Leslie's Print Climb

[Leslie]

I agree about the plotting. Christie or John Dickson Carr have better "puzzles" but I did like the characters in this Allingham.

[Leslie]

#12 is a play contained in my hardcover omnibus Five Great Modern Irish Plays. This time I read Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey, a tragedy set in 1922 Dublin. Nothing goes right for the Boyle family... though it looks like it might at one point. 4*

[Bev]

And...a flag planted on Pike's Peak!

[Leslie]

Bev wrote: "And...a flag planted on Pike's Peak!"

Yay! I didn't even notice! Glad to be a quarter of the way to the top...

[Leslie]

My fourth book off my shelves this month (#13 overall) was And Quiet Flows the Don which I got from my folks when they were moving last summer. I really loved the first half but struggled with the second half so ended up giving this 3½*

[Laura]

Bev wrote: "And...a flag planted on Pike's Peak!"

Yay!!

[Leslie]

Step #14 in my climb is a mystery by Hillary Waugh called Last Seen Wearing.... A very well done police procedural about the search for a college freshman who goes missing. Coincidentally it is set during March in a fictional town in Massachusetts (which I suspect is Holyoke).

I really liked the diary-like way this was written -- it helped build the tension as time passed with Lowell Mitchell still missing. 4*

[Bev]

Leslie wrote: "Step #14 in my climb is a mystery by Hillary Waugh called Last Seen Wearing.... A very well done police procedural about the search for a college freshman who goes missing. Coincident..."

This is a good one! Been a while since I read it--but I always do like the academically-related mysteries.

[Leslie]

Bev wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Step #14 in my climb is a mystery by Hillary Waugh called Last Seen Wearing.... A very well done police procedural about the search for a college freshman who goes miss..."

Yeah me too!

[Leslie]

First book of April is my 15th print book (40 overall!) -- Pale Gray for Guilt, the ninth entry in John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series. I have owned this paperback for more than 5 years... Very good entry in the series! 4*

[Leslie]

April Progress: 4 Print, 11 total {acquired: 5}
Year to date: 18 print, 50 total {39 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
15. Pale Gray For Guilt (4/1)
16. The Way of the World (4/12) (contained in Four Great Comedies of the restoration and 18th century)
17. The Silent Sea (4/16)
18. High Spirits: A Collection of Ghost Stories (4/24)
19. *Don Quixote (currently reading)

and additional formats:
Kindle books
17. *Candleford Green (4/3)
18. The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 (4/6)
19. *Victory An Island Tale (4/26)
20. *The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains (4/29)

Audiobooks
11. The Legend of Drizzt: The Collected Stories (4/6)
12. The Last of the Mohicans (4/6)
13. *Hyperion (4/16)
14. The Federalist Papers (4/20) {abandoned at ~40% done}

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

[Leslie]

Step #16 in my climb was a play contained in my paperback edition of "Four Great Comedies of the Restoration and 18th Century", The Way of the World by William Congreve. I have owned this book for many years but had never read this play before... I bought it for the Goldsmith & Sheridan plays and never bothered to read the other two. I didn't find the Congreve as funny as those 2 but it was still pretty good. 3*

[Leslie]

In my attempt to focus on my print books, I have reached #17 -- a thriller by Clive Cussler called The Silent Sea. I picked up this hardcover at my local library's book sale last June thinking it was an ocean adventure story. Despite the fact that it turned out to be something else, it was still an enjoyable escapist read... 3½*

[Leslie]

#18 print book was a short story collection by Robertson Davies, High Spirits: A Collection of Ghost Stories, which I got last summer. Very enjoyable but not at all scary... 4*

[Leslie]

May Progress: 4 Print, 9 total {acquired: 13}
Year to date: 22 print, 59 total {52 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
19. The Illustrated Man (5/3)
20. *Don Quixote (5/16)
21. The Girl In The Plain Brown Wrapper (5/25)
22. Birds, Beasts, and Relatives (5/29)

and additional formats:
Kindle books
21. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (5/12)
22. *The Good Soldier (5/14)
23. Outlander (5/16)
24. Androcles and the Lion (5/23) read as part of the omnibus The Plays of Shaw
25. *The Old Wives' Tale (5/30)

Audiobooks
15. Outlander (5/16)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

[Leslie]

#19 is the classic sci fi book The Illustrated Man. Decent short stories but some of them are sadly dated. 3*

[Leslie]

#20 is the giant Don Quixote -- I have had the Kindle edition for several years but this paperback only since last June... 4*

[Laura]

Leslie wrote: "May Progress: 2 Print, 5 total {acquired: 5}
Year to date: 20 print, 55 total {44 acquired}


Paperback books
(and hardcovers!)
19. The Illustrated Man (5/3)
20. *[book:Don Quixot..."

