libraryperilous browses further among her own stacks in 2023
This is a continuation of the topic libraryperilous browses her own stacks in 2023.
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1libraryperilous
I'm Diana, and I read mostly science fiction, historical fantasies and mysteries, classics, and middle grade adventures. I also like nonfiction about marine biology, zoology (esp. birds), maritime history, and WWII Resistance movements.
I have three reading goals for 2023:
1) Read each monthly book club pick. My mom always completes our book club's assignments.
2) Read books off my own shelves. I've made a TBR shelf. By coincidence, over 3/4 of the spines have shades of blue on them. The selection looks pretty!
3) No buying books in 2023 until SantaThing (except on September 26th, when the last Cece Rios book publishes.)
October update: I've failed at all three of these goals.
I hope everyone's remaining 2023 reads are delightful, edifying, and/or comforting.
I have three reading goals for 2023:
1) Read each monthly book club pick. My mom always completes our book club's assignments.
2) Read books off my own shelves. I've made a TBR shelf. By coincidence, over 3/4 of the spines have shades of blue on them. The selection looks pretty!
3) No buying books in 2023 until SantaThing (except on September 26th, when the last Cece Rios book publishes.)
October update: I've failed at all three of these goals.
I hope everyone's remaining 2023 reads are delightful, edifying, and/or comforting.
2libraryperilous
Favorite 2022 reads (limited to books published in 2022):
Picture books:
Hot Dog
Night Lunch
Poopsie Gets Lost
The Sea in the Way
Middle grade:
Always, Clementine
Cece Rios and the King of Fears
Duet
Looking for Emily
A Rover's Story
Nonfiction:
Otherlands
The Secret Perfume of Birds
Why Sharks Matter
Fiction:
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Even Though I Knew the End
Heart of the Sun Warrior
The Immortality Thief
The Matchmaker's Gift
The Murder of Mr. Wickham
Under Fortunate Stars
The Wild Hunt
YA:
Strike the Zither
Best (and favorite!) book of 2022: The Wild Hunt, by Emma Seckel
Picture books:
Hot Dog
Night Lunch
Poopsie Gets Lost
The Sea in the Way
Middle grade:
Always, Clementine
Cece Rios and the King of Fears
Duet
Looking for Emily
A Rover's Story
Nonfiction:
Otherlands
The Secret Perfume of Birds
Why Sharks Matter
Fiction:
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Even Though I Knew the End
Heart of the Sun Warrior
The Immortality Thief
The Matchmaker's Gift
The Murder of Mr. Wickham
Under Fortunate Stars
The Wild Hunt
YA:
Strike the Zither
Best (and favorite!) book of 2022: The Wild Hunt, by Emma Seckel
3libraryperilous
Welcome!
4MrsLee
>1 libraryperilous: "October update: I've failed at all three of these goals.
Hahaha! Love it. I believe that even when we fail the goals we set, they still help us to have focus. At least until the next squirrel passes by.
Hahaha! Love it. I believe that even when we fail the goals we set, they still help us to have focus. At least until the next squirrel passes by.
5curioussquared
Happy new thread! Goals are overrated ;)
6jillmwo
>1 libraryperilous: Now, now. Let's not say it's a complete failure. Let's recognize that it can take many small steps before we achieve stated goals and those steps don't always fall within the 30 day span of a month.
You might rather look at #3 of you goals and think to yourself that by buying books, you've been supportive of the needs of others to earn a living. (That's how I've always excused my own profligacy.) As for the other goals, monthly book group selections don't always satisfy one's own emotional requirements. And consider how removing some of those "nice shades of blue" books from the TBR shelf would disturb the aesthetic pleasure. All these aspects should be factored in.
Happy new thread!
You might rather look at #3 of you goals and think to yourself that by buying books, you've been supportive of the needs of others to earn a living. (That's how I've always excused my own profligacy.) As for the other goals, monthly book group selections don't always satisfy one's own emotional requirements. And consider how removing some of those "nice shades of blue" books from the TBR shelf would disturb the aesthetic pleasure. All these aspects should be factored in.
Happy new thread!
