Bea’s Comments (group member since Apr 29, 2011)

Bea’s comments from the Pick-a-Shelf group.

Congrats, Rosemary!

Finished:
The Devil Amongst the Lawyers for Series
The Nun's Tale for old game

Reading:
Quaker Testimony for Lost 25
Palindrome for p;d game

@Susan and christene_littlelibrary: This game requires 25 numbers and is Seriously Serial 2025.

TBR Bender (2025) - February

B. Your Books
Pick your 3 - 5 top reads from December 2024 reads.
The Women
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies
The Stationmaster's Cottage

C. Like for Like (L4L)
For each of Your Books, pick one shelf from their top 3-5 shelves.

Shelves:
The Women: Historical Fiction - Pachinko
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies: Romance - From Blood and Ash
The Stationmaster's Cottage: Contemporary - Yellowface

D. Your Options

D.1. Your TBR
1. Date: Using one of your books, read from closest date added (could be the month and even if it was a new book you read/added in January 2025, read another book you added in January 2025)
From Blood and Ash added to TBR Dec 2023 - Nettle & Bone added also Dec 2923

2. Series (maybe): Using one of your books, read the next book in the series or (for stand alone book) read another book by the same author

3. Author: Using one of your books, read a book from an author with the same initials (first & last only in the same position) [RK]
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang - The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther by Rebecca Kohn

4. Title: Using one of your books, read a book with an identical^ word in title

5. Pages: Using one of your books, read a book with at least 50 pages more.
Pachinko 490p - Demon Copperhead 548p

Seriously Serial 2025

Challenge Period: Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2025

9 The Silver Needle Murder
1 A Curious Beginning
3 The White Dragon
3 Face the Fire
7 The Cold Moon
5 This Side of the Grave
7 Bad Boy Brawly Brown
1 Bed, Breakfast & Bones
8 Aunt Bessie's Holiday
3 The House at Sea's End
8 The Woman in Blue
2 The Absent One
8 Six Easy Pieces
3 Career of Evil
8 The Silent Cry
4 Bones of Betrayal
7 A Noble Radiance
2 Through the Grinder
1 The Novice's Tale
4 Sold Down the River
4 Firestorm
9 Twenty Blue Devils
5 A Stained White Radiance
9 A Tale of Two Kitties
2 The Winter Rose

I read a lot of serials, so this is one challenge that I usually have success in completing. This year I am 3 books from end.

By the Month: Jan 1 - December 31, 2025

For Each Month, read a book that was either:
1. added to TBR in that month (before 2025), OR
2. published in that month (any year)

January 2025
GOAL: 12

√1. Cave of Bones (TBR 1/12/20)
2. Firestorm (Pub 1/1/96)
√3. A Year on Ladybug Farm (Pub 1/17/09)
√4. Mistletoe Murders (TBR 1/9/24)
√5. Prairie County Fair (Pub 1/1/02)
√6. The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories (Pub 1/2/56)
√7. Palindrome (TBR 1/30/15)
8. The Devil's Feather (Pub 1/1/05)
9. Seven Black Stones (TBR 1/1/12)
√10. Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 1 (Pub 1/23/17)
√11. Murder in Jerusalem (Pub 1/1/04)
√12. Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 1 (Pub 1/19/10)
Read: 9
Rollover: 3
Edit: I have decided to roll back my read books to 9 and up the carryover to 3 due to the fact that The Devil's Feather is nonfiction and a much slower read for me.

February 2025
Goal: 11 + 3
√1. Bed, Breakfast & Bones (TBR 2/18/19)
√2. Jordan's Stormy Banks (TBR 2/21/17)
√3. Moving Target (Pub 2/18/14)
4. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America (TBR 2/3/15)
√5. Trail of the Spellmans (pub 2/28/12)
6. Fertile Ground (pub 2/1/98)
√7. When the Smoke Clears (pub 2/1/12)
8. In the Heart of the Canyon (TBR 2/15/15)
9. The Ninth Daughter (TBR 2/25/16)
10. This Is Your Brain on Music (TBR 2/15/20)
√11. The Whites (pub 2/12/15)
+ Rollover
√1. Shaman (pub 2/20/91)
√2. Listen to Me (TBR 2/18/17)
√3. This Side of the Grave (pub 2/1/11)

Read: 9
Rollover: 5

March 2025
Goal: 10 + 5
1. Callander Square (TBR 3/24/17)
2. The Paris Apartment (TBR 3/1/22)
3. Born of Water (TBR 3/22/19)
4. From Blood and Ash (pub 3/29/20)
5. Nine Coaches Waiting (TBR 3/1/12)
6. After Alice Fell (pub 3/1/21)
7. The Murderer's Son (pub 3/16/14)
8. Fool Me Once (pub 3/22/16)
9. Between Shades of Gray (pub 3/22/11)
10. The Stranger (pub 3/24/15)
+ Rollover
1. Go (pub 3/1/2000)
2. The Palace of Lost Memories (TBR 3/21/20)
3. Scraps of Paper (TBR 3/30/21)
4. These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 (TBR 3/3/19)
5. In the Country of Others (pub 3/5/20)

Read:
Rollover:

April
GOAL: 9
1.
2.
3.
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5.
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7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Read:
Rollover:

May
GOAL: 8
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11.
12.
Read:
Rollover:

June
GOAL: 7
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2.
3.
4.
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9.
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11.
12.
Read:
Rollover:

July
GOAL: 6
1.
2.
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10.
Read:
Rollover:

August
GOAL: 5
1.
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10.
Read:
Rollover:

September
GOAL: 4
1.
2.
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10.
Read:
Rollover:

October
GOAL: 3
1.
2.
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10.
Read:
Rollover:

November
GOAL: 2
1.
2.
3.
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10.
Read:
Rollover:

