January: What are we reading?

I'm reading two books by indigenous writers for the January AuthorCAT. The Blue Sky is by Galsang Tschinag, a Tuvan born in Mongolia. Not Meeting Mr Right is by Anita Heiss, who is an Australian Aboriginal writer. She classifies her book as choc lit!

It's already 2022 here in Australia. Happy New Year to you all!

Started 2022 with Unbirthday by Liz Braswell - an Alice in Wonderland retelling. It is fun so far.

I made the mistake of starting the year with Monster She Wrote. My want-to-read list is expanding.

I'm reading To Serve them all my days, as part of my 50 years in 50 books challenge. The first few chapters made me think I had read it before, but now I'm a bit further into it, I'm less sure. Maybe I'd started it previously.

I picked up a few books from the library to start off the new year - Flesh and Blood by John Harvey, Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively, and Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide by Cecily Wong which I saw in the Tucson airport while we were away over Thanksgiving.

For the ScaredyKIT, I'm currently reading The Good House by Tananarive Due.

I'm still working on a book I started in December Dying to Sin and will listen to City of Dragons for my first full book of the year.

I finished Cicely Tyson’s memoir Just As I Am this morning, and have dived into The Love Songs of W.E.B. du Bois. It’s definitely a commitment on my part because it’s over 800 pages. This year, I’m trying to read a hefty book each month. We’ll see how I do.

I'm reading Lost Enlightenment, a nonfiction book on Central Asia, and Revenge in Rubies, a historical mystery. Both are pretty good so far.

Once I've gone through all the threads and set up my new reading logs for the year, I'll get back into The Ringed Castle, by Dorothy Dunnett. If I start the year reading big fat historical fiction novels, hopefully I'll want to read more of them. I have rather a lot to get through.

I've started the year off with reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles and Evil Things by Katja Ivar. I think The Lincoln Highway is well on it's way to five stars. Evil Things is a Finnish mystery set in the 1950s and is holding my attention but in this case I need to finish the book and see how it comes together before I can rate it.

I'e made a dent in my January 2022 stack as I inadvertently started early (I thought books that I had begun in mid-December would take me longer to complete)-- so I find myself on January 1 with five books already under my belt:
• The Cuckoo's Calling (by Robert Galbraith; narrated by Robert Glenister)
• Roadwork (by Stephen King)
• Kim (by Rudyard Kipling; narrated by Sam Dastor)
• The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (by Lauren Willig) and;
• Under the Empyrean Sky (Heartland Trilogy #1; by Chuck Wendig)

I'm now reading, The Two Faces of January (by Patricia Highsmith) and listening to, The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (by Peter Hopkins; narrated by Alex Wyndham).

I've decided to revive my habit of having an upstairs book and a downstairs book, so I also started rereading The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

>4 Helenliz: I read much of that series by Delderfield years ago!

Finished Red Land, Black Land, Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz.
January R

I started DreadfulWater, by Thomas King, today, which is the first in a series (for MysteryKIT) by an Indigenous author (for AuthorCAT).

I'm reading Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold. So far so good, though I'm only one chapter in!

I've started The Religious Body by Catherine Aird. The body of a nun has just been found. Also reading Mr Finchley Discovers His England by Victor Canning.

I am currently reading Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent, a historical fiction book set in Colonial America. I am also listening to The Road to Woodbury by Robert Kirkman, it's certainly holding my attention as it has lots of zombie mayhem!

I've started Kim for my next fiction book.

I'm currently reading Nella Last's Peace by Nella Last on Kindle and will start We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker a print book, later today. I like to keep one of each type going.

I binged an audiobook last night: Doctor Who: Night of the Whisper, by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, performed by Nicholas "Voice of the Daleks" Briggs and John Schwab.

Now starting The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the Discovery of DNA's Double Helix, by Howard Markel. I'm hoping that Rosalind Franklin's being first in the subtitle means she gets more credit here than she has historically received.

Stayed up a little bit later last night to finish The Two Faces of January (by Patricia Highsmith) (No regrets!) and now I'm starting The 131/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear (Zamonia #1; by Walter Moers). The latter is a fantasy book geared towards children but it's 700+ pages long-- so this and the audio of The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (by Peter Hopkirk) may be my last books logged for January!

