How is it already June??  I am getting my shelves organized for summer reading - a huge stack just came in on my library holds and I picked up some paperback beach reads from the local used bookstore.  I just wish I had the entire summer off!

Goal Books for May:

1. Slay by Brittney Morris (YA)
2. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Mystery/Shelves)
3. Hour of the Witch y Chris Bohjalian (Fiction)
4. Dear Martin by Nic Stone (YA)

Books Read in May:

1. Tell Me How it Ends by Valeria Luisella
2. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Mystery/Shelves)
3. Slay by Brittney Morris (YA)
4. Bob by Wendy Mass, Rebecca Stead (Children's Literature)
5. Dear Martin by Nic Stone (YA)
6. The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
7. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

Goal Books for June:

1. Hour of the Witch y Chris Bohjalian (Fiction)
2. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear (Mystery/Shelves)
3. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (YA)
4. Hoot by Carl Hiassen (Children's Literature)

Happy Reading,

Anne

April Review and May Goals

The weeks are flying by...we're already through the first couple weeks of May and I haven't had a chance yet to post about April.  I vaguely remember every year that May is busy with end-of-school-year events and planning for the summer, and yet, I always seem to be overwhelmed and falling behind on everything -a nd not mentally prepared for what that means.  It does also mean that I fall behind on reading because there seems to be no time!  And I recognize that not reading really brings me down.  So, I need to work a bit over the next few weeks on finding way to have balance, even though work is ramping up...perhaps I need to make time to get back on the treadmill (a little exercise to go with my reading)!  Here's what I was up to in April!

Goal Books for April:

1. Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala (Mystery/Library)
2. The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller (Fiction/Shelves)
3. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Mystery/Shelves)
4. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (Fiction/Shelves)

Books Read in April:

1. The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (Memoir/Graphic Novel)
2. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (Fiction/Middle Reader)
3. Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala (Mystery/Library)
4. The Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon (Fiction/Romance)
5. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (Fiction/Shelves)

Goal Books for May:

1. Slay by Brittney Morris (YA)
2. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Mystery/Shelves)
3. Hour of the Witch y Chris Bohjalian (Fiction)
4. Dear Martin by Nic Stone (YA)

Happy Reading,

Anne

March Review and April Goals

March was a slow reading month for me.  I'm not quite sure why - I think I keep trying to read books that required me to sit and focus for long stretches of time - but I really only had 20 minutes here and there.  So, I found myself gravitating toward thrillers and romances.  They were enough to hold my very limited attention, as I prioritized fun/scary story telling.  Reviewing the books I've read this past month, there were a lot of thrillers in there.  I'm on the hunt for more - accepting that these are the books that I want right now!

Goal Books for March:

1. Run the Tides by Vendela Vida (Fiction/Borrowed)
2. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Tolles (Fiction/Library)
3. Taste by Stanley Tucci (Memoir/Library)
4. Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (Mystery/Shelves)

Books Read in March:

1. Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (Mystery/Shelves)
2. Wahala by Nikki May (Fiction/Library)
3. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (Thriller/Library)
4. The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen (Romance/Library)
5. Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner (Thriller/Library)
6. The Maid by Nita Prose (Thriller/Library)

Goal Books for April:

1. Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala (Mystery/Library)
2. The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller (Fiction/Shelves)
3. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Mystery/Shelves)
4. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (Fiction/Shelves)

Happy Reading!

February Review and Goals for March

 

For a short month, I think I did pretty well.  Though, of course, I did read a few graphic novels which certainly helps up the total in a short amount of time!  This isn't a great attitude for a year when I'm *trying* to make it a few of the longer books in my TBR pile, but looking at the numbers is a hard habit to break!

Goal Books for February:

1. The Love Songs of W.E.B. duBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Fiction/Library)
2. The Arthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Non-Fiction/Library)
3. Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Fiction/Book Club/Library)
4. Obie by Schuyler Bailar (Fiction/Shelves)

Books Read in February:

1. The Arthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Non-Fiction/Library)
2. Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Fiction/Book Club/Library)
3. Obie by Schuyler Bailar (Fiction/Shelves)
4. Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano (Mystery/Shelves)
5. Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan (Juvenile Fiction/Library)
6. Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds & Jason Griffin (Fiction/Library)
7. Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong (Memoir/Shelves)
8. Half Magic by Edward Eager (Juvenile Fiction/Shelves)
9. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (Romance/Library)
10. Heartstopper, Vol. I by Alice Oseman (Graphic Novel/Library)
11. The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear (Mystery/Library)
12. The Golden Hour by Niki Smith (Graphic Novel/Library)
13. Go with the Flow by Lily Williams & Karen Schneemann (Graphic Novel/Library)

Goal Books for March:

1. Run the Tides by Vendela Vida (Fiction/Borrowed)
2. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Tolles (Fiction/Library)
3. Taste by Stanley Tucci (Memoir/Library)
4. Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (Mystery/Shelves)

Happy Reading!

