2021 Reading List: July

 

YTD:  107 Books Read, 1010 Hours Spent

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours

 

MTD: 12 Books Read.   111 Hours Spent

It was a slow month and not much reading got done. Partially because we were away for 10 days and I don't get much reading done on vacation. If I have to choose the best read of the month, I would say Pied Piper by Nevil Shute. After that, all hell breaks loose and trying to pick what came in next, with so many favorite series and authors on the list, is impossible. The truth is that what I missed in quantity, I made up for in quality. Not a single DNF this month. I just need to read more!

The Man in Lower Ten --  Mary Rinehart Roberts  --  NEW67

On Eden Street  --  Peter Grainger --  NEW68

The Murder at the Vicarage  --  Agatha Christie  --  Re-read

The Man in the Queue --  Josephine Tey  --  NEW69

Once Upon a River  --  Diane Setterfield -- NEW70

The Pied Piper --  Nevil Shute  -- NEW71

The Case of the Love Commandos --  Tarquin Hall  --  NEW72

A Shot in the Dark --  Lynne Truss  --  NEW73

Legacy of the Dead  --  Charles Todd  --  NEW74

The Murder at the Vicarage --  Agatha Christie Re-read

Colour Scheme --  Ngaio Marsh  --  NEW75

An Obvious Fact  --  Craig Johnson -- NEW76

 

2021 Reading List: June

 

YTD:  95 Books Read, 898 Hours Spent

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours

 

MTD: 14 Books Read.   172 Hours Spent

 

 

1. The Power of One  -- Bryce Courtney -- NEW55
2. The Seven Dials Mystery -- Agatha Christie -- Re-read
3. Whispers Under Ground-- Ben Aaronovitch -- NEW56
4. Just One Damned Thing After Another -- Jodi Taylor -- NEW57
5. The Division Bell-- Ellen Wilkinson -- NEW58
6. A Fearsome Doubt -- Charles Todd -- NEW59
7. Windsor Knot -- SJ Bennet -- NEW60
8. Artists in Crime -- Ngaio Marsh -- NEW61
9. The Great Courses: America After the Cold War -- Patrick Allitt -- NEW62
10. The Carter of “La Providence”-- Georges Simenon -- NEW63
11. Evan and Elle -- Rhyes Bowen -- NEW64
12. Miss Tonks Turns to Crime -- M.C. Beaton  -- NEW64
13. The Highwayman -- Craig Johnson -- NEW65
14. The Late Monsieur Gallet -- Georges Simenon -- NEW66

2021 Reading List: May

 

YTD:  81 Books Read, 784 Hours Spent

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MTD: 16 Books Read.   113 Hours Spent. 

1. Beginner's Mind -- Yo-Yo Ma -- NEW46
2. The Mystery on the Blue Train -- Agatha Christie -- NEW47
3. The Great Courses: The Great Trials of World History-- NEW48
4. The Masqueraders -- Georgette Heyer -- Re-read
5. Nerve -- Dick Francis -- Re-read
6. No Highway  -- Nevil Shute -- Re-read
7. The Arrest -- Jonathon Lethem -- NEW49 -- DNF
8. Maigret's Holiday -- Georges Simenon -- NEW50
9. The Mystery on the Blue Train -- Agatha Christie -- Re-read
10. No Wind of Blame -- Georgette Heyer -- Re-read
11. How Iceland Changed the World -- Egill Bjarnason -- NEW51
12. The Nonesuch -- Georgette Heyer -- Re-read
13. Odds Against -- Dick Francis -- Re-read
14. Death of a Village -- M.C. Beaton -- NEW52
15. A Skeleton in the Closet -- M.C. Beaton NEW53
16. Queens Full -- Ellery Queen -- NEW54

 

A lot of rereads this month. I just didn't feel like looking for new titles or choosing something from the to-be-read pile.

2021 Reading List: April

 

BY THE NUMBERS

YTD:  50 Books Read, 672 Hours Spent

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours

MTD: 15 Books Read.   152 Hours Spent.  

 

 

 

1.  The Key -- Patricia Wentworth -- NEW38
2.  In the Wet -- Nevil Shute -- Re-read
3.  Landfall -- Nevil Shute -- Re-read
4.  Lonely Road -- Nevil Shute -- Re-read
5.  The Crow Trap -- Ann Cleeves -- NEW39
6.  John Adams Under Fire -- Dan Abrams -- NEW40
7.  The Big Four -- Agatha Christie --  Re-read
8.  The Key -- Patricia Wentworth -- Re-read
9.  Lowcountry Boil -- Susan M. Boyer -- NEW41
10.  Moon Over Soho -- Ben Aaronovitch -- NEW42
11.  The Philosophy Book -- D-K -- NEW43 -- DNF
12.  Busman's Honeymoon -- Dorothy L. Sayers -- NEW43
13.  The Siamese Twin -- Mystery Ellery Queen -- NEW44
14.  Longshot -- Dick Francis -- Re-read
15.  Before the Coffee Gets Cold -- Toshikazu Kawaguchi -- NEW45

2021 Reading List: February

 

YTD:  34 Books Read, 351 Hours Spent

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours

 

MTD: 14 Books Read.   144 Hours Spent

 

I did not get through as many books as I had hoped in February but that is what happens when real life decides that it has other plans for my time. Still, it was a good month with some interesting and even thought-provoking reads. I am still working my way through last year's purchases while I continue to line my bookshelves with more from this year's sales and daily deals.

Best fiction this month is a tie among favorite series: A Test of Wills, Next to Last Stand and The Brutal Telling. Worst of the month definitely goes to Murder Comes to Call. 

