lycomayflower acknowledges the paradox of choice in 2019--part 2

Welcome to part two of my 2019 reading thread! Click here to go to my introduction post or here to return to part one. The picture above is of my beloved golden retriever, Thursday, doing flat dog during a thunderstorm. Bonus lycomayflower arm and book.

This first post contains an on-going list of the books I've read this year, with the most recent reads at the top. Click on the book title to go to the book's post within the thread, where you will find a review. Numbers in parentheses are page counts for each book. Click here to visit my 2018 thread.

Total Pages: 18,660

92.) Elizabeth II: Life of a Monarch (audio)
91.) The Ingenious Language (205)
90.) A Holiday by Gaslight (167)
89.) All Creation Waits (75)
88.) A Christmas Carol (audio)
87.) A Christmas Story (131)
86.) All Kinds of Tied Down (276)
85.) This Moose Belongs to Me
84.) Nobody Hugs a Cactus
83.) Santa's Story
82.) Dog Love Books
81.) There Are No Bears in This Bakery
80.) Briarley (165)

79.) Equal Rites (213)
78.) A Fatal Grace (311)
77.) Bloodlust and Bonnets (203)
76.) One Year Gone (336)
75.) Heels Over Head (466)

74.) Snug Harbor Stories (~100)
73.) Heartstopper vol 1 (~100)
72.) The Turn of the Screw (100)
71.) We Speak in Storms (464)
70.) Lobster Is the Best Medicine
69.) The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes (320)

68.) A Girl Like Her (288)
67.) The Lost City of Z (319)
66.) Gilmore Girls: A Cultural History (192)
65.) TV Goes to Hell (252)
64.) Giant Days vol 9 (~100)
63.) Unicorn Bowling (~100)
62.) Pumpkinheads (211)
61.) With the Fire on High (392)
60.) Tinsel Fish (134)

59.) Every Heart a Doorway (169)
58.) Murmuration (300)
57.) Sailing Alone Around the Room (172)
56.) Small Spaces (216)
55.) Sharp Objects (393)
54.) The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (259)
53.) The Keeper of Lost Things (278)
52.) Ziggy, Stardust & Me (347)
51.) Children of Blood and Bone (525)
50.) His Saint (284)

49.) Once Upon a Haunted Moor (112)
48.) In the Hunt:Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural (275)
47.) Gaudy Night (501)
46.) Arrows of the Queen (206)
45.) Driftwood (200)
44.) Counting by 7s (378)
43.) Phoebe and Her Unicorn in Unicorn Theater (~100)

42.) Unicorn of Many Hats (~100)
41.) Phoebe and Her Unicorn in the Magic Storm (~100)
40.) Unicorn Crossing (~100)
39.) Razzle Dazzle Unicorn (~100)
38.) Ghosts (~150)
37.) Unicorn vs. Goblins (~100)
36.) Giant Days vol 8 (~100)
35.) Unicorn on a Roll (~100)
34.) Band Sinister (240)
33.) Grandma Gatewood Hikes the Appalachian Trail
32.) Supernatural: Nevermore (315)
31.) Phoebe and Her Unicorn (~100)

30.) Kidnapped (221)
29.) The Passages of H.M. (454)
28.) Facing West (275)
27.) Ordeal by Innocence (269)
26.) Ship It (375)
25.) Eloise The Ultimate Edition (~100)
24.) Becoming (426)

23.) Meet the Austins (223)
22.) Well-Read Black Girl (239)
21.) To Night Owl From Dogfish (314)
20.) Bunny Day
19.) The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted (293)

18.) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (373)
17.) A Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls (190)
16.) The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle (235)
15.) The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening (253)
14.) Once Upon a Winter's Eve (153)
13.) The Gardener
12.) Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip
11.) Border (375)

10.) Giant Days volume 7 (~100)
9.) I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening) (194)
8.) Can I Come, Too?
7.) Rough Canvas (352)

6.) The Queen's Progress
5.) A Cathedral of Myth and Bone (352)
4.) A Study in Scarlet Women (323)
3.) Aquicorn Cove (94)
2.) Book Love (137)
1.) The Book of Strange New Things (500)

