All About Books discussion

My overall goal is to read 48 books. I managed 47 last year, so I was only short by one! I thought about increasing it to 52, but I think 4 books a month is a nice goal.

Daytimer's:12
This is my local face-to-face bookclub, so we read one book a month.
Jan: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Feb: The Shoemaker's Wife
Mar: Olive Kitteridge
Apr: Room
May: Hamlet
Jun: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Jul: Safe from the Sea
Aug: Cutting for Stone
Sep: Year of Wonders
Oct: Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Nov: The Night Circus
Dec: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Leftovers:12
Lots of books from my 2013 challenges that I still want to read. This category is to add to the books on my Moby Dick list, my Tudor 2013 list, and my Pride and Prejudice list. Also books that I've started at one time and never finished.
Including, but not limited to:
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - This also fits my "wife" challenge (below)
The Art of Fielding
Railsea
Venus in Winter
The Tudor Secret
The Boleyn Deceit

The "_____" Wife Challenge:12
Including, but not limited to:
The Aviator's Wife
The Pilot's Wife
The Tiger's Wife
The Kitchen God's Wife
The Crane Wife
The Twentieth Wife

Everything else:12
Anything that strikes my fancy. I especially like historical fiction, Arthurian fiction, and anything set in Wales. I also want to reread some of my childhood favorites this year.
Including, but not limited to:
Resistance
Eve Green
The Welsh Girl
The Kingmaking
The Killing Way
Juliet
Primrose Day
A Wrinkle in Time

Nice mixture of books! I see that your real-world book club picks the books in advance - do you mind if I ask how they are selected?

And I love the "__" Wife category :)

Leslie wrote: "Nice mixture of books! I see that your real-world book club picks the books in advance - do you mind if I ask how they are selected?"

No, I don't mind. I'm the local librarian, and I manage a couple of bookclubs. This one I actually participate in, as well, because I enjoy the ladies and it gets me to read some things outside of my usual fare. There are eight of us, so I have to pick titles that our library system has at least eight copies of. We have a different category every month - a children's book, romance, prize winner, classic, foreign fiction, Minnesota author, etc. so I look for things that fit those categories that we have enough copies of.

We also have a collection of "bookclub in a bag" kits - 10 copies - so I pick from those, too.

Cool laurel. Good luck! :-)

Some interesting choices here, Laurel. I've read some, but don't recognise most of them. Presumably you have already read The Time Traveler's Wife as it's screaming to be included! :)

I like the way you have set this out, Laurel. I'm a bit like you, I read about 4 books a month. You have a great selection of books, many of which I haven't read, so I shall be interested in how you rate them!

Good Luck Laurel, you have some really interesting choices here.

Jean wrote: "Presumably you have already read The Time Traveler's Wife as it's screaming to be include..."

Yes, Jean - That definitely goes on that list, but I have already read it, and don't plan to reread it. I have also already read:
A Reliable Wife and
The Zookeeper's Wife
Currently reading The Sixth Wife which I probably read 40 years ago, since I devoured Jean Plaidy back in her day. Still good books! It's nice to see so many of them being reprinted.

Progress Report: January

Daytimers:
1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Leftovers:

The "_____" Wife:
2. The Sixth Wife

Everything Else:
3. The Importance of Being Seven
4. Twelve Drummers Drumming
5. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

Currently reading:
The Shoemaker's Wife

Laurel wrote: "Progress Report: January

Daytimers:
1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Leftovers:

The "_____" Wife:
2. The Sixth Wife

Everything..."

Laurel, are you also a member of the English Mysteries group? I just ask as you read Twelve Drummers Drumming, which was their BoTM...

How was The Invention of Hugo Cabret?

Leslie, I am not a member of that group, but I just joined. Thanks! Reading the posts it seems the group didn't like it much.

Here's my review of Hugo: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Laurel wrote: "My overall goal is to read 48 books. I managed 47 last year, so I was only short by one! I thought about increasing it to 52, but I think 4 books a month is a nice goal.

