archerygirl sales Mount TBR in 2019 (1)

Hello! I'm Kathy and I'm returning for my ninth year in the 75 books group! Mount TBR is my physical book stash and I didn't do too badly last year - it shrank by a couple of books! Until the end of the year, when the birthday and Christmas added lots of Doctor Who Mister Men books, which I'm saving for rainy days and parcelling out carefully, so the mountain isn't shrinking fast. But at least the for most of the year the books in was lower than the books read for once.

We're not discussing the Kindle book acquisitions.

Last year was tough, because moving back to England from Canada is surprisingly time-consuming, so I was proud to make it to 75 books on the dying day of the year. This year I'm hoping for 75 again. Theoretically it'll be a quieter year, but I'm contemplating buying a home instead of renting at some point this year, so it might get a bit busy again. I'll try to keep my thread here up to date, but if I suddenly disappear, I tweet a lot. On @stompydragons, I sporadically talk about IT, writing and books. On @ selenay I'm much more chatty and likely to talk about what I'm actually up to (among all the memes, political RTs, IT, and book chat). If you're a tweeter, say hello on whichever account is your speed :-)

I primarily read SFF, myster, and romance, with more fantasy appearing in my SFF reading and more historicals in my romance and mystery. I try to keep up with current SFF as well as reading older books, because I'm a Hugo voter, but there still tends to be a mad dash in the middle of the year to read that list as thoroughly as possible.

As noted, my romance tastes tend more towards historicals, although I'm also a bit of a Jenny Colgan fan, too. I read all flavours - het, f/f, and m/m - and all heat levels.

When I'm not reading, I watch TV (I have access to the BBC again!), write novels that will hopefully be published one day, and work as a data engineer. I now commute to London for work, which was supposed to increase my reading but as I often listen to podcasts (or fall asleep on the train), it's not had as much effect as expected. My reading is regularly hindered by the Reading Prevention Team: Annie and Kate, my ridiculous cats who love to sit on any book I'm trying to read.

When I am on my regular computer, I'll add a photo of at least one Reading Prevention Team member.

Books read in 2019:

January

1. Death at Wentwater Court - Carola Dunn
2. Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb
3. Competence - Gail Carriger
4. Monk's Hood - Ellis Peters
5. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
6. Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
7. The Duchess Deal - Tessa Dare

February

8. The Governess Game - Tessa Dare
9. Lamentation - CJ Sansom
10. Heresy - SJ Parris
11. The Lawrence Browne Affair - Cat Sebastian

March

12. The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club - Katie May
13. Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante - Susan Ella McNeal
14. Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch
15. The Hanging Tree - Ben Aaronovitch
16. Chimes at Midnight - Seanan McGuire
17. Every Heart a Doorway - Seanan McGuire
18. Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Seanan McGuire
19. Beneath the Sugar Sky - Seanan McGuire

April

20. In An Absent Dream - Seanan McGuire
21. Thief's Magic - Trudi Canavan
22. Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure - Courtney Milan
23. Record of a Spaceborn Few - Becky Chambers
24. The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter - Rod Duncan
25. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy - Alyssa Cole
26. Star Trek: Discovery: The Way to the Stars - Una McCormack
27. Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours - David Mack

May

28. Lessons: Part 3 - Jenny Colgan
29. Lessons: Part 2 - Jenny Colgan
30. Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals - Cole Naussbaumer Knaflic
31. The Diamond Throne - David Eddings
32. The Furthest Station - Ben Aaronovitch
33. Lessons: Part 3 - Jenny Colgan
34. A Spoonful of Poison - M. C. Beaton
35. The Ruby Knight - David Eddings

June

36. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
37. The Sapphire Rose - David Eddings
38. Dune - Frank Herbert
39. Proper English - KJ Charles
40. The Thing About Ghost Stories - Naomi Kritzer
41. Trail of Lightning - Rebecca Roanhorse

July

42. Hither, Page - Cat Sebastian
43. The Tea Master and the Detective - Aliette de Bodard
44. The Woman in the Picture - Katharine McMahon
45. Nine Last Days on the Planet - Daryl Gregory
46. When We Were Starless - Simone Heller
47. If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again - Zen Cho
48. Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach - Kelly Robson

August

49. UNIT: Extinction - Andrew Smith
50. The Black God's Drums - P. Djèlí Clark
51. Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously - Jessica Pan
52. The Undatetable - Sarah Title
53. So You Want To Be A Wizard - Diane Duane
54. The Princess Who Flew With Dragons - Stephanie Burgis
55. Deep Wizardry - Diane Duane
56. High Wizardry - Diane Duane
57. Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
58. A Little Light Mischief - Cat Sebastian

September

59. The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London - Christopher Skaife
60. The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics - Olivia Waite
61. Poppy Jenkins - Clare Ashton
62. An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir

October

63. The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart - Stephanie Burgis
64. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

November

65. A Duet for Invisible Strings - Llinos Catherine Thomas
66. Her Royal Highness - Rachel Hawkins
67. Northern Lights - Philip Pullman
68. How to Find Love in a Bookshop - Veronica Henry
69. This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar

December

70. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter - Theodora Goss
71. The Wallflower Wager - Tessa Dare
72. Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night - James Runcie
73. A Lot Like Christmas: Stories - Connie Willis
74. Early Riser - Jasper Fforde
75. The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper

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I'm on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8605160-katherine

And my GR challenge for the year is here: https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/7501-2019-reading-challenge

Books acquired in 2019:

January

1. Competence - Gail Carriger
2. The Duchess Deal - Tessa Dare
3. Monk's Hood - Ellis Peters
4. Lamentation - CJ Sansom
5. The Governess Game - Tessa Dare

February

6. Heresy - SJ Parris
7. The Undateable - Sarah Title
8. The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club - Katie May

March

9. In An Absent Dream - Seanan McGuire
10. The Winter Long - Seanan McGuire
11. Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure - Courney Milan
12. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy - Alyssa Cole

