Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018

Host: Bev @ My Reader's Block
Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2018

Click HERE for guidelines and sign-ups.

I'm trying to be a little more selective about the reading challenges I sign up for next year. During the past year, I think I spent more time working on the bookkeeping for all my challenges than I did actually reading. Not good.

But one of my goals for 2018 is to read more of the books I already own and to try to get to some of those titles I've been intending to read for decades. So I'm signing up for Bev's Mount TBR Challenge. I'll be going for Pike's Peak (12 books) -- I'd really like to do better than that, but twelve sounds like a fairly realistic figure to aim for.

During the year, I'll be tracking my progress and keeping all my lists over on my challenge blog.

2018 European Reading Challenge

Host: Rose City Reader
Dates: January 1, 2018 - January 31, 2019

Click HERE for guidelines and sign-ups.

Another of my favorite challenges. I didn't do so well with the 2017 edition, so I'm scaling back a bit for 2018 -- signing up at the Three Star ("Business Traveler") level, which means I'll be committing to three books. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog.

2018 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

Host: Doing Dewey
Dates: January - December 2018

Click HERE for guidelines and sign-ups.

I used to read quite a lot of nonfiction, but haven't really read much in recent years. I'd like to remedy that, and this challenge is perfect for me -- no set numbers or categories to read. I'm not going to commit to any definite number of books, but I'd like to try for at least four or five.

Some I'm hoping to read in 2018:

• Blue Nights. Joan Didion (autobiography/memoir)
• Books. Larry McMurtry (memoir)
• Just Kids. Patti Smith (memoir) 
• The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Margaret Drabble (autobiography/memoir)
• South and West: From a Notebook. Joan Didion (essays, notes)
• The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion (autobio/memoir)

And I have a longer list of possibilities over on my challenge blog, where I'll be tracking my progress.

2018 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Host: Amy @ Passages to the Past 

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2018

Click HERE for guidelines and sign-ups.

My Goal: "Victorian Reader" (5 books)

I usually read quite a bit of historical fiction, and this is always one of my favorite challenges. Didn't really do all that well with it this year, but I'm hoping for better results in 2018. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog.

2018 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

Hosted by: Stormi @ Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My!
 and Barb @ Booker T's Farm

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2018

Click here for all the guidelines and sign-ups.

I'm just getting over the flu. It's been mean and nasty, and it's hanging around much longer than I had hoped. And I assume it's clouding my judgment — which, I'm pretty sure is why I'm thinking about signing up for reading challenges when I've still got Christmas stuff to do.

And as I've said before, I did such a poor job with my 2017 challenges, I suppose I really shouldn't be signing up for any at all in 2018. But I really do want to try to get more reading done next year (this year will be my lowest number of books read in recent memory), and I think the reading challenges do help me keep that goal in mind.

I just need to find the right challenges.

And the Cloak and Dagger Challenge is really pretty perfect for me. I did the challenge in 2015 and didn't have any trouble meeting my goal. I consume an awful lot of mysteries and thrillers anyway, so it's not exactly a stretch — but I think that's OK. If it keeps me turning pages, it's what I need.

I'm signing up at the Amateur Sleuth level (5-15 books), but of course hope to do a little better than that. And during the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog (My Reading Challenges).

Book Beginnings: The Mistletoe Murder

The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories, by P.D. James (2016). This is the first sentence of the book's first story:

One of the minor hazards of being a bestselling crime novelist is the ubiquitous question, "And have you ever been personally involved with a real-life murder investigation?"; a question occasionally asked with a look and tone which suggest that the Murder Squad of the Metropolitan Police might with advantage dig up my back garden.

About the Book:

Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time--swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment." 

Initial Thoughts:

P.D. James was one of my favorite writers — I loved all her books, but especially her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. When she died back in 2014, the thought of never having another Dalgliesh to read was a little depressing. So I was very excited to discover this book of stories, and I'm looking forward to getting started on it. Perfect for the season.

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday.  As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Reading Report: The Roanoke Girls

Amy Engel
Crown, 2017; 288 pages

Publisher's Description:

Following her mother’s suicide, fifteen-year-old Lane Roanoke comes to live with her maternal grandparents and cousin, Allegra, at the Roanoke family estate in rural Osage Flats, Kansas, a labyrinthine farmhouse which Lane describes as, “equal parts horrifying and mesmerizing.” She knows little of her mother’s family, other than the fact that her mother ran away years before and cut off all contact with her parents. Allegra, abandoned by her own mother at birth and raised by her grandparents, introduces Lane to small-town life and the benefits of being one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But there is darkness at the heart of the Roanoke family and when Lane discovers its insidious pull she has no choice but to run, as far and as fast as she can.

Eleven years later, Lane is scraping by in Los Angeles when her grandfather calls with the news that Allegra has gone missing. “Come home,” he beckons. Unable to resist the pull, Lane returns, determined to find her cousin and assuage her own guilt at having left Allegra behind all those years ago. Her homecoming might mean a second chance with Cooper, the boyfriend whom she loved and destroyed that fateful summer. But it also means facing the terrible secret that made her flee, one she may not be strong enough to run from again.

My Thoughts:

This was a VERY dark tale. The publisher calls it "boundary-pushing and provocative" and claims it will keep readers "turning pages even when you want to look away."

Well, it's certainly provocative. I read an advance copy of the book, from NetGalley, and felt obligated to finish it. If it weren't for that, I'm not sure I could have plowed through the whole mess. There were things I liked about it, but they were overshadowed by the subject matter and the way it was presented. Don't want to say too much more — the book's impact really depends on its twists and turns and shocking revelations. But I will say that this one is definitely not an easy read.

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(Note: I received my copy of this book from the publisher, free of charge, through the NetGalley website. No other compensation was received, and no one tried to influence my opinion of the book.)

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges: eBook Challenge; New Authors Challenge; New to Me Challenge.