Category: Potpouri-Books

Proposed January 2016 Reads

  By

Proposed January Reading Challenge Reads!

 

In order to reach my goal of reading 60 books in 2017, I will need to read an average of five books per month.Here are my proposed reads for January of 2017

[powr-image-slider id=4f09d6de_1483579721]

Reading Challenge: Nonfiction
  1. How to Run the World – Parag Khanna

I read Connectivity by Parag Khanna a few months ago. I was fascinated by his analysis of the way that the supply chain has connected the world. This book was written a few years before Connectivity. I love geography and love to learn about the world around me, and right now Parag Khanna may be the best writing about it today!

Reading Challenge: Science Fiction

2. Lazarus War: Artefact – Jamie Sawyer

I have wanted to read this book and series for a while now. I used my Christmas Gift Card to Barnes and Noble to finally buy it!

“Artefact “is book one of The Lazarus War, an explosive new space adventure series from one of the brightest new stars in science fiction – perfect for fans of “The Edge of Tomorrow,” “Alien” and James S. A. Corey‘s Expanse series. Jack Campbell, author of the Lost Fleet novels calls it “a gripping read that moves at warp speed.” Read More

Reading Challenge: Mystery /Thriller – New to Me Author

3. The Killing Kind – Chris Holm

Ok so earlier I said that I was going to use Mystery Scene Magazine to discover “new to me” authors. Well, Chris Holm is the first new author that I have discovered through the magazine. The Killing Kind won the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel back in September.

I have always heard about the Anthony Awards but never really set out to discover what they were until now! From Wikipedia

The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America.[1] Among the most prestigious awards in the world of mystery writers, the Anthony Awards have helped boost the careers of many recipients Read More

Now back to The Killing Kind: From Goodreads

A hitman who only kills other hitmen winds up a target himself.

Michael Hendricks kills people for money. That aside, he’s not so bad a guy.

Once a covert operative for a false-flag unit of the US military, Hendricks was presumed dead after a mission in Afghanistan went sideways. He left behind his old life–and beloved fiancée–and set out on a path of redemption…or perhaps one of willful self-destruction.

Now Hendricks makes his living as a hitman entrepreneur of sorts–he only hits other hit me Read More

Sounds good to me!

 

Reading Challenge: Literature Reading Challenge: Award Winner

4. All That Man Is – David Szalay – Awards:Man Booker Prize Nominee (2016), Gordon Burn Prize (2016)

I chose this book to take me out of my comfort zone. It meets the Literature challenge as an award winner. From Goodreads:

A magnificent and ambitiously conceived portrait of contemporary life, by a genius of realism.

Nine men. Each of them at a different stage in life, each of them away from home, and each of them striving–in the suburbs of Prague, in an overdeveloped Alpine village, beside a Belgian motorway, in a dingy Cyprus hotel–to understand what it means to be alive, here and now. Tracing a dramatic arc from the spring of youth to the winter of old age, the ostensibly separate narratives of All That Man Is aggregate into a picture of a single shared existence, a picture that interrogates the state of modern manhood while bringing to life, unforgettably, the physical and emotional terrain of an increasingly globalized Europe. And so these nine lives form an ingenious and new kind of novel, in which David Szalay expertly plots a dark predicament for the twenty-first-century man. Read More

Reading Challenge: Mystery/Thrillers – Current Mystery Author

 

5. Ruler of the Night – David Morrell

I have been a fan of the novels of David Morrell since I read The Brotherhood of the Rose and The Fraternity of the Stone back in the 1980s. Ruler of the Night is the last book in the trilogy featuring opium-eating Thomas De Quincey

Like David Morrell’s previous De Quincey novels, Ruler of the Night blends fact and fiction to an exceptional degree, this time focusing on a real-life Victorian murder so startling that it changed the culture-in this case, the first murder on an English train. The brutality of the crime stoked the fears of a generation who believed that the newly invented railway would “annihilate time and space.” Read More

If I am able to finish these five books this month that should get my reading year off to a great start. So wish me well! Anybody want to join me? Wish Me Good Luck! Now it’s back to Lazarus War!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Man Reads…. Proposed January Reads

  By

Proposed January Reading Challenge Reads!