Hello! My name is Laura, and this is the twelfth year I've kept an LT thread tracking and reviewing my reading. I read pretty widely, but I'm most likely to read romance, memoir, mysteries, YA, sci-fi, fantasy, and literary fiction. I'm in my late-thirties, recently worked as an editor, am married to a fellow reader, and carry on living in the south (it's been the majority of my adult life now) despite constantly missing winter and wanting to move back north (I grew up in north-east Pennsylvania). When I'm not reading, I like to do photography, write, crochet, bowl, swim, and watch TV. I also keep a bookish blog at https://wonderatsix.blogspot.com/. Please feel free to talk to me there or here on LT. I love a good bookish conversation!

As part of my ongoing goal in 2019 to read with more intent, I'm aiming to read (at least) ten books by authors of color. I have a tentative list of books from my TBR to choose from, but I will count any book I haven't read before by a person of color.

Ten Books by Authors of Color

1.) Book Love, Debbie Tung
2.) A Study in Scarlet Women, Sherry Thomas
3.) Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip, Denia Lewis Hester
4.) Well-Read Black Girl, various, edited by Gloria Edim
5.) Becoming, Michelle Obama
6.) Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
7.) The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Ernest J. Gaines
8.) With the Fire on High, Elizabeth Acevedo
9.) A Girl Like Her, Talia Hibbert

As part of my ongoing goal in 2019 to read with more intent, I'm aiming to read (at least) ten books by LGBTQIA authors. I have a tentative list of books from my TBR to choose from, but I will count any book I haven't read before by an LGBTQIA author.

Ten Books by LGBTQIA Authors

1.) Ship It, Britta Lundin
2.) Driftwood, Harper Fox
3.) Once Upon a Haunted Moor, Harper Fox
4.) Ziggy, Stardust & Me, James Brandon
5.) Murmuration, TJ Klune
6.) Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire
7.) Tinsel Fish, Harper Fox

Aside from continuing to try to make sure I'm reading works by authors from backgrounds and situations that differ from my own, I have chosen sixteen challenge categories for myself in 2019 that reflect the kinds of reading I want to be sure I'm doing this year. Those categories are:

1.) A book of poetry
Sailing Alone Around the Room

2.) A short story collection from my shelves

3.) Any nonfiction work about religion from my shelves

4.) A nonfiction work about religion from my shelves not by C.S. Lewis

5.) A nonfiction work about science

6.) A mystery novel
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

7.) An sff novel from my shelves
Arrows of the Queen

8.) A novel in translation of a language I did not read in 2018
The Ingenious Language

9.) A graphic novel from my shelves

10.) A middle grade novel from my shelves

11.) A Book of the Month book from my shelves

12.) A book I've purchased within 48 hours of starting it
I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening)

13.) A book from my shelves purchased before 2010

14.) The second book in a series I started before 2019
A Fatal Grace

15.) A book I have abandoned in the past
A Study in Scarlet Women

16.) A book that satisfies the American Authors Challenge on LibraryThing
The Passages of H.M.

"From my shelves" essentially means "came into my possession before 2019."

Happy new thread, Laura!

I'm not late!

Yer hopes are dashed because ya are.

Happy new one!

Happy New Thread, Laura! I'm hoping only women named Linda are considered late - one especially. :-)

I love your beloved pup "doing flat dog during a thunderstorm". Our daughter's Borkie (Indy is a beagle-Yorkie rescue) retires to the (apparently) safer shower stall during a storm - she used to jump into the tub in our daughter's old apartment.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

Mario couldn't possibly care less about thunderstorms, as long as she still gets her required daily amount of snuggling. Tuppence *hates* them, though, and grows more intolerant of them as she gets older.

Happy new thread, Laura!

Lovely picture of Thursday up there. Some dogs don't like thunderstorms, others don't care. The worst dog I had tried to climb on my head during thunderstorms...

Lovely picture of Thursday (and your elbow)!

Glad to see Thursday is snoozing between books Laura. I see you are streaming towards 75 reads.