December
GOAL: 1
1.
2.
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9.
10.
Read:
Rollover:

Moving Mountains 2025

Challenge Period: Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2025
Goal: 12 books

1. 7: the 1980s or 1990s: Firestorm [pub. 1996]
2. 8: the 2000s: A Year on Ladybug Farm [pub. 2009]
3. 6: the 1960s or 1970s: A Moveable Feast [pub. 1964]
4. 6: the 1960s or 1970s: Dune [pub. 1965]
5. 12: FREE choice
6. 1: 18th century: The Last of the Mohicans [set in 1757]
7. 11: a decade either side of your birth year: Brat Farrar [pub. 1949]
8. 1: 18th century: A Tale of Two Cities [set in 1789]
9. 3: the 1900s or 1910s: Riders of the Purple Sage [pub. 1905]
10. 8: the 2000s: Cold Case [pub. 2000]
11. 1: 18th century: The Indigo Girl [set in 1739]
12. 6: the 1960s or 1970s: Captains and the Kings [pub. 1972]

Congrats, Joanna!

Bea's Lost Books from Wishlist TBR added in 2011:

1. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
2. A World Waiting to Be Born: Civility Rediscovered by M. Scott Peck
3. The Coffee Trader by David Liss
4. This Must Be the Place by Kate Racculia
√5. The Coal Tattoo by Silas House Read 1/24/25
√6. My Father's Notebook by Kader Abdolah Read 4/9/25
√7. The Warsaw Anagrams by Richard Zimler Read 6/22/25
√8. Quaker Testimony by Irene Allen Read 12/26/24
√9. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson Read 6/12/25
√10. Jesus Out to Sea by James Lee Burke Read 1/9/25

Genres represented by these books: Philosophy, Historical Fiction (4) , Short Stories, Mystery, Coming of Age, Contemporary and Science Fiction.

Participants:
Average Book Reviews
Bea
Beth Completed
Beverly Completed
CassieV
Charity
Elaine
Joanna
Joyce
Lagullande
Luann Completed
LynnB
Meg Completed
Michelle
Nat
Rosemary
Susan
Tien Completed

Welcome to the world of LOST. There are a series of 3 rounds of this game. The first, LOST, will establish the date for the other two [FOUND and Lost & Found].

So...to get started.

Pick the 10 oldest books on your TBR. These are books that have been languishing on your To Read list for the longest. You may use any list...a paper list, a GR list, or just your home shelves.

For this game, you may DNR a book and still count it, if you gave it a try. (I have found some gems by trying a book I did not think I wanted to read after all these years.)

TBR Bender - January
Goal: 3
(No 5* reads in November.)

Top 3 reads & shelves:
A Walk on the Beach: Tales of Wisdom from an Unconventional Woman by Joan Anderson: Spirituality, Womens, Romance

The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, and The Accident by Elie Wiesel: History, Classics, War

Winter Cottage by Mary Ellen Taylor: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Romance

Like 4 Like
A Walk on the Beach: Tales of Wisdom from an Unconventional Woman by Joan Anderson
Top Shelf: Womens
Book 1: The Colour by Rose Tremain

The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, and The Accident by Elie Wiesel
Top Shelf: History
Book 2: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

Winter Cottage by Mary Ellen Taylor
Top Shelf: Mystery
Book 3: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley



D. 1. Your TBR (all these books are on my TBR)

1. Date: Using one of your books, read from closest date added.

The Colour by Rose Tremain added to TBR May 22, 2019. Also added on same date: Shylock's Daughter by Mirjam Pressler

2. Series (maybe): Using one of your books, (for stand alone book) read another book by the same author.

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley - Also by same author: The Hunting Party

3. Author:
4. Title:

5. Pages: Using one of your books, read a book with at least 50 pages more.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson [448p] + 50p = 498p. - Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith [509p]

Started The Nun's Tale for old game and also Palindrome for past Birthday game.

Finished:
Touch & Go for Series
Rivers of London for Shelf Bender
The Magic Fish for monthly shelf

Currently Reading:
The Devil Amongst the Lawyers for Series

I need to read Pachinko for International Literature and Lessons in Chemistry for Readers Also Enjoyed.

I DNF'd my pick for Russian Literature after several attempts to get beyond 30%.

Others that I read:

A Career in Books: A Novel about Friends, Money, and the Occasional Duck Bun - This is the story of 3 Asian American girls who met in college and continued to live together as they sought jobs in the publishing industry. It follows them through their first jobs and adjusting to being working women. I had some trouble remembering who was who as the drawings were, to me, very similar. I loved the old lady character of Veronica Vo. 3*

The Magic Fish - This story is of a young man being raised by his Vietnamese mother in America. He is gay and is trying to find a way to communicate this fact with his mother who speaks primarily Vietnamese rather than English. They communicate through the fairytales his mother shares with him. The author used different background colors for the fairytales and real life. The illustrations are beautiful as are the fairytales. I loved this cultural approach to the LGTBQ dilemma of coming out to a parent. 4*

Beverly wrote: "Just finished up with FOUND 2024 (Lost #2)!!"

Congrats!

Finished:
Parable of the Talents for Shelf Bender
A Young Wife for LOST, Trim 24, and Fifteen
The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, and The Accident for Shelf Bender
Parable of the Talents for Shelf Bender
East Wind: West Wind for Shelf Bender
A Career in Books: A Novel about Friends, Money, and the Occasional Duck Bun for monthly shelf

Will finish in next day or so:
The Once and Future King for Shelf Bender

Currently Reading:
Touch & Go for Series
Rivers of London for Shelf Bender
The Magic Fish for monthly shelf

In hopes that this game will come back next year (I have yet to participate for a full year), I have begun noting books for the first quarter of the year!