LOVED Outlander!!

[Leslie]

I wanted to love it but was actually disappointed. I did think that the second half of the book was an improvement over the first half. Since I already own Dragonfly in Amber (both Kindle & audio) I will probably read at least one more in the series!!

[Leslie]

My third paperback of the month is The Girl In The Plain Brown Wrapper, the tenth McGee book. This makes step #21 in my climb -- I can see the top of Mount Blanc in the distance :)

This was a good suspense (rather than mystery) but not as good as a few of the earlier books in the series. 3*

[Leslie]

#22 on my trek is Birds, Beasts and Relatives, the second volume in Gerald Durrell's memoirs about growing up in Corfu. Not quite as good as the first book but still full of quirky anecdotes. 4*

[Leslie]

June Progress: 4 Print, 7 total {acquired: 15}
Year to date: 26 print, 66 total {67 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
23. Tempest-Tost (6/13)
24. Colour Scheme (6/16)
25. *The Reader (6/20)
26. Wings Above the Diamantina (6/28)

and additional formats:
Kindle books
26. *Elmer Gantry (6/7) {loved this -- 5*}
27. Fire And Ice (6/18)
28. *The Return of the Soldier (6/26)

Audiobooks
16. Fire and Ice (6/18)
17. The Ring and the Crown (6/24)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

[Leslie]

#23 in my climb is the first book in the Salterton trilogy by Robertson Davies, Tempest-Tost, which I have owned since last summer. Very amusing satire about an amateur theater group. 4*

[Leslie]

Print #24 was a Ngaio Marsh mystery set in New Zealand, Colour Scheme. Not a typical Alleyn mystery, more of a spy story, but enjoyable nonetheless. 3½*

Halfway to the peak!!

[Leslie]

#25 was a paperback I bought at last spring's library sale -- The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Despite the seriousness of the content, this was a quite fast read. I wasn't intending to zip through it the way I did! 4*

[Leslie]

#26 is a paperback mystery I was sure that I had read before but turned out to be totally unfamiliar -- Arthur W. Upfield's 3rd Napoleon Bonaparte mystery Wings Above the Diamantina. I love Bony! 4*

[Leslie]

July Progress: 0 Print, 6 total {acquired: 8}
Year to date: 26 print, 72 total {75 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
27.

and additional formats:
Kindle books
29. Pygmalion {contained in the omnibus The Plays of Shaw} (7/5)
30. *Kidnapped (7/17)
31. Catriona (7/24?)

Audiobooks
18. *Kidnapped (7/17)
19. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (7/25)
20. X (7/31)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

[Leslie]

Well, I did poorly in July -- here's to hoping August is better!

[Leslie]

August Progress: 9 Print, 15 total {acquired: 13}
Year to date: 35 print, 87 total {88 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
27. Overture to Death (8/3)
28. *A Thousand Acres (8/9)
29. *Ratking (8/13)
30. *A Fine Balance (8/17)
31. *Palace Walk (8/24)
32. *Sister Carrie (8/25)
33. *The Shrimp and the Anemone (8/27)
34. *The African Queen (8/28)
35. Smallbone Deceased (8/30)

and additional formats:
Kindle books
32. The Invisible Man (8/5)
33. The Green Rust (8/7)
34. *The Great Impersonation (8/10)
35. *The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent (8/21)
36. *She (8/31)

Audiobooks
21. Sea Hearts (8/14)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

[Leslie]

Jessika wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Well, I did poorly in July -- here's to hoping August is better!"

I did poorly in July, too! Let's both work harder this month! My problem was I picked really boring books in July t..."

I checked out too many library books!

