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2016 Individual Challenges
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Rumpelteazer's 2016 Challenge
I've been reading absolute crap, lol. I'm also trying to get through a Sci-Fi anthology but right now I'm not really feeling it.
Whatever gets you through a reading slump is great.I think I might cross off not one, but two themes off my list this month. I'm taking the opportunity of my reading series all month to read some series I've had the latest book on my TBR list for a while. When I finish my current book and read the Tess Gerritsen that's been on my list for ages I can cross "crime" off my list, too. I can give myself a month off this challenge if I feel I need a break.
The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen.I'm really liking this series. A bit of change with many other crime series. Yes, the main character has his problems, but he has no Problems; he isn't a (borderline) alcoholic, he's doesn't have a temper problem or is an extreme loner.
Now onwards with the latest Rizzoli & Isles book, which was released over a year ago. After that I might reward myself to try out a new series
Die Again by Tess Gerritsen.I had been putting off this book for over a year now. Mostly because the last couple books in the Rizzoli & Isles series were a bit disappointing, IMHO. The focus in the last couple of books were on dr. Isles and the mysteries were linked directly to her (iirc). But I shouldn't have worried, the focus is back on the crime and it isn't related to any of the main characters. Great read.
Now I'm going to cheat a bit. The book I'm going to read isn't listed as part of a series on GR, but both on Amazon and on the book cover it states it's the first in a series and no sequel has been published yet. But I need something new to read and this seems like the perfect "snack book".
Don't think of it as cheating, think of it as...research.
MrsJoseph wrote: "Don't think of it as cheating, think of it as...research."LOL.
MrsJoseph wrote: "Don't think of it as cheating, think of it as...research."LOL.
I've finally started to gain some momentum with reading again, but I suspect that during the next week or so I'll be reading less than normal; I've just received a new toy, an electronic die cutting machine. And I suspect, with all the possible projects floating in my mind I'll have less time to read.It's updating it's firmware now so I'm making a list for next month. I've decided to go with TV/Films. So far I have:
* Shetland/Jimmy Perez
* Alien
* Memoirs of a Geisha
* Phryne Fisher
* The Silence of the Lambs (reread)
* American Gods (reread)
* Harry Bosch
* Case Histories/Jackson Brodie
Some of my favorites for the movie thing:Rare Birds (obscure Canadian movie)
The Rainbow Troops (Indonesian, foreign film)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Bladerunner basis)
My Life as a Dog (Swedish, watch the subtitled movie)
I love Silence of the Lambs. Strangely. Read it several times. Also odd favorites for me:
-The Stand
-The Pelican Brief
The Almshouse by Blanche King.Okay, but a bit to cute for me. It also took a while after the initial event that start everything to get back to the mystery. I won't be continuing when the next book is released.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Some of my favorites for the movie thing:Rare Birds (obscure Canadian movie)
The Rainbow Troops (Indonesian, foreign film)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Bladerunner basis)
My Life as a Dog (Swedish, watch the subtitled movie)"
Thanks for the suggestions. The first is probably not my thing, but I've added the other three, though not to my TV/Film list. They all come in handy for themes I have a harder time finding books for (Far East, Classics, Scandinavian).
The Stand is one of my all time favourites, and I need to reread it again. However, at the moment I'm having enough trouble getting through a 350 page book, let alone a 1000+ page book!
The Pelican Brief I've had for ages, so that one will go on my maybe list.
For now the for sure list is:
* The Silence of the Lambs
* Phryne Fisher
Possibles are:
* The Pelican Brief
* Jackson Brodie
* Bosch
* Shetland
* Poldark
I find Far East one of the easier areas mow. I really enjoy the books I read from that part of the world.
The Inquisitor's Key by Jefferson Bass.Good read.
I will finish the first book in the Phryne Fisher series tonight and now I'm trying to decide what to read next. Normally I would have been able to finish a not too long book during my weekend (Sunday & Monday), so I would have gone with another series book. However, I'm getting a bit fed up with series and with the preparations for my grandmother's funeral on Tuesday I don't know how much time I have for reading on Monday, so I'm not sure I will be able to finish even a short book in the next few days.
Condolences on your grandmother. What did you think of the Phryne book?
I really enjoyed it.The solution to the mystery was obvious but the story was enjoyable. I like the different setting of the 1920s in Australia and the fact that although Phryne is very feminine she knows her own mind, hold her own opinions and it not easily fooled.
I've been watching the tv series on Netflix (I think it would have been something my grandmother would also have liked), I like Dot better in the books, she's more courageous and less country bumpkin-ish and innocent.
Although I figured out pretty fast who the culprit was, this isn't the type of book you should want to read for a good mystery. It's quick, easy and entertaining. Just the right mix to read with all the things that were happening this week.
But now for something completely different; I've started the first in a horror series. A short book and, so far, a quick-ish read. After this book I think I'll treat myself to Silence of the Lambs; I'm really looking forward to the reread.
