tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36464102024-03-17T13:45:05.282-04:00Reading is not the ChallengeAn attempt to write about my reading. Blogging is the Challenge!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger346125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-36704738321953054552024-02-29T19:23:00.000-05:002024-02-29T19:23:09.566-05:00February 2024Lots of bodies in my February fiction reading--I lost count. Everything this month was from public libraries. No Gutenberg, no online reading to speak of, and I didn't get to the two ARC on my nightstand. Maybe next month....Fiction:The Storm We Made by Chan, VanessaLife of a family in Japanese occupied Malaysia. A decent read.The The Excitements by Wray, C.J. A fun romp to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-74383938141769603172024-02-01T13:13:00.001-05:002024-02-01T13:13:10.251-05:00January 2024Lots of good stuff this month plus a couple of not-so-good ones. Fun with The Raven .Gustave Doré (Illustrator)Fiction:The Fury by Michaelides, AlexTwists and turns among seven people on a Greek island. A most inreliable narrator. A great read.Vengeance Is Mine by NDiaye, Marie; translated from the French by Stump, Jordan Vague, meandering...just what's really going on here?The Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-29831371146076075302024-01-01T11:53:00.000-05:002024-01-01T11:53:08.420-05:00December 2023My favorite cover from my fiction reads(Also one of my favorite reads.)Fiction:The Love Parade by Pitol, Sergio; translated from the Spanish by Henson, G.B.In 1973 an historian tries to investigate a murder that took place in 1942 in the building he lived in as a child. This is more about the factions in Mexico in 1942 than it is about the murder.All the Little Bird-Hearts by Lloyd-Barlow, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-90976701359211959132023-11-30T15:39:00.002-05:002023-12-01T09:57:44.552-05:00November 2023It wasn't my goal to read a bunch short stories this month. It's just how my holds requests came in.The Kate Atkinson and the Steven Millhauser collections were the best (and they also had the most interesting covers).Everything, except the online pieces, is from the public library.Short Stories: Normal Rules Don't Apply: Stories by Atkinson, KateThese stories of life in an Alternate UKUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-73517078572497046712023-10-31T23:00:00.002-04:002023-12-03T21:26:46.091-05:00October 2023A (reading) Tip JarOne goal this month was to finish two ARCs that I recently won. Fortunately there was a lull in all those library holds requests and I actually had an entire week with NO checked out library books!AND - wonder of wonders - both ARCs were great reads.I also took advantage of the lull in library books to read some things that have been on my shelves for ages. AND there was Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-77413631725972239832023-10-01T23:30:00.002-04:002023-12-03T21:30:50.288-05:00September 2023A Five Star Story CollectionA lot of short stories in this month's reading. Most of them were really good. No time for Gutenberg this month. A lot of my holds came in at the library. Two good biographies and on not so good. A good bunch of fiction--five stars for the Clair Fuller.Fiction:The Memory of Animals by Fuller, Claire Pandemic (not Covid-19, this is a fictional one) vaccine Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-44264841758029935842023-08-31T20:12:00.001-04:002023-12-03T21:34:13.129-05:00August 2023Favorite Book This Month(but not the only five star read)Read almost a book a day this month! Twenty-six . All except the two ARC memoirs were from the public library. Some really good reading lots of four and five stars on Goodreads, some got an extra half star when I put them on Library thing.I poked around on Gutenberg, bookmarked a few, but didn't read any. I did look at a few Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-88613825188306976262023-07-31T09:12:00.000-04:002023-07-31T09:12:04.062-04:00July 2023VIEW FROM SANT' AGNESE(from: Mentone, Cairo, and Corfu by Woolson, Constance Fenimore)Wow! I read a lot this month. Heat wave & crappy air quality meant I couldn't do much else. Other than reading my activity was pretty much limited to trips to the library with stops to pick up take out food. But there was a lot of variety in the reading so I wasn't bored.Everything was from public Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-13813714884838263862023-06-30T18:18:00.001-04:002023-07-30T07:50:39.694-04:00June 2023Some good reading this month although I fell behind on the Two Month Review reading of The Remembered Part. I did listen to the podcasts.I'm trying to get back to reading things on Project Gutenberg. I'm aiming for at least one a month.From Project Gutenberg:The D'Arblay mystery by Freeman, R. Austin. (A.L Burt edition, 1926. I think this was a reprint of the Dodd, Mead edition.)Every Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-27761675327052424342023-06-03T10:53:00.002-04:002023-06-03T10:53:34.267-04:00May 2023All from the library this month--except.... I started one from my personal collection: The Remembered Part by Rodrigo Fresán. This will be a slow read as I will read along with publisher Chad Post and his friends on the Two Month Review. Actually this seems to be Three Month Review as it runs until August 2. Fair enough for 760 pages! This, along with whatever comesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-43771751562016858682023-05-01T16:53:00.000-04:002023-05-01T16:53:19.310-04:00April 2023I had a really good reading month although I didn't get to the two ARCs I meant to read. I had also intended to get to some of my Kindle backup but that didn't happen. Library:The Motion Picture Teller by Cotterill, Colin Thai movie buff stumbles on a VCR of a terrific, never released movie. Fun, games, and mayhem follow.Search by Huneven, MichelleAdventures of Southern California Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-17980502731594312202023-03-31T09:04:00.000-04:002023-03-31T09:04:45.029-04:00March 2023Sort of a mish-mash this month. Managed to make some progress on my Kindle backlog. I really don't mind reading on Kindle but I frequently forget I have it and usually have no idea what's on it. Usually I manage to read it in waiting rooms and I spent a lot of time this month in both hospital and car repair waiting rooms. Managed to read while the car was being repaired. I was unable to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-40046648072786407172023-03-02T07:34:00.000-05:002023-03-02T07:34:38.967-05:00February 2022Some very good reading this month. Also some not so good. All from the public library except for the ARC.The End of Drum-Time by Pylväinen, Hanna Finished Feb 18, Finally finished this Advance Review Copy. (I rec'd two copies of this: one through GoodReads and one through LibraryThing.) I really liked this story of the Sami people of Norway/Sweden/Finland.Checked out in Feb:Cocoon by Zhang, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-48108988572499704912023-01-31T13:45:00.001-05:002023-01-31T13:45:29.293-05:00January 2023Thirteen books read, and one DNF. Plus I have eleven carryovers to read next month. Maybe I should slow down on my holds. Or spend less time surfing the net. Also just rush in the library, pick up my holds and not browse. I have a stack of there or four ARC's I must get to in February. So many must reads for such a short month!All of these are library books except the DNF/ARC.&Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-80536350042896578482023-01-03T16:40:00.004-05:002023-01-03T16:40:50.751-05:00December 2022A very strange month in which I finished only seven books! But! I almost finished a long one (552 pages) which my housemate checked out on her card thinking I might like it. She was right:Grand Hotel Europa by Pfeijffer, Ilja Leonard After I finish it, I may get around to an end of year wrap up - or not.A Curious Invitation: The Forty Greatest Parties in Literature by FieldUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-74376622373979932972022-12-01T22:00:00.001-05:002022-12-04T21:45:58.202-05:00November 2022Made some selection errors this month--several abandoned, skimmed, and ho hum books. BUT--there were two amazing biographies( Samuel Adams and George B.), a pleasant quirky mystery (The enigma of Room 622), and a good enough family saga. My total read was a bit lower than usual but those two bios were long.Carried over from OctoberFrance : an adventure history by Robb, Graham Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-17445153955368075102022-10-31T18:19:00.000-04:002022-10-31T18:19:49.577-04:00October 2022All books this month were from the public library. Some were great, many were good, and there were a few I just couldn't make it through.Carry over from Sep The books of Jacob by Tokarczuk, Olga Abandoned Oct 12. Read about 100 pages and enjoyed it, but not enough to want to read 800 more pages. Checked out Sep 29 Lucy by the sea : a novel by Strout, Elizabeth Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-899029264331852612022-09-30T11:00:00.001-04:002022-10-01T13:27:10.650-04:00September 2022Once again it was a month of library books and light stuff (featuring animals) from Project Gutenberg.Some good reads and a few duds and disappointments.I did read one from my own shelves and weeded a couple of others without reading.And now, for next month, there are two waiting on the holds shelf and another seven "in transit." and I haven't even started The books of Jacob.Checked out AugUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-74318065777901518252022-08-31T10:24:00.000-04:002022-08-31T10:24:03.491-04:00August 2022Lukigura River. (from Three years of war in East Africa, by Angus Buchanan)It was so very hot and humid. Reading was pretty much all I did. Of course there were library trips and a limited amount of shopping.I ended the month with no carryover of unread library books. (But there are some waiting to be picked up on the holds shelf at the library.) All books were from the public library or ProjectUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-18952333867970448882022-07-30T13:59:00.001-04:002022-07-31T10:37:31.222-04:00July 2022Started the month with thirteen library books on my shelves (and one on library's shelf waiting to be picked up.) Let's see how I do? Of course I didn't finish them before I checked out more... (on the 13th, the 19th, 21st, & 26th) many of which will be carried over to Aug.By the nineteenth of the month I had finished these (except for the three that I
decided not to read).I also Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-49758356970857861732022-07-01T08:02:00.001-04:002022-07-01T21:54:17.204-04:00June 2022Some pretty good reads for June--all from public libraries. No really bad ones on the lists below though I was a bit disappointed by the Ali Smith. (I tried to read On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Its blend of fiction/memoir and poetic prose seemed forced and pretentious. I read about a third of it and gave up.)Fiction:When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Solà, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-37823666696195810982022-06-01T08:32:00.000-04:002022-06-01T08:32:09.323-04:00May 2022Another month of good reading--all from the library or online. No dent in the Owned-but-unread shelves. No real duds this month Apart from the reading is was a month of mini disasters. I was exposed to Covid and had to quarantine again. Fortunately I tested negative. Then there was a mysterious crash in the night. We wandered all over the place trying to figure out what happened. Alas, it Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-37115380990369560892022-05-06T13:07:00.001-04:002022-05-21T11:33:46.620-04:00April 2022This is the month for posting some sort of alphabetical blog each day. Do I want to try this? Nah...I was not in an alphabetical mood and I didn't feel like trying to blog every day.But I did read every day and most of it was good. There was one total nonfiction dud.Fiction:Sea of Tranquility by Mandel, Emily St. John Moon colonies, pandemic, time travel...Death in Venice by Mann, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-37420559752426448832022-03-31T08:24:00.003-04:002022-04-01T07:52:47.793-04:00March 2022 See below under nonfiction Wow! I read a bunch in March! Almost all from the library (except the Dutch stories and First Cosmic Velocity). And, I liked most of them. Even the three (last 3 on the fiction list) I liked least weren't total duds. I also had some fun on Gutenberg with shadow puppets and trying to read some German. (Loved the pictures!) Fiction: The Anomaly by Le Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3646410.post-65621875459767322062022-02-28T08:56:00.001-05:002023-12-21T14:13:41.811-05:00February 2022Everything except Zone and the online stuff was from the public library. Only one dent in the "owned but unread" shelf. But no additions to it either! Most of these were really good, but the last three in the fiction list were disappointing. Fiction:Camouflage: Stories by Bail, Murray want to read more by BailYoung Once by Modiano, Patrick; translated from the French by Searls, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0