marbel Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Here are my stats: First, Brit-tripping, my favorite! 28 counties, 3 wild cards. They were not all mysteries, though I did lean heavily in the genre, especially toward the end. I think I reached the Rebel Rank of William Shakespeare at least by numbers. I did not manage all the "just for fun" items but we did see a play: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA. I won't continue to seek out "county" books but I will track them as they come up. I exceeded my overall goal of 50 books by reading 61. All but one were fiction. Most were pretty unforgettable, to be honest. 2018 was a pretty forgettable year overall. Looking forward to a better 2019 in many ways! :-) I hope this list format isn't problematic; it's how it came out copy/pasted from excel. Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ Timothy J. Keller Jeeves and the King of Clubs: A Novel in Homage to P.G. Wodehouse Ben Schott I Am the Only Running Footman (Richard Jury, #8) Martha Grimes Help the Poor Struggler Martha Grimes The Book of Fires Jane Borodale Jerusalem Inn Martha Grimes The Deer Leap Martha Grimes The Dirty Duck (Richard Jury, #4) Martha Grimes The Passenger Lisa Lutz The Flight Attendant Chris Bohjalian The Anodyne Necklace (Richard Jury, #3) Martha Grimes In Bitter Chill (DC Connie Childs, #1) Sarah Ward The Old Fox Deceiv'd Martha Grimes The Trespasser Tana French In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) Tana French The Man With a Load of Mischief (Richard Jury, #1) Martha Grimes The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2) Tana French Murder at the Brightwell (Amory Ames Mystery, #1) Ashley Weaver Barchester Towers Anthony Trollope 22 Britannia Road Amanda Hodgkinson Extraordinary People (The Enzo Files, #1) Peter May The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde A Great Deliverance (Inspector Lynley, #1) Elizabeth George We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson A Damsel in Distress P.G. Wodehouse Jar City (Inspector Erlendur, #3) Arnaldur Indriðason The God of the Hive (Mary Russell, #10) Laurie R. King The Day of the Triffids John Wyndham Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: New Verse Translation Unknown Dracula Bram Stoker Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 Joyce Dennys Far From the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy Clade James Bradley Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1) Elizabeth E. Wein The Language of Bees (Mary Russell, #9) Laurie R. King Venetia Georgette Heyer The Broken Token (Richard Nottingham, #1) Chris Nickson The Annotated Mansfield Park Jane Austen To Kingdom Come (Barker & Llewelyn, #2) Will Thomas Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman Some Danger Involved (Barker & Llewelyn, #1) Will Thomas The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4) Agatha Christie Force of Nature (Aaron Falk, #2) Jane Harper Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng The Sunne In Splendour Sharon Kay Penman Where'd You Go, Bernadette Maria Semple Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey, #1) Dorothy L. Sayers Missing, Presumed (DS Manon, #1) Susie Steiner Oliver Twist Charles Dickens The Man in the Queue (Inspector Alan Grant, #1) Josephine Tey The Blackhouse (Lewis Trilogy, #1) Peter May Ghostwalk Rebecca Stott Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper Harriet Scott Chessman Footsteps in the Dark Georgette Heyer Quick Service P.G. Wodehouse Claire of the Sea Light Edwidge Danticat The Convenient Marriage Georgette Heyer The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri No Wind of Blame (Inspector Hemingway Mystery #1) Georgette Heyer Closed Casket Sophie Hannah A Christmas Party Georgette Heyer 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) I have been enjoying all of your wrap-ups, and Melissa M, thank you for sharing photos of your home library. If I ever get to properly move back into my house, I will remember these photos as inspiration. (Most of my books have been in boxes since 2011- long story). Anyway... I would happily be Goodreads friends with anyone here. I also update almost daily. If you send me a friend request but your name and/or avatar does not match the one on the WTM boards, please also give me a brief message of who you are on WTM. It can be really hard to keep the GR person and WTM person matched up in my mind. Here is a link to my Goodreads account. The name does not match, but the avatar does match. Off to sort through my stats, and will be back later today with a wrap-up... Edited December 31, 2018 by Penguin 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I just updated my sig to include my Goodreads page. For a while it seemed I couldn't have the link in there. Happy to have more WTM friends! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-M- Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) 11 hours ago, Matryoshka said: Thank you! I am totally finding that one and listening to it this year! Yes!! I'm Erin H over there, with the same Matryoshka avatar as here. I may (ahem) update my books there almost daily. I love the way it sorts my to-read list. But I'm also friends with a lot of BaW people who give me lots of great book ideas! I do not see you. Can you find me? My name there is Nerdishly. This is gorgeous! I can possibly paste a very old pic of my 'library' when it was less cluttered. Methinks yours holds way more books. I am jealous! I need more bookshelves!!! (If this works, those are my now 20yo twins in their jammies in that pic...) The wall on the right also has some bookshelves, but a piano and a closet take up most of it... I saw the pic last night and thought it was wonderful. 😄 This morning, I updated my goodreads account and am now looking for BaWers. Edited December 31, 2018 by Melissa M 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-M- Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) Regarding Goodreads... I’m betting you’ve discussed and shared this info before, but even though I may be late to the party, I would be delighted to join BaWers there. Since I’m a GR newbie, it may be easier for you to find me than for me to find you; I’m Nerdishly there. (And if I’m violating some sort of social rule, please gently correct me.) Hey, and a happy, healthy New Year to you all! To Robin, my ongoing appreciation for this thread. I may not make it every week, but I love that the reading room is here when I do. Edited December 31, 2018 by Melissa M 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 @marbel @Melissa M I send you a Goodread friendship request. Although Loesje is my nickname, I use it there (and on Ravelry ) too, just for my overseas contacts. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I just sent a friend request @Melissa M 😀. I am MumtoTwo over on Goodreads. I am another who updates frequently. Being friends with other BaWer’s sometimes makes it easier to find the right book on Overdrive for me. I am highly visual an it is great to be able to spot the book by the cover! I still have the Brit Trip list going but changed the name of the shelf to Brit Trip ideas because it is ongoing now. https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/51042385?shelf=brit-tripping-ideas. It should still be sortable to all. If someone has a problem let me know! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Anyone who's not already my friend on Goodreads is more than welcome to friend me! The link to my profile is below. Just add a note that you're from BaW and/or WTM. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63162900-erin 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 @Melissa M I just sent you a friend request on GR. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I will probably sort through my stats a bit more tomorrow, but these are the last wrap-up stats that I will post. I’ll post my 2019 plans in next week’s thread. TOTAL FOR 2018: 66 books My most-read authors were: Astrid Lindgren (6), Elena Ferrante (4), Catherynne Valente (4) , and Sigrid Undset (3). My highlights: The Neapolitan Novels (1-4) by Elena Ferrante A reread of the Kristin Lavransdatter Trilogy A reread of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah Deathless by Catherynne Valente Reading six books by Astrid Lindgren in Danish Rediscovering my love of Faulkner Discovering Miss Read Witnessing my DS18 fall in love with Kafka How it breaks out: Rereads (6) Poetry (3) Plays (2) 50 states challenge: +3 (Alaska, Massachusetts, and N Dakota) Around the world challenge: +11 (Japan, England, S Africa, Pakistan, Norway, Mexico, China, Italy, Finland, Czech Republic, and India) Spooky (2) Biography and Memoir (6) Other Nonfiction (5) In Danish (9) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Just sent several friend requests on GR, which means I ought to start keeping my reading lists up to date! This is my GR page 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 Popping in a minute from work. Y'all know how much I love Brain pickings. Maria's posted a Best of 2018 which is overwhelming I know but have fun following rabbit trails. Lots of books and things to think about. Plus Bookriot's Nikki on Passing My Yearly goal and discovering its fun to read what makes you happy. 