Keen Reader's Second climb

[KeenReader]

By end 2020 I want 48 fewer books on my TBR mountain.
Every book I read = 1 step up Mt. Ararat. Every book I buy = 1 step down.
I recording the books I've read in my next post

Overall progress: 21 steps so far

Progress in January = Two steps up the mountain
BOUGHT 1 book (= 1 step down the mountain)
READ 3 books

Progress in February = 4 steps up the mountain
BOUGHT 1 book (= 1 step down the mountain)
READ 5 books

Progress in March - 3 steps up the mountain
READ 3 books

Progress in April - 5 steps up the mountain
READ 5 books, bought 0

Progress in May - 2 steps up the mountain
READ 4 books, bought 2

Progress in June - 2 steps up the mountain

Progress in July - 1 step up the mountain

Progress in August - 1 step up the mountain

Progress in November - 1 step up the mountain

[Bev]

Good luck!

[KeenReader]

I'm going to keep a note of the books I've read for this challenge here.
I enjoy reading about what everyone else has read (even though it does put temptation in my path) so it only seems right that I should let other people read about my challenge books too if they want to.
BTW I count the books I buy count as steps down the mountain, so they are here so that my counting of the steps I've taken make sense.

January's books
BOUGHT - India Black - Actually I'm reading this for February and enjoying it so far.
READ - Rogue - DNF - The plot was full of inconsistencies and the main character irritated me.
READ - Duende: A Journey in Search of Flamenco
This was a travel book crossed with a coming of age memoir. It was written in a engaging manner and was pleasant to read.
READ - The Reader on the 6.27 I really enjoyed this but it is difficult to sum up in a few words. Ultimately, I think it's a book about the love of books and writing. This was the best book I read this month.

February's books
BOUGHT - Build your confidence by Tara Ward (sorry I can't find a link to this). I need to read this soon to help me deal with a problem at work
India Black This was a humorous romp through Victorian England. It reminded me of the Flashman books (the first one is Flashman) due to the way the humour sprang from the cynical (but often pithy) observations of the main character.
Ill Met by Moonlight - DNF - This was a fantasy, basically life Overhill (in the human realm) mirrors life Underhill (where Elves and other fairytale creatures live). The elves "meddle" in human affairs to get the outcome that will be best for the Elves. It could have been soooo good, but it moved at such a slow pace and there was so much repetition that I got bored. The main problem was that the authors explained every detail of the plot over and over again. With a good edit, this could have been superb. As it is, I doubt I will read anything more from either of these authors.
Quantum Drop - DNF - I didn't realise it but this was a YA book. I am not a young adult anymore and sometimes I enjoy YA books and other times I don't. This is one of the misses for me, but I suspect I would have really enjoyed it when I was in the age group it is intended for.
The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein -DNF - Initially I enjoyed this because Peter Ackroyd's prose was so evocative and created a vivid impression of Victor Frankenstein. Unfortunately the plot moved at a snail's pace because it was bogged down with minor details of Frankenstein's life and studies. It is also full of foreshadowing, which is a plot device which really irritates me. I decided to move onto something that suits me better.
Dangerous In Love . I loved this. It was a gently humorous police procedural, that was a little poignant in places. This is part of a series but it is not the first book. I am going to start this series from the beginning if I can (I am limiting the books I can acquire this year - this include library books, so I may not be able get round to many of these books this year).

March
Endless Night This isn't my usual type of book, but I wanted something that would be a page turner and that I wouldn't need to think about too much. This did the job, although
I did get a bit irritated by the end. I didn't really believe in any of the characters and the plot didn't bear close inspection either. Still, I did finish it and I gave it 2 stars.
The Information Officer I really enjoyed this, it was very atmospheric. The blending of the mystery (a serial killer in the British forces was preying on Maltese girls) with the large scale death due to the relentless bombing of Malta was done very well.
Cloud of Sparrows. This was OK but it could have been so much better. It looked as though the author could not decide what sort of book he was trying to write and if suffered from that lack of focus.

April
Mr. Clarinet - A detective working on a cold case in Haiti. I enjoyed this. Haiti was almost a character in this book and the description of it were my favourite part of the book.
Miss Pym Disposes - I loved this. It was described as a cosy crime, but is much more like a psychological thriller
The Rosie Project - DNF - This was a humorous look at a man's search for love. The problem was that it was suggested that the man had Asperger's syndrome and I felt he was the butt of some of the jokes in the book. This was not OK with me
Angelology - DNF - This was padded out with unnecessary details which made the plot move more slowly than a glacier.
The Bondswoman's Narrative - There was 2 parts to this. One was a fictionalised autobiography of an escaped slave woman. The other was an account of finding and authenticating the autobiography. This was not easy to read, but I'm glad I did read it.

May
The City of Falling Angels - OK but not nearly as good as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

June
Snow White and the Seven Samurai - The magic in Fairy land is controlled by a magic equivalent of an operating system. This is hacked and corrupted by some kids and as a result the plots of fairy stories get mixed up to comic affect. Elements of other genres also find their way into the mixed up fairy stories too (which is where the seven samurai come from). I thought
it was great fun

Greywalker This was a fantasy. A female detective was attacked and as a result she became aware of supernatural aspects of normal life. I enjoyed how the supernatural was woven into everyday life and how she had to learn to negotiate this new version of normal. In addition she had two intriguing mysteries to solve, so there was plenty going on.

[KeenReader]

The post of books I've read got a bit long so I'm starting a new one.

July
Picoverse - I read the first 48 pages. This basically covered the physics behind an experimental project and the politics behind whether it would get refunded or not. I gave up hope that this would become interesting and found something else to read.

August
Duplicate Death - This was humorous cosy crime. I enjoyed it