Majkia (Jean) Reads by the Month

 



BOOKS READ


PAGES READ


ROOTS


BOOKS BOUGHT



Intro: I'm keeping things simple this year. 16 categories, the last four of which will be subsets of the first 12.

I'll note which of my reads are ROOTs, and TIOLIs if I decide to participate there. I'm not limiting myself by declaring how many books complete each category. Less pressure that way!

1. January
7/6 ROOTS: 7
2. February
4/6 ROOTS: 4
3. March
4/6 ROOTS: 4
4. April
8/6 ROOTS: 9
5. May
8/6 ROOTS:8
6. June
6/6 ROOTS: 6
7. July
4/6 ROOTS: 4
8. August
5/6 ROOTS: 5
9. September
10/6 ROOTS: 8
10. October
9/6 ROOTS: 10
11. November
6/6 ROOTS: 5
12. December
9/6 ROOTS: 6
13. TBR Challenge
17/24

PAGES READ : 2820
1. A Royal Pain - Rhys Bowen ROOT, RTT Theme
2. Zer0es - Chuck Wendig - ROOT, DeweyCAT, AlphaKIT Z
3. Toll the Hounds - Steven Erikson - TBR Challenge, ROOT, SFFFKIT
4. An Expert in Murder - Nicola Upson - - ROOT, AlphaKIT, BingoPUP
5. Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham - - AlphaKIT, SFFKIT, ROOT, BINGO DOG (survival story)
6. Princess Elizabeth's Spy - Susan Elia MacNeal - - ROOT, BingoPUP, RTT
7. A Dangerous Talent - Charlotte Elkins - - ROOT, BingoPUP, AlphaKIT

PAGES READ : 2128

1. Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey - - SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT, BingoDog, ROOT
2. Jumper - Steven Gould - 9. Jumper - Steven Gould - AlphaKIT, ROOT, BingoDOG
3. The Aeronaut's Windlass - Jim Butcher - - ROOT, SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT
4. The Doomsday Key - James Rollins - ROOT, AlphaKIT

Total pages read: 2406

1. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie - ROOT, TBR Challenge - 916 pages
2. Lockstep - Karl Schroeder - AlphaKIT, ROOT, SF/SFFKIT
3. The Courbet Connection - Estelle Ryan - - ROOT
4. The Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson -
5.

Total Pages Read: 3109

1. A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny - ROOT
2. Where Serpents Sleep - C.S. Harris - - ROOT, AlphaKIT

-. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente - Did Not Finish - ROOT
3. 3. The Crippled God - Steven Erikson - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, SF/SFFKIT
4. Half a Crown - Jo Walton - - AlphaKIT, ROOT
5. Hominids - Robert J. Sawyer - - AlphaKIT, ROOT
6. Trapped - Kevin Hearne - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
7. The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack - Mark Hodder - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
8. The Devil Colony - James Rollins - Sigma Force 7 - ROOT, AlphaKIT

Total Pages Read: 3951

1. The Abyss Beyond Dreams - Peter F. Hamilton - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, SF/SFFKIT
2. The Alphabet House - Jussi Adler-Olsen - ROOT, AlphaKIT
3. The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, AlphaKIT
4. Cibola Burn - James S.A. Corey - - The Expanse Book 4 - - ROOT from 2014, SF/SFFKIT
5. Red Bones - Ann Cleeves - - ROOT from 2015, RandomCAT, TBR Challenge
6. The Protector's War - S.M. Stirling - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, AlphaKIT
7. A Meeting at Corvallis - S.M. Stirling - - TBR Challenge, ROOT
8. The Rainaldi Quartet - Paul Adam - - TBR Challenge, ROOT, AlphaKIT

1. The Chronoliths - Robert Charles Wilson - - ROOT, AlphaKIT, SF/SFFKIT
2. Red Rising - Pierce Brown - - ROOT, AlphaKIT, SF/SFFKIT
3. Seventy-Seven Clocks - Christopher Fowler - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
4. Nexus - Ramez Naam - - TBR Challenge, ROOT, AlphaKIT
5. Fated - Benedict Jacka - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
6. Red Gold - Alan Furst - - ROOT, AlphaKIT

1. The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton - - ROOT
2. The Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, RandomCAT
3. Fortress in the Eye of Time - C.J. Cherryh - - ROOT, SF/SFFKIT, RandomCAT
4. The Evolutionary Void - Peter F. Hamilton - -ROOT, TBR Challenge, RandomCAT
5.

1. Artifact - Gregory Benford
2. The Fallen Blade - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
3. The Ghost Brigades - John Scalzi
4. Spartan Gold - Clive Cussler
5. Bloodline - James Rollins

1. Echo - Jack McDevitt - ROOT, AlphaKIT
2. At the Sign of the Crow and Moon - Mitchell Hogan - AlphaKIT
3. Crucible of Souls - Mitchell Hogan
4. Hammerfall - C.J. Cherryh - DNF
5. Nemesis Games - James S.A. Corey
6. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl
7. The Wheel of Darkness - Preston/Child
8. Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves
9. Search the Dark - Charles Todd
10. Monster Hunter International - Larry Correia

1. When Gravity Fails - George Alec Effinger
2. What Remains of Heaven - C.S. Harris
3. The Palace Job - Patrick Weekes
4. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows - Alan Bradley
5. The Raphael Affair - Iain Pears
6. Warchild - Karin Lowachee
7. The Secret Vanguard - Michael Innes
8. Death and the Lit Chick - G. M. Malliet
9. Ice Blue - Emma Jameson

1. Dead Water - Ann Cleeves
2. A Death in Vienna - Daniel Silva
3. Timebound - Rysa Walker
4. The Ace of Skulls - Chris Wooding
5. Seveneves - Neal Stephenson
6. Neuromancer - William Gibon

1. Angel with Two Faces - Nicola Upson
2. Brat Farrar - Josephine Tey
3. Legacy of the Dead - Charles Todd
4. Cold Fire - Kate Elliott
5. Dancer's Lament - Ian C. Esselmont
6. The Pucelle Connection - Estelle Ryan
7. There Came Both Mist and Snow - Michael Innes
8. The Iron Tactician - Alastair Reynolds
9. The Thousand Names - Django Wexler

