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

2024 Reading Intentions:
1. To gopher and read from my home shelves and kindle first before I head to the library or store.
2. Nonfiction is my friend.
3. Short stories have depth.

Challenge Links:
🧩YLTO 2024 Trail Hike Challenge

Series to Continue and/or Finish:
Mystery
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series 18/19 by Louis Penny
The Thursday Murder Club 1/4 by Richard Osman
Secret Lives 1/2 by Mark de Castrique
Ministry is Murder 1/5 by Emilie Richards
The Martini Club 1/2 by Tess Gerritsen
Wrexford & Sloane 3/8 by Andrea Penrose
Master Mercurius Mysteries 3/7 by Graham Brack

Cozy Mystery
Miss Fortune Mystery: Louisiana Longshot 3/25 by Jane Deleon
The Cambridge Bookshop 1/3 by Elizabeth Penney

Fantasy
Charley Davidson Series 2/13 by Darynda Jones
The Dark is Rising Series 1/5 by Susan Cooper
Her Majesty's Royal Coven 1/3 by Juno Dawson
The Samuel Johnson series 1/3 by John Connolly

Romance
Magic Hollow 1/4 by Ali K.Mulford

Series to Start:
Prickle Island Zoo 0/4 by Ali K.Mulford
Meg Langslow 0/33 by Donna Andrews
Lila Maclean Academic Mystery 0/5 by Cynthia Kuhn
Magical Cat Mystery 0/15 by Sofie Kelly
Gentleman Bastard Series o/4 by Scott Lynch
Sunshine Vicram Series 0/3 by Darynda Jones
Mystery Bookshop Series 0/8 by V.M. Burns

Classics I Want to Read in 2024

1. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
✔️2. Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber
3. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - Pulitzer
4. The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor- Pulitzer
✔️5.Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
✔️6. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
7. House Made of Dawn - Pulitzer
✔️8. Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor - own
✔️9. Stoner by John Williams
✔️10. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

My Personal 2025 Goal- Reading Through the Years or Clearing my TBR (if I don't read it in 2025, I won't read it at all)

Published
(view spoiler)[2000: A Conspiracy of Paper or Life Is So Good: One Man's Extraordinary Journey through the 20th Century and How he Learned to Read at Age 98
2002: Speaks the Nightbird or Two Gardeners: Katharine S. White & Elizabeth Lawrence--A Friendship in Letters
2003: Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum or This is Where I Leave You by
2004: The Last Kingdom or Birds Without Wings
2005: Three Day Road or The Secret River
2006: Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery
2007: The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild or The Name of the Wind
2008: People of the Book or To the End of the Land
2009: An Elephant in the Garden ] or The Forty Rules of Love by
2010: Stealing the Mystic Lamb: The True Story of the World's Most Coveted Masterpiece
2011: Hounded or Wonderstruck
2012: The Rook or Illuminations
2013: Written in Red or The Universe Versus Alex Woods
2014: City of Stairs
2015: Epitaph Finding Audrey
2016: The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells or Who We Were Before
2017: The Lightkeeper's Daughters or Calling Major Tom
2018: The Secrets Between Us or The Immortalists
2019: The Secrets of Lost Stones or True Places
2020: The One and Only Bob or What You Are Looking For Is in the Library or The Pink Canary: The Hidden Secret to Optimum Health for Women or In Five Years
2021: The Lights of Prague or Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty or Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
2022: The Keeper of Stories or An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us ] or The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
2023: Don’t Forget to Write or North Woods
2024: The Wedding People (hide spoiler)]

Reading the Pulitzers
1. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
2. The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor
3. House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
4. Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson
5. The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
6. The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
7. Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

2024 New Releases

★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★

January 2024 "Reads"



Great start to the New Year. Read a lot of fantasy, but did finish the Mercy Thompson series.

January 2024 Stats: 9 Fiction/ Nonfiction Read
- ★★★★★ -
5 - ★★★★
2 - ★★★
1 - ★★
1 - ★ - Rhapsodic
- DNF -
Year Total: 9 Fiction/ Nonfiction

I've read Stoner and loved it. It was one of the gems of last year or the year before that I've read. You've got some interesting non - fiction that I want to read too.

February 2024 Reads




I thought February was supposed to be a mellow month with reading by the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate and knocking out my TBR. Nope, If it wasn't for the Toppler I may not have read anything this month. Slow down life, please!!

February 2024 Stats: 7 Fiction/ 3 Nonfiction Read
1 - ★★★★★ - The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle
5 - ★★★★
3 - ★★★
- ★★
1 - ★ - The Winter Lodge
- DNF -
Year Total: 16 Fiction/ 3 Nonfiction

I always come back and look at your 5 star reads, Jayme. Most of the time, they are alreay on my TBR list but I added your Feb book this time.

Too funny, but I always look at your 1 star and DNFs to take them off of my TBR list too.

I listened to Demon Copperhead last month. I thought it was an interesting story but only gave it 3 stars.

March 2024 "Reads"



I'm surprised I read as much as I did this month. March is really crazy for me as the weather gets better and I start back into working in my cities historic gardens. And the way things are looking - April is going to be just as crazy!

March 2024 Stats: 7 Fiction/ 1 Nonfiction Read
- ★★★★★ -
4 - ★★★★
4 - ★★★
- ★★
- ★ -
- DNF -
Year Total: 23 Fiction/ 4 Nonfiction

I am in a reading slump and have realized that to get out of it I am going to need to swear off challenges for awhile. I need to approach a book with the thoughts "I'm in the mood to read this", or "this book looks really good" - not does it have a "blue" cover or the word "love" in the title. I have been so caught up with getting this badge or that badge and reading for a challenge that I forgot that the bottom line is to read for me.

