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House of Jaghuts 2020!
Mod
January 26th at 2:24pm is 614.4hrs into the year... still managing about 25.63hrs per day, despite some setbacks... (altho this number is slightly inflated by previews of sequels, and the like, that I skipped... I figure most of this is cancelled out by rewinds...)
Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm apparently 666.36hrs of audiobooks for the year, right now :DJanuary 26th at 2:24pm is 614.4hrs into the year... still managing about 25.63hrs per day, despite some setbacks... (altho this nu..."
That is insane!! 😂
Mod
I've started watching more mindless tv this year. Last year this time I only worked and read. No tv. It def means my stats this year will be probably lower than last year, but it helps keep me balanced.
Yeah, I've also been watching more TV lately. I've been caught up in winter sports this year. After the Youth Olympics, the European Championships just finished, and Four Continents is next week. Also, the finale to The Good Place is this week! Anyone else watch that show?
Despite all that, I've actually read more this January than the past couple years, so... I guess I've just been more of a homebody. It sort of makes sense, because snowfall in Japan this year has been really low, so I haven't bothered to go boarding or snowshoeing or outside much at all.
The month hasn't ended yet and I'm already behind on my books. Not good!
Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm apparently 666.36hrs of audiobooks for the year, right now :D"What's with that impressive and evil number? :O
Mod
What's with that impressive and evil number? :O"
It was a coincidence I couldn't ignore... only thing better is if I'd read 18 more minutes of something, and it was 666.66
Yeah, but it'd be 667:06 then xD
Mod
Aaah, my bad, I read 666:66, not "dot" :p
Mod
Melissa wrote: "Yeah, I've also been watching more TV lately. I've been caught up in winter sports this year. After the Youth Olympics, the European Championships just finished, and Four Continents is next week. ..."
I love that show, but I haven't watched any of this season yet. At this point I'm waiting for it to end and go to Netflix.
Mod
January -- 73 books -- 36 BRs -- 26k pages -- 771.5hrs audio -- 332.7 points
1 short story, 13 novellas, 55 books, 4 tomes
8 standalones, 14 new series started, 30 continuations, 18 UTD/Finished, 1 maybe abandoned, 5 re-reads
43 authors, 38 series, 26 different publication years, 11 genres, 20 five star ratings, 4.03 average rating
840 pgs/day, 24.89 hrs/day audio, 10.73 pts/day
I had a pretty good reading month. My ratings were heavily positive. I binged a number of things. And loved a lot of things. The biggest disappointment, was Twice Bitten... it was a heavy retcon in a 30+ book series, and made certain characters just despicable, and was just overall hard to believe naturally... I DNF'd it on Wednesday, then finished it at work on Thursday because I'm a masochist... it didn't really redeem itself...
Highlights:
I started the year strong, with Dispel Illusion on KU (R&L). Mark Lawrence's timey-wimey trilogy with Stranger Things vibes... Vanished! was the best entry in James Ponti's middle-grade mystery series, since it focused a bit more on Florian and Margaret around kids their own age, while solving national security emergencies... Dire Saga was great, as the 2nd series I've read by Andrew Seiple, about a benevolent super who resorts to villainous kayfabe (wrestling term) to achieve her goals... The Woman Who Diead Alot was the latest entry in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, a series I grew to love over the holidays. Sad to run out of books, but I still have a few more series left to try...
Shadow of Doubt is the beginning of a spinoff/sequel to the Beginner's Guide to Necromancy. The bridging backstory is a bit confusing, but I still love this world more than Hailey Edwards' Foundling series. Available on Hoopla... The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was my first 5 star for Agatha Christie/Hercule Poirot. It was the ending that sold me. I assume anyone who has read it will know what I mean. Saying more would spoil it... Wayward Children was my main re-read this month. The continuation of Jack & Jill's story was great to see... Goblin Emperor was a bit of a surprise, given the consensus about the book by the time I read it, but I loved it's slow, positive, political feel...
