Laurel's 2022 Book Lists By the Dozens!

[Laurel]

OVERVIEW:
Chomping at the bit here to set my 2022 goals! This is always my favorite part of reading. Ha ha! Seriously, planning is half the fun (or more.) I love making lists!

It's basically the same from year to year. There are book club books - those are the only must reads. Everything else is a tool for deciding what to read next. I like to have a theme to work on (or several themes.) I pick 30 or so random reads from my TBR ocean every year in six different categories. In the past I have listed these all together, but this year I am wanting to organize everything differently. I'll still have lists for non-fiction, Welsh and Arthurian fiction, historical fiction (pre-20th century), other fiction (20th/21st centuries, sci fi, fantasy), old themes from previous years, and series (divided into new series started and old series continued).

I'll be drawing more than 30 of these "random reads" so that every list has a dozen choices. No, my goal is NOT to read every book in these lists. One from each list would be ambitious enough! I always want to read far more than I will ever accomplish. Realistically I'll read about 48 books. But I am feeling unrealistic this year, so I'm setting my goal at 60 books! I add an alternative cumulative pages goal and if I succeed at one or the other, I will be happy (and amazed! Ha!) So my pages goal this year is 17,520 (which is also a multiple of 12, in case you wondered...)

Finally, I don't like the limitations of Goodreads 1-5 star rating system, so I add colors to my ratings to give it a little more nuance. Here is my rating scale:
Ratings
5 + stars = Gold (Gold medal, nothing higher. Well maybe Platinum but let's not go there....)
5 stars = Purple (Grand Champion ribbon)
4.5 - 5 = Blue (Blue ribbon, 1st prize)
4 stars = Red (2nd prize ribbon)
3.5 - 4 = Pink (tickled pink, in the pink, ...but not quite red?)
3 stars = Green (Green for Go, not outstanding, but I'd read more by this author - or not)
2.5 - 3 stars =Yellow (Caution)
2 stars = Orange (Hazard Warning, LOL!)
1 star = Black (Black-balled and also probably not finished)
DNF (not rated) = Gray

[Laurel]

BOOK CLUBS
These are the only must reads, so I'm listing them first...
My face to face group, Daytimers, is a guaranteed 12 books.

I also added a new book club in November 2021 - I joined my church book club, Perspectives. They read about 9 books a year, monthly except for a bigger book during the summer. Of course, I want to read everything the group has read previously, but that isn't realistic. I'll pick a few and make an even dozen of it.

A Good Yarn - Reading the Alphabet
This is another face to face book group that I am in, but we pick monthly themes or challenges rather than titles. We started a new alphabet in 2021, and decided to pick geographical places for our "theme". So this group is listed under Challenges below.

Daytimer's Book Club
READ 1. Jan: Foreign author: Anxious People
READ 2. Feb: Romance: The Return
READ 3. Mar: Prize Winner/Nominee: The Vanishing Half
READ 4. Apr: Non-fiction: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
READ 5. May: Minnesota author: The Lager Queen of Minnesota
READ 6. Jun: Woman author: An American Marriage
READ 7. Jul: Historical fiction: The Four Winds
READ 8. Aug: Memoir: Somebody's Daughter
READ 9. Sep: Classic fiction: The Grapes of Wrath
*READ Jan 2023 10. Oct: Mystery fiction: The Thursday Murder Club
READ 11. Nov: Suspense fiction: American Dirt
READ 12. Dec: Domestic fiction: All Adults Here

Perspectives Book Club
READ 1. Jan: The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life
READ 2021 Feb: The Book of Lost Friends (This was read by me last year, but I am leading this one, and the rule is we can't suggest a book for the group that we haven't already read, so it is unnumbered)
READ 2. Mar: meeting cancelled, but reading The Urgency of Awareness: Unlocking the Power within Individual, Organizational, and Community Efforts for a different church group.
READ 3. Apr: Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope
READ 4. May: Behold the Dreamers
READ 5. Summer (Sep.): The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
6. Oct: The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves
7. Nov: meeting cancelled
READ 8. Dec: Not a Nation of Immigrants: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
-------------------------
Previous group reads:
9. Cantoras
10. This Is How It Always Is
11. Sing, Unburied, Sing
12. The Year of Magical Thinking

Online group reads:
1. The Crystal Cave The Reading Loft, March 2021 (reread)
2. The Devil and the Dark Water The Reading Loft, August 2021
3. The Midnight Library The Reading Loft, Sept 2021
4. Corrag The Reading Loft, Jan 2022
5. Frenchman's Creek The Reading Loft, Feb 2022
READ 6. Winter Solstice Life of a Book Addict, Dec 2021
7. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Reading the Chunksters, April 2022
8. The Lost Wife - On the Same Page, Buddy Read for April
9. The Apothecary Rose (reread) - History Mystery Lovers featured author May 2022
10.
11.
12.

[Laurel]

THEMES
I like to pick an annual theme every year. And then there are always leftovers! I never seem to be able to let go of a theme. I keep adding new titles year after year! I'm moving my "Random Reads" old themes here this year. I also usually have several mini-themes. Location and time period can also be a theme, but I'm giving those separate categories this year.

