Clue Reads More in 2020

This year I'm raising my goal from 30 to 50. In 2019 55% of the books I read were ROOTS. My greatest challenge is to find more reading time!

JANUARY

1. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard 2009 TBR
2. The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie 2018 TBR
3. An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine 2016 TBR
4. Gracelin O'Malley by Anne Moore 2016 TBR 20
5. Force of Nature by Jane Harper 2018 TBR

FEBRUARY

6. The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Earle Stanley Gardner 2018 TBR
7. Goodnight From London by Jennifer Robson 2019 TBR
8. The Wife the Maid and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon 2014 TBR
9. The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith 2017 TBR
10. The Little French Bistro by Nina George 2017 TBR
11. A Killer Collection by Ellery Adams 2020 TBR

MARCH

12. Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart 2010 TBR (reread)
13. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah 2020 TBR Book Club
14. Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley 2020 TBR
15. The North's Meet Murder by Francis Lockridge 2018 TBR
16. Ross Poldark by Winston Graham 2019 TBR

APRIL

17. Murder in the Locked Library by Ellery Adams (2019 TBR)
18. The Poet in the Gutter by John Baker (2016 TBR)
19. The Robot in the Garden by Deborah Install (TBR 2018)
20. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd (2016 TBR)
21. Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C. W. Gortner (2019 TBR)
22. Death in Kew Gardens by Jennifer Ashley (2020 TBR)

May

23. One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker (2019 TBR)
24. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (2020 TBR)
25. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (2014 TBR)
26. The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Gethers (2000 TBR)
27. The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille (2000 TBR)

June

28. Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker (2013 TBR)
29. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (2019 TBR)
30. Demelza by Winston Graham (2019 TBR)
31. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (2019 TBR)
32. One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters (2020 TBR)

July

33. Tales From the Edge of the Woods by Willem Lange (2009 TBR)
34. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (2019 TBR)
35. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie (2018 TBR)
36. Rosa Bonheur: A Life by Catherine O. Peare (2013 TBR)
37. Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island by Will Harlan
(2016 TBR)
38. A Quiet Life in the Country by T.E. Kinsey (2020 TBR)
39. Camino Winds by John Grisham (2020 TBR)
40. The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict (2018 TRB)

August

41. The Lost Man by Jane Harper (2019 TBR)
42. In the Market for Murder by T E Kinsey (2020 TBR)
43. Making Masterpiece by Rebecca Eaton (2014 TBR)
44. The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker (2020 TBR)
45. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (2016 TBR)

September

46. My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira (2013 TBR)
47. Coventry by Helen Humphreys (2018 TBR)
48. A Double Death on the Black Isle by A. D. Scott (2019 TBR)
49. A Barn in New England by oseph Monninger (2013 TBR)
50. Black Diamond by Martin Walker (2020 TBR)

OCTOBER

51. After Hannibal by Barry Unsworth (2016 TBR)
52. The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower (2019 TBR)
53. Maigret Hesitates by Simenon (2019 TBR)

NOVEMBER
54. The Quiet Game by Greg Iles (2017 TBR
55. We Band of Angels by Elizabeth M. Norman (2017 TBR)
56. The Residence by Kate Anderson Brower (TBR 2019)

Hi Luanne, Welcome back and happy ROOTing.

Good luck with those books! Hope you find plenty of time to tackle them!

Welcome back! I wish they would sell reading time together with the books!

Happy New Year and happy reading, Clue!

Woo hoo, two already! Excellent work :)

Finding more reading time is always a challenge - but you can do it.
I've learned never to go anywhere without a book, even the bathroom!

>4 connie53:, >5 Jackie_K:, >6 MissWatson:, >7 Miss_Moneypenny:, >8 rabbitprincess:

Thanks, I don't know why but I feel more dedicated than usual to reading from TBR this year. I'm leaving soon to meet friends at the library coffee shop though and I never know what will happen when I walk through those library doors!