Then, the new Invisible Library book came out (Secret Chapter) and I just gobbled it up. I wish Genevieve Cogman had more books I could read, because that series is great. Each book is quite unique... Companion Pieces was the first Melissa F. Olson book I bought. All 11 books and counting of her connected Old World series are available on KU (R&L), but the newly released audio for her short stories are not, and they were totally worth buying, for the details they filled in...
The Last Adventure of Constance Verity was my first five star for A. Lee Martinez in awhile. I find I burn myself out on his style of writing if I read too many in a row, but the timing for this was perfect. This is also ALM's first attempt at a trilogy, instead of just writing standalone. It's about an unwilling hero in a UF setting, trying to lose her specialness and live a normal life, to middling success. Available on Audible Escape...
White Trash Zombie Unchained is the end (for now) of the White Trash Zombie series, and I was pleasantly surprised (again). I took a long break after book 4, because I was pissed that Angel found a way to become addicted to drugs again, as a zombie, and I'd had mixed feelings about UF series with drug addiction in the past. Book 5 dealt with the issue head-on, tho, and book 6 resolved everything really well, and had zombie alligators!!! Great series, much preferred over Rowland's Kara Gillian series...
Last up, is The Case of the Damaged Detective, a newish series by Drew Hayes, called Five Minute Sherlock, produced through the Audible Originals system (not my only Audible Original read this month). This ended up being full of everything I love from Drew Hayes, and was great fun. I loved where the book left off, and that Drew Hayes is currently working on the sequel.
I think that about covers my month... I had fun through the middle, fighting for first place with Julia & Soo, but I think the places have settled, with growing gaps... Soo has nearly 400 points, I have 330ish, and Julia has 270ish...
I ended up around 850 pages/day for the month, and don't think I'll be pushing much higher on any long-term basis... I had fun, in the last few days, looking at where my bonus points (BR + challenge) would be, if they were considered their own person (72.3 points)...
Last statistic: I managed ~25hrs of audio per day, for the month... might have time for one more book before bed (I'm assuming I finish my current book in my calculations)
Timelord Iain wrote: "Well, it's the end of January... I figured I'd do a summary, since I haven't talked about actual books in awhile, here...January -- 73 books -- 36 BRs -- 26k pages -- 771.5hrs audio -- 332.7 poin..."
You know, Iain, you kinda scare me. 73 books.... in one month... that's crazy! And terrifying xD But well done!
Also glad to see you liked new The Invisible Library-book. I read the first book some years ago and for some reason haven't picked up on that series again even though I liked the first book and have been meaning to read the rest... Maybe I should make an effort to do that this year xD
Inspired by Iain, here's my January wrap-up:- Managed to read 8 books this month (although one was a leftover from 2019, so it doesn't count in the competition) which I guess was not as many as I expected but due to a hectic start of the year, perhaps better than expected.
- Two of those were BRs, all were challenges and all rated 3/4 stars. - 3003 pages and 45.8 points
- Highlights were The Witcher-series and Before They Are Hanged
Will probably try to push myself to do a bit more of an effort this month because I do enjoy reading, I just kinda... forget it unless I sit my ass down and open a book xD
Mod
- Managed to read 8 books this month (although one was a leftover from 2019, so it doesn't count in the competition) which I guess was not as many as I..."
That's nothing to sneeze at... maintaining 100 pages/day is great :D
I finished Killing Pretty (and enjoyed it more than the Old Gods trilogy before it), and didn't manage to read another, because I got sidetracked with youtube videos and catching up on sleep (to start February strong!!!)
Following Iain and Katherine:Logged 15 books in January (but 4 were very short and 1 was an audiobook); highlights were probably the Thieves World anthologies (which were re-reads, but it's been a long time); the books I least enjoyed were The Name of the Wind and American Gods. Yes, I know that's slaughtering some sacred cows but I didn't like either of them.
Shaitarn wrote: "Following Iain and Katherine:"Good job, everyone. i'll post my books moro.
Shaitarn...we still up for Outlander on Feb 5, correct?
Mod
Logged 15 books in January (but 4 were very short and 1 was an audiobook); highlights were probably the Thieves World anthologies (which were re-reads, but it's been ..."