TBR Challenge



✔ 1. Toll of the Hounds - Steven Erikson - January
✔ 2. Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson March
✔ 3. The Crippled God - Steven Erikson April
✔ 4. The Protector's War - S.M. Stirling May
✔ 5. A Meeting at Corvalis - S.M. Stirling May
✔ 6. The Abyss Beyond Dreams - Peter F. Hamilton April
✔ 7. The Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton July
✔ 8. The Evolutionary Void - Peter F. Hamilton July
✔ 9. Red Bones - Ann Cleeves Completed May
✔ 10. Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves Completed October
✔ 11. Dead Water - Ann Cleeves Completed November
12. Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Alternates:

✔ 1. The Raphael Affair - Ian Pears Completed October
✔ 2. The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte
✔ 3. Brat Farrar - Josephine Tey Completed December
4. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Safon - DNF - September
5. The Stockholm Octavo - Karen Engelman
✔ 6. The Rainaldi Quartet - Paul Adam May
7. Enemy of God - Bernard Cornwell
8. Excalibur - Bernard Cornwell
✔ 9. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie Completed February
10. Heroes - Joe Abercrombie
✔ 11. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl Completed September
✔ 12. Nexus - Ramez Naam

AlphaKIT and RTT (Reading Thru Time)



1. January: D and U
An Expert in Murder - Nicola Upson
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
2. Feb: J and B
Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey
The Aeronaut's Windlass - Jim Butcher
Jumper - Steven Gould
The Doomsday Key - James Rollins

3. Mar; L and Q
Lockstep - Karl Schroeder
4. Apr: V and H
Where Serpents Sleep - C.S. Harris
Half a Crown - Jo Walton
Hominids - Robert J. Sawyer
Trapped - Kevin Hearne
5. May: O and P
6. June: F and R
7. July: K and A
8. Aug: G and S
9. Sept: C and M
10.Oct: I and W
11.Nov: N and Y
12.Dec T and E

Yearlong:

X:

Z:
Zeroes - Chuck Wending (January)


Reading Thru Time

January: Prehistory or Theme: Women in Command
1. A Royal Pain Rhys Bowen (for Women in Command)

February: Prehistory

March: Prehistory

April: Anc/Bib Times

May: Anc/Bib Times

June: Anc/Bib Times

July: Arthurian Britain

August: Arthurian Britain

September: Arthurian Britain

October: Medieval/Vikings

November: Medieval/Vikings

December: Medieval/Vikings

Gifts and Early Reviewer Books



1. Lockstep - Karl Schroeder - SantaThing
2.
3.

DOG and CATs



GeoCAT:

Accidental GeoCATs go here.



DeweyCAT:

Accidental DeweyCats fits go here.

January: Zer0es - Chuck Wendig



RandomCAT:

January: Embrace your uniqueness

February: Pairs

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Bingo DOG and PUP



Bingo Dog Squares:
16. One word title: Zer0es - Chuck Wendig
5. Musical Reference: Toll the Hounds - Steven Erikson
25. Survival Story: Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
22. Adventure: Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey
23. Coming of Age: Jumper - Steven Gould
18. Focus on Art: A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny
11. Indigenous Person: The Devil Colony - James Rollins
12. In Translation: The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte
20. Senior Citizen as Protag: Seventy-Seven Clocks - Christopher Fowler
21. Less than 200 pages - At the Sign of the Crow and Moon

Bingo Pup Squares: (about/by women)



Bingo Pup Squares:
8 - About a spy - A Royal Pain - Rhys Bowen
13 - by or about a woman - An Expert in Murder - Nicola Upson
12. Woman in Combat: Princess Elizabeth's Spy - Susan Elia MacNeal
3 - Less Thank 12 Years Old - A Dangerous Talent - Charlotte Elkins

Nice and simple! Best way to go!
Very pretty toppers, too.

I absolutely love how simple this is and am quite tempted to copy your setup, except for switching out Book Club for Gifts/Early Reviewers. Good luck!

Lovely setup!

Great setup! Leaves lots of room to pursue whims. Good luck with your TBR challenge!

Also, awwwww at the kitty and puppy!

Love your flowery toppers!

What a great setup! Looking forward to what we will read next year. I fell of the wagon with AlphaKIT this year. I hope to participate more next year.

I've done the month-by read - it worked out very well!

Nicely set up categories, you should have plenty of scope for reading freedom. Very pretty month toppers too.

You've used gorgeous flower pictures for your monthly reads section. I am looking forward to following your reading again next year.

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments and well wishes. I made the floral toppers myself, so I'm delighted to see that folks like them!

The toppers are beautiful, great work! And I like your set-up, allowing perfect flexibility. :)

Lovely to see your 2016 thread is up. Looks like you set to go!

I'm not sure I'm going to put any 'possibles' up for categories or CATs, because once I do I start to want to read anything ELSE. I'll be a little more spontaneous, I hope, and just look a month or at most two ahead with respect to planning. I'll need to choose books for my TBR challenge yet, though.

Great set up! And beautiful category pictures. I can understand not putting in "possibles". My "possibles" always end up at the bottom of the heap.

>32 majkia: I normally don't put in "possibles" either and for the same reason as you; but this year I did skim my stacks to see if I had qualifying books and ended up noting possibles in my thread as a sort of reminder as to where to generally look in my library. Also, I usually do a massive book order over the US Thanksgiving week-end and didn't want to over buy (e.g. duplicates) :-)

I was doing a month by month this year, but I made the mistake of putting a theme on each month, and of course I always wanted to read something in the "wrong" month. Your way is much better!

Nice and simple, that works for me, and your flower pictures are lovely! I'm very daunted by your aim of 100 books in the year though! I'll be happy if I manage any more than 1 a month!

Nice simple setup with the month by month leading into the more ambitious CAT & Bingo challenges. Wiashing you a happy start to your reading year.

While I've been trying to organize my reading for next year, I've decided to not actively participate in the GeoCAT or the DeweyCAT. Too many worries to try to fit books into them. I've got quite enough to wrangle with RandomCAT, AlphaKIT, Bingo Dog, BingoPUP, Reading Thru Time and Horror.

If I accidentally fit something in good, if not, no worries.