 

In order to reach my goal of reading 60 books in 2017, I will need to read an average of five books per month.Here are my proposed reads for January of 2017

[powr-image-slider id=4f09d6de_1483579721]

Reading Challenge: Nonfiction
  1. How to Run the World – Parag Khanna

I read Connectivity by Parag Khanna a few months ago. I was fascinated by his analysis of the way that the supply chain has connected the world. This book was written a few years before Connectivity. I love geography and love to learn about the world around me, and right now Parag Khanna may be the best writing about it today!

Reading Challenge: Science Fiction

2. Lazarus War: Artefact – Jamie Sawyer

I have wanted to read this book and series for a while now. I used my Christmas Gift Card to Barnes and Noble to finally buy it!

“Artefact “is book one of The Lazarus War, an explosive new space adventure series from one of the brightest new stars in science fiction – perfect for fans of “The Edge of Tomorrow,” “Alien” and James S. A. Corey‘s Expanse series. Jack Campbell, author of the Lost Fleet novels calls it “a gripping read that moves at warp speed.” Read More

Reading Challenge: Mystery /Thriller – New to Me Author

3. The Killing Kind – Chris Holm

Ok so earlier I said that I was going to use Mystery Scene Magazine to discover “new to me” authors. Well, Chris Holm is the first new author that I have discovered through the magazine. The Killing Kind won the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel back in September.

I have always heard about the Anthony Awards but never really set out to discover what they were until now! From Wikipedia

The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America.[1] Among the most prestigious awards in the world of mystery writers, the Anthony Awards have helped boost the careers of many recipients Read More

Now back to The Killing Kind: From Goodreads

A hitman who only kills other hitmen winds up a target himself.

Michael Hendricks kills people for money. That aside, he’s not so bad a guy.

Once a covert operative for a false-flag unit of the US military, Hendricks was presumed dead after a mission in Afghanistan went sideways. He left behind his old life–and beloved fiancée–and set out on a path of redemption…or perhaps one of willful self-destruction.

Now Hendricks makes his living as a hitman entrepreneur of sorts–he only hits other hit me Read More

Sounds good to me!

 

Reading Challenge: Literature Reading Challenge: Award Winner

4. All That Man Is – David Szalay – Awards:Man Booker Prize Nominee (2016), Gordon Burn Prize (2016)

I chose this book to take me out of my comfort zone. It meets the Literature challenge as an award winner. From Goodreads:

A magnificent and ambitiously conceived portrait of contemporary life, by a genius of realism.

Nine men. Each of them at a different stage in life, each of them away from home, and each of them striving–in the suburbs of Prague, in an overdeveloped Alpine village, beside a Belgian motorway, in a dingy Cyprus hotel–to understand what it means to be alive, here and now. Tracing a dramatic arc from the spring of youth to the winter of old age, the ostensibly separate narratives of All That Man Is aggregate into a picture of a single shared existence, a picture that interrogates the state of modern manhood while bringing to life, unforgettably, the physical and emotional terrain of an increasingly globalized Europe. And so these nine lives form an ingenious and new kind of novel, in which David Szalay expertly plots a dark predicament for the twenty-first-century man. Read More

Reading Challenge: Mystery/Thrillers – Current Mystery Author

 

5. Ruler of the Night – David Morrell

I have been a fan of the novels of David Morrell since I read The Brotherhood of the Rose and The Fraternity of the Stone back in the 1980s. Ruler of the Night is the last book in the trilogy featuring opium-eating Thomas De Quincey

Like David Morrell’s previous De Quincey novels, Ruler of the Night blends fact and fiction to an exceptional degree, this time focusing on a real-life Victorian murder so startling that it changed the culture-in this case, the first murder on an English train. The brutality of the crime stoked the fears of a generation who believed that the newly invented railway would “annihilate time and space.” Read More

If I am able to finish these five books this month that should get my reading year off to a great start. So wish me well! Anybody want to join me? Wish Me Good Luck! Now it’s back to Lazarus War!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Man Read’s 2017 Reading Challenges…

  By

This Man Reads 2017 Reading Challenges…..

Two  years ago I signed up for several Reading Challenges on various websites. The result was that the challenges helped me remain more focused with my reading. So last year I created my own Reading Challenges. They were meant to keep me focused and reading a variety of books. So here is my 2017 version.

I probably should have created these reading challenges back  in December, but I was too busy trying to get past 51 books to do it!   But you know that they always say,”Better Late than Never”. So here are my 2017 Reading Challenges. My overall reading challenge is to read 60 books. I didn’t reach that goal in 2016, but I did read more books in 2016 that 2015 so maybe I can reach the goal this year!!