I thought American Gods was OK, I think, and still haven't read Rothfuss...
@Beste didnt like AG either, but Siobhan and I did.
Iain it’s good to see that with reading at such a high volume you are still really enjoying what you read.Kathrine did you read the witcher books for the show? If you watched the show what did you think? I stalled in episode 2 and have been meaning to get back into it. I also read the comics last year and they were great. They read more like the first two books.
I had a really good month for me in terms of volume but also read some books that I hated or didn’t enjoy that much so kind of an uneven month for me.
The highlights for me were Beautiful by Juliet Marillier and The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Another highlight was getting into short stories. I did 41 episodes of the Lightspeed podcast which 1 story per episode and found they had such a variety among them that it helped my reading ting stale. Looking forward to doing more this month.
I started way more series(12) than I would have liked but now get to spend this month trying to finish them. Staring February with The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Shaitarn wrote: "Following Iain and Katherine:Logged 15 books in January (but 4 were very short and 1 was an audiobook); highlights were probably the Thieves World anthologies (which were re-reads, but it's been ..."
Think I rated American Gods higher than I should have. I kept going back and forth on how much I actually enjoyed it. Thought it had some interesting concepts but the way he wrote it just never really clicked fully with me.
Zaara wrote: "Shaitarn wrote: "Following Iain and Katherine:"Good job, everyone. i'll post my books moro.
Shaitarn...we still up for Outlander on Feb 5, correct?"
I've managed to find my books, so yes, let's do that! I shall ask the lovely mods to create a thread for us (BTW, I have the first four books if you want to try pushing through them all, though as I'm British-English any anti-sassenachary will probably result in me throwing at least one book at the wall).
So I read way more this January than in previous years2018: 3 books
2019: 2 books
2020: 15 books
Okay, so like half of them were short stories, but still in terms of page count, I'm where I was in May of last year, so way ahead of my personal curve.
Highlights include Starsight, which was a fun romp, and weirdly enough, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which was a relentless slog to start with, and I could not find enough eyerolling reaction memes for... and yet I dare say I liked it in the end. Regardless, it was fun having a BR for it.
Huh, those were also my two BRs this month. I belatedly joined in the Starsight thread, and there is something about chatting in the threads that makes a book more memorable.
Mod
Kathrine did you read the witcher books for the show? If you watched the show what did yo..."
I came in riding a high, getting to read a bunch of highly anticipated releases, and re-diversify my reading, after spending 2 months pushing my TBR pile down... I think that really boosted my enjoyment... finishing up more TBR also allowed me to stay ahead of my large amount of new series, too...
@Bill Yes, Marillier is the best! *high fives Zaaragorn*I'm so sad that the book is an audio exclusive for now. I can't do audio, and so I'm hoping that a print version is released eventually to let me read it too.
Mod
2018: 3 books
2019: 2 books
2020: 15 books
Okay, so like half of them were short stories, but still in terms of page count, I'm where I was ..."
That's why I do so many BRs... altho with my volume, it's more about finding the gem of a discussion amidst the chafe (not to put down the BRs I talk less in, it's just some books have more to discuss, I think)
Mod
I'm so sad that the book is an audio exclusive for now. I can't do audio, and so I'm hoping that a print version is released eventually to ..."
Too bad Audible Captions is stuck in legal limbo (Audible planned to release machine-generated text for audiobooks, on request, so you can read along)... Speech-To-Text... you'd have to read along at the audiobook speed, but it would allow you to read Audible Original exclusives... if it's ever released...
EDIT: Looks like Audible & the publishers reached a settlement last week, but the details haven't been revealed yet... sounds like a compromise was met, tho...
I finished 9 books this month, 1 previously started. It's way more than I thought I was going to do, but my last couple books sucked and left me with burn out. I had to restart both of the books I'm currently reading cuz I was starting to read without absorbing. Going to have to go slower on these 2 until I kick myself out of this funk.
