December, 2023 Reads & Year in Review

 

 

 

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours
YTD: 263 Books Read & 2196 Hours Spent  (a new personal best for books read)
December: 25 Books Read & 186 Hours Spent

 

Thank you all for the many fine reads I found this year on your bookshelves and by your recommendations! I blame all of the duds on myself. All in all, it was another fine reading year. I can't believe how many 4 and 5 star books I found this past year -- and, in comparison, how few disappointments. Library membership and SRR continue to enrich my days.

In May, after a few months of playing around with various formats and ideas for how I want to review books going forward, I started writing a weekly round-up along with comments about life in general, theater/concert reviews and whatever else seemed to fit. Here we are eight months later and I'm still writing it. If nothing else, I hope at least a few people have stumbled into something new and different to read -- or not read, as the case may be.

As for the coming year, I have no plans per se. I will continue the monthly appointments with the Agatha Christie Centenary Read. In fact, I kicked off the year with this month's Agatha. I have a huge TBR in my Audible library that needs to be cleared and that will be a topic for its own post, wherein I share "the plan."

 

THE -EST OF THE -EST FOR 2023

BEST FICTION OF THE YEAR:

Everything I marked 4 stars or more. With so many good books to choose from, I can't choose one single book to choose as best of the bunch. I can't even narrow it down to 5.

Double Indemnity (5*), The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and Other Stories (4.5*), The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray (4.5*), The Devotion of Suspect X (4.5*), Longshot (4.5*), The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (4.5*), Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (4.5*), A Few Right Thinking Men (4.25*), The Loved One (4*), The Long Fall (4*) Proof of Guilt (4*) The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (4*), Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (4*), Reader I Buried Them & Other Stories (4*), The Western Star (4*), Interpreter of Maladies (4*), The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece (4*), How to Kill Your Family (4*), Sea of Tranquillity (4*), The Housekeeper and the Professor (4*), The Black Ascot (4*), Salvation of a Saint (4*), Unaccustomed Earth (4*), The Road to Roswell (4*), The House Sitter (4*), Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (4*), It's A Wonderful Woof (4*), The Right Mistake (4*), When We We Orphans (4*),

BEST NON-FICTION OF THE YEAR: The Master of the Senate (5*), The Revolutionary (4.75*), Chasing History (4*), Empress of the Nile (4*), The Quartet (4*) --  and oddly enough, they are all history+bio

WORST OF THE YEAR: (didn't even qualify as "necessary roughage"): Finlay Donovan is Killing It (and its sequel, which is even worse), Agatha Christie (too sensationalized), The Floating Feldmans (trite garbage), The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man (poorly written, poorly edited), Thieves'Gambit (no moral compass) and Three Kisses, One Midnight (no pizzazz)

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE YEAR: (as in not as good as it should have been): Miss Pym Disposes, The Museum of Ordinary People, The Mathematician's Shiva, Bibliomysteries Volume 3 & Volume 4, Agatha Christie (by Lucy Worsley), The Detective Wore Silk, The Best American Short Stories 2019, The World of Curiosities

BIGGEST SURPRISES OF THE YEAR: (as in, wow, this is so much better than I expected it would be): Crazy Rich Asians, Now Is Not the Time to Panic, The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, After She Wrote Him, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, The Agathas, Sea of Tranquillity, My Murder, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

BEST NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS: Jhumpa Lahiri, Simon Brett, Sangu Mandanna

MOST MORALLY CHALLENGED: Finlay Donovan, Thieves Gambit (what is this thing I have about morality???)

