Bill’s Comments (group member since Nov 30, 2021)

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

Gay & Lesbian

On The Same Page Monthly Reading Challenge DECEMBER 2024
Start Date: 12/01/2024
End Date: 12/31/2024

Total Pages Read: 4245
Bonus Points: 605 pts

Books Read:
1. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy 128 pages, finished 1 Dec, 5.0 stars
2. 1984: The Graphic Novel by Fido Nesti 224 pages, finished 3 Dec, 4.0 stars
3. Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi 268 pages, finished 5 Dec, 4.5 stars
4. Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson 240 pages, finished 6 Dec, 4.0 stars
5. In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune 420 pages, finished 7 Dec, 4.5 stars
6. Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin 42 pages, finished 8 Dec, 3.5 stars
7. Jane on Her Own by Ursula K. Le Guin 41 pages, finished 9 Dec, 3.0 stars
8. Booked by Kwame Alexander 315 pages, finished 10 Dec, 4.5 stars
9. Wanderers by Chuck Wendig 782 pages, finished 12 Dec, 4.5 stars
10. If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin 173 pages, finished 14 Dec, 4.0 stars
11. Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia DNF, read 200 pages, NR
12. The Blunders by David Walliams DNF, read 105 pages, NR
13. The Seeing Stone by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black 108 pages, finished 17 Dec, 4.0 stars
14. Illegal: A Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer 122 pages, finished 20 Dec, 4.0 stars
15. The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown 278 pages, finished 21 Dec, 4.0 stars
16. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum 221 pages, finished 25 Dec, 3.5 stars
17. Silverwing: The Graphic Novel by Kenneth Oppel 224 pages, finished 25 Dec, 3.0 stars
18. The Boggart by Susan Cooper 196 pages, finished 27 Dec, 4.0 stars
19. The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed 158 pages, finished 30 Dec, 4.5 stars

+10:
- Read a book with holiday theme/setting.
- Read a book with green or red cover.
-- In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune (10 pts)
-- Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin (10 pts)
- Read a library book.
-- Booked by Kwame Alexander (10 pts)
- Read a book set around Christmas.
- Read a book with snow on the cover.
- We give presents at Christmas - read a book that was gifted to you.

+25:
- Read a book you have been meaning to read all year but didn't get to yet.
- Book with snow, white, or winter in the title.
- Read a non-fiction book.
-- Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi (25 pts)
- December is the 12th month of the year - read a book from a series that has 12 or more books.
-- Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum (12+ books) 25 pts
- The Winter Solstice is celebrated in December - read a short book of less than 300 pages.
-- The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (128 pages) 25 pts
-- 1984: The Graphic Novel by Fido Nesti (224 pages) 25 pts
-- Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi (268 pages) 25 pts
-- Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson (240 pages) 25 pts
-- Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin (42 pages) 25 pts
-- Jane on her Own by Ursula K. LeGuin (41 pages) 25 pts
-- If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin (173 pages) (25 pts)
-- The Seeing Stone by Tony DiTerlizzi (108 pages) 25 pts
-- Illegal by Eoin Colfer (122 pages) 25 pts
-- The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown (278 pages) 25 pts
-- Kenneth Oppel - Silverwing (224 pages) 25 pts
-- L. Frank Baum - Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (221 pages) 25 pts
-- The Boggart by Susan Cooper (196 pages) 25 pts
-- The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (148 pages) (25 pts)
- For Winter - read a book set in a cold country.
-- The Boggart by Susan Cooper (Canada in winter for most of the book) 25 pts

+50:
- Read a classic novel.
- Finish a book with over 500 pages.
-- Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (782 pages) (50 pts)
- Read a book with 6 or more words in the title.
-- The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (50 pts)
-- Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum 50 pts
- One of the most well known Christmas books is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - read any book by Charles Dickens. 10 bonus points if it's A Christmas Carol.
- St Nicholas Day & St Lucia Day are both celebrated in European countries - read a book written by a Nicholas or Lucia (or Lucy), or where a character is called Nicholas or Lucia (or Lucy). Nick/Nicky is also acceptable.
- Pearl Harbor happened on 7th December 1941 - read a book set during World War 2.