😘 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) Just under the wire, finished my 98th book for 2018. Here are the books that didn't make it onto the Brit Trip list earlier in the thread. Joris-Karl Huysmans, The Damned (La-Bas) Jeremias Gotthelf, The Black Spider Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Jean Giono, The Hill Abbe Theodore Ratisbonne, St. Bernard of Clairvaux Tove Jansson, The True Deceiver Blaise Pascal, Pensees Irene Nemirovsky, David Golder Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning Chekhov, The Seagull Irene Nemirovsky, The Ball Irene Nemirovsky, Snow in Autumn Irene Nemirovsky, The Courilof Affair Elisabeth Gille, The Mirador Urban Holmes, Daily Living in the Twelfth Century Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts Gregor von Rezzori, An Ermine in Czernopol Philip Roth, Goodbye, Columbus William Faulkner, The Wild Palms James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice Horace McCoy, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Charles Baudelaire, Intimate Journals J. Frank Dobie, A Texan in England A. E. Ellis, The Rack Arkady & Boris Strugatsky, Monday Starts on Saturday Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics Edmund Compton Mackenzie, Monarch of the Glen Heinrich von Kleist, The Marquise of O & Other Stories D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover Elspeth Davie, The Man Who Wanted to Smell Books & Other Stories John Buchan, Witch Wood Iain Crichton Smith, Selected Poems Muriel Spark, The Collected Stories Iain Crichton Smith, Consider the Lilies Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon Louis Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Wordsworth & Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads Shakespeare, Othello Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion Bernard of Clairvaux, De Amore Dei Aphra Behn, Oroonoko George Orwell, A Collection of Essays Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis This year featured more countries than usual for me. United States, Russia, Scotland (lots of Scotland), Finland, Switzerland, Iceland, Austria-Hungary, France, ... and, um, Numidia and the Kingdom of Odoacer. More crime/noir than in the past (Cain, McCoy, Hammett); some disturbing or just odd French writing (Huysmans, Giono, Baudelaire, Celine ... though none of those as disturbing as the Swiss Gotthelf's The Black Spider) and four novels by new-to-me writer Irene Nemirovksy, as well as an account of Nemirovsky's life by her daughter, Elisabeth Gille. Edited January 1, 2019 by Violet Crown 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 2 minutes ago, Violet Crown said: Just under the wire, finished my 98th book for 2018. Here are the books that didn't make it onto the Brit Trip list earlier in the thread. Joris-Karl Huysmans, The Damned (La-Bas) Jeremias Gotthelf, The Black Spider Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Jean Giono, The Hill Abbe Theodore Ratisbonne, St. Bernard of Clairvaux Tove Jansson, The True Deceiver Blaise Pascal, Pensees Irene Nemirovsky, David Golder Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning Chekhov, The Seagull Irene Nemirovsky, The Ball Irene Nemirovsky, Snow in Autumn Irene Nemirovsky, The Courilof Affair Elisabeth Gille, The Mirador Urban Holmes, Daily Living in the Twelfth Century Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts Gregor von Rezzori, An Ermine in Czernopol Philip Roth, Goodbye, Columbus William Faulkner, The Wild Palms James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice Horace McCoy, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Charles Baudelaire, Intimate Journals J. Frank Dobie, A Texan in England A. E. Ellis, The Rack Arkady & Boris Strugatsky, Monday Starts on Saturday Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics Edmund Compton Mackenzie, Monarch of the Glen Heinrich von Kleist, The Marquise of O & Other Stories D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover Elspeth Davie, The Man Who Wanted to Smell Books & Other Stories John Buchan, Witch Wood Iain Crichton Smith, Selected Poems Muriel Spark, The Collected Stories Iain Crichton Smith, Consider the Lilies Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon Louis Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Wordsworth & Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads Shakespeare, Othello Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion Bernard of Clairvaux, De Amore Dei Aphra Behn, Oroonoko George Orwell, A Collection of Essays Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis With all the English books removed, this year featured more countries than usual for me. United States, Russia, Scotland (lots of Scotland), Finland, Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, France, ... and, um, Numidia and the Kingdom of Odoacer. More crime/noir than in the past (Cain, McCoy, Hammett); some disturbing French writing (Huysmans, Giono, Baudelaire, Celine) and four novels by new-to-me writer Irene Nemirovksy, as well as an account of Nemirovsky's life by her daughter, Elisabeth Gille. Did you find Journey to the end of the night disturbing? I think there’s something wrong with me...that’s what *all* the reviews said, so it collected dust for lo so many years (because I don’t do hard stuff) and it was sort of funny in a gritty way maybe? Am I misremembering? Is reading Russian stuff (this is another year I will totally finish Life and Fate 🙄, Unforgiving Years) totally messed up my caliber? Hmph 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 23 minutes ago, madteaparty said: Did you find