Pam B's 2016 Challenge

[Pam]

I am doing a formal challenge on GR to read 100 books, which I'm pretty much choosing at random from the large selection of paper TBRs I already have.

I've already read 48 so I won't bother to post those - they can be seen on the challenge thread 2016. So I'll start with the two books I'm actively reading at present.

[Pam]

Currently reading Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll, the third of his books I've read so far.

The other book is a children's story, probably aimed at 8 - 11 year olds judging by the protagonist's age. This is by Penelope Lively and is The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy .

[Pam]

Finished and reviewed Bones of the Moon.

[Pam]

And the same with his next novel, Sleeping in Flame . Not too keen on this one, found even more problems with it than with Bones of the Moon.

[Pam]

Finished and reviewed A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll.

Now about to start The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley, appparently number 2 in a mystery series.

[Pam]

Finished, reviewed The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, which I really enjoyed.

[Pam]

Finished, reviewed The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy by Penelope Lively which I would say is a fairly innocent children's book from another age; 1975.

[Pam]

Finished and reviewed The Eyre Affair and the sequel Lost in a Good Book.

Now reading book 1 in Jasper Fforde's other series about detectives who are more geared around writing their cases up for Amazing Crime Stories than actual crime solving apart from 'loser' Jack Spratt who runs the small and done-down Nursery Crimes Division - The Big Over Easy

[Pam]

Finished The Big Over Easy which completes my read of Jasper Fforde.

Still reading Jonathan Carroll's short story collection, The Panic Hand, which will be the last of his too. I don't have other books by either of these authors and haven't enjoyed them enough to want to read any more.

[Pam]

Finished The Panic Hand and started The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively.

[Pam]

Also started A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley and enjoying it as much as the previous book I read in this series (The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag)

[Pam]

Loved A Red Herring without Mustard.

Now reading Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime. Don't read a lot of true crime, but as this was by such a well known crime writer, Val McDermid, thought I'd give it a try.

[Pam]

Finished Forensics, quite a good overview of the subject.

Now on the book that inspired the Home Fires TV series, Jambusters: The Story of the Women's Institute in the Second World War by Julie Summers.

[Pam]

Finished The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, a children's book by Penelope Lively.

Started but gave up on - something I rarely do - The Sardonyx Net by Elizabeth Lynn.

[Pam]

In addition to Jambusters, have started another Bryant and May novel, number 8 in this crime series about two elderly and quirky detectives, Off the Rails.

[Pam]

Finished Bryant and May off the Rails and the next in the series, Bryant and May and the Memory of Blood.

Now on number 10 in the series, The Invisible Code.

[Pam]

Finished The Invisible Code, and first in the Dalemark series by Diana Wynne Jones Cart and Cwidder.

[Pam]

Now reading A Cotswold Killing by Rebecca Tope and A Pistol in Greenyards by Mollie Hunter.

[Pam]

Finished the Rebecca Tope and read two more in the series: A Cotswold Killing, A Cotswold Ordeal and number 4, A Cotswold Mystery.

[Pam]

Just finished number 11 in the Bryant and May crime series Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart, and number 8 in Rebecca Tope's cosy crime Cotswold series A Grave in the Cotswolds.

Enjoyed the B&M. Quite enjoyed the other, but had reservations as I've written about in the review.

[Pam]

Read another Rebecca Tope cosy Cotswold - Malice in the Cotswolds, a children's historical about the Highland Clearances by Mollie Hunter - A Pistol in Greenyards and volume 1 of a horror anthology, New Terrors 1.

[Pam]

Finished a children's book by Margaret Mahy, 1982 winner of the Carnegie Medal - The Haunting.

[Pam]

And number 5 in the Rebecca Tope cosy Cotswold series, Blood in the Cotswolds.

[Pam]

Finished volume 2 of the horror/dark fantasy anthology, New Terrors 2.

[Pam]

Finished Sorrow's Light by Freda Warrington.

[Pam]

And finished Darker than the Storm by the same author.

[Pam]

Now reading Cornell Woolrich - finished The Bride Wore Black which I was enjoying right up to the denoument.

[Leslie]

Pam wrote: "Now reading Cornell Woolrich - finished The Bride Wore Black which I was enjoying right up to the denoument."

Does this mean that you didn't like the ending?

[Pam]

Yes, basically. Don't want to put a spoiler but when the cop explains to her what really happened, it just came over as 'how could she have thought that in the first place' and the whole last section was rather laboured and I'd already worked out who she was disguised as.

[Pam]

Now read a couple more Woolrich's, as one is only a short story anyway - Phantom Lady and Rear Window

[Pam]

Read a study - In Search of Ghosts by Ian Watson which was quite interesting.

[Pam]

Finished final Woolrich Waltz into Darkness.

[Pam]

Finished number 6 in the Rebecca Tope cosy crime series set in the Cotswolds - Slaughter in the Cotswolds.

[Pam]

And number 12, Trouble in the Cotswolds.

[Pam]

Finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and then read number 11 in the Cotswolds series, Shadows in the Cotswolds as I saw that one in the library.

[Pam]

Read The Burning Man, twelfth in the Bryant and May crime series.

[Pam]

Whoops, picked up some Agatha Raisins in the library - not another crime series to get hooked on!

[Pam]

Reviewed three of the Agatha Raisin crime series - book 2 The Vicious Vet , book 17 - Love, Lies and Liquor and book 22 As the Pig Turns

[Pam]

Reviewed another Agatha Raisin, book 6 of the series - The Terrible Tourist.

[Pam]

And reviewed book 12 - The Day the Floods Came.

[Pam]

And the final one, Hiss and Hers. Definitely never subjecting myself to these again!

[Pam]

Right back to something decent again. Finished the Bryant & May short story collection - London's Glory

[Pam]

Finished a collection from the Golden Age of pulp science fiction, The Best of Murray Leinster.

[Pam]

Finished number 13 in the Cotswolds crime series by Rebecca Tope, Revenge in the Cotswolds.

[Pam]

Completed my 100 book challenge at 101 and 47 ahead - big difference to last year when I just scraped it. However I am pressing on as I have plenty more to read.

[Leslie]

Pam wrote: "Completed my 100 book challenge at 101 and 47 ahead - big difference to last year when I just scraped it. However I am pressing on as I have plenty more to read."

Well done!

[Pam]

Thanks Leslie.

Just read Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, the second dud by her IMO so that's an author I won't bother with again.

[Pam]

Finished a collection of Lovecraft spinoffs - The Disciples of Cthulhu. The same problem I've found with other homages to Lovecraft, that some of them do it too literally and drag in everything including the kitchen sink from earlier writings. The two most successful stories for me were the ones that went right away from that.

[Pam]

A couple of reads - book 1 in Jenny Nimmo's fantasy trilogy for children - The Snow Spider and Jambusters about the contribution of countrywomen organised by the Womens' Institute during WWII.

Found both rather underwhelming I'm afraid.

[Pam]

Read the second in Nimmo's trilogy - Emlyn's Moon, again an OK read but not a keeper.