"Book of" titles" (Continued from 2021)
1. The Book of Joby
2. The Book of Lost Things
3. Book of a Thousand Days
4. The Book of Speculation
5. The Book of Fires
6. Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin
7. The Book of Uriel: A Novel of WWII
READ 8. The Book of Unknown Americans
9. The Book of Air and Shadows
10. The Book of Dreams
11. The Book of Strange New Things
12. The Book of Lost and Found

1. Winter (continued from 2021)
1. Midwinter of the Spirit
2. The Winter Soldier
3. Minds of Winter
4. Winter's Tale
5. The Winter Guest
6. A Wild Winter Swan
7. The Winter's Child
8. Winter Counts: A Novel
9. The Winter King
READ 10. Winter Solstice
11. The Winter Vault
12. Winter in Madrid

The Odyssey I keep listing this one, and never starting it! Maybe this is the year? Obviously, I have to start with
The Odyssey and The Iliad so those aren't part of this list...
1. The World of Odysseus
2. An Orchestra of Minorities
3. Ulysses and
Ulysses: Complete Text with Integrated Study Guide from Shmoop
4. An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic
5. Omeros
6. Olympus, Texas
7. The Penelopiad
8. Homer's Odyssey
9. Ilium
10. Ransom
11. Over the Wine-Dark Sea
12. The Siege of Troy

Old Themes: Revisiting Moby Dick
1. The Whaler
2. The Widow's War
3. Railsea
4. The Movement of Stars (also stars)
5. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer (also stars)
6. Ahab's Return: or, The Last Voyage
7. Hannah Rose (Ahab's Legacy #2)
8. The Rathbones
9. The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld: A Memoir
10. The Art of Fielding
11. We, the Drowned
12. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Old Themes: (formerly Random Reads) - carried over 6, drew 6 new
1. Bel Canto (music)
2. Orfeo (music)
READ 3. The Forest of Vanishing Stars (stars)
4. An Irish Wife: A Novel (wife titles)
5. 142 Ostriches (birds)
6. The Plover (birds)
7. The Railwayman's Wife (wife titles)
8. Mozart's Sister (music)
9. Swallows of Kabul (birds)
10. Sparks Like Stars (stars)
11. The Jewels of Paradise (music)
12. The Other Bennet Sister (P&P)

[Laurel]

TIME AND SPACE
In previous years, I have drawn 30 titles from my TBR lists to highlight as Random Reads each year. This has been no guarantee that I will read many of them, but it gives me something besides leftovers to read, and brings long buried items to the fore. In fact, I only read ONE of my random picks last year. So this year I am breaking up this category, AND I am trying to keep all my lists to a dozen titles! Old themes are going under themes. Series are going under Series. And I think Wales will be going in a new Location category, so that leaves Historical fiction (pre-20th century), 20th century fiction, Non-fiction, and Fantasy/Other lists. And some of my mini-themes were historical time periods, so those might get moved here too....

Macbeth/Thorfinn/Vikings:
1. King Hereafter
2. Lady Macbeth
3. Macbeth: A Novel
4. Macbeth
5. A Sacred Storm
6. Tomb for an Eagle
7. Flight of the Wren
8. The Golden Horn
9. The Half-Drowned King
10. The Whale Road
11. Viking Warlord: A Saga of Thorkell the Great
12. The Swan's Road

The Plantagenets/Wars of the Roses
1. The Summer Queen
2. Queen By Right
3. Bloodline
4. Eleanor de Montfort: A Rebel Countess in Medieval England
5. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors
6. Blood & Roses: the Paston Family and the Wars of the Roses
7. Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The Wars Of The Roses
8. Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses
9. Cecily Neville: Mother of Richard III
10. The Queen’s Rival
11. The Game's Afoot
12. The Adventures of Alianore Audley

Historical Fiction: (Random Reads) - keeping 6, 6 new
1. Courting Mr. Lincoln
2. Wolf Hall
3. The Pillars of the Earth
4. Juliet
5. Minds of Winter
6. Season of the Raven (12th cent. England)
7. The Winter Isles (12th cent. Scotland)
8. The Fatal Crown (12th cent. England, #1 of trilogy)
9. Searcher in the Dawn
10. The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England
11. By Honor Bound
12. A Matter of Interpretation

Other Fiction: (Random Reads) - keeping 7, 5 new
1. The Cornish Coast Murder
2. Margot
3. The Secret Keeper
4. The Evening Chorus
5. The Murmur of Bees
6. The Eight
7. Letters from Skye (dual timeframe, 1912, 1940)
8. The Crown Jewels Conspiracy (#1 of 2)
9. The Farm at the Edge of the World
10. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
11. The Tolstoy Estate
12. Baker Towers

Non-fiction: (Random Reads) - keeping 2, 10 new
1. Decoding the Celts: Revealing the legacy of the celtic tradition
2. Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle that Made England
3. Homer's Odyssey
4. The Hills of Wales
5. The Grammarians
6.The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws
7. Tudor: The Family Story
8. She Wolves: The Notorious Queens of Medieval England
9. The Shepherd's Life: A People's History of the Lake District
10. The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome (#1 of 3)
11. Whiskey Distilled: A Populist Guide to the Water of Life
12. Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph

[Laurel]

LOCATION, location, location!