April

13. Lessons: Part 1 - Jenny Colgan
14. Lessons: Part 2 - Jenny Colgan
15. Lessons: Part 3 - Jenny Colgan
16. Record of a Spaceborn Few - Becky Chambers
17. The Tea Master and the Detective - Aliette de Bodard
18. Dune - Frank Herbert
19. Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours - David Mack
20. Star Trek: Discovery: The Way to the Stars - Una McCormack

May

21. Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals - Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
22. Proper English - KJ Charles

June

23. Hither, Page - Cat Sebastian
24. The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics - Olivia Waite

July

25. A Duke in Disguise - Cat Sebastian
26. Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously - Jessica Pan
27. The Ninth Rain - Jen Williams

August

28. A Little Light Mischief - Cat Sebastian
29. Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch
30. Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
31. The Queen of All Crows - Rod Duncan
32. Poppy Jenkins - Clare Ashton
33. The Wallflower Wager - Tessa Dare

October

34. A Duet for Invisible Strings - Llinos Cathryn Thomas
35. Sweetest Thing - Natasha West
36. Early Riser - Jasper Fforde

November

37. * Doctor Sixth - Adam Hargreaves

December

38. * RHS How To Garden When You're New To Gardening - Emma Tennant and Jane Simmons

italics denotes dead tree books
* denotes books that were gifts or free sales

Totals:

34 Kindle books
4 dead tree books
2 free/gift book

Top reads from 2018:

In no particular order (I gave up on restricting it to five):

Mr Churchill's Secretary - Susan Ella MacNeal
Just Henry - Michelle Magorian
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows - Balli Kaur Jaswal
Leah on the Off Beat - Becky Abertalli
Company Town - Madeline Ashby
The Calculating Stars/The Fated Sky - Mary Robinette Kowal
Penhallow Amid Passing Things - Iona Datt Sharma
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night - Iona Datt Sharma and Katherine Fabian

And that's it! All posts set up and I'm ready to go for 2019!

Happy New Year Kathy! And happy new thread!



Wishing you and your family the best for 2019.

>5 humouress: Thank you! And the same to you and your family :-)

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Some books!

1. Death at Wentwater Court - Carola Dunn
This was light and fun, with a resolution that seems obvious with hindsight but wasn't while I read, and a lead character I really, really liked. I saw reviews that compared it negatively compared to Maisie Dobbs, but I think the faults those reviewers found (lighter, less angst, a plot unconnected to WWI) were all the reasons I liked this one. Don't get me wrong, I love the Maise Dobbs books too, but sometimes you want to dig into something from that period that is a little less earnest, if that makes any sense. I'll definitely be reading more in this series whenever I need a fun mystery.

2. Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb
This was the total opposite. Angsty, very dark in places, twisty and turny, and absolutely compelling. I think I devoured the final third in around two days. It's not easy and the conclusion is both satisfying and not, because a lot of ends are tied up (except for the ones that aren't) and nobody gets a particularly happy end (except for the people who do) and I'm still not sure what to make of it. I definitely plan to read the next series and I'll actually be happy to leave Fitz where he is, if that's possible, because he deserves some peace and quiet. But I do want to know what happens to other characters and I'm intrigued by what happens next for this world, so I guess I'm hooked.

Happy New Year Kathy!

Happy New Year Thread Kathy!

*waves* Hiya, Kathy! Looking forward to seeing what you read this year.

Happy to see you back again this year, Kathy!

Kathy! Hi! Great to see you here again! Yeah Assassin's Quest was pretty tough. I've just finished with the Liveship Traders, and now I'm returning to Fitz. Let's hope the poor fella has recovered a bit in the interim!

>8 quondame: Thank you!

>9 lycomayflower: Hiya! Hopefully it'll be some good stuff this year. I did start out well, at least :-)

>10 MickyFine: It's nice to be back!

>11 HanGerg: I'm starting to suspect Fitz books are ones that need to be read carefully, with a lighter read nearby for the moments when it's too much, and with a break between each one, just to survive what happens to him. Are the Liveship Traders a bit less distressing?

Welcome back!

>13 drneutron: Thank you!

For folks planning to go to Worldcon, the con-rate hotel booking site opened today and the rooms are going fast. There should be rooms available directly for a while, although not at the price the con negotiated, but if you've already bought your ticket and were hoping to get in on the official hotel blocks, probably best doing it sooner rather than laster.

Apparently the site is crashing for a lot of people due to load. It likes me and I got a booking in my third choice hotel :-D

Happy reading in 2019, Kathy!

>15 FAMeulstee: Thank you!

And I already have book #3 of the year in:

3. Competence - Gail Carriger
I loved this. And I will freely acknowledge that it's because there was so much focus on the relationship between Primrose and Tasherit, which I have been hopeful for ever since they first met in Prudence. The adventures and plot took a bit of a second seat to the personal in this one, which probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, but when they're so delightfully up my street then I don't care. I'm here for this. Prim+Tash 5eva! I also loved the way Carriger told Anitra's story and she actually made me want to know more about Percy, who I didn't care about before, so there's a lot of lovely chewy character stuff here if that's your jam.

Unlike the previous two books, everything in here is either Prim or Percy POV, which was interesting because it gave me a different impression of certain characters (mainly Pru and Quesnel) than I'd previously seen and I thought that was rather clever of Carriger. I loved this one, but it's definitely not a good place to jump in with this series so if you're interested, it's best to start with Prudence and work forward from there.

For anyone attending this year's Dublin Worldcon (or supporting it) who bought their membership before the end of 2018, nominations for the Hugos are now open! You should have an email in your inbox with the relevant link. Nominations close on March 15th.

(Also applies to attendees and supporters from last year's Worldcon.)

Voting in the Hugos will be open to all Dublin Worldcon members whenever you've bought your membership, so don't worry about that if you haven't bought yet.

Now I really need to catch up on some of last year's stuff...

Happy 2019
A year full of books
A year full of friends
A year full of all your wishes realised

I look forward to keeping up with you, Kathy, this year.

>1 archerygirl: 'We're not discussing the Kindle book acquisitions'

Well, they don't take up physical space is my argument.... :-)

>11 HanGerg:, >12 archerygirl: From reading the first two Liveship Traders books I would say they are definitely less distressing. It was the Tawny Man trilogy I found really hard to read last time (which is the second Fitz trilogy).

