Monday, January 3, 2022

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 3, 2022)

 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.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

Fans of winter weather will really have enjoyed my past week. We began with 8.5 inches of snow from last Sunday into Monday and Duluth's first Snow Emergency which has to do with where you can park your car. Since our cars are in our garages, this wasn't an issue for us. It did take until Tuesday late morning for our street to be plowed even though the snow stopped falling by mid-afternoon on Monday. Then we got an additional 2 inches of snow from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning. There were also snow flurries but nothing measurable on Thursday. Then the skies cleared, and the temperatures plummeted. It started out at 22 degrees below zero on New Year's Day with a windchill of 40 degrees below zero. Sunday, as I am writing this, it is 9 AM and the temperature is 19 degrees below zero with a 34 degree below zero windchill under bright sunny skies. 

Tomorrow I am taking my car to the dealership to have a battery tender installed. I am getting tired of going to my garage only to find that my car won't start. I know I drive very little, but still don't understand why this car's battery loses charge when the car sits. This has never happened with my other cars and my driving pattern hasn't really changed that much. My brother will be going with me since I don't really trust that the car will be reliable (and I also want him to know how the battery tender works).

I got a new phone this week - my first smartphone - and have been trying to learn about its various features. My brother also got the same phone. He's even less phone-adept than I am since he leaves his turned off most of the time. He did learn how to install the Target Circle App which so many of his customers use and is eager to take advantage of deals where he works. I haven't added, or tried out, any of the apps on my phone yet. We get our phones through Tracfone and finally upgraded when they threatened that our current phones would stop working in February, and they were offering lots of great deals. We had old phones since neither of us use our phones often and couldn't see any reason to upgrade a service we didn't use. Since unused minutes carry over, it used to be that we could buy days without minutes when it came time to annually renew our service. The last couple of years we've had to buy days and minutes. He has over 9000 minutes on his phone, and I have over 7000 on mine, which lets you know how often we use our phones. 

2021 Report

I had a great reading year. I read a total of 380 books or 378 if you believe Goodreads. I didn't feel like comparing line by line from Goodreads to my Google Sheet to find out which books I didn't include on Goodreads. That will forever remain a mystery. 

I averaged 32 books a month. I read 117 Review books last year. I also read 263 of my own books including 187 audiobooks and 28 from my TBR Mountain. 129 of the books were rereads.

I added 603 books to my LibraryThing account this year. This includes 139 Review books and 258 audiobooks.  I still have 273 of the books on my TBR pile. My total TBR pile which includes books I added as long ago as 2008 numbers 2377.

For my accounting purposes, I am going to count books added in 2020 or earlier as being from the TBR Mountain. The longer I've had a book, especially a Kindle book, the easier it is for the book to fall off my radar and get lost in my collection. 

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 Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham (Mine; Audiobook) -- This cozy mystery set in 1956 England was a BookBub $.99 title with an inexpensive audiobook too. It was a nice story. My review will be posted on January 29.
  • Fledgling by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook) -- Reread.
  • Saltation by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook) -- Reread
  • Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook) -- Reread
  • Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook) -- Reread
  • Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook) -- Reread
Currently
Next Week

This is a repeat from last week since I got sidetracked by listening to some favorite books from the Liaden Universe.
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:
Kindle and/or Audiobook:
What was your week like?

14 comments:

  1. Some lovely reads here for the first week of 2022.
    All the best for 2022.

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  2. Wow, that's cold! Stay safe, and happy new year!

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  3. Good luck with your new Smart Phone. I got my first one in 2015 and my granddaughter has been my tutor! She helps me so much, and I upgraded this year, also with her help. The process of adding apps has been an ongoing one.

    Congrats on your reading totals. I only read 131 books this year, but I used to read more. I seem to alternate between reading and viewing.

    Happy reading!

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  4. Brr! I don't do well in cold but snow is pretty in pictures. I hope the battery tender works out well for you. I hope you enjoy your new phone! Smart phones are like mini computers. It's crazy all you can do on one.

    It looks like you had a great reading year, Kathy! Several of the books you've read recently are on my wish list or TBR pile. I hope you have a Happy New Year and a great week!

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  5. Wow on the snow!! It is pretty to look at, but that is it. :)

    Hope you like your phones. Any young neighbors should be happy to help. :)

    Enjoy your books and your week, Kathy.

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  6. I was getting chilly just reading about your cold weather. But it does make for good reading weather, doesn't it?

    I hope you enjoy your books. Happy New Year!

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  7. Good luck with your new phones. My stepmother and my friend both were forced to learn new phones when the company upgraded, and it was tough to learn the new system.

    And, wow! Those temps!

    Happy New Year!

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  8. Happy New Year Kathy. I have an iPhone, not that I use it that much. But got the cheapest of them last year when we started scanning QR codes everywhere we went for Covid. I don't mind them as was using all that kind of tech when I was teaching. All the best for the year and the car battery.

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  9. Happy New Year! Wow you guys got quite the cold air. We got a little snow and it's 27 here and I thought THAT was cold. Yikes...

    I need to get to that Armstrong book.

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  10. I've had a smartphone for a few years now myself. I believe I got my first one halfway through college when they were out for a few years. I think my first one was an iPhone4, and honestly with each new one I get, I still get frustrated with it! Lol. I don't mind technology, but I swear sometimes it just hates me! Lol. Hope you enjoy the new phone!

    Nice reading week! I just finished Kelley's The Deepest of Secrets and I previously read her other new book I see you acquired! That one was definitely interesting and I'm eager to see what she does with the series! I hope you enjoy your reads for this week!


    Here's my Monday Wrap-up

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  11. Bah, snow, it can be very annoying! And I'm probably going to be getting a new phone soon, for various reasons. And sounds like a pretty excellent reading year! I see some Kelley Armstrong, and I just love her books! Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!

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  12. What a Spectacular year of reading 21 was for you!
    While you are shivering, I’m sweating in midsummer.

    Wishing you a great reading week, and a happy, healthy new year

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  13. I'm shivering just reading about your weather week! Yikes! We got some snow her in Oregon right after Christmas, but it was gone in a couple of days. Since no one was going anywhere anyway, we were able to enjoy it.

    Happy New Year! - Melinda @ A Web of Stories

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  14. Hope you like your new phone. I am going to check out some of these books. I keep hoping it will snow here sometime soon like it usually does. Have a great week!

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