre
    1 science fiction (1 YTD)
    3 fantasy (3 YTD)
    1 general fiction (3 YTD)
    2 middle grade (3 YTD)
    15 mystery (23 YTD)
    1 picture (1 YTD)
    
    
    

Books added to my library in February

1. (25) The Last Girl by Joe Hart - from Kindle First
   
2. (26) Outside the Gates of Eden by Peter Bacon Hales - from Univ. of Chicago
   
3. (27) The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis
   
4. (28) Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
   
5. (29) Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary by Jason Loborik - from Scholastic Book Club
   
6. (30) Doctor Who: How to Be a Time Lord by Craig Donaghy - from Scholastic Book Club
   
7. (31) 101 Movies to See Before You Grow Up by Suzette Valle - Book Fair
   
8. (32) Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson - Book Fair *
   
9. (33) Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks - Book Fair
   
10. (34) Knock, Knock, You're Dead by MC Beaton - short story *
    
11. (35) London's Glory by Christopher Fowler - NetGalley *
    
12. (36) The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson - NetGalley *
    
13. (37) The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham - NetGalley *
    
14. (38) One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters
    
15. (39) Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters
    
16. (40) St Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters
    
17. (41) The Leper of St Giles by Ellis Peters
    
18. (42) The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters
    
19. (43) The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters
    
20. (44) The Devil's Novice by Ellis Peters
    
21. (45) Dead Man's Ransom by Ellis Peters
    
22. (46) The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters
    
23. (47) Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation by James Runcie - NetGalley *
    
24. (48) The Collectors by Philip Pullman - short story *
    
25. (49) Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman *
    
26. (50) For Dead Men Only by Paula Paul - NetGalley *
    
27. (51) The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton - NetGalley *
    
28. (52) Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
    
29. (53) Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny - HumbleBundle
    
30. (54) Wild Cards: Deuces Down by George R R Martin - HumbleBundle
    
31. (55) Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov - HumbleBundle
    
32. (56) The Deceivers by Alfred Bester - HumbleBundle
    
33. (57) The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester - HumbleBundle
    
34. (58) Wild Cards: Death Draws Five by George R R Martin - HumbleBundle
    
35. (59) Arthur C Clarke's Venus Prime 1 by Paul Preuss - HumbleBundle
    
36. (60) Eye of Cat by Roger Zelazny - HumbleBundle
    
37. (61) Chaos and Amber by John Gregory Betancourt - HumbleBundle
    
38. (62) To Rule in Amber by John Gregory Betancourt - HumbleBundle
    
39. (63) The Doors of His Face The Lamps of His Mouth by Roger Zelazny - HumbleBundle
    
40. (64) The Dawn of Amber by John Gregory Betancourt - HumbleBundle
    
41. (65) Dragonworld by Byron Preiss - HumbleBundle
    
42. (66) Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny - HumbleBundle
    
43. (67) The Computer Connection by Alfred Bester - HumbleBundle
    
44. (68) Shadows of Amber by John Gregory Betancourt - HumbleBundle
    
45. (69) Robot Visions by Isaac Asimov - HumbleBundle
    
46. (70) The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester - HumbleBundle
    
47. (71) The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - adding ebook to library
    
48. (72) The Body Under the Bridge by Paul McCusker - LT *
    
49. (73) Wool by Hugh Howey
    
50. (74) Dawn by Octavia Butler
    
51. (75) The Unforgotten by Laura Powell - NetGalley *
    
52. (76) Of Soul Sincere by B Lloyd - NetGalley *
    
53. (77) A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison - NetGalley *
    
54. (78) A Lady in the Smoke by Karen Odden - NetGalley *
    
55. (79) A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde - NetGalley *
    
56. (80) Mrs Jeffries Wins the Prize by Emily Brightwell *
    
    * Now read.
    
    
    

>56 rretzler: Slacker. Only 2 books read in February? :)

13. The 8th Confession by James Patterson



The 8th Confession is the 8th book in the Woman's Murder Club series. I listened to the audio book that I had purchased several years ago. I think these books are interesting, but not really my favorites. The interaction between the characters is typically more interesting to me than the actual story.

>58 mahsdad: I know! What's wrong with me! (I was holding back from January) ;-)

>58 mahsdad: *snork!*

14. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths



The Woman in Blue is the 8th novel in the Ruth Galloway series. I have read all of the previous books and was eagerly anticipating this one. I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ruth Galloway is a plain-looking archaeologist with a Ph.D., who teaches at a University in Norfolk, UK. She is a forensic archaeology consultant to the police. Ruth lives with her cat and her young daughter, Kate, whose father is Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson. Although Nelson is married, he and Ruth had a brief affair during the first case they worked together. Michelle, Nelson's beautiful wife, is aware of the relationship between Ruth and Nelson, and she has romantic feelings for one of Nelson's staff, although she has not acted upon them yet.

Cathbad, a druid, is a friend of both Ruth and Nelson, and also the partner of Nelson's sergeant, Judy. One evening, while Cathbad is house and cat-sitting, he sees a young woman in a blue cloak in the nearby graveyard. She appears to need something, but when Cathbad follows her, she disappears. The next morning, a body is found in a nearby ditch matching her description. Meanwhile, in the same town, an Anglican conference for female priests is taking place, and one of the participants is an old friend of Ruths, Hilary. Hilary has received threatening letters and has asked Ruth's advice. Ruth takes the letters to Nelson. They both believe that the letters must somehow be related to the girl's murder.

The more I read of Elly Griffiths' books, the more impressed I am. All of the books in the series have an archaeology component which is somehow tied to the mystery. Ms. Griffiths has certainly done her homework as Ruth introduces a technical aspect to the investigation. The scientific parts are just right - not too technical to put someone off. I am almost immediately hooked into the story, and it is hard for me to put the book down until I am finished. Ms. Griffiths develops the story well; all the clues are there, but they are not necessarily obvious. She also has developed the characters well. I feel as if I know Ruth, Nelson and the other recurring characters in the books. The characters' lives continue to change over the series. One could indeed read each book as a stand-alone book, but I would recommend reading them in order as it is enjoyable to get to know the characters as they grow and change.

I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Woot! Fabulous review of The Woman in Blue, Robin. This series is on my list ... sounds just like my cuppa. Went to the book page to thumb-up your review, but it's not there. Will you post?

>63 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy. I've enjoyed the Ruth Galloway series. They have an intelligent component that you don't find in many cozy mystery series. They have really grown on me.

I'm so bad about posting my reviews to the book page, but it's done! Thanks!

Last night was our last Scholastic Book Fair, as my younger son will be in middle school next year with no book fair. *Sob* We managed to restrain ourselves pretty well and only purchased three books - one of them was totally an impulse purchase by me!

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson - Even though my son said that he is a little tired of reading Newbery books, he still wanted this one
Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks
101 Movies to See Before You Grow Up by Suzette Valle - OK this one got me. I thought I would look for some ideas for movies we have not seen together.

