MobileRead Book Challenges discussion

Goals:

* Read 12 books

Statistics:

Books: 43
Pages: 15453

January
1. The Only One Left - Riley Sager
2. Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith - Joe Perry & David Ritz
3. A Haunting on the Hill - Elizabeth Hand

February
4. Into the Uncanny - Danny Robins
5. Mother Death - Lee Mountford
6. The Last Day - Andrew Hunter Murray

March
7. The House at Phantom Park - Graham Masterton
8. The Possession - Ambrose Ibsen
9. Shift - Hugh Howey
10. Knots & Crosses - Ian Rankin
11. The House of Last Resort - Christopher Golden
12. The Cat Who Brought Down the House - Lilian Jackson Braun

April
13. The Half Burnt House - Alex North
14. A Fatal Illusion - Anna Lee Huber
15. Ghost Station - S.A. Barnes

May
16. The Ghost Station - Tananarive Due
17. The Apparition Phase - Will Maclean

June
18. Dust - Hugh Howey
19. Dead Silence - S.A. Barnes
20. Starling House - Alix E. Harrow

July
21. How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive - Craig DiLouie
22. Murder Never Misses - Faith Martin
23. The Haunting of Bridge Manor - Marc Layton

August
24. Fairy Tale - Stephen King
25. So You Shall Reap - Donna Leon
26. The Whistling - Rebecca Netley
27. The Crow - James O'Barr
28. De Zevensprong - Tonke Dragt

September
29. Sand - Hugh Howey
30. After That Night - Karin Slaughter
31. Ghost Movie - Paul Tremblay

October
32. Parrish - Shannen Crane Camp
33. The Well - Marie Sexton
34. The Dead and the Dark - Courtney Gould
35. Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper - J.L. Bryan
36. Middle of the Night - Riley Sagar

November
37. The Ferryman - Justin Cronin
38. The Nice House on the Lake - Álvaro Martínez Bueno & James Tynion IV
39. Stay in the Light - A.M. Shine

December
40. Cold Shadows - J.L. Bryan
41. Fade - Shannen Crane Camp
42. A Haunting in Plum Hollow - Ambrose Ibsen
43. The Bayou Witches - Bill Thompson

Extra

Extra

A 12 book goal isn't a very difficult goal to reach, especially since there have been years I've read 100-120 books. But looking back at the last 6 months it's a realistic goal. Although the most difficult period is now almost over, there's still some things in the future that might make it more of a challenge to read regularly.

First!!

I find that during times when life gets in the way, exceeding a smaller number goal is a better mood-boost and keeps the reading goal from turning into "one more thing I need to get done this year".

The Only One Left by Riley Sager.
A great book, creepy and captivating and with good twists. I've now read two books by Sager and I will definitely read the other ones he wrote.

A good start of the year. Which I will follow up with what I know will be a slower read: Joe Perry's autobiography. In secondary school I was obsessed (or rather hyper focused) with Aerosmith (my current musical hyper fixation is the band Ghost). I still love Aerosmith, I regularly listen to their music. So now it's time for Joe Perry's autobiography. Even if I know I'm a slow reader when it comes to non-fiction.

Bianca wrote: "The Only One Left by Riley Sager.
A great book, creepy and captivating and with good twists. I've now read two books by Sager and I will definitely read the other ones he wrote."

Oooh! That does sound good, and my library has it so I'll check that out at some point. (Already have a holds list right now and don't want to get a pile on, but I'll tag it on Libby so I don't lose it. LOL)

Looking forward to hearing how the Joe Perry autobio is. I'm an Aerosmith fan too. Have been since I was a kid when Permanent Vacation came out and caused a big Aerosmith comeback on mainstream pop/rock radio. Well, that, and the Run DMC collab of Walk This Way from the year before. I think every kid in my grade knew the words to that one.

Walk This Way was my intro to Aerosmith, and I became a fan in the 90s when they seemed to be everywhere! :) I listened to their Big Ones album on repeat!

My second recommendation of the year: go read Joe Perry's autobiography if you're interested in Aerosmith. I've read 100 pages already today (about a quarter of the book, excluding the index). It's entertaining, relatable and brings back memories of the books/biographies I read about Aerosmith as a teen. It's got me hooked, even if I know most of the story.