Not to complicate my life or anything, but I've been sort of inspired seeing some of the "pyramid" challenges, and I like that idea, so I've come up with this. Books can fit in more than one category, and indeed will have to, because there is no way I'm going to get more than 50 or so books read, but I went up to 14 on the pyramid. Haha, maybe it'll be a two year project:

14 books: Around the World
US - Gray Mountain
Canada
Central Amer.
South Amer.
Europe
Russia/Eastern Europe
Asia/Far East
India
Africa - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe
Africa/Middle East
Aust./NZ - The Lightkeeper's Wife
Oceania
Polar
Maritime

13 books: Through time
Prehistory
BC
0-500
500-800
800-1000
1000-1200
1200-1400
1400-1600
1600s
1700s - The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America
1800s
1900-1950
1950-present - Beautiful Ruins

12 books: Daytimers bookclub
January - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
February - The Shoemaker's Wife
March - Olive Kitteridge
April - Room
May - Hamlet
June - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
July - Safe from the Sea
August (and Sept.) - Cutting for Stone
October - Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
November - The Night Circus
December - Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

11 books: Random/no other category fits
The Importance of Being Seven
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
Eleven Pipers Piping
The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book: Uncommon Recipes from the Celebrated Brooklyn Pie Shop
The Thief
The Queen of Attolia
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
The King of Attolia
A Conspiracy of Kings
Hollow City
Learning to Walk in the Dark
Morality for Beautiful Girls
Ten Lords A-Leaping
Death at Buckingham Palace
Second Thyme Around
People of the Book
101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die
Gray Mountain

10 books: The "____" Wife
The Sixth Wife
The Shoemaker's Wife
The Crane Wife
The Anatomist's Wife
The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America
The Headmaster's Wife
The Silent Wife
The Witch Doctor's Wife
The Aviator's Wife
The Lightkeeper's Wife

9 books: Book group reads
Twelve Drummers Drumming (English Mysteries Goodreads group - Jan. 2014)
Before I Go To Sleep (Curl Up and Read)
Beautiful Ruins (Tomes On Tap)
The Crane Wife (Tomes On Tap)
Longbourn - AAB Recommedation Swap - Nov. 2014

8 books: Books I've started at one time or another and need to finish
The Boleyn Deceit
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

7 books: Tudor leftovers (from 2013 list)
The Boleyn Deceit
Gilt
The Boleyn Reckoning

6 books: Moby Dick leftovers (from 2013 list)

5 books: Childhood favorites to reread
Primrose Day
The Hungry Little Bunny by Irma Wilde

4 books: Pride and Prejudice related
Enthusiasm
Longbourn

3 books: Welsh setting or author

2 books: Arthurian

1 book: Welsh language
Un Noson Dywyll

I like your pyramid, especially the idea of a category "Books I've started at one time or another and need to finish"! Good luck :)

I definitely need a leftover challenge, I feel like I'm always playing catch up with group reads! Looks like you're doing well so far :)

I don't know what it is, but sometimes even books that I am really liking get interrupted. Something has a hold on it at the library so I have to read it NOW. My Moby Dick theme got interrupted by the Tudor theme last year. So Ahab's wife was left hanging in the middle. I was really enjoying it, but now I want to finish up the Tudor leftovers before I get back to it, and of course I will have to start it all over again. I'm currently reading The Boleyn Deceit which got interrupted last year because it was an ebook ARC that expired before I finished it, and then I had to wait for the hardcopy to be published, and then it had other holds on that at the library... and so it goes.

Laurel wrote: "I don't know what it is, but sometimes even books that I am really liking get interrupted. Something has a hold on it at the library so I have to read it NOW. My Moby Dick theme got interrupted by ..."

This is how I feel every month...I guess I try to read more than I actually get time for.

Progress Report: February

Daytimers:
6. The Shoemaker's Wife
7. Olive Kitteridge

Leftovers:

The "_____" Wife:
6. The Shoemaker's Wife (dup)

Everything Else:
8. Before I Go To Sleep
9. Eleven Pipers Piping

Currently reading:
The Boleyn Deceit

This is a great challenge. Good Luck!