I'll really miss the Book Fair and the Book Club too. I recall when I was in elementary school we had the Weekly Reader Book Club. I would regularly come home with a stack of about ten books while my classmates usually had 1-2 at most, and many purchased none. I never realized until I was an adult how lucky I was that my mom would let me get so many books!

>64 rretzler: ... and starred : ).

Book Fair!! I run the one for Charlie's school through the PTO. So fun. We're fortunate that our school district holds book fairs all the way through middle school. You could look into organizing one for the middle school...

>67 scaifea: Unfortunately, Amber, there actually is a book fair in the middle school, or so I've been told by my older son. However, it apparently takes place in the library during the lunch periods - so no parents allowed. Oh, well!

Yes, book fairs are one of the things I miss about retirement. Although, to be fair, I still keep in touch with the librarian so I could have her let me know when it occurs if I wanted. If I weren't trying not to pick up more books--but of course I could always donate them to the school library afterwards...sounds like a plan.

>68 rretzler: Who runs it, then, I wonder?

>70 scaifea: The school librarians usually run the Book Fairs - at least they do at the elementary and since the one in middle school is in the library during the day, I'm guessing that the librarian does that one as well.

>69 ronincats: In our elementary school library, you would think that the librarian would actually want book donations - however, I have offered to give him all of our old picture books, which are in pristine condition and he was not very receptive. I know that the elementary school library has tons of picture books but I would think they would be receptive to getting more. He didn't actually say no, but he was not in the least encouraging about it. So, I decided that our picture books would go to the library instead.

15. Time of Fog and Fire by Rhys Bowen



Time of Fog and Fire is the 16th book in Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy series. I had not previously read any of the books in this series. However, I have read all of the books in both of her other two series, Evan Evans and Her Royal Spyness. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Time of Fog and Fire takes place in 1906. Molly Murphy is a young woman who has moved to New York City from her native Ireland. She had previously been a private detective; however, she has given up her job upon her marriage to a NY police captain, Daniel Sullivan, and the birth of their son, Liam. The NYC Police Commissioner is part of a corruption ring and wants Daniel, an honest cop, off the force. Daniel turns to the head of the President's Secret Service, an old acquaintance, who gives him an out of town assignment. Molly soon receives a very cryptic letter from Daniel and believes that he wants her to join him in San Francisco. After traveling across the country on a train with her very young son, Molly arrives only to find that Daniel's funeral has taken place two days prior. Molly takes it upon herself to find out what has happened to Daniel while San Francisco prepares for the arrival of Caruso. Unbeknownst to Molly, the Great San Francisco Earthquake is only days away.

I have been a fan of Rhys Bowen over the years, and this latest book has not let me down. Molly is a very self-sufficient, resourceful woman in a time when the average woman was shy and retiring, staying home to keep house and raise children. Ms. Bowen’s books are easy to read, yet they are intelligent mysteries. The setting, dialogue and interactions seem historically accurate, which is not necessarily the case with some historical fiction. Time of Fog and Fire would be considered a cozy mystery, but Ms. Bowen does not find it necessary to use a “cute” plot device to interest one in this series as many other mystery authors do.

I will be reading more of this series, and I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of well-written cozy mysteries.

>72 rretzler: They may have some sort of donation policy, or he may be thinking of the cataloging and wrapping and such that have to happen with new books come in. Who knows... I usually donate books to the public library because I know that if they can't use them in their collection they add them to the For Sale shelves and the money goes toward purchasing new books and toward funding events and such, and I like that, of course.

You acquired The Mechanical! I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of that.

>75 kgodey: I did! It looks really interesting. I'm not sure how quickly I'll get to it because I'm currently reading my way through a bunch of ARCs that I seem to have acquired all of a sudden.

16. Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor



Siobhan O’Sullivan lives with her five brothers and sisters in the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland. She and her brother, James, have been in charge of their younger underage two brothers and two sisters since their parents were killed by a drunk driver a year before. Natalie’s Bistro, the family restaurant, barely makes enough money to keep the family going, and Siobhan has turned down a scholarship to a college in Dublin to stay in town with her family. One day, Niall Murphy, the brother of the drunk driver, returns to town and insists that Billy, his brother, was not at fault. He attempts to sell her the proof for ten thousand euros. When James, a recovering alcoholic, learns of this, he gets drunk at the local pub and has words with Niall. Early the next morning, the Siobhan and her siblings find Niall dead in their bistro and determine that James did not return home that evening. James is arrested for Niall’s murder, but Siobhan knows that he was not capable of killing anyone. She takes it upon herself to find Niall’s killer to the consternation of garda Macdara Flannery, who has an interest in Siobhan.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It reminded me somewhat of an Agatha Christie novel, where the plucky young girl takes it upon herself to solve the mystery. There were enough clues that it was possible to figure out the mystery, but it was not obvious. Siobhan and her family end up suspecting most of the people in town before Siobhan finally solves the case. That part was a little unrealistic to me because the villagers, for the most part, were not angry with the family, but seemed willing to overlook that they had been accused of murder.

I thought the characters were very likeable, and I enjoyed the budding romance between Siobhan and Macdara. The villagers were somewhat stereotypically humorous, and it was fun to read about their interactions with each other. Just like many small towns, everyone knew everyone else’s business, but many of the villagers still had secrets they did not want to be brought into the open.

Without giving away the ending, I felt that it was a little weak. It did not make sense to my why the person who killed Niall did so. He was murdered to cover up a supposed crime, but in my opinion, I’m not sure that what happened was actually a crime.

Anyone who enjoys a good cozy mystery would appreciate this book. One warning I have is that the author uses Irish slang and many Irish names. She does include a pronunciation guide and a glossary at the beginning of the book that was very helpful, but some people may find the Irish dialogue hard to read.

I think that Carlene O’Connor shows a lot of promise, and I will be on the lookout for future books from her. I received an advance reader’s copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

17. The Big Brush-Off by Michael Murphy



The Big Brush-Off is the fourth book in the Jake & Laura series by Michael Murphy. The story takes place in 1935 and is written in the style of a noir style a la Dashiell Hammett with a hard-boiled detective.

Jake Donovan, formerly a Pinkerton detective, is now the author of a hugely successful mystery series featuring Blackie Doyle. He is married to rising movie star, Laura Wilson. Success may have gone to Jake’s head, as his last Blackie Doyle novel was only so-so and his editor, Mildred Hawthorne, will not offer him a new contract unless his next book brings back the original “charm and appeal” of his first three novels. Mildred tells Jake that he needs to get away from the glamor that is his current lifestyle to get back to his roots and write his next successful novel. While Jake is contemplating his next move, he is visited by Mary Caldwell, a dying woman whose daughter, Katie, was murdered. Katie’s murder was Jake’s last case as a Pinkerton detective, and the case was left unsolved as Jake rushed to his dying father’s bedside, leaving Pinkerton soon after his father’s death.