Alissa wrote: "I can't wait to see your picks~~"

😎👍👌😉

Very interesting collection.

by Charlie Mackesy was the perfect book to start December with. Loved it so very much. 5.0 stars

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next in line is by Victoria Jamieson

Alondra wrote: "Bill wrote: "Alondra wrote: "Those categories make a lot of sense, Bill. I'll be looking forward to your choices.

Good luck"

Thanks, Alondra. I'm still making lists.. LOL"

Just delete my comment..."

That'll be fine. Thanks, Alondra.

Michelle wrote: "LOL I love this challenge Bill! If confession is good for the soul, you should be in good shape for 2025. No way am I telling you guys how long some of my reads have literally sat on my shelf much ..."

LOL. The problem is that there is always a new shiny exciting looking book and some just get pushed back into the back of the book shelf.

Linette wrote: "Oh, the pressure. Do I need to look at my TBR oldest books from 2010 too? The idea makes me sweat a bit, lol.
Great idea! I loved Rebus, been a while since I've spent time with him and his gang. C..."

I thought I might be done with Rebus with those two books but it seems he's back with Malcolm Ross in the Complaints so I'll probably continue following him.. LOL

Linette wrote: "Cheering for you, Bill! At least one of us will finish a lot of series next year!
But yes, we also need to start new series, so we always have a line up of books we are excited to read. :)"

Ain't that the truth.

Michelle wrote: "Great idea for a list Bill! Nothing more satisfying than finishing a series. Good luc Bill!"

Thanks, Michelle.

Bonnie wrote: "Bill wrote: "This list may be adjusted before end Dec 2024 but I plan to finish 16 series in 2025!

1. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Handmaid's #2 / 2019) (Sci Fi..."

There are so many excellent series available...

You had an excellent November and looks like you've read some excellent books too. I hope December is the same for you.

I've read and enjoyed Elizabeth Acevedo's other books and have Family Lore on my shelf as well. I hope to get to it in 2025.

1741. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Alondra wrote: "Those categories make a lot of sense, Bill. I'll be looking forward to your choices.

Good luck"

Thanks, Alondra. I'm still making lists.. LOL

Ioana wrote: "Bill wrote: "In December I'm focusing on Children / Middle Grade stories, starting with The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy."

I loved that one, I hope you will too."

I've heard nothing but good about it. Supposedly there is an excellent TV?? show about it in either Amazon or Apple+...

3c. Non-Series - Other Genres

Non-Fiction
1. Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher (2024) 305 pages, started 1 Jan, finished 27 Jan, 4.0 stars
2. Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home by Susan Hill (NF / 2009) 236 pages, started 31 Jan, finished 4 Feb, 4.5 stars
*3. Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein (2023) 399 pages, started 6 Feb, DNF, NR
4.On Book Banning: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy by Ira Wells (2025) 182 pages, started 22 Feb, finished 5 Mar, 4.5 stars
5. A Time to Keep Silence by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1957) 96 pages, started 8 Mar, finished 14 Mar, 4.5 stars
6. On Freedom by Timothy Snyder 345 pages, started 30 Mar, finished 16 Jun, 4.0 stars
7. The Complete Persepolis: 20th Anniversary Edition by Marjane Satrapi (2007) 352 pages, started 24 Apr, finished 28 Apr, 4.0 stars
8. Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi (2006) 84 pages, started & finished 14 May, 3.0 stars
9. Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway, 1918–1923 by Dorothy Parker (2014) 483 pages, started 7 Jun, finished 31 Aug, 4.0 stars
10. Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism by Stewart Reynolds (Can / Hum / 2024) 54 pages, started 30 Jun, finished 3 Jul, 3.5 stars
11. A Writer's Diary: Being Extracts from the Diary of Virginia Woolf by Virginia Woolf (1953) 350 pages, started 29 Jul,
12. An Outbreak of Witchcraft: A Graphic Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Deborah Noyes (2024) 235 pages, started 9 Aug, finished 10 Aug, 3.0 stars
13. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (2025) 187 pages, started 26 Aug,
14. Cracking the Nazi Code: The Untold Story of Canada's Greatest Spy by Jason Bell (2023) 341 pages, started 6 Sep,
15. Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature by Becky Siegel Spratford (2025) 257 pages, started 18 Sep,