I have divided my 2017 Reading Challenge into four sub-reading challenges. The first one is the 2017 Literature Reading Challenge. This challenge is meant  to take me out of my reading comfort zone. My comfort zone is composed of mysteries and thrillers. I have set the goal for this Challenge pretty low only 6 books. The books are to be divided as follows.

2017 Literature Reading Challenge

  • Two general fiction books, i.e, books where no one is killed or things are blown up!
  • Two classics that I was supposed to have read in College or High School.
  • Two books that have one an award, like the Pulitzer Prize, the Faulkner award or Man Booker award. Total 6 books

2017 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge

The second is my Mystery/Thriller reading challenge. Instead of just saying I am going to read 36 mysteries or thrillers, I have divided this challenge up a  little too….

  • Six books from a series that I have always wanted to read, but have somehow always put off reading.  An example is the Enzo Files series from Peter May. Another example are the Charlie Parker books by John Connolly.
  • Six books from series  that  I need to catch up on for example: Alex Berenson’s John Wells series, Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole series or Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series!!
  •  Twelve books from authors and series that I currently read, i.e Joe Pickett from C.J. Box,
  • Twelve  books from mystery authors that are new to me! One of the ways that I plan to discover new authors is through Mystery Scene magazine.  Andrew and Meaghan gave me a subscription for Christmas and just browsing through the first issue. I found several new authors! Thanks!!

2017 Science Fiction and Nonfiction Reading Challenges

These challenges are both pretty straight forward….

  •  Six Science Fiction books  I plan to divide these books any way I want. The books can be written by either familiar or new to me authors/
  • Twelve  nonfiction books. Basically, they can be anything that catches my fancy!!

Oh, I’ have also created a Kindle/Bookshelf /TBR Pile Challenge!  I want 40 of the books to come from books that are either on my bookshelves or on my Kindle! I spent a lot of time collecting books on my Kindle and then never getting around to reading them! Anyone else have that problem!!

Here is my spreadsheet table that I use to keep track of how I’m doing on my various challenges!

2017 Reading Challenge Kindle Bookshelves Library Total Goal % of Goal
           
2017 Literature Reading Challenge  
   
General Fiction 0 0 0 2 0.00%
Classics (Books I should have read but didn’t) 0 0 0 2 0.00%
Award-Winners 0 0 0 2 0.00%
Sub-total
2017 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge  
New Series that I have meant to read 0 1 1 6 16.67%
Series that I am behind on (i.e. Gabriel Allon) 0 0 0 6 0.00%
Current Mystery Authors (series or non-series) 0 0 0 12
New Mystery Authors 0 0 0 12
Sub-total
2017 Science Fiction /Fantasy Challenge   0 0 0 6 0.00%
   
2017 Nonfiction Reading Challenge   0 0 0 12 0.00%
   
0 0 0
Totals 1 60 1.67%
2016 Kindle/Bookshelf Challenge 20 20 20 60

 

In my next post I’ll outline the books that I plan to read in January of 2017!! Wish Me Luck!!

Related articles

A 2016 Reading Challenges Wrap-Up

  By

So since Christmas I have been very bad about writing anything. Sometimes I find myself in a writing funk and well this is one of those times!  We had a great Christmas and like everyone it went by to quickly. Our whole family spent the morning at.Andrew and Meaghan’s . It’s the one house that has enough room for all of us and all the presents for everyone, particularly the two little ones!

Anyway everyone had a good time and I think all of the kids big and little liked their presents. I know I liked mine! I’ll write more about mine over the weekend.

Over the last week or so I did manage to finish two more books. That brings my total books read in 2016 to 53! Two more than last year, and only 7 from my goal! The two books I finished were: Runaway by Peter May and Reckless Creed  from Alex Kava. Both were really good reads. Runaway is the third book written by Peter May that I read this year. That’s the most by any one author. I guess he is my new favorite.  I will write more about each of these books separately shortly.

Here is the final tabulation of the books that I read for my various Reading Challenges!