My first Aerosmith album was Big Ones, too. I also got the Big Ones video tape with all the music videos. I wore that thing out! I can remember my parents got me Get a Grip to make up for me being mistreated at a supplier when picking up some things (I was going to my grandparents' vacation place 45 minute/15km bike ride away for the afternoon, I passed the supplier and my father asked me to pick up a small order he had called in. The bastards let me wait for nearly 2 hours and were rude. After that I went home since I would have only half an hour or so left at the cabin before having to head home). Funny how you remember those things. I think tomorrow, when cleaning the bathroom I'll be listening to Aerosmith.

Aerosmith is a part of your lifetime soundtrack!

Bianca wrote: "My second recommendation of the year: go read Joe Perry's autobiography if you're interested in Aerosmith. I've read 100 pages already today (about a quarter of the book, excluding the index). It's..."

Excellent! I've added it to my "2024 Targets" shelf. My library has it on Libby.

Edited to add: I sat here working today singing "Walk This Way" under my breath for like four hours after posting this morning. 😂

It's only the 9th and I'm already frustrated. This last week I haven't had much time to read. Tomorrow the photographer is coming to my sister's apartment to take pictures for the listing and the past two weeks we've been cleaning and DIYing a lot. My sister had time off between Christmas and New Year, so we did things together. This last week it's been mostly me doing all the chores.

But this morning I do get some time to read; I'm going to get my hair cut and dyed, so I'm taking my Kindle with me to read whilst the dye is doing it's thing.

This afternoon we're "sanitizing" the apartment (putting away a lot of decorations and in my bedroom put away the less appropriate decor such as my tarot cards, Funko Pops and weird plushies). Tomorrow morning we're doing more of this, though it will be stuff we need tonight and tomorrow morning (mostly electronics and chargers). After the photographer is going I can carry everything upstairs again and put things back. Only to repeat it again for the viewing days. Sigh, I'm glad when this is all over.

That is a very frustrating process. Trying to prep for a move is hard enough without all of that, and staging a place for listing is basically a big game of repeatedly hiding your own stuff.

Yesterday we packed and took things to the storage room we have on the ground floor. I was the one who carried most things downstairs, whilst my sister packed. And I'm the one expected to carry things upstairs again when the photographer is gone, since my sister has to go to work this afternoon.

Luckily during the viewing we're not planning on having it as empty as today. Unfortunately, what we do need to get out of the way can't go in the storage room downstairs. The photographer won't take a picture of it today, but people can check it out during the viewing days.

Good Luck with everything!

I'm in the middle of remembering how much packing sucks!

Packing sucks, I've done that for almost 6 months straight.

But packing, moving it to storage, moving it out of storage and unpacking it within 24 hours is a special kind of hell.

I've done 18 trips up and down two flights of stairs today, I've unpacked my things and hooked up all my cables again. I'm tired, so when my laundry is done in 10 minutes and I've hung it to dry/put it in the dryer I'm going to take a nap.

(((HUGS))) I hope you get some actual rest!

I went to bed early last night. Today I'm up early again, because the plasterer is coming to do the bathroom ceiling in 20 minutes (8 am). I'm sore this morning!

But other than keeping an eye on the plasterer today I'm taking it easy. Some cross stitching and reading is planned.

On a positive note; I did get some good reading in yesterday.

I'm glad you're taking an easier day! Rest is so important. It's wild that this time last year it was me who was scrambling to move and now you and Nyssa are both dealing with it. (((Hugs))) Hang in there!

Happy New Year Bianca. Best of luck on the move. I never liked moving and I've done it too many times. Even if you don't reorganize things, just the process itself is like an archeological expedition.

Thanks.

Today the plasterer was here, so I had a lot of time reading, before I had to deep clean the kitchen, hallway and bathroom, again. My sister and I agreed that after all the DIYing, cleaning and moving of stuff we're going to take it easy this weekend on the cleaning front, just the toilet and the weekend laundry.

I did finish Joe Perry's biography.

Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith by Joe Perry.
I still highly recommend it. It's entertaining and fun, without getting preachy. Every time he mentions a song it started playing in my head.

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand.

Meh, it's a sequel to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. But the house doesn't feel like Hill House to me. It's also a very slow burner. Sure, unsettling things happen, but it isn't until the book is 90% in before the serious stuff starts happening.

A bit of a slower reading week. But next Wednesday and Thursday the visiting days for my sister's apartment are planned. So we've been busy preparing and cleaning. Today we start sanitizing again.

I've booked a hotel for two nights in Rotterdam. So I'm going shopping, do some cross stitching and read. I'm looking forward to those days, finally some real relaxation and no pressure for cleaning, preparing and arranging things.

