UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

Well, I had wondered how to organise 2020, as some of 2019’s didn’t really work due to focusing on paid books, but I like targets and challenges! So thanks to pinching ideas, I am going to do 10 themed months, and 2 ‘wild card’ months, in case I need to catch up on 12+4, or if I’m really enjoying one theme and want a bit longer! So I’m not going to fix months, just in case, I’ll either see how I feel, or pick a theme out of a tub! I’m just going to stick to themes rather than numbers within them, although I may track at the end of each month. Series ones will be interesting, there is an overlap between the three, so need to figure out the best way to do it. I checked my kindle last night and there are 30 series, I haven’t checked the paperbacks, but I can think of one off the top of my head. The good thing with these themes is that apart from my non-fiction, standalone and one classic, they also cover my 12+4. As I’ve bought all these books, I’m excited to read them all, and just hoping these themes help me read the ones I’m most excited about, and help me read books by most of my favourite authors, but there are so many overlaps I’m not sure where to put some of them! It also doesn’t help that I’m still not stopping buying books, so it’s a good job these aren’t set in stone.

No of books: Going back down to 30, as I still have a lot of long books to tackle - due to being furloughed, have increased to 40.
Have increased it twice this weekend!

53/50

No of pages:

17,668/12,500

Colour Challenge
January White; First Term at Malory Towers. Beige; Murder on the Links; In Cold Blood
February: Pink/Red; Upper Fourth at Malory Towers
March: Green/Gold: Last Term at Malory Towers
April: Yellow/Spring Green: None
May: Light blue/white: The Confession; Before The Storm; The Enemy; A Painted House; Enid Blyton Mysteries; Cold Case; The Skeleton Road, Time of Torment
June
July: Red, white or blue: Widows; Deja Dead; Memory Man
August: Burgundy or gold: Gold Collection
September: Purple or navy blue: Velocity; The Secret Wife
October: orange or black
November: Brown or rust
December: Red or green

19/12

12 + 4:

12/16

Male Authors: 5

Female Authors: 2

First in Series: 3

Continuing Series: 4

Serial Eyes: 3

I’m going to focus on one series for a whole month, I did this a few years in a row and really enjoyed it, just need to decide which!

Standalone: 4

Not quite as the name suggests, this is for authors who I only own one book of – this may be a moving target though!

Paperbacks: 8

In theory, easy as I have over 50 but I might have to cheat a bit in this month if I am somewhere that I can’t easily take my paperback (I use my kindle app a bit)

New authors: 3

Didn't think I'd be able to do this this year, but then realised I have bought books from authors I've not read previously.

Non-fiction: 4

Initially thought this might be tricky as I thought I only owned 2, but then realised the Gerald Durrell book fits in this category.

Classics: 4

Might be bending the definition of classic a bit, my options are an Agatha Christie book and Wizard of Oz.

Taken a while, but I have finished two books this weekend, although also bought two books. Oops, just bought a third!

The Murder on the Links - can't go wrong starting the year with Agatha Christie, not my favourite Poirot, but a good read.
First Term at Malory Towers - not sure when I last read these (guessing a while as I haven't owned them for a while), but I did remember some of the things that went on. I know a lot of people have issues with her characterization, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

Finished another Malory Towers book on Fri, luckily February is female author month, so I can finish the series. there are loads in the Feb monthly deal I want, have got 4 so far, but more I would buy, so again, more than I've read this year.

Good luck with all that Desley! Phew too organised for me LOL. I'm just dipping into about 3 or 4 authors at the mo whose work I am trying to clear from my shelves, with the odd non fiction or other volume chucked in from time to time so I don't get bored with those authors.

I need something to organise the 200+ books I have bought! And I have bought 10 so far this month, oops!

2 finished, 2 ahead, but 2 bought! Wasn't overly impressed with In Cold Blood, which is disappointing. Enjoying the Malory Towers series though, and do remember a lot of what is going on.

