Michelle’s Comments (group member since Dec 08, 2021)

Michelle’s comments from the On The Same Page group.

Thanks Lillie. I've neglected the Ladies Detective series for so long I'm determined to catch up. Maisie Dobbs is a newer find. I'm excited to continue that one.

Thanks Ann! The No. 1 Ladies Detective series and Stephanie Plum are both great series. You should definitely pick up where you left off.

Thanks Bill. They're all some of my favorites. This is a challenge full of comfort food.

Thanks Alondra. Blessings of the New Year to you and yours!

Thanks Jackie and Ioana! I hope you will check back in throughout the coming year. I love reading your comments and comparing books with you.

Thanks Jackie. Happy New Year!

I don't want to set any expectations for this but I do want to keep up with what I have formerly referred to as my Decade (or longer) American Presidents Challenge. Because 2024 is a non-challenge year I'm going to record my reads here but rename it.

My Reading through the Presidents Activity

1. George Washington 1. The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon completed 3/16/20 2. Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy completed 3/31/22
2. John AdamsFirst Family: Abigail and John Adams completed 8/6/20
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. James Madison
5. James Monroe
6. John Quincy Adams
7. Andrew Jackson
8. Martin Van Buren
9. William H. Harrison
10. John Tyler
11. James K. Polk
12. Zachary Taylor
13. Millard Fillmore
14. Franklin Pierce
15. James Buchanan
16. Abraham LincolnTeam of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln completed 9/25/20 And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle completed 4/18/23
17. Andrew Johnson
18. Ulysses S. Grant Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: All Volumes Volumes 1 & 2 only completed 10/11/22
19. Rutherford B. Hayes
20. James Garfield
21. Chester A. Arthur
22. Grover Cleveland
23. Benjamin Harrison
24. Grover Cleveland
25. William McKinley
26. Theodore RooseveltThe Rise of Theodore Roosevelt completed 11/15/21
27. William H. Taft
28. Woodrow Wilson
29. Warren G. Harding
30. Calvin Coolidge The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge: Authorized, Expanded, and Annotated Edition completed 12/30/21
31. Herbert Hoover
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II completed 11/7/23
33. Harry S. Truman
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
35. John F. Kennedy
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
37. Richard M. Nixon All the President's Men completed 6/9/23
38. Gerald R. Ford
39. Jimmy CarterHis Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life completed 1/5/23
40. Ronald ReaganAn American Life completed 4/28/22
41. George H. W. Bush 41: A Portrait of My Father completed 12/27/24
42. Bill Clinton
43. George W. Bush
44. Barack ObamaA Promised Land completed 2/17/21
45. Donald TrumpThe Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir completed 4/6/21
46. Joe Biden

A few quotes that mirror my feelings about reading to kick off the year.

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.”
― Annie Dillard, The Living

“She had always wanted words, she loved them; grew up on them. Words gave her clarity, brought reason, shape.”
― Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
― W. Somerset Maugham, Books and You

I love having a thread that records my year in books: thoughts about what I have read; thoughts about reading in general; thoughts about my love of the written word and the thoughts of my Goodreads friends about my books or anything else they might have on their mind. What I don't like is the thought of adding another challenge to my life right now. So this year is a Non-Challenge. I'm going to count the books and rate them but I have no goals for how many books, pages, or stars the year should bring. I'm going to make my usual short review and commentary, a few sentences on each book but no requirements about genre or audio vs. print or classic vs. trash. Just reading and recording. For fun I'm going to try to include with each update one or more quotes. Quotes from the books I am reading as well as quotes about books or reading. Feel free to add some of your own if you feel inspired.

I may actually finish one or two more books this year but since my goals were based on quality not quantity, I think I can go ahead and do a year end wrap up now. A book or two more will not make any significant changes. I will record them on this thread if I complete them.

My overall goal was to just read good books. I met and surpassed all my goals for the individual star ratings. Since this was the first time I did this I had no idea how that would go. Next time I will need to set higher goals. My overall average star rating was 3.64 stars. I read or listened to 155 books roughly 11% were 5 star books, 45% 4 star books, 39% 3 star books and only 5% were 2 stars. I didn't read very many books for my Presidents Challenge but the ones I read were high quality. One of them, His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life was actually one of my 5 star reads for the year.

That is all just statistics. The real goal was to enjoy reading and I did but in a different way than I have before. This year I listened to so many more audiobooks than ever before. Only 33 of my 155 books were print books. Life events this year have kept me busier than ever before. I have in fact felt overwhelmed at times. I am not just a person who reads. I am a person who needs to read. I always have been. That is how I center and de-stress. For the first time I gave myself permission to listen more than I read and it was wonderful. Listening while cooking and doing chores. Listening while exercising and running errands for aging parents. Listening while caring for my grandson. Listening to block out distractions. I feel like it saved me during a time when I simply had no time to sit down and read. 155 books for the year and every single one of them helped save my sanity.

I want to add that my Goodreads friends have helped too. Having people to talk about books with has been one of the greatest discoveries on the internet for me. In real life only rarely does anyone want to know what you are reading or what you think about it. Even at book club I have discovered. I feel like on Goodreads and particularly in this group there are always people to share my book thoughts with. It is a true gift and I want to thank all of you.

So for each of you in 2024 in the words of Neil Gaiman:

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

Happy New Year Goodreads friends!

Winding down the new year

#151 Junkyard DogsSheriff Longmire breaks up a drug ring and solves a murder case all of which originate in the local municipal dump. Entertaining story as always with excellent narration by George Guildall. 4 something rotten in Denmark stars. Audiobook. Mystery.

#152 Once We Were Home Fictional story following the post war lives of Jewish children who were given to non-Jewish families to protect them from the Holocaust. Interesting but a little bit drier than it should have been. Well researched. 3 save the children stars. ebook. Historical Fiction.