>14 archerygirl:, >17 archerygirl: Sadly, I've decided World Con is not going to work for me this year - August is a really busy time at work and we already have a week booked with our god-daughter at the seaside that month but I'm going to get a supporting membership again and vote because that was fun last year.

I'm idly considering Easter Con in April which is the BSFA con and fairly close by (Heathrow).

>16 archerygirl: Glad you enjoyed Competence - I'm planning on reading that series later this year.

>18 PaulCranswick: Thank you!

>19 souloftherose: Well, they don't take up physical space is my argument.... :-)

That's my argument, too :-)

From reading the first two Liveship Traders books I would say they are definitely less distressing. It was the Tawny Man trilogy I found really hard to read last time (which is the second Fitz trilogy).

As long as I get a lighter break for a while, hopefully I can get through the Tawny Man trilogy. Er, is there Fool? Because I'm there for the Fool more than Fitz right now.

I'm idly considering Easter Con in April which is the BSFA con and fairly close by (Heathrow).

Do it! I'm doing it :-) Getting a supporting membership to Worldcon is a good plan if you can't get to Dublin - Hugo voting is fun! I do understand how busy August can get. I'm lucky that it's not busy for me and my roomie is a teacher so Worldcon is easier to get to for her than most conventions.

>20 archerygirl: Yes, sorry. From memory there is definitely Fool as well as Fitz in the Tawny Man trilogy. Nothing of either so far in the Liveship Traders (that I've seen - up to book #2).

That's good to know about Easter Con - I will start persuading the husband he wants to come with me :-)

Ok, this is all very exciting! Yeah, no Wolrdcon in August for me too sadly, but I like the sound of Easter Con! Will look into it - an LT meet-up there would be a blast!
I'm tempted to get a supporting membership and vote in the Hugos, but I just don't know if I read fast enough. How many books and short stories do you think you need to read to be able to meaningfully vote, Kathy? And is there a particular place to get hold of them so it's not too much strain on the purse strings?

I think the Liveship Traders series was definitely less gruelling overall than the Fitz series, but it had its moments. I'm just about to start the Tawny Man Trilogy so...er...gulp

Wishing you a great weekend, Kathy.

>22 HanGerg: LT meetup at Easter Con would be awesome!

Not Kathy but piping up anyway :-) Last year (first year I got a supporting membership for the Hugos) I held off buying the membership until the shortlists had been announced so I could have a look at the list and see if I thought reading the books would be feasible/something I wanted to do. I think the shortlists are announced in April(ish) and then you have until end of July(sih?) to vote so that does give you some time. There are usually 6 works nominated in each category.

Most of the shorter fiction (short stories and novelettes) was available for free online. There is also something called the Hugo Voters Packet which is released for members and contains copies of most (but not all) nominated works in ebook format (I think multiple formats were available for everything except the graphic novels which were in pdfs). Last year that was released sometime in June I think. Which works are available depends on the publisher. Plus it's absolutelty ok to only vote in certain categories - I definitely didn't vote in every category last year.

>24 souloftherose: and 22 An LT meetup at Easter Con would be brilliant so you should both book to come :-) I've been to one before, a few years ago, and it was a fantastic experience. The people running it are all familiar names from previous cons and it's a good team, so I expect a great con.

As Heather noted, the shortlist for Hugos is usually out late April(ish) - often timed for Easter weekend, but not always. And voting usually closes in late July. Buying a supporting membership after you see the list is a good plan - you'll be able to see how much reading you're likely to need and how much is feasible. The teams try to get the Hugo Voter Packet out as early as possible with as much of the material as possible, although that is dependent on the publishers.

I've always found that it's pretty doable to cover the majority of the shorter fiction categories, because they're shorter and usually available online for free, and it's a rare year when I haven't read at least one or two of the novels already before the shortlist appears. It's absolutely fine to only vote in the categories you feel you are qualified for - I don't know many people who do vote in every category. I never have!

I usually manage to cover most of the long and short form dramas (I don't get too worried if one or two of the films/tv shows were either unavailable or so far from being my thing that I couldn't watch them) and at least one episode from most of the podcasts. The art is generally an easy category to vote in, if samples are in the voting packet, because it's not a big time commitment to consume some art.

I've never voted in the editor categories and I rarely vote in the semi-pro zines unless I've been reading an unusual amount of short fiction and have Opinions.

The series category is new and I think a lot of us are still working out our tactics. I tend to feel that as long as I've read one work from several of the series, I can probably make a fair call, and there's usually at least a couple of series I'm already reading on the ballot which helps to cut down the reading!

I'm determined to make sure I can vote in the new YA category, to show support for it being there after a long fight, but if YA isn't your thing then don't feel obliged.

Basic rule of thumb is that if you feel strongly about a work in a category, you should vote in that category even if you haven't read anything else :-)

Hi, Kathy. Finally getting around to visiting the threads...

>1 archerygirl:...Kindle acquisitions...? Uh, less said about those the better! Heather is absolutely right - they take up no space. The problem is that I'm a very visual-spatial person, so out-of-sight, out-of-mind for me. That's why I ended up making a planned reading list - if I didn't plan, the shiny, new books would get all my attention and those poor TBR's would never see the light of day!

>6 archerygirl: >22 HanGerg: I would agree - I enjoyed the Farseer series with Fitz, but I felt wrung-out at the end. I sometimes felt that Fitz brought a lot of the bad stuff upon himself because he ignored everyone's advice and did whatever he wanted to do. Perhaps not a bad way to live, but certainly not for Fitz, especially when he had a phenomenal set of advisors. I enjoyed the Liveship Traders series more - most of the characters were intelligent and in charge of their own destiny (both the characters that I liked AND the ones that I didn't.)

>25 archerygirl: I keep thinking I'm going to be a supporting member and vote. I've pretty much planned out my reading this year, with little room to add a bunch of books, so I'll have to try to plan for it next year. OR if the list seems good, I guess I could always defer some of my reading until next year...I guess I have time to think about it.