Wales/Arthurian list
and any other location specific lists

Wales/Arthurian:
1. The Snowdonia Killings
2. Crimson Shore
3. The Chinese Sailor
4. Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel
5. The Story of the Champions of the Round Table
6. The Book of Joby
7. To Carry The Horn
8. None So Blind
9. Joan, Lady of Wales: Power and Politics of King John's Daughter
10. Eve Green
11. Hidden Company
12. The Wheel Spins

Prague/Vienna
My women's choir is traveling to Prague and Vienna in June, so this seems like a good opportunity to read a few books set in those locations!
READ 1. The Prague Sonata
2. Bohemian Gospel
3. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
4. A Woman of Note
5. Compass
6. Ecstasy
7. Exile Music
8. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
9. The Prague Cemetery
10. Austerlitz
11. Time's Magpie: A Walk in Prague
12. The Piano Teacher

[Laurel]

SERIES and AUTHORS
Series has taken on a life of its own this past year, so I am putting my "Random Reads" series picks here, as well as a lot of leftovers trying to complete or focus on a few specific series. Sometimes I also pick an author or two to focus on.

Next-in-Series: - starred titles are within 1 or 2 of finishing the series
1. 44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith
READ Bertie's Christmas short story #6.5
READ Bertie's Christmas Journey short story #7.5
READ Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers #9 of 15
The Revolving Door of Life #10 of 16

2. Corduroy Mansions - Alexander McCall Smith
*A Conspiracy of Friends #3 of 3

3. Mrs. Murphy - Rita Mae Brown (rereading, #18 will be new)
*READ Jan 2023 Cat's Eyewitness #13 of 31

4. Flavia de Luce - Alan Bradley (rereading - #5 will be new)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie #1 of 10

5. Meg Langslow - Donna Andrews
Owls Well That Ends Well #6 of 30

6. Finfarran - Felicity Hayes-McCoy
*READ Jan 2023 *The Month of Borrowed Dreams #4 UK, #5 US of 5 (so far)

7. Hermann Preiss - Morley Torgov
Key Witness #2 of 6 (chronologically)

8. Anne Easter Smith
A Rose for the Crown (not really a series, but the next book chronologically...Wars of the Roses)

9. Slough House - Mick Herron
Real Tigers #3 of 8

10. The Morland Dynasty
The Dark Rose #2 of 35

11. Lucy Morgan - Victoria Lamb
*His Dark Lady #2 of 3

12. Somershill Manor - S.D. Sykes
*City of Masks #3 of 5


New Series:

1. A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R, Martin
A Game of Thrones #1 of 7

2. Millennium - Steig Larsson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo #1 of 6

3. Vorkosigan Saga - Lois Bujold
Shards of Honor #1 of 16

4. Nosey Parker - Fiona Leitch
READ A Brush With Death #2 of 6
A Sprinkle of Sabotage #3 of 6

5. DI Tudor Manx - Dylan H. Jones
READ *Anglesey Blue #1 of 3
Doll Face #2

6. Thomas Cromwell - Hilary Mantel
*Wolf Hall #1 of 3

7. Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman
*READ Jan 2023 *The Thursday Murder Club #1 of 3 (so far)

8. The Valley Trilogy - Helen Bryan
*The Valley #1 of 3

9. Crispin Guest - Jeri Westerson
Cup of Blood #7 (but comes before #1) of 15

10. Isle of Man - Dian Xarissa
Aunt Bessie Believes #2 of 25

11.

12.

[Laurel]

LEFTOVERS and LIBRARY BOOKS
A combination of old and new. Sort of a catch-all for anything that doesn't fit above. I have leftovers from 2021, mostly from A Good Yarn, and finishing up my previous alphabet challenge. Books that are the oldest in my TBR ocean. Books that have been started but abandoned, and then of course there is new stuff that catches my eye and gets checked out from the library....

2021 Leftovers not finished:
READ 1. Anglesey Blue
2, One for Sorrow
3, Wolf Hall #1 of 3
4. The Valley #1 of 3
5. The Chocolatier's Ghost
6. Neverhome
7. Queen By Right
8. From Hand to Hand: the Welsh novel O Law I Law
READ 9. Every Living Thing - to finish series
READ 10. We Gather Together: A Nation Divided, a President in Turmoil, and a Historic Campaign to Embrace Gratitude and Grace
11. Outlander - reread
12. Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur - title beginning with Y

2021 Leftovers not started:
1. Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer
2. Untimely Death - A Good Yarn, U is for Un-
READ 3. Aunt Bessie Assumes - A Good Yarn, X
4. Treasure Island
5. The Xenophobe's Guide to the Welsh - Title beginning with X
6. The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise - A Good Yarn, Z
7. Zorrie - title beginning with Z
8. The Plum Tree - A Good Yarn, T is for Tree
9. The Crystal Cave (reread) - The Reading Loft group read
10. Independent People - A Good Yarn, I is for Ice
11. The Heart Of A Samurai - A Good Yarn, J is for Japan
12. Into the Jungle - A Good Yarn, J is for Jungle

The 12 Oldest in My TBR Ocean:
1. The Long Walk Home (owned)
2. Within the Fetterlock
3. Thirteenth Night
4. Kilt Dead (owned)
5. The Tale of Hill Top Farm
6. Her Royal Spyness (owned)
7. The Last Troubadour
8. The Book of Joby (owned)
9. The Fall of Atlantis (owned)
10. Mozart's Sister
11. Vivaldi's Virgins
12. The Expected One (owned)

Shiny New Things:
1. The Mozart Code - Location: Vienna AND Prague - pub. date March 2022
2. The Book of Cold Cases - Themes: "Book of" titles
3. Daughter of Smoke & Bone - Location: Prague
4. The Lost Wife - portions set in Prague and Terezin
READ 5. Behind the Scenes with Burt: A Breaking Cat News Adventure - just published
DNF 6. Here We Go Again: My Life in Television - because I am really enjoying watching The Golden Girls
7. A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice - Stars theme, A Good Yarn I location (iceberg), Audible daily deal
READ 8. The Ink Black Heart - next in the Cormoran Strike series, just released and purchased on Audible
*READ Jan 2023 9. Pucky, Prince of Bacon: A Breaking Cat News Adventure