#153 The Right Sort of Man Two women in post WWII London open a business to help singles find a spouse but instead find themselves investigating the death of one of their clients and dealing with the demons of their own wartime activities. There was nothing really wrong with this story other than how completely implausible it was from beginning to end. I just didn't like these women and their flippant attitudes. The fact that the voices the narrator used for each of them on the audiobook grated on my last nerve did not help. I would say if you are interested don't listen to the audiobook but really I couldn't recommend it either way. 2 ridiculous and irritating stars. Audiobook. Mystery-Historical.

#154 The Mistletoe Secret A divorced man goes in search of a woman he has fallen for by reading her anonymous blog. You can't really go wrong with a Christmas novel by Richard Paul Evans. In keeping with the ugly Christmas book binge tradition it was trite but also sweet and filled with holiday spirit. 3 Fa la la la la stars. Audiobook. Romance-Christmas.

#155 The Mistletoe Promise The final ugly Christmas book binge book of the season. Two lonely strangers sign a contract to be a couple for the holidays. You know the rest. I actually completed the Mistletoe series since I had read the other book previously. 3 Christmas audiobooks make Christmas cooking go faster. Audiobook. Romance-Christmas.

Star Tally 2023
5 stars - 18
4 stars - 69
3 stars - 61
2 stars - 7

155 books!

Denise wrote: "Stephanie Plum is one of my favorite series. Good luck with your challenge."

Thanks Denise! Stephanie and company are always good for a laugh.

Bill wrote: "End of Year Summary - Science Fiction
It's rainy again to start today but the winds are at least calm. Continuing to look back at 2023, I'm focusing on Sci Fi this time. Two Sci fi novels made it i..."

I thought I was all caught up on Becky Chambers until I read your reivew. I have now borrowed To Be Taught, If Fortunate from the library and will be listening to it soon. Loved reading about your top SciFi for the year!

Thanks Pam!

Motley Challenge 2024

1. A humorous book - Seven Up

2. An autobiography/ biography - All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir

3. A locked room mystery - How to Solve Your Own Murder

4. A children’s classic

5. A fairytale/retellingBuried Deep and Other Stories

6. A Nordic noir

7. Banned or challenged book Brave New World

8. A survival or nature story. The Stars Are Fire

9. About a historical figure - The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra

10. A book with indigenous people - The Night Watchman

11. A holiday or celebration story - The Exception to the Rule- Valentine's Day

12. A novella under 100 pages-Divorce Horse

13. Snow/Winter in the title Depth of Winter

14. Any color in the title-Silver in the Bone

15. A title with more than 4 words-To Be Taught, If Fortunate

16. An animal on the cover - As The Crow Flies

17. A house on the cover - The Confession Club

18. An authors debut The Ministry of Time

19. A book you meant to read in 2023. Demon Copperhead

20. A place you always wanted to visit- Homecoming - Australia

21. Book has four or more stars on GR The Running Grave

22. Winner of the GR awards of 2023-Weyward

23. Bought from a second hand store or borrowed from library. The Stranger

24. First book in a series-Bookshops & Bonedust

25. A book translated from another language - One Hundred Years of Solitude

26. A book you started to read and need to finish Of Human Bondage

Jackie wrote: "Great plans! Good luck."

Thanks Jackie!

Ioana wrote: "Good luck! I haven't read any book in any of these series, hmmm..."

Hopefully something here will inspire you Ioana.

Alondra wrote: "This looks like a duplicate of #2??"

You are right Alondra. How did I manage to get this out there twice. No worries the duplicate has been deleted.

@ Lea Thanks for the comment on my duplicated (now deleted) thread. You definitely need to get back to Stephanie Plum and I hope you will like the Newsflesh series. It is not a series that requires a lot of overthinking. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Congrats on completing your list Lea! And thanks for reminding me not to read McCarthy.

This list is a series challenge. I will read two books from some of my ongoing series. The alternate list will be made up of series books that by reading just this one I will be finished (or at least temporarily caught up) with the series. This one should be fun since all of these books are from tried-and-true series. There should also be a strong sense of accomplishment to completing this list since it will get me further along in several series and even complete a couple.

1. Hell Is Empty Longmire #7 Complete 1/10/24 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. As The Crow Flies Longmire #8 Complete 2/9/24 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Seven Up Stephanie Plum #7 Complete 1/18/24 ⭐⭐⭐
4. Hard Eight Stephanie Plum #8 Complete 3/25/24 ⭐⭐⭐
5. Pardonable Lies Maisie Dobbs #3 Complete 3/16/24 ⭐⭐⭐
6. Messenger of Truth Maisie Dobbs #4 Complete 5/24/24 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. The House of Unexpected Sisters No. 1 Ladies Detective #18 Complete 2/6/24 ⭐⭐⭐
8. The Colors of All the Cattle No. 1 Ladies Detective #19 Complete 5/26/24 ⭐⭐⭐
9. Silence Fallen Mercy Thompson #10 Complete 2/12/24 ⭐⭐⭐
10. Storm Cursed Mercy Thompson #11 Complete 05/31/24 ⭐⭐⭐
11. The Confession Club Mason #3 Complete 1/18/24 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
12. Earth's the Right Place for Love Mason #.5 Complete 3/4/24 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Alternates
13. All the Dead Shall Weep Gunnie Rose #5 Completed 5/3/24 ⭐⭐⭐
14. Aurora's End Aurora Cycle #3 Completed 06/19/21 ⭐⭐⭐
15. Blackout Newsflesh #3 Complete 3/22/24 ⭐⭐
16. Muse of Nightmares Strange the Dreamer #2 Complete 7/22/24 ⭐⭐⭐