>26 rretzler: I try never to plan by reading because it doesn't suit my way of reading. It makes reading feel like a chore and then I rebel by doing anything but reading. Or by reading whatever I want anyway, as long as its definitely not on the planned list! But when I'm looking for my next read on the Kindle, I do look through my different folders to find what I'm in the mood for and try to look at older books before I wander off to buy something.

You do have time to think about whether to add some extra books to your plan :-) There are usually some great reads on the lists and reading the Hugos can be a good motivator for getting those read.

I read a book!

A week ago, but still. It's a book that has been read.

4. Monk's Hood - Ellis Peters
The third Cadfael book and not quite as compelling as the previous one, but it's still good. And it does pick up a lot when Hugh returns to the pages, which is a sign of how much I enjoy the partnership between Cadfael and Hugh. There is always something missing when he's not around. Any failings in the book were completely redeemed by the beautiful moment of Prior Robert's comeuppance at the end, which was a thing of beauty and I'd forgotten how glorious it is.

---

I'm almost at the end of two books so there should be more updates this week. They're both books that took time to get into, but I have ended up totally glued to them so they're worth the initial work.

Yay for book read!

(You didn't give away a spoiler there, did you?)

>29 humouress: Argh, maybe a tiny one. Putting it behind a spoiler cut just in case.

Hope the next two books will be announced shortly, Kathy!

>31 PaulCranswick: And here they are!

5. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
This took me a while to really get into, but once I was there, I was hooked. I don't think it was the changing bodies or the day repeating that was the problem, it was that it took me a while to really like and sympathise with Aiden. Although now that I think about it, perhaps that was due to the changing bodies? I know the point where I finally bought into and started to caring about this book, so maybe it was due to that aspect of the book. The important part is that once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. It was such a well-constructed book, with twists I didn't see coming and a couple of twists that I only guessed a few pages before the protagonist. It's clever, compelling, and one of those books you think about for a long time after.

6. Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
I've been a huge fan of Novik since her first Temeraire book. I didn't love this one quite as much as Uprooted, but this was still a hugely enjoyable book. The twists on the Rumplestiltskin mythology were great and, as with Uprooted, there are influences from Russian folktales. The three women at the centre of this story were all fascinating, although I think Wanda was my favourite :-) That's mostly because I didn't love the endings that Irina and Miryem had, particularly Miryem. That one came out of nowhere for me and I really wish Novik had done something else for her *sigh*. Tiny quibbles aside, this was a fantastic book. It took me a while to really get into it, and I suspect that's because it took me a while to really care about the characters, but I was hooked by around page 50 so it wasn't a slog by any means.

Both of these books are Hugo-eligible and I'll probably nominate Evelyn Hardcastle. I'm less certain about nominating Spinning Silver because while I liked it, I didn't feel it was the best of Novik's work or the best book I could have read last year.

>28 archerygirl: Gosh, it's been ages since I read the Cadfael books. Maybe once I finish my Agatha Christie reread I should revisit them....

>32 archerygirl: Most people on LT love Spinning Silver. Now I'm not sure if I should invest in it for my shelves or just borrow it. I shall ponder further - anyway, I don't have much room left on my shelves, so I have to be selective.

>33 souloftherose: You should!

>34 humouress: I borrowed it and I don't regret that. Usually I'm a huge fan of Novik and I've bought all her others, but I can't see myself coming back to this one, so I probably won't regret not having it for my shelves.

I've been reading!

7. The Duchess Deal - Tessa Dare
8. The Governess Game - Tessa Dare

These were both in the Girl Meets Duke series and I pretty much ate them in a few short days, buying the second as soon as I finished the first. So, they're pretty good :-) I think that I liked The Duchess Deal better out of the two - there was a lot more humour and I laughed out loud a few times. Tessa Dare always writes well and entertainingly, her heroines are interesting, and she doesn't resort to "if only they'd talked" plots that make me irritated. If you're in the mood for some fun historical romance, I'd recommend these.

9. Lamentation - CJ Sansom
A total change of pace - murder and politics in Tudor England. As always, Sansom writes brilliantly and paints a vivid picture of what it could be like living in a time of huge religious upheaval. Although Shardlake does work for some of the big political figures of Henry VIII's court, he isn't a part of the court, so you get a real feeling for what it was like for the ordinary people living at that time. The uncertainty over which direction Henry will shift, whether your approved religious ideas today would be heresy tomorrow, really came through and gave me a much better appreciation of how frightening it must have been at times. The central mystery of the book played out against that backdrop and I'm impressed, as always, by the way Sansom tied together so many different threads. I read the final quarter of it in one afternoon because I couldn't put it down. It's probably best to start reading this series from the beginning, but I definitely recommend all of them.

10. Heresy - SJ Parris
My first DNF of the year. I was in the mood for some more historical mystery and this seemed to fit the bill, but ugh. I made it past page 50 so I'm counting it, but I finally deleted it off my Kindle because it was irritating me so much. The book is written in first person, which isn't in itself a problem - Lamentation is also first person and I loved it. But Bruno was such an annoying character and I reached the end of my tolerance for being inside his head very fast.

Yay for Tessa Dare!

>36 archerygirl: I read both the Tessa Dare books recently too, I also preferred The Duchess Deal. I am now waiting patiently for my library to get the third book in the series.

>36 archerygirl: The historical romances sound fun. It's been forever since I tried a new author in that genre. I'll look these up.

>36 archerygirl: I had the same thoughts about Lamentation - I agree Sansom does an excellent job at of convincing the reader of how frightening it would have been to live then.

Shame about the S. J. Parris series - it comes up in my recommendations because of reading the Sansom books but sounds like one to skip.

Ok, I just bought that first Tessa Dare book. It was cheap for the kindle and I'll give it a whirl next time I'm in the mood for that - which is pretty much always.

>37 MickyFine: She's great. And gets better! :-)

>38 fairywings: I'm impatiently waiting for it to be released - August here!

>39 justchris: If you're looking for a new author in the genre, you can't go wrong with Tessa Dare. I don't love her Spindle Cove stories, but everything else I've read by her has been great.

