Monday, January 6, 2020

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Jan. 6, 2020)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Other Than Reading...

This was a gray and gloomy week. I haven't been posting the amount of solar energy we have produced because the amounts are minuscule. Either the panels are covered with snow or it is too cloudy to make energy. We did buy a roof rake to try to take the snow off the panels. My brother was using it when he came in to tell the the rake got stuck between two panels and he couldn't get it out. After some work, we did manage to push up from under the panels and get it loose but it has made him very reluctant to try again.

My brother went back to work this week. He did three eight hour days to get back in the groove and learn all the new things that have happened in the three months he was gone. We are still waiting to hear from his doctor giving him clearance to exercise. I did go to an orientation at the fitness center was shown how to work six of the machines. I came home sore and with little confidence that I will know how to set up each machine. I want to take part in a class on Monday and I'll see how that goes.

We did splurge on New Year's Eve and bought a pizza from our favorite pizza place. I figure we ended up eating a couple days worth of fat and sodium but it was well worth it. Best pizza ever! I baked bread a couple of times. We're using more now that he's bringing a lunch with him to work.

New Year's Resolutions

Personal - Stick with a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Reading - Stop reading books I'm not enjoying even if they are review books.

2019 Report

According to my records, I read 300 books last year. Goodreads says I read 310. 181 were mine including 71 rereads. I read 118 review books. Mysteries and thrillers led the way in my reading with 182 books. Urban fantasy came in a distant second with 72. 236 of the books I read this year were ebooks.

I added 331 titles to my LibraryThing this year. That is 154 book less than I added in 2018. 108 are still marked unread. 127 of the new arrivals were Review Books. 222 were Kindle books and 14 were audiobooks. My total number of unread books is 2175 with most of those Kindle books. I still have 76 that I added when I started LibraryThing in 2008 that are marked TBR. I'm pretty sure I've read some of them though. I won't know for sure until I start them again and they seem familiar.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)
  • The Princess Who Flew With Dragons by Stephanie Burgis - This middle grade title is the third in a series and was a great story about a Princess who found what she was good at. My review will be posted on Jan. 15.
  • Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey - This is a reread of my favorite part of the long Valdemar series. Talia goes from abused holdergirl to Herald to the Queen with lots of bumps along the way. My review will be posted on Jan. 14.
  • Arrow's Flight by Mercedes Lackey - This is the second in the trilogy and follows Talia during her internship where she has to learn to control a magic that goes out of control while also dealing with bandits, a blizzard, and a murderer. My review will be posted on Jan. 21.


  • Arrow's Fall by Mercedes Lackey - This is the final book in the trilogy and has Talia dealing with a traitor within and a prince who wants to conquer Valedemar from without. She also has to deal with loss and a romance. My review will be posted on Feb. 6.
  • Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers - This is the third Lord Peter Wimsey mystery and has Peter trying to solve the "perfect crime." My review will be posted on Jan. 16.

DNF

  • Rogue Princess by B. R. Myers - I read 28% of this one before abandoning it. I felt like I had read the story many times before - runaway princess, low class thief and secrets. Nothing seemed new or fresh to me.

Currently

One of the three books from my own stack listed below.

Next Week




Reviews Posted




Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?



  • Still Life by Louise Penny - Kindle Daily Deal for the first in a mystery series I've been meaning to try.
  • The Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey - Kindle copy of a book on my shelf that I wanted to reread.

What was your week like?

17 comments:

  1. Have a great week Kathy! I hope the sun is shining for you today!☕πŸ“šπŸ’œπŸŒžπŸŒž

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  2. What a great post, Kathy.

    Love your resolution about not reading books you aren’t enjoying. I instituted that rule for myself last year. :)

    Impressive book report. Congrats!!

    Happy New Year, and Happy Reading!!

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  3. Oh, too bad about the snow covering those panels! I hope you can work that out.

    I see you have the first book in Louise Penny's Gamache series, Still Life. I enjoyed that one, and a couple more. I keep meaning to add more books from the series. I liked the three I read (the first three).

    I am in favor of setting aside books I don't enjoy, even if I bought them. It is a lesson for me to only buy books I'm pretty sure about, even if they get a lot of hype.

    Good luck!

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  4. I took advantage of the daily deal on Still Life, too. And I'm completely on board with your New Year's resolutions, both personal and reading. Good luck and Happy 2020!

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  5. You won't be sorry to ditch books you aren't loving! I'm behind in the Louise Penny books, but they're great.

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  6. I need to put aside books I'm not enjoying too. It's such a waste of time reading what you aren't liking.

    Your New Year's sounds perfect - Pizza is good any time.

    Happy New Year and have a great week!

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  7. Bummer about the DNF, I hate doing that, but I can't force myself to read a book anymore if I am not enjoying it. Hope you enjoy your reads for this week!

    Here's my Monday Wrap-up

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  8. Weather not so bad here in Mass. Just cold. Off and on, the sun comes out! I've listened to all Louise Penny's books on audio. Love them because the focus is on the characters, not the mystery! I listened to Daisy Jones on audio, too, and it was excellent!

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  9. I'm also working on trying to give up on books when I'm not enjoying them. I just did that last night, but it was HARD!

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  10. I'm definitely giving up on books I'm not enjoying this year. I turned three in to the library today. Life is too short.

    Glad you are enjoying your new exercise place. Good luck with it and your Goodreads challenge.

    Have a great week!

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  11. Good luck to your brother will all the changes! It can be challenging but rewarding too, I think. We did pizza for New Year's too. :)

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  12. The snow is one of the reasons I don't put solar panels on our house. I'm not sure it would be profitable for us.

    Wow! You read a lot of books this year. Good luck with your resolutions. You and I share the reading one. I've been whittling away at my Goodreads list to trim it back some.

    Enjoy your week.

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  13. Wow, I don't think I ever read 300 books in any given year...hope you're enjoying your reads!

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  14. Not reading books I don't enjoy really keeps me out of reading slumps. Good luck with that goal and everything else y'all have going on!!

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  15. Scraping snow off our solar panels is not something we have to worry about :)

    Wishing you a great reading week, and I hope the class is fun.

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  16. Hope you and your brother can find a way to manage the snow removal at your home. I live in a snowy area but I don't have solar panels (though that sounds like a good idea)!
    I read Still Life and it was okay for me but I heard that after you get through the first two or three the author finds her stride. And Shadow Girl sounds good to me. Congrats on the strong reading record you had last year-- amazing!

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  17. Sounds like 2019 was a pretty great year for you, reading wise! And good luck with your 2020 goals! Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!

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