You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

I often listen to audiobooks while knitting and cross stitching. It might be fun to see how many projects I get done as I finish these series:

Most Likely to Finish:
✔ 3 - In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust Read 4 of 7 before 2015. Finished #5 2/18/15, #6 4/17/15, & #7 6/4/15 to complete the series. 70 points
✔ 3 - The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan Read 11 of 14 before 2105. Finished #12 3/22/15, #13 5/2/15, #14 5/22/15 to complete the series - 100 points
✔ 1 - The Cousins War by Philippa Gregory Read 5 of 6 previously; finished #6 on 1/14/15 to complete the series - 60 points
✔ 1 - The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch Read 3 of 4 previously; finished #4 on 4/3/15 to complete the series - 40 points
✔ 1 - All Soul's Trilogy by Deborah Harkness Read 2 of 3 previously finished #3 on 1/18/15 to complete the series - 30 points
8 - The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice Read 3 of 11 before 2015.
3 - Lives of the Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice 3 books in the series
✔ 3 - The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice Was 3 book trilogy, but the 4th book is coming out 4/21/15. Read #1 1/24/15, #2 3/28/15, #3 4/21/15, and #4 6/19/15.
3 - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 3 book trilogy
5 - The Once and Future King by T.H. White 5 books in the series

If I Still Have Time:
2 - MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood read 1 of 3
3 - North and South series by John Jakes Series is 3 books.
3 - Gentleman Bastard by Scott Lynch Series currently has 3 books.
2 - Delirium by Lauren Oliver Read 1 of 3
4 - The War of the Roses by William Shakespeare Read 4 of 8
3 - Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson This has a trilogy plus 3 sequels that take place 300 years later, of which 1 has been published. Jaxnsmom approved to read the trilogy only.
✔ 3 - Highland Lairds by Julie Garwood Series is 3 books. Books finished 5/7, 5/14, and 6/6 to complete the series. 30 points

Probably No Chance in 2015:
✔ 6 - The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Read 1 of 7 before 2015. Read #2 2/2/15, #3 2/8/15, #4 3/5/15, #5 4/6/15, #6 4/8/15, and finished #7 5/4/15 to complete the series - 70 points
4 - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Douglas Adams Read 2 of 5
24 - Agatha Raisin by M.C. Beaton read 1 of 25
5 - The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger 5 books in the series
6 - Asian Saga by James Clavell Series is 6 books.
7 - Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert Re-read book 1 in 2014 and may have read others years ago. Series is 8 books.
4 - Olav Audunssøn also known as The Master of Hestviken by Sigrid Undset Series is 4 books.

Looks like the 3rd book in these series may not be published until 2016:
1 - The Passage by Justin Cronin Read the first 2 books of the series. Book 3 is expected out in October 2015 2016 or later!
1 - Thomas Cromwell Trilogy by Hilary Mantel Read the first 2 and book 3 is due out in 2015 2016.
2 - The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson Read 1 and was hoping the third is published in 2015. Most recent article I found says it won't be out until 2016

Level One Completed - 100 points earned

Finished The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory, Book #6 of 6 in The Cousins' War series for 5 points on 1/14/15. I'd already read the first 5 books, so this completes the 6 book series for 60 points. 60+5=65

Finished The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness, Book #3 of 3 in the All Soul's Trilogy on 1/18/15 for 5 points. I'd already read the first two books, so this completes the trilogy for 30 points. 30+5=35

Level Two Completed - 100 points earned
Series points 40 plus book points 60

Finished The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Book #1 of 3 in the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy 1/24/15
Finished Prince Caspian, Book #2 of 7 of The Chronicles of Narnia publication order 2/2/15
Finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Book #3 of 7 of The Chronicles of Narnia publication order 2/8/15
Finished The Captive by Marcel Proust, book #5 of 7 of In Search of Lost Time 2/18/15
Finished The Silver Chair, Book #4 of 7 of The Chronicles of Narnia publication order 3/5/15
Finished The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan, Book #12 of 14 of The Wheel of Time 3/22/15
Finished Beauty's Punishment, book 2 of the Sleeping Beauty series (was a trilogy, but book 4 comes out in April) 3/28/15
Finished The Poisoned Pilgrim, book 4 of 4 of The Hangman's Daughter series. 4/3/15
Finished The Horse and His Boy, book 5 of 7 of The Chronicles of Narnia. 4/6/15
Finished The Magician's Nephew, book 6 of 7 of The Chronicles of Narnia. 4/8/15
Finished The Sweet Cheat Gone, book 6 of 7 of In Search of Lost Time 4/17/15
Finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, book 2 of 7 of the Harry Potter Series 4/19/15

Series finished: The Hangman's Daughter series is 4 books, 3 read previously and 1 read in 2015.

