Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Well it's coming to the end of 2015. Can you believe it? Where did this year go? it went way too fast.
I finally updated my written book journal and so far I"m up to 4 books finished for the month and 189 for the year. My goal for this year is 200. I have 10 to finish by the end of the year. hopefully I'll do it. I came up short in 2014 (196 with 1 only at this point for the month in 2014). I think it's doable. None of the challenges got even touched. I think if I decide to do any book challenges in 2016 it will only be one at a time. But I haven't even thought about book challenges yet.
I'm still way before on my goodreads books finished for 2015 shelf. I really need update as I go along. yes my reviewed books are up there but any other books haven't in a few months. I really want to catch up but I keep putting it off. I really don't want to just forget and start next year new. I like being able to go back and check if I read a certain book. at times that is easier than weeding though the written ones. This year I kind of lost my mojo even with doing that. at least I did the general info on each book. I"m updecided about the journal for 2016. yes I got another arc to use but I really need something different. I even bought a regular college lined notebook thinking I would use that but really that one sure isn't calling my name either. I might just give in and use the arc for another year. I still have time to decide. Really not in the mood to go all the way out to the mega BN to get one of those notebooks I've used in the past and the other BN I have been going to doesn't carry them.

So how is everyone's book count for the year going so far? Any thoughts on 2016's book journals yet? Bood Challenges for 2016?

Donnajo wrote: "Well it's coming to the end of 2015. Can you believe it? Where did this year go? it went way too fast.
I finally updated my written book journal and so far I"m up to 4 books finished for the month..."

I've read 156 books so far. I write so many notes that I have only about two months in each journal. My current journal came from Walgreen's. It has a peacock on the cover. I love peacocks. I'm going to need a new journal for January and February. I'll probably get it on Friday. I think I'll go to an indie bookstore to buy it.

Shomeret wrote: "Donnajo wrote: "Well it's coming to the end of 2015. Can you believe it? Where did this year go? it went way too fast.
I finally updated my written book journal and so far I"m up to 4 books finish..."

You are so good. I find when I do notes it's too much like when I did homework and doesn't get to be fun anymore. but I really need to do something more. I remember when I used to put the first sentence in my reviews. that was good. I think I've seen that journal. probably at walgreens at some point. My problem is I like having the spiral and at least 200 pages since I know then it's more if you count both sides.

I think I'm going to check around I had a few other book sites that had challenges last year which I liked the idea of which gave you more of a different type of book to read which you have to locate. I kept saying I wanted to do a off the shelf challenge which I would read books from my bookcase. I really didn't even touch that. I can give that one a try also I had the mason jar one which I gave up on which again it's books I own already. I would probably keep doing the mason jar one even if I do another. I really need to bring down the bookcases some.

I have read a bit over a hundred books this year for the first time in a while. I took Carol's advice and listen to audio books while doing chores around the house in addition to the commute and while walking or solo exercise. Bluetooth headphones are great.
I have gravitated away from a written journal this year but may go back and fill it in to keep the continuity going. I started using this spiral journal in 1998 and am over half full, going back on the backs of the pages. No notes, a 10 point scale number rank, title, author, date finished, one line per book.

Ann wrote: " I took Carol's advice and listen to audio books while doing chores around the house in addition to the commute and while walking or solo exercise. Bluetooth headphones are great. ..."

Yay!!

I don't get Bluetooth headphones. How do they "talk" to your device, and what devices can they talk to? I just bought my cousin some for Christmas and am thinking maybe I should plant a bug in Santa's ear for me....

Ann I like your one line. I have to figure how and what I'm going to do. I need to switch it up some. Today I have a list of to do's and one is work on the goodreads finished shelf for a few months. My goal is catch up by the end of year then set up for next year's shelves.

I need to get not expensive ear buds for my iPod. I used to keep a set in the case with iPod so when I'm at the shore or in the room with people and want to watch videos and they are watching tv. The last time I went to use them they were a powdery mess. Black stuff all over lucky they were in a case. Had to end up throwing them out. We figured it might be the heat of the iPad when I put it back in the case did something to the covers over the ear thi guest. We had never seen anything like it before. It was like a black ink got on my clothes and everything. I find it is hard to find ear buds that work with the iPad that other people do not hear too. Once I was listening and did not realize the others heard it too. I was in the next room and my sister came and told me. So these others were the only ones that seemed to work now have to find a new set. I can always use my bil's which he has big regular ones that are always in his laptop case by his chair. It was a good brand I had too. They were good to carry in my purse. I guess they should have stayed there instead of the iPad case.