Fiction
1. Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson (2018). I could have placed this in graphics but it was originally a novel) 384 pages, started and finished 15 Feb, 4.5 stars
2. The Siege Winter by Ariana Franklin (2015) 338 pages, started 16 Jun, finished 6 Sep, 4.0 stars

Completed - 13

3b. Non-Series - other genres

Science Fiction / Speculative Fiction
1. The Downloaded by Robert J. Sawyer (2024) 182 pages, started 27 Jan, finished 30 Jan, 5.0 stars
2. Joanna Russ: Novels & Stories (LOA #373): The Female Man / We Who Are About To . . . / On Strike Against God / The Complet e Alyx Stories / Other Stories by Joanna Russ (SF / 2023) 711 pages, started 28 Apr,
3. Sleeping Planet by William R. Burkett Jr. (1965) 285 pages, started 3 Jul, finished 17 Aug, 3.5 stars
4. Empire by Clifford D. Simak (1951) 96 pages, started 11 Jul, finished 29 Jul, 2.5 stars
5. Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore (1952) 194 pages, started 1 Sep,

Graphic Novels
1. Squire by Nadia Shammas (2022) 305 pages, started 13 Jan, finished 13 Jun, 4.0 stars
2. The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu (2023) 267 pages, started 22 Jan, finished 22 Jan, 4.0 stars
3. Pearl by Sherri L. Smith (2024) 133 pages, started 30 Jan, finished 30 Jan, 4.0 stars
4. The Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Manu Larcenet (2024) 160 pages, started 4 Feb, finished 6 Feb, 4.0 stars
5. Lost Girls by Alan Moore (Fantasy / Erotica) 352 pages, started 22 Mar, finished 30 Mar, 2.5 stars
6. The Girl and the Glim by India Swift ((Fantasy) (2022) 128 pages, started 28 Mar, finished 29 Mar, 3.0 stars
7. Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel by Aimée de Jongh (Fiction / 2024) 342 pages, started 16 Apr, finished 17 Apr, 4.5 stars
8. To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham (Fiction / 2018) 273 pages, started 23 Jun, finished 25 Jun, 4.5 stars
9. All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson (YA2017) 248 pages, started 25 Jun, finished 2 Jul, 4.0 stars
10. Fatale Compendium by Ed Brubaker (2024) 800 pages, started 17 Aug, finished 26 Aug, 3.5 stars

Poetry
1. A Field of Vision by Charles Causley (1988) 68 pages, started 21 Feb, finished 27 Feb, 4.0 stars
2. A Year of Last Things: Poems by Michael Ondaatje (2024) 110 pages, started 2 Jul, finished 11 Jul, 3.0 stars

Completed - 15

3a. Non-Series - Mysteries

Mystery - Russia
*1. The White Russian by Tom Bradby (2003) 551 pages, started 7 Mar, DNF, NR (completed 160 pages)

Fantasy
1. The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (2024) 157 pages, started 21 May, finished 29 May, 4.5 stars

Short Stories
1. Ai Jiang's Smol Tales From Between Worlds by Ai Jiang (2023) 137 pages, started 1 Jun, finished 7 Jun, 3.5 stars
2. The Sigh by Marjane Satrapi (2011 / Fairy Tale) 56 pages, started & finished 13 Jun, 4.0 stars

Completed: 3

2c. Continue a series - overflow

Thriller
1. Gun Honey: Collision Course by Charles Ardai (Joanna Tan #3 / 2024) 112 pages, started 26 Feb, finished 27 Feb, 3.0 stars
2. Redhead by John Creasey (Dept Z #2 / 1933) 192 pages, started 30 Aug, finished 10 Sep, 2.5 stars