BEST FINAL SCENE: Mr. Jelly's Business

BEST MIDLIFE CRISIS: When the Thrill Is Gone (and the rest of the Leonid McGill series)

BEST OLD FART FICTION: The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray, Socrates Fortlow series, Leonid McGill series, An Elderly Lady series

SCHMALTZIEST OF THE YEAR: Remarkably Bright Creatures

DIDN'T DO IT FOR ME: The Last Unicorn, Trains and Lovers,

TIME TO CALL IT QUITS: Alexander McCall Smith, Inspector Gamache (jumped the shark), Inspector Ian Rutledge (before it jumps the shark)

BEST SHORT STORIES: The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and Other Stories, Reader I Buried Them & Other Stories,

TOTAL DNF: 12 (that is less than 5% of total)

 

SUGGESTIONS FOR (COZY) HALLOWEEN BINGO: After She Wrote Him (Psych, Down Under), The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store (Magical Realism? Fantasy?), Sea of Tranquillity (outerspace, speculative), The Devotion of Suspect X (detective fiction, amateur sleuth, psych), How to Kill Your Family (family, psych, serial killer), Remarkably Bright Creatures (there has got to be room for a talking squid somewhere)

 

QUOTES OF THE YEAR:

 

"[High] moral ground is like that, slippery at the edges."

Trains and Lovers, Alexander McCall Smith

"The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives and the law is skinny with hunger for us."

Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Kevin Wilson

"his hair had the color and rigidity of onyx"

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin

 

 

DECEMBER, 2023 READS

 

BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
WORST BOOKS OF THE MONTH: Murder by Milk Bottle
BIGGEST SURPRISES OF THE MONTH: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
NOTABLE DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE MONTH: Gentlemen of the Road, The Spare Man
MOST FUN: The Busy Body

 

 

WAITING AT THE LIBRARY

Delivered in December:
• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, placed August 23.
• Thieves' Gambit, placed Oct 25 (17 weeks). 

 
Still Waiting:
• Lessons in Chemistry, placed Aug 23.
• The Last Devil to Die, placed Sept 6
• My Name is Barbra, placed Nov 11. No, I am not going to read whole thing; don't think I can handle 48 hours of celebrity ego.

 

THE BOOKS
Click here for the list of books for December

 

 

84, Charing Cross Road -- Helene Hanff -- NEW214
Crooked House -- Agatha Christie -- NEW215
The Spare Man -- Mary Robinette Kowal -- NEW216
Mystery in White -- J. Jefferson Farjeon -- NEW217
The Right Mistake -- Walter Mosely -- NEW218
Murder in the Mill-Race -- ECR Lorac -- NEW219
The Riddle of the Labyrinth -- Margalit Fox -- NEW220
Murder by the Book -- Martin Edwards -- NEW221
It's a Wonderful Woof -- Spencer Quinn -- NEW222
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone -- Benjamin Stevenson -- NEW223
Eternity Rings -- Patricia Wentworth -- NEW224
The Yellow Dog -- Georges Simenon -- NEW225
Death on the Downs -- Simon Brett -- NEW226
Murder by Milk Bottle -- Lynne Truss -- NEW227
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store -- James McBride -- NEW228
The Hollow Man -- John Dickson Carr -- NEW229
Some Tame Gazelle -- Barbara Pym -- DNF
Thieves Gambit -- Kayvion Lewis -- NEW230
The Busy Body -- Donald E. Westlake -- NEW231
Gentlemen of the Road -- Michael Chabon -- NEW232
Kaiju Preservation Society -- John Scalzi -- NEW233
Cotton Comes to Harlem -- Chester Himes -- NEW234
Seven Dead -- J. Jefferson Farjeon -- NEW235
Hogfather -- Terry Pratchett -- Re-read
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen -- PG Wodehouse -- NEW236

 

2022 in Review

 

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours
YTD: 252 Books Read, 2315 Hours Spent -- personal bests
This Month: 22 Books Read, 198 Hours Spent

 

Best Fiction of the Year: Five-Carat Soul by James McBride, The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Best Non-fiction of the Year: And There was Light by John Meacham, My Remarkable Journey by Katharine Johnson, Taste by Stanley Tucci
Worst of the Year: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco, Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich
*Biggest Disappointments of the Year: The Bat by Jane Rinehart Roberts, Tragedy at Law by Cyril Hare, The Last Judgement by Iain Pears, Mrs. Polifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman

 *Disappointing because they are well below the normal standards of the author

 

 

Best of the Month: Five-Carat Soul, And There Was Light,
Worst of the Month: Lost and Found in Paris, Rise of the Rocket Girls
Biggest Surprises of the Month: In-Depth Market Research and The Uncommon Reader

 

What a year! Two-hundred-fifty-two books. I can't believe I read that many.