I think you have made a wise choice, I am going to try to participate in all the Cats as well as the AlphaKit, Bingo Dog, BingoPup, and Reading Thru Time. Add the TIOLI Challenges and I think I am going to stretched awlfully thin next year!

Lots of reading on your plate and good luck!

I admit I pondered making the months my categories, but in the end, I didn't.

Great categories!

Happy New Year, Jean! A Very well-planned challenge.

1. A Royal Pain - Rhys Bowen - ROOT, RTT Theme

First book of the year, a hold over from 2015 which I just couldn't finish in time.

Enjoyable cozy mystery with a likable if somewhat dizzy heroine who muddles her way through, as the queen asks her to look into the mysterious occurrences surrounding the visiting princess from Bavaria.

Lighthearted even if there are a couple of murders. Love her granddad.

Fits January, obviously, and the RTT theme challenge, and the BingoPUP -about a spy.

double post

Lighthearted even if there are a couple of murders. LOL - Does Rhys Bowen also write some mysteries set in 1800s America with a female sleuth? I have the feeling I've read her but the description of your book doesn't ring any bells.

>46 cammykitty: She writes a Molly Murphy series set in New York. I haven't read them.

This series is set in England in the 1930s.

I saw on the wiki for the Dewey that you might read Booked to Die by John Dunning for this month. That's one of my favorite series and I wish he'd write more books in it.

>48 dudes22: Oh, thanks for mentioning that. I'm not sure I'll get to it this month, but it is high up on the 'I want to read that NOW' list.

>44 majkia: - I really enjoy the Royal Spyness series - happy to see that you liked this one.

I'm curious about your "Reading Through Time"? Is that from another group?

>52 LibraryCin: yes, another group. See: http://www.librarything.com/groups/readingthroughtime

>53 majkia: Thank you! It looks like I did join that group at some point, but I guess I never went back to it!

Just popping in to say Howdy.

Me too! Enjoy your reading year!

Happy New Year, Jean. Looks like you got the year off to a good start with A Royal Pain.

Hi Jean! Nice set up. Love that you used a graphic from one of my favorite children's books; The Library by Sarah Stewart.
Good luck with your challenge

Nice set up! I saw that you were going to read some S.M. Stirling, which reminds me that is a series I should get back to. My next one is The Sunrise Lands.

Thanks for visiting everyone!

It is the day before my 9th Thingaversary so I thought I'd give a State of Play for LT:

Plans for this year: I planned to focus on series I've begun and with that read the tomes I've been slow to read because I've been too focused on number of books read, as opposed to reading the books I've put off because they are Loooooong.

I'm now having withdrawal or some such regret as it is now nearly the middle of the month and I only have one book finished. Eeep. Granted I'm about 2/3rds of the way through Toll the Hounds and Erikson writes so densely and this book in particular is so full of ideas, that it's been slow going although I'm loving every page of it.

I'm 3/4 of the way through Zer0es which is also intriguing and interesting. Hope to get that done today or tomorrow.

Another goal I had (which I knew was hopeless) was to limit the number of books I buy. Well, duh. Too many good sales to pass up for books I've wanted for awhile. At least I can count most of them toward my Thingaversary purchases:

1. Rewinder -Brett Battles
2. Well of Ascension Brandon Sanderson
3. The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
4. The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
5. Shadows of Self - Brandon Sanderson
I still haven't read the first Mistborn book, but as these were on sale and I hope to get to the first of the series this year, I got them.
6. Luna: New Moon - Ian McDonald
I love his writing so wanted this one badly. Could not resist the sale.
7. Neuromancer - William Gibson
I can't believe I don't own this. Maybe I bought this before I joined LT? Anyway, caved.
8. Steal the Sky - Megan O'Keefe
Steampunk, with a good review or three. Caved.
9. Mycroft Holmes - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I do love a pastiche.

Also, to Grow On:
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Another steampunk that sounded good.

What a great haul! Happy thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary! I have been trying to overlook book size when I choose something to read as I found my shelves were getting full of very thick books that I had passed over in order to read something shorter. Hopefully I can get some of these bigger books off my shelves!

>44 majkia: Hmm, I have A Royal Pain sitting on my shelves. I need to get to it soon.

Happy Thingaversary! There are a number of us celebrating this month. I'm tackling bigger books by having a category for hard cover books which take up more space.

Great haul! Interesting that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote a Holmes pastiche. Didn't know he was a Holmes enthusiast!

Happy Thingaversary! January was probably a popular month due to people looking to keep track of all the new books they got for Christmas.

Happy thingaversary! And I know the "big book problem", too...

2. Zer0es -Chuck Wendig



Hackerpunk. Young hackers are caught and offered an out. Don't go to jail, instead go to work for the government. When they get there, they start to question just what the heck is going on. What is going on becomes more and more bizarre the deeper and better they hack.

Interesting premise with AI and goverments vying for dominance and just what can go wrong when they do.

>68 majkia: - BB taken and I even learned a new term: "Hackerpunk". ;-)

>69 lkernagh: Ditto!

>68 majkia: 4 stars! I shall continue my read. I work this weekend so I probably won't finish until next week.

>69 lkernagh: and >70 LisaMorr: I made that up. ;)

>72 majkia: Perfect - it works!

Happy Thingaversary! Great loot!

>68 majkia: I have another book by Chuck Wendig on my tbr shelves already (Blackbirds) so will give that a try before adding any more of his works to the piles of the unread but it sounds like it was a good one. Glad you enjoyed it.

>75 AHS-Wolfy: I LOVED Blackbirds.

We're RVing at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park again. We'll be here until the end of February.

Sunset this evening:

>77 majkia: Very pretty. Thanks for sharing.

>29 majkia: aha! That answered my question, nice job!

I like your setup. I have plenty of challenges already, or I'd try the BINGO challenges.

And I love the Bingo Dogs picture on post #18!

>77 majkia: When I first saw that picture I thought I was seeing a forest fire instead of the sun shining through the trees! I googled Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and it looks beautiful. Enjoy your stay.

And the beach:

>78 Tara1Reads: thanks!

Thanks fuzzi one.

DQ: It is a lovely place. The only worry is the bears. ;)

>81 majkia: Oooh I am so jealous!

>81 majkia: lovely!