Level Three Completed - 100 points earned
Series is 7 books for 70 points plus 6 books read for points 30.

Finished Beauty's Release, book #3 of 4 of the Sleeping Beauty series 4/21/15
Finished Towers of Midnight, book #13 of 14 of The Wheel of Time series 5/2/15
Finished The Last Battle, book #7 of 7 of The Chronicles of Narnia 5/4/15
Finished The Secret, book #1 of the Highlands' Lairds series 5/7/15
Finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, book #3 of 7 in the Harry Potter series 5/10/15
Finished Ransom, book #2 of the Highlands' Lairds series 5/13/15

Series finished: The Chronicles of Narnia series is 7 books, 1 read previously and 6 read in 2015

Level Four Completed - 100 points earned
Finished A Memory of Light, book #14 of 14 in The Wheel of Time Series on 5/22/15. This completes a 14 book series I started in April 2010. Points maxed out at 100.

Level Five Completed - 100 points earned
Series points 70 + 30 = 100, book points 10, but maxed at 100.

Finished Time Regained by Marcel Proust, book #7 of 7 of his series, In Search of Lost Time on 6/4/15 to complete the series.

Finished Shadow Music by Julie Garwood, book #3 of 3 of her series, Highlands Lairds on 6/6/15 to complete the series.

Level Six Finished
Series points 80, book points 20, total 100 points.

Finished Ross Poldark by Winston Graham, book #1 of 12 in his Poldark series. 6/14/15

Finished Beauty's Kingdom by A.N. Roquelaure aka Anne Rice, book #4 of 4 on 6/19/15 to complete the Sleeping Beauty series.

Finished Grey by E.L. James, book #4 of 4 of the Fifty Shades series. Series completed 7/6/15

Finished Demelza by Winston Graham, book #2 of 12 in his Poldark series. 7/11/15

Level Seven Finished
Series points 40, book points 60, total 100 points.

Finished The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice, book #4 of 11 of The Vampire Chronicles. 7/12/15

Finished Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice, book #5 of 11 of The Vampire Chronicles. 7/23/15

Finished Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami, book #1 of 4 of The Rat Series 8/8/15

Finished Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami, book #2 of 4 of The Rat Series 8/16/15

Finished The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, book #1 of 4 of The D'Artagnan Series 9/6/15

Finished The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz, book #4 of The Millennium Series begun by Stieg Larsson 9/8/15 Series Completed

Finished A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami, book #3 of 4 of The Rat Series 10/10/15

Finished The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, book #2 of 3 of The MaddAddam Series 10/23/15

Finished Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham, book #3 of 12 in his Poldark series. 11/10/15

Finished The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, book #1 of 3 of her Lives of the Mayfair Witches series. After #3, there are 3 books that of The Vampire Chronicles series that mix the two series. 12/11/15.

Finished Ravished by a Highlander by Paula Quinn, Book #1 of 4 of her Children of the Mist series. 12/17/15

Finished Seduced by a Highlander by Paula Quinn, Book #2 of 4 of her Children of the Mist series. 12/22/15

Reserved

Reserved

Reserved

Loved Dune series many years ago, but stopped after the first few. (Got bored after a while)

Gotta keep up with the Vampire Chronicles and The Passage.

I will be starting MaddAddam Trilogy.

Looks as though we will have some reading in common this coming year.

I saw your post about the socks in another thread. I have read the instructions for knitting two socks, one inside the other, but cannot get it! I can do it the old fashioned way and with two circular needle and have wanted to learn to do two socks with a long circular needle, but have not tried yet. I get a lot of single socks started and then petter out. I have done many in the past, as well as felted slippers and boots. I have a pair of sock slippers for my granddaughter that are almost done. Enjoy your knitting!

Cherie, I think I made my first socks when I was 13, using bright red worsted yarn and double-pointed needles. They worked great with my ice skates! Since then I still use dpns, but also have used 2 short circular needles and the "magic loop" using 1 long circular needle. I was hesitant about doing 2 socks on one long circular needle, but I think that will be next. The War and Peace method, aka Magic Socks, will probably be tough with any cabling. If you're interested in seeing how that works, you can watch the preview of a class on Annie's here. There's also a technique explanation on Knitty here. I didn't take the class, but am using the Knitty guidelines and an article from a 2009 issue of Pieceworks Magazine.

Thanks, Teresa. I will check out the links. I don't have my heart set on learning, but it sounds so cool and magical. I just wanted to understand it.

