Pamela’s
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(group member since Oct 24, 2023)
Pamela’s
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from the Virtual Mount TBR Challenge 2024 group.
Showing 1-20 of 24
I have two books going at the moment, that I won't be able to finish today, the last day of the year. So I will carry those over to the 2025 climb.
Book 18 is The Forger's Requiem by Bradford Morrow.
3.5 stars, eBook
For the last book on this climb, I actually finished ten days ago and only now got to posting on goodreads. I'm a little behind! This was an okay book, slow start for me but I got into the story once it got going, the formatting figured out. It had alternating first person POV that also was during different timelines that was tricky in the beginning. Didn't realize until I finished the book, this was the las in a trilogy so maybe reading the other two first would have made for a better reading experience. Picked this up at NetGalley.
Book 17 is Water, Water: Poems by Billy Collins.
4 stars, eBook
A new collection of poems by one of my favorite poets, Billy Collins. He writes with humor and accessibility that always revives my interest in reading poetry. This is another good collection that make you laugh, think and find surprise at the unexpected ways of looking a the world. Got the eBook from NetGalley.
Book 16 is I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue.
3.75 stars, audio book
This appealed to me as work fiction and it was firmly centered around that, with the main character Jolene. It has quite a bit of humor but in the end is not as sarcastic, nor as satire, as these books typically are like. I enjoyed this one well enough, even with the bit of predictability.
Book 15 is Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean. 
4 stars, audio
Been wanting to read this book for a while, and finally got the push with the unabridged audio available through audible plus going to expire soon. This is an account of not only the tragic Mann Gulch Fire in 1949 that blew-up and took lives of the smokejumpers, but it's also about MacLean investigating what happened. The tragedy stayed with him for years, and he investigated it off and on for decades, never finishing the book really, as it was published after his death. Loan from audible.
Book 14 is BOOM: Oil, Money, Cowboys, Strippers, and the Energy Rush That Could Change America Forever by Tony Horwitz.
3.5 stars, audio book
This was a short, quick listen. Horwitz traces where the XL Pipeline was proposed to carry the oil from the tar sands in Canada. Traveling to many small towns and talking to people whose land will house the pipeline. In Canada he talks to many people who work in the industry. This book is a compilation of those interviews and his travels. Listened to the audio through the audible plus catalog.
Book 13 is Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks by Marcia Bjornerud.
4 stars, audio book
This is part autobiography and part science - geology. The book is organized rock types, each rock type being the focus of a chapter and the author fits this into this portion of her life too. Starting out as a child growing up, running to the bus with sand in her shoe leads to sandstone rocks. I liked that format. Listened to the audiobook through netGalley.
Continuing the climb: first mountain details----------- Rum Doodle ----------------
January:
1. Clear by Carys Davies 💻
2. Tartans: Pleasures and Treasures by Christian Hesketh 📘
February:
3. American Spirits by Russell Banks 🎧
4. Copper Falcon by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear 💻
March:
5. The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez 🎧
6. Crank by Ellen Hopkins 💻
April:
7. The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann 💻
May:
8. Rednecks by Taylor Brown 🎧
June:
9. Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive by James Parker 💻
10. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence 💻
July:
11. Email by Randy Malamud 📘
August:
12. Traffic by Paul Josephson 📘
----------- Mount Crumpit ------------
August:
13. Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks by Marcia Bjornerud 🎧
October:
14. BOOM: Oil, Money, Cowboys, Strippers, and the Energy Rush That Could Change America Forever by Tony Horwitz 🎧
15. Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean 🎧
November:
16. I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue 🎧
17. Water, Water: Poems by Billy Collins 💻
December:
18. The Forger's Requiem by Bradford Morrow 💻
----------Currently Reading-----------
The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Uncovering Secrets, Reuniting Relatives, and Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland 🎧
At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison 📘
Peaks complete: ⛰️
on pause/DNF: -----------
What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman 🎧
The Singularity is Nearer by Ray Kurzweil 💻📘
Reached the peak with book 12 Traffic by Paul Josephson.
3 stars, print book
Another small book in the Object Lessons series from Bloomsbury Academic. This one felt a bit more academic in tone, but not entirely. The traffic focus was with speed bumps, traffic calming and safety, but mostly traffic bumps. Not my favorite, but was interesting to some degree. Had this checked out from the library for way to long.