Final Tabulation of My Reading Challenges

 

2016 Reading Challenges TBR Library Total Goal % of Goal
         
2016 Literature Reading Challenge
General Fiction 1 3 3 6 50.00%
Classics 0 0 0 6 0.00%
NY Times Bestseller List 0 0 0 6 0.00%
Award-Winners 1 2 3 6 50.00%
2015 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge
Rgrandad’s Mysteries 4 26 30 10 300.00%
Women Mystery Book Authors 1 0 5 10 50.00%
2016 Science Fiction /Fantasy Challenge 0 0 1 6 16.67%
2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 4 7 11 10 110.00%
 
Totals 0 0 0
53 60 88.33%
2016 TBR Pile Challenge 11 25 44.00%

 

From the table we can see that I did well on both my Mysteries and Nonfiction challenges. That may be just a slight understatement as the books read for those two challenges accounted for  77% of the books I read in 2016! (41 out of 53)  On three of the other challenges I read 50% of my projected total number of books.On the Science Fiction challenge I only read 1 out of 6. I didn’t read any classics!! Now it also says that I didn’t read any books from the New York Times Bestseller Lists. I believe that some of my mystery and thriller reads like books from Harlan Coben, Linwood Barclay, Jefferson Bass and Karin Slaughter probably spent some time on the bestseller lists!

Top Seven New Mysteries Read

I know that over the last few months when I went into Barnes & Noble I would see that I had read seven books that they had in their new release displays. They were:

  1. Without Mercy – Jefferson Bass,
  2. The Kept Woman – Karin Slaughter,
  3. The Twenty Three – Linwood Barclay,
  4. Home – Harlan Coben,
  5. The Second Life of Nick Mason – Steve Hamilton
  6. Blind Sight Carol O’Connor and
  7. Manitou Canyon – William  Kent Krueger

Oh and one I just finished in the last few days Reckless Creed from Alex Kava  Hmm, looking at the above list, I may just put together my top 15 list of 2016!

They were all terrific reads!! Check Them Out!!

So overall it was a great year of reading!! I am still in the process of developing my 2017 Reading Challenges and will possibly reveal them tomorrow! I think some of the Challenges will include reading more books from my own bookshelves and from e-books that are on my Kindle! So I will be back soon with my 2017 Reading Challenges and my proposed January reads!!

 

 

 

September 2016 – A Review of the Six Books I Read!

  By 
[smoothslider id='4']
September 2016 – Six Books Read in a Busy Month! Yeah Me!

I had a great reading month in September of 2016. I finished the five books on the above slider and they all were really good. The books I read came from a variety of genres. There was; a mystery from one of my favorite authors The Second Life of Nick Mason, a non-fiction book history book The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascom, an award-winning general fiction – Life of Pi from Yann Martell, a science fiction space opera Dark Run by Mike Brooks, and a political thriller Red Cell from Mark Henshaw. I think that a pretty good mix of genres!

I also finished a sixth book The One Plan:A Week-by-Week Guide to Restoring Your Natural Health and Happiness by Yogi Cameron Alborzian, but I haven’t written anything about it yet. The One Plan had a lot of good ideas that I plan to implement. I don’t think I’m ready to commit to many of the aspects of the plan though, The Path is a little too intense for me!

Finishing the six books brought the total number of books I have read this year to 37. In order to be on pace to read my projected total of 60 books in 2016, I would have to have read 45 books by the end of September, so I am eight books off of the pace or on pace to read 52 books which would be 1 more than 2015. I would be very happy if I reach that total, but I will still try to pick up the pace and shoot for the goal of 60 books!

 

Let’s Talk Action Thrillers!!

  By

 Thoughts about the Action Thrillers that I have Read and those I Still Read!

I guess I started reading action thrillers back in the early 1980s, when a work colleague introduced me to the works of Clive Cussler and his hero Dirk Pitt! My first encounter with Mr. Pitt was in the book Raise the Titanic. I quickly went back and read his previous books and continued to follow Dirk’s adventures for several years. The novels always had a good mix of history and action.

At the same time I started to read The November Man novels from Bill Granger. The November Man books were James Bond and Jason Bourne type novels with an intriguing character. I followed this series for many years reading most of the twelve books in the series.

During this period, I also read most of Robert Ludlum;s action thrillers, along with books from David Morrell like The Brotherhood of the Rose and The League of Night and Fog. Richard Hoyt was another author whose action thrillers I enjoyed. His character was James Burlane.

I also read several of the John LeCarre George Smiley novels I know for sure that I read The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and I may have read another but I’m not sure.

