2022 Reading Challenge Sign-Ups (Part 2)

Yes, I'm signing up for a few more reading challenges. I promised myself I'd be more conservative about challenges this year, but it looks like I'm already breaking that promise. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress and keeping all my reading lists over on my challenge blog. 

2022 Children's Books Reading Challenge...for Adults! 

Host: Belle's Library

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups.

I love reading children's books of all kinds, so this challenge is perfect for me. Not many rules and you can read any books that might be found in the children's section of a library or bookstore. Sounds great.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2022

Host: Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2022

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups.

I'm signing up at the Victorian Reader level — just 5 books. Much of what I read is historical fiction, so I should be able to handle that many with no trouble.

2022 New Release Challenge

Host: (un)Conventional Bookworms

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2022

(sign-ups open until September 1)

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups.

This is a new challenge for me, and I'm hoping it helps me pay a little more attention to current bookish happenings. There are five levels of participation, and I'm signing up at the "New Release Newbie" level (1-30 books for the year).   

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2022 Reading Challenges - Sign-Ups (Part 1)

I didn’t exactly wipe out when it comes to reading challenges in 2021. I managed to do the reading and actually completed several of the challenges. But I didn’t review many of the books I read. Of course, I use the challenges as a spur to keep me reading, and that worked really well. So I’d say it was sort of a 50/50 result. 

I’m getting a bit of a late start in signing up for the 2022 challenges. I’ve had to concentrate on some medical goings-on for the last few months, but things seem to be calming down a bit now and I’ve had a little more time to think about bookish adventures and new challenges. So, here we go….

2022 Bookish Resolutions Challenge

Host: Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2022

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups. 

I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions (who needs that pressure?), but this year I do have a few reading/blogging goals.

My bookish resolutions for 2022: 

• Read at least 50 books. This is always my annual goal, but most years I don’t reach it. Last year, however, I managed to read 52 books, and I’m hoping I can do at least that well in 2022. 
  
• Post more reviews than I posted last year. This shouldn’t be difficult to achieve, since last year I only reviewed two or three books on the blog. 
  
• Do a better job of replying to comments from readers of my blog(s). I always read and appreciate every comment on my posts, but I don’t always remember to leave a reply or thank you. Must do better. 
  
• Get my NetGalley review percentage up to an acceptable level. I’m not going to commit to any specific number because at the moment my percentage is so embarrassingly low, any increase would be an enormous improvement. 
  
• Finish Jane Eyre! I’ve started Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece several times over the years, but never actually made it through to the end. It isn’t that I don’t find it enjoyable – I just keep being diverted by real life… and other books. Last year I got halfway through, farther than I’ve ever gotten in the past. Hoping 2022 will be the year I can finally check it off my TBR list. 

Should be interesting to see how far I get with these goals. 

2022 Books in Translation Reading Challenge

Host: Introverted Reader

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2022

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups.

I'll be signing up at the Beginner Level (Beginner: Read 1-3 books in translation). I should be able to handle at least one or two translated works.

Calendar of Crime 2022

Host: Bev @ My Reader's Block

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2022

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups.

The Calendar of Crime challenge is always one of my favorites, so I'll definitely be signing up for this year's edition. I love matching up books to categories, and I really do intend to review all the books I read this year. Seriously. 

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2022

Host: Carol's Notebook

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2022

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups.

Crime fiction is my go-to genre, so this challenge is a natural for me. I read a lot of books for the 2021 challenge, but didn't get many reviews written. This year I hope to do a much better job of actually participating in the challenge. I'll be signing up at the Detective Level (16-25 books). 

European Reading Challenge 2022

Host: Rose City Reader

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2022

Click here for announcement, rules, and sign-ups.

Another of my favorite challenges — it can be such a great way to find new authors and learn about places I'd love to tour in real life. 2022 is the tenth anniversary for this challenge and I've signed up almost every year. This year I'll be joining in at the Three-Star (Business Traveler) Level, but (as always) hope to do a little better than three books. 

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I have a few more challenges in mind, but this is enough for now. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress and keeping all my lists over on my challenge blog. 

Books Read in 2022

Cumulative Reading List

Here's where I'll be tracking my reading in 2022.

I generally think of 50 books as my annual goal, but I'm always really happy if I make it to 40. In 2021 I actually managed to read 52 books. I'd love to do that well again in 2022, but the way this year is starting out, I don't have high hopes. We'll see what develops.

