rhian_of_oz Reads in 2022 - July to December

I'm Rhian and this is my fourth year in Club Read. My reading goal for this year (like the previous three years) is to make a dent in my TBR pile. As at 31 December 2021 the TBR count was 150.

Currently reading:
The Body by Bill Bryson

Next up:
Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (bookclub)

Suggested December reads (based on Category challenges or group reads):
MysteryKIT (holiday mysteries) -
RandomKIT (christmas sweets) -
CATWoman (prize winners) - Little Fires Everywhere, The Luminaries, Home, Beloved
SFFKIT (wishes) - Far From the Light of Heaven
Victorian - The Law and the Lady, The Importance of Being Earnest

Priorities from wishlist(WL) or TBR
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (WL)
Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah (WL)
A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw (WL)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (TBR)
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (TBR)
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (WL)

Series to finish:
Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Hidden Empire by Orson Scott Card
Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart
Perhaps The Stars by Ada Palmer
Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson
The Rosewater Redemption by Tade Thompson
Death's End by Cixin Liu

CR BBs
Celestine by Kevin St Jarre (labfs39)
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller (BLBera)
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (Simone2)
Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon (lisapeet)
The Golden Thread by Kassia St Clair (Nickelini)
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (LibraryLover23)
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (KeithChaffee)

Bookclub Recommendations
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen (The Hair-Carpet Weavers)
The Mote in God's Eye by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven (The Hair-Carpet Weavers)
Ringworld by Larry Niven (The Hair-Carpet Weavers)

Wishlist from other sources
The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer (Friday Barnes)
The Deadly Daylight by Ash Harrier (BSB)
Ithaca by Claire North (BSB)
The Bookseller's Apprentice by Amelia Mellor (Series)

Quarter 3

July

1. The Lady With The Gun Asks The Questions by Kerry Greenwood


2. Black Widows by Cate Quinn


3. Velocity Weapon by Megan O'Keefe


4. Dune by Frank Herbert (bookclub)


5. The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith


6. The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth


7. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens


8. Made By Humans by Ellen Broad

August

1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke


2. The Pull Of The Stars by Emma Donoghue


3. Nightwork by Nora Roberts


4. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

September

1. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee


2. A Catalogue of Catastrophe by Jodi Taylor


3. Battle Ground by Jim Butcher

QTD
Books owned pre-2022: 9 (60.00%)
Books purchased in 2022: 5 (33.33%)
Books gifted in 2022: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 1 (6.67%)

YTD
Books owned pre-2022: 28 (46.67%)
Books purchased in 2022: 13 (21.67%)
Books gifted in 2022: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 19 (31.66%)

TBR: 130

Quarter 4

October

1. Ariadne by Jennifer Saint


2. A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine


3. Desperation in Death by J D Robb


4. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

November

1. Information Is Beautiful by David McCandless


2. The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley


3. A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas


4. An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn


5. Kopp Sisters on the March by Amy Stewart


6. Hard Time by Jodi Taylor


7. The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

December

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir


2. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett


3. The History of Bees by Maja Lunde


4. Friday Barnes Undercover by R A Spratt


5. Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld


6. Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany


7. Body on Baker Street by Vicki Delany


8. The Cat of the Baskervilles by Vicki Delany

QTD
Books owned pre-2022: 3 (15.79%)
Books purchased in 2022: 6 (31.58%)
Books gifted in 2022: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 10 (52.63%)

YTD
Books owned pre-2022: 32 (40.00%)
Books purchased in 2022: 19 (23.75%)
Books gifted in 2022: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 29 (36.25%)

TBR: 130

The Lady With The Gun Asks The Questions by Kerry Greenwood

This is a collection of short stories featuring our favourite 1920's Australian lady detective.

These are entertaining but not as satisfying as short stories can be. Ms Greenwood states in the intro that she often uses this form to try out new characters.

There is also an interesting section on Phryne and how she came into being and addresses some of the questions I have about the character.

Fun and light if that's what you're in the mood for.

Black Widows by Cate Quinn

When Blake Nelson is found dead his three wives Rachel, Emily and Tina are the primary suspects. The story unfolds told in alternating POVs of the three women.

This is a book that doesn't bear up under scrutiny but is okay when taken at face value. It is a bit long for what it is, but when you're not well and want something to read that doesn't require too much thinking, then it did the trick.

Ms Quinn has jammed a lot of stuff into this book (which explains the length). According to reviews I read a lot of the stuff she's included (and that are key plot points) about the Mormon church is flat out wrong. As I'm not familiar with the LDS Church I didn't notice these inaccuracies.

I'm going to put the the thing that really annoyed me in spoiler tags because it gives away the ending.

On the front of the book it states "His wife killed him." and on the back it states "Until one of them killed him.". Both of these statements meant that I was expecting that one of his wives was responsible for his death. They were not! I don't mind a little misdirection, e.g. something like "which one of his wives killed him?" but this was beyond that. It meant that I wasn't really satisfied with the resolution.

This wasn't *terrible* and it was what I needed at the time, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. If you want something to read that you're prepared to take as given on the surface then this could be for you. I don't intend to read anything else by this author.

Uni was very challenging this semester and I barely had time to read let alone keep up at CR. I had my last exam yesterday and am now free for the summer and I celebrated by going to the library and picking up a handful of books, one of which I read today.

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas is the second in a series that is a take on the Sherlock Holmes story where Sherlock is actually Charlotte.

I'm not familiar enough with the original stories to know whether this is a version of one of them so I was quite surprised at the resolution. It's all a bit convoluted but still a lot of fun. I quite like the characters and am looking forward to the next instalment.

>9 rhian_of_oz: Congratulations on finishing your semester. I hope you have a relaxing start to your summer.

Welcome back! I hope you have a grand summer full of reading for pleasure.

An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn

This is the sixth in the Veronica Speedwell series where Veronica and Stoker inadvertently investigate the death of a female mountain climber.

I didn't love this one as much as previous episodes and looking at my review for the last one I think I'm maybe not as inclined to look past ridiculousness as I once was. The characteristics of Veronica I so admired in the beginning are somehow muted, though I'm not sure whether this is intentional.

I will read the next one and I'm hoping, based on the ending of this one, that it will take Veronica and Stoker away from England and to somewhere more exotic and adventurous.

Kopp Sisters on the March by Amy Stewart

This is the fifth instalment in the Kopp Sisters series so this review will likely contain spoilers in relation to previous books.

Constance has been moping since losing her job when Norma signs the three of them up for a National Service School. This book is also (mostly) about Beulah Binford who's notorious for being the ex-lover of a man who murdered his wife.

Part of the attraction of these is finding out (after finishing) how much is true so it was slightly disappointing to discover that the Kopp's never attended one of these camps. And while Ms Binford's story is interesting I wanted to read more about Constance, Norma and Fleurette. So overall this wasn't my favourite of the series but I am keen to see what the Kopp sisters get up to next.

My reading goal for the year was to reduce my TBR pile and despite the lowest reading total in recent memory I managed to do it!

I hope everyone else managed to meet their reading goals for the year.

Hi Rhian! Nice to see you. I'm glad you made your reading goal, quite the feat considering you also went back to school this year. All is well?

Thanks Lisa! It helped that my income dropped quite significantly :-).

All is well, I'm enjoying "catching up" with everyone in the 2023 Introductions. I'm about to set up my own thread and then I'll work my way through the individual ones. I'll be dropping my star on yours once it's available.