MobileRead Book Challenges discussion

Another year of finishing series and something fun to get going on the large ebook collection I have.

Listing of Series (I have most of the books)

Wayward Pines - Blake Crouch 1/3 DONE
Archy McNally - Lawrence Sanders 0/7 DONE
Kate Lawrence Mysteries - Judith K Ivie 0/5 DONE
Grimnoir Chronicles 0/3 DONE
Vorkosigan saga 14/23
Murder She Wrote! Jessica Fletcher 24/48
Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries - Sue Grafton 5/26
Moreland Series - Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 2/35
War At Home - Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 0/5
Myrtle Clover Mysteries - 13/17
Laurel McKay 5/7
Spellsinger 1/7
Cat Who 5/32
Ringworld (2/4)
Yakima Henry 1/10
Pampered Pets 4/10
Undying Mercenaries 1/12
Myth (Asprin) 7/12
Miss Marple 7/14
In Death 19/59
Bill Slider - Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 0/21
Lorimer & Brightman - Alex Grey 0/16
Cadfael 0/21
Deadwood Mysteries 1/10
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache 1/14
Halo (first 3 books only) 0/3
Void Trilogy 0/3
Argeneau Vampires 10/29
Undead (Davidson) 1/15
Womens Murder Club 1/18
Trash n Treasures 3/15
Chief Inspector Barnaby 1/7
Pip and Flinx 1/15
Agatha Raisin 1/29
Kovak and Liska (Tami Hoag) 1/6
King & Maxwell (Baldacci) 1/6
Half-Moon Hollow 1/6
Roderick Alleyn (Ngaio Marsh) 2/33
Harry Bosch 2/21
Alex Cross 1/26
Hamish McBeth (Beaton) 1/33
Sacketts - Louis L'Amour 4/19
Greg Mandel Trilogy - Peter Hamilton 0/3
Cradle - Will Wight 1/6
Stormlight - 0/3
Felse Investigations 0/13
Tawny Man - Robin Hood 0/3
Nights Dawn - Peter Hamilton 0/3

ebook only
Seaside Knitters 8/13
Tea Shop Mysteries 4/20
Ed Noon 2/34
Xanth 1/32
Coffeehouse Mystery
Hannaside and Hemingway (Heyer)
Warlock( Stasheff)
Buchanan - Jonas Ward 2/12
Last Templar Mysteries (Jecks)
Gaius Valarius Verrens (Jackson)

Obviously can't finish all of these in one year. Just listing. So many to choose from!

SF&F Backlist challenge
The challenge is to read every book on the bookshelf. These are the books I am currently interested in. When I get them done, I'll go through the list again.

Own
Sphere DONE April
The Mote in God's Eye DONE August
The Way of Kings
Leviathan Wakes
A Princess of Mars
The Night Circus
Seveneves
Spinning Silver
Ship of Magic
Foreigner
Ubik
Watership Down
A Fire Upon the Deep
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Warbreaker
The Golem and the Jinni
The Song of Achilles
The Final Empire
The Name of the Wind
Altered Carbon
The Lions of Al-Rassan
The Stand
The Crown Conspiracy
The Well of Ascension (Mistborn)
Consider Phlebas
The Black Prism

Library
The Handmaid's Tale
The Eye of the World
A Clash of Kings
Armada

Other
Hyperion
The Fall of Hyperion
Old Man's War
Stranger in a Strange Land
Six Wakes
Parasite
The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Long Earth
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
The Gunslinger
Pawn of Prophecy
The Last Unicorn
The Neverending Story
Flowers for Algernon
The Quantum Thief
Magician: Apprentice Volume 1
The Last Wish
The Way of Shadows