Jake decides to go to Hanover, PA, the small town where Katie was murdered to get a start on his new book. As Laura is between movies, she decides to come with Jake, so that they can concentrate on his career instead of hers. Hanover has no lack of suspects, but Laura soon gets drawn into the mystery, and together both Jake and Laura trap the killer into a confession.

This is the first book in this series that I have read. Although it is part of a series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. There may have been references to things that happened in the past, but they were not essential to this story.

I enjoyed the hard-boiled detective style of this book, which also had a bit of humor. One “Bogey-esque” line in the book, in particular, made me chuckle – “She’d regret it. Maybe not now, but soon and forever.” The historical aspects of the book seem accurate, and the dialogue rings true for that time.

Although Jake is the main detective, Laura’s investigations are essential to the plot, and I felt that the author did a convincing job of portraying their relationship as an equal partnership. He also did a fairly good job of letting the reader get to know the main characters and their motivations.

This book would be enjoyable to anyone who likes a cozy mystery and would also likely be enjoyable to those who like Dashiell Hammett style mysteries, although it is a more “tongue-in-cheek” version of a Hammett novel.

I will be putting the first three books in this series on my “to read” list. I received an advance reader’s copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

>49 rretzler: Have you seen the site fictfact.com which allows you to log all your series reading and updates you on what is coming up?

>79 PaulCranswick: Wonderful idea, Paul. Thanks so much!

18. Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt



Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things is the first book in the Mister Max series by Cynthia Voigt. Ms. Voigt is the author of Dicey’s Song, which won the Newbery Medal in 1983, and A Solitary Blue, which was a Newbery Honor Book in 1984. Her book, The Callender Papers, won the Edgar Award in 1984.

Max Starling is a twelve-year-old boy, who lives with his parents, William and Mary, in the Old City part of Queensbridge in the early years of the last century. His grandmother, the town’s librarian, lives in the house next door. William and Mary Starling are actors, and they own the Starling Theatrical Company. One Sunday, the Starlings receive a letter from the Maharajah of Kashmir inviting them to come to India and teach his subjects how to act and perform plays. On the day that they are to leave, Max wants to have one last lesson with his art teacher, so he asks to meet his parents at the harbor before the ship is to sail. After his lesson, Max arrives at the docks early, but can find no trace of the ship he is to board or his parents. Discouraged, Max receives a note from his father indicating that he is to return home and wait with his grandmother for his parents’ return. Grammie does some research and finds that there is no such person as the Maharajah of Kashmir in India and that there is no ship with the name on which Max’s parents were to sail. As they do not know where Max’s parents are, nor when they are to return, Max and Grammie soon realize that Max must earn some money for food and other necessities. Max finds a young boy in the park, whom he accidentally returns to his mother, and she recommends him to others. Dressing up using his family’s theatrical clothing, Max quickly starts to get jobs such as finding a lost dog, a lost priceless spoon, and other things. But can he find his lost parents?

This book is recommended for grades five through eight. I found it to be a fun and easy read. The illustrations by Iacopo Bruno were very nicely done and added to my enjoyment of the book. I felt that the author showed a lot of imagination in the different activities that Max took on and the various costumes that he wore for each. A few major plot themes had some synchronicity to them, which an aware reader would soon connect, but which took Max nearly the length of the book to do so. That does not mean that Max was unintelligent. He called himself a “Solutioneer” and worked out most things in an intelligent manner, without much outside help, but sometimes with a little bit of luck. The book had just the right amount of action versus brain work, I thought.

I think this book would be enjoyed by both girls and boys in the 9-12 age range. Although there are two more books in this series, I will probably not read them. However, I will highly recommend them to my 10-year-old son as I think they would be very enjoyable to him.

I just found out about a website called HumbleBundle. For $15 I was able to get ebook versions of several scifi books by Roger Zelazny, Isaac Asimov, George R R Martin, Alfred Bester and John Gregory Betancourt.

They have a bundle of six books for which you can pay what you want. If you pay more than the average of $12.55, you get seven additional books, and if you pay $15, you get all 18. Apparently they have different deals all the time.

I have been meaning to read the prequel to Zelazny's Amber series by Betancourt for some time, and now I have all four books in the series. It was well worth the $15 just for those!

Hi Robin! Dropping by. I like your lists; I may copy them, especially the Hugo. (By the way, I notice that a lot of your books are authored by or have characters called 'Robin'.) :0)

>45 rretzler: I wouldn't mind joining in the conversation, but out of interest. I'm afraid I have nothing to add, but I'll follow along.

>83 humouress: Go right ahead and copy! I copied them from someone else! And yes, I have been reading some books by a "Robin"! It seems like I hardly ever hear anyone with that name!

I would love to have you join the conversation, such as it is.

I thought it might be interesting to keep track what my family is reading as well:

Beckham, my 14yo, is almost finished with The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

Keegan, my 10yo, is reading Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks

Together the three of us are about 75-80% of the way through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling - the third or fourth time for me and the first for them (although they have seen the movies several times)

Ed, my husband, doesn't have a current book - he was reading the continuation of the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson but decided he was sick of the main character being so whiny and didn't want to continue. I think he will probably pick up one of the books I purchased on HumbleBundle next.

Oh, yay for keeping track of what the family is reading! This nosey nelly loves it!

Update on the family reading.

Keegan and I started to read Bystander by James Preller for the 2nd 5th grade Grand Discussion. The Grand Discussion is organized by the school librarian, and both the child and a parent must read the book and attend.

19. Knock, Knock You're Dead! by MC Beaton



Knock, Knock You’re Dead! is a short story by MC Beaton featuring Police Constable Hamish MacBeth, which comes between Death of a Liar and her latest novel, Death of a Nurse, the 31st in the series.

Hamish periodically checks on the old and the single in his precinct. His first visit of the day is to Morag McPhie, a widow who keeps sheep. Morag wants to visit her daughter who lives in Australia, but she doesn’t have the money for the plane fare. Hamish suggests that she have an antique valuator look over her household items to determine whether she has anything valuable that she can sell. Coincidentally, a few days later, Hamish meets a valuator whose car has broken down and suggests that he visit Morag. That evening, Morag finds her neighbor dead in Morag’s parlor with a head wound. As usual, Inspector Blair takes over the case and makes an arrest. But once again, it’s up to Hamish to find the real murderer.

This story was a very easy and fun read. Hamish is a likable character and his intelligence and quick wit make him more than a match for any murderer. I have enjoyed reading this series over the years, and this short story did not disappoint. The quality of the series has slightly decreased over the past few years, but this story is nearly as good as some of the first Hamish MacBeth books.

A new reader would be able to get a good idea of what this series is all about without investing the time in an entire book while a fan of the series will have an enjoyable time checking in on Hamish once again.

I would recommend this series and short story to anyone who enjoys a well-written cozy mystery.