>40 souloftherose: The recommendation is why I tried the S. J. Parris, so it's frustrating that it annoyed me so much. Maybe it would be good book for others, or maybe if I'd been in a different mood, but I don't often DNF and delete books :-(

>41 HanGerg: Hooray! I hope you enjoy it :-)

>36 archerygirl: Sansom is a great storyteller, isn't he?

Have a splendid weekend.

It's been a while, but I was reading while I wandered off :-D

11. The Lawrence Browne Affair - Cat Sebastian
I was in a bit of a depressed funk, so I needed some comfort re-reading and this hit the spot perfectly.

12. The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club - Katie May
This is lovely. It's an examination of getting older, acceptance, and forming a community, and I loved it. The author brings Whitstable alive through her characters. It's gentle in a way, but not cozy, I was sad to leave the characters behind at the end.

13. Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante - Susan Ella McNeal
I love the Maggie Hope books and although this probably isn't the best of them, it's still great and had me hooked until the last page. Maggie is such a complex, interesting character, and I've really appreciated the way the author deals with the consequences of everything Maggie has been through. It was also interesting to finally meet her aunt, after hearing about her in so many books! The mysteries in this one weren't as nail-biting as some of them have been, but that's no bad thing - they were still compelling and I suspect Maggie's adventures felt a little less worrying because I now know she can take care of herself. She's grown so much since the first book. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

14. Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch
15. The Hanging Tree - Ben Aaronovitch
I went on a bit of a PC Grant fest. I read most of Foxglove Summer in one day, because I was having a rare day at home and decided to treat myself, and then I couldn't resist reading The Hanging Tree because I had it right there on my Kindle already. I think I like this series more with every book. Aaronovitch is fleshing out a complex world of magic and history and I love that kind of thing. Getting out of London in Foxglove Summer was also wonderful. The focus of these books is usually so intensely on London that it was almost a surprise to realise magic existed outside of it. I'm almost wishing that there could be a story set back in Herefordshire, with Dominic recruited as a practitioner. I'm sure it's been done in the fanfic!

The Hanging Tree was fascinating and I kind of wish I'd read it without having (accidentally) seen a spoiler about who The Faceless Man was. Darn! That reveal would have been even better without knowing it was coming. But that didn't ruin the book for me, because it was the kind of book you just couldn't put down and look away from.

I also got a small kick out of my home town being featured in it :-D

16. Chimes at Midnight - Seanan McGuire
I was still on an urban fantasy kick, but I rarely read three books in the same series in a row, so I read this instead of going onto the most recent PC Grant book. And I'm so glad I did, because it's brilliant! And it changed so much! And oh my gosh, Toby, I love you. At this point, trying to talk about anything that happens is impossible without giving away giant spoilers for previous books, so I'll just say that this is excellent and everyone needs to read the October Daye books.

---

I am very tired right now, because I'm having an ulcerative colitis flare and I've been put on many many drugs. Ugh. But hopefully they'll work and I'll be able to come off a couple of them soon, and my body will adjust to the maintenance meds fast. I'm back to being immuno-suppressed girl, whee.

Sorry to hear you are having a flare, but Aaronovitch and McGuire are great company for it. Although I'm not sure how you can still have 4 books to go to get current with Toby and not HAVE to read them right NOW!

>45 ronincats: I'm very good at delayed gratification! And very bad at bingeing on anything, including books :-)

Sorry to hear about the health issues but happy that there's been some excellent reading.

Did you hear they're turning McGuire's Wayward Children books into a TV series?

Some good reading. It's always nice to see your hometown featuring in a book.

I hope you feel better soon.

>47 MickyFine: I saw the news about the TV series! Very intrigued about how they're going to do it and whether it's going to be truly accurate to the books. I'm just rereading the entire series before I dig into In An Absent Dream and remembering again how much Down Among the Sticks and Bones was a book of my heart.

>48 humouress: Thanks. I'm still totally exhausted, but at least now I'm feeling a different type of awful from the uncontrolled flare type of awful? I usually only see my hometown featured in Midsomer Murders type books, so this was nice :-D

I need to catch up on my books read list, but something much more important has happened. The Hugo finalists have been announced!

http://www.thehugoawards.org/2019/04/2019-hugo-award-1944-retro-hugo-award-final...

It's an incredibly strong field this year. Most of the works on the 2019 ballot that I'd already read/watched are works I nominated, and I'm excited about exploring everything else.

Probably beginning my read by treating myself to Record of a Spaceborn Few, which I've been saving for a a special occasion because I know I'll love it, and now I have a good excuse to splurge on it :-)

How does everyone else feel? Any other recs for works I should look at first?

>50 archerygirl: Of the novels I've only read The Calculating Stars, which I liked a lot. Most of the others were on my Someday Soon list, so this will be a good nudge. The only exception is the Becky Chambers, whose series had never clicked with me. Guess I'll be giving it another chance, and I hope I get it this time.

I've only read The Calculating Stars and Spinning Silver, of the novels; both were excellent. I tried to start Space Opera but realized in a few pages that it was going to need more time and energy than I had then. But, shocker! I've read all but one of the novellas! This is a length that, before ebooks, I never managed to read. And they are all good too. (The Robson is the one I haven't read.)

>50 archerygirl: The Novella Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach stands out for me, though I've still 1 novel and 1 novella to read. I haven't run across any of the novelettes.

>44 archerygirl: Sorry to hear about your health woes Kathy :-(

I'm hoping the October Daye series being shortlisted for best series for the Hugos this year will finally mean I manage to read at least the first few books before the voting deadline. I've actually read something from about half the series listed this year so feel more optimistic at being able to at least read the first books in the others.

>50 archerygirl: I'm pretty impressed that I have read quite a few of the nominated novels. A tiny bit disappointed that some of my nominations didn't make the final list but not really surprised as British authors rarely seem to make the final lists.

If you haven't already Aliette de Bodard's The Tea Master and the Detective in the novella list was one of my favourites last year and is also part of her Xuya space opera series which is nominated for Best Series (and which I am thrilled to see shortlisted).

On the novelette list The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer was really good and Zen Cho's If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again was sweet (and both made me cry).

