Next Month's Reading Plans 2017

[Jake]

Sorry I get confused

[Margo]

October plan

BOOK CLUB
The Amateur Marriage

GROUP
The Warded Man ylto
Furies of Calderon d&j

MONTHLY CHALLENGE
The Graveyard Book

QUARTERLY CHALLENGE
NOS4R2

ANNUAL CHALLENGE
The Dry
The Silkworm
The Humans
The House in Paris

Don't want to plan too much til I see what the toppler brings!

[Margo]

Jake the monthly read was published under 2 different titles. The Painted Man and The Warded Man are the same book.

[Margo]

Jake wrote: "Sorry I get confused"

Don't apologise - I get confused all the time ;-)

[Jake]

Gotcha thanks

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Not your fault, Jake. We have often lamented why the same book is published as different titles in different countries. Does not make sense to me at all.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Jake - We have two group reads every month. This month the reads are The Painted Man (also called The Warded Man) and The Vagrant. You can read either one, neither, or both. It is completely up to you.

Edit: Just saw that this was answered already! Hope we cleared it up for you. :)

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm not sure what my reading plans are. I will be out of town (again) and I'm not sure if I'll have more reading time or less.

These are my hopefuls:
Never Let You Go
✓Wonder Woman: Warbringer
✓Psycho
✓Bull Mountain
✓A Curious Beginning
✓The Art of Hiding
✓Relic
✘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - just came in at library - returned unread, read the first 30 pages and it didn't really grab me.

I have no idea yet if any will fit in the toppler! I'll find out soon. :)

[Jake]

Yep it’s cleared up thanks you all! And yes I don’t understand why they would publish it with 2 different names. I better order The Vagrant.

[Janice, Moderator]

I guess the publishers think the titles will appeal differently in different countries. It's an annoying practice. I've bought books thinking they were different stories, only to find that they just have different titles.

[Margo]

Rusalka wrote: "Not your fault, Jake. We have often lamented why the same book is published as different titles in different countries. Does not make sense to me at all."

I have often bought the same book twice when I see it under a different name *grrr*

[Almeta]

✔️
† Dagger Award Nominees
☭ In A Land Far Far Away
ϟ Got Connections
♕Sai King Recommends
☊ Hear Ye, Hear Ye

November 2017

GROUP READ
✔️☊ Vampires in the Lemon Grove 28 Nov

GROUP CHALLENGE
✔️†Clubbed to Death 14 Nov

SAI-KING RECOMMENDS
☊ The Prophet
Gilded Needles
☊ Wilde Lake
✔️Anansi Boys 25 Nov
✔️☊ The Paying Guests 12 Nov
✔️☊ Final Girls 13 Nov

CEREAL KILLER Challenge
✔️☭☊ City of Veils 1 Nov
✔️The Railway Detective 2 Nov
✔️☊ Mississippi Blood 17 Nov
The Scarred Woman
A Fistful of Diamonds

GOT CONNECTIONS
The Lighthouse
☊ The Casual Vacancy

ECHO SHADOW ME
✔️☊ Lair of Dreams 10 Nov
✔️Candyland 30 Nov
☭☊ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
☭Twilight Is Not Good for Maidens

YEARBOOK
Hunter's Run
The Death of Bees
✔️☊ The Breakdown 4 Npv
✔️☊ Sleeping Beauties 7 Nov
✔️☊ The Force 11 Nov
✔️☭☊ The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken 15 Nov
✔️☊ Jackaby 26 Nov
Willful Machines
No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories

DAGGER (These would complete a challenge, I wil not likely do them all this month)
✔️†☭A Cold Touch of Ice 20 Nov
✔️†You'd Better Believe It, 21 Nov
†A Climate of Fear
† The Long Drop

IN A LAND FAR FAR AWAY
✔️The Sapphire Sea 4 Nov
The Skull Mantra

JUST BECAUSE
✔️Howl: a graphic novel 8 Nov
✔️☊ The Moon is a Harsh Mistress 9 Nov
✔️Flood!: A Novel in Pictures 18 Nov

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm ridiculously far behind on my yearly challenge. I'm going to try to focus on that in November. How far I get in November will determine if I try to finish it in December. I am also way behind on my NetGalley reviews, so I'm going for a couple of read-a-thon months. We'll see what real life thinks about that though.

The Rules of Magic - NetGalley
Girl in Snow - NetGalley
Emma in the Night - NetGalley
The Forever Summer - YLTO yearly challenge & NetGalley
Tiger's Curse - YLTO yearly challenge
Silence Fallen - YLTO yearly challenge
Playing with Fire - YLTO yearly challenge
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories - monthly theme and review book
The Collapsing Empire - buddy read
The Dispatcher - YLTO monthly challenge

[Janice, Moderator]

November is just around the corner. October zipped right on by.