I am bummed that my Kindle was updated yesterday. It 's hard for me to make a distinction between the collections/books on the library page as I do not like the font. Apparently only the fonts within the books themselves can be changed, so I am stuck with that font. The biggest disappointment for me is that the little dots that used to appear under each book are gone. Those dots indicated the relative length of the book, as well as how much of the book had been read. They have been replaced by the percentage of the book read in words. It is now impossible to tell how long a particular book is going to be. I relied on those little dots each and every time I picked a book so that I would know approximately how much time it was going to take me to read it.

20. London's Glory: The Lost Cases of Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit by Christopher Fowler



London’s Glory: The Lost Cases of Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit is a book of short stories in the Bryant & May series by Christopher Fowler. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is a fictional division of Scotland Yard that is loosely based on an actual experimental unit during World War II. It was founded “to investigate crimes that could cause national scandal or public unrest.” Headed up by Arthur Bryant and John May, who have been partners since WWII, it is composed of a group of misfit detectives.

There are 11 stories included, as well as an introduction to the series by the author, a bio of the main characters in the books, and a synopsis of the books. The stories range from one of the first cases that Bryant and May encountered through the current time. Each story includes an introduction in which the author shares his inspiration for that particular story.

A department store Santa, who is not what he seems; a “locked room” mystery in which a body is found stabbed in the middle of the field; a musician killed by his instrument; and a woman who confesses to murder before it happens are some of the cases that Bryant and May encounter.

I have previously read a couple of Bryant and May books and found them enjoyable, so when I saw this book on NetGalley, I immediately requested it. Both Bryant and May have their quirks, as do the rest of the detectives in the PCU. While the series could be characterized as a cozy mystery, some of the stories are a little more graphic than others. The series is interesting to me because of the quirky characters and the variety of odd circumstances; there is nothing formulaic about the stories or the books.

As I have only read a few of the books, I enjoyed reading about how the series came to be, and the bio of each of the characters in the books. The introduction to each of the stories was especially interesting as it reflected the depth of Fowler’s research to make each case unique. Aside from the stories themselves, I found the background information particularly interesting – enough to make that alone worthwhile reading.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well-written mysteries that have interesting twists to them. If you are interested in the Bryant & May series, this book of short stories and background would be a great place to start to get a feel for the series.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

21. The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

22. The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber

23. The Collectors by Philip Pullman



The Collectors is a short story that is part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series and it is set in the 1970's in Oxford. In the Senior Common Room of his college, Horley is telling Grinstead about a painting that he has just acquired. It is a portrait of a young girl who seems to have such an ambiguous expression that it appears to change from one moment to the next, first cold and contemptuous and then hopeless and yearning. Horley also tells Grinstead a strange story of a bronze monkey sculpture. It seems that no matter who acquires the painting and who acquires the sculpture, they somehow end up always being owned by the same person. A man who owed Horley money purchased the sculpture and coincidentally gave it to Horley sculpture in repayment of the debt. Grinstead asks Horley if he can see both pieces and Horley invites him back to his rooms. Although the painting is over 80 years old, Grinstead tells Horley that it is a portrait of Marisa van Zee, and that he was once Marisa's lover when she was 18 and he was about 5 years older.

This story is a little background for Pullman's His Dark Materials world. Marisa van Zee becomes Mrs Coulter, who is Lyra Belacqua's mother. Lyra is the main protagonist in the series.

I thoroughly enjoyed the His Dark Materials series, and also this small peek into that world. It was an interesting story, but unfortunately it didn't really add much to the overall story. It could be read as a stand-alone story without having read the trilogy.

24. Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman



Lyra's Oxford is a short story that is part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. It is set in the alternative Oxford and takes place after the trilogy. Lyra is now in college, and while she and Pantaliamon are relaxing on the roof of her dormitory, they see a daemon bird that is being chased by a flock of starlings. Lyra tries to save the bird, whose name is Ragi, and who says that he needs to see an alchemist named Sebastian Makepeace. Lyra understands that Ragi must be a witch's daemon as witches are the only people whose daemons can travel far from them. Ragi must see Sebastian to get a cure for Yelena Pazhets, the witch. Lyra and Pan agree to help, and they all start out to look for Sebastian. Lyra, Pan, and Ragi find Sebastian's house; however, things are not as they seem.

This was a cute story about Lyra. I enjoyed learning a little more about Lyra and her relationship with the world around her. I believe this story could be read as a stand-alone, however, it will be more enjoyed by those who are familiar with the His Dark Materials stories.

25. The Locked Room Mystery by Jasper Fforde

The Locked Room Mystery is a short story in the Nursery Crimes series by Jasper Fforde. Detective Jack Spratt and Detective Sergeant Mary Mary have been called to Usher Towers because Locked Room Mystery was found dead in the library at the Mystery Contrivances Club annual dinner. Red Herring, the president of the Club, tells Jack and Mary that the library was locked from the inside, all the windows were closed, and there was only one entrance. The guests at the dinner were Unshakeable Alibi, Cryptic Final Message, Least Likely Suspect, Overlooked Clue, and the butler, Flashback. The reader is asked to solve the mystery along with Jack and Mary.

Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite authors and this short story did not disappoint me. I really appreciate his wit and his fantastic imagination. Although his stories are very humorous, they are also well written. I was torn between rating this story 3.5 or 4.0 stars and the only reason that I gave it the lower rating was because I felt he was trying too hard to pack too much into such a short story.

Jasper Fforde is not for everyone - I think you have to have a particular sense of humor in order to appreciate him. If you would like to read this story it was written for The Guardian and can be found here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/dec/24/extract.originalwriting

26. Roller Girl by Victorial Jamieson



Roller Girl is a graphic middle-grade novel by Victoria Jamieson, which won a Newbery Honor for 2016. Astrid Vasquez does everything with her best friend, Nicole. Nicole seems interested in boys, while Astrid is not. One evening, Mrs. Vasquez takes the girls to the roller derby and Astrid is hooked. She wants to sign up for roller derby camp for the summer, but Nicole would rather go to ballet camp with Rachel, who Astrid thinks is a bully. Astrid does not tell her mother that Nicole is not at roller derby camp, as Mrs. Vasquez thinks she is getting a ride home every day from Nicole’s family when she is walking home across a very busy highway. At camp, Astrid feels alone among the mostly older and more experienced girls, until she makes friends with Zoey. By the end, Astrid realizes that it is okay to be friends with more than one person, and to have different interests than her friends.

I think just about anyone who has gone to elementary or middle-school has experienced the pain of losing a best friend. I thought the author portrayed the emotions that Astrid felt very accurately and realistically. I also liked the fact that the author dealt with how Astrid’s mother felt when she found out that Astrid had not told her the truth about getting a ride from Nicole’s mother, and how the situation was handled. Astrid also learns about teamwork and determination.

The graphics were well drawn and were very colorful, but the writing and dialogue had a book feel to it, not just a graphic novel feel.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it to both boys and girls in the 9-12 age range.