In short stories A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow was brilliant and haunting and I also really liked the two Uncanny stories by Bolander and Kingfisher but you've probably already read those being a subscriber.

I've read nothing from the Lodestar list (not really surprised) but I'm going to try to prioritise the Peadar O’Guilin (which is the second book in a series so I will need to read the first) to support what I think may be the only Irish author on the list?

>51 swynn: The Chambers books have been so different from each other that I think it's worth trying Record of a Spaceborn Few. She's an author where I suspect bouncing off one book may mean little about other books.

>52 ronincats: Space Opera was not an easy read. It was worth it, but definitely takes a lot of brain and attention.

>53 quondame: The title of that one sounds interesting, but I've heard good things about all of them. The Binti one is the only one I've read so far.

>54 souloftherose: I've had The Tea Master and the Detective waiting for me on my Kindle for ages. Time to bump that one up :-) I've enjoyed other Kritzer and Cho works, so I'm looking forward to both of those. Prioritising the Irish author on the Lodestar list sounds like a solid plan. I'm not familiar with any of it, but I plan to get familiar :-D

>55 archerygirl: I liked the Binti ones, but they didn't really impress me as much as the general SF community. Except for the ethnic details, the stories had many similarities to others I liked more and I prefer consequences not to be rolled back, at least to such a degree.

>56 quondame: I can understand that. I thought the first Binti story was the strongest, but I did enjoy them all. However, I don't think the last one is the best novella of 2018.

I've been a bit quiet lately, but I made up for that by doing a lot of reading:

17. Every Heart a Doorway - Seanan McGuire
18. Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Seanan McGuire
19. Beneath the Sugar Sky - Seanan McGuire
20. In An Absent Dream - Seanan McGuire
21. Thief's Magic - Trudi Canavan
22. Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure - Courtney Milan
23. Record of a Spaceborn Few - Becky Chambers
24. The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter - Rod Duncan
25. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy - Alyssa Cole

Books 17-19 were rereads, in preparation for reading In An Absent Dream. All the books in this series have been great, although Down Among the Sticks and Bones is the book of my heart in the series so far. Beneath the Sugar Sky was good, but I didn't think it was the strongest in the series, even though I loved certain parts of it to pieces. In An Absent Dream is, yet again, a very different story from what came before and I think it's stronger for that. Lundy is a character we don't really get to know in Every Heart a Doorway and her story turned out to be not at all what I expected, and utterly heartbreaking in so many ways. And also understandable, in ways I didn't expect. At the beginning of the story, I couldn't work out why she wouldn't have stayed in the Goblin Market or what made her desperate enough to attempt to twist the rules. And I could see McGuire setting that up - Lundy was always a character who would learn the rules and then find the way to do what she wanted within them - but I couldn't understand why she'd need to. Clearly, she was better off and happier in the Goblin Market, despite the tragedies. She belonged there. But as the final chapters progressed and I saw her starting to connect to her sister at last, I understood, and that made her fate more tragic because I couldn't condemn her choices. Until that time, she'd never formed any emotional bonds to the people in our world. In his attempts to keep her from becoming someone who would enter the Goblin Market, he ensured she was perfect for the Goblin Market. If he'd acted differently, if Lundy had been able to bond with other children and her family, would she have ever found a door?

Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure was fantastic. I'm not usually a fan of romance novellas because they feel too rushed to feel believable. Courtney Milan is brilliant, though, and she weaves a lovely romance here that never feels hurried. She's also writing about two older women (in their sixties) falling in love, which is incredibly rare in F/F romance and it works so well. I adored both women, I loved their adventure together, and the ending was deeply satisfying. Highly recommended.

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy unfortunately did fall into the rushed romance novella trap. It's not bad, but it's not brilliant and I wasn't left with that deep satisfaction that Mrs Martin gave me. It's a shame, because F/F romance with two WOC leads is so rare.

Record of a Spaceborn Few was my first deliberate Hugo read and also a book I'd been saving to properly enjoy. I loved it. I always love Chambers' books. It's the way she writes about ordinary people and shows us that their stories can be important and significant for them. None of her characters are your typical sci fi hero, guns blazing saving the universe. Her characters are doing their thing and we get to watch them at a pivotal point in their lives, working through that moment and deciding what it makes them. In this case we get to follow several characters in the Exodan Fleet, which we've heard mentioned but hasn't been explored much in other books, and learning about the Fleet is a big part of the enjoyment in this book. The other big part is the characters, and we get to see the Fleet through the eyes of several characters who are trying to work out what their future is and what the Fleet means to them. Highly recommended.

Look at you, knocking out all the reads! I've yet to get to Beneath the Sugar Sky but it's on the list. I've read a couple other of Milan's novellas and I've also found that she's quite good at crafting a complete story in a briefer space. It's a decided talent.

>58 archerygirl: I read Record of a Spaceborn Few when it first came out but your review makes me want to reread it...
And Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure has gone on the list.

Wow, it's been way too long since I did this, but here we go. I read books!

26. Star Trek: Discovery: The Way to the Stars - Una McCormack
27. Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours - David Mack
28. Lessons: Part 3 - Jenny Colgan
29. Lessons: Part 2 - Jenny Colgan
30. Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals - Cole Naussbaumer Knaflic
31. The Diamond Throne - David Eddings
32. The Furthest Station - Ben Aaronovitch
33. Lessons: Part 3 - Jenny Colgan
34. A Spoonful of Poison - M. C. Beaton
35. The Ruby Knight - David Eddings
36. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
37. The Sapphire Rose - David Eddings
38. Dune - Frank Herbert
39. Proper English - KJ Charles
40. The Thing About Ghost Stories - Naomi Kritzer
41. Trail of Lightning - Rebecca Roanhorse
42. Hither, Page - Cat Sebastian
43. The Tea Master and the Detective - Aliette de Bodard
44. The Woman in the Picture - Katharine McMahon
45. Nine Last Days on the Planet - Daryl Gregory
46. When We Were Starless - Simone Heller
47. If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again - Zen Cho
48. Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach - Kelly Robson

There were some highlights in this lot. Star Trek Discovery: The Way to the Stars was a gorgeous Tilly backstory book that I inhaled in one weekend and adored to pieces.