>3 clue: Great progress with your ROOTs and I hope the library books weren't too enticing. What did you think of Gracelin O'Malley?

>11 This-n-That: I liked Gracelin O'Malley a lot and gave it 4 stars. Of course we have all heard of the potato famine and I've read several novels that took place during that time. I haven't read anything though that brought the gravity of the condition of so much of Ireland's population to light.

JANUARY
1. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard 2009 TBR
2. The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie 2018 TBR
3. An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine 2016 TBR
4. Gracelin O'Malley by Anne Moore 2016 TBR
5. Force of Nature by Jane Harper 2018 TBR

>11 This-n-That: And now I've read Leaving Ireland, the second in the trilogy. I gave it 4 stars too.

FEBRUARY

In January I read 5 ROOTS.

I have 5 TBR planned for February, can I stretch it to 6??

We have an additional day in February...

This month I read 6 ROOTS and that includes a book I've bought in 2020. At the end of last year I totaled my TBR by the year they went on the shelf and it was alarming to know that I had 90 books acquired but unread in 2019. Most are book sale books so they didn't represent a huge bundle of money but do represent most of what I acquired last year. So, in my feeble mind I've decided to include the current year and challenge myself to 5 or less on the shelf at year end. Hopefully that will result in acquiring less.

The year I have the most books lingering from is 2016. So far this year I've read:

2009 - 1
2014 - 1
2016 - 2
2017 - 2
2018 - 3
2019 - 1
2020 - 1

6. The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Earle Stanley Gardner 2018 TBR
7. Goodnight From London by Jennifer Robson 2019 TBR
8. The Wife the Maid and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon 2014 TBR
9. The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith 2017 TBR
10. The Little French Bistro by Nina George 2017 TBR
11. A Killer Collection by Ellery Adams 2020 TBR

Great idea to focus on a particular year's worth of acquisitions!

MARCH

I've read five for March, a total of 16 toward my goal of 50. TBR dates of all read:

2009 - 1
2014 - 1
2016 - 2
2017 - 3
2018 - 4
2019 - 2
2020 - 3

12. Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart 2010 TBR (reread)
13. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah 2020 TBR Book Club
14. Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley 2020 TBR
15. The North's Meet Murder by Francis Lockridge 2018 TBR
16. Ross Poldark by Winston Graham 2019 TBR

APRIL

Six read during this month. I had trouble focusing so they were mostly short reads.

17. Murder in the Locked Library by Ellery Adams (2019 TBR)
18. The Poet in the Gutter by John Baker (2016 TBR)
19. The Robot in the Garden by Deborah Install (2018 TBR)
20. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd (2016 TBR)
21. Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C. W. Gortner (2019 TBR)
22. Death in Kew Gardens by Jennifer Ashley (2020 TBR)

TBR Read YTD

2009 - 1
2014 - 1
2016 - 4
2017 - 3
2018 - 5
2019 - 4
2020 - 4

How are you doing, Luanne. I hope you are al right. Keep Safe.

Hi Connie, I'm doing fine and enjoying the spring weather. It will get hot soon, the afternoons are already heating up so I'm spending a lot of time working in the yard and sitting in my new reading chair on the porch!

MAY

I've read five again this month and the next book is for a June CAT.

23. One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker (2019 TBR) - My favorite this month.
24. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (2020 TBR)
25. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (2014 TBR)
26. The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Gethers (2009 TBR)
27. The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille (2020 TBR)

TBR Read YTD

2009 - 2
2014 - 2
2016 - 4
2017 - 3
2018 - 5
2019 - 5
2020 - 6

>21 clue: Nice. Here we had a real hot week a few days ago and it will get sunny and hot again this weekend. A new reading chair sounds good!

June

28. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (2019 TRB)
29. Ice Brothers by Sloan Wilson (2018 TBR)
30. Demlza by Winston Graham (2019 TBR)
31. Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker (2013 TBR)
32. One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters (2020 TBR)

TBR Read YTD

2009 - 2
2013 - 1
2014 - 2
2016 - 4
2017 - 3
2018 - 6
2019 - 7
2020 - 7

JULY

A good month for me, 10 more to goal.

33. Tales From the Edge of the Woods by Willem Lange (2009 TBR)
34. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (2019 TBR)
35. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie (2018 TR)
36. Rosa Bonheur, Her Life by Catherine Peare (2013 TBR)
37. Untamed by Will Harlin (2016 TBR)
38. A Quiet Life in the Country by T E Kinsey (2020 TBR)
39. The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict (2018 TBR)
40. Camino Winds by John Grisham (2020 TBR)

TBR READ YTD:

2009 - 3
2013 - 2
2014 - 2
2016 - 5
2017 - 3
2018 - 8
2019 - 8
2020 - 9

August

I read 5 this month and have 5 left to reach my goal of 50 so hopefully I'll meet goal next month. I'm already thinking about what my goal should be next year!
I've bought too much this year, most I bought half price at a local bookshop during the Covid shutdown. The owner is the only person working at the shop and she gave her best customers half off (letting one customer in at at time) to cover the rent. I think that worked out for everyone, well, maybe not the best for my groaning shelves.

41. The Lost Man by Jane Harper (2019 TBR)
42. In the Market for Murder by T E Kinsey (2020 TBR)
43. Making Masterpiece by Rebecca Eaton (2014 TBR)
44. The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker (2020 TBR)
45. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (2016 TBR)

TBR READ YTD:

2009 - 3
2013 - 2
2014 - 3
2016 - 6
2017 - 3
2018 - 8
2019 - 9
2020 - 11

Hi Luanne. Good to see you are still reading those ROOTs and only 5 more to go. I'm sure you can do it.

Thanks Connie, I have 5 planned for this month so hopefully I'll get to them all!

You go, girl.

SEPTEMBER

Goal Met! I'm very happy with my ROOT reading for this year...now on to all the books I've bought this year calling from the shelves! I read 15 more ROOTS this year than last year!

TBR READ YTD:

46. A Barn in New England by Joseph Monninger (2013 TBR)
47. My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira (2013 TBR)
48. Black Diamond by Martin Walker (2020 TBR)
49. A Double Death on the Black Isle by A.D. Scott (2019 TBR)
50. Coventry by Helen Humphries (2018 TBR)

2009 - 5
2013 - 2
2014 - 3
2016 - 6
2017 - 3
2018 - 9
2019 - 10
2020 - 12

.

Congratulations!

Woo hoo, congratulations!

Well done!

Congrats! Maybe you should tell Chèli. You aren't on the list of members who did reach it.

Thanks Connie, I did send Cheli a note.

Thanks to all for the congratulations, now the question is, what should next year's goal be??

OCTOBER

51. After Hannibal by Barry Unsworth (2016 TBR)
52. Maigret Hesitates (2019 TBR)
53. The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower (2019 TBR)

2009 - 5
2013 - 2
2014 - 3
2016 - 7
2017 - 3
2018 - 9
2019 - 12
2020 - 12

Three "extras" this month, 53/50. I'm doing more library reading now that goal is met.

I'm a little late in noticing, but congratulations on meeting your ROOTs goal. Wow, 50 books! I hope you are enjoying your library reading.

Thanks, I'm happy with my ROOTS reading this year and have plenty more for next year!

NOVEMBER

Three more for a total of 56/50. All were good, my favorite being We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese by Elizabeth M. Norman

2009 - 5
2013 - 2
2014 - 3
2016 - 7
2017 - 3
2018 - 9
2019 - 13
2020 - 14

>40 clue:

Oo! That sounds right up my alley! It'll be a great companion to the book I already read this year, My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March by Lester I. Tenney, which was a fantastic memoir.

>41 lilisin: I think you'll like it, it sounds like a good companion to the book you've read.

Happy Holidays from the Netherlands!