Another one finished, but there are some many books in this months sale, I've bought 4 (3 are continuing series) and trying to whittle down another 16.

March is continuing series, so I can finish Malory Towers.

That's good!

Thanks

Another Malory Towers finished, only one left to read now, have enjoyed it. Nearly finished A Discovery of Witches, enjoying it even though it has more romance than I normally read. Still buying too many books, and want more!

Not good at catching up, 3 since the last update, although 2 were in the last 20 hours.

Discovery of Witches - really not my thing but enjoyed it, although then struggled to watch the TV series as there were some major differences which annoyed me.
Last Term at Malory Towers - the last in the series, and the one I remembered the least. CBBC are now showing a TV adaptation of it, which I want to watch, but scared I'll have the same problem as Discovery of Witches.
Toxic Justice - enjoyed this, despite the tricky subject matter. I do own the last one, but am saving that for a bit, not sure I'm ready to say goodbye to this series just yet.

On board
Going to start Cross Justice, not read an Alex Cross book for a while, so looking forward to that.
Sizzling Sixteen - glad this is the only one I own, bit lighthearted for my liking really.

Looking forward to my new challenge month, Standalone.

2 more finished, Cross Justice, an interesting Cross novel as he goes 'on vacation', although can't be an average one to Hawaii, has to be somewhere to help family and him get threatened, but an interesting back story.
Sizzling Sixteen - I have read one of hers before, and have 3 in the non-challenge pile. I found this a struggle in the beginning, but not sure whether that was more me not appreciating weird humour in the current climate.

Started In the Woods I did watch the TV series of it last year, so a bit of comparison going on, but I seem to have left it long enough for it not to easy to remember small details.

3 finished since the last catch up, even read one in a day yesterday, which is a rarity for me, last time was on hol in Oct, do manage it occasionally in the summer.

In the Woods - enjoyed this, but not sure about the rest of the series as they focus on different characters. There were some small comparisons, but it made me remember what happened, although one detail I'm sure they changed.
Gone Girl - I was one of the people who enjoyed this book, again, I had seen the movie first, so knew bits of what was going to happen.
Room - this is the one I read in a day, not as enjoyable as the others, I wasn't as keen on the 5 year old narrative.

Now started Cyber Sisters, read 43% in a short while, nice short chapters that make you go 'just one more'. Am hoping to finish this before the end of the month. Am 6 books ahead and seem to be on track with my page numbers.

You're going great guns Desley.

I am, been taking advantage of the weather. I've now found a good reading spot in the house, but only 4-6

Finished Cyber Sisters, really could have read this in one sitting, it keeps you wanting to read more. This month is paperback month, figured now was probably the best time to do it. Now if only I could stop buying books!

Not being able to go to charity shops has at least slowed down my book acquisition but I also can't drop off ones that I've read!

I'm just buying kindle books only. I do have a large pile of books to be donated, especially as i was scanning books earlier and wondered why I'd kept them for so long!

Another two finished, but may have also bought two this week! Finished scanning all my read books, and think I will be getting rid of some, no idea why I kept them. Might leave that till I can take them somewhere though. Next month I'm going to try and catch up with my 12+4 challenge.

2 more finished, but a friend gave me a £10 Amazon voucher, so would be rude not to spend it on books, as there were more in the sale than my allowance. Next month I'm getting some new cushions for my reading corner.

A fantastic month, I've classed it as 8, I haven't finished two, but one of the two I haven't finished is 3 in 1, and I've read two, but my stats won't show that. I've also read over half of the other. Really impressed with my page count too. June will be catch up on my 12+4 challenge, I don't think I'll read as many as May, if I read more than 3, I'll start on one of the long ones!

Another 2 finished, I did enjoy And So It Begins - first in her new detective series, but still enjoyable. And finally finished my Enid Blyton collection, just bought the first St Clare's books for 99p, don't think I ever read them as a child.

You're doing well Desley.

Thanks Pam, just a shame the reason is not working or able to go anywhere!