Re-reading The Diamond Throne, The Ruby Knight, and The Sapphire Rose was a great trip down memory lane and they held up much better than I'd expected. It was inspired by a comment someone made somewhere about them being Eddings' best work. Not sure I agree with that (The Belgariad will always be my favourite) but they are excellent and hugely entertaining swords-and-sorcery fantasy novels.

The Furthest Station was based around the Metropolitan line. As a regular on the Met, it was delightful to see Peter Grant and co. having adventures (and throwing in a few interesting facts) on my train :D

Proper English - KJ Charles is a book I've been waiting years for, and it didn't disappoint. It's a delightful F/F romance, telling the backstory to two characters from one of her earlier books, and they're even more delightful than I'd hoped for.

The last four on that list were all Hugo nominees and they're all fantastic in their own ways. I wasn't sure about When We Were Starless at first but I'm glad I stuck with it, because the story it ended up telling was surprisingly moving. I think I felt the same about all of them to a degree - not totally caught on page 1 but loving them by the end - but that was the one where that sense was most noticeable. It was the one I nearly stopped reading after two pages: I wasn't in the right mood for a story with a protagonist who was so different from me. I didn't put it down, because I felt that I needed to read more to assess it, and it grabbed me completely after only a few more pages.

I've read pretty much everything in the main category lists now and I'm still dithering a bit on how to vote with novelette and novella - short story and novel were surprisingly easy for me to decide on this year. I've got a few days to make my choice, though, so I'm sure I'll have decided how I feel by then. Maybe.

Hey Kathy!

Did you read (I assume re-read) Good Omens before or after watching the miniseries? I considered re-reading it before watching the series but I'm glad I didn't because I could just enjoy the series for what it was without being nit-picky about accuracy.

>62 norabelle414: I re-read it just before watching the miniseries, which could have been a disaster but I ended up being really glad I'd done it. My last read was over a decade ago and I found there were jokes in the book (like all tapes/CDs eventually turning into Best of Queen after two weeks in Crowley's car) that were there in the series but not in a way that I would have picked up on without the books being so fresh in my mind. Usually I do get nit-picky, but the series focused so much on my favourite elements of the book and stayed so surprisingly faithful that I didn't.

And the biggest change/addition (the cold open in episode 3) was one of my favourite parts of the series, so I really couldn't complain about changes!

>61 archerygirl: I started the Elenium after reading The Belgariad and The Mallorean (as soon as it was published) but I don’t think I finished it. My favourite was The Belgariad.

>64 humouress: *fistbump of Belgariad love* It's the freshest of his work and I think that's why I love it so much. But The Elenium is pretty good and worth finishing if you ever have the time to try. Maybe I need another Belgariad re-read soon...

Worldcon is coming up soon. Do I know anyone who is going? Are is there an LT meetup that I should know about?

Hi Kathy - just catching up and hope you had a great time at Worldcon and are recovering post crud.

>67 souloftherose: I had a great time at Worldcon and the crud left...eventually. Can't believe it's been so long since I updated, though! Where did the last two months go?

Not to reading, I suspect...

So, I read some books since the end of July:

49. UNIT: Extinction - Andrew Smith
50. The Black God's Drums - P. Djèlí Clark
51. Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously - Jessica Pan
52. The Undatetable - Sarah Title
53. So You Want To Be A Wizard - Diane Duane
54. The Princess Who Flew With Dragons - Stephanie Burgis
55. Deep Wizardry - Diane Duane
56. High Wizardry - Diane Duane
57. Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
58. A Little Light Mischief - Cat Sebastian
59. The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London - Christopher Skaife
60. The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics - Olivia Waite
61. Poppy Jenkins - Clare Ashton
62. An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir
63. The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart - Stephanie Burgis

What this list doesn't tell you is that I've been working on the same book, The Woman in White, since the end of September.

I went on a bit of a Diane Duane reread phase during Worldcon and I got to remember how brilliant those books are.

Red, White & Royal Blue is an utter delight that I adored to pieces. It reminded me a bit of one of my favourite fanfic AUs, but EVEN BETTER. It's an m/m royal romance, pitched somewhere on the border between YA and adult, and it's just...I ate it in two sittings. I loved it.

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics was one of the best historical f/f romances I've read. There was a gorgeous relationship and science and it made me very happy.

An Ember in the Ashes was also excellent, but definitely not light. I'm looking forward to reading more in that universe because I'm itching to know more.

---

One of the reasons I've not been reading much lately is that I've been doing something really big and it's consumed most of my spare brain power.

I'm buying a house!

It's a lovely three bedroom end of terrace, in a good location for family, and easy access to library, buses, doctor, shops...all the essentials. And it'll be bigger than my tiny flat, so there's more space for books! And book-reading nooks! The bank said yes to the mortgage, contracts are progressing well, and I've had a survey done that reassures me it's a good property. We're hoping to exchange before Christmas and complete in the New Year :D

I might have finished The Woman in White by then...

Congrats on being a (almost) homeowner! That is super exciting! I expect there to be bookshelf pics in the New Year. :)

Love Diane Duane's books! And hurrah for a lovely new house. Looking forward to settling in your books.

>70 MickyFine: There will be house and bookshelf pics in the New Year for sure :-) I'm excited! I'll be able to spread out a bit, have space for the cats to run...put up a picture hook :D

>71 ronincats: I'm really looking forward to the time about two weeks after I move, when I'm starting to feel settled and all the scary stuff is over.

At last, I finished this book!

64. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

It's one of those frustrating books that's great when you finally get into it, but it takes a while to get into each time you pick up so it feels like a slog whenever you're not reading it. This is regarded as one of the first detective novels and I enjoyed it despite my complaining. The mystery built and didn't have the resolutions I expected. I liked the central 'good' characters and the villains were dastardly. It was written from multiple points of view, as a sort of case file of testaments from the various characters involved, with the main character's testament linking it all together. So there was a variety of voices to read, not all of them enjoyable, and that feels very of its time.

I'm glad I read it, but I may not reread it because I found it so difficult to get into each time I picked it up.