JANUARY

1. Homicide Trinity (Nero Wolfe #36). Rex Stout (1962; fiction / mystery; 220 pages) 
2. The Stately Home Murder (Inspector Sloan #3). Catherine Aird (1969; fiction / mystery; 160 pages) 

FEBRUARY

3. The Hidden. Melanie Golding (2021; fiction / mystery; 304 pages)
4. Bright April. Marguerite de Angeli (1946; children's fiction / middle grade fiction; 88 pages) 
5. The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night. Peter Spier; illus. by author (1961; children's fiction / picture book; 48 pages; Caldecott Honor Book, 1962)
6. Blueberries for Sal. Robert McCloskey; illus. by author (1948; children's fiction / picture book; 64 pages; Caldecott Honor Book, 1949) 
7. Skippyjon Jones. Judy Schachner; illus. by author (2003; children's fiction / picture book; 32 pages)
8. The Barnabus Project. Eric, Terry, and Devin Fan; illus. by authors (2020; children's fiction / picture book; 72 pages) 
9. The Night Gardener. Terry and Eric Fan; illus. by authors (2016; children's fiction / picture book; 48 pages) 
10. How to Live with a Calculating Cat. Eric Gurney, illus; William Nettleton, text (1962; humor; 128 pages) 

MARCH

11. The Christie Affair. Nina de Gramont (2022; historical fiction; 320 pages) 
12. The Case of the Silent Partner (Perry Mason #17). Erle Stanley Gardner (1940; fiction / mystery; 215 pages) 

APRIL

13. City of the Dead (Alex Delaware #37). Jonathan Kellerman (2022; fiction / mystery; 336 pages) 
14. Amelia Bedelia. Peggy Parish; illus. by Fritz Siebel (1963; children's literature / picture book; 40 pages) 
15. The Children on the Hill. Jennifer McMahon (2022; fiction / horror; 352 pages)
16. Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Lewis Carroll (1871; children's literature / fantasy; 166 pages; this was a re-read) 
17. The Moving Target (Lew Archer #1). Ross Macdonald (1949; fiction / mystery; 256 pages)

MAY

18. The Fashion Orphans. Randy Susan Meyers & M.J. Rose (2022; fiction / chick lit; 304 pages) 
19. Black Orchids (Nero Wolfe #9). Rex Stout (1942; fiction / mystery; 209 pages) 
20. The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Margaret Drabble (2009; nonfiction / autobiography / cultural history; 368 pages) 

JUNE

21. The Marlow Murder Club (Marlow Murder Club #1). Robert Thorogood (2021/2022; fiction / mystery; 352 pages)  

JULY

22. Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Quentin Blake; illus. by author (1987; children's literature / picture book; 32 pages) 
23. Death by Beach Read (Lighthouse Library Mystery #9). Eva Gates (2022; fiction / mystery; 288 pages) 
24. Chrysalis (Jeremy Logan #6). Lincoln Child (2022; fiction / thriller; 304 pages)  

AUGUST

25. Afternoon of the Elves. Janet Taylor Lisle (1989; children's literature / middle grade; 128 pages) 
26. Many Moons. James Thurber; illus. by Louis Slobodkin (1943; children's literature; 45 pages) 
27. J.R. Silver Writes Her World. Melissa Dassori; illus. by Chelen Aecija (2022; children's literature / middle grade fiction; 272 pages)
28. Howliday Inn (Bunnicula Series #2). James Howe; illus. by Lynn Munsinger (1982; children's literature / fantasy; 195 pages) 
29. Small Angels. Lauren Owen (2022; fiction; 400 pages) 
30. The Omega Factor. Steve Berry (2022; fiction / thriller; 464 pages)

SEPTEMBER

31. Stay Awake. Megan Goldin (2022; fiction / thriller; 352 pages) 
32. Back to the Garden. Laurie R. King (2022; fiction / mystery; 352 pages) 
33. Late Harvest Havoc (Winemaker Detective #10). Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen; trans. by Sally Pane (2015; fiction / mystery; 167 pages) 

OCTOBER

34. The Final Equinox (Theo Cray & Jessica Blackwood #2). Andrew Mayne (2022; fiction / thriller; 336 pages) 
35. Night at the Vulcan (Inspector Roderick Alleyn #16). Ngaio Marsh (1951; fiction / mystery; 236 pages) 
36. James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl; illus. by Quentin Blake (1961; children's literature; 151 pages) 

NOVEMBER 

37. The Shadow Over Innsmouth. H.P. Lovecraft (1936; fiction / horror; 110 pages)
38. The Wanderer in Unknown Realms. John Connolly (2013; historical fiction / horror; 128 pages) 
39. Gambit (Nero Wolfe #37). Rex Stout (1962; mystery; 208 pages)
40. The Cabinet of Dr. Leng (Aloysius Pendergast #21). Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (Jan 2023; fiction / thriller; 368 pages) 

DECEMBER

41. Terminal Freeze (Jeremy Logan #2). Lincoln Child (2008; fiction / sci-fi thriller; 450 pages) 
42. The Chalmers Case (Markham Sisters #3). Diana Xarissa (2015; fiction / mystery; 106 pages) 
43. The Headless Cupid (Stanley Family #1). Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1971; mystery / children's literature / middle grade fiction; 228 pages) 

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Happy Holidays!