I am finishing Dying for Chocolate for my book group (I am the leader this month!) and also reading Homespun Suspicions in the Sugarcreek Mysteries series.

Just finished Twisted Tea Christmas by Laura Childs and Together in a Sudden Strangeness, a collection of poetry written during the early months of COVID-19. Up next: The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny and then My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk.

Finished The Religious Body. Still going with Mr Finchley Discovers his England and have started Secret Rendezvous by Kobo Abe and We Always Treat Women Too Well by Raymond Queneau.

Finished To Serve them all my Days. Now reading The Chalk Pit which will be a contrast, if nothing else.

Finished The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan, still reading Homespun Suspicions.

I finished Hid From Our Eyes and I am soliciting votes on my thread to pick my next read!!

I'm off this week, but despite all this free time don't really feel I've been reading enough! So I devoured a book in one sitting today: Nine Coaches Waiting, by Mary Stewart. A bit easier to get on with than The Crystal Cave, haha.

>31 rabbitprincess: I agree -- I love Mary Stewart's romantic suspense novels, and Nine Coaches Waiting is one of my favorite, but I didn't particularly enjoy the Arthurian series.

I plunged right into my January pile! The Night Watchman had been calling me from the pile next to my couch, the library showed that they had The Curse of the Pharoahs and would be happy to lend it to me, and I also started Sleeper Protocol.

The first is for a F2F (Zoom) book club at my local library which I've not been to for a few years, and the latter are for the January MysteryKit challenge and the SFFKit challenge (maybe), respectively.

I'm now starting If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy, which looks like a cute contemporary Cinderella retelling. A friend lent it to me, so I want to get it back to her sooner rather than later!

Finished Homespun Suspicions by Olivia Newport, and now on to The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall.

I am currently reading Kill Creek by Scott Thomas for the January ScaredyKit, and I am just about to start Bood Feud by Rosemary Sutcliff.

I have finished We Always Treat Women Too Well and am reading Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall. I came across a miniseries of Decline and Fall, which has started well, so had to read the book. I'm sure I've read it, but don't remember it at all so far and am really enjoying it. Very funny.

ETA It's on my shelf and I gave it 5 stars. So fortunate that my memory is so bad!

Despite having a lot of library books out, again, I'm turning to my own shelves with The Journeying Boy, by Michael Innes.

I finished my reread of The Ocean at the End of the Lane and my ScaredyKIT pick, The Good House. Now I'm picking up The Last House on Needless Street.

One of my books is going rather slowly, so I've started The Pucelle Connection by Estelle Ryan - one of my favorite series.

I'm reading Richard Wagamese's Medicine Walk.

I just finished Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, and now I'm going in a totally different direction with Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh.

I finished two over the weekend: Mary's Christmas Goodbye by Linda Byler and The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall. Both of these were novels about Amish and Mennonite people, both were good reads. The Woodsmall book definitely needed to be accompanied by a box of tissues!

I am about half done with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.

Finished the audiobook I had going since late December! - The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (by Peter Hopkirk; narrated by Alex Wyndham). This is non-fiction, but reads like an adventure tale with massacres that made me weep (Kyber Pass 1842) and, amazing feats of strategy, leadership &, courage; but more importantly, an overview of the geopolitics then that still have ramifications today. The narrator, a British reader who has become one of my favorites, related tales with his signature touch of controlled exuberance that engages without sensationalism. The only reason I'm not giving this a full five stars is because I still have to go buy the book for the maps! (I did a quick internet search for various places, but still...)

I finished The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward - still thinking it over, but probably my first 5-star book of the year.

I'm currently re-reading His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this series!

I finished the Chalk Pit, which was less good than the series to date.
Next up is Things Fall Apart which will be a change.

I'm reading Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey.

I started Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin. Then I went to the library and I got Perihelion Summer by Greg Egan and Transcription by Kate Atkinson, so I guess I have my reading sorted for a little while. At least until February's challenges are posted LOL.

Just finished Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. This book combines the story of Minli, a young girl who tries to help her family improve their living situation, with folktales from China. The illustrations are also beautiful. This was a quick and engrossing read. I think I first read this book in library school (children's services course).