Carol: I use my Bluetooth headphones (which are LG ear buds in a neck worn contraption) with my iPhone. Audible, overdrive, Hoopla, podcasts, and the iPhone music app all stream to my ear. I use one ear bud almost 100% of my listening time which is safer for hearing background or traffic noise (when walking) and find them super easy to pair and listen on demand and wear them turned off and ready.
I think they are model CE1177 Tone Pro. I love them. The iPhone pairs with my car when I am driving then I switch to the head set and go!

well I was on a roll I finished totally updating my goodreads finished shelf for this year up to this point. it comes out with the total at 201 books but going back and checking I see that I put in separate for one series on one page rather than count them separate which goodreads I had to put in separate. also another book I believe I did the same way. so going by goodreads I'm past my yearly goal already so anything more is a plus. LOL.
You know how some authors do one book divided up so you have to keep going so it was maybe 8 segments and the other I believe was 4. I was if anything trying to save pages in my written book journal. you would think goodreads would have it as a bundle. but the one I see there must be listed more books or maybe they pre listed them before they came out.
another project finished. now just have to add the new shelves in (I already deleted a few that didn't have anything or much from the past)

This year my totals are woefully small, should finish around 45. Half of what I normally do. Well, there's always next year. My all time high was 100, and I average around 80. Don't think I could ever get to 200! What an amazing feat!!

Anyone thinking about doing any determination book list in 2016 or maybe the ultimate popsugar challenge?

I was thinking of doing the popsugar one I had joined the group last year but never ended up doing the challenge. I think the list is shorer this year going by what people are saying and also the prompts or maybe the type of book to read is different. I also would like to do the one my Novel ladies grp is doing. it's a A to Z one like A is animal so you have to read a book with a animal in it or on the cover. b might be beach. and so on. they got the idea from one of the other groups. My goal is to read more books that are on my shelve if at all possible for the challenges than from library or ereader. if I got to go those routes which I know I will have to for certain ones I will. At this point I won't even want to put the books down before hand since I found doing that I ended up saying I don't want to read this one or that one. maybe I'll plan a few of the books out so I have something to so called start with. I want to zerox both lists so I don't have them only online.

This is the popsugar challenge:

http://media1.popsugar-assets.com/fil...

I think I will limit myself to "reading what I want to read".

Barry wrote: "I think I will limit myself to "reading what I want to read"."

That's my favorite challenge. I wish I did that all the time, but I've gotten myself roped into things because I'm a blogger. I've been learning not to respond.

For the end of year (or close enough):
152 books, 60 new, 46 loaned to me, 8 from the library, 38 used.
59,940 pages taking my beyond my goal of 42,000 pages. I had expected to lose a month to a special project at work which will actually happen in 2016.

Interesting list DJ: I won't do the entire popsugar challenge list but it might be fun to categorize what I do read to see how many I might read as like Barry I plan to mainly read what I want to read.
I do want to get through some of my backlog though, so hope I want to read some of them! LOL
Donnajo wrote: "This is the popsugar challenge:
http://media1.popsugar-assets.com/fil..."

Nice tally, Barry! I am at 105 for the year to date and expect that may be 106, or not depending on when I finish my current book. I am happy with 105, 85 of them were audio books and I will see if I can determine the library vs. other sources counts in a few days. It has been a good year in books!
Barry wrote: "For the end of year (or close enough):
152 books, 60 new, 46 loaned to me, 8 from the library, 38 used.
59,940 pages taking my beyond my goal of 42,000 pages. I had expected to lose a month to a special project..."

impressive totals, ann and barry. i'm at 78, which is about typical for me. i'm with barry- reading what i want to read. also plan on reading at least some of the backlog on my bookshelf and kindle. i sometimes forget i have book on the kindle..lol

I am at a lowly 37 for the year, helped by the fact that I went almost two months without reading anything. But what I read was all books I wanted to read, either by favorite authors, books on my home TBR, or new-to-me authors that caught my fancy. Will continue in 2016!

Ann wrote: "Interesting list DJ: I won't do the entire popsugar challenge list but it might be fun to categorize what I do read to see how many I might read as like Barry I plan to mainly read what I want to r..."