Timelord Iain wrote: "Melissa wrote: "@Bill Yes, Marillier is the best! *high fives Zaaragorn*I'm so sad that the book is an audio exclusive for now. I can't do audio, and so I'm hoping that a print version is release..."
@Melissa - I think audible originals are usually 6 months exclusive if I’m remembering correctly. So hopefully you don’t have to wait too long. I’m planning on doing her Wildwood duology this month.
@Iain - that would be a really cool feature even just to get spelling on names and places.
Diana Stormblessed wrote: "I finished 9 books this month, 1 previously started. It's way more than I thought I was going to do, but my last couple books sucked and left me with burn out. I had to restart both of the books I'..."
Oh no. Well I hope that means you are in store for some really good books.
Timelord Iain wrote: "Melissa wrote: "@Bill Yes, Marillier is the best! *high fives Zaaragorn*I'm so sad that the book is an audio exclusive for now. I can't do audio, and so I'm hoping that a print version is release..."
Well, I'm a patient person. I'll just hope that it gets worked out eventually. Still prefer print, but I suppose I could make captions work in a pinch, if it's something I'm especially keen to read.
@BillOoh, I hope so! Yeah, a 6 month exclusive would be reasonable. Like waiting for a cheaper paperback version.
I hope you enjoy the Wildwood books. It's been a while, but I liked them both. I think the 2nd one even more than the first, but that's just personal preference for tone and setting.
Timelord Iain wrote: "That's nothing to sneeze at... maintaining 100 pages/day is great :D"Hahaha, thank you! xD I told one of my non-bookish friends that I had an average of +100 pages a day for January and she was so shocked. It's easy to forget that a lot of people in real life barely read at all.
Bill wrote: "Iain it’s good to see that with reading at such a high volume you are still really enjoying what you read.Kathrine did you read the witcher books for the show? If you watched the show what did yo..."
I did! I had played Wild Hunt a few times at a friend's, so I knew a bit about the world before watching the show but didn't really have an attachment to the story or character before watching and I really liked the show. Now, after having read the source material, I've become quite a bit more critical hahahaha xD
But please don't stop at ep 2! Ep 3 was the highlight of the first season for me, it was both thrilling and entertaining and very well done. The rest of the first season also has a lot of good stuff and quite a few comedic moments so I do recommend watching the entire thing.
Mod
Books read: 25
Pages: 10,323
DNFs: 1
Audiobooks: 1
Team points: 134.9
Would someone please add my January books to the Team Sheet? 7 books read but three were fairly hefty ones AND I'm nearly done with a few more. Yass, I almost killed myself!
1. Mage's Blood
Hair, D.
705 pages
1/13
BR
(P) Series Challenge
Audio
2. Before They Were Hanged
Abercrombie, J.
573 pages
1/15
BR
Series Challenge
Eyeball
3. Vengeful
Schwab, V.E.
575 pages
1/28
BR
Series Challenge
Eyeball
4. Scarlet Tides
Hair, D.
723 pages
1/25
BR
Series Challenge
Audio
5. Soulless
Carrigger, G.
416 pages
2/1
BR
(P) Series Challenge
Eyeball
Solo:
6. The Secret
Byrne, R.
1/26
217 pages
NB: Not a BR
Read 20 Standalones Challenge
Eyeball
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
1/30
385 pages
NB: Not a BR
Series Challenge
Eyeball
Please also add rows for these Feb books since I'm just close from finishing them both. I'll give the dates I complete these with my Feb update, it'll just save time then:
8. Beyond Redemption
Fletcher, M.
512 pages
Can add 2/5 I'll deffo be done by then
BR
Start 20 New Series Challenge
Eyeball
9. Ten Thousand Doors of January
385 pages
Harrow, A.
Will update date completed at EoM
BR
Standalones Challenge
Eyeball
Thanks much!! Of course all of these except the solos can prolly be copied from someone else's sheet if they're already entered. Tho I mostly do physical/ebooks, not audio.
Shaitarn wrote: "I've managed to find my books,..."Ehh...I am so far on the sassenach side of the line that it isn't even visible...but I have other, old connections to the terrain...I have't yet watched the series xept for stray clips on YouTube so I'm going in rather blind...I know the names of the protags, is all...