Currently reading Coming Out by Danielle Steel (from my LibraryThing Santa).

I am reading Home Sweet Homicide, a vintage mystery by female author Craig Rice. A wonderful blend of suspense and humor, I am really enjoying this one. I have also started Moon of the Crusted Snow and can tell that this is also going to be a good one. :)

Finished Coming Out by Danielle Steel. Reading Strangers on a Skein for Netgalley.

I'm reading Dead Men Don't Ski by Patricia Moyes. The protagonists are on a train to Innsbruck. I'd love to be travelling through Europe by train right now!

Listened (unseasonably) to A Christmas Carol. I'd reserved it through the library app to listen to over Christmas, only it didn't become available until this week. Listened to it anyway. Again.

I'm going to tackle my first nonfiction book of the year, Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley.

I am reading Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton. This is one of the books I had to buy again since I killed off parts of my library in June 2021 when we were getting ready to move.

I've recently started The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream, by Charles Spencer.

Surprisingly, I’m still reading The 13-1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear (by Walter Moers). Granted it’s long, but it’s not a difficult read and it has illustrations! I think I’ll buckle down and fully commit to it this weekend.

I’m listening to The Infidel Stain (Avery & Blake #1; by M. J. Carter; narrated by Alex Wyndham) - It’s 1840, Victorian London and someone has murdered at least two printers in an exceptionally gruesome way. Who? Why? Learning quite a bit about the Chartists and about the inglorious slums of London in no small part due to the audiobook narrator who has become on of my faves :-)

Just finished a short bio of Charles Dickens and also Strangers on a Skein and still reading Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton.

I finished Perihelion Summer. I went back to the library to get more books because why not, and I'm now reading and enjoying This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno.

I'm slightly bored with the books I have going so I started Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.

Finished Things Fall Apart.
Next up is Royal Escape.

Just finishing His Only Wife, then moving on to A Marvellous Light and The Sea of Monsters.

I am reading Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, another first in a series! I have also started Siddhartha as the Reading Through Time Theme this month is Eastern Religion/Philosophies. So far it is easily read but hasn't really grabbed me in any way. Luckily it is short.

I'm picking at a lot of books and not making much progress, so I read a comic book in one sitting: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 1: Revolutions of Terror, written by Nick Abadzis and illustrated by Elena Casagrande and Arianna Florian

Finished Amish Christmas Carol by Sarah Price, part of her series of Amish retellings of classic novels. I am currently (still) reading May Sarton. I really liked her journals in the past and read them all.However, now I feel as if I am slogging through this one. She is depressing sometimes (mentioning suicidal tendencies, and the artistic angst way too often), although I like her evocations of her home.

I finished This Thing Between Us -- it's good and short! I started The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher.

I finished The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich and was utterly engrossed by it. Erdrich's writing style is very poetic. Her characters are shaped by their heritage - they are part of the Turtle Mountain branch of the Chippewa Tribe - and I did not know until I read this about the "terminations" of tribes in the 1950's. So heartwrenching.

Also really enjoying Sleeper Protocol for the SFFKit challenge of morally ambiguous main character, and need to finish The Curse of the Pharoahs by Elizabeth Peters for the Mystery Series challenge.

I started Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen last evening, still working on May Sarton.

Today I resumed reading Tigerman, by Nick Harkaway; and started the audiobook of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie, read by Hugh Fraser.

I wrapped up, The Infidel Stain (Blake & Avery #2; by M.J. Carter; narrated by Alex Wyndham) over the weekend and have started, Tess of the D'Urbervilles (by Thomas Hardy) even as I continue to pick my way through The 13-1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear (by Walter Moers) and; I've started listening to the NF title, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (by William Dalrymple; narrated by Sid Sagar). Plenty to choose from as whatever mood strikes! :-D

I finished The Ragged Edge of Night (thank you to those who helped me pick it from my TBR shelf) and also Mrs. Poe.

Now I’m reading Lace and Blade 2.

I am reading Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer, and about to start Before the Poison by Peter Robinson.