[Laurel]

CHALLENGES
A Good Yarn:
Reading the alphabet geographically. Every two months is a new letter, with the choice of reading a specific location, or a generic place, or both...
December 2021/January 2022: C (bonus: C + Christmas)
The Cornish Coast Murder (Cornwall AND a coast)
READ 2021 Murder on the Menu (Cornwall)
READ 2021 A Cornish Christmas Carol (Cornwall + bonus Christmas)

February/March: D
READ The Book of Unknown Americans (Delaware)
READ The Hound of the Baskervilles (Dartmoor, Devon)

April/May: E
READ Crocodile on the Sandbank (Egypt)
READ Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers (Edinburgh)
READ Bertie's Christmas - short story (Edinburgh)
READ Bertie's Christmas Journey - short story (Edinburgh)

June/July: F
READ The Forest of Vanishing Stars (a forest)

August/Sept: G



Alphabet (A-Z titles) challenge.
Sort of contemporaneous with A Good Yarn...but I'm still working on some A titles and A Good Yarn is up to C. The only rule here, is that I have to read the alphabet in order. And no rule on how long to spend on each letter. As long as there are still A titles I want to read, I'll stick with it...

Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
READ 2021 The Alehouse Murders
READ All Adults Here
READ 2021 All Things Wise and Wonderful
READ Anglesey Blue
READ Anxious People
READ Aunt Bessie Assumes
READ Awayland
------------------------------
READ Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
READ Bertie's Christmas - short story
READ Bertie's Christmas Journey - short story
READ Behind the Scenes with Burt: A Breaking Cat News Adventure
READ Behold the Dreamers
READ The Book of Unknown Americans
The Book of Joby
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - reread
The Book Woman's Daughter - Netgalley
READ A Brush with Death


Rebecca's List:
This is a group challenge on LibraryThing's Club Read 2022 to collectively read all the books on a late member's reading list. This is not a promise to read all of these, but potentially to read...These are some that are of interest to me, that no one else has read yet. Not counting The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life on her list, since I am currently reading it.
1. The World of Odysseus - a likely candidate because of my Odyssey theme this year!
2. The Bear: History of a Fallen King
3. The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia - someone else has read this one...
4. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
5. The Power of Music
6. Genes, Peoples, and Languages
7. Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages
8. The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong
9. The Fairies Return, or New Tales for Old
10. Stars of the Long Night
11. The Romance of Tristan
12. The Romance of the Rose

Laurel's One From Each List Challenge (On the Same Page 1st Annual Reading Challenge - 12 + 4):
Since I have roughly 16 lists going, I thought I would pick one book from each list. I think there's a few more than 16, but there are some titles that are on more than one list, so this works. I'm hoping to make at least a Baker's Dozen here, 12 + 1.

1. The Book of Joby - this one is on at least 3 of my lists...
READ 2. Winter Solstice
3. The World of Odysseus
4. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
5. Queen By Right
6. The Evening Chorus
7. Homer's Odyssey
READ 8. The Prague Sonata
READ 9. Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
READ 10. Anglesey Blue
READ 11. Aunt Bessie Assumes
READ 12. Every Living Thing
-------------------------------------------------------
13. A Sacred Storm
14. Wolf Hall
15. Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel
16. The Fall of Atlantis

On the Same Page cover color challenge:
READ January - White or Dark Gray
READ February - Rust or Pink
READ March - Spring Green or Lemon
READ April - Tangerine or Lavender -
READ May - Blue or Brown - , , , and
June - Green or Silver -
READ July - Yellow or Fuschia -
August - Red or Black
READ September - Lime or Purple -
*READ Jan 2023 October - Orange or White or Black
READ November - Teal or Gold
READ December - Sky Blue or Khaki

[Laurel]

Happy New Year! I just finished my 2021 goals with 20 minutes to spare. Time to think about my January reading plans!

READ 1. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times - overdue and has a hold waiting. I need to read this in the next two days, or return it and re-request it to read later...

READ 2. Winter's Bite - I finished 2021 by seeing what short stories I had on my Kindle. Didn't get to this one, but I can knock it off my TBR in a day, and it fits my "Winter" theme.

READ 3. Anxious People - started this today (well yesterday now) on a run to the grocery store (audiobook). It's our Daytimers book club read for January. Loving it already!

READ 4. The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life - My other book club book for January.

READ 5. Anglesey Blue - still reading and need to get back to this. And I'm still working on A titles for my yearly challenge...

6. Queen By Right - paused and need to get back to this.

7. Wolf Hall - paused, long term read, will get back to this

READ 8. Every Living Thing - audiobook - after I finish Anxious People - this will finish my reread of James Herriot's books

READ 9. A Brush With Death #2 in the Nosey Parker series, and another C book (Cornwall) for a Good Yarn.

10. A Sprinkle of Sabotage #3 in the Nosey Parker series

11. A Cornish Christmas Murder #4 in the Nosey Parker series, and another "Christmas" bonus if I actually finish them all, which is doubtful.... More likely I will relist it when I get to C in my annual alphabet challenge.