 

Book Beginnings: London Bridge Is Falling Down

Bryant & May:
London Bridge Is Falling Down

by Christopher Fowler

December 2021

Opening Sentence

May in Regent's Park could put a spring in the step of a corpse. 

About the Book

When ninety-one-year-old Amelia Hoffman dies in her top-floor flat on a busy London road, it’s considered an example of what has gone wrong with modern society: she slipped through the cracks in a failing system.

But detectives Arthur Bryant and John May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit have their doubts. Mrs. Hoffman was once a government security expert, though no one can quite remember her. When a link emerges between the old lady and a diplomat trying to flee the country, it seems that an impossible murder has been committed.

 

Mrs. Hoffman wasn’t the only one at risk. Bryant is convinced that other forgotten women with hidden talents are also in danger. And, curiously, they all own models of London Bridge.

 

With the help of some of their more certifiable informants, the detectives follow the strangest of clues in an investigation that will lead them through forgotten alleyways to the city’s oldest bridge in search of a desperate killer.

 

But just when the case appears to be solved, they discover that Mrs. Hoffman was smarter than anyone imagined. There’s a bigger game afoot that could have terrible consequences. (Publisher's description)

 

Initial Thoughts

Well, my first thought was that this could be my last book for 2021. I have a couple of others I'm trying to finish up, and I'm not sure I'll be able to fit one more into the mix. But if I can, this would be a good choice to end the year with. 

My second thought was something about the creepiness of a corpse walking. With or without that spring in the step.

London Bridge Is Falling Down is number 18 in Christopher Fowler's Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery series, featuring the delightful investigative team of Arthur Bryant and John May. I read number 17 in the series (Oranges and Lemons) earlier this year; it was my introduction to the books and I loved it. So I'm really hoping this one lives up to my expectations.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

And happy reading!

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.

Book Beginnings: Death in a White Tie

Death in a White Tie

by Ngaio Marsh

First published 1938

Opening Lines

'Roderick,' said Lady Alleyn, looking at her son over the top of her spectacles, 'I am coming out.'

About the Book

A body in the back of a taxi begins an elegantly constructed mystery, perhaps the finest of Marsh's 1930s novels. The season had begun. Debutantes and chaperones were planning their luncheons, teas, dinners, balls. And the blackmailer was planning his strategies, stalking his next victim. But Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn knew that something was up. He had already planted his friend Lord Robert Gospell at the scene. But someone else got there first....(Publisher's description)

Initial Thoughts

 

Coming out? Well, all righty. Coming out of what, I wonder. Have to remember — this is 1938. So...?

I've read a bunch of Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn mysteries, over the years. And I tend to skip around rather than reading them in sequence. So I've managed to neglect some of the earlier books and this is one I'm just now getting to. Hoping it's as entertaining as all the others have been.

Have a good weekend, everyone.
And happy reading!

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.

Book Beginnings: The Empty House

The Empty House
and Other Ghost Stories

by Algernon Blackwood

First published 1906

Opening Lines

Certain houses, like certain persons, manage somehow to proclaim at once their character for evil.

About the Book

Algernon Blackwood, one of the founding fathers of modern ghost and horror stories, inspired generations of writers from H.P. Lovecraft to Shirley Jackson.... Blackwood's 'The Empty House' is one of the most famous haunted house stories in the English language, with its carefully crafted gathering of tension and dread inference of terrors lurking at the end of every corridor, around every corner, through every half-opened door. This edition includes 'A Haunted Island', 'The Wood of the Dead', 'Skeleton Lake' and several other ghoulish tales.(Publisher's description)

Initial Thoughts

 

Well, I love that opening — the first sentence of this book's first story. Fortunately, I don't think I've ever experienced an evil house, but I do believe they probably exist. Do you?

I was looking around for something spooky to read for the Halloween season, and thought I'd give Blackwood a try. I've read the title story in this collection several times over the years, but not much of his other work. Which is a little odd, since I'm such a huge fan of ghost stories, and Blackwood is one of the masters of the genre. 

So far, I'm enjoying the book, although a couple of the stories are not quite as creepy as I expected. Still, I'm definitely turning all the lights on while I'm reading it, so I'd say that's pretty successful spookiness.

I should probably say something about that cover. It's not the cover of the book I'm reading, and I don't really know what edition it is. Just something I found on the internet. But it sort of grabs attention, don't you think?

Have a good weekend, everyone.
And happy reading!

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.