More recently the three action thriller series that I have followed, though I am way behind on all of them are the Mitch Rapp novels of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor’s Scott Harvath novels and Alex Berenson’s John Wells series. I have enjoyed all the books in these series, but over the last few years, I have read fewer and fewer of these types of books. At this point I think I will just have to just pick up one of the recent books, read it, and then go back and read the earlier one. It seems that if I don’t do that, I will just keep putting off reading books that I like!!!

One action thriller series, that I have kept up with pretty well, is the James Rollins Sigma Force series. The latest book in that series is The Bone Labyrinth, which is number 11 in the series. I have read all of the books except the first book Sandstorm and the two most recent books The 6th Extinction and of course The Bone Labyrinth. I have both of those books checked out of the library right now and Sandstorm has been on my TBR pile forever!!

Prior to starting the Sigma Force Series, Rollins wrote several standalone thrillers like Subterranean, Excavation and Deep Fathom all of which were great reads

Hey I forgot the Gabriel Allon books from Daniel Silva.and what about the Bob Lee Swagger books fromStephen Hunter, those are good too!! Can you say too many books too little time!!

Now I haven’t even touch on the suspense and psychological thrillers that I have read…….that’s for later now it’s back toThe Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child. Child is half of the writing team of Preston & Child whose Pendergrast series I also have read!! Hmm, that reminds me that the Pendergrast series is up to Book 15 and that I am only on book 7 …..argh!

So who is your favorite action thriller character????? Hmm, maybe Mitch Rapp, no John Wells…….

 

.

A Post-Birthday Trip to the Library Book Sale!!

  By ,

Five Treasures Found at the Library Book Sale

So October is really zipping by, seems like it was just my birthday (Oct 1), I guess that’s what happens when you’re busy. Anyway, the Cinnaminson Branch of the Burlington County Library had their fall book sale Oct 1-3rd and well since I  needed to take some books back and pickup a book that I had put on hold, I begrudgingly visited the used book sale. Yeah right!

I have discovered that the best way to control my spending at these book sales is to go with a set amount of money to spend! For this sale I had ten dollars to spend. Here’s how I spent my money…..

Think of a Number Book Sale BookFirst up was John Verdon’s Think of a Numb3r.(Dave Gurney #1). From Goodreads….

An extraordinary fiction debut, Think of a Number is an exquisitely plotted novel of suspense that grows relentlessly darker and more frightening as its pace accelerates, forcing its deeply troubled characters to moments of startling self-revelation Read More

I have seen this book  before, but for some reason I have never picked it up. Now is the time!!

 

Next came Last to Die from Tess Gerritsen. I have loved Tess Gerritsen’s Jane Rizzoli since The Surgeon for some reason I have put off reading Gerritsen’s latest book and every time I finish one of them I shake my head and question – why??

The Death Relic Chris KuzneskiBooks from two other authors whose books I have enjoyed and yet don’t seem to read often enough caught my eye. First, The Death Relic from Chris Kuzneski and then Gregg Hurwitz‘s  You’re Next.

When Maria Pelati’s research team disappears in Mexico, Jonathon Payne and David Jones embark on a perilous mission to find the missing archaeologists. The duo quickly finds a link between the group’s work and its recent disappearance. Following the clues left behind, their pair try to solve one of the darkest mysteries of the new world. More

Kuzneski’s books always blend history and action. The Death Relic is book #7 of the Jonathon Payne and David Jones series. I have read books #2 and # 4) in the series and enjoyed them so I know I’ll enjoy The Death Relic!!

Gregg Hurwitz’s You’re Next is a stand alone thriller. I hope that this one is as good as the last Hurwitz novel I read Tell No Lies which was really, really good!

Every Day David LevithanThe final book that I bought was every day by David Levithan

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon Read More

every day is not a book that I would typically read but it sounds really interesting and I’ve been going to get the book from the library for a long time!!

So the final tally at the book sale was two hard backs the first two books and three trade size paperbacks for a whopping $9.00!! Now I just have to find the time to read them all!!

 

RGranddad’s Wednesday Potpouri

  By

 

ADD Potpouri…Baseball, Bonamassa, Box and The Tangent –

 

I once worked with a guy named Garry, his brothers were Larry, Barry and Chuck …. Garry, Larry, Barry and Chuck like the above headline one does not belong…here’s a little ADD potpouri for a Wednesday…….