12. Outlander - long paused, but I'm still planning to do a long term reread of this entire series....

[Laurel]

#1 Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
4.5 blue stars
Themes: Winter

There is some really good writing here. My rating reflects the fact that I could see myself rereading this book, and underlining passages that resonate with me. What it is NOT, is a self-help book. What it IS, is a memoir - to quote from the inside book flap: "A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world... Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas."

Critics will say here is an entitled rich, white woman with the luxury to quit her job and take expensive trips hunting the aurora borealis, and having the leisure time to pursue things like baking and crafts, and taking voice lessons. And this is true. I was hard-pressed, myself, to understand her circumstances compared to my own chronic health issues and job losses (definitely NOT voluntary), but I certainly understand that life has tough moments for all of us, and that we sometimes need to give ourselves permission to retreat, to find activities that distract us, and to learn how to sing again.

I hope to take an aurora hunting trip "some day" so I enjoyed hearing her experience. I loved learning more trivia about dormice, and bees, and wolves, and European robins which have become a spiritually significant "totem" for me lately. And as the "Welsh Bookworm" I delighted in her tale of retraining her voice using Dylan Thomas's "Under Milkwood." Other literary inspiration included Philip Pullman's Golden Compass series, C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, and even "The Game of Thrones." And I must look for Alan Watts - the name is familiar and I think I have read something of his, but I don't remember what...

[Laurel]

#2 Anxious People
5 purple stars - I loved it!
Book clubs: Daytimers

“This is a story about a bridge, and idiots, and a hostage drama, and an apartment viewing. But it’s also a love story.” And I would say it is a story about life, about how we all make mistakes, but we do the best we can. These people are absurd, but oh, so relatable. I was rooting for every one of them, but especially the "bank robber." There might also be some serious messages here - about failure, about loneliness, about fitting in, about suicide, about parenting, and more. I'll say it again - it's a story about life. And fireworks.

Cumulative pages: 582

[Laurel]

#3 The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life
2.5 yellow stars
Book club: Perspectives

I would call this more philosophy than psychology. There wasn't very much presented in the way of scientific evidence for the ideas presented here. I did find things that were very interesting and thought-provoking, but it felt like a slog getting there. I wasn't entirely sure who this was written for either - students? lay people? parents? There's plenty of scientific jargon here. And lots of lots of either repetition or meandering thoughts. I think the general ideas could have been coalesced into an essay or a 30-minute TED talk. The first chapter or two was quite interesting, presenting how children learn to imagine possibilities, and to see how the world could be different, which gives humanity the unique ability to change ourselves and to change the world. The ideas here have applications for psychology in general. It's not just about children, although that is the reference point.

Cumulative pages: 870

[Lillie]

What a fun way to do your lists! Especially love your specific themed lists. Have several on your lists that I'll be reading this year, including Wolf Hall and The Eight. And have read several that I enjoyed, The Thursday Murder Club, All Adults Here, The Vanishing Half, The Tower, The Zoo and the Tortoise as well the 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

Good luck on your challenge!

[Lillie]

Laurel wrote: "#2 Anxious People
5 purple stars - I loved it!
Book clubs: Daytimers"

Almost forgot this one. I agree Anxious People was a really good read. I know that people like his Beartown series but I'm partial to Anxious People and A Man Called Ove.

[Laurel]

Thank you, Lillie! I haven't read his Beartown series. I did enjoy A Man Called Ove, but I liked Anxious People better.

[Laurel]

I've already abandoned the rest of my January plans. Currently listening to Winter Solstice on audio, and postponed the rest of the Nosey Parker series in favor of knocking some A titles out of the way for my Alphabet Challenge. So I've started Awayland, which I have had checked out from the library for an embarassingly long time, and Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer, which I read half of a long time ago (2015?) when I was doing my Moby Dick theme. Now I'm debating whether I want to reread Moby Dick along side it. I listened to it on audio, and I'm pretty sure my brain let large portions of it sort of slide on by without too much attention. We'll see. Could be interesting to do that. Moby Dick has 135 chapters, and Ahab's Wife has 157 or something like that...

[Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator]

These are some great challenges and categories.

I am still lurking and realize I have quite a few on my own TBR, or have read.

Good luck and happy reading, while I continue to lurk. LOL

edit: A Game of Thrones is excellent and so much better than the show, IMO. As well as, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's a quite different mystery/thriller with morally gray characters. I hope you enjoy the start to these series.

[Lea]

Wow, you have a lot of options on this list - you should have plenty of choices if you get stuck. Glad to hear you enjoyed Anxious People so much. Interesting idea to read Ahab's Wife with Moby Dick alongside it.

Of your book list, I've read The Midnight Library, Winter's Tale, Bel Canto, Wolf Hall, The Pillars of the Earth, The Secret Keeper, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, A Game of Thrones (although I have not yet continued with the series), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Treasure Island, The Vanishing Half, Caste: The Origin of our Discontent, and The Grapes of Wrath. I've got The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and An American Marriage on my individual list this year too. Hopefully we both like them. Best of luck.

[Laurel]

Thanks Alondra and Lea. I like having more options than 30 (my previous years random reads), but far less than all the books on my Goodreads TBR shelves. I've added all the titles to a "2022" shelf, and it is just over 200 titles. So if I manage to read even 40 books from that I will feel like I have accomplished something!

Since I am on the computer all day at work, I can read http://www.powermobydick.com/
Only two chapters so far, but I am remembering how much I really enjoyed the beginning chapters (and the ending chapters) of Moby Dick. It's everything in between that is a bit of a blur. But I'm hoping to find that I probably remember more of it than I think I do.