Of the 252 books devoured, 205 of them were new titles (up from 131 in 2021), for which I must thank my new-in-2021 library card -- and my reading buddies for helping me find new books and series in which to indulge. Yet, at the same time, I must bemoan the loss of the annual re-read of every Dick Francis, Georgette Heyer and Nevil Shute in my Audible library. Now that I have a library card to support my expensive book habit, I don't need to depend so heavily on re-reads to fill the year --even though I do miss them. I discovered a number of new authors and series this year that will keep me reading for at least the next few years.

I read a good share of non-fiction as well, some of it very well worth the time and effort and others that weren't worth the paper they were written on. I enjoyed spending time with Stanley Tucci, Sonia Sotomayor, Katharine Johnson (of Hidden Figures fame) and Ronnie Howard and his brother. Jon Meacham's latest warts and all Lincoln biography was enlightening. I even threw in some math and science for an even mix.

Yes, there were some duds this year but they were few in comparison to the number of really excellent books I had the pleasure to listen to this past year.

Reading-wise 2022 was a very good year and I'm ready to tackle 2023 with gusto!

Here's the list of reads for December, 2022

The Nine Tailors -- Dorothy L. Sayers -- Re-read
And There Was Light -- Jon Meacham -- NEW193
The Fortnight in September -- R.C. Sherriff -- NEW194
Rise of the Rocket Girls -- Nathalia Holt -- NEW195
Sad Cypress -- Agatha Christie -- NEW196
The Uncommon Reader -- Alan Bennett -- NEW197
In the Frame -- Dick Francis -- Re-read
Proof -- Dick Francis -- Re-read
Slay Ride -- Dick Francis -- NEW198
The Phantom Tollbooth -- Norton Juster -- Re-read
Aunty Lee's Delights -- Ovidia Yu -- NEW199
In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People -- Alison Espach -- NEW200
Double Indemnity -- James M. Cain -- Re-read
Sacred Treasures -- R. Mark Glickman -- Re-read
Jimmy the Kid -- Donald Westlake -- Re-read
Mort -- Terry Pratchett -- Re-read
Lost and Found in Paris -- Lian Dolan -- NEW201
The October Man -- Ben Aaronovitch -- NEW202
Five-Carat Soul -- James McBride -- NEW203
For Kicks -- Dick Francis -- NEW204
Youngblood Hawke -- Herman Wouk -- NEW205
Hogfather -- Terry Pratchett -- Re-read

 

2020: A Bookish Year in Review

 

 

Reading-wise, it has been a delightful year.

• I played bookish games that forced me to read things I might not have otherwise chosen to read. 
• I joined a group that is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of Agatha Christie first mystery novel by reading all of her mysteries -- one a month over the next five years along with other Golden Age mystery writers. 
• I found a new mystery series -- Inspector Ian Rutledge -- that I want to devour over the next few years. 
• I have added a few more Terry Pratchett stories to my bookshelf (but alas, apparently not enough of them because now most of his titles are no longer available on AudibleUS).  
• I challenged myself with some longer, more involved tomes and enjoyed every moment I spent immersed in them. I re-read first volume of Mark Twain's autobiography and look forward to reading the remaining two volumes. I indulged in yet another edition of Don Quixote simply because it was read by George Guidall and lucked into a fabulous translation by Edith Grossman.
• In September, Audible introduced its Plus Catalog of free reads, which ostensibly turned Audible into a subscription lending library -- and made so many more books available to me. They might not be the best Audible has to offer but they are free and they are available without waiting and they will fill the hours of the days without me having to buy books that I might read only once. 
• And, I have read at least a dozen new-to-me authors as I challenge myself to expand my reading horizon.
  