27. Sydney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation by James Runcie

28. The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

29. The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton

30. For Dead Men Only by Paula Paul

31. The Body Under the Bridge by Paul McCusker

32. The Unforgotten by Laura Powell

33. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

34. A Lady in the Smoke by Karen Odden

Books Read in March

1. (35) A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison
   
2. (36) Of Soul Sincere by B Lloyd
   
3. (37) Mrs Jeffries Wins the Prize by Emily Brightwell
   
4. (38) Raymie Nightingale by Kate DeCamillo
   
5. (39) A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde
   
6. (40) The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
   
7. (41) Visual-Spatial Learners by Alexandra Shires Golon
   
8. (42) Bystander by James Preller
   
9. (43) The Marriage of Mary Russell by Laurie R King
   
10. (44) The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
    
11. (45) Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
    
12. (46) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
    
13. (47) The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
    
14. (48) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
    
15. (49) The Museum of Literary Souls by John Connolly
    
16. (50) Junie B Jones Loves Handsome Warren by Barbara Park
    
17. (51) Pax by Sara Pennypacker
    
18. (52) Quidditch Through the Ages by J K Rowling
    
    Favorite books in March: The War That Saved My Life, Doomsday Book, The Nightingale and short stories: The Marriage of Mary Russell and The Museum of Literary Souls
    
    Summary
    18 books read (52 YTD)
    4,528 pages (14,197 YTD)
    4.2 average rating (3.9 YTD)
    
    Source
    4 ARC (21 YTD)
    0 library (2 YTD)
    10 new (18 YTD)
    1 reread (5 YTD)
    3 TBR (6 YTD)
    
    Medium
    0 audiobook (2 YTD)
    14 e-books (43 YTD)
    4 print (7 YTD)
    
    Genre
    2 science fiction (2 YTD)
    1 fantasy (5 YTD)
    1 general fiction (4 YTD)
    6 middle grade (9 YTD)
    5 mystery (28 YTD)
    0 picture (1 YTD)
    1 children (1 YTD)
    1 YA (1 YTD)
    
    
    
    
    

Books Added to My Library in March

1. (81) The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler
   
2. (82) The Glass Virgin by Catherine Cookson
   
3. (83) The Last National Service Man by Reginald Hill
   
4. (84) Visual Leap by Jesse Berg
   
5. (85) Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo - LT *
   
6. (86) The Marriage of Mary Russell by Laurie R King *
   
7. (87) Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
   
8. (88) Doomsday Book by Connie Willis *
   
9. (89) Pax by Sara Pennypacker *
   
10. (90) Explorations in Giftedness by Robert J Sternberg
    
11. (91) The Game by Laurie R King - adding an already read book to my library for a good price *
    
12. (92) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - replacing a book in my library *
    
13. (93) Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - replacing a book in my library *
    
14. (94) Service of All the Dead by Colin Dexter
    
15. (95) Pietr the Latvian by George Simenon
    
16. (96) The Museum of Literary Souls by John Connolly
    
17. (97) There Are No Ghosts in the Soviet Union by Reginald Hill
    
18. (98) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by JK Rowling
    
19. (99) Quidditch Through the Ages by JK Rowling *
    
20. (100) Suddenly at His Residence by Christianna Brand
    
21. (101) Teaching Writing to Visual, Auditory & Kinesthetic Learners by Donovan R. Walling
    
22. (102) Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear
    
23. (103) The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks
    
    
    
    
    * Now read

So glad that you enjoyed Roller Girl - I loved it, too!

>107 scaifea: Yep! Just your basic good story about an ordinary girl doing ordinary girl things (assuming that ordinary girls do roller derby!)

>108 rretzler: As they should! Ha!

Been reading steadly, but not on here except to update my reading. I finally got caught up on all the threads this evening - it took me awhile!

I'm currently reading Doomsday by Connie Willis

Beckham is reading Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde

Keegan is reading Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Beckham, Keegan and I are reading Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

Keegan and I are reading Pax by Sara Pennypacker together

Ed is ready to start on The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

>110 rretzler: Nice to see you posting again Robin. A family of readers is great to see.

>111 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul.

35. A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison

36. Of Soul Sincere by B Lloyd

Morning, Robin! Wishing you a happy week!

Thanks, Amber. Hope you have a great week too. The boys are on spring break this week, so I need to keep them busy while I work some - should be an interesting week.

37. Mrs Jeffries Wins the Prize by Emily Brightwell

38. Raymie Nightingale by Kate DeCamillo

39. A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde

40. The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

41. Visual-Spatial Learners by Alexandra Shires Golon

42. Bystander by James Preller

43. The Marriage of Mary Russell by Laurie R King

44. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

45. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

I'm way, way behind on my reviews, but at least I now have listed the books I've read and what I've rated them. I've been lucky this month with a number of "5s" and several other very good books, as well.

Charlie's on break this week, too.
And, wow, it looks like you've had some great reading lately! Excellent! I keep meaning to read The Willis book. Someday...

>127 scaifea: Me too Amber; it is on my to do list as well. The Joe Haldeman books also looks a goodie.

Just doing some catchup, and boy yours is one I needed to catch up on.

Lots of good stuff here. I like the idea of at least putting in the books and rating them as you finish. I am so guilty of not updating until I get around to reviewing. I should at least start placeholder posting. Thanks!

Thanks too for the link to the Fforde story back up in >95 rretzler:. I love, love, love Jasper. I will read this short with relish. He's also an excellent photographer. If you are on Instagram, you should follow him. (its just his name : jasperfforde)

>123 rretzler: I want to get to this soon. I do like this series. Five stars sounds like I should get to it sooner rather than later...

>127 scaifea: Amber, I definitely recommend the Willis book. It has a more serious tone than To Say Nothing of the Dog - but it is just as good in its way.

>128 PaulCranswick: Paul, I also recommend the Haldeman. It reminded me of another book while I was reading it, but I can't quite put my finger on what book it is.

>129 mahsdad: Jeff, I've been kind of hiding out for the past month, so I figured it was time I got some stuff posted! Glad to hear you feel the same about Fforde! I will have to check him out on Instagram. I've gotten my 14 yo hooked too - he is reading his way through Thursday Next!

>130 charl08: Charlotte, I don't know what it was about that short story. Perhaps it was getting to see another side of Laurie R Kings Holmes, or maybe I'm just a sucker for a happy ending, but I enjoyed it very much. Some of the other short stories were not as good. I can't wait until the next book comes out. Should be a good one - I got a head start on the first chapter which was included with the short story!

46. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

>95 rretzler: I also just went and read the Fforde story--such fun! Wish he had another book coming out right now.

Wow! You have over a thousand books on your kindle! That's amazing! No wonder it bothered you so much. I have just over 100 books on my kindle and while I would have not wanted to purchase a new one, I would have done so if I could not have updated my kindle manually. Some books are so much cheaper via kindle, or not available except by kindle. I am not sure how close you live to your mom, but you can update her kindle manually , even after March22 - I'm pretty sure. But it is complex - at least that is what I found. Best of luck with that, Robin!