Hats off to you ladies. Wish I'd learned how to knit but feels too late for me now.

Altho I visited an interesting alternative community (Twin Oaks) about 10 years ago and discovered that I have a knack for hammock weaving.

Tejas Janet wrote: "Hats off to you ladies. Wish I'd learned how to knit but feels too late for me now.

Altho I visited an interesting alternative community (Twin Oaks) about 10 years ago and discovered that I have ..."

Janet, that sounds interesting! I watched a video once. :)

Cherie, I figured you just wanted to check it out. I do think that it will be a one-time knit for me.

Janet, hammock weaving sounds really interesting! I'll have to look for info on that, though I doubt I'd try it.

I watched the video intro. I think I saw something similar on Crafty, another site that has silimar offerings. Actually, the Kory Stamper instructions are the ones I think I have put away somewhere. I remember all of the "go eat chocolate" comments. She reminded me of the way Marion Zimmerman wrote. Do you know her name, Teresa? She write a book about knitting in the round. It is usually referred to as The Red Book because it had a red cover. Her comments were very funny. Maybe her name was Betsy Zimmerman. I've confused myself now, darn.

Cherie wrote: "Her comments were very funny. Maybe her name was Betsy Zimmerman. I've confused myself now, darn. ..."

"Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman!

Great list, Theresa. That reminds me of a couple I missed.

Ah, knitting.. hmm, maybe someday?

Thanks, Almeta! That's it. The section on dropped stitches and fixing them is very funny. At one point, she tells the reader/knitter to go sit in a dark room with a cool cloth on their forehead and rest a bit before continuing with the instructions. I doubt if I will ever do double knitting, for socks, but it is interesting. I have to tackle the turned heel using short rounds yet. I am still struggling with that.

Tejas Janet. It is never too late to learn ;) Especially with Youtube. The visuals make it very easy.

After receiving an invitation to a cross stitch challenge, I adjusted my challenge header to include that along with knitting. I'm so glad there most of my series are available in audiobooks, leaving my hands AND EYES free for crafting.

Thanks to Sandra for the correction!

hands & eyes!

Sandra wrote: "hands & eyes!"

You're right about that, Sandra!

I love your lists, Theresa! Good luck! : )

I just finished another level! Details in
message #3.

How did you like The Hangman Daughter series? I bought all the books at one fell swoop but have yet to read them.

Janice wrote: "How did you like The Hangman Daughter series? I bought all the books at one fell swoop but have yet to read them."

Janice, I have Amazon Prime and read the first three books of the series in 2013 when they added the Kindle Lending Library. The books are interesting, and are based loosely on the author's ancestor who was a Hangman. I gave them a 4 but might have gone down to 3.5 for the last two had that been available.

I didn't realize that the author loosely based them on an ancestor. Interesting!

Hooray, Theresa!

I'm happy to report that I've finished Level Three. Level Four will follow shortly. Today I start A Memory of Light, the 14th and final book of The Wheel of Time series.

As I read on, I'm also making progress on my stitching and knitting. I'm on the final section of a large cross stitch project, And They Sinned. I'm also having fun with my knitting. I knitted a pair of War and Peace Socks, a technique where two socks are knitted at the same time, one inside the other.

Last Saturday I took a class in Portuguese knitting, a technique where your yarn is guided through a pin you wear on your blouse. I don't have time to describe it fully now, but I'll find some links later for any knitters who might read this. I really liked the technique.

Today I finished Time Regained by Marcel Proust, book #7 of 7 of his series, In Search of Lost Time, killing off that series. Now to finish the third book of a Scottish Highlander trilogy, then claim Level Five.

The cross-stitch piece is beautiful!

Very in awe, Theresa, for reading the complete Proust "In search of lost time" series! Seems to have kept you reading, which equals a good recommendation I assume.

Still hoping to at least begin this series. Hats off too you.

Cherie wrote: "The cross-stitch piece is beautiful!"

Thanks, Cherie. I must confess that my library started a Sunday afternoon knitting group, so I've joined that and have been doing more knitting than stitching lately. We've even registered for Stitches Texas, a huge knitting Expo in September. Still, I'll get ATS finished this Summer, I'm sure.

Tejas Janet wrote: "Very in awe, Theresa, for reading the complete Proust "In search of lost time" series! Seems to have kept you reading, which equals a good recommendation I assume.

Still hoping to at least begin ..."

Janet, I actually got the complete 7 audiobook series from Audible, read by Neville Jason. It was the beautiful language and awesome narration that kept my interest. My commute to/from work averages 1 1/2 hours per day, so I listen to audiobooks in the car.