January Review and Plans for February

 

I read more this month than I have in a very long time.  I'm not quite sure what accounted for this - though I did make a goal to read at least 20 minutes of non-fiction a day.  I can't say I tracked this, but I did find that when I did it, I often went for much longer.  And then, I really wanted to get my fiction reading in on top of it, so instead of substituting for my fiction, I just did it in addition.  I'm not sure how sustainable that will be going forward!  I also discovered hoopla, which allows me to check out e-books from the library.  I don't generally like to read on an e-reader, but I found for non-fiction, it was kind of nice to have it on my computer - it made reading those books more like reading a newspaper article.  I'm going to try a little more of that in February.  Though, I do have some very LONG books I'd like to get through and may need to hunker down in a comfy chair for hours on end to meet those goals.  Looking forward to a short, but fun, month of reading.

Goal Books for January:

1. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (Non-Fiction/Book Club/Library)
2. The Guncle by Steven Rowley (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown (Non-Fiction/Shelves)
4. The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan (Fiction/Shelves)

Books read in January:

1. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (Non-Fiction/Book Club/Library)
2. The Guncle by Steven Rowley (Fiction/Shelves)
3. The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan (Fiction/Shelves)
4. The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson (Fiction/Shelves)
5. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily & Amelia Nagoski (Non-Fiction/Shelves)
6. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (Fiction/Library)
7. A Year to Live: How to Live this Year as if it Were Your Last by Stephen Levine (Non-Fiction/e-Library)
8. Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore (Fiction/Library)
9. The Silent Patient by Alex Michalides (Mystery/Library)
10. The Upward Spiral by Alex Korb (Non-Fiction/e-Library)
11. Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Fiction/Book Club/Library)
12. Can't Even: How Millenials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen (Non-Fiction/e-Library)

Goal Books for February:

1. The Love Songs of W.E.B. duBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Fiction/Library)
2. The Arthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Non-Fiction/Library)
3. Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Fiction/Book Club/Library)
4. Obie by Schuyler Bailar (Fiction/Shelves)

Happy Reading!

2021: YEAR IN REVIEW!

 

I can't believe we've reached the end of the year.  I think this may be the only month this year that I actually read all my goal books!  Next year, one of my plans is to take my goal books at the beginning of each month and put them on my bedside table (or on an easily accessible shelf) so I won't forget the plan.  My goal this year was to read 52 books - seemed like an easy one-per-month number.  I ended up reading 84.  I didn't feel like it was too many or that I was stressed or reading all the time.  But, I think that I pass up some of my longer books on the shelf because it seems like it will bring my reading total down!  That, obviously, is silly.  So, in 2022, I am going to set a round reading target of 50 books - but with the goal of tackling some of the longer titles on my to-read list, such as Cloud Cuckoo Land  and that most recent Ken Follet novel.  I vow not to let the numbers interfere with my reading enjoyment!

I have set up a few to-read shelves around the house with my priority books for 2022.  Most of these are books I bought during 2021.  But, I have so many books that have languished on my shelves for over a decade.  Another one of my goals for the year is to go through these - either pick them as books to read, or make a final decision that I probably won't ever get to a point where I'm interested in reading them anymore, and give them away.  While it's nice in some sense to look at full shelves, I don't necessarily like to look at shelves full of books I just feel kind of blah about.  I also always wonder whether I should be more methodical about my reading - or keep doing it the way I usually do, which is pick up what looks good when it looks good, and request books when I like, and buy other things when they look good.  I can see the value in both approaches for my own enjoyment of my books...so I assume I will continue to do some type of hybrid where I make a plan, abandon it, read some random books, and repeat throughout the year!

Goal Books for December

1. That Summer by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction/Borrowed)
2. The Three Mothers by Anna Malaika Tubbs (Non-Fiction/Library)
3. Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay (Fiction/Library)
4. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (Mystery/Library)

Books Read in December:

1. That Summer by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction/Borrowed)
2. The Three Mothers by Anna Malaika Tubbs (Non-Fiction/Library)
3. Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay (Fiction/Library)
4. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (Mystery/Library)
5. The Authenticity Project by Claire Pooley (Fiction)
6. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (Fiction/Library)
7. Among the Mad by Jaqueline Winspear (Mystery/Library)
8. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Fiction/Shelves)
9. Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim (Romance/Library)

Goal Books for January....not quite sure yet, but I'll try for these:

1. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (Non-Fiction/Book Club/Library)
2. The Guncle by Steven Rowley (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown (Non-Fiction/Shelves)
4. The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan (Fiction/Shelves)

Happy Reading!

November Review & Goals for December

 

Goals Books for November

1. Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (Fiction/Library for Book Club)
2. Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim (Fiction/Library)
3. That Summer by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction/Borrowed)
4. Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay (Fiction/Library)

Books Actually Read in November

1. Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (Fiction/Library for Book Club)
2. Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim (Fiction/Library)
3. The Heart Principle by Helen Huong (Fiction/Romance/On Shelves)
4. A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers (Fiction/On Shelves)
5. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (Mystery/Library)
6. Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal (Fiction/Library)

Goal Books for December

1. That Summer by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction/Borrowed)
2. The Three Mothers by Anna Malaika Tubbs (Non-Fiction/Library)
3. Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay (Fiction/Library)
4. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (Mystery/Library)

Looking forward to some time off from work to curl up with some bigger books over the holidays!

Happy Reading!