Series
Vorkosigan
0.5. Dreamweaver's Dilemma (1995) (in Dreamweaver's Dilemma)
✔ 1. Falling Free (1988)
✔ 2. Shards of Honor (1986)
✔ 3. Barrayar (1991)
✔ 4. The Warrior's Apprentice (1986)
✔ 4.5. The Mountains of Mourning (1989) (in The Borders of Infinity)
✔ 5. The Vor Game (1990)
✔ 5.5. Weatherman (2011)
✔ 6. Cetaganda (1996)
✔7. Ethan of Athos (1986)
✔7.5. Labyrinth (1989) (in The Borders of Infinity)
✔7.6. The Borders of Infinity (1987) (in The Borders of Infinity)
✔8. Brothers in Arms (1990)
✔9. Mirror Dance (1994)
✔10. Memory (1996)
11. Komarr (1998)
12. A Civil Campaign (1999)
12.5. Winterfair Gifts (2008)
✔ 13. Diplomatic Immunity (2002)
14. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (2012)
14.5. The Flowers of Vashnoi (2018)
15. Cryoburn (2010)
16. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (2016)
✔ The Borders of Infinity (1989)

Popsugar Challenge 2021 Completed 18/50

REGULAR
1. A book that published in 2021 Another Time, Another Place
2. An Afrofuturist book
3. A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover Dead Man's Hand
4. A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign The Quiet Gentleman
5. A dark academia book
6. A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title The Crystal Cave
7. A book where the main character works at your current or dream job
8. A book that has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction The Song of Achilles
9. A book with a family tree Memory
10. A bestseller from the 1990s Needful Things
11. A book about forgetting A Great Deliverance
12. A book you have seen on someone’s bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.)
13. A locked-room mystery
14. A book set in a restaurant
15. A book with a black-and-white cover Thief River Falls
16. A book by an indigenous author
17. A book that has the same title as a song Three Blind Mice
18. A book about a subject you are passionate about Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold
19. A book that discusses body positivity
20. A book on a Black Lives Matter reading list
21. A genre hybrid
22. A book set mostly or entirely outdoors
23. A book with something broken on the cover The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
24. A book by a Muslim American / Muslim British author The Golem and the Jinni
25. A book that was published anonymously
26. A book with an oxymoron in the title Borders of Infinity
27. A book about do-overs or fresh starts Pines
28. A magical realism book The Night Circus
29. A book set in multiple countries In Farleigh Field England, France
30. A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021 The Fine Art of Murder
31. A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality
32. A book whose title starts with “Q,” “X,” or “Z” The Quantum Magician
33. A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child) Hushed Up
34. A book about a social justice issue (animal Welfare) Black Beauty
35. A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels)
36. A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads Edit to Death
37. A book you think your best friend would like McNally's Trial
38. A book about art or an artist The Fine Art of Murder
39. A book everyone seems to have read but you
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

ADVANCED
41. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list Shōgun
42. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list Buchanan 20: One Man Massacre
43. The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover
44. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover The Haunting of Tram Car 015
. The book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time The Devil's Deep
46. A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn’t Spinning Silver
47. A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing
48. A book from your TBR list chosen at random The House Guest
49. A DNF book from your TBR list The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad: Book 1-4
50. A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library) Stephen Fry Victorian Secrets

Series - Archy McNally - DONE
✔ 1. McNally's Secret (1992)
✔ 2. McNally's Luck (1992)
✔ 3. McNally's Risk (1993)
✔ 4. McNally's Caper (1994)
✔ 5. McNally's Trial (1995)
✔ 6. McNally's Puzzle (1996)
✔ 7. McNally's Gamble (1997)

These were not actually written by Lawrence Sanders and I don't own them. So, decided not to pursue this series further.
8. McNally's Dilemma (1998) (with Vincent Lardo)
9. McNally's Folly (2000) (with Vincent Lardo)
10. McNally's Chance (2001) (with Vincent Lardo)
11. McNally's Alibi (2002) (with Vincent Lardo)
12. McNally's Dare (2003) (with Vincent Lardo)
13. McNally's Bluff (2004) (with Vincent Lardo)

Dewey's April 2021 Readathon!!

Finished first book!
Fearless by Jack Campbell

Books started during Dewey 24 Hour Readathon
A Robot Named Clunk - Simon Haynes <--now done
Black Beauty - Anne Sewell <--now done
Faithful Unto Death (Midsommer Murders) - Caroline Graham <--now done
Gateway - Frederick Pohl <--now done
Sourcery - Terry Pratchett <--now done
The Devil's Deep - Michael Wallace <--now done

Bookly Bookathon (July 28-Aug 2)

Book - Finished! Character has a secret A Great Deliverance
Book - FINISHED! with a red cover (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter Readathon!
The PC people choked out the readathon for HP at Deweys, so I'm having my own marathon. Started on Harry's birthday July 31. After I finish the books, I'll watch the movies. My Mom broke her foot, so doing both (watching movie after reading) isn't going to work. I'm listening to the UK version narrated by Stephen Fry.