Topsail Hill is one of my favorite state parks, I think. My family discovered it one of the final two or three years Mom and Dad were able to RV. I was doing the driving at that point because Dad was a bit afraid to do so. My cat Brumley loved "camping" too. I do remember a very colorful snake curling up next to our campsite. I did glance at it, but I wouldn't go outside again until the snake had left.

Lovely photos!

Belated Thingaversary greetings! Great haul!

What a beautiful place to spend winter!

>81 majkia: Beautiful picture, looks like a great place!

Looks like a great place to stay!

3. Toll the Hounds - Steven Erikson



Erikson is a master at winding threads upon threads through and around each other. Complex motives, deeply emotional themes, and amazing characters are forced to find their way through a landscape torn by war, greed, selfish desire and horror. But there is always hope.

At 850 or so pages, it was a slow read for me, mainly because it is so dense and deep at times, not to mention attempting to keep all the threads and the characters straight in my head.

>81 majkia: That looks glorious!

Hi everyone. It is gorgeous here indeed, and no blizzard! Although it has been unusually cold what with below freezing temps and highs only in the 40s yesterday and in the 50s today Normally we'd have highs in the 60s.

4. An Expert in Murder - Nicola Upson



Good start to a series. Set in London between the wars, Josephine Tey is a well known playwright. She meets a young girl on a train down to London and things go from great to horrid in a flash.

Lots of confounding and confusing information presented so that the mystery was difficult to guess which is a very good thing. I enjoyed the main characters and they were well drawn and fully fleshed out. The theater setting was intriguing too.

Toll the Hounds sounds good - another series to put on the list.

>93 majkia: I've seen books by Upson listed, but I don't remember reading one before. Of course, I'm always skeptical of series that feature authors such as Tey or Austen.

5. Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham



Horror tale about a dystopia where nearly everyone goes blind from watching a spectacular meteorite display. Holds up well and is just as scary now as it was back in the day when I first read it. Also, the original movie is terrific.

>96 majkia: I really liked that one when I read it for the SFFFCAT last year. Not sure whether any movie could do justice to the Triffids of my imagination though.

Looks like you have found a lovely spot to stay until the end of February! Beach and wooded area!

>97 rabbitprincess: Hah. Perhaps because I saw the movie when I was fairly young, it is still one of those movies that managed to scare the crap out of me.

>98 lkernagh: It is gorgeous here, with areas both sandy beachy and fairly heavy on the green and growing. Quiet too, considering it is right in a tourist area!

>99 majkia:
Agree, that movie was freaky!

6. Princess Elizabeth's Spy - Susan Elia MacNeal



A period spy thriller starring the less than perfect (and that's a good thing) Maggie Hope. This round Maggie is assigned to protect the young Princess when MI5 believes there is a plot to kidnap her.

I had some issues with this book The ending. Firstly, it seemed to be lifted nearly entirely out of Enigma. And, I found the whole escape the sub and no one is near the exit to stop them from just opening it and getting out??

Still, I'll read a least a few more if not the whole series since I enjoy the characters and enjoy the books.

7. A Dangerous Talent - Charlotte Elkins




First in the Alix London series, a series about art forgery and theft. I love stories about art so I enjoyed this quite a bit. Colorful setting, not so much romance that it bothered me, and a pretty good mystery to boot.

>96 majkia: I'll have to add this one to my list. I'd read Wyndham's The Chrysalids a couple of years ago and liked it a lot. I love that book cover too! :)

January Reading Summary:

Despite the distractions of RVing and quite a few hardware training classes for our county's poll workers in light of Florida's upcoming Presidential Primary, I managed to read 7 books.

Oldest was written in 1951 - The Day of the Triffids newest was written in 2015 - Zer0es

Longest was Toll the Hounds at 850 very densely written pages, shortest was A Dangerous Talent at 270, with a total page count for the month : 2820

One 5 star read - Toll the Hounds

4 female authors/3 males

All 7 were ROOTS, 4 were BingoPUPs, 3 were BingoDOGs, 3 AlphaKITs, 2 SF/SFFKITs, 1 DeweyCAT

I read:
3 period mysteries
1 contemporary art mystery
2 sci fi
1 epic fantasy

So, the 5 star was the biggest of the bunch?

If I was reading a chunkster like that, and it wasn't up to at least a 2 1/2 or 3 star, I'd probably ditch it.

And all your reads were ROOTs? Excellent!

8. Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey -

- SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT, BingoDog, ROOT

Third Book in The Expanse Series. I just love this series and find the books nearly unputdownable.

James Holden, the guy who always seems to find himself in the middle of a major mess, mostly not of his own accord, is such a great character. He's far from perfect, and knows it. He doesn't see himself a a mover and a shaker, more a poor guy who keeps stepping into it, and can't quite understand why that is. At the same time, when he finds himself faced with unbelievable odds or incredible aliens, for that matter, tries his hardest to do what he thinks is right, regardless of whether anyone else sees things his way. He just hopes his crew, at least, will come around to his way of thinking.

This time round, Holden is determined to avoid the mysterious object deep in space that has Mars, Earth and the Belters scrambling to reach it and control it. He wants nothing whatever to do with it. But then he finds himself and his ship and crew maneuvered into having to go precisely there.

He blames the protovirus which seems to have some weird control over him for this and hates his being controlled by it.

And from there, things go pear-shaped.

9. Jumper - Steven Gould



When a teenager is threatened with serious bodily harm by his abusive father, he 'jumps' through space and arrives at a place where he feels safe. Finally driven into real fear, he runs away, and finds his way in the world to discover he can 'jump' at will.

Afraid, and alone, he fumbles his way toward adulthood while searching to learn if he is unique or if there are other jumpers out there.

Not bad for a coming of age story. Characters are likeable and the storyline, although not constantly filled with action, still kept me reading.

10. The Aeronaut's Windlass - Jim Butcher - - ROOT, SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT



Steampunk adventure story featuring a wildly inventive world where some people are crossed with creatures, and where cats talk and plot alongside humans, with aeronauts who lock ships of the air in mortal combat and aetheriests see the future whilst giving up their sanity.

Can't wait for book 2!

>108 majkia:
Ooh, another positive review - thank you!!

Just getting caught up here. I love mysteries involving art, too, and I intend to get to the Alix London series one of these days.

>96 majkia:

I love DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS as well as most other books by John Wyndham. He had a fab way to bring a Sci Fi threat/horror home to an ordinary environment.