7libraryperilous
>4 MrsLee:, >5 curioussquared:, >6 jillmwo: Thank you for your support during this difficult time. :)
>6 jillmwo: I do find my blue shelf soothing.
monthly book group selections don't always satisfy one's own emotional requirements
My mom gets stressed if she DNFs a book, and I DNF liberally. I try to select titles I'm 99% sure she'll like. We do have overlapping tastes, so for the last three months I've been reading books and then picking them for the next month's selection. It's kind of cheating, but not really?
We're getting three new Singing Hills Cycle novellas! Announcement on Tor Books' blog.
>6 jillmwo: I do find my blue shelf soothing.
monthly book group selections don't always satisfy one's own emotional requirements
My mom gets stressed if she DNFs a book, and I DNF liberally. I try to select titles I'm 99% sure she'll like. We do have overlapping tastes, so for the last three months I've been reading books and then picking them for the next month's selection. It's kind of cheating, but not really?
We're getting three new Singing Hills Cycle novellas! Announcement on Tor Books' blog.
9clamairy
Happy new thread.
I DNF a lot these days. I'm not wasting time on a book that I'm not enjoying. I've also been trying not to buy as much, but sometimes you just have to. I share my Kindle library with my daughter, so I tend to buy books that I think we'll both enjoy when they go on sale. (But I don't set goals.)
I DNF a lot these days. I'm not wasting time on a book that I'm not enjoying. I've also been trying not to buy as much, but sometimes you just have to. I share my Kindle library with my daughter, so I tend to buy books that I think we'll both enjoy when they go on sale. (But I don't set goals.)
10jillmwo
>7 libraryperilous: It's great news that there will be more of the Singing Hills stories, but to have to wait until May of next year?
Also I think your handling of the book group selection is entirely sensible. I've used that form of "cheating" myself upon occasion.
Also I think your handling of the book group selection is entirely sensible. I've used that form of "cheating" myself upon occasion.
11libraryperilous
>8 Karlstar:, >9 clamairy: Thank you!
>9 clamairy:, I've been DNFing for several years now, and it's so liberating!
>10 jillmwo: The next one is perfect for spooky season! What marketing guru settled on May?!
>9 clamairy:, I've been DNFing for several years now, and it's so liberating!
>10 jillmwo: The next one is perfect for spooky season! What marketing guru settled on May?!
12libraryperilous
100. Hamlet: a psychological thriller of life under an authoritarian's thumb; or, tell me you miss Kit Marlowe without telling me you miss Kit Marlowe. 4.5 stars.
101. A Traitor in Whitehall: first in a new cozyish historical mystery series set inside Churchill's War Rooms during WWII. Fun but nothing special. The heroine, Evelyne Redfern, loves the Lord Peter Whimsy series. Her new colleague, David Poole, prefers Dashiell Hammett. 4 stars.
102. The Hexologists: first in a new fantasy mystery series, set in a steampunk Victorian analogue, and featuring a middle-aged happily married couple who reluctantly agree to help the king's secretary solve a buried family mystery. Isolde is a hexologist, and her husband, Warren, is a baking aficionado / himbo. I honestly found their happy marriage annoying. They have a magic bag that houses magical artifacts, including a learned and gourmand dragon. Anyway, this was interesting. The overwrought prose didn't bother me. It's supposed to sound like a steampunk penny dreadful. 4 stars.
101. A Traitor in Whitehall: first in a new cozyish historical mystery series set inside Churchill's War Rooms during WWII. Fun but nothing special. The heroine, Evelyne Redfern, loves the Lord Peter Whimsy series. Her new colleague, David Poole, prefers Dashiell Hammett. 4 stars.
102. The Hexologists: first in a new fantasy mystery series, set in a steampunk Victorian analogue, and featuring a middle-aged happily married couple who reluctantly agree to help the king's secretary solve a buried family mystery. Isolde is a hexologist, and her husband, Warren, is a baking aficionado / himbo. I honestly found their happy marriage annoying. They have a magic bag that houses magical artifacts, including a learned and gourmand dragon. Anyway, this was interesting. The overwrought prose didn't bother me. It's supposed to sound like a steampunk penny dreadful. 4 stars.