>134 vancouverdeb: Some of those books might not actually be ON my Kindle anymore. I do get a lot of library books from Overdrive via the Kindle and also, take advantage of Kindle Unlimited, but, yes, I'd say I have at least that many considering that I have not catalogued some on LT yet, so that figure is probably a little low. . It has definitely become my primary mode of reading, especially since I got the paperwhite. Plus I have this little problem, which we probably all have...I can't resist an inexpensive book...the Kindle Daily Deals will likely be my financial ruin!!

47. The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I have recently been moving rooms around in our upstairs which means our "library" is moving back to its original room and the boys are both moving back to their original rooms after a temporary, yet long, bedroom sharing experiment. I've been taking the time to go through the massive amounts of books and cull them. So far this week we have given 3 large boxes of books to the library, and there are at least that many more to go - all picture books that I don't "love." The ones I "love" have found their way into very large plastic boxes (from the Container Store) and into the basement. So now on our shelves, we have only middle grade and up books. Those books I have been trying to sort by genre and/or reader so that I can utilize all of the bookcase space that we have. Soccer trophies take up quite a bit of space in the boys' rooms, so I'm trying to put in their rooms just the books that I think they might be interested in within the next year.

As I was trying to get all these books sorted, I came across books 4,5 and 6 of the Anne of Green Gables series (no iidea where books 1,2 and 3 went) and occupied myself last night by reading the last chapter or two of book 6 Anne of Ingleside. Today, while sorting through the Little House books, I decided that I would just quickly read The First Four Years. At this rate, I'm not going to get things put back together any time soon!

You are doing quite well with your reading!

Have a wonderful Easter.

>133 ronincats: Oh, Roni, I wish he had a new book coming out soon too. It looks like the next may be slated for 2017, and I'm wondering if there will ever be another Thursday Next. Although, sometimes I wonder where else he can possibly take that series. Glad to know that you are a Fforde afficionado too. It seems like people either love him or hate him - or they don't know about him.

>138 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori. I try to sneak it in when I can. It's been pretty easy this month as I have picked some really good books, the kind that are really hard to put down...

>139 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. Happy Easter to you as well.

This reminds me to continue my reading of the Little House on the Prairie series. I can't remember how long I got into it as a kid - but I'm now at book three in the series - got distracted from that one a while back.

It's fun to discover hidden gems in your library when moving books etc. I've tried hard to get rid of books and slim down my library - even buying some of them as ebooks. But it's hard to let go :)

Happy Easter

>141 ctpress: Carsten, it is hard to let go, isn't it? I'm still keeping so many more books than I'm giving away, but I guess if someone else can get pleasure out of them than having them sit around in the basement, it's probably for the best. It's funny, I love ebooks and I've also tried to get rid of some print books and replace them with ebooks, but that's just as hard. There is still something about that physical book that appeals to me, even though I mainly read ebooks now.

48. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

49. The Museum of Literary Souls by John Connolly

Happy Easter, Robin! I noticed in your kindle pre- orders Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd ( too new for a touchstone) in your kindle pre- order! OH so fun! Yesterday amazon ca sent me a notice of the book coming out as of September 20 2016! A celebration! I''ve got on my wish list too,

>145 vancouverdeb: Happy Easter, Deb! I can't wait for the new Flavia! I have a feeling that my older son and I are going to disagree over who gets to read it first. I'll have to make sure he is in the middle of another book when it comes out!!!! ;-)

50. Junie B Jones Loves Handsome Warren by Barbara Park



I couldn't resist. This is another book that I am giving away, and I don't recall every having read it, but I know my boys did.

Junie B Jones is as irrepressible as ever. (By the way, the B is for Beatrice, but she doesn't like Beatrice...she just likes B!) Kindergartner Junie B is best friends with Lucille, who wears frilly dresses and socks, and Grace, who rides the same bus, has pink sneakers and is the fastest runner. One day, Grace and Junie B arrive at school ready to play "horsies," only to find that Lucille is not there yet. Soon, however, they spot Lucille, along with a boy. Junie B and Grace scare the boy away, much to Lucille's chagrin. The boy turns out to be a new boy in Kindergarten, and all three friends think he is handsome. Hilarity ensues as all three girls start to compete in their own way for his attention.

I have read many Junie B books and enjoy them. They are written from a Kindergartner's perspective, using grammar that a Kindergartner would use. Junie B is a fun child to read about as she is always into something and is seemingly unstoppable. I would not want to be her parent! I think young children love the fact that Junie B probably gets away with (or perhaps doesn't get away with) things that they might like to do but perhaps know that they should not.

I don't think this is the best Junie B that I have ever read, but on the other hand, it wasn't the worst either. In the end, Junie B learns what it takes to make a new friend - that she should just be herself.

51. Pax by Sara Pennypacker

52. Quidditch Through the Ages by J K Rowling

March Summary

Favorite books in March: The War That Saved My Life, Doomsday Book, The Nightingale and short stories: The Marriage of Mary Russell and The Museum of Literary Souls

Summary
18 books read (52 YTD)
4,528 pages (14,197 YTD)
4.2 average rating (3.9 YTD)

Source
4 ARC (21 YTD)
0 library (2 YTD)
10 new (18 YTD)
1 reread (5 YTD)
3 TBR (6 YTD)

Medium
0 audiobook (2 YTD)
14 e-books (43 YTD)
4 print (7 YTD)

Genre
2 science fiction (2 YTD)
1 fantasy (5 YTD)
1 general fiction (4 YTD)
6 middle grade (9 YTD)
5 mystery (28 YTD)
0 picture (1 YTD)
1 children (1 YTD)
1 YA (1 YTD)

>144 rretzler: I've never heard of this Connolly, and you've rated it highly. Tell me about it.

>151 ronincats: Roni, the premise of The Museum of Literary Souls reminded me a little of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, but in a less blatantly humorous way.

Mr. Berger loves to read and prefers the company of books to that of humans. He works as a Closed Account Registrar, and when his position is about to be downsized, he retires. His mother has passed away recently and left him a small amount of money, along with her house in the country. He moves in and spends his time getting to know his new surroundings. The train station is particularly peaceful to him and one evening while he is sitting there, he notices a woman, dressed in black and carrying a purse, rushing towards an oncoming train. He tries to warn her that the train is coming when she flings her purse away and bends down and puts her head under the wheel of the train. Mr. Berger looks away at the fateful moment and when the train has passed, tries to find her body. He looks everywhere but sees no sign of it, not even the purse she had flung away. Being a responsible citizen, he calls the police and waits while they search the area. They also find no traces of a body and when contacted the train engineer says that he did not run over a body.

The woman haunts Mr. Berger, and he feels that he has some memory of what has happened. After some time, he realizes that the scene he witnessed reminds him of Anna Karenina. He keeps visiting the train station, feeling that he might see her again, and one evening, he is not disappointed. This time, he succeeds in heading her off, and as she runs away, he follows her back to a seemingly deserted warehouse, with a sign on the window that says " Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository."