Yes, yes, it has been a fulfilling and delightfully bookish year.

 

The Stats

 

Books Read: 209

New titles: a record 97, due in part to Audible's new catalog of free titles

Audible Plus Catalog: 28 books

Books DNF: 5

Hours logged: 1977

Book Read in Bookish Games: 74

Top Five Reads of the Year

1. The Years of Lyndon B. Johnson: The Passage of  Power by Robert Caro (read by George Guidal) Part of the multi-volume biography that Caro is still working.  As far as I am concerned this is one of the best biographies of the 20th century -- and I still have not read the entire thing; I still have to read the 3 volumes of Master of the Senate.
2. Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes (translated by Edith Grossman and read by George Guidall) perfect confluence of translator and reader. This is not the first time I have read DQ but it is the first time I have listened to the entire thing.
3. The Inspector Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd. I can't choose one over the other because I have enjoyed then all. Finding this series has been one of the highlights of my bookish year.
4. The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency  by John Dickerson. Recommended by my son. Who got it right, who got it wrong and why. I think this one will go on the re-read pile for 2021.
5. How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England by Ruth Goodman. What a delightful romp. This book has it all: unacceptable language obscene, blasphemous and slanderous, telling gestures, social climbing, bad table manners, how to walk in period dress, cross-dressing, body parts and noises, STDs.

The Bottom of the Pile

1. The Deep Blue Good-bye  by John D. MacDonald-- misogynistic, crass and outdated
2. The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton -- just didn't do it for me
3. Summer Lightning by P.G. Wodehouse -- not the book, the narrator -- unintelligible
4. Nordic Tales -- the narrator completely sucked out any life this book might have had
5. The Wars of the Roses  by Dan Jones -- it is not that Jones did a lousy job but more that I just don't have a enough grounding in English history to keep up with so many people who all have the same names.

Life's Too Short: The DNFs

1. How to Hide an Empire --I got the point in the first chapter and wasn't interested in reading the supporting details
2. War of the Roses -- I threw myself into the deep end; my lack of basics left confused and bored
3. Summer Lightning by P.G. Wodehouse, but only because the narrator was unintelligible
4. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius -- another one killed by the narrator
5. Howards End by E.M. Forster -- I don't know what I was expecting but I just got bored with it.

The 20 for '20 Challenge

The idea here was to listen to 20 books over 20 hours each in 2020. I managed to complete 7 (3 of which were over 30 hours). I loved what I read but the problem was finding enough books that I was willing to invest that much time in reading. However, I will continue to look for investment-worthy titles in the future, such as finishing the Mark Twain and the LBJ stories.

1. The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
2. Don Quixote by Cervantes, translated by Edith Grossman and read by George Guidall
3. The Last Tribe by Brad Emanuel
4. The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
5. The Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 1 (of 3)
6. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
7. The Passage of Power by Robert Caro

The Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration

 

Read in 2020:

Agatha Christie: Poirot Investigates, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Secret Adversary, Murder on the Links

Side-reads: The Girl in Blue (Wodehouse), The Circular Staircase (Roberts), The Chinese Orange Mystery (Queen), Thirteen Guests (Farjeon), Tied Up in Tinsel, An English Murder

New Authors in 2020

 

Some of whom I will return to and other of whom I won't...

Ngaio Marsh

Charles Todd (Inspector Ian Rutledge series),

Karen Menuhin (Heathcliff Lennox series)

John Dickerson

Ann Cleeves

Salman Rushdie

Ruth Goodman

Brad Manuel

Sofia Segovia

Cyril Hare

Jeffrey Farjeon

Kate Morton