I been trying to figure out the challenge this morning and that one really does look hard from my usual books I read. but I figure I'll do the ones I can when I can.
I also signed up for 2 more challenges on Novel ladies. The series one to finish up series you started and never finished or got to the last one so far. I have alot of those I can try and work on. And the old favorite one which I liked the idea from the beginning the off the stacks one (and yes I did get one book off the stack last year and even got into a little of the sequels Graberstein's tilt a whirl) so thinking about putting that series on my series challenge at least. anyway, I figured anything that is older than 6 months that I own will be put on the off the stack list. I'm not deciding on the list ahead of time.

Ann wrote: "Nice tally, Barry! I am at 105 for the year to date and expect that may be 106, or not depending on when I finish my current book. I am happy with 105, 85 of them were audio books and I will see if..."

WTG ann,

Sherry wrote: "impressive totals, ann and barry. i'm at 78, which is about typical for me. i'm with barry- reading what i want to read. also plan on reading at least some of the backlog on my bookshelf and kindle..."

Sometimes I forget about the books I own on my bookcases, book mountains, etc. And believe me that is hard to believe. it's just that it seemed that ebooks and some library overpowered any other books this year. probably because the reading is so much easier with the ereader than it is with regular paper books. I like reading without glasses. also the arcs for review at times helped being overbooked.

Well maybe a off the stack whether it's a ebook or a book you own and whatever you feel like at the time not picking the books ahead might work.
I already made my 2016 goodreads bookshelves and haven't done any for challenges. I was trying to cut down. But was thinking I might do a 2016 read challenge shelve. that way any book that fits in one of the challenges or more than one can just go there and I can always put in comments which of the challenges.

Even stranger I still haven't decided on 2016's written book journal yet. I still have hopes of finding something new.
I have ordered at BN the year of the doodle and it's supposed to get there on tuesday so I'm hoping that I can do a trip to BN on wednesday after my weighin. if so I'm going to look at the journals again to see if anythng jumps into my basket Otherwise I'm using the ARC system again. that store doesn't seem to have the other notebook I used in the past. I could even use the smaller ringed binder that I have bought in the past at staples. it using just smaller loose leaf paper. maybe I need a staplers visit today since I really don't want to use the one I have already. unless there is another one around here someplace which hasn't be used yet. I can even use it for the challenges maybe. it's a thought.

I'm at either 52 or 53...depending if I finish my current book today!

Thats a good total for me...35 in 2014, 34 in 2013, 44 in 2012 and 55 in 2011.

I still use my excel spreadsheet for tracking my reads. Since I request a lot of my books ahead of time from the library or get from Amazon, its easier. I used to need my list when browsing the library randomly because too many times I started a book only to find out I already read it!

Just got home from staplers guess I moved fast. I bought 2 ring binders the med size. Could not make up mind. Should have used the one extra white one I had already lol. One is blue and has the clear slip in front and maybe back. The other has a design already. Got enough paper reg..ruled and grid. Got enough dividers plus extra for challenge or whatever else. Clear pockets to put stuff in. Bookmarks to pt where I am or whatever. Also bought a 40 page spiral media art notebook for my lists challenge. Figured I would go back months and continue using the Dori for those. Also bought small pack of lined post its so when I finish a book and don't want to write a bought it right away I can do a memo on it so I remember okay that wasn't needed but I don't have anything like that.

I just finished my last book of the year, so my total is 158. The books that I read are almost all library books or digital ARCs. It's rare that I have time for a print book that I own. When I read print books that aren't from the library, they are almost always ARCs for review. I'm trying to find time for a book that I won from Goodreads. It's my third win.

I did get my book journal for this coming month or so from an independent bookstore. The cover is Kittens in Space drawn in cartoon style. It shows kittens dressed like astronauts. One of them planted a flag with a little cat face on it on a planet. Another is floating in space while playing with a meteorite, and yet another is chasing a mouse also dressed like an astronaut. It's very cute.

I ended up with 119!

Dawn wrote: "I used to need my list when browsing the library randomly because too many times I started a book only to find out I already read it! .."

Been there, done that, Dawn! I was just reviewing my next up books on FictFact and I think I skipped #21 in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Sad thing is, I read the plot summary and I'm still not sure, but I think that's right so I'll request it. I already have #22 queued up in my audio so that will have to work, since I'm a stricktRIO (read in order).

Shomeret wrote: "I just finished my last book of the year, so my total is 158. ..."

Wow.