There is actually a relatively modern follow up to TRIFFIDS by another author. (Can't remember details now.)

>111 IrishHolger: That would be The Night of the Triffids by Simon Clark.

Bingo. That's the one I was referring to.

“Shivers heaved out a sigh. “Just trying to make tomorrow that bit better than today is all. I’m one of those … you’ve got a word for it, don’t you?”

“Idiots?”

He looked sideways at her. “It was a different one I had in mind.”

“Optimists.”

“That’s the one. I’m an optimist.”

“How’s it working out for you?”

“Not great, but I keep hoping.”

“That’s optimists. You bastards never learn.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold

Thanks for the quote Jean, as violent as Joe Abercrombie's books can be, he also fills them with humor. I loved Best Served Cold.

>115 DeltaQueen50: Loving it also!

>114 majkia:
Haha! I really need to get around to this series!

>1 majkia: The cover art on Lockstep is intriguing.

11. The Doomsday Key - James Rollins - ROOT, AlphaKIT



ROOT, AlphaKIT

Good entry to the Sigma Force series. This time they're searching for a cure to a runaway fungal agent that is killing folks across the world. And the Guild is involved from the start. But why? And how?

Pretty much non-stop action, with the usual twists and turns. I do like the crew too.

12. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie - TBR Challenge, ROOT





Fourth in the First Law Series. Joe Abercrombie's world is bloody, uncompromising and full of death and destruction. Not to mention a lot of gallows humor.

A former female general is saved on the brink of death after she'd been betrayed by her boss, so she is determined to kill everyone who was involved in her and her brother's betrayal. She assembles quite the group to help her including a former prisoner, a poisoner and his assistant, a Northman who wants to become a better man, and a couple of others who join up along the way.

But what will drive her if she ever does manage to kill all 7 of her enemies. And it won't bring back her dead brother either.

Abercrombie is strong on characterization and world building. Even if not one person you meet along the way has more than a trace of praise-worthy traits, you still find yourself hoping somehow they'll manage to survive the experience.

I really, really need to find the time to start the First Law series. Your reviews make them sound so darn good!

>121 lkernagh: They really, really are.

I've got the first book in the First Law series on my shelves and hope to get to it soon. Glad to hear that you're still enjoying the series.

13. Lockstep - Karl Schroeder - SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT, Gift



Quite different from the usual far future sci fi I've read, this one postulates that FTL is never solved and so hibernation is the only way to travel to distant stars. And, beyond that, setting entire planets or groups of nation-states on scheduled 'lockstep timelines' where the society is awake for a few weeks or months, then hibernate for different lengths of time, allow humans to trade and visit other similar societies.

Lots of political and religious overtones as well as family dynamics color the action and the people involved.

What with being busy with working the polls and training poll workers, my reading has really slowed. Hoping to fix that now!

14. The Courbet Connection - Estelle Ryan - ROOT, BingoPUP
Genevieve Leonard series, book 5



Good entry to the series, with the team being assisted by another non-neurotypical young man, which gives Jenny a chance to grow more in her dealings with people. The case is grim, with the team trying to discover missing college students, one of whom is a friend of one of their own.

We're RVing again at St George Island State Park in Florida. We were rained out all weekend but Monday was gorgeous.

Pretty!

>126 majkia:
Oh, that's beautiful! What a lovely spot.

15. Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen 9



Postitioning that many characters to participate in the downfall of the Crippled God makes my head hurt! Wow. As usual, bloody, philosophical and often damn depressing to see otherwise sane folks think violence and war answers anything.

Looking forward to slogging my way through The Crippled God so I can finally get to The Forge of Darkness!

Summary for March: I finished only 4 books for March but in my admittedly weak defense, one was 912 pages long, another was 816 pages long.

Total books: 4 Total pages: 2406

2 epic fantasy, 1 science fiction, 1 mystery/thriller

Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie - 912 pages
Lockstep - Karl Schroeder - 352 pages
The Courbet Connection- Estelle Ryan - 326 pages
Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson - 816 pages

2 were from my TBR list, 1 was a gift, all were ROOTs

Don't worry about it...I've got some real CHUNKSTERS that I've been avoiding due to how long they will take to read.

>126 majkia: What a wonderful life! And a gorgeous place.

>130 majkia: Chunksters like that always find their way to the bottom of my pile :)

>130 majkia: Two giant books in one month is very impressive!

16. A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny


Seventh book in the Gamache series. As usual, murder happens in the tiny, apparently most dangerous town, in Quebec. And, as usual, the murder is about art. But it is also about light and dark and forgiveness and pain.

Despite that fact that you could be murdered in Three Pines, I'd still like to spend some time there.

>134 majkia: As usual, murder happens in the tiny, apparently most dangerous town, in Quebec.

LOL!

17. Where Serpents Sleep - C.S. Harris - AlphaKIT, ROOT - 4th in the Sebastian St Cyr series


More complexity added to poor Sebastian's life. So of course he dives into a puzzle bought to him by Hero.

The series attempts to paint the misery of the time, and here it delves into the horrors that arise for women, of many different social standings.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Calente


DNF - Did Not Finish.

I've tried this for a week and I still don't care what happens to this girl. Giving up. Will count as a ROOT but as nothing else.

>138 majkia: That's disappointing. The title sounds so promising!

>138 majkia:
Oh, interesting. It's on my Mt. TBR...

18. The Crippled God - Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen 10 and Last


The last book of the Fallen. Amazing.
As usual, finishing a wonderfully complex and fascinating series is sad even if it is also satisfying.

Amazing that Erikson can wrap up such a series that had so many characters, threads and motives and themes. Not everything was wrapped up, there are still questions in my mind, but it was surely enough of closure to feel satisfied and still surprised. THe series certainly didn't go where we all must have believed it would go when we started out on this journey.

And, of course, it said a lot about the human condition, our prejudices, our fears, our conceits and yes, our hopes.

In a mere 1200 pages.

>141 majkia: Maybe we should allow a sixth star for a) excellent end of series b) huge number of pages or c) maintaining the good story through 10 volumes!

LOL! I agree!

19. Half a Crown - Jo Walton Last in the Farthing Trilogy



Fine ending to an unsettling alternate history trilogy where Germany won WWII and holds sway over most of the world.