Into the Uncanny by Danny Robins
Great book about spooky things. Danny Robins is the presenter of the Haunted and Uncanny, dealing with spooky stories. He also has two podcasts, The Battersea Poltergeist and The Witch farm, each focuses on one haunted case, using actors to play out the parts, but they also include interviews with the people who experienced the hauntings and experts. All podcasts are highly recommended. This book is an extension of his Uncanny podcast series.

Life update:
Last week between 26 and 30 people came to view my sister's apartment over two days. Eight of those put an offer in. The highest being €348,000! Mind you, my sister bought this apartment (considered a started apartment) six or seven years ago for €150,000. Considering the real estate agent estimated the apartment would fetch between €300,000 and €330,000 we were a bit astounded. The highest bidder added a note to her offer. She grew up in the neighbourhood and still has friends and family here.

It does mean we can easily afford the things we want/need to do to our new house. My sister is now thinking if we're going to replace the kitchen straight away (and add a door to the garden from the kitchen) or not.

Now it's time to start thinking about the move and paint and floor colours!

Congrats on the great offers! That must have been a big relief! And I love that the highest offer came from someone who wants to move back to her home neighborhood.

January has been a good reading month. Three books and 1217 pages. Which isn't a lot, especially compared to other years. However, normally I go on vacation in January, I haven't this year. Plus, we've been really busy with the apartment and this past week I've had a nasty chest cold.

I've now finished four books and considering my reading challenge is to read 12 I'm doing well.

Excellent news on the home front Bianca.

Mother Death by Lee Mountford.
Fifth in the Haunted series. An okay story, a bit predictable and it feels to me more of a transition to a new, possibly different, part of the overall story. This is a series you have to read in order.

The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray
I know the author through his podcast No Such Thing As A Fish (recommended), which is basically a spin off from the BBC series QI, he and his fellow presenters are researchers for QI. I've seen the podcast live when they recorded in Amsterdam and even met all four presenters afterwards (they're all really nice).

I put it off long enough and I must say I really loved Murray's first novel (there are two more, one released recently). It's got a good pace to it.

I had planned on reading the second book in the Silo trilogy next, but I'll first read something else, because there are some similarities between the book (post-apocalyptic, isolated society, female lead). So I'm first going to read Graham Masterton's latest novel.

Oooh! Sounds like a good book!

Thank you for reminding me that I want to re-read at least the first part of Silo so that I can then watch the show before my Apple TV free trial runs out.

It's starting to itch again. I want to wipe my Kindle and start again. There are too many books on there. I had originally planned to do it at the start of the year, but with everything that's going on I forgot (my parents are moving into their new apartment next week!).

So when I finish my current book I'll start afresh. I need to make a list of book I want to put on it after the wipe.

It might be a while; my current book isn't a fast read and I just bought a new game, which looks addictive (Fabledom). So it might be a while before I get to it.

LOL I've been getting the urge to wipe mine as well but I'm trying to resist.

Fabledom looks cute!

The House at Phantom Park by Graham Masterton
Okay. A slower read for me, but then lots of things are going on so it might be that. But I did deduct points for the overly cheesy ending.

I just wiped my Kindle and there are now only 25 books on it, which is nice. I won't get much reading time today because in half an hour we're off to my parents' apartment to help clean and organize it for their move next week. And next week we're helping again, at least two days, but I'll ask if my help is needed on other days, too. Plus, I need to pick up my new bike (yay, my first new, good quality bike ever) and I want to test that out with a trip (weather's going to be nice next week). So we'll see how much time I have for my own pursuits.

February was okay, just over a 1000 pages read for three books. The same amount of books as January, but about 200 pages less. Mostly due to a book that read slowly and just a lot of things going on (helping my parents, doing things for our own move, etc).

This week is also fully planned, things for our own move, my new bike, my parents moving into their apartment, etc. I'm looking forward to Sunday; my sister's going out with friends all day and I will laze around.

I realized that my the time my sister and I have moved in to our new house (mid to late June) I've been packing and moving for a whole year. I'll be so glad when it's all over, I'm already thoroughly fed up with it.

The Possession by Ambrose Ibsen.
Okay, I didn't like it as much as his recent books, but it isn't bad. I would love to have more historical background.

Up next is Shift, the second book in the Silo trilogy.

I also want to (re)read the Inspector Rebus series. I recently read that they're going to make a TV series about young Rebus. I read the series when I was at university in the UK. I then read almost all the books, but out of order. The last book I've read must have been the 15th Rebus book in 2005. So it's time to start again, in order now.