Graphic Novels
1. Heartstopper, Vol. 5 by Alice Oseman (Vol 5 / 2023) 318 pages, started 12 Apr, finished 15 Apr, 4.0 stars
2. Saga, Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan (#8 / 2017) 152 pages, started & finished 11 May, 3.5 stars
3. Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin #2 by Erin Hunter (2025) 256 pages, started 24 May, finished 25 May, 3.5 stars
4. Saga, Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan (#9 / 2018) 152 pages, started & finished 10 Jun, 4.0 stars
5. Paper Girls, Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan (Chaps 6 - 10 / 2016) 128 pages, started and finished 4 Aug, 4.0 stars
6. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2: Cycles by Brian K. Vaughan (#2 / 2009) 118 pages, started 10 Aug, finished 11 Aug, 4.0 stars

Completed: 8

2b. Continue a series - other genres

Horror
1. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 2 by James Tynion IV (Vol 2) 144 pages, started & finished 10 Jan, 3.5 stars
2. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 3 by James Tynion IV (Vol 3) 144 pages, started & finished 27 Jan, 3.5 stars
3. Alabaster: The Good, the Bad, and the Bird by Caitlín R. Kiernan (GN#3) 128 pages, started & finished 7 Feb, 3.5 stars
4. Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 4 by James Tynion IV (#4 / 2022) 144 pages, started & finished 13 May, 4.0 stars
5. Alabaster Volume 2: Grimmer Tales by Caitlín R. Kiernan (#2 / 2014) 115 pages, started 14 Jun, finished 15 Jun, 4.0 stars

Science Fiction
1. The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish #5) 189 pages, started 14 Apr, finished 28 Apr, 4.5 stars
2. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries #3) 158 pages, started 19 Aug, finished 2 Sep, 4.5 stars

Fiction
1. Young Dr. Kildare by Max Brand (Dr. Kildare #6 / 1938) 143 pages, started 11 Aug, finished 19 Aug, 3.0 stars

Completed: 8

2a. Continue a Series - Mysteries

Mysteries - British
1. A Darker Domain by Val McDermid (DI Karen Pirie #2 / 2008) 371 pages, started 1 Jan, finished 14 Jan, 4.0 stars
2. A Series of Murders by Simon Brett (Charles Paris #13 / 1989) 214 pages, started 5 Mar, finished 25 Mar, 3.5 stars
3. Barking! by Liz Evans (PI Grace Smith #4 / 2001) 311 pages, started 1 May, finished 22 Jul, 3.5 stars
4. Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham (Campion #19 / 1968) 176 pages, started 10 Sep,

Mysteries - Scandy
1. Calling Out for You by Karin Fossum (Insp Sejer #5 / 2001) 387 pages, started 14 Jan, finished 10 Feb, 3.5 stars
2. The Snowman by Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #7 / 2010) 454 pages, started 10 Feb, finished 14 Apr, 3.5 stars
3. The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall (Martin Beck #7 / 1977) 215 pages, started 1 Apr, finished 12 Apr, 3.5 stars

Mysteries - US
1. The Bone Thief by Jefferson Bass (Body Farm #5 / 2010) 382 pages, started 15 Apr, finished 15 May, 4.0 stars
2. Broken by Karin Slaughter Will Trent #4 / 2010) 400 pages, started 15 May, finished 19 Jul, 4.0 stars
3. The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes (Harlem Cycle #2 / 1958) 159 pages, started 19 Jul, finished 25 Jul, 3.5 stars
4. The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun (Cat who... #5 / 1987) 185 pages, started 22 Jul, finished 11 Aug, 4.0 stars
5. The Hyde Park Murder by Elliott Roosevelt (Eleanor Roosevelt #2 / 1985) 181 pages, started 2 Sep,

Mysteries - Canada
1. The Red Mass by Rosemary Aubert (Ellis Portal #5 / 2005) 291 pages, started 25 Jul, finished 30 Aug, 3.5 stars

Completed: 11

1c. Start a Series - others?

Dystopia
1. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Can / 2017) 234 pages, started 14 Mar, finished 21 Apr, 3.5 stars
2. The Wintermen by Brit Griffin 2014) 303 pages, started 21 Apr, finished 10 Jun, 3.5 stars
3. Cloud Warrior by Patrick Tilley (Amtrack Wars #1 / 1983) 311 pages, started 7 May, finished 30 Jun, 3.0 stars

Science Fiction
1. The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (Snow Queen #1 / 1980) 469 pages, started 29 Aug,

Completed - 3