Audiobooks

Lock In
The Collapsing Empire - Buddy read
Mao's Last Dancer - Survey Challenge
The Prophet - SAI King (avail Hoopla)
Blood Work
The Prince of Tides

Book/eBook:

The Wheel of Darkness (currently reading)
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances - Themed read
Proof of Life - Syndicate Book club
Something - Survey challenge
Cemetery Dance

Monthly Challenge - TBA

[Cherie]

@Janice - The Prince of Tides is one of my favorite Pat Conroy books and my favorite Nick Nolte movie. Who is the narrator?

[Janice, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: "@Janice - The Prince of Tides is one of my favorite Pat Conroy books and my favorite Nick Nolte movie. Who is the narrator?"

Frank Muller. He was one of my favourite narrators. I'm really looking forward to this read.

[Margo]

November 2017

Book club
√ Autumn

Group reads
Madness

Bubby reads
The Collapsing Empire

Library
Exposure
The Shadow of the Soul

Challenges
[Ylto monthly challenge]
√ NOS4R2
√ Whiteout
√ The Dry
The Snow Child
The Silkworm
City of Dragons

Ottawa challenge
NOS4R2 (6)
The dry (4)
Waking Gods (5) (canadian author)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (3) (body of water)

There is no way I'm going to get through all these but - it's good to have a plan!

I've listed all my outstanding annual challenge books. It would be nice to have that done and dusted by the end of the month, but realisticaly it's unlikely. I'm still recovering from last months topple ;-)

[Janice, Moderator]

Yes, those topplers have a way of wrecking havoc. I did manage to topple a few books off my TBR this last time.

[Almeta]

Margo wrote: "...here is no way I'm going to get through all these but - it's good to have a plan! ..."

Yeah, but look at all the nice lists we make!

[Delitealex]

Lots of buddy reads this month and I hope to do the ylto monthly challenge. Besisides that I want to progress on some series don't know which ones yet

Buddy reads

Curtsies & Conspiracies
Waistcoats & Weaponry
Manners & Mutiny
Front Lines
Fool Moon
Monkeewrench
Blind Goddess
The Alienist
Everything Leads to You

Carry over buddy reads
The Passage currently reading
Dark Matter currently reading
Parable of the Talents
The Mirror Empire currently reading

[Margo]

I need to read The Passage! I bought it a year ago and was saving it for a group challenge but that group sort of imploded :-/ Must read it soon.

[Cherie]

@Margo - I still have book #3 on my Nook to read for Cronin's trilogy. I loved NOS4R2 - do you have the audio narrated by Captain Janeway? The potato book was great too. :o)

@Almeta - I love reading everyone's lists. I just can't make myself do it. I can't deal with the pressure.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Margo - The Passage was really good. I hope you are able to get to it soon. I also plan to read NOS4A2. I am using it of the yearly challenge and plan to listen to it in December.

Cherie - I have the audio for NOS4A2. It is narrated by Kate Mulgrew. I have to make lists if I plan to remember what I'm supposed to read from groups and challenges. I don't always (ok, practically never) get to them all, but I use it more like a goal.

Delitealex - I read Monkeewrench a while back and really enjoyed it. I have the second book, but haven't gotten back to the series yet. I also read Fool Moon. I thought it was good, but I couldn't keep going with that series after a while. Dresden's need to make everything his responsibility bothered me too much.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Just my two cents, the Dresden Files gets much better from book 3 onwards. My version of the audiobooks has Jim Butcher personally apologise for either the first 2 or 3 books (I cannot remember which book it is), so at least for the first couple.

That takes a huge element of self awareness.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Interesting, Rusalka. I read the first two books, then skipped to book 7. I'm not sure why. I think it was a buddy read or something and I had given up on the series. My review says that book 7 was much better than the previous 2 that I read. I remember being annoyed in the first two that Dresden was always saying that everything was his fault and his responsibility, whoa is me... also, I had some annoyance with issues around female characters. The story was interesting for the most part though.

[Janice, Moderator]

The first audiobooks suffered from terrible narration. There were lots of lips smacks and mouth noises. Plus he sounded bored. It did improve after the 3rd book. If I hadn't been forewarned, I would have packed the series in after the 1st book.

I need to get back to that series. The next books for me are in ebook. I have books 6 & 7 - Blood Rites and Dead Beat on Kindle. I was holding out for a whispersync deal, but the audibooks are $11.99.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I started 8 at the beginning of the year. Life has prevented me from finishing the audiobook.