I'm now diving into some fluff (on my Kindle) and trying to finally read Northern Lights in anticipation of the new series starting on Sunday.

Congratulations on the house and finishing a book!

Red, White and Royal Blue has gone on the list and I went to add Celestial Mechanics and saw it was already there. :-)

>73 archerygirl: I really like The Woman in White (and think The Moonstone by the same author is even better in a similar vein) but I know what you mean about finding those books hard to get into. I feel like my brain has to do a gear change to read older fiction and it gets harder the longer I go between reading any and the older the book.

I thought the first episode of His Dark Materials was really good. Not rereading the books as I did that last year for La Belle Sauvage but I am on the waiting list for The Secret Commonwealth.

>74 souloftherose: I read The Moonstone a few years ago and I enjoyed it more than The Woman in White - it didn't feel quite so hard to get into. You may be onto something about the gap between reading older books, which means I should probably make an effort to read them more often. Maybe. It really does take a gear change in how you read and I feel out of practice.

I really enjoyed the first episode of His Dark Materials, too. I've finished Northern Lights already - apparently I wasn't in the right headspace the last time I tried to read it. Review coming soon!

Congratulations on the house! How's it going?

>76 humouress: We're at the slowly waiting for searches and enquiries stage right now, but I'm taking that as a good sign because it means nothing has gone wrong yet ;-)

Hope all is well Kathy.

>78 PaulCranswick: Very well, thank you Paul!

Miss seeing you post, Kathy.

Have a great weekend.

I come bearing a reading update! (And a life update below)

65. A Duet for Invisible Strings - Llinos Catherine Thomas
66. Her Royal Highness - Rachel Hawkins
67. Northern Lights - Philip Pullman
68. How to Find Love in a Bookshop - Veronica Henry
69. This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar
70. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter - Theodora Goss
71. The Wallflower Wager - Tessa Dare

I may actually make it to 75 books this year. Woot! I was having doubts while I slogged through The Woman in White but I've fitted in a couple of quicker reads as well as a couple more longer reads.

Northern Lights was prep for watching His Dark Materials on the BBC. I've loved the first couple of episodes and need to sit down to watch the rest.

(It was the first time I've actually read NL, despite attempting it several times before. I guess I wasn't in the right mental space for it until now.)

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter was an audio book for me and I *loved* it. The reader was excellent and the story was thrilling. Such wonderful characters with a running theme of what makes us monsters and what human means. I was prepared to be annoyed at having Sherlock Holmes and Watson thrown into my story about women kicking ass and taking names, but it was done in a way that made the women the heroes of their story so I was quite happy with them. If you like Victoriana-inspired stories, women being awesome, and a solid dose of adventure, I recommend this one.

Her Royal Highness was the F/F royal romance I wanted after I finished Red, White and Royal Blue earlier this year. I loved it. You definitely don't need to have read the previous book in the series.

I picked up Early Riser last night, intending to quickly read the first chapter before I went to sleep. Yeah, don't do that. It was not a quick chapter. It was more like six. It's rather compelling.

---

Life update!

I exchanged on the house last week! Sale will complete on January 6th. I'm interviewing moving companies tomorrow, to find out who I can trust with my stuff, and hopefully I'll be booking someone to move on January 20th. Into my very own home! With all my books! And a big kitchen! And space to host gaming nights!

And picture hooks to put my pictures on!

And heating that actually makes the house warm!

It's a wee bit cold in my badly-insulated flat no matter what I set the heating to. And my new house will be safe to put my older, more valuable books in so I can retrieve them from my parents' house. I'm so excited and January is going to be so busy.

But at least the nerve-wracking part is mostly over and now I can focus on Christmas prep.

Congrats, Kathy! ♥

Oh, congratulations, Kathy! Happy January!! Do you have a lot of packing to do?

Loved the Goss book as well. Enjoyed Early Riser too.

Congrats! I hope the completion goes well and the move is easy.

Huzzah on buying your house! Such an exciting way to start the New Year.

>82 norabelle414: Thank you!

>83 ronincats: Thank you! The packing shouldn't be too bad - I haven't acquired much extra in the eighteen months since I moved from Canada (just furniture) and I'm paying the movers for a full pack service anyway. I've done enough moves to know I don't want to do everything myself! Early Riser is continuing to be great, although reading about Winter in a flat that is permanently very cold because it's badly insulated might not be the best plan...

Really looking forward to my properly insulated house with decent heating.

>84 drneutron: Thank you! At this stage, it's incredibly rare for completion to fall through, although I'm still nervous. Hopefully the move is easier than the international ones have been!

>85 MickyFine: Thank you! Moving in the New Year seems like perfect timing - new year, new house :-)

I think my reading next year is going to include a fair number of gardening books. My new house has a lovely garden already, so I want to maintain what I've got and add my own touches. I've got a vegetable bed to plan, a patio to fill with plant pots, and a leggy lavender bush in my front garden to tame. Plus a beautiful fushia to look after!

Have a comfy, caring, and very

Merry Christmas!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

>87 quondame:, >88 ronincats:, >89 PaulCranswick: Thank you for the seasonal wishes!

I had a lovely Christmas with the family. It still feels special to be here and celebrating with them rather than 3000 miles away across the ocean :-)

I’ve got the movers booked for January 20th and the house purchase should complete on Monday, so the New Year is both exciting and a tiny bit intimidating. But mostly exciting!

And to finish out the year, I’ve got a few final books:

72. Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night - James Runcie
73. A Lot Like Christmas: Stories - Connie Willis
74. Early Riser - Jasper Fforde
75. The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper

I felt like I had a pretty darned good year of reading. Only a couple of clunkers, many excellent books, and I hit the 75 books mark with an old favourite! Hopefully next year’s reading will be equally good.

I’ll set up my new thread tomorrow and try to pick out my favourite 2019 reads then.

Congratulations on all the house things and for reaching the magic number!

Congrats on hitting the goal!

>90 archerygirl: Congratulations on reaching 75, Kathy!

>91 MickyFine:, >92 drneutron:, >93 FAMeulstee: Thank you! It felt good to tick off the last book and not fall short by one :D

My 2020 thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/314862