[Leslie]

Step #28 in my climb was the Pulitzer Prize winning A Thousand Acres which I got last summer. A compelling book that I highly recommend 5*

[Leslie]

Paperback #29 was the first Aurelio Zen mystery, Ratking. Great book -- 4*

[Leslie]

Paperback #30 is one I have been reading for a while now - A Fine Balance. Extremely well written but relentless in the depressing and horrifying incidents that the main characters experience. 4*

[Leslie]

#31 is the paperback Palace Walk. An excellent historical fiction set in early twentieth century Cairo. 5*

[Leslie]

#32 is the hardcover Sister Carrie. Well written but Carrie was a self-centered gold digger imo. 4*

[Leslie]

#33 was the paperback The Shrimp and the Anemone, an quick and easy book about a boy and his sister one summer by the seashore. 3½*

[Leslie]

#34 was another paperback from last summer's library sale, this time The African Queen -- a thoroughly fun read! If you are a fan of the Hepburn/Bogart film, be prepared for a few differences... 4*

And I have managed to make up for my dereliction in July!! It has been an excellent climbing month for me :-)

[Laura]

Leslie wrote: "#34 was another paperback from last summer's library sale, this time The African Queen -- a thoroughly fun read! If you are a fan of the Hepburn/Bogart film, be prepared for a few dif..."

Indeed, you've definitely made up for lost time! Great job!!

[Leslie]

Thanks Laura!

[Leslie]

#35 is a paperback mystery I got last summer, Smallbone Deceased. An excellent mystery revolving around a law firm. 4½⭐️

[Leslie]

September Progress: 5 Print, 13 total {acquired: 10}
Year to date: 40 print, 100 total {98 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
36. *The Moviegoer (9/9)
37. The Track of Sand (9/11)
38. *Cat's Eye (9/15)
39. The Chill (9/24)
40. The Club Dumas (9/27)

and additional formats:
Kindle books
37. *The Mysterious Stranger (9/16)
38. Heaven Preserve Us (9/17)
39. The Chocolatier's Wife (9/23)
40. Indian Fairy Tales (9/25)
41. *The Castle of Otranto (9/25)
42. The Capital of Latecomers (9/29)

Audiobooks
22. March (9/21)
23. Murder on the Orient Elite (9/24)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

[Leslie]

I have reached the top of Mt. Vancouver with paperback #36, Walker Percy's The Moviegoer. More philosophical than I had expected and full of wonderful imagery. 4*

[Leslie]

Thanks Jessika! I am on track with about 4 print books a month (having made up in August for July's deficiencies).

[Leslie]

#37 is another Inspector Montalbano mystery, The Track of Sand. I am really glad that I started finally reading these books which I got several years ago! 4*

[Leslie]

The hardcover Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood bringing my print total to 38. I might make it to the top of Ararat after all :)

I am glad that I read this as I liked it better than the other Atwood books I have read before. 4*

[Leslie]

I finished my 4th print book for September with The Chill, the 11th Lew Archer book. Excellent gumshoe mystery -- 5*

Only 9 steps (print books) to go until I reach the peak!

[Leslie]

Paperback #40 was The Club Dumas, which I got back in 2009 when my parents moved house. I really enjoyed it -- sort of a cross between The Name of the Rose and Angels & Demons with a large helping of The Three Musketeers. 4*

[Leslie]

October Progress: 1 Print, 5 total {acquired: 8}
Year to date: 41 print, 105 total {106 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
41. *I Capture the Castle (10/24)

and additional formats:
Kindle books
43. *Main Street (10/2)
44. *The History of Mr. Polly (10/28)
45. Infinity Lost (10/28)

Audiobooks
24. October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard (10/31)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

[Leslie]

I have not been having a very good reading month but did manage one paperback for this challenge (#41 overall) -- I Capture the Castle. I found it charming; 4.5*

[Leslie]

November Progress: 2 Print, 6 total {acquired: 5}
Year to date: 43 print, 111 total {111 acquired}

Paperback books (and hardcovers!)
42. The Long Lavender Look (11/16)
43. Quartet In Autumn (11/17)

and additional formats:
Kindle books
46. The Wrong Box (11/26)

Audiobooks
25. *The Time Machine (11/6)
26. Three Shots Rang Out: The JFK Assassination 50 Years (11/19)
27. Winnie the Pooh (11/29)

* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list