I'm reading Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor because there are flowers on the cover. Also reading Best European Fiction 2010 and Phoebe Junior.

Finished my car audio book The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. Hamlet is up next for listening.

I'm reading Court of Venom by Kristin Burchell, which is an Early Reviewer win. So far it's fine but I'm not loving it.

Changed my mind about the Random Kit and am now going to read Objects of Our Affection by Lisa Tracy.

I am currently reading Officer Girl in Blue which is about a member of the WAAF during World War 2. I planned to skim and scan it to review for NetGalley, but got engrossed in the story and intend to read it all. I am also reading Autumn Light for a BingoDOG square.

Finished a Doctor Who novel yesterday: Ten Little Aliens, by Stephen Cole.

This weekend I'll probably be reading non-fiction. I should probably be finishing The White Ship, by Charles Spencer, but I will probably also spend some time with The Highly Sensitive Person, by Elaine N. Aron.

Currently reading and enjoying the 1936 mystery Thou Shell of Death by Nicholas Blake.

I recently finished Virginia Heath's Never Fall for Your Fiancée and Sophie Cousens's This Time Next Year. Next up is a re-read of Crosstalk by Connie Willis.

I am reading a fun vintage mystery with Smallbone Deceased and just starting a light historical romance with It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas.

I finished Cat's Cradle by Julia Golding. I am sorry to see this series about Cat Royal come to an end. She is quite the feisty and bold teenager and I have enjoyed following her adventures through the six historical novels in the series.

Today I'll finally start This Is How You Lose the Time War.

Lovely to see all the great reading happening here! Currently I am listening to the audiobook One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (read by Lori Petty). Wow, how have I missed this series until now??? Such the perfect escape from ... well... you know. :-)

For my e-book read, I am in the early stage of Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese. Not far enough in to provide any comments at this point.

Listened to Romeo & Juliet, then Hamlet. Next up is Macbeth
Read Royal Escape, next up in print is Black Mamba Boy.

Let's see. I've finished The Hollow Places and Native Tongue. I've started The Shape of Darkness.

I am currently reading Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie and Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan (which I started out not liking and quickly changed my mind).

I'm re-reading All I Ever Wanted, a contemporary romance by Kristan Higgins, and enjoying it. Cute but undemanding.

I’m still reading, Tess of the D’Urbervilles (by Thomas Hardy) and, The 13-1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by (Walter Moers); but last night, I finished listening to, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (by William Dalrymple; narrated by Sid Sagar) - An extraordinary narrative NF work about the history of the EIC & India, it’s revelatory and fascinating. If you are considering the audiobook, ignore the reviews which mention “mispronunciations” as the British-Indian narrator delivers expertly and engagingly. My only quibble is a relatively minor one: the currency conversions from historical values to today’s values and a couple of academic footnote citations which interrupted more than added value; but overall, an eye-opening book that made me wish it wouldn’t end!

I finished Five Little Pigs and started The Kitchen House for our book group that meets in two weeks. I like the interactions of the book group members and the discussions, but I do not always like the selections. I was not a member of the group when they picked all the selections for 2022. I also feel a little bit rebellious when I am told what I have to read, so I do not always finish the books. I am up for a little Bertie and Jeeves, but alas, that is not on the list.

I finished both The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters (quite charming, and I really like Amelia Peabody), Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Sleeper Protocol by Kevin Ikenberry. Which means I've finished 4 whole books this month! Woo-hoo!

I also fell into Winter of the Witch, the final book in the series that I really, really don't want to end, and took a peek at Wintering with an aim to finish it next month.

After thoroughly enjoying This Is How You Lose the Time War, I'm gearing up to start The Heron's Cry, by Ann Cleeves.

I’ve been reading The Skeleton Road for over a week which will probably take me into February. I got waylaid by a misbehaving gall bladder and before I could blink I had the surgery on Friday. Now that I’m not taking the heavy duty meds I want to plan my next month reads!

>94 lsh63: Hope you're feeling better soon. Glad you're not on heavy meds any longer.

I finished Once Upon a Wardrobe and I am about half done with Nancy's Mysterious Letter which is a Nancy Drew novel that fell into my hand when I was looking for another book. It is a fun and easy read.