ROOT, AlphaKIT

20. Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer



Very interesting take on alternate/parallel worlds. This one has Neanderthals beating out our types rather than the other way round.

ROOT, AlphaKIT

21. Trapped - Kevin Hearne - 5th in the Iron Druid series.



Not my favorite of the series, but I do love Oberon and he didn't disappoint. Also, seeing the rise of a new Druid was very cool. I also get a great kick out of all the quick bows to favorite books and TV series and movies he throws into the dialog.

I listened to the audio because I love how the narrator does Oberon.

>146 majkia:
That was pretty much my take on it too, but I don't like the narrator's voice for Oberon, unfortunately. He makes him sound too much like Scooby-Doo. I know that's not really a spoiler, but in case someone else is listening to the books and don't get that image, I don't want to be the one to put it in their head. :)

>147 -Eva-: LOL!!!

22. The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack - Mark Hodder - steampunk



A steampunk novel wherein a travel from the future keeps appearing and frightening the Victorians. Sir Richard Burton is tasked by the crown to look into the matter. Not to mention keeping an eye on some of the other weirdness happening in London.

Certainly imaginative regarding alterations in the timeline, in some of the more well known Victorians and what they are about (Darwin, Nightinggale etc).

First in a series. I just might have to continue this series to see if it remains quite so imaginative.

23. Devil Colony - James Rollins - Sigma Force 7



ROOT and AlphaKIT

7th in the series. Lots of action as well as a surprising amount character development for a thriller series. That's what I like about it most. The main characters are so complex and well drawn that they are far from the norm for the genre.

April Roundup:

Pages read: 3109. Largest month page total to date (this year anyway)
Books read: 8

Longest book: The Crippled God - 1200 pages
Shortest book: Half a Crown and Trapped - each at 320 pages.

2 mysteries, one period mystery, only current day mystery, one thriller, 4 SFF, 2 Sci Fi

One Five star read: The Crippled God.

One Did Not Finish: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland - I just found it boring.

Biggest surprise book: The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack - fun steampunk and very imaginative.

24. The Abyss Beyond Dreams - Peter F. Hamilton Part of The Commonwealth Universe series.


TBR Challenge, ROOT from 2015, SF/SFFKIT

There is a weird void in the Galaxy that seems threatening and is periodically grasping ships and taking them into itself. Who else but Nigel Sheldon, one of the creators of the Commonwealth, to ask to look into it and see if he can't neutralize it's powers.

I love this series, for it's elaborate world-building and imaginative creation of societies morphed to thrive in a universe so very different from the one we know, and yet be reasonable and understandable. He peoples these worlds with characters who are intriguing, deep and complex. Not to mention the science!

25. The Alphabet House - Jussi Adler-Olsen


ROOT from 2015, AlphaKIT

Rather grim tale of two English pilots shot down over Germany and their prolonged attempt to survive the war. I kept thinking I'd seen this movie. It is an older book of his, from 1997, although from the look of things, only newly translated.

Definitely not for those who want sunshine and ponies.

26. The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte


A thriller that follows a restorer, who is working on a painting called 'Game of Chess'. When her old lover is killed, she's driven on to discover what the painting is about, and asks her friends to help her understand the message she finds hidden in the painting, "who killed the knight". The more she delves into the mystery, the more danger she finds herself in.

I enjoyed the complexity of the set up, and particularly the whole lets figure out which piece took the knight and did someone actually kill the knight who is one of the players in the game of chess.

I love puzzles and this was definitely a complex and changing one!

27. Cibola Burn - James S.A. Corey - The Expanse Book 4
- 4 stars

A ROOT and an SF/SFFKIT entry.

Scientists and corporate entities have been beaten through the Ring that opened up new worlds by hopeful folks who want to settle on one of these new worlds. Earth and the OPA approach Jim Holden and the crew of the Rosie and ask them to go through the Ring and act as mediators between the angry corporate ship headed there and the colonists.

Jim has been reluctant to have anything to do with that Ring, but as usual gets back into a corner and maneuvered into accepting the assignment.

Before the Rosie can get there, violence breaks out between the colonists and the corporate security forces so the crew lands in the middle of a fight they'd hoped to avoid.

From there things go even more pear-shaped when the planet decides to blow up.

Then it becomes a question of whether any of them can survive, and can they all manage to put aside their distrust and hatred and work together to do it.

Super series, and this is a solid, if different entry to the series. Excellent characters and world-building, and the series remains one of my favorites as a result.

Taking advantage of sub par weather this weekend to get caught up with some thread.

>141 majkia: - While I am not sure I am up for adding another series to my burgeoning list - especially when the last book clocks in at 1,200 pages in length - but duly making note of the 5-Star rating. You never know.... I may find time to add another series to my reading.

>142 mamzel: - 10 volumes?!? OMG... that really does go on the "when retired" list. ;-)

>149 majkia: - I have a copy of that one waiting on my "to read" bookshelves. I may try to slot it into the June SFF as I really like the cover.

28. Red Bones - Ann Cleeves Third in the Shetland books


Third entry in the Shetland books. Complex families, stories intermingled with lies, secrets and betrayals. Pasts that rear up unexpectedly, that take over and touch the residents of the Shetland islands. Like everywhere else, really.

The mystery is complex and I confess I guessed wrong about the killer, and never did guess the basic why of it.

I love her ability to make the islands come alive.

TBR Challenge, ROOT, RandomCAT

>155 majkia: A lot of people have recommended Corey's series to me. I really must try it out sometime!

29. The Protector's War - S.M. Stirling - Emberverse 2, Nantucket 5



TBR Challenge, ROOT from 2013, AlphaKIT

It is year 8, after The Change. People are trying to survive, relearning how to grow their own food, protect themselves from marauders and warlords. The Bear Killer Clan and Clan Mackenzie are separate but close, with a mutual pact to assist when the self-styled Protector once again sends his forces to conquer them.

Lots of details with regard to primitive survival, and a surprisingly strong emphasis on worship of the Goddess.

Characters are well drawn and strong, and the plot is clear and pointed, with one small exception at the end.

It has cliff hangers though so beware. I'm having to hurry up and read the next book in the series right now!

