And Good Riddance - Wrapping Up 2016

Yes, definitely goodbye and good riddance! 2016 has been one of the weirdest and most disturbing years I can remember and I'm definitely glad to see it moving along. It's also been one of the slowest reading years I've experienced in — well, years. Not only did I not make my 50-book goal (didn't even get to 40 books — pretty bad), but I also fell way behind in my reviewing and blogging. Don't know why I had such a hard time, but I'm looking forward to getting a nice fresh start in 2017.

So, anyway...time for some wrapping up, taking stock, and looking ahead.

I don't always rate books here on the blog, but I do over at Library Thing; and as I look back over the books I did get through, I realize there were quite a few 4-star books in this year's crop (no 5-stars, but I don't hand out that rating to very many books). And I suppose if I had to pick one favorite from the entire list, it would be Henry James's Daisy Miller. I guess you can't go wrong reading the classics.

And in the more recent group, I'd probably have to say my favorite was Kate DiCamillo's 2014 Newbery Winner, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Yes, I read kiddie lit, and don't mind admitting it! But Flora & Ulysses is really a treat for readers of any age.

From among the books published in 2016, I think my top picks would be Jonas Karlsson's The Invoice (although I believe it was originally issued in 2011), and Far From True, Linwood Barclay's second novel in his Promise Falls trilogy. Also very much enjoyed Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, The Girls by Emma Cline,  Miller's Valley (which was my introduction to Anna Quindlen's work), and Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler.

So, even though I didn't read as much as I'd hoped, I did read some books I really enjoyed and discovered a few new authors. Guess I shouldn't be too disappointed with myself.

For the New Year, I've been trying to come up with a list of bookish resolutions, but it always seems to come down to "read more books" and "be a better blogger." Not very helpful. I've never been very good with resolutions, anyway. I've also been trying to come up with a First Book of the Year choice. Ideally it should be something short, and involving — a book that grabs me right from the first page and doesn't let me go until that final exquisite sentence. And I don't run into many like that these days. Maybe I'll just stick with the tried and true, and pick a book from one of the many mystery series I've got going — very possibly a Mrs. Malory novel (by Hazel Holt), I only have three more of those to finish the series. Hmmm.

OK, time to shut up now. Happy New Year, everyone! And happy reading in 2017!

Challenge Wrap-Up: 2016 Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt

Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt

Host: Bev @ My Reader's Block

I read five books for the scavenger hunt, and the minimum requirement was six. So I didn't totally wipe out, but definitely could have done better. Still, this is one of my favorite challenges and I've already signed up for the 2017 edition.

I read Silver Age mysteries (1960-1989), so I was working with this list of objects:

And the books I read:

1. Lovely in Her Bones. Sharyn McCrumb (first published 1985)
....For the scavenger hunt: Skull on cover (cover photo is the actual paperback edition I read)

2. Picture Miss Seeton (Miss Seeton #1). Heron Carvic (first published 1968; read but not reviewed)
....For the scavenger hunt: Just One Person on cover (I have several editions of this book and this cover is one of them; I actually read an electronic edition which didn't have a cover picture)

3. Knots and Crosses (Inspector Rebus #1). Ian Rankin (first published 1987; read but not reviewed)
....For the scavenger hunt: Rope/Hangman's Noose on cover (above cover is from the mass market paperback edition; I actually read the Kindle edition, cover shown below)

4. The Clocks (Hercule Poirot #34). Agatha Christie (first published 1963; read but not reviewed)
....For the scavenger hunt: Clock/Timepiece on cover (cover below is from the Kindle edition I read)

5. Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (Hercule Poirot #39). Agatha Christie (first published 1975; read but not reviewed)
....For the scavenger hunt: Bottle of Poison on cover (cover below is from the Kindle edition I read)

I think I got all of that right. One of the things I like about this challenge is that keeping track of all the details is very.... well, challenging. Keeps the little grey cells churning, right Poirot? Anyway, it was fun and I'm looking forward to next year's hunt.