 

The Secret of Chimneys  -- Re-read ACCC

On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service -- NEW20

The Third Man -- Re-read, ACCC

The Adventures of Sally -- NEW21

Call for the Dead-- NEW22, ACCC

A Test of Wills-- NEW23

Over My Dead Body-- Re-read

The Blank Slate --  NEW24, 20 for '21

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life -- NEW25,  20 for '21

How to Talk about Books You Haven't Read -- NEW26

Next to Last Stand -- NEW27

Murder Comes to Call -- NEW28

The Brutal Telling  -- NEW29

The Foundling -- Re-read

MTD: 14 Books Read.   144 Hours Spent

January, 2021 Reading List

 

YTD: Books Read 20   Hours Spent 206

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours

MTD: Books Read 20   Hours Spent 206

 

What an interesting January this has been. Towards the end of 2020, I started stockpiling new purchases from the various end of year sales.  I saved them all for 2021 and now I am working my way through the pile with bookish glee. I have a smattering of everything on my list -- cooking, microbiology, history, science fiction, Agatha Christie, biography, cozy mysteries, behavioral sciences --and I have been to so many interesting places -- Appalachia, Damascus, Botswana, South Africa, the Outback, all over England, ancient Greece and even outerspace.

The Curse of Braeburn Castle  -- NEW1 

Salt,Fat,Acid, Heat  -- NEW2

Rocket Boys -- Re-read

The Man in the Brown Suit  -- NEW3  ACCC

I Contain Multitudes -- NEW4  Science1

The Mote in God's Eye  -- NEW5 20 in '21

A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder -- NEW6

Death in Damascus -- NEW7

Broken Homes --  NEW8

The Mysterious Mr. Quin  -- NEW9

The Great Courses: Churchill -- NEW10 History1

Heroes-- NEW11

Washington's End -- NEW12 History2

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness-- NEW13

To the Land of Long Lost Friends-- NEW14

The Map That Changed the World -- NEW15 History3

Foundryside-- NEW16  DNF

The Lost Man-- NEW17

The Medici -- NEW18 History4

The Trials of Rumpole -- NEW19

2020 Reading List

 

November, 2020

 

YTD: Count 190 and 1798 Hours  

Goal for the year: 100 books and 1500 hours

 

1. Thirteen Guests NEW82  (Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration)
   
2. *A Lonely Death NEW83
3. *Those Pricey Thakur Girls NEW84
4. *The Secret Adversary Re-read   (Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration)
5. *Dead Heat Re-read
6. The Math of Life and Death NEW85
7. *The Wee Free Men NEW86
8. Meditations NEW87 -- DNF (it just drones on and on)
9. *Born a Crime Re-read
10. *The Importance of Being Earnest Re-read
11. *Sabriel Re-read
12. *Widow's Walk Re-read
13. *Stamboul Train Re-read
14. Understanding Japan NEW88
15. *My Life in France Re-read
16. *Death of a Dustman NEW89
17. Death of a Celebrity NEW90
18. *A Stitch in Time NEW91
19. *Letter from Birmingham Jail NEW92
20. *The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry Re-read
21. Moneyball Re-read
22. *Decider Re-read

*24 Festive Tasks read

MTD: Count 22 and Hours 165

 

 

2020 Reading List

 

October, 2020

YTD: Count 168 and 1639 Hours  

Goal for the year: 100 books and 1500 hours

 

 

 

 

The Chinese Orange Mystery -- NEW70

Mr. Lincoln's High Tech War -- NEW71

Summer Lightning -- NEW72   DNF (unintelligible narrator)

The Passage of Power -- Re-read  20 for '20

The Mysterious Affair at Styles -- Re-read

The Corinthian -- Re-read

Crowned and Dangerous -- NEW73

Rumpole of the Bailey -- NEW74

Death of a Prankster -- NEW75

Death of a Greedy Woman -- NEW76

Death of a Traveling Man -- NEW77

Howards End -- NEW78 -- DNF

The Gate Keeper -- NEW79

The Dutch Shoe Mystery -- NEW80

The Year 1000 -- NEW81

Death on the Nile -- Re-read

Cotillion -- Re-read

Crossfire -- Re-read

Dead Cert -- Re-read

MTD: Count 19 and Hours 169

Only 66 Reading Days

 ...until the ball drops in Times Squares. 

 

 

I have only 

 

 

books to go.

2020 Reading List

September, 2020

What a delightful month of reading, filled with some of my favorite characters -- Inspector Ian Rutledge, Lord Peter Wimsey, Chief Superintendent Alleyn, Walt Longmire, Hamish Macbeth, Commissario Guido Brunetti -- and a few dastardly dudes from the Annals of History: Benedict Arnold, and those Warring Roses. Many of them, compliments of the Audible Plus catalog and all of them first time reads.

A Pale Horse -- NEW50

A Matter of Justice -- NEW51

Dodger -- NEW52

Overture to Death -- NEW53

Valiant Ambition -- NEW54

Dry Bones -- NEW55

War of the Roses -- NEW56  DNF

Nothing Ventured -- NEW57

The Red Door -- NEW58

Striding Folly -- NEW59

Ragnraok -- NEW60

The Girl in Blue -- NEW61

Death of a Perfect Wife -- NEW62

Strong Poison -- NEW63

Black as He's Painted -- NEW64

Death of a Hussy -- NEW65

Death of a Snob -- NEW66

The Circular Staircase -- NEW67

Land of Wolves -- NEW68

A Sea of Troubles -- NEW69

MTD: Count 20 and Hours 158 ( not including 20 hours of Don Quixote carried over from August)

Only 109 Reading Days Left

Can I do it? Can I read 200 books this year? 
Can I get through 68 books in the time left?
I guess I am just going to have to try.
Let the countdown begin!