See the next peak!
onto Pamela meanders up Mount Crumpit!
Book 11 is Email by Randy Malamud.
4.5 stars, print book
This was a quite entertaining read about email! It's a short book in the Object Lessons series, each book is focused on one thing, in this case email. The author did not hold back on adding in humor and it made this one of the better books I've read in the series, and this is the 9th one. Checked out the book from the library.
Book 10 The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence.
4 stars, eBook
Somehow I got sucked into a kindle reading challenge and needed a book for the Series Pioneer. This book looked the most interesting from the list that fit that category. Turned out I enjoyed the book. Confusing world building in the beginning, but that's due to the characters not understanding the world either. The book is about trying to understand it, and it being the library. An ancient massively huge library. This is book one of a series, but not sure I will continue. Got the eBook from my local library.
Book 9 is Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive by James Parker.
3 stars, eBook
A collection of (most previously published) essays, or Odes, to the quotidian. They are full of humor and they look at the positive side of things that one may not typically see. Some odes are better than others, the length varies. Overall enjoyable but not profound. Got an advance copy of the eBook from NetGalley.
Book 8 is Rednecks by Taylor Brown.
4 starts, audio book
Historical fiction that was a bit shocking to me. I didn't know how violent the union strike and king coal wars were in West Virginia. It was a war with many killed. The book was well done, and although accurate too war-like for me to really enjoy it. Still glad a new light is shining on this forgotten history. Audio book from the local library.
Book 7 is The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann 
4 stars, eBook
While I did enjoy this book overall, the sub-title is a bit of a misnomer. The book is split into 5 parts, and those seem arbitrary as well, the headings don't really fit the entries. The book has a lot of individual stories by bookstore owners or librarians with their own person experience in their work. Often there is a short tale about how they got started. After some time the book became repetitive despite each person's unique experience. Got the eBook as an advance copy from netGalley.
Book 6 is Crank by Ellen Hopkins.
4 stars, eBook
This was a bit of an accidental read. I was looking over last year's top 10 most banned book and this book was on the list. A YA book told in poetry form, which made me curious. After reading a sample I wanted to read a bit more, and ended up reading the entire book in one day. It's a cautionary tale for teens to get into drugs, based on the the real history of what happened to the author and her daughter. Powerful book. Debating about reading the next one. Got the book from my local public library.
Book 5 is The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez.
3.25 stars, audio book
The book was okay, but didn't blow me away. Thought there were way too many characters and not enough depth. Also, the focus was to be on building the Panama canal, but there was less of that than relationships and illness, etc. I like a book with fewer character's POV. Got an advance audio book from NetGalley.
Book 4 is Copper Falcon by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear.Series: People of Cahokia #0.5
Series: North America's Forgotten Past #20.5
3 stars, eBook
This was a very short book, a novella, yet it took me a while to read it as I wasn't reading it. I have read many books in the North America's Forgotten Past series, and this one read a bit different from their other books. Felt a little modern at first, maybe it was due to the length being so short that material was cut out. In any case, by the end it started to feel familiar. A good set-up for the next in the series. eBook from the library.
Book 3 is American Spirits by Russell Banks.
3.75 stars, audio book
This book is of three short stories, all center around the same location a small town in Northern New York. The characters are quickly drawn, Banks knows how to write. But they are bleak. There is an awful tragedy in each story. I didn't quite enjoy this, but they did pull me in. Early release audio from Penguin Random House Audio.
just about the first week of January completed and I've finished two books I'd started in December. Both Scottish.Book 1 is Clear by Carys Davies.
4.25 stars, eBook
A historical story placed a while back during the Scottish clearances the minister John takes on the job to remove the last person on an island. This way of making money is due to the split with the Scottish Free Church so the priests are all staring anew. Soon after arriving on the island he falls off a cliff, the tenant Ivar finds him and helps him back to health. Got this from NetGalley and will be published soon.
Book 2 is Tartans: Pleasures and Treasures by Christian Hesketh
4 stars. print book
A short book with many images, prints and drawings along with a text with the history of the tartan and kilt, and wee bit of the Scottish history in general. Learned quite a bit, but the text would refer to images not on the same page and had to flip forward or back constantly. Poor design in that aspect. From the library.
Starting the year in the middle of three books not owned, here we go January! One of each format - audio, print and eBook.