Once again I am apologizing for not posting much over the last few days, but I have been fairly busy. I babysat Zoe on Monday no problem and then yesterday I babysat Oliver and while we had a great day Oliver needed two naps to keep himself going and while Granddad made it without napping when he got home he was spent and napped through several baseball games!! The inning that I would have liked to have seen was the top of the ninth inning in Pittsburgh when the Cubbies scored three to beat the Pirates 9-8, after the Bucs had scored three in the eighth to go ahead.

I have decided that my alternates to the Phillies to root for are the Cubs in the NL Central and the Royals in the American League!My connection to the Cubs goes back to the early 60s when my mother’s first cousin Barney Schultz pitched for them! One time while he was pitching for them, my parents and I were allowed into the area outside of the visiting locker room in Connie Mack Stadium where I got autographs of Cubs players!! That was a big deal for a maybe 12 year-old kid!

As for the Royals while I have never been a fan of them, especially in 1980, but what they have done recently in building an exciting young team has bee impressive and there is a Philly connection through Mike Arbuckle who is now a top person in the Royals front office. He should have been named Phillies GM back when Amaro got the job!! Anyway over the first few weeks I have enjoyed watching both of these teams!!

Muddy Wolf Live at Red Rocks Joe Bonamassa

 

As for music over the last day or so. The soundtrack for the tip down to Paulsboro and Oliver was the new release from Joe Bonamassa Muddy Wolf – Live at Red Rocks, which from what I heard surely does rock. I will listen to it some more and let you know more about the album. On the way back I listened to a little of the latest release from the prog rock band The Tangent A Spark in the Aether.  While I am a fan of Joe  Bonamassa  I know little about The Tangent from ProgArchives I read that they are a multinational eclectic prog band…..

THE TANGENT is a project originally formed by Andy Tillison, Guy Manning and Sam Baine of PARALLEL OR 90 DEGREES [Po90] as well as half of THE FLOWER KINGS including Jonas Reingold, Zoltan Csorsz and guitar virtuoso and former KAIPA member Roine Stolt. Of course to put further icing on the cake David Jackson of VAN DER GRAFF GENERATOR would lend his legendary sax to the band for their debut album. This started out as a mere project and was actually intended to be a Tillison solo effort before it became a full fledged band as Tillison felt the need to produce something more typically ‘prog’ than he’d been doing in Po90 Continue Reading

I am not sure how much I like this album yet based on my limited listening yesterday. So far at ProgArchives the album has a 4.19 rating which is very high! I think I will flip a coin to see which album is the soundtrack to today’s run!!

In addition to The Tangent, l listened to a few tracks from Wolf & Clarke Expedition 2 . This is one of my favorite new jazz albums. I had included the album on a playlist of new jazz albums last week, You can check out that playlist here.

C J Box

 

Finally, I have finished two books this week. First was the latest from Jorgen Brekke Dreamless and the second Island of the Sequined Love Nun from Christopher Moore. Both were great and I promise  reviews today or tomorrow!! Here also is an update on my reading challenges with the latest boos added. So far I am up to 17 books for the year a number I reached near the end of August last year!! As you can see, I am now only reading three books and I probably should concentrate on finishing those three, but Endangered the new C J Box  Joe Pickett novel is calling me from the shelving cart at the Riverside Library!!

So Missy should be home any minute now and babysitting duties will be over and it’s off to the library and then Trader Joes and then a run or maybe just a run and Trader Joes tomorrow……..

Reading Challenge From TBR Pile Buy/Library Total Goal %complete
2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 2 2 11 18%
2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 4 6 10 23 43%
2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 1 1 2thy 5 40%
2015 Science Fiction/Fantasy Challenge 2 1 3 12 25%
Totals 7 10 17 51 33%
Currently Reading Challenge From Page Total %complete
The President’s War Nonfiction Library 160 316 51%
What Then Must We Do-Gar Alperowitz Nonfiction Library 45 156 29%
Bowl of Heaven – Benford and Niven Science Fiction Library 36 412 9%

Reading Challenges – A Quick Update – April 2, 2015

  By

Edward finishes Book 13 of 2015 – brings home 3 new Reading Challenges Books -Oh My!