Shift by Hugh Howey
That one hit the spot. Second book in the Silo series and it was hard to put down. I will need to read the last book of the trilogy sooner rather than later. Plus there are three more books set in this world.

Up next is Knots & Crosses the first in the Inspector Rebus series. A short one, but a good re-introduction to the series.

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
Another quick one. The first in the Inspector Rebus series. It has brought up some memories and story lines of this series, but nothing super specific. I will definitely continue with the series and try to catch up with it again.

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
A new to me author. I really enjoyed it, it started creepy, slowly ramping it up and then suddenly it took off. The author has written a lot of books, so I definitely have to look into it.

Not sure yet what to read next. On the one hand I want to choose a random read from my Kindle, but I would also love to finish one more book this month and finish my GoodReads challenge. So I'll probably go for a The Cat Who novel. Quick, easy and entertaining.

The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun
Not a true mystery. Early in the story some pets are kidnapped and returned after a ransom was paid, all without Qwilliran's involvement. It's also very clear from the start who's had a hand in it and why. Entertaining but not the best in the series.

This was the 12th book of the year, which means I've finished my challenge. This month has been particularly good. Probably because we've finished moving my parents. But now we're going to focus on our own move and the things that need to be done in the new house. Plus I'm still looking for a new job. So we'll see how many books I end up reading this year.

Looking at my reading list for this year I have been reading stand alone books mostly. Only 4 books in series so far. But some new releases of my favourite series are coming out this year. For now I'm continuing with stand alone books.

Once again I'm starting a reading journal. A physical one this time. I've just ordered the Moleskine Passions Reading Journal. Which has only one page per book, so it won't be too much of a chore to fill it in (I hope).

I'm now deciding whether to fill in all the books I've read so far this year or if I start from now. I'll probably do the former; it's not that many books, plus with the crappy weather this week I have time to do so.

Let's see how long I can keep up with it this time, lol.

I just got my Moleskine Reading Journal. Strangely it's subdivided like an address book, from A to Z.

I happily started to fill in the books I've read so far this year. But then realized that I should have ignored the A to Z and started on page one and go in chronological order. I will never fill up the entire book, because one letter might be filled up (probably the H, I read a lot of H books), whilst others will stay empty (Q, Y, Z, J). I think I will use this journal for only 2024 and start a new one next year (if, a big if, I manage to keep up with it).

I've also ordered some (cheap) fountain pens and some fun coloured ink cartridges.

The Half Burnt House by Alex North
I loved it. I read the reviews that some found the pacing too slow, but I didn't feel that way. It was annoying at times that each chapter switches between the perspective of several characters. Especially in the second half of the book you would get a lot of mini cliff hangers at the end of chapters, where you have to wait for the story to return to that character.

A Fatal Illusion by Anna Lee Huber
Not as good as the previous books in the series, but still a good read.

The last couple of weeks I've been busy sorting through my books, dvds and cds. I thought it would be most difficult to say goodbye to my books, but it turns out it's cds that I can't part with. Luckily those take up least space. This morning I sorted through four boxes of books and ended up with less than a box of books I want to keep. I want to have a custom made bookcase made for next to my closet, of three, maybe four, shelves. Above it I'll hang my TV. And I might put up some shelves for books and/or dvds in the hallway.

I love my CDs. Don't take my CDs. Please don't. I can't read a book while doing the dishes.

Last night was Shishamo for tidying the kitchen.

It surprised me. I had most of my cds already digitized, so I had them on my computer and iphone. But there are so many memories. Much more than for books or dvds. Luckily they don't take up a lot of space, if necessary I can put one row in front of the other and I might stack them.

Today I'm ordering more cds. I do have the digital downloads from all the Ghost (new favourite band), but I want to have them in physical form, too.

Oh dear. My hand just slipped and I ordered a Kobo Libra Colour with a stylus and clear case.

I do love my Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. However, the USB port is giving problem. Not always wanting to connect to my computer and at times when connecting it to a usb cable it gives the message to disconnect because there's moisture in the usb port (which is definitely not the case).

I've had Kobos in the past and liked them but I always ended up having hardware problems; holes/spotlights in the screen, when the motion sensor was in the bezel it would go crazy if the was any dust/crumbs in between the bezel and screen and my latest Kobo's battery just gave up one day.

But I'm willing to give them another try (especially since you can replace things as battery and screen yourself now). I ordered it directly from Kobo, since they were the only ones in the Netherlands to have to clear case in stock (I like to put things in the clear case for decoration, and regularly swap it). I will need to get a zippered pouch/case for it so it's safe when I bring it with me.