I finished at 45. That is about half of what I normally read. I, of course, have a thousand excuses, sports, aggressive book slump, kid graduating college, etc! I hope this year to try and focus more on quality, not quantity, try not to to push through a book if everyone loved it and I hate it.
I also feel that my reading preferences are changing, not so sure I can do the murder, violence and gore in my favorite mystery/thriller genre. Looking for a more gentler yet fulfilling genre. Happy New Year everyone!

LizH wrote: "I finished at 45. That is about half of what I normally read. I, of course, have a thousand excuses, sports, aggressive book slump, kid graduating college, etc! I hope this year to try and focus mo..."

I look for mysteries with balance. I can't deal with the grimdark mood of most serial killer mysteries, but the cozies seem too light for me. So the ideal for me is a mystery that has some of each.

Shom, examples?

LizH wrote: "Shom, examples?"

One of my favorite mystery authors is Margaret Coel. She writes about a priest on the Arapaho reservation, Father O'Malley and an Arapaho lawyer, Vicky Holden, who is always willing to help out another Arapaho pro-bono. There's darkness in the cases, but the characters are wonderful and inspiring. That's what I mean by balanced.

Liz: My reading preferences are constantly evolving too and lately a good memoir, autobiography or a biography have been a way to balance out some of the gore and blood in my favorite thrillers and suspense.

LizH wrote: "I finished at 45.
... I also feel that my reading preferences are changing, not so sure I can do the murder, violence and gore in my favorite mystery/thriller genre. Looking for a more gentler yet fulfilling genre. "

I finished at 104. I'm just going to set myself the same target again - 50. Kinda like having a minimum of books but if I read more then that's a bonus:)

I still need to write the last two books in the journal today then I can see final.

Anne: for the same reason I am setting a target of 75 again. If I decide to read a lot of big fat books I want to be able to just let go and savor them with no pressure on that GR home page counter mocking me that I am "behind".
Anne wrote: "I finished at 104. I'm just going to set myself the same target again - 50. Kinda like having a minimum of books but if I read more then that's a bonus:)"

I came in comfortably over 100 for the year still but while compiling my best of the year discovered a couple of duplicate versions on the Good Reads shelves. My books read count in Excel included Serial, the This American Life podcast that Carol hooked me into, and which has changed my listening habits to include daily podcasts that are a great pleasure.
Good reads took Serial off the database and my original listing of it as an audio listen disappeared. I agree to disagree with that decision. It isn't a book, but it served the same listening time for me with thirteen episodes around an hour-ish each so I feel like I can count it.

Sounds like mine Goodreads says I read 206 (my goal was 200) yet my written book journal is saying 193 only because there are two different book series by 2 different authors I listed as 2 books in my written one rather than put each of the books on another page on goodreads they didn't have the books as a bundle but as separte books (you know when it's a long one they break up into segments) so that is why my goodreads is more. so I"m using that count rather then the written journal count (I better write a note in the written journal about that so I remember in the future if I look back)
Alot the read/rev arcs were done. alot of just in the mood type of books. this year I want to do the challenges so I can get other stuff mixed in different types of books. But want to work on what is on my bookcases.

I came up with my goal of 50,400 pages by multiplying 144 books (12 per month) by 350 pages as a good average. Now I do not get penalized for long books nor rewarded for short ones.

Very wise Barry! I think a goal of six a month is good for me while my usual is closer to eight. Twelve is a lot! With audiobooks my main format a goal for hours would maken sense but too hard to keep up with. I might try though....hmm.
Barry wrote: "I came up with my goal of 50,400 pages by multiplying 144 books (12 per month) by 350 pages as a good average. Now I do not get penalized for long books nor rewarded for short ones."

You could play the rotten books while you were sleeping.

Ann wrote: "Anne: for the same reason I am setting a target of 75 again. If I decide to read a lot of big fat books I want to be able to just let go and savor them with no pressure on that GR home page counter..."

I'm like that too - some books are 400+ pages and I like to not worry about it:)

Haha Carol....especially with a Plum book it would be hard to tell - they kind of all are the same. At least it'll be a quick read! I did like twenty-one - so it won't be so bad.

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Dawn wrote: "I used to need my list when browsing the library randomly because too many times I started a book only to find out I already read it! .."

Been there, done that, Dawn! I was just revie..."

84

Succinct as always Dan! Nice count!
Dan in AZ wrote: "84"

112

Ann wrote: "Succinct as always Dan! Nice count!
Dan in AZ wrote: "84""

Just the facts, Ma'am.