 

A quick Reading Challenges Update! This afternoon I finished book number 13 for 2015.When Gods Die -a Sebastian St.Cyr mystery from C.S.Harris. This is the first book that I have read in this series and it will not be my last!! It is actually Book #2 of what is now a 10 book series. The book’s setting is London in June of 1811, where Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin is investigating the murder of a beautiful young wife of an aging marquis. The young woman was found dead in the arms of the Prince Regent with a jeweled dagger that once belonged to Bonnie Prince Charlie in her back. And a necklace that belonged to Sebastian’s dead mother around her neck! I will write my complete review tomorrow but for now I’ll just say I really, really liked the book!!

As far as the books I am currently reading and my proposed April reads, let’s recap. I’m am still reading The President’s War, On Writing from Stephen King and Sarah J Maas’s Crown of Midnight.

Now I should be satisfied to just keep reading those three books, but Noooo! I had to go to Barnes & Noble the other night and while there I saw that The Chessmen the third book in Peter May’s terrific Lewis trilogy has been released along with Dreamless, the next installment of the Odd Singsaker series from Norwegian author Jorgen Brekke. I have read the first two books in May’s series The Black House and The Lewis Man and loved them both. I also read Brekke’s first Where Monsters Dwell. and loved it as well! So, after I came home I went to my library’s website and saw that they had both books so I requested them. I also had previously requested the first Jack MacTaggart book Hush Money. I did not think that all THREE of the books were available or that they would come so quickly, but I picked up all three at the library today!!  Now of those three books, I have to read,  The Chessmen,   that series is just too good. So I will set aside the other two books and concentrate on the three books  have been reading and The Chessmen starting either of the other two upon completion of my next book! .

Anyway here is the current status of my reading challenges and the books I am currently reading!! I do believe working on these reading challenges and keeping these charts have helped me focus on my reading, In 2014, I didn’t finish the 13th book until August!! In 2013 I finished book 13 a little earlier in the year, but it was still on May 24th!! So now i just have to keep  going!! So excuse me while I go read!!

 

Reading Challenges From TBR Pile Buy/Library Total Goal %complete
2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 1 1 11 9%
2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 4 4 8 23 35%
2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 1 1 2 5 40%
2015 Science Fiction/Fantasy Challenge 1 1 2 12 17%
Totals 6 7 13 51 25%
Currently Reading Challenge From Page Total %complete
The President’s War Nonfiction Library 142 316 45%
On Writing Nonfiction TBR Pile 176 284 62%
Crown of Midnight Fantasy Library 90 418 22%

Reading Challenge Update and March Reads

  By

March Reading Challenge Update and Current Reads

 

So I finished book 8 of the year The Things Carried on February 27 and Book 9 Hard Rain by Barry Eisler on March 2nd. Both of those books were from my TBR pile and they bring the total number of books I have read in 2015 from my TBR pile to six. Since The Things They Carried is about the Vietnam War,it is historical fiction and the first book I have read this year that counts toward that challenge! While Hard Rain is a cloak & dagger book and brings the total in that challenge to 5! So here is where I stand now on my various challenges!

Reading Challenge From TBR Pile Buy/Library Total Goal %complete
2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 1 1 11 9%
2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 4 1 5 23 22%
2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 1 0 1 5 20%
2015 Science Fiction/Fantasy Challenge 1 1 2 12 17%
Totals 6 3 9 51 18%

 

Now as for what am I planning to read in March.Well I’m still reading The President’s War about the six presidents who were still alive during the Civil War and what five of them thought of the actions of the sitting President Lincoln’s actions, along with Breaking Creed and Crown of Midnight. However, other night when I was reviewing the new books arriving in March, I came across a new Stanley Hastings mystery Safari from Parnell Hall!! I love the Hastings series so I checked the library and it was available,so I requested it I picked it up on Friday. I have to read it, So I put Green-Eyed Lady on hold.  The good thing though is that Hall’s books are usually fast reads! While I was at the library, I also picked up When Gods Die by C.S. Harris. It is the second book in the Sebastian St.Cyr series. Set in England in 1811, the book goes towards my historical fiction challenge!! Si if you excuse me I have some reading to do!!

Currently Reading Challenge From Page Total %complete
The President’s War – Chris DeRose Nonfiction Library 130 316 41%
Breaking Creed – Alex Kava Cloak & Dagger Library 14 310 5%
When Gods Die – C.S. Harris Historical Fiction Library 30 336 9%
Crown of Midnight – Sarah J Maas Fantasy Library 86 418 21%
Safari – Parnell Hall Cloak & Dagger Library 20 261 8%