Not able to enter the library, Mr. Berger asks the townspeople, who seem to know nothing about it. So, he decides to try a stakeout to see if he can catch someone entering or exiting. One day, he spots a man unlocking the door and catches him before the man can enter. The man is the librarian, who introduces him to something so wonderful, it is beyond Mr. Berger's dreams.

I had not heard of John Connolly either, but the story was on sale on Kindle a couple of weeks ago, and it sounded very intriguing, so I thought I would give it a try. I'm so glad I did. He just seems to have a way with words - smooth and witty and classic and wonderful. Here is an excerpt where Mr. Berger is thinking about the woman: "After all, people did not make a habit of throwing themselves under trains. It was the kind of act that tended to be performed once or not at all. In the case of the former, any possible repeat of the incident was likely to be ruled out by the action of a heavy engine or, in the unlikely event of survival, sufficient recall of the painfulness of the first attempt to render most unwelcome any further repetition of it."

I enjoyed the story. Connolly hooked me when Mr. Berger was thinking of being part of a couple, with a woman who might be bored after reading a few page of a novel: "The next thing one knew, she'd be making "observations" on the text in hand, and once that happened there would be no peace forever after." Any booklover would surely understand!

There were moments of suspense but, in the end, everything turns out the way it should. I did learn that the story originally titled "The Caxton Private Lending Library and Book Depository" won an Edgar Award in 2013 for Best Short Story. I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but this one really grabbed me.

Thanks for the exposition, Robin. I think I am going to have to look out for that one.

Just stopping by to say hi, Robin. Glad you enjoyed The Nightingale. I really loved that one when I read it last year. In fact it was among my favorite reads last year.

>154 vancouverdeb: Hi, Deb. What a great book it was - like most WWII books, it seems to haunt me.

Books Read in April

1. (53) Neuromancer by William Gibson
   
2. (54) The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R King
   
3. (55) Mrs Hudson's Case by Laurie R King - reread
   
4. (56) Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie
   
5. (57) The Autobiography of James T Kirk by David A Goodman
   
6. (58) Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
   
   Favorite books in April: The Murder of Mary Russell, Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death and Elegy for Eddie
   
   Summary
   6 books read (58 YTD)
   1,838 pages (16,035 YTD)
   4.0 average rating (3.9 YTD)
   
   Source
   0 ARC (21 YTD)
   0 library (2 YTD)
   3 new (21 YTD)
   1 reread (6 YTD)
   2 TBR (8 YTD)
   
   Medium
   0 audiobook (2 YTD)
   6 e-books (49 YTD)
   0 print (7 YTD)
   
   Genre
   2 science fiction (4 YTD)
   0 fantasy (5 YTD)
   0 general fiction (4 YTD)
   0 middle grade (9 YTD)
   4 mystery (32 YTD)
   0 picture (1 YTD)
   0 children (1 YTD)
   0 YA (1 YTD)
   
   
   

Books Added to My Library in April

1. (104) Star Sand by Roger Pulvers - Kindle First
   
2. (105) The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter
   
3. (106) The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R King
   
4. (107) Booked by Kwame Alexander
   
5. (108) Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie
   
6. (109) Monty Python from the Inside Out by Kim "Howard' Johnson
   
7. (110) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
   
8. (111) Shakespeare (Eminent Lives) by Bill Bryson
   
9. (112) The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
   
10. (113) Fathers and Children by Ivan Turgenev
    
11. (114) Murder Offstage by LB Hathaway
    
12. (115) The Bungalow Mystery by Annie Haynes
    
13. (116) The Mystery of Claw Mountain by Paul Moxham
    
    
    
    
    * Now read

>120 rretzler: Oh, I've heard very good things about The War That Saved My Life - glad you enjoyed it.

>124 rretzler: & >125 rretzler: I've read both The Forever War and Doomsday Book and agree they are great books :-)

53. Neuromancer by William Gibson



I won't go into a synopsis of the book, as many people have already summarized it, and much better than I ever could. For those of you who are not aware, Neuromancer won the Hugo, the Nebula and the Philip K Dick award, the first book to have ever achieved all three honors. Gibson was responsible for coining the term cyberspace in another short story, and here, his protagonist, Case, jacks into the matrix. Yes, this book influenced the Wachowski's film, The Matrix.

Keep in mind that this book was written in 1983. For those of you who do not recall technology in 1983, there wasn't much available for the general population. The internet (or matrix, if you will) was first developed in the late 1960s but wasn't expanded upon until the early 1980s when the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) was introduced. Its usage was mainly limited to research and educational organizations at that time. It wasn't until 1989 that the first commercial dial-up service was introduced in the US. Personal computers were first introduced in 1977, and were becoming more popular in the early 1980s, but it wasn't until the 1990s that Microsoft and Apple developed the operating systems that were to make computers common in many households. I took my first computer class in college in 1983. I was just at the time when programming was switching from input via punch cards to actually typing in code via a terminal. The terminal was attached to a large mainframe computer located at a central location on campus.

Reading the book today gives one a different appreciation than it would have when the book was first released. It is amazing to me now because, in a sense, Gibson gave us a little peek into the future. From an early 1980s standpoint, this was an entirely different type of book. Cyberpunk was born - a combination of the cyberspace of the internet and the punk movement which had come into being in the late 1970s.

So...from that standpoint the book was fantastic to me. On the other hand, I was confused for the first part of the book. It was difficult for me to understand what was going on. Interestingly, I was reading about the "singularity" the other day, and the article's author thought that perhaps when AI becomes sentient, humans will not understand, as the AI will be capable of unlimited intelligence. Maybe Gibson understood this and deliberately made the beginnings of the book confusing. I really could not identify with the two major characters, Case and Molly. I could find no common ground with them, so it was difficult for me actually to care what happened to them throughout the book. I've never been a big fan of cyberpunk and given a choice I would read soft sci-fi instead of hard, so I was probably a little predisposed not to like the book based on my particular reading preferences. As far as the plotting, aside from the confused feeling at the beginning, I felt that it did move along fairly well. I won't give away any spoilers, but I did like the ambiguity of the ending.

I used Amazon whisper sync partially to listen to, but mainly to read, Neuromancer. I would NOT recommend the narrator, Robertson Dean. I had tried several times to start listening to the book but never got very far. His voice was flat with little inflection, and the way he read the female characters really bugged me.

From a standpoint of what Neuromancer gave to science fiction, I think the book deserves five stars. However, in my opinion, reading the book just for my pleasure, I would give it three stars. Hence, a 4-star rating.

Nice review. Overdrive's got it and it's on my wishlist for ebook reading at some point. Which is pretty appropriate given his vision of the future! :)

>159 rretzler: Nice review. A classic that, unfortunately, we might be growing out of. There's much that he got right, or will get right and stuff that seems quaint to us today. I still love it, I've only read it a couple times, but I've listened to it at least as many times.