Progress Report: March

Daytimers:
10. Room

Leftovers:
11. The Boleyn Deceit

The "_____" Wife:

Everything Else:
12. Enthusiasm
13. Primrose Day
14. The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book: Uncommon Recipes from the Celebrated Brooklyn Pie Shop
15: Beautiful Ruins

Currently reading:
The Boleyn Reckoning
Hamlet
The Thief
The Winter Witch

Progress Report: April

Daytimers:
16. Hamlet

Leftovers:
17. Gilt (Tudor challenge)

The "_____" Wife:

Everything Else:
18. The Thief
19. The Queen of Attolia
20. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - reread

Currently reading:
The King of Attolia
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The Boleyn Reckoning
Hollow City

Progress Report: May

Daytimers:

Leftovers:

The "_____" Wife:

Everything Else:
21. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
22. The King of Attolia
23. Tears of the Giraffe
24. A Conspiracy of Kings
25. Hollow City

Currently reading:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
The Boleyn Reckoning

Progress Report: June

Daytimers:
29. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
30. Safe from the Sea

Leftovers:
27. The Boleyn Reckoning

The "_____" Wife:

Everything Else:
26. Learning to Walk in the Dark
28. Morality for Beautiful Girls

Currently reading:
The Crane WifeThe Crane Wife
Cutting for Stone

You are doing excellently on your challenges! If I remember correctly, you were aiming for 12 per category and now you have double that number! :)

Progress Report: July

Sad to say I have only finished one book this month! I got sidetracked by the flooding and trying to get things back to normal. I even took a week off work, but that was spent painting bedroom walls, shopping for a new dresser and putting it together, new rugs, etc. This weekend I am hoping to get my storage areas (inner hallway and closet) back in order, which will get stuff out of my living room and get that back to order. Was all set to order the bookcases from Target that I had picked out, and the color I want is out of stock! So all my books are in bags and boxes. Well, it will all be sorted out eventually. I might do another run to Ikea this weekend for a bench and a 2-drawer chest that matches the new dresser. It's like moving in all over again!

Anyway, here's my book:

31. Ten Lords A-Leaping which falls in the "Everything Else" category. I have been reading too many random things and not finishing my actual challenges! I have to do my The [Fill-in-the-Blank] Wife talk for MLA in October, so I need to get going especially on that one!

I am almost finished with three other books, but couldn't get them done in July:
The Crane Wife
Cutting for Stone - Daytimer's challenge
Death at Buckingham Palace - another random read by the author of Ten Lords A-Leaping.

Next up:
The Aviator's Wife
The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America

Progress Report: August

Daytimers:
32. Cutting for Stone

Leftovers:

The "_____" Wife:
33. The Silent Wife
34. The Anatomist's Wife
35. The Crane Wife

Everything Else:
36. Death at Buckingham Palace

Currently reading:

Progress Report: September

Daytimers:
37. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Leftovers:

The "_____" Wife:
38. The Headmaster's Wife
39. The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America

Everything Else:
40. Second Thyme Around - aka Thyme Out

Currently reading:
The Witch Doctor's Wife
The Aviator's Wife

Progress Report: October

Daytimers:
43. The Night Circus

Leftovers:

The "_____" Wife:
41. The Witch Doctor's Wife
42. The Aviator's Wife

Everything Else:

Currently reading:
The Lightkeeper's Wife
Longbourn

Only 6 more books to reach my goal with 2 months to go. October seemed a bit slim, but I'm almost finished with a reread of The Night Circus for my book club next week.

Finished it, so that just squeaked in for October!

Laurel wrote: "Only 6 more books to reach my goal with 2 months to go. October seemed a bit slim, but I'm almost finished with a reread of The Night Circus for my book club next week."

I quite enjoyed The Night Circus Laurel - it had a great atmosphere of magic & wonder, and I liked the writing style.

Me too, Greg. It was a reread for me. Or actually a listen this time, with Jim Dale narrating. He captured it wonderfully!

Here is Nov. and Dec.:

44. The Valcourt Heiress - random read

45. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail - Daytimer's book club

46. People of the Book - random read

47. The Lightkeeper's Wife - The Wife challenge

48. 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die - random read

49. Gray Mountain - random read

I met my overall goal of 48 books and beat it by one. Next year: 50!

Some stats from the Pyramid challenge:
Daytimer's Book Club: Would have been 12, but we postponed one book until next year, so 11/11

Wife challenge: 10/10 Woo hoo!

Leftovers: Only read 5. And two childhood rereads. Hope to do better on that next year!

Congratulations Laurel!

Congratulations

Good going Laurel! And good luck for 2015 :D