>149 majkia: Just trying to catch up with people, one day at a time. Glad to see you enjoyed Spring Heeled Jack. What is really interesting is that if you dig back, there was a character - or legend - in England named Spring Heeled Jack. Also, the second book is based on a real character as well.

>158 mathgirl40: I just started Corey's series a couple months ago. The books are chunksters, but they read FAST. I highly recommend them as well.

30. A Meeting at Corvallis - S.M. Stirling - 3rd of the Emberverse series



Third entry to the Emberverse, finishing up the series about the first 10 or so years after The Change. No one knows quite what happened, but on one fine evening, suddenly machines all stopped working at once. There followed massive upheaval and a few hearty folks who struggled to survive. These three books covered several small enclaves in the Pacific Northwest, and how they managed to put together a follow on civilization.

Lots of interesting learning to make-do, reinvention of primitive techniques for survival and lots of interesting approaches to governance.

TBR Challenge, ROOT

31. The Rainaldi Quartet - Paul Adam - ROOT, TBR Challenge



Admittedly, I have a thing about the forging, stealing, creating, or collecting of works of art. You have only to look at my TBR Challenge to figure this out. ;) This time out, it's all about the violins.

Gianni is a luthier from Cremona. When a close friend of his, another luthier, is killed, he teams up with another close friend, who is the local detective, to find out just why he died and who dunnit.

I confess to knowing essentially nothing, not a damn thing, about violins, well, other than they sound terrific in the hands of an artist. So this was a crash course in fiddle terminology and creation as well as an eye opening treatise on how easily one could forge an Stradivari for instance.

I enjoyed the book, liked the menus and felt envious about them, and found the mystery, more the why of things than the who, kept me entertained throughout.

>31 lkernagh: This one has been on my radar. Thanks for the review!

32. The Chronoliths - Robert Charles Wilson


When monuments somehow displaced from the near future begin appearing around the world, a small cadre of scientists begin trying to figure out how and why it is happening. The story follows this group of people as they try to make sense of the Kuin monuments while the world falls apart around them.

Hard science, intriguing characters and unfortunately believeable human reactions to the situation, make the book fascinating, in an aghast kind of way.

AlphaKIT, ROOT from 2013, SF/SFFKIT

33. Red Rising - Pierce Brown First in the Red Rising Trilogy



Darrow, a Red, is a miner. He and his people are low caste and have little to aspire to, only to survive the harsh mines of Mars. But there is an underground who hopes to overthrow the Golds who control the human worlds. And one day Darrow finds it.

Many folks compare this to The Hunger Games, but the world Darrow occupies is much harsher and less clear. Lies and controls and madness seem to be mixed together to hold the society where it is.

Darrow's struggle to survive, and to find a way to destroy this society is harrowing and appalling in its violence and cruelty. But then, the Golds haven't had to deal with a Hell Diver and they have no idea the chaos one wild uninhibited young man can wreak.

AlphaKIT, SF/SFFKIT

>166 majkia: recommended?

>167 fuzzi: Yes, but lots of violence, so if that bothers you skip it.

>153 majkia:
I was looking at that since I like the author, but I think I'll stick to Department Q. :)

>166 majkia:
I liked that one a lot. Not sure why I haven't continued the series, but I will do.

>169 -Eva-: The Alphabet House was interesting but did not have the humor of Department Q.

I have so many series I've begun I quite often forget to go back to a series, even though I might have really liked what I've read of it.

Next year I need to come up with a way to focus yet more on series reading. And not start any bloody new ones!

Lately, I've been thinking that I need to make progress next year in many of the series I read too. I made a list, but deciding how to fit them into categories in a theme is what I find difficult. Terri's(tymfos) food idea this year was a great way, I thought.

>170 majkia: Maybe you could have a "series of the month" category where each month you pick a different series to binge on? Or name the categories after series you want to read :)

It is true that there are so many good series out there! I use FictFact to keep track of them but it is hard to remember or decide which ones to go back to.

One of my categories is "continuing series", so I only count books in a series I've already started. To try to encourage me to continue with ones I've already started, and not necessarily to start new ones. Of course, I still start new ones, anyway, but at least it helps me get back to others, as well.

I use FictFact to track my series also. However, I still have way too many! I need to take some time, I guess, go through them all and identify the ones that I want most to follow/finish/catch up.

I did some of that before this year began and have a list in OneNote (which I use to track all my reading) that highlights series I wanted to focus on. That's helped.

Maybe after I identify 12 or so series, some brilliant idea will occur to me for next year's cat challenge. Or, I might just do it by month and write those books in ahead of time so I remember to select them, and not be dazzled by CATs and DOGs and lose focus ;~)

We are spending June and July at Eden Gardens State Park here in Florida, about an hour from home. Jim is volunteering here. Beautiful park, except for the yellow/dog flies that I am badly allergic to. Hopefully they will be gone in a week or so. Meanwhile, slathering up with Avon Skin-so-Soft bug spray.

>175 majkia: Oh, how lovely! (I hope the flies depart soon.)

Such a beautiful place, I also hope the flies soon depart!

>175 majkia: Beautiful!!

>175 majkia: - Almost makes me wish I liked camping.

34. Seventy-Seven Clocks - Christopher Fowler Bryant and May #3


Bryant is his usual irascible self and May his usual long-suffering but accepting self. This mystery begins when a man dressed as if he'd been moved through time from the past, destroys a painting on display. And, as the first act hints, the roots of the crimes are in London's Victorian past.

I really enjoy this series. Refreshing to an elder shown as bright and competent rather than as angry old farts to be got round.

WRT Eden Gardens State Park, I think the flies and other bugs seem to be easing up a bit! Alas, the heat hasn't.

>180 majkia: Ooh I think that's the next Bryant and May for me! I started reading the series out of order but then realized that nope, these guys have to be read in order. Glad to see it is a four-star read! :)

>175 majkia:
Oh, so pretty!! But, boo for flies!

35. Nexus - Ramez Naam



Excellent book of the fairly near future, whee a street drug is enhanced by a young scientist so that it can connect minds. The US government is on a crusade to block this drug and to stop any humans from being changed into enhanced post-humans and goes after the scientist and anyone he cares about or who helps him.

Lots of neuroscience, lots of action, intriguing ideas, characters well-drawn.