[Laurel]

I've added a new list to message #3 above:
Old Themes: Revisiting Moby Dick

It turns out that I read Moby Dick 10 years ago. This was the first year I started doing themes. I moved 3 titles from the Old Themes list and added 9 more from my TBR. Now I have to pick 3 more old themes, which I'll do later tonight. What's another dozen books? Ha ha ha.

And I decided to reread Moby Dick. So probably my Odyssey list is postponed until at least September.... I'm reading Moby Dick at http://www.powermobydick.com/ I may also listen to the Moby Dick Big Read at https://www.mobydickbigread.com/

[Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator]

I loved Moby-Dick or, the Whale so much and have reread it a few times. I stopped recommending it, when people stated how much they hated it. Oops. 😩😩🤣🐳🐳🐳

Now, I recommend The Caine Mutiny! 😈

[Laurel]

Thanks, Alondra. I really loved parts of it, and really hated parts of it. But works like this one are usually better the second or third time around. I just wish I had time to read right now. The landlord is selling the farm I live on (it's a basement walk-out apartment separate from the rest of the house. The hope and intention is that I will get to stay here and not have to move. There have been a few potential buyers that have been interested in viewing the downstairs, and because I am such a pack rat the reports have not been favorable. So I am under considerable pressure to clear out some stuff. I've been here 15 years so there is a lot of stuff!! Making progress, but I can't stop for time to read! Hopefully after this weekend I'll be able to relax a bit, but I'm already 2 books behind my goal. Choosing Moby Dick isn't going to speed that along!! LOL!

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Fingers crossed for your living situation Laurel

[Laurel]

Thanks, Desley. I appreciate it! I'll take all the good vibes I can get!

[Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator]

Laurel wrote: "Thanks, Alondra. I really loved parts of it, and really hated parts of it. But works like this one are usually better the second or third time around. I just wish I had time to read right now. The ..."

Yes. Fingers crossed; because I really hope you get to stay where you are. Who wants to move nowadays?? And living on a farm sounds awesome.

[Laurel]

Mid-February and I still haven't done a February update. I shouldn't take the time now, but I'll feel better if I do. I'm three books behind on my goal, soon to be four. Haven't been reading at all for weeks, except for the audiobook in the car which has about 3 hours left to go... I have been cleaning and decluttering like mad so that the landlord can show the house. I took 4 days off work last week and did nothing else. Now he says someone has made an offer, but wants to see downstairs here next weekend. It sounds promising for me getting to stay here as a tenant, so think good thoughts! I've been in this limbo since August, and it will be a relief to know one way or the other.

Anyway, finishing up
READ 1. Winter Solstice - car audiobook

For book clubs:
READ 2. The Return - that will also be audio, to start right after I finish Winter Solstice.

READ 3. The Hound of the Baskervilles - For A Good Yarn, books with a D location - this one is Dartmoor and Devonshire, and seems short enough that I can do it by the end of the month... "D" locations continues through March, so I'll probably just do the one for this month.

Still working on "A" titles for my personal challenge:
READ 4. Anglesey Blue

READ 5. Awayland

6. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

along with a reread of
7. Moby-Dick or, the Whale - these last two might be stretched out over a few months. No, make that they will be stretched out over several months.

That's all for now - got to get back to cleaning!

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Fingers crossed, it must be awful living in limbo

[Laurel]

Thanks. It has been stressful.

[Bill, Moderator]

I just finished a Sherlock Holmes mystery as well.. You've had a great month so far

[Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator]

Good luck Laurel!!

[Laurel]

#4 Winter Solstice
Themes: Winter

3.5 pink stars. A predictable, though too good to be true, Hallmark-style, Christmas comfort read. I enjoy the long drawn-out descriptions of people doing fairly ordinary things. A bit dated perhaps - until Elfrida reveals her age you might think she was 82, not 62... I liked the mix of generations, although when the narration first switched from Elfrida's story to Sam's story, it was so abrupt, and no clue who this person was and how he was going to fit into the story. Nothing special here, but I would read more of this author.

Cumulative pages: 1,563

[Laurel]

#5 The Return
3 yellow stars.
Book clubs: Daytimers

It got off to a VERY slow start. I don't know if that was supposed to ratchet up the mystery aspect involving the two women, but it really didn't work. I did like the fact that there WAS a mystery, since there wasn't much to the romance. And I'm a sucker for medical mysteries. The bees added a much needed hook to tie everything together. I might have enjoyed this more told from a woman's point of view, but who knows. I'm really not the audience for this kind of book, but it made my book club ladies happy.

Cumulative pages: 1,918

[Laurel]

March update time, and not much change since the last update... Still behind, but all the major cleaning I had to do is done.

For Daytimers:
READ 1. The Vanishing Half

For Perspectives:
READ 2. Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope

For A Good Yarn:
READ 3. The Hound of the Baskervilles (Dartmoor and Devon)
READ 4. The Book of Unknown Americans (Delaware)

Still reading:
5. Moby-Dick or, the Whale - long term project.
6. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - long term project

Other "A" titles (still reading...)
READ 7. Awayland
READ 8. Anglesey Blue

For February's color challenge:
READ 9. A Brush With Death

[Laurel]

#6 The Vanishing Half
4.5 blue stars

4.5 blue stars. This isn't just a story about a black person passing as white. It's about all the different ways we create our identity: race, gender, marital status, career. It isn't just about twin sisters. It's also about mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. It's about being different, and how we try to fit into our families and our communities. The lies we tell. The choices we make. And everything is about contrast: white/black, male/female, poor/rich, introvert/extrovert. I liked this story a lot, but I do think the author tried to include too many things, and so we kind of lose the story of the twins. The plot relies on several coincidences, many of the choices made seem inexplicable, and the whole leaves many questions unanswered. But that will make for lively book club discussions.

