Books

I began this challenge in 2009 and have loved doing it every year. It’s fun to find books in my stacks or on audio from the library to fill the categories. Thanks to Andrea at Carolina Book Nook for hosting. The rules are simple: Read one book in each category. I’ve finished up this challenge and here are my books for 2020. I liked them all, even though they were a varied lot.

• An ampersand – &:  Smoke & Summons, Charlie N. Holmberg
• An antonym: Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet, Charlie N. Holmberg
• 4 letters or less: Rook, Sharon Cameron 
• A given/first name: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling 
• Reference to children: The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey
• One of the 4 natural elements – water, air, fire, earth: The Ghost Fields (Ruth Galloway #7), Elly Griffiths

I played along with the My Kind of Mystery challenge for the 4th year and gave myself a goal of beating last year’s total of 34 books that fit the challenge parameters: everything mysterious, including biographies and tutorials. I managed that and more with 73 mysteries conquered this time. Thanks to Carolyn for hosting.

The Eagle Catcher (Wind River Reservation #1), Margaret Coel
The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
Three Times Lucky (Mo & Dale Mysteries #1), Sheila Turnage
The Blood Card (Magic Men #3), Elly Griffiths
The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing (Mo & Dale Mysteries #2), Sheila Turnage
The Odds of Getting Even (Mo & Dale Mysteries #3), Sheila Turnage
The American Agent (Maisie Dobbs #15), Jacqueline Winspear
The Woman on the Orient Express, Lindsay Jayne Ashford
The Law of Finders Keepers (Mo & Dale Mysteries #4), Sheila Turnage
A Duty to the Dead (Bess Crawford #1), Charles Todd
An Artless Demise (Lady Darby #7), Anna Lee Huber
A Duty to the Dead (Bess Crawford #1), Charles Todd
An Impartial Witness (Bess Crawford #2), Charles Todd
A Bitter Truth (Bess Crawford #3), Charles Todd
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
An Unmarked Grave (Bess Crawford #4), Charles Todd
A Question of Honor (Bess Crawford #5, Charles Todd
An Unwilling Accomplice (Bess Crawford #6), Charles Todd
A Pattern of Lies (Bess Crawford #7), Charles Todd
The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star (Darling Dahlias #4), Susan Wittig Albert
The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush (Darling Dahlias #5), Susan Wittig Albert
The Stranger Diaries, Elly Griffiths
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City’s Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation, Brad Ricca
The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O’Clock Lady (Darling Dahlias #6), Susan Wittig Albert
The Shattered Tree (Bess Crawford #8), Charles Todd
A Casualty of War (Bess Crawford #9), Charles Todd
Weeping on Wednesday (Lois Meade #3), Ann Purser
A Forgotten Place (Bess Crawford #10), Charles Todd
He Shall Thunder in the Sky (Amelia Peabody #12), Elizabeth Peters
The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover (Darling Dahlias #7), Susan Wittig Albert
Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot #10), Agatha Christie
Lord of the Silent (Amelia Peabody #13), Elizabeth Peters
One Came Home, Amy Timberlake
The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway #1), Elly Griffiths
Hiss and Hers (Agatha Raisin #23), M.C. Beaton
Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes
The Golden One (Amelia Peabody #14), Elizabeth Peters
Children of the Storm (Amelia Peabody #15), Elizabeth Peters
The Serpent on the Crown (Amelia Peabody #17), Elizabeth Peters
Tomb of the Golden Bird (Amelia Peabody #18), Elizabeth Peters
Something Borrowed, Someone Dead (Agatha Raisin #24), M.C. Beaton
A Cold Treachery (Inspector Rutledge #7), Charles Todd
A Long Shadow (Inspector Rutledge #8), Charles Todd
A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox #1), Charles Finch
Buried in a Bog (County Cork #1), Sheila Connolly
The Painted Queen (Amelia Peabody #20), Elizabeth Peters
The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway #2), Elly Griffiths
The House at Sea’s End (Ruth Galloway #3), Elly Griffiths
A Room Full of Bones (Ruth Galloway #4), Elly Griffiths
Guardian of the Horizon (Amelia Peabody #16), Elizabeth Peters
Treacherous is the Night (Verity Kent #2), Anna Lee Huber
The Vanishing Box, (Magic Men #4), Elly Griffiths
A Cruel Deception (Bess Crawford #11), Charles Todd
The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel, Alyssa Palombo
Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed (Aunt Dimity #3), Nancy Atherton
A River in the Sky (Amelia Peabody #19), Elizabeth Peters
Blood of an Englishman (Agatha Raisin #25), M.C. Beaton
A Dying Fall (Ruth Galloway #5), Elly Griffiths
The Double Cross (Someday Quilts #3), Clare O’Donohue
The Celtic Riddle (Lara McClintoch #4), Lyn Hamilton
Aunt Dimity’s Christmas (Aunt DImity #5), Nancy Atherton
Now You See Them (Magic Men #5), Elly Griffiths
Dead Man’s Bones (China Bayles #13), Susan WIttig Albert
The Outcast Dead (Ruth Galloway #6), Elly Griffiths
Some Like It Hawk (Meg Langslow #14), Donna Andrews
Eggs on Ice (Cackleberry Club, #8), Laura Childs
Murphy’s Law (Molly Murphy #1), Rhys Bowen
Justice Hall (Mary Russell #6), Laurie R. King
The Ghost Fields (Ruth Galloway #7), Elly Griffiths
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1), C.J. Box
An Early Wake (County Cork #3), Sheila Connolly
The Zig-Zag Girl (Magic Men #1), Elly Griffiths
The Hen of the Baskervilles (Meg Langslow #15), Donna Andrews