We do own all of them as paperbacks though, but I can't abandon James Masters (of whom I am more forgiving than Janice, but I am an audiobook novice).

[Kristie, Moderator]

I forgot about all the mouth noises! I was able to tune those out eventually. Those are an issue with the audio though, not the book itself. If I had loved the story and not the narration, I would have just switched formats. I may give it another try someday, since they are supposed to get better. I’m just not in a hurry.

[Delitealex]

Margo wrote: "I need to read The Passage! I bought it a year ago and was saving it for a group challenge but that group sort of imploded :-/ Must read it soon."

It's so long it's taking me a while but I like it so far.

[Delitealex]

Kristie wrote: "Interesting, Rusalka. I read the first two books, then skipped to book 7. I'm not sure why. I think it was a buddy read or something and I had given up on the series. My review says that book 7 was..."

What bothered you about the female characters ifyou don't mind me asking :)

[Margo]

Cherie wrote: "@Margo - I still have book #3 on my Nook to read for Cronin's trilogy. I loved NOS4R2 - do you have the audio narrated by Captain Janeway? The potato book was great too. :o)

@Almeta - I love readi..."

Cherie - It is indeed the Captain Janeway version. Looking forward to the potatoes book ;-)

Kristie I always feel the need to make lists too - and I never, ever complete them :-))

[Margo]

Janice wrote: "The first audiobooks suffered from terrible narration. There were lots of lips smacks and mouth noises. Plus he sounded bored. It did improve after the 3rd book. If I hadn't been forewarned, I woul..."

Mouth noises were gross :-0 I couldn't bring myself to listen to anymore after the first.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Delitealex wrote: "Kristie wrote: "Interesting, Rusalka. I read the first two books, then skipped to book 7. I'm not sure why. I think it was a buddy read or something and I had given up on the series. My review says..."

I was bothered by Dresden's thoughts on them. I didn't like hearing about how he thought they looked and if I recall correctly he thought he had to take care of them. Also, I loved Murphy as a character, but she had this sticking point that Dresden was guilty of something beyond reason. I remember rolling my eyes at some of those points while reading.

I didn't dislike the books. I actually enjoyed the stories. I just didn't love them as much as everyone else seems to. Here are my reviews. They have a bit more detail in them.

Funny thing, Janice. I mention the mouth noises in my first review.

Storm Front review
Fool Moon review
Dead Beat review

[Cherie]

There are times, like mouth noises, etc that make me thankful that I read the printed versions of books, but on the case of NOS4A2, and Kate Mulgrew, so grateful that I bought the Audible book!!!

@Kristie - Kate Mulgrew played Captain Janeway in the Star Trek TV show Voyager. It was a Trekkie thing and I was having a senior moment and couldn't think of her name.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Oh! Obviously, I didn't put it together on my own, but that makes perfect sense now, Cherie. Glad you loved the audio.

[Janice, Moderator]

The Captain Janeway comment made perfect sense to me. ROFL.

Marsden improved, and he grew on me. I would continue with the audiobooks of the Dresden series if the whispersync price wasn't through the roof. Kindle offered a great deal on a bunch of the books and I picked them up. There was a whispersync deal that went with some of them, but not all. That's how they get you... offer a great deal on the first books and then hang you out to dry for the later books. I'm too stubborn to pay the price, so ebook it is.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I hate when the whispersync price is higher than the cost of a credit. Why bother?

[Janice, Moderator]

Exactly! And I don't really want to see if the audiobook is available on Overdrive through my library, because then I've purchased the Kindle ebook for naught.

[Margo]

Cherie wrote: "There are times, like mouth noises, etc that make me thankful that I read the printed versions of books, but on the case of NOS4A2, and Kate Mulgrew, so grateful that I bought the Audible book!!!
..."

She''s always captain Janeway to me - so much so what I struggled with her narration on The Fireman. Thankfully I seem to have crossed that hurdle cos I am loving NOS4R2 ;-)

[Saar The Book owl]

I don't know where to start for next month!
I still need to finish: Throne of Jade and The Name of the Wind.

Next I have planned:
For YLTO:
The Alienist
The Desert Spear
The Shell Collector

For Buddy Read Fantasy:
Black Powder War
The Girl of Ink and Stars

YA Buddie Reader's Corner:
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two

[Margo]

Are you enjoying The Name of the Wind Saar?

[Saar The Book owl]

Yes, very. I've stopped when I was reading 'The painted man', because I was mixing them up, but now I've started reading again. It's well written. The only thing that is a bit annoying are the time jumps, but so far, so good.