Really pleased with myself, I am 90% done with my challenge, so I have actually just increased it by another 10, which should be doable as there is still no news on me going back to work, and I have 3 books on the go. Have also read over 10k pages, so my target of 12.5 should be easy, might even increase that too. 2 finished this week, Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country was my first C J Box book, fortunately I enjoyed it as I have 9 of his to read! The only disappointing part was that it finished at 89%, I had settled down thinking I had 40 mins left and in reality it was only 10 mins! Then Gallows View, which I must have read, but it didn't ring many bells. That said, did nearly read it in a day though. Now started Quantum, finding it slow and hard, but only 8% in. Will give it a bit more.

That's so good Desley. For some reason, despite having reviewed a couple more in the past week I am still 10 behind... gulp!

It is, although I'm back at work next week so will slow down then.

Expect you will be pleased to get back though! Mixed feelings maybe.

Another book finished, Quantum, really wasn't impressed and if I wasn't furloughed, I doubt I'd have finished it, certainly wouldn't bother with the next in the series, despite the cliffhanger. I am back to work tomorrow, so will slow down a bit, but I've read 15.6 books in 9 weeks, which I'm really happy with. I wouldn't normally mention a part book read, however the 67% I've read equates to 587 pages, which is more than most of the other 15 books!

I am pleased to be back Pam, although getting a bit nervous, especially as our MD has called an 8.30 meeting with half of my team and not included my boss! It will be nice to be back in a routine and the past couple of weeks have been a struggle, even with hundreds of books and TV shows to occupy my time! I'm not looking forward to retirement!

Good luck Desley. You might find with retirement that you develop new interests/hobbies that you never had time for, and make new friends through those. Most people I know who are retired are so busy (or were before this lockdown at least) that they wouldn't have time to go to work.

Thanks Pam - this has made me realise I definitely need to do something when I retire, I'm not good at spending a whole day in my own house.

Finished two books this week, didn't even expect to finish one with going back to work, as it was 790 pages, never mind a second! Decided against trying to squeeze one more in before the end of the month, I'll just try and read part of the short story collections I've been reading since last year!
As the Crow Flies - figured any 790 page book that was so engrossing I read it in less than a week deserves 5*
Pretending to Dance - gave this a 4*, although after sleeping on it, only 3.5, as I did figure out one of the storylines and wasn't sure about the swapping from past to present. It did make me cry though.
Next month is first in series, have already got my first book chosen

You're definitely on a roll!

Phew, finally read my first book in July, was quite a struggle. Deja Dead is the first in the Temperance Brennan books that one of my favourite TV shows, Bones, is based on, however it is so loosely based that Temperance has an entirely different back story. Plus it was very detailed in places, and I did skim read some of it, as I really don't care about knowing how to compare dental impressions (when it is to the point of rotating it to get the identical angle on both!) I have 7 of these, as I have read some previously and enjoyed them, I assume I read them so long before watching the TV series that I didn't notice the difference. Will try the second as it is part of my 12 + 4 challenge.

Another one finished, Widows - enjoyed it so much I bought the sequel as it was 99p Glad I still like Lynda La Plante as I do have quite a few of hers.

Finally finished my last July book Memory Man, only 3 read this month, which is rubbish! I need to do better in August. August will be new author month, which is always a risky one, as I might not like them. I'm looking forward to my first one though The Black Dahlia. Unfortunately the amazon monthly deal is really good this month, am up to 19, and not sure I can whittle it down!!

Finally finished The Black Dahlia my first book of the month, really struggled with it. However, I got an offer of 3 months free Kindle Unlimited, which I thought would be rude to turn down! As it's free, I won't stress too much if I don't just read KU books for the three months, and still aiming to try and stick to my themes, as I have three themes and a wildcard month left, and as I've done it mid month, Nov will be part KU and part paid. I think Sept for male, Oct for wildcard, Nov for non-fiction (not sure how many will be on KU, but I have enough for half and half) and Dec for serial eyes will work.