Journey to the end of the night disturbing? I think there’s something wrong with me...that’s what *all* the reviews said, so it collected dust for lo so many years (because I don’t do hard stuff) and it was sort of funny in a gritty way maybe? Am I misremembering? Is reading Russian stuff (this is another year I will totally finish Life and Fate 🙄, Unforgiving Years) totally messed up my caliber? Hmph Well ... I don't mind wallowing in seediness, profanity, degradation, and general grotesquerie, and Celine's vivid description of the communal toilet in NYC is worth the price of admission ... but I think most people would find themselves gasping for air between chapters. But of course, that's Celine's point about life. You remind me, must do more Russian reading this year. I didn't get in anything in 2018 except borrowing one of dh's Strugatsky novels, which wasn't as good as Roadside Picnic. Oh dear, another category. 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 4 hours ago, Violet Crown said: This year featured more countries than usual for me. United States, Russia, Scotland (lots of Scotland), Finland, Switzerland, Iceland, Austria-Hungary, France, ... and, um, Numidia and the Kingdom of Odoacer. More crime/noir than in the past (Cain, McCoy, Hammett); some disturbing or just odd French writing (Huysmans, Giono, Baudelaire, Celine ... though none of those as disturbing as the Swiss Gotthelf's The Black Spider) and four novels by new-to-me writer Irene Nemirovksy, as well as an account of Nemirovsky's life by her daughter, Elisabeth Gille. Hey, I read The Black Spider this year too - it was my German pick for Spooky October. That was hard to get through - I was very glad it was so short! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I read 117 books this year: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/10151847 For 2019 I set my goals again on 104 books. I would like to read more in English, but I am not sure that will happen this year based on my last year experience... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Happy New Year to all! Kindle book on sale today (historical fiction). 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 6 hours ago, Matryoshka said: Hey, I read The Black Spider this year too - it was my German pick for Spooky October. That was hard to get through - I was very glad it was so short! That was one phobia-inducing read! Say, what's in that old post there ...? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) And here is why one should never get rid of books, ever. I am working on a list of books to read for my personal nonfiction-USA challenge. And while searching through Goodreads I came across two books that I used to own. I had gotten them about 25, maybe closer to 30, years ago at the San Francisco Book Festival, listened to the authors talk about them, had them signed by the authors, and read them. Enjoyed them, I think. And got rid of them at some point. Now, here I am, wanting to read them again. They are both available in my public library system, so they are not inaccessible, but... gah! I want my own copies back! Why did I not think they might be wanted someday?! PS: don't tell my husband I said that; he has loads of books he needs to get rid of. :-) Edited January 1, 2019 by marbel 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 Link to 2019 week one thread - please continue the conversation in the new thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Hi everyone! I know I'm late to the party but I got sick right after Christmas and finally feel back to normal enough to post. I ended up reading 87 books this year, the most ever. For Brit-Tripping I filled in at least 19 counties but I know I actually did more than that but just couldn't remember which county I was in by the end of the story and it always seemed to happen when I was on my kindle which is such a bear to search through. Also, it seemed that every book I wanted to read that was set in England was based in London. I read a lot of mysteries this year - my favorites had to be Magpie Murders and The Word is Murder both by Anthony Horowitz. I also read a few books that were not my usual type - The Bees by Laline Paull was so good! And A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay was definitely out of character for me. I still haven't finished my reread of Kristin Lavransdatter. I'm always happy when I'm reading it but find I tend to set it down when something new and shiny shows up. I listened to around 16 audio books - Dracula was my favorite! What a great story! Overall I've been happy with my reading and am looking forward to next year. 🙂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Oh darn! Should I repost this over there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 14 minutes ago, Mothersweets said: Oh darn! Should I repost this over there? Yes, please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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