[Almeta]

✔️
† Dagger Award Nominees
☭ In A Land Far Far Away
ϟ Got Connections
♕Sai King Recommends
☊ Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Decemberber 2017

GROUP READ
✔️Hogfather 31 Dec

GROUP CHALLENGE
✔️Take the Monkey and Run 17 Dec

TOPPLER
✔️†☊ The Long Drop (This completed a Crazy Challenge Connection Group/Pick a Theme Challenge./DAGGER Award Nominations,) 10 Dec

✔️☭Twilight Is Not Good for Maidens (MY ECHO, MY SHADOW and ME/2017 Yearly Challenge) 9 Dec

DAGGER
✔️†A Climate of Fear 4 Dec

SAI-KING RECOMMENDS
✔️☊ The Prophet 16 Dec

CEREAL KILLER Challenge
✔️☭☊ The Scarred Woman 6 Dec
✔️Arf 9 Dec

My ECHO, MY SHADOW and ME
✔️☊Hell & Gone 12 Dec
✔️☭☊ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet 26 Dec
✔️☭The Singapore School of Villainy 23 Dec
✔️☊The Accident 20 Dec
✔️By Cheyenne Campfires 2 Dec
✔️The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two 14 Dec
✔️☊The Reader 7 Dec
✔️Havana Blue 28 Dec
✔️The Skull Beneath The Skin 30 Dec

YEARBOOK
✔️The Defense 1 Dec
✔️Magpie Murders 22 Dec
✔️After I'm Gone 8 Dec
✔️Bone Gap 11 Dec
✔️Church of Marvels 13 Dec

SHORTCUT
✔️2BR02B18 Dec
✔️The Bazaar of Bad Dreams 24 Dec

[Janice, Moderator]

December crept up us!

Audiobooks
- The Bear and the Nightingale (ylto group)
- Artemis (src group)
- The Prince of Tides
- Thornwood House

Book/eBook:
- The Tiger and the Wolf (monthly, buddy read)
- First Snow, Last Light (syndicate)
- Cemetery Dance
- Mystery

[Sandra, Moderator]

December comes loaded. I do not expect to be able to read all of this, but I am hoping for:

Murder on the Orient Express (RL bookclub, it would be a reread for me)
The Bear and the Nightingale (monthly read, but I am in a waiting list. Let's see.)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (monthly challenge)
Pervasive Developmental Disorder: An Altered Perspective (I will be happy if I can do a small bent in this one)
+ a book for the toppler - Holiday Challenge

I have to drive my daughter to an interview very close to Salem, Massachusetts, and I got excited about visiting a couple of museums about the Witch Hunting, so I had the stupid idea that maybe I can read The Crucible AND The Witches: Salem, 1692 before the trip. It is a loooong shot, since it is not clear we will have enough time for museums, even harder to have time for reading the books. But, I am a dreamer. :)

[Sarah]

I've over committed in December. There is no way I'll get everything read that I have planned. Here is what I want to read:
Finish off The Last Colony if I haven't finished it by then
Finish off The Illustrated Man
Dune
The Desert Spear
Hogfather

[Paul]

A rough plan-
YLTO Books
Hogfather
The Bear and the Nightingale

Other Bookgroups Reads -
Artemis
The Bear and the Nightingale (convenient crossover)

Other Reads -
Nyxia
Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories
Strange Weather
Munich
Zom-B City
Zom-B Angels

[Sandra, Moderator]

Paul wrote: "The Bear and the Nightingale (convenient crossover)"

Indeed.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I have no idea what my reading plan is at the moment. I plan to take a look at that next. I had a lot of books planned to finish up my yearly challenge, but now that’s going to change to a more relaxed month.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Ok...so, I looked at my books and this is it, so far:

The Christmas Train (by Rexanne Becnel not David Baldacci) - I bought this 3 years ago and haven't had a chance to read it during the holidays yet. It should fit for our YLTO winter theme in December.
NOS4A2 - Was planned for the yearly challenge, but I'm still planning to read it.
A Christmas Carol - I have the audio narrated by Tim Curry. Can't wait.
A Plague of Giants - This is a bit chunky, but I should be able to get through it. It's a NetGalley review.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog - probably my pick for the YLTO monthly challenge.
?? - toppler book

Maybe:
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City - I'd like to read this, but it's chunky and I probably won't have time for another chunky book.
Emma in the Night - NetGalley review that I've had since June and haven't gotten to yet.
When I Wake Up - NetGalley review that I've also had since June and haven't gotten to yet.