Laurel’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2013)

Laurel’s comments from the All About Books group.

11 Books: Oldest TBR
I picked two books (or three where I couldn't decide...) from the first twelve pages of my Goodreads To Read lists.

Read:

Selections:
The Long Walk Home OR Thirteenth Night
A Game of Thrones OR Sing Them Home
The Bronze Horseman OR Juliet
A Rose for the Crown OR His Majesty's Dragon
The Cold Light of Mourning OR Night Birds' Reign
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (reread) OR Outlander (reread)
Sea Witch OR The Rose of York: Love & War
Never Buried OR The Island House OR A Discovery of Witches
The Crown in the Heather OR The Lord Is My Shepherd
The Whale Road OR A Million Tears OR The Gift of Flame
11/22/63 OR Mariana
Awen: Powys/Mercia, Offa's Dyke, Canu Heledd, 793-796 Ad OR Song at Dawn

12 Books: Daytimer's Book Club - Finished 11
My real life monthly book club. We have a food/cooking theme this year.

Read:
1. How to Eat Fried Worms - 1/20 3 stars
2. Where'd You Go, Bernadette - 2/1 4 stars
3. The Rosie Project - 2/29 4 stars
4. State of Wonder - 4/11 3 stars
5. The Hundred-Foot Journey - 5/10 3 stars
6. The Kitchen House - 6/5 4 stars
7. The Tall Pine Polka - DNF (no fault of the book, just didn't have time and life goes on...)
8. The Boston Girl - 8/2 4 stars
9. Kitchens of the Great Midwest
10. The Martian
11. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
12. A Deadly Grind

I didn't fare too well last year, and swore I wouldn't have any goals this year - just read whatever jumps into my hands. But the temptation to create lists is just too great. So I'm crazy. I'm outlining another pyramid scheme, and although titles can go in more than one category, I shall never come close to completing this. But it's fun anyway.

Here we go again. I made my goal last year, but only because I read a whole series of children's graphic novels! Keeping my goal at 48 books (4 per month) for 2016.

42. The Land of Dreams. 1st book in a trilogy I meant to read to include the 3rd book The Ravens in my bird theme book talk at MLA. Only managed to read this one, however, and I probably won't read the other two, at least not right away.

43. The House at Riverton. As an audiobook, I just couldn't seem to follow this. Had quite a run of audiobooks that just didn't quite work. I reread much of the beginning in print - enough to finally get into it, but I still think I missed a lot of the details.

44. The Other Typist. Finally, an audiobook that kept my attention. Loved it!

45. Orphan Train. Another great audiobook.

46. After You. The sequel to Me Before You and I liked it even better.

47. Mistletoe Murder. An okay cozy mystery, but I don't think I'll read any more.

48. Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 10. Love this cat!

49. Home: A Memoir of My Early Years. Lifelong fan of Julie Andrews. Loved listening to her voice, and it's an interesting story.

50. Santa Clawed. Something for Christmas. Cozy, but didn't love it as much as I remember loving earlier books in the series. Still, this is a series I want to catch up on, but it's been a long time. I'm going to start the series over from the beginning and see how many I get through (on audio) next year.

I haven't kept up very well the last few months, and I don't want to take the time to add links now. But here is a rough summary of how I did.

Total of 50 books, which is the most since I've been keeping track, BUT 10 of those were Chi's Sweet Home, a children's graphic novel series. So really only 40 books - a bit lower than usual.

Daytimer's Book Club - Read 11 of 12

New authors - only managed one on my list, But overall, 26 books were new to me authors.

Leftovers - None

Music theme - None yet.

Titles from the National Reading Group Month lists - 2

Canongate list - None yet

Bird theme - 7

Ha! Diane! I've asked for Magpie: Sweets and Savories from Philadelphia's Favorite Pie Boutique or A Year of Pies: A Seasonal Tour of Home Baked Pies

I have a list of books I've started too, that got interrupted for one reason or another going. Good luck with yours!

41. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. Did not live up to the reputation of this author, and I was left wanting. Would like to have learned more about various passengers, especially Margaret Mackworth and the members of the Gwent Male Voice Choir aboard.

40. The Historian. Great as a travelogue. Loved the descriptions of people, places, food, history, etc. But too many coincidences marred the plot, and typical of most epistolary novels - not enough to differentiate the voices. The romance and mystery of what happened to the narrator's mother could have carried it, but took a backseat to the history and folklore.

39. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. The (so far) autobiography of a remarkable girl. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

38. Raven Black. A good start to the series. I will read more and look forward to the TV adaptation.

37. The Chaperone. Can't say much without spoilers, but I loved it. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

36. Go Set a Watchman. Pleasantly surprised. Very stream of consciousness, but all the humor of Lee Harper's To Kill a Mockingbird. An unflinching look at social attitudes in the south in the 1950s. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

35. The Other Boleyn Girl. Not as bad as I feared from a historical standpoint, but it does try to work in all the more sensational aspects (witchcraft, incest, etc.) of the Anne Boleyn story.

33 and 34. After Dark and the prequel novella Bridal Jitters. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I enjoyed the world building and the idea of pet dust bunnies. Not convinced by the romance. The novella was all about sex and doesn't do much to add to the series, but it's an okay Halloween story. Probably will not read any more of these.

29-32. More of Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 6-9

Finishing up The House at Riverton for my bookclub and then on to The Other Typist

Finishing up some leftovers... The Plover and The Land of Dreams, then I think it is time I got to read something JUST FOR FUN. Don't know what that will be yet. Maybe The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise or Once Upon a Crime: A Brothers Grimm Mystery

Can't get to it until mid-October, but I'd like to reread it this year.

I think I'm back on track after spending a couple months reading random stuff.

Will be finishing up The Land of Dreams and on to the sequels Only the Dead and The Ravens.

Also finishing The Plover and then on to The Hummingbird.

In the car (audiobook) I'm finishing up I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban for my face-to-face book club and then on to The Historian for an online discussion.

Who knows if I'll get through more than that...