I have it on CD (rapidly becoming a quaint medium in and of itself) read by Gibson. He has a very unique speaking style that takes a little bit getting used to, but he eventually won me over.

>160 drneutron: >161 mahsdad: Thanks to both. I would say this is definitely a must read for any sci fi fan, but I agree with Jeff that we might be outgrowing it. I really think that it would be difficult for younger readers to gain an appropriate appreciation, which is unfortunate because Gibson seems almost prescient at some points in the book. In my ebook copy, there is an essay at the end by sci fi author and Gibson's friend, Jack Womack. He suggests "Now let's be Heisenbergian and ask: What if the act of writing it down, in fact, brought it about?"

I think I might have preferred Gibson's speaking style to that of Robertson Dean. I just looked on Audible and he has narrated over 200 books. Perhaps it is just a combination of Neuromancer with his voice that did not appeal to me.

I think I want to read it again in a year or so to see if I can get past my initial confusion.

54. The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R King

Interesting thoughts on Neuromancer - I gave up on it half-way through because I couldn't follow the plot and it was all confusing. But maybe I'll give it another try some time. Incredible that this was written in 1983. One extra star for that, for sure.

>164 ctpress: Ah, Carsten, I almost gave up on it as well. But I figured for it to have won so many awards, there must be something to it. So, I kept plugging away and it started to make more sense at some point. Like I said, I think I will probably require another reading for it to completely penetrate.

55. Mrs Hudson's Case by Laurie R King



This is a reread of a short story in the Mary Russell series by Laurie R King. As The Murder of Mary Russell shared Mrs Hudson's background, I wanted to reread this story. It takes place early in the Russell/Holmes partnership, likely during or after The Beekeeper's Apprentice. It was an interesting story, but not as good as some of the other stories or the books.

56. Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie

57. The Autobiography of James T Kirk by David A Goodman

58. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

April was a very busy month for me with very little time to read. Only 6 books (around 1,800 pages), when I usually read 15-20 books and at least two to three times as many pages. May has not started off very auspiciously either.

I was going to make a concerted effort to finally finish The Once and Future King but I'm just not in the mood to read a lot about Sir Lancelot. So, I decided to start Service of All the Dead by Colin Dexter.

Keegan, my 11-yo, has just finished Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli and has started on Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine.

Beckham, my 14-yo, is finishing up First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde and will soon be starting One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde.

Together we are reading Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins, the 2nd book in the Gregor the Overlander series.

Ed is currently watching lots and lots of videos!

Books Read in May

1. (59) Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
   
2. (60) Service of All the Dead by Colin Dexter
   
3. (61) Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night by James Runcie
   
4. (62) Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure by Nancy Atherton
   
   
   

Books Added to My Library in May

1. (117) Time Heals No Wounds by Hendrik Falkenberg
   
2. (118) Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night by James Runcie - gift from Ed and boys
   
3. (119) Wings of Fire by Jonathan Strahan - Kindle First
   
4. (120) Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
   
5. (121) Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins
   
6. (122) Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins
   
7. (123) Inferno by Dan Brown - gift from Mom
   
8. (124) Soccernomics by Simon Kuper
   
9. (125) A Jam of a Different Color by Ron Benrey
   
10. (126) Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins
    
11. (127) Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure by Nancy Atherton
    
12. (128) The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
    
    
    
    
    * Now read
    
    

Robin, delighted to see you also reading and enjoying Maisie Dobbs! You're much farther ahead in the series that I am, but I love these stories! Currently I'm listening to Orlagh Cassidy narrate Pardonable Lies.

>173 lit_chick: Nancy, I certainly do like reading the Maisie Dobbs series. I especially enjoy how Winspear researches the historical details so well; I always seem to learn something new about the time period as well. I'm really glad that she got away from the "ESP" that Maisie seemed to have in the first book or two, as well.

59. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

60. Service of All the Dead by Colin Dexter

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Robin.

61. Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night by James Runcie

62. Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure by Nancy Atherton

>177 PaulCranswick: Very belated, but thanks, Paul, you have one too!

I'm watching season two of "Grantchester" and loving it very much. Considered the novels, but now I guess I'll just watch the tv-series. Interesting that the war wounds is so much a part of the story.

With such interesting characters not hard to believe the novels are good.

I hope everything is well with you Robin and that you'll come back to us soon. xx

Books Read June through December

63. A Jam of a Different Color by Ron Benrey
64. Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine by Alexander McCall Smith
65. Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
66. Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil by James Runcie
67. The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter
68. Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins
69. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
70. Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins
71. Shakespeare: The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson
72. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
73. Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear
74. Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie
75. Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay
76. Another One Goes Tonight by Peter Lovesey
77. The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay
78. The Vecellio Connection by Estelle Ryan
79. The Daughters of Cain by Colin Dexter
80. The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
81. Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Sherlock Holmes' Rediscovered Railway Mysteries by John Taylor
82. The Geeks' Guide to World Domination by Garth Sundem
83. Richardson's First Case by Basil Thomson
84. Stuff Every Geek Should Know by Quirk Books
85. A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie
86. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling
87. Richardson Scores Again by Basil Thomson
88. Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen
89. I Shot the Buddha by Colin Cotterill
90. The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah
91. Blackout by Connie Willis
92. All Clear by Connie Willis
93. Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies by JK Rowling
94. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide by JK Rowling
95. Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists by JK Rowling
96. Fire Watch by Connie Willis
97. A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia by Clara Benson
98. The Shivering Sands by Victoria Holt
99. Killed by the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill
100. Mary Russell's War by Laurie R King
101. The Woodcutter by Kate Danley
102. Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley
103. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
104. The Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd
105. The Fever Code by James Dashner
106. As Good As New by Charlie Jane Anders
107. The Riddle of the Third Mile by Colin Dexter
108. Evan's Gate by Rhys Bowen
109. Doctor Strange: From the Marvel Vault by Roger Stern
110. The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
111. The Queen's Accomplice by Susan Elia MacNeal
112. Pushing Up Daisies by MC Beaton
113. Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith
114. The Colour of Heaven by James Runcie
115. The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
116. The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
117. A Christmas Tartan by Paige Shelton
118. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
119. The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths
120. Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths
121. Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon
122. The Heiress of Linn Hagh by Karen Charlton
123. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
124. Over the Garden Wall by Pat McHale
125. The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
126. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Original Screenplay by JK Rowling
127. Smile by Raina Telgemeier
128. Slight Mourning by Catherine Aird
129. The Imitation Game by Jim Ottaviani
130. Lethal Outlook by Victoria Laurie
131. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
132. Essentials of Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention by Nancy Mather
133. Parting Breath by Catherine Aird
134. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
135. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
136. A Case of Murder in Mayfair by Clara Benson
137. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
138. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
139. The Warrior's Apprentice (reread) by Lois McMaster Bujold
140. Angela's Christmas Adventure by Clara Benson
141. The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
142. Crosstalk by Connie Willis
143. The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths
144. The Secret of Annexe 3 by Colin Dexter