The Bank of the Riverby Michael RichanA faster read than anticipated. But I loved it. It's the first book in The River series, it's short, just over 200 pages, it's an easy read and very hard to put down. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Now I'm starting with The Silence of the Lambs. I watched the film a couple of months ago (I must have watched it over a dozen times when I was in my teens) and it was still good. Hopefully the book is also still good.
I entered it into GR on my tablet and swiped the title. I was a bit sloppy with the last word and instead of "lambs" the autocorrect changed it to "The Silence of the Lambada". LOL.
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.A reread and it was a lot easier book than I remember, it read very quickly. Mind you, I must have read it in my mid-teens and I hadn't been reading books in English (for pleasure) for more than a couple of years. I still love it.
There are some books that make me wonder about how the story would turn out if it was set in the now. With smartphones, (inter)national databases, Google and social media. This is one of those books.
A Circumstance of Blood by Jeannette Batz Cooperman.Okay, nice little mystery which could have done with some editing to shorten it a bit.
I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother. (late notifications)
The Pelican Brief by John Grisham.Grisham book are slow reads for me, but they are worth it in the end. This one took a while to gather speed but the pay-off is good. It also means I can finally watch the film :)
Bianca wrote: "The Pelican Brief by John Grisham.Grisham book are slow reads for me, but they are worth it in the end. This one took a while to gather speed but the pay-off is good. It also means I ..."
I love that book! I enjoyed it more than the rest of the Grisham's I read. I gave up on him back in HS because he is too repetitive for me (plot wise). But it was a good ride!
MrsJoseph wrote: "I love that book! I enjoyed it more than the rest of the Grisham's I read. I gave up on him back in HS because he is too repetitive for me (plot wise). But it was a good ride! "I can see how his books can become repetitive. I do like his writing but I might read one, maybe two of his books a year.
Sub Basement by Darcy Coates.A nice short story, it could have been taken further and made into a full novel easily. I like her writing.
Bianca wrote: "I can see how his books can become repetitive. I do like his writing but I might read one, maybe two of his books a year.."That makes sense. I glommed a decent group all at the same time. I read all the ones that became movies...I think. But the Pelican Brief is the only one I watched and read.
MrsJoseph wrote: "That makes sense. I glommed a decent group all at the same time. I read all the ones that became movies...I think. But the Pelican Brief is the only one I watched and read. "If I can I try to read the book before seeing the movie. I think I have it somewhere on dvd, though I'll have to dig it out. Strangely, it isn't on Netflix; they've got a lot of 90s movies at the moment, which I love, I've been rewatching a lot of my old favourites.
Grisham's always been on my "I want to read more of him but never get to it" list for ages. I read The Rainmaker years ago and loved it. Enough so that it came to mind immediately even though it's been... about 15 years since I read it, I think.
Bianca wrote: "If I can I try to read the book before seeing the movie. I think I have it somewhere on dvd, though I'll have to dig it out. Strangely, it isn't on Netflix; they've got a lot of 90s movies at the moment, which I love, I've been rewatching a lot of my old favourites. "Me, too.
I was surprised at how much they changed and how much they kept in Pelican.
Been on my perhaps I should read something by them list, but then I now have this aversion to reading things from the US or GB these days because I read too much from those countries.
Christa wrote: "Grisham's always been on my "I want to read more of him but never get to it" list for ages. I read The Rainmaker years ago and loved it. Enough so that it came to mind immediately even though it's ..."If you do, read it like Bianca does.
The Black Ice by Michael Connelly.Good story and a quick read. I read the first one years ago and thought it was just okay and never continued with the series. Although I won't be putting the series on my active list (it's one of those series I need to be in the right mood for to read) I'll probably read a book every once in a while.
Residual by Michael Richan.Freebie novella you get when signing up for the author's newsletter. It's set between the first and the second book in the series. Longer than a lot of in-between short stories and long enough for the story to be satisfying.
Over the past two years I've been trying to find a diary that I liked and with that a book logging system that works.I first started with an Eric Condren planner. Which was beautiful, but huge. I hardly ever took it with me, but I liked how you could fold it back over itself (if that makes sense) and I could write on the left page without being bothered too much by the spiral binder. In this I tried logging my books in the daily diary and in the notes section at the back. I liked the latter one best.
Last year I got an old fashioned filofax style planner, personal size in mint. I love it. At the end of last year I bought a printable file and printed a 2016 diary; monthly, week on two pages, reading lists, projects, various other lists. I like how I can keep track of my books and it's a lot smaller than the EC planner, but it's still thick. Also, when I want to write on the left page I need to take it out of the binder because the binder rings are in the way and my writing becomes illegible. I hardly ever took it with me because I was afraid it would scratch the nice mint cover.