Happy new thread, Laura! Thursday looks pretty calm even if he is flat dogging during a thunderstorm. Only one of the dogs I had was scared of thunder, the rest didn't turn a hair.

Happy new thread!! Cute puppy and nice elbow. : )

>6 PaulCranswick:, >9 figsfromthistle:, >10 jnwelch:, >11 drneutron:, >12 scaifea:, >13 FAMeulstee:, >14 MickyFine:, >15 Caroline_McElwee:, >16 Familyhistorian:, >17 Berly: Thanks, y'all!

>12 scaifea: Thursday didn't used to mind them, but after The Fireworks Incident, she hides from the storms.

>13 FAMeulstee: Ha! If Thursday tried to get on my head, we'd have a problem!

>14 MickyFine: Lol, thanks!

>15 Caroline_McElwee: Getting there!

>16 Familyhistorian: Yeah, Thursday doesn't freak out as such, so much as hide. Better than it could be, for sure!

>17 Berly: Lol, thanks!

69.) The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, Leonard Goldberg ***1/2

A mystery novel set when John Watson is in his old age, Sherlock Holmes has died, and Watson’s son John has become a doctor. They cross paths with Sherlock’s daughter Joanna (who has inherited his smarts and knack for deductive reasoning) and all solve a mystery together. I enjoyed this fairly well as I was going along, but the more I thought about it in the end the more some things irritated me. There were an *awful lot* of children of Doylean characters running around in this story, and some of Joanna’s deductions bugged me in the same ways that Sherlock’s deductions bug me in the original stories (they *could* be true, but at least three or four alternatives always immediately suggest themselves). Worth reading, though I don’t know that I’ll bother with any more, should there be any. I read this with a friend, and our discussion of it was great, so at least it sparked lively conversation.

70.) Lobster Is the Best Medicine, Liz Climo ****1/2

A collection of short comics all featuring anthropomorphized animals, and most about friendship in some way. This was an absolute delight and consistently surprised and impressed me with how good or touching or funny each of these little pieces was, especially as they all seem so simple. Absolutely recommended.

71.) We Speak in Storms, Natalie Lund ***1/2

Two generations back, a tornado tore through the drive-in theater in Mercer, Illinois, and killed some fifty of the town’s teenagers. On the anniversary of the storm, another tornado touches down in the same spot, leaving nothing like the previous twister’s devastation but appearing to resurrect some of those killed by the first storm. These ghosts have arrived to help three present-day teenagers, all of whom echo in some way the struggles the older generation was dealing with themselves. I love the premise of this book, but in execution it just didn’t do that much for me. I liked what Lund was doing a lot more than I liked watching her do it. The characters never really came fully alive for me, and I was expecting the book to be a little spookier and a little less depressing. YMMV.

I *knew* I forgot something from earlier in the month!

72.) The Turn of the Screw, Henry James ***1/2

I honestly don't remember much about this now? It was neither as impressive nor as unimpressive as I have heard. Fairly atmospheric, decent ambiguous ending. I'm glad I read it, if only because now I will get it when other books or movies are referencing it.

73.) Heartstopper volume 1, Alice Oseman ***1/2

This graphic novel follows two teenaged boys as they fall in love and navigate what that means for them. I feel like there wasn't a whole lot to this, but it was sweet, and I suspect I will keep reading the series.

74.) Snug Harbor Stories, Will Henry ****

This second collection of Wallace the Brave comics is just as delightful and funny as the first. I'll be happy to keep reading about Wallace and his family and friends for a long time.

>22 lycomayflower: That's pretty much exactly how I felt about this one when I read it. *nods head*

75.) Heels Over Head, Elyse Springer ****

Very good deep-dive-into-character romance novel about two competitive divers, one a very talented relative newcomer and one very talented long-time Olympic hopeful. Lots of good stuff here about passion, deciding what matters, and coming out. CW for homophobia and accompanying language.

Congratulations on reaching 75, Laura!

WOOT!

Yay, 75, congratulations Laura.

Congratulations, Linda!

Felicitations on reaching the magic number, Laura!

>30 katiekrug: yes, congratulations to Linda for birthing such a fine human, who has now read 75 books! 😂

Congratulations, Laura!