I need to find again what it is like to just read. Wish me luck.

Good luck, Jayme!

I found that I had to pull back from “do every challenge and group read” and decide that I could survive missing out on some of them. I just can’t read as fast as I used to and I felt that I was letting myself down. Crazy, I know. I am much happier reading what I want, for the most part. I finally don’t feel any pressure only getting the first badge for the yearly challenge. I’m still hiking, just slowly and even changing out books for others after I had it all planned out. I still look, but if nothing jumps out, I go on reading what I want.

Cherie wrote: "Good luck, Jayme!

I found that I had to pull back from “do every challenge and group read” and decide that I could survive missing out on some of them. I just can’t read as fast as I used to and I..."

That's exactly where I am, Cherie. I have been really busy with life right now that when I read I want to read something enjoyable - not forced. Even though I know that I'm the one forcing myself. lol I did get the first badge for the hike and will participate in some group reads and monthly challenges, but only if a book I really want to read fits.
Thanks for the encouragement!

April 2024 "Reads"



April found me in a bit of a reading slump. Planning on just taking my time in May and reading when the mood strikes.

April 2024 Stats: 3 Fiction/ 1 Nonfiction Read
- ★★★★★ -
2 - ★★★★
2 - ★★★
- ★★
- ★ -
- DNF -
Year Total: 26 Fiction/ 5 Nonfiction

Saar The Book owl wrote: "I've read Stoner and loved it. It was one of the gems of last year or the year before that I've read. You've got some interesting non - fiction that I want to read too."

I just finished Stoner and it was so good. 5 star read.

May 2024 "Spotlight Sci-Fi/Fantasy"

CHALLENGES


A great reading month. I read a variety of genres and may have broken my reading slump.

May 2024 Stats: 11 Fiction/ 2 Nonfiction Read
1 - ★★★★★ - Stoner
8 - ★★★★
2 - ★★★
2 - ★★ - Lagoon, A Short Walk Through a Wide World
- ★ -
- DNF -
Year Total: 37 Fiction/ 7 Nonfiction

June 2024 Reads "Spotlight- Nonfiction"



It was a good reading month. I read a lot of books even though I've been in a reading slump. I think that was because I was house and dog sitting for two weeks, so I needed to pass the time. One thing that I am learning is to DNF books more readily. If I'm not into it - I'm not going to enjoy the read.

June 2024 Stats: 8 Fiction/ 3 Nonfiction Read
1 - ★★★★★ - The Frozen River
6 - ★★★★
4 - ★★★
- ★★ -
- ★ -
- DNF - George: A Magpie Memoir
Year Total: 45 Fiction/ 10 Nonfiction

July 2024 Reads "Spotlight- Myth"



This was the month of reading soft porn disguised as myth. I did kill the Muse Chronicles Series though

July 2024 Stats: 9 Fiction/ 1 Nonfiction Read
- ★★★★★
4 - ★★★★
3 - ★★★
3 - ★★
- ★
- DNF -
Year Total: 54 Fiction/ 10 Nonfiction

August 2024 "New To Me Authors"




What a great reading month. I read a variety of genres - nonfiction, romance, historical fiction, classics, fantasy and discovered some new authors. My reading mojo is back!!


August 2024 Stats: 9 Fiction/ 4 Nonfiction Read
2 - ★★★★★ - A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them Address Unknown
6 - ★★★★
4 - ★★★
1 - ★★ - This Is Chance!: The Shaking of an All-American City, a Voice That Held It Together
- ★ -
- DNF -
Year Total: 63 Fiction/ 14 Nonfiction

September 2024 Reads



Good balance between books read for a challenge and "just because" this month.

October 2024 Stats: 8 Fiction/ 1 Nonfiction Read
2- ★★★★★ - There Are Rivers in the Sky Sandwich
3 - ★★★★ -
1- ★★★ -
3 - ★★ - The Sisters of Glass Ferry The London Séance Society Prognosis: A Memoir of My Brain
- ★ -
- DNF - The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love
Year Total: 72 Fiction/ 15 Nonfiction

October 2024 Theme: Reading My Paperbacks



Completed The Vine Witch trilogy and The Bright Falls trilogy.

October 2024 Stats: 10 Fiction/ Nonfiction Read
- ★★★★★ -
6 - ★★★★ -
4 - ★★★ -
- ★★ -
- ★ -
- DNF -
Year Total: 82 Fiction/ 15 Nonfiction

November 2024 Reads



November 2024 Stats: 8 Fiction/ 1 Nonfiction Read
- ★★★★★ -
7 - ★★★★ -
1 - ★★★ -
1 - ★★ - The Fish Can Sing
- ★ -
- DNF -
Year Total: 90 Fiction/ 16 Nonfiction

Did you leave room for the monthly challenge and the toppler?

Janice wrote: "Did you leave room for the monthly challenge and the toppler?"

Got the monthly challenge down, but totally forgot about the Toppler. Maybe some of my "Just Because" reads will fit? 🤞🏼

I'm hoping that some of my hiking challenge books will fit. The themed read (if it wins) James. Even if it doesn't, I will read it for the theme. Every book I read from here on must fit the challenge, or I won't finish.

December 2024 Reads



It's a wrap on 2024. I had a very restful reading month and read light holiday stories. I won't be reading at all the next couple of days, so will start again in 2025.

December 2024 Stats: 9 Fiction/ Nonfiction Read
1 - ★★★★★ - Clear
7 - ★★★★ -
- ★★★ -
1 - ★★ - One Big Happy Family
- ★ -
- DNF -
Year Total: 99 Fiction/ 16 Nonfiction