I joined the Celtic Coasts challenge for my 4th year and gave myself freedom without a goal. I decided to just see how many books I could read that fit the challenge parameters: an author born or residing in one of the three Celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland, & Wales, literature that takes place among these countries, or is connected to them strongly. Turns out I managed 21 books. Thanks to Carolyn for hosting!

1. The Woman on the Orient Express, Lindsay Jayne Ashford
2. An Unmarked Grave (Bess Crawford #4), Charles Todd
3. Wildflower Hill, Kimberley Freeman
4. The Stranger Diaries, Elly Griffiths
5. Weeping on Wednesday (Lois Meade #3), Ann Purser
6. A Forgotten Place (Bess Crawford #10), Charles Todd
7. Maggie’s Door (Nory Ryan #2), Patricia Reilly Giff
8. Hiss and Hers (Agatha Raisin #23), M.C. Beaton
9. The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse, Alexander McCall Smith
10. Buried in a Bog (County Cork #1), Sheila Connolly
11. The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater
12. The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1),  Maggie Stiefvater
13. The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2),  Maggie Stiefvater
14. Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Raven Cycle #3),  Maggie Stiefvater
15. The Raven King (Raven Cycle #4),  Maggie Stiefvater
16. Blood of an Englishman (Agatha Raisin #25), M.C. Beaton
17. Scandal in Skibbereen (County Cork #2), Sheila Connelly
18. The Celtic Riddle (Lara McClintoch #4), Lyn Hamilton
19. Murphy’s Law (Molly Murphy #1), Rhys Bowen
20. An Early Wake (County Cork #3), Sheila Connolly
21. The Zig Zag Girl (Magic Men #1), Elly Griffith

Hosted by Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book. I’ve done challenges similar to this in the past and almost had a nervous breakdown trying to finish at the end of the year. So I’m going to join the challenge but make my personal goal to get 25 of the 50 states in order to consciously get some variety in my locales without too much stress. If I get more, that will be a bonus, but I’ll be calling it when I achieve 25.

Another reading year has come to an end and here’s the tally for the year. I got back to a more normal amount of books for me this year, despite all the things that happened. Part of that was due to lots of audio books while sewing & kindle books while exercising.

Books read: 161
Pages read: 55,269
Of the books read:
Non-fiction: 15
New-to-me authors: 44
Continuing series books: 105
Re-reads: 26
Audio-books: 78
Various book club reads: 8
Challenges completed: 8 of 8
Ongoing tally of Newbery winners: 81 of 98
5 star ratings by me: 31

2018: 122 books: 41,700 pages; 10 non-fiction; 25 new-to-me authors; 56 series; 23 re-reads; 52 audio-books; 9 of 9 challenges completed; 77 of 97 Newbery winners

[Read more…] about 2019 Reading Statistics