>32 lauralkeet: LOL! I'll take it. (I will also point out, however, that I have read waaaaay more than 75 books so far this year.)

I'm an idiot :-P

Way to go, Laura!

>32 lauralkeet: >33 laytonwoman3rd: *SNORK!!*

Adding my congrats for the ever-impressive Linda.

Adding my congrats, too, Laura! And good job picking which mom you wanted. :-)

Congrats!

>28 laytonwoman3rd: WHoohooo!!!

>27 FAMeulstee:, >28 laytonwoman3rd:, >29 Caroline_McElwee:, >30 katiekrug:, >31 MickyFine:, >32 lauralkeet:, >33 laytonwoman3rd:, >34 katiekrug:, >35 scaifea:, >36 jnwelch:, >37 drneutron:, >38 Berly:

Thanks, everyone! Some of all y'all are comedians, I see.

There hasn't been a ton of reading around here. Am in a little bit of a slump brought on by a TV show hangover that is affecting my ability to stick with books. And then there's been the Christmas dash. But today I'm hoping to review everything I *have* read since last I was here (a month ago!) and then stay on top of it for the rest of the year.

76.) One Year Gone, Rebecca Dessertine **

This Supernatural tie-in book, set in the year between the events of seasons five and six, was just dreadful. The characterization was off, the plot was ho-hum, there was a lot of uninteresting backstory told in flashbacks which may or may not have been journal entries (?), and other than a brief section at the beginning, the story really doesn't add anything to our understanding of a pretty important bit of time in the lives of the Winchester brothers.

77.) Bloodlust and Bonnets, Emily McGovern ***1/2

A graphic novel about a young woman in the early 19th century who has adventures with Lord Byron and a bevy of other folks slaying vampires and whatnot. It's a lot of silliness really, and it's the kind of silliness I'm generally here for, but the whole thing just didn't quite hang together for me.

78.) A Fatal Grace, Louise Penny ****

The second Inspector Gamache book. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and liked it much more than the first. I'm really starting to love Gamache and to think of Three Pines as among one of the fictional places I'd most like to visit. Looking forward to reading more.

**Fulfills challenge #14 on my personal challenge for 2019, the second book in a series I started before 2019

79.) Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett ***

I have to be in *just* the right mood (and I think I have to be reading one of his books in which Pratchett was *right* on top of his game) to enjoy Discworld books, and I wasn't (and I don't think he was) with this one. It was aight. I likely would have quit if I weren't reading it for a discussion.

***For Book Club

80.) Briarley, Aster Glenn Gray ***1/2

An M/M retelling of Beauty and the Beast set during WWI. I enjoyed this well enough as I was reading it, but I remember virtually nothing about it now. Do with that as you will.

Picture books going to nieces for Christmas and a December birthday. Except for the cactus one, which did not meet my standards. *comical nose in the air*

81.) There Are No Bears in This Bakery, Julia Sarcone-Roach ****

A cat patrols the bakery to keep pests away. One night there's a bear. The bear and the cat may or may not have a little party before the bear moves on, making the title, indeed, true. Kind of noirish. Very fun.

82.) Dog Loves Books, Louise Yates ****

Dog... loves books. He opens a shop. No one comes. Until someone does. Sweet and lovely and great illustrations.

83.) Santa's Story, Will Hillenbrand ***1/2

Santa can't understand why none of the reindeer are ready to go for Christmas Eve--until he realizes he forgot to read them their traditional Christmas Eve story, which starts the holiday for them. Funny.

84.) Nobody Hugs a Cactus, Carter Goodrich **1/2

Eh? Cactus is grumpy and no one wants to be around him... because he's grumpy. And then he gets lonely because no one wants to be around him... so he changes? I dunno, I just found the rhetoric around feelings and whatnot not great or not nuanced or something here? There's a fine line between learning not to be a little shit (good) and learning to change yourself to suit other people's idea of what you should be (bad), and I just didn't like the way this navigated that line. YYMV.

85.) This Moose Belongs to Me, Oliver Jeffers ****

A boy finds a moose. Adventures ensue. Fun.

>42 lycomayflower: I'm just now reading