December Review and the end of 2023!

 

Goal Books for December

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction/Shelves)
2. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Mystery/Library)
3. Superfan by Jen Sookfong Lee (Non-Fiction/Library/Book Club)
4. Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood (Mystery/Library)

Books read in December

1. DEI Deconsructed by Lily Zheng (Non-fiction/Library/Book Club)
2. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Mystery/Library)
3. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (YA/Audio/Library)
4. Allies by Shakirah Bourne and Dana Alison Levy (Non-Fiction/Essays/Shelves)
5. Stay True by Hua Hsu (Memoir/Library)
6. Superfan by Jen Sookfong Lee (Non-Fiction/Library/Book Club)
7. Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood (Mystery/Library)
8. The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett (Mystery/Library)
9. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell (Mystery/Library/Book Club)
10. Biting the Hand by Julia Lee (Memoir/Library)
11. How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis (Non-Fiction/Library)
12. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (Fiction/Library)
13. Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen (Fiction/Library)
14. The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange (Fiction/Library)
15. The Celebrants by Steven Rowley (Fiction/Library)
16. Poverty by Matthew Desmond (Non-Fiction/Library)

Goals for 2024

1. Read books from my shelves!
2. Listen to more audio books
3. Make a plan for getting some of those longer books read over time!
4. Keep enjoying reading as a hobby and not as a chore.

Happy reading in 2024,

Anne

November Review and December Preview

 

Goal Books for November:

1. Trust by Hernan Diaz (Fiction/Book Club/Library)
2. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction/Shelves)
3. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton (Memoir/Library/Bookshelves)
4. Someone Else's Shoes by JoJo Moyes (Fiction/Library)

Books Read in November:

1. Trust by Hernan Diaz (Fiction/Book Club/Library)
2. Walking with Sam by Andrew McCarthy (Non-Fiction/Library)
3. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton (Memoir/Library/Bookshelves)
4. Someone Else's Shoes by JoJo Moyes (Fiction/Library)
5. The Marlow Murder Club  by Robert Thorogood (Mystery/Library)
6. Finding Me by Viola Davis (Memoir/Audiobook)
7. The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger (Fiction/Library)

Goal Books for December:

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction/Shelves)
2. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Mystery/Library)
3. Superfan by Jen Sookfong Lee (Non-Fiction/Library/Book Club)
4. Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood (Mystery/Library)

Happy Reading!  Only one more month in the year to go!

~ Anne

October Review and November Preview

October was a slow month for reading and I'm not quite sure why.  It seems like the weather and waning daylight would be more conducive to crawling into bed with a book early each evening.  But, instead the days seem to be flying by with too many activities on the calendar and obligations to tend to before the holidays and the year get away from me.  But, while I haven't been reading that many books, I have certainly been buying and borrowing them, so there is so much to choose from and I'm looking forward to find time here and there in the next month to sneak more reading in!

Goal Books for October:

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction/Shelves)
2. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Fiction/Library)
4. School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (Fiction/Library)

Books Read in October:

1. Solito by Javier Zamora (Memoir/Shelves/Book Club)
2. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Fiction/Shelves)
3. School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (Fiction/Library)
4. Nevada by Imogen Binnie (Fiction/Library)

Goal Books for November:

1. Trust by Hernan Diaz (Fiction/Book Club/Library)
2. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction/Shelves)
3. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton (Memoir/Library/Bookshelves)
4. Someone Else's Shoes by JoJo Moyes (Fiction/Library)

Happy Fall Reading!

~ Anne

September Review and October Preview

 

Moving into the cozy reading months.  I'm taking some time here and there to go through my bookshelves - try to give away the ones I've read - and make room for the stacks I've brought back from bookstores and the library.  Hoping to find more time to curl up for a few hours and make my way through them.

Goal Books for September:

1. True Biz by Sara Novic (Fiction/Library)
2. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Fiction/Shelves)
3. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA Fiction/Library)
4. The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland (Non-Fiction/Book Club)

Books Read in September:

1. True Biz by Sara Novic (Fiction/Library)
2. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA Fiction/Library)
3. The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland (Non-Fiction/Book Club)
4. Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabeas (Fiction/Library)
5. Boxers  by Gene Luen Yang (Graphic Novel/Library)
6. Saints by Gene Luen Yang (Graphic Novel/Library)
7. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (Romance/Shelves)
8. Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer (Non-Fiction/Library)
9. Welcome to St. Hell by Lewis Hancox (Graphic Memoir/Library)

Goal Books for October:

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction/Shelves)
2. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Fiction/Library)
4. School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (Fiction/Library)

Happy Reading!

~ Anne

August Review & September Preview

 

Goal Books for August:

1. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Vergese (Fiction/Book Club/Shelves)
2. Something New by Lucy Knisley (Memoir/Graphic Novel/Library)
3. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA Fiction/Library)
4. L'Appart by David Lebovitz (Memoir/Library)

Books Read in August:

1. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Vergese (Fiction/Book Club/Shelves)
2. Something New by Lucy Knisley (Memoir/Graphic Novel/Library)
3. L'Appart by David Lebovitz (Memoir/Library)
4. Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (Fictin/Shelves)
5. Happy Place by Emily Henry (Fiction/Shelves)
6. Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory (Romance/Shelves)
7. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (Fiction/Shelves)
8. Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll (Fiction/Shelves)
9. The Way of the House Husband, Vol. 1 by Kousuke Oono (Graphic Novel/Library)
10. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse W. Sutano (Mystery/Library)
11. Dear Ann by Bobbie Ann Mason (Fiction/Shelves)

Goal Books for September:

1. True Biz by Sara Novic (Fiction/Library)
2. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Fiction/Shelves)
3. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA Fiction/Library)
4. The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland (Non-Fiction/Book Club)

July Review and August Preview

 

Goal Books for July:

1. Something New by Lucy Knisley (Memoir/Graphic Novel/Library)
2. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Paris by the Book by Liam Callanan (Fiction/Shelves)
4. Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier (Fiction/Shelves)

Books Read in July:

1. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Fiction/Library)
2. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier (Fiction/Shelves)
4. Housekeeping v. The Dirt by Nick Hornby (Non-Fiction Essays/Shelves)
5. The Wonder Test by Michelle Richmond (Fiction/Shelves)
6. The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA Fiction/Shelves)

Goal Books for August:

1. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Vergese (Fiction/Book Club/Shelves)
2. Something New by Lucy Knisley (Memoir/Graphic Novel/Library)
3. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA Fiction/Library)
4. L'Appart by David Lebovitz (Memoir/Library)

Happy Reading,

Anne

June Review and July Preview

The start of summer means it's time for a little reading competition.  Only one of my kids is interested in reading as a part of a competition - and I don't want to push the other two, who read enough, but definitely at a slower (and some may argue, more enjoyable) pace.  As usual, I am also trying to read books off my own shelves rather than borrow too many from the library.  I haven't succeeded too well on this front.  I seem to just keep buying more books for my shelves and then going to the library! 

Goal Books for June:

1. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (Fiction/Shelves)
2. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (Fiction/Library)
3. The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Library)
4. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Delila Harris (Mystery/Library)

Books Read in June:

1. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (Fiction/Shelves)
2. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (Fiction/Library)
3. The Ingenue by Rachel Kapelke-Dale (Fiction/Library)
4. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (Mystery/Library)
5. The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Library)
6. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Delila Harris (Mystery/Library)
7. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (Fiction/Shelves)

Goal Books for July:

1. Something New by Lucy Knisley (Memoir/Graphic Novel/Library)
2. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Paris by the Book by Liam Callanan (Fiction/Shelves)
4. Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier (Fiction/Shelves)

Happy Reading,

Anne

May Review and Goal Books for June

 

Goal Books for May:

1. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (Fiction/Library)
2. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Fiction/Library)
3. Strangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv (Nonfiction/Library/Book Club)
4. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Nonfiction/Audio/Book Club)

Goal Books for May:

1. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (Fiction/Library)
2. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Fiction/Library)
3. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Nonfiction/Audio/Book Club)
4. The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (Mystery/Borrowed)
5. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult (Fiction/Library)
6. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Fiction/Library)
7. Strangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv (Non-Fiction/Library)

Goal Books for June:

1. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (Fiction/Shelves)
2. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (Fiction/Library)
3. The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Library)
4. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Delila Harris (Mystery/Library)

Happy Reading,

Anne

April Review and May Preview

 

Goal Books for April:

1. The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Shelves)
2. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert (Nonfiction/Book Club/Library)
4. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Children's Lit/Shelves)

Books Read in April

1. The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Library)
2. Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert (Nonfiction/Book Club/Library)
3. Island of the Blue Dophins by Scott O'Dell (Children's Lit/Library)
4. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (Fiction/Library)
5. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (Horror/Shelves)
6. The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling (Romance/Shelves)
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (Fiction/Library)
8. A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Library)

Goal Books for May:

1. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (Fiction/Library)
2. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Fiction/Library)
3. Strangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv (Nonfiction/Library/Book Club)
4. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Nonfiction/Audio/Book Club)

Happy Reading,

Anne

March Review & April Preview

 March was a slow reading month for me.  I can't quite figure out why because there was so much rain - and it was the perfect weather for reading.  Our power even went out for a 24-hour period and we had a cozy family evening reading by the fire.  My 10-year-old daughter and I started listening to audiobooks on our sometimes lengthy commutes to her various games and practices, and I felt like I had other opportunities to read.  Part of the issue might be that I also got sucked into a television show I'm watching with my husband (Under the Banner of Heaven) and I have been working hard to get to bed at a reasonable hour each night and forcing myself to close the book even when I want just one more chapter!  Whatever the case, I did have some good reads this month, but the TBR piles continue to grow!!

Goal Books for March

1. The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Shelves)
2. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (Nonfiction/Book Club)
3. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (Fiction/Shelves)
4. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 

Books Read in March

1. The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Shelves)
2. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (Nonfiction/Book Club)
3. Suspect by Scott Turow (Mystery/Library)
4. Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche (Mystery/Children's Lit/Shelves)

Goal Books for April:

1. The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Shelves)
2. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (Fiction/Shelves)
3. Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert (Nonfiction/Book Club/Library)
4. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Children's Lit/Shelves)

Happy Reading,

Anne

February Review & March Preview

The days are just flying by over here!  I am working hard to keep up.  I'm finding myself in the car more than usual for commuting and shuttling kids to practices, so trying to incorporate some audiobooks into the mix.  We'll see how that goes.  Here's how last month went:

Goal Books for February

1. Suspect by Scott Turow (Mystery/Library)
2. Non-Fiction Book from Shelves
3. Fiction Book from Shelves
4. Of Women and Salt (Fiction/Book Club)

Books Read in February

1. Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia (Fiction/Borrowed/Book Club)
2. The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson (Fiction/Library/Audio)
3. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (Memoir/Graphic Novel/Hoopla)
4. Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo & Ren Graham (Graphic Novel/Borrowed)
5. Babel by R.F. Kuang (Sci-Fi/Library)
6. Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson (Fiction/Library)

Goal Books for March

1. The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Shelves)
2. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (Nonfiction/Book Club)
3. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (Fiction/Shelves)
4. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 

Happy Reading!

January Review and February Preview

January got off to a great reading start - mostly because I took the first week off to hang out with my kids and READ!  I am trying harder to get into audiobooks, and after a few false starts am enjoying a Romance now that is easy to follow during my train/walking commute.  We'll see how the year progresses with those.

I didn't set any Goal Books for January, but here's what I did read:

1. Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin (Romance/Shelves)
2. Small Town Pride by Phil Stamper (Middle Grade Fiction/Shelves)
3. Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson (Fiction/Library)
4. Sophie Go's Lonely Hearts Club  by Roselle Lim (Romance/Shelves)
5. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge (Fiction/Library)
6. Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguichi (Audio/Fiction/Library)
7. The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay (Romance/Library)
8. The Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian (Fiction/Borrowed)
9. The Journey of the Heroic Parent by Brad M. Reedy (Non-Fiction/Shelves)
10. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (Middle Grade Fiction/Library)
11. Diary of a Misfit by Casey Parks (Non-Fiction/Library)
12. Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan (Romance/Shelves)
13. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Fiction/Shelves)

Goal Books for February

1. Suspect by Scott Turow (Mystery/Library)
2. Non-Fiction Book from Shelves
3. Fiction Book from Shelves
4. Of Women and Salt (Fiction/Book Club)

Happy Reading!