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!

2022 Reading Round-Up

 I completed 104 books in 2022.  By quarter, my reading broke down as follows:

Q1: 31

Q2: 23

Q3: 22

Q4: 28

My lightest reading month was April, where I read 5 books.  My highest reading month was December, where I read 14 books.  Fiction comprised 84% of my books, and 70% of my books came from the library.

Below are a few of my favorites from the year:

Fiction: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin

Romance: The Arc - Tory Henwood Hoen

Sci-Fi: Red Rising - Pierce Brown

Mystery: The Thursday Murder Club Series - Richard Osman

Non-Fiction: How the Word is Passed - Clint Smith

Middle-Grade Book: Ellen Outside the Lines - A.J. Sass

YA Fiction: Slay - Brittney Morris

YA Mystery: The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

In 2023, I really want to clear some of the books from my shelves at home, particularly ones that have been sitting there for more than a decade at this point!  My kids have started recommending more and more to me that I am genuinely interested in, and keeping up with a few things here and there that allow us to connect is very important to me.  I admit that I do like the feeling of finishing a book - and for that reason I don't always read the longest books available to me.  That being said, I have some very long books on my shelves that need to be read!  I also find that I end up borrowing so many books from the library - and I am so grateful for that privilege - but I know I can allow it to get out of hand!  I probably need to dial that back a bit, but it does allow me to check-out books for my book clubs and to keep up-to-date on recent releases that are on the Hot Picks Shelf.  I always waiver between wanting to lay out a reading plan for myself and wanting to just choose what appeals to me in the moment.  I think I can probably strike a balance there to ensure that I get through more in my to-read piles, but also do not feel constrained - remembering always that reading is supposed to be fun!

Looking forward to another great reading year!

Happy Reading,

Anne