Started July 31
Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - FINISHED
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -

So Far this Year (September 6 update)
Books read: 66
Short stories/novellas read: 17
Pages read: 22,100
Rereads: 10
New authors: 13
Abandoned books: 2

Kate Lawrence Mysteries - Judith K Ivie

Waiting for Armando DONE August
Murder on Old Main Street DONE August
A Skeleton in the Closet DONE August
Drowning in Christmas DONE August
Dying Wishes DONE September

I'm lukewarm on this series so won't be getting the final 3 books, so this cozy series is DONE.

Reserved

Reserved

First?!?

Nyssa wrote: "First?!?"

Yes, you are. I just had a lot of reserved slots. Congrats!

Second! :D

Good luck Stephanie!

My first book of the year is a Regency romance/mystery by Georgette Heyer - The Quiet Gentleman. It's been decades since I read any of these, and this audiobook has sat in my library for 9 years. Time to listen! I've also a couple of short ebooks started in December to finish. One has poor formatting so is difficult to read. The other I was just reading before going to sleep.

I'm so bad, it's already the 3rd and I've bought 2 audiobooks and 5 ebooks. They are all part of series I'm currently reading, but so much for reducing TBR! They were on deep discounts. My only justification. Ok, 2 of the ebooks enabled me to get deep discounts on the audiobooks (whispersync), but still. Sigh.

February was slow. Between some health issues and meds, concentration was at a low so I didn't complete much. So for March, I'm reading/listening to some lighter fare until things settle down.

For series, I've mostly been focused on Archy McNally by Lawrence Sanders. 4 more to go.

I hope to finish all books purchased in 2011 this year and have 3 down with 11 to go. Audiobooks from that year are already done, so all ebooks/magazines. So for those, I'm just trying to spread out to listen to at least one in each year still unlistened.

I spent much of March watching Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (both extended release) and all the accompanying extra stuff on filming. I'll never get to go to New Zealand so this is the closest I will get. I also listened to the new Hobbit in audiobook and narrated by Andy Serkis who both did Gollum and directed some parts of The Hobbit.

My eye med that was messing with concentration was cut in half, so I'm doing much better and trying to catch up a bit. I'm canceling my Audible membership until November, so hope to sneak in a couple more of the Vorkosigan (Bujold) shorts that are free through Audible Plus before that ends in early April. I have SO MANY audiobooks unlistened to that I need to cancel so I stop get tempted by sales.

Glad to hear that your meds were able to be reduced! Medication-induced brain fog is so frustrating.

I would love to go to New Zealand and I, also, never will so maybe I should watch those for the scenery even though I'm not a Tolkien fan.

Last weekend participated in the biannual Deweys 24 hour Readathon. It was fun. I was disappointed with the PC cancel culture fallout over the offered Harry Potter readathon, so I have withdrawn from the group.

Instead, I will participate in a monthly readathon called 24B4Monday which takes place the last weekend of every month. In this readathon, the goal is to read 24 hours within the time period of midnight Friday through Midnight Sunday. Lots of folks don't reach the goal but seem to have fun anyway.

My optic nerve is still not improved since February. Eye doc thinks I can go ahead and get new glasses anyway as I have no symptoms. So yay! It's really hard to watch TV with trifocals!

I quit Audible, so working hard on audiobook TBR now. According to my spreadsheet, if I continue listening 120 hours a month, it will take me 8.45 years to complete all the audiobooks I currently have (down from 8.48). Yep. Years. I may have a problem. Of course, I did acquire entire series and am only just getting to some that are now done or mostly done.

Ok, first weekend of 24B4Monday this weekend. The first two books were already in progress so I completed.
A Morbid Taste for Bones - Ellis Peters
Pandemic - Robin Cook
Echoes in Death - J D Robb
A Body in the Attic - Elizabeth Spann Craig
Christmas at The Grange - T E Kinsey

So barely 24 hours. Pretty hard over 4 days. I'll rarely make over 3, but it is fun anyway.