Cumulative pages: 2,261

[Lillie]

Laurel wrote: "#6 The Vanishing Half
4.5 blue stars

Loved this book also and I agree with you, I, too, wanted a bit more story with the twins. Nonetheless it was a great book. I really liked her first book, The Mothers as well and can't wait till her next one.

[Laurel]

#7 The Book of Unknown Americans
4 red stars
Book Clubs: A Good Yarn (D is for Delaware), Perspectives (previous group read)
Themes: "Book of" titles

I'm not sure what I feel about this book. Is it a young adult romance? An examination of the lives of Latin American immigrants? Is it the author's intent for us to get to know these "unknown" Americans? To understand something of their struggles - acquiring jobs, learning a new language, overcoming prejudice and injustice? A political commentary, or a psychological domestic drama about cause and effect, blame and guilt? This book had the potential to be something really powerful. It is unsettling to be sure. Is the ending a tragedy that could have been prevented, or just something that "happened"? Rather than being about the two main families, and especially the two teenagers, this ends up feeling like it is more about the community, and their collective hopes and dreams. The ending offered no resolution to anything, only the need to keep moving on, to keep hoping that things will get better.

Cumulative pages: 2,547

[Laurel]

April plans:

Audiobooks:
READ 1. Crocodile on the Sandbank - Color Challenge for April and A Good Yarn (E is for Egypt)

READ 2. Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope - Perspectives Book Club

READ 3. Every Living Thing - while traveling to see Mom and finish up this series.

READ 4. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents - Daytimer's Book Club

Finish reading:
READ 5. Aunt Bessie Assumes

READ 6. The Hound of the Baskervilles - A Good Yarn (D is for Devon)

READ 7. A Brush With Death

READ 8. Awayland

Continue reading:
9. Moby-Dick or, the Whale

10. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

11. Wolf Hall

To start:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Reading the Chunksters 3-month group read)

[Bill, Moderator]

Laurel wrote: "April plans:

Audiobooks:
1. Crocodile on the Sandbank - Color Challenge for April and A Good Yarn (E is for Egypt)

2. Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope - Pers..."

You do like a challenge, eh?

[Laurel]

Bill wrote: "You do like a challenge, eh?"

Ha ha, no I just like making lists. Still, I might get 6 of those read, since I'll be travelling mid-month and get a couple extra audiobooks in. :-)

[Bill, Moderator]

Laurel wrote: "Bill wrote: "You do like a challenge, eh?"

Ha ha, no I just like making lists. Still, I might get 6 of those read, since I'll be travelling mid-month and get a couple extra audiobooks in. :-)"

I'm the same.. Lists are my friend.. lol

[Laurel]

#8 The Urgency of Awareness: Unlocking the Power within Individual, Organizational, and Community Efforts
3 yellow stars

This was used by our church as a Lenten discussion guide. We divided into small groups led by a "facilitator" - someone who had attended some kind of training with the author. I really can't say much about the book. It's short, and only focuses on a few simple ideas. I wouldn't recommend this book on its own - I think it would have been pointless without the discussion of the group I was in.

Cumulative pages: 2,685

[Laurel]

Really looking forward to going to see my mom this week. It's an 8 hour drive, so I'll get through at least one audiobook, and most of a second. Just need to finish up
READ Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope which is an excellent book but really depressing! I need comfort reads next! In my April plans I said I was going to listen to
READ Crocodile on the Sandbank and
READ Every Living Thing.

Crocodile is a reread for me, and knocks off two challenges - April cover challenge and A Good Yarn "E" location (Egypt). On my previous trips I listened to James Herriot and I want to get to that one to finish the series, but I've realized that another book
READ Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers would knock off another 3 challenges: a B title, A Good Yarn "E" location (Edinburgh) and it's on my 12 + 4 challenge. So I'm substituting that one, and hopefully will get to Every Living Thing next month. It's also on my 12 + 4 challenge...

[Laurel]

#9 Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope
4.5 blue stars.

This is a deeply personal and depressing account of what has gone wrong in the lives of a small-town community: loss of jobs, drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, lack of health care and social safety nets, and the inevitable breakdown of the families involved. The authors do not deny that individual bad choices are part of this complex picture. But they also make the point that too many people simply demonize and dehumanize those who find themselves in these circumstances. While some reviews outright rejected the liberal political views of the authors, I felt that they aimed for a balanced view without singling out one political party over another. They did call out the specific policies of certain administrations. It is clear that those policies have failed us, and have contributed to what is happening all across this country. They have tried to point to programs and individuals who have made some small difference, but on the whole, I am left with the feeling that outside of what small actions we can take as individuals, the solution will require a change of heart and a willingness to enact legislation that overcomes political partisanship, and that addresses the huge income gap between upper and lower classes. I am not as optimistic as the authors that we are anywhere close to being able to accomplish this.

Cumulative pages: 2,989

[Laurel]

#10 Crocodile on the Sandbank

3.5 pink stars. This was a reread of a series I have enjoyed in the past, but I have to admit it is showing its age! There is humor and romance, and it's a pleasant enough cozy diversion, but the actual mystery (plot) was highly predictable, if not glaringly obvious. The mummy is eye-rollingly hilarious / awful, and the colonial racism, while true to the 19th century, is a bit offensive today. I do like Amelia and her independent spirit very much though!