36. Fated - Benedict Jacka -
- ROOT, AlphaKIT

Fun book, and a series I'll continue. Alex runs a 'magic' shop. He's a diviner, rather than a mage, which has it's drawbacks. However, since he can see the future he's in high demand from competing forces looking for a magical artifact.

Told in first person, with lots of humor. Enjoyable all round.

37. Red Gold - Alan Furst Night Soldiers Book 5



Alan Furst's series is about normal, everyday people stuck in the middle of Hell, when Europe goes to war. Some of them survive, some don't. Some find a way to work in the resistance, some try to escape, some help with that.

He presents the situation, not idealized with brave, beautiful people who are incredible spies, but instead as people who barely manage to find ways to survive, and do what little they can to help the cause of defeating Hitler. Fear is always present and one never knows who is knocking on your door, or who will be knocking it down.

38. The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton


This is a re-read. I began reading book 2 of the Void Trilogy and realized how much I'd forgotten so went back to it.

Far future sci fi with complex characterization, intricate plotting and fascinating aliens and reimagined human societies.

>38 majkia: I can see that on my shelf from where I'm sitting - I've got to get to it someday!

39. The Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton Second in The Void Trilogy



ROOT from 2014, TBR Challenge, RandomCAT

Peter F. Hamilton continues to amaze with his elaborately constructed world-building, and complex imagination. Characters are numerous and deeply drawn and live in a world so different from ours, and yet, still colored by our internal faults, prejudices and hatreds. Still, hope and joy and love are there too, and the desire to strive above what limits us and succeed in changing the universe.

40. Fortress in the Eye of Time - C.J. Cherryh


ROOT from 2012, SF/SFFKIT

Ambitious beginning to a series, with lots of complex world building and a main character who knows nothing - less even than Jon Snow.

I thought it was awfully wordy, and would have liked less internal dialog and more action. The story itself was interesting and I can see why so many folks like it. Interesting take on magic and sorcery.

>190 majkia: Yippee! You finished it!

EEp. Obviously I've not been keeping up.

Since the last update I've read:

41. The Evolutionary Void - Peter F. Hamilton

August
42. Artifact - Gregory Benford
43. The Fallen Blade - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
44 The Ghost Brigades - John Scalzi
45. Spartan Gold - Clive Cussler
46. Bloodline - James Rollins

September
47. Echo - Jack McDevitt - ROOT, AlphaKIT
48. At the Sign of the Crow and Moon - Mitchell Hogan
49. Crucible of Souls - Mitchell Hogan
50. Hammerfall - C.J. Cherryh - DNF
51. Nemesis Games - James S.A. Corey

I'm counting Hammerfall even if I did not finish it. I hereby give up on Cherryh. I forced myself to finish Fortress in the Eye of Time but couldn't stand another 100 page sojourn through the desert with Hammerfall. One way was enough! I really like her ideas but her writing makes me crazy. It feels/seems repetitive to me, and I just want to get on with the story without pages and pages of stuff that seems overdone. Just my opinion of course.

Also what to say that Nemesis Games was terrific. The best of The Expanse series so far, and it totally blew me away, as it blew away a lot of other things! Talk about following events to their logical extensions. Can't wait for Babylon's Ashes - so aptly named now that I've read its predecessor.

With regard to non-bookly things, we had a death in the family, I went on a 10 day trip to eastern Europe where I took a Danube cruise that was wonderful (except I never ever want to see Heathrow ever ever again), came back with a horrible cold, worked the Florida Primary election (training, early voting, and precinct voting) and we're already beginning to gear up for the Presidential election beginning next week. No promises I'll be updating much with that going on. Our hours will be much much longer for Early Voting (number of days as well as hours worked) so I'll be a lump of exhaustion after November 5th.

Im sorry to hear of your loss.

I would love to do a river cruise. Ive done big mass market cruises, which i really enjoy, but river cruises are pretty pricey for me.

>192 majkia: thank you for trying CJ Cherryh. Some of us absolutely love her style.

And I, also, am sorry for your loss.

Warchild - Karin Lowachee

Rarely do I award 5 stars to anything, but War Child deserves them. A sci fi book that delves into the horrors of child abuse and looks at how it colors their lives from thereon out. There are triggers for child abuse here, certainly, but it is handled carefully and in a non-exploitative manner. Kudos to Karin Lowachee for a masteful job.

Along with the obvious, the tale is a space opera with a lot of action, a complex plot, and incredibly thoughtful character development. No paper cutout characters in this tale.

Brat Farrar - Jospehine Tey.

This year I started reading a mystery series by Nicola Upson that features Josephine Tey as the female lead as she and her friend Archie solve mysteries. The one I finished just before I started Brat Farrar, the second in the Upson series Angel with Two Faces was so very similar to Brat Farrar. They are both about twins, both about mysterious, possibly suicidal deaths, both set in a similar setting (the south of England) and both were very much horsey kinds of tales

I really enjoyed Brat Farrar. Although I'd figured out the mystery very early on, I was still compelled to read onward because I wanted poor Brat to come out of the story with some sort of hopeful ending, and it just didn't seem as if he could manage it.

Both stories were, also, very psychological rather than procedurally complex. I much prefer my mysteries focusing on the people's motivations and thoughts than the murders so I was quite happy about it.

Taking the morning to play catch-up on all the threads in the group and so sorry to hear about your loss. My brother and sister-in-law did the Danube river cruise last year and absolutely loved it! Definitely on my travel to-do list.

Dancer's Lament - Ian C. Esselmont.

Often laugh out loud funny, we get to see Dancer and Kellanved before they become awesome. And we get to watch them form a team, no matter how reluctant Dancer is about that!

Wonderful addition to the World of Malaz books.

Wishing you the best of the holiday season, Jean!

Yearly wrap up:

79 total books
75 ROOTS
35,930 pages

TOP BOOKS:

Long Live Malaz! The Crippled God was the end of the Book of the Fallen. Incredible he was able to wrap up all those threads!

And Dancer's Lament was the start of a new trilogy about a few of the characters in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Wonderful, funny and imaginative.

Also, the best Sci Fi series currently being written IMHO, The Expanse. Latest read, Nemesis Games.

Warchild by Karin Lowachee. Marvelous.

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson was quite the story of an apocalypse.

And last but not least Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Keep rising when necessary, folks!