I think I bought as many audiobooks this month as I did when I was an Audible member. Various specials available to anybody who was a prior member. I finish the month with 8.47 years of unlistened audiobooks based on my average of 120 hours per month.

Overall, my reading/listening is picking up again. Was able to cut my problem med to every other day now - that will hopefully help with concentration! Oh, and yes, I bought yet another Voyage. Why? Because it was there for $50. This means I really have to sell some of my older kindles as maintaining all of these is getting a bit much. I feel like a gadget collector. But they contain books!!

It's official. I am down to only 16 ereaders. Two were shipped off today and two others will go this week. So, what has survived (so far)?
4 Kindle Keyboards - only need one but got the others for when that one fails. Use a lot of text to speech. Hasn't been sold at Woot since 2019, so glad I got them.
Kindle Touch - mostly for editing books but I also use this for text-to-speech. Like the K3, I can TTS any ebook, not just ones bought at Amazon. Can't do that with newer models.
3 Basic 7 - one hooked to bro's account, one will be my takealong and one MAY get sold. Update: at least 1 to be sold.
Basic 8- I use this mainly for Whispersync titles where I switch between audio and ebook as it will play Audible titles.
Paperwhite 3 - Has all my magazines.
5 Voyages - What can I say? I love the Voyage. I have a couple of back up units from Woot. By this time next year, availability of a Voyage for cheap will probably come to ascreeching halt so I feel better getting that last one.
Nook Glo - for Barnes and Noble books. Has an amber light that I use sometimes in the winter when reading for long periods in bed (illness, injury).

Now I have to determine my purposes. You need to keep maintaining them so it helps to have a book to read on each one at least every other month or so. Oh, and I bought Mom a Paperwhite 3 to upgrade her from a Paperwhite 1 which is no longer getting supported with new features. Still a good time to sell old tech. The Kindle Keyboard and Voyage continue to have a strong market, but the rest will teeter off the ravine in value. So it's either sell now or keep forever.

Progress during June. Finished the McNally Mystery series books 1-7 which were written by Lawrence Sanders. The rest of the series was written by another man and I'm not sure that I will get those or not. Not sure where to fit in - I'm currently reading Xanth series by Piers Anthony as my take-a-longs.

August is usually my Western Month but since I don't have many left except by a single author, I'm going to just throw in one western every month from now on. Starting a Harry Potter marathon on July 31 (Harry Potter's birthday). The disadvantage is that it won't help my TBR. Oh well, we live to reread favorites.

For July, no major series finishes, but I did crack 3,000 pages again. Took awhile for the concentration to come back after reducing meds. Started my Harry Potter marathon yesterday. It will go slow. Mom broke her foot last week and so my available time is much more limited. It's her heel - we'll find out tomorrow if she will just get a cast or surgery. Either way, she is out of commission for 2 months. I way overbought books last month. Most were $1-2 but they mount up. So trying not to BUY anything this month. I need to practice anyway. I expect my Mom to be around another 10 years, but the day she expires pretty much ends my ebook buying.

Mom got a 'boot' and she is complaining about it already. At least it will protect her heel better. No surgery.

That sucks about your mom. I hope she heals well.

Mom still has her boot. She gets it off 2 weeks from today if all is well. She's very frustrated and depressed not being able to do stuff now that the temps have dropped. My Mom is CONSTANTLY doing stuff, so this is hard on her. Makes it hard for me to read or listen to books, but I'm making some progress. Nearly finished another series - short books but the series was lukewarm (I only paid $2 per audiobook, so cheap). I'll finish final book today and then will move on to the final book in the Grimnoir trilogy.

I'm doing well not buying any audiobooks and August was good for ebooks (only 4). It's hard though - strong sale habit here even when restricted to authors I already have. Hopefully continued progress in knocking down TBR this month!

I've read/listened to hardly anything in the last couple of months. Trying to pick it back up again. Of course, the book I chose turned out to be a pandemic book of all things. Hah. On the plus side, I've purchased hardly any books at all and zero audiobooks.