Uuuhok Shai, mine is the ugly blue 1000 pager so while I'm happy to read the four books with you...don't think I can get to more than the first one this month...this, Black Jewels and Empreror's Blafes are the only new series I am starting this month but with all my Jan trilogies moving to Book 2/3 + huge standalone and couple other romamce commitments I am already spread thin and panicking slightly.
I hope that's ok with you?
Mod
7 books read but three were fairly hefty ones AND I'm nearly done with a few more. Yass, I almost killed myself!
1. Mage's Blood
Hair,..."
I started adding them. Do you want me to just leave the series name blank? Star rating?
Also do you have a finish date for Before they were hanged?
Thanks Yanique, big of you! ❤️15 Jan for the Abercrombie, please and never mind ratings, just do the bare minimum to contribute to the team tally. i think a Y in the challenge box and BR box and eyeball bonus boxes are enough? I have never seen the sheet so I'm not sure.
Next month onward tho, I shall provide series details...
Mod
15 Jan for the Abercrombie, please and never mind ratings, just do the bare minimum to contribute to the team tally. i think a Y in the challenge box and BR box and ..."
Ok! All done!
Your stats are:
Total Pages: 3594
Points: 57.5
Thanks :) you!Tho....kinda 🐣nuts compared to all these huge contributions from everyone....
Mod
Tho....kinda 🐣nuts compared to all these huge contributions from everyone...."
you're ranked 7th on the team so not too shabby at all!
Yanique wrote: "I'm listening to my first audio of the year with Far From the Madding Crowd. "Thanks once more...Yani.
How'd you like Far From the Madding Crowd?
Do not fail me, Gabriel.....
I dunno why that book didnt sadden me so much, for all its being one of the great trilogy of Hardy's pastoral tragedies.
Boldwood....heartbreaking tho....all that....in silence....
Zaara wrote: "Shaitarn wrote: "I've managed to find my books,..."Ehh...I am so far on the sassenach side of the line that it isn't even visible...but I have other, old connections to the terrain...I have't yet..."
No problem; let's read this one book (and my copy's a big blue slog version as well) and then decide. The only reason I asked is because I picked up a 4 book boxed set at a cheap book clearance store ages ago and I suspect I won't have the willpower to go through them otherwise.
If it lives up to the hype, i expect we will want to continue, Shai luv. We are hardened trekkers now...after the 1000+ of Gwynhyfwar fainting lily weeperies and Morgaine's priestess gestalt angst....😂😂😂😂
EDIT - More POWAAARR to the Sassenachs....
Or if it's really bad we could just point and laugh;that works.
I read 5 books in January (one didn't count for the competition as I started it in 2019) and dnf'd one book.I'm pretty pleased with myself, that's more than I used to read during the end of 2019. Made 30-something points, I can't remember the exact number right now.,,
Apparently I'm in the mood for some lighter stuff right now :)
Fantasy Buddy Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
This Is How You Lose the Time War (other topics)Master of Sorrows (other topics)
Master of Sorrows (other topics)
Master of Sorrows (other topics)
T-Rexes & Tax Law (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Juliet Marillier (other topics)Guy Gavriel Kay (other topics)
Thomas Hardy (other topics)
I've gotten away with so much listening at work... I'm sure the rules will loosen again in a couple months... they always do... end of the fiscal year is when Corporate starts being a stickler and looking to trim fat...
In a one-two punch, they pulled me out of the dairy cooler today from 7am-noon to work on a big grocery reset, since it's within my official job description... probably going to be an all-week job, at this rate... 5hrs, and we got like 10% done, because we had to move some red beams/shelves around and the bent metal didn't fit and caused problems... and working around customers slows everything down... doesn't help that corporate's layout of our store misses a fire exit, and we have to adjust to account for it...
Fun times...
Eeking out as much reading time as I can on drive to work, clocking in, getting to forklift, breaks/lunches, etc...
I have another vacation in 10 days, to binge some books :D