Last night I looked into the Midori Traveler's Notebook. And I've fallen in love. You can put it together yourself, up to 6 notebook inserts. I've decided to order one next week, I want some time to decide which notebooks and inserts I want. At the moment I'm thinking of having the Weekly Diary + notes for my planner (maybe two, since it's only for 6 months), either a lined or a grid notebook for my booklist, and one notebook for notes, thoughts, doodles and lists. I will also add the zipperfile for loose bits and bobs, a penholder and maybe the sticky notes. The more worn the outside leather cover gets, the better it looks IMHO, so I don't have to be afraid of throwing it in my bag.
Not really reading related but I get very excited about these types of things.
As much as I like planners and paper and notebooks, I'd never be able to find what I am looking for in physical paper for tracking books. I've gone totally electronic for book logging. Goodreads with the appropriate shelves is nice, but my spreadsheets are way better.I know that my paper to eBook ratio this year is the lowest it has been since I got an eReader. I can tell you that I haven't read All the Light We Cannot See. My mom had just put that down as a book to read even though she read it just last summer.
Now I do have a little notebook in my bookbag for keeping a list of current potential reads transferred from other lists so I have a list of authors and such when I'm at the library. Although I do have lists on my phone for that as well.
I've never been good at tracking with pen/paper. I always lose that stuff. I've gone to 100% digital for books, too. That stuff I manage not to lose.I am NOT good about tracking my free books because most of them I don't look at as acquisitions until read. But with purchased? Book Collectorz has them all.
I always find myself wanting to know something stupid like how many authors from Japan have I read, but then I go to my author spreadsheet and there it is: 10.I need to fix that. Must read more from Japan.
I love lists, which is why I have 4 reading lists: my written one (date read, title, author, pages, rating), on my blog (title, author), the one on GoodReads and one in Google Drive (colour coded, title, author, series, series number, year published, date started, date finished, pages, rating).I like how Midori also has a archival folder, which fits 5 notebooks. That way I can build an archive for my reading notebooks, but also one for my travel notebooks.
I've never really cared where my authors were from. I just want to be enthralled.
Start making a map and you'll care. :)I want to be enthralled too and I want to know my world as well. I didn't really care until I looked at how little I had read from my own country in comparison to the US and then the monarchy. For me its like a quest now and its just fun. Do I really need them? Nope. Are they shiny? Yep.
Since I started to consciously do this the percentage of total books I've read from the US has dropped from an estimated 48% to an estimated 37%? It's been worth if for all the four and five star books I've read from weird countries and how many times I've been gobsmacked by how different or how similar life is.
I just read Animal Farm and I was astonished at how similar to North Korea the farm became. The stories, the lies, the changing of history, the songs. It's all REAL. In our actual world.
Gin & Daggers by Jessica Fletcher.Unexpectedly enjoyable. It isn't a literary marvel but this book was a quick read with a good mystery. I had mostly picked it for my tv/film challenge of this month but I think this is the ideal type of series to read in between other, more weightier/difficult books and when you just don't feel like reading something complicated.
This concludes the tv/film challenge for this month, which means I have two weeks of "free" reading left. For next month I'm thinking of going for historical books.
The Splendour Falls by Susanna KearsleyGood book and a nice change of pace and genre from what I've been reading lately.
Brodmaw Bay by F.G. CottamThe little village the book was named after hardly features in the story, and that's the problem. The first 98% of the book felt like, to me, more an introduction and scene setting to the actual story. The last 2% is the grand finale, skipping over the, IMHO, most interesting and important bit. What was happening in the village wasn't really explained and a lot more could have been done with it. Another 200 pages could easily have been added (and the existing story could have done with a good edit) to make it more interesting. It felt like the author gave up writing the story and just ended it. A shame, really.
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman & Paul Clark Newell Jr.An almost unbelievable story and well told.
The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston.I love this theme challenge, however it isn't very good for my active series list!
When Falcons Fall by C.S. Harris.Good historical mystery, a nice addition to the series and finally one with a less intense Sebastian St. Cyr.
Now onwards with the new Ruth Galloway book. I might be able to count it towards this month's challenge; Ruth is a archaeologist. The mysteries she deals with are, mostly, recent there are books (though mostly the earlier ones) where she digs up old(er) bones. If that happens I'll count it towards my historical theme.
The Woman in Blue by Elly GriffithsWhilst not as good as Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins series or Ann Cleeve's Vera Stanhope books the Ruth Galloway series is still entertaining. I liked this book better than the couple of previous ones. And since an archaeological find, possibly even an ancient relic, was the key to solving the mystery I'm counting this book towards the Historical theme.
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The final book in the Simon Serrailler series. In my opinion a good place to stop. Simon hasn't really changed much throughout the series and I found I was getting more and more interested in his sister's storyline than in his. The crimes he solved were well told, but when it came to the personal storyline that of Cat was much more interesting and she went through a lot of changes.
Also, I decided to give up on the Blackwater Saga. I read the first two books last month and I just couldn't get myself to continue. I might pick it up again later, when I'm in the mood for slow moving Southern horror, or I might not.