2016 Reading Challenge Wrap-Ups, Part 1

Since it's very unlikely I'll be doing much more reading for any of my 2016 challenges, I'm just going to declare years-end and start posting my wrap-ups. Here we go, in (roughly) alphabetical order:

Back to the Classics Challenge

Host: Karen K @ Books and Chocolate

Only read two books that qualified for the challenge (there were twelve categories):

1. Daisy Miller. Henry James
2. To Have and Have Not. Ernest Hemingway

Blogger Shame Review Challenge

Host: herding cats & burning soup,
and Addicted to Happily Ever After @ The Herd Presents

Read one book that qualified for the challenge: The Last September, by Nina de Gramont.

Books in Translation Reading Challenge

Host: Jen @ The Introverted Reader

I did pretty well with this challenge. Signed up for 4-6 books, and ended up reading 7 that qualified:

1. The People in the Photo. Hélène Gestern; translated from the French by Emily Boyce and Ros Schwartz
2. Villa Triste. Patrick Modiano; trans. from the French by John Cullen
3. The Disappearance of Signora Giulia. Piero Chiara; trans. from the Italian by Jill Foulston
4. This Too Shall Pass. Milena Busquets; trans. from the Spanish by Valerie Miles 
5. Inkheart. Cornelia Funke; trans. from the German by Anthea Bell  
6. Tainted Tokay (Winemaker Detective Series #11). Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen; trans. from the French by Sally Pane
7. The Nightwalker. Sebastian Fitzek; trans. from the German by Jamie Lee Searle

Color-Coded Reading Challenge

Host: Bev @ My Reader's Block

Sorry to say it, but I completely wiped out on this one. Never managed to read any books for the challenge, although it still sounds good to me. Maybe just too much "structure."

European Reading Challenge

Host: Rose City Reader

Another one I managed to finish ‒ signed up at the 4-book level, and actually read 5 that qualify:

1. The People in the Photo. Hélène Gestern; translated by Emily Boyce and Ros Schwartz (set in France, mainly Paris) 
2. The Disappearance of Signora Giulia. Piero Chiara; translated by Jill Foulston (set in Italy)
3. This Too Shall Pass. Milena Busquets; translated by Valerie Miles (set in Catalonia region of Spain) 
4. The Invoice. Jonas Karlsson (set in Sweden)
5. The Nightwalker. Sebastian Fitzek; translated by Jamie Lee Searle (set in Germany) 

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Host: Amy @ Passages to the Past

Signed up at the 5-book level; read 5 books:

1. Dreaming Spies (Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes #13). Laurie R. King
2. A Christmas Escape. Anne Perry
3. A Fine Imitation. Amber Brock
4. The Port-Wine Stain. Norman Lock
5. As Good As Gone. Larry Watson 

That's probably enough for now. More to come....

Banned/Challenged Books Reading Challenge 2017

Hosted by: Book Dragon's Lair

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2017

Click here for details and sign-ups

Censorship is something we all need to be aware of and concerned about. I've always believed that, and I think today it's more important than ever. So I just can't pass up this challenge.

The object is simple: Read books that have been banned or challenged; or, read nonfiction books about censorship, book burning, etc. See the challenge announcement page for more info.

There are four levels for the challenge:

1. Read 1 book. You are an Ember. You're small but mighty just waiting to burn the structure down.
2. Read 2-6 books. You are Creeping. You're burning with a low flame and spreading slowly.
3. Read 7-12 books. You are a Blow-up fire. Sudden increase in fire intensity strong enough to upset control plans
4. Read 13+ books. You are Uncontrolled. Any fire which threatens to destroy life, property, or natural resources.

I'm hoping to read several banned or challenged books next year, so I'll be signing up at the "Creeping" level. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog (HERE).

Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt 2017

Hosted by: Bev @ My Reader's Block

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2017

Click here for rules and sign-ups

Over at her My Reader's Block blog, Bev is once again hosting the Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt in 2017. For this challenge, participants read vintage mysteries — either Golden Age (pre-1960) or Silver Age (1960-1989), or both — and hunt for a variety of objects on the book covers.

The 2016 Scavenger Hunt was one of my favorite challenges this year, even though I didn't do very well with it (actually, I'm still trying to finish one more book for it). I've dithered around a bit, but decided to give it another try in 2017. Since I seemed to have a hard time with the Silver Age, I think I'll try Golden Age mysteries this time around.

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

Backlist Reader Challenge 2017

Hosted by: The Bookwyrm's Hoard

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2017

Click here for Rules and Sign-ups

This is a really simple challenge, and something I definitely need. I'm planning to do more reading from my own "backlist" next year, so I've been looking at several TBR challenges. This one is perfect for me because it has very few rules, and you don't necessarily have to own the books already -- as long as they're on your "to read" list (and they were published before 2016), they qualify. That means a lot more flexibility in choosing books. I love that.

I have a (ridiculously enormous) GoodReads list of books I'd like to read, and an even longer written list (yes, on paper!) that I'll be referring to for picks. Also, I'll be keeping a list of possible reads on my challenge blog (HERE), and tracking my progress there throughout the year. My goal is to read at least a dozen books off these various lists -- I'd love to read more than that, but want to stay realistic about what I can hope to achieve!

2017 Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge

Hosted by: Claudia @ My Soul Called Life

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2017

Click here for announcement and sign-ups

This challenge presents six keywords associated with each month in 2017. Participants read one book each month whose title includes one or more of the keywords for that month.

Monthly Keywords:

• JAN -- Court, Fall, Of, Way, Deep, Thousand
• FEB -- And, Rose, Promise, Every, Deception, Blazing
• MAR -- Shall, Go, By, Silence, Her, Saga
• APR -- From, Trigger, Tale, His, Crown, Mist
• MAY -- Four, Wind, All, Fury, Days, Shade
• JUN -- Without, Know, Good, Watch, One, Have
• JUL -- Before, Final, All, Freedom, Life, Dream
• AUG -- Sun, Infinite, Big, My, Wherever, Most
• SEP -- Sand, From, Between, Ever, Reasons, Clash
• OCT -- Darker, You, Ashes, Out, House, Sea
• NOV -- Place, War, Heart, Why, Give, Meet
• DEC -- Forget, Twilight, Only, Crystal, On, Will

At first I didn't really intend to join in on the Monthly Keyword Challenge -- I was just going to play around with it a little. But I've been having so much fun matching up books with keywords, I decided I might as well go ahead and sign up. The concept is intriguing, and I think it could help me knock a few books off my embarrassingly huge TBR pile.

Also, I was especially happy to read this little note: "This challenge is simply for the pure satisfaction of reading so please don’t worry if you have to skip a month or if you have to read your books out of order!"

During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog (HERE).

Some possible choices (definitely subject to change):

JANUARY

-- The Fall Guy. James Lasdun
-- Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe

FEBRUARY

-- Fathers and Sons. Ivan Turgenev
-- Hide and Seek (Inspector Rebus #2). Ian Rankin
-- Mrs. Malory and a Death In the Family (Sheila Malory #17). Hazel Holt
-- Rose Cottage. Mary Stewart

MARCH

-- The Go-Between. L.P. Hartley
-- Hitty, Her First Hundred Years. Rachel Carson
-- North By Northwest. Ernest Lehman

APRIL

-- Dancer From the Dance. Andrew Holleran 

-- Far From the Madding Crowd. Thomas Hardy

-- Flowers For His Funeral (Mitchell & Markby #7). Ann Granger
-- Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce #5). Alan Bradley

MAY

-- Six Days of the Condor. James Grady
-- The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame
-- All Passion Spent. Vita Sackville-West

JUNE

-- Good Morning, Midnight. Jean Rhys

-- A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia De Luce #3). Alan Bradley

JULY

-- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
-- Dream When You're Feeling Blue. Elizabeth Berg
-- Final Curtain (Roderick Alleyn #14). Ngaio Marsh

AUGUST

-- Farewell, My Lovely. Raymond Chandler 

-- Gently In the Sun (Inspector George Gently #6). Alan Hunter 

-- Travels With My Aunt. Graham Greene

SEPTEMBER

-- Between the Acts. Virginia Woolf
-- If Morning Ever Comes. Anne Tyler
-- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Henry Farrell

OCTOBER

-- The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories. Algernon Blackwood
-- Wide Sargasso Sea. Jean Rhys

NOVEMBER

-- The Death of the Heart. Elizabeth Bowen
-- The Heart of the Matter. Graham Greene
-- The Summer Before the War. Helen Simonson

DECEMBER

-- The Crystal Cave. Mary Stewart
-- The Forgetting Room: A Fiction. Nick Bantock
-- Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie


(Notice that there are two keywords repeated: ALL in May and July, and FROM in April and September. I believe those are the only repeats.)