Cumulative pages: 3,251

[Laurel]

#11 Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
4 red stars

Continues the long-running saga of the residents or former residents of 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. If you haven't read any in the series before, you might want to start at the beginning. These books move at the glacial pace of a soap-opera, but there is an arc to the characters. Bertie is finally (the title of book #6 not-withstanding), finally turning seven. Matthew and Elspeth look at a new house and hire an au pair for their au pair. Bruce gets only one small scene in the whole book. Pat, just maybe, might have found a boyfriend. Angus and Domenica must put up with a visit from Antonia. Big Lou takes a big step and applies to become a foster mother. And Bertie, as always, steals the show. Fate steps in to give him a break from his mother (I won't say more), which means that Bertie gets to go on a cub scout camping trip and do other normally forbidden things (like eat pizza.) His mother is still away at the end of the book. Can Bertie look forward to having more freedom in the next installment? As usual, McCall Smith manages to combine the mundane and the absurd with humor and wisdom.

Cumulative pages: 3,546

[Laurel]

#12 Bertie's Christmas

#13 Bertie's Christmas Journey

Discovered there were a couple of short (very short) Christmas stories in this series, published in the Scotsman. Both feature Bertie, of course - who is still 6 two Christmases in a row.... Bertie apparently exists outside of normal time. :-)

[Laurel]

#14 Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
5 purple stars

This is an impressive and important book that I think everybody needs to read. (Everybody "white" that is...) I certainly learned a great deal. Be warned, that parts of the book are disturbing and gruesome. The links between America, Nazi Germany, and India are interesting, but I'm not convinced that "caste" is the right distinction to make. Where is South Africa and the practice of Apartheid in this discussion? Humans have ALWAYS created social hierarchies, whether based on race, class, gender, wealth, or something else. Racial inequality and oppression is a sad fact of 400 years of American history. Nevertheless, a Black American became President of the United States in 2008. And was elected to a second term. Blacks and whites intermarry. White people make up the majority of those in poverty in this country. I could think of other examples that are inconsistent with a true caste system. But labels aside, whether you want to call it caste or something else, prejudice exists. Inequality exists. Humans have perpetrated a sickening litany of cruelty, injustice, and oppression, all in the pursuit of power and wealth. The point the author makes about how such a system hurts the health of society in general is valid. Now, what do we do about it?

Cumulative pages: 4,050

[〰️Beth〰️]

Laurel wrote: "#10 Crocodile on the Sandbank

3.5 pink stars. This was a reread of a series I have enjoyed in the past, but I have to admit it is sho..."

Oh, I remember reading this when it first came out in paperback and enjoyed it but now I am wondering how I would feel now rereading it.

I am definitely pushing The Vanishing Half and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents further up on my TBR. Also adding Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times to my TBR.

[Laurel]

#15 The Hound of the Baskervilles Alma classics (not the right cover pictured)
4 red stars

I probably have read Sherlock Holmes before, but long enough ago that I really don't remember. Certainly I am familiar with the canon through movies. This is the 3rd of 4 novels about Sherlock Holmes that Conan Doyle made famous in his short stories. As described below, this edition is aimed at younger readers and contains some added material, including "Legends of Wild Beasts in Britain." I would have liked a few pictures, perhaps some photos of Dartmoor. The style takes a little getting used to, but I do think it is quite accessible to younger readers. I was pleasantly surprised at the vivid descriptions of everything, especially the moor. Here is an example:

"Every minute that white woolly plain which covered one half of the moor was drifting closer and closer to the house. Already the first thin wisps of it were curling across the golden square of the lighted window. The farther wall of the orchard was already invisible, and the trees were standing out of a swirl of white vapour. As we watched it, the fog wreaths came crawling round both corners of the house and rolled slowly into one dense bank, on which the upper floor and the roof floated like a strange ship upon a shadowy sea."

Marvelously atmospheric. The first part of the story dragged a bit, but once we get into it, it unfolds a bit like peeling an onion, revealing the truth bit by bit. Of course, Sherlock Holmes makes it all seem so obvious in the end. Part of the charm is the relationship between Holmes and Watson. I just might have to read more of these.

Description: When the corpse of Sir Charles Baskerville is found on the grounds of his Dartmoor estate next to a mysterious animal footprint, thoughts turn to a fabled family curse: that of a hellhound set out to avenge a crime committed by one of Sir Charles's ancestors. As the only surviving heir of the Baskervilles is terrified for his safety, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are called in to investigate. The most famous novel in Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes cycle, The Hound of the Baskervilles is a masterpiece of terror, suspense and mystery which has enthralled readers young and old since it was first published in 1902.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Alma Junior Classics series of illustrated classics includes some of the greatest books ever written for younger readers and new translations of unjustly neglected international works. Our aim is to give our list an international feel and offer young readers to opportunity to connect with other cultures and literatures – this applies not only to the titles we chose but also to the illustrators we commission – so that we can bring a bit of novelty into the canon of British children’s literature. All children’s classics contain extra material for young readers, including a profile of the author, a section on the book, a list of characters, a glossary and a test-yourself quiz.

Cumulative pages: 4,306

[Bill, Moderator]

Laurel wrote: "#15 The Hound of the Baskervilles Alma classics (not the right cover pictured)
4 red stars

I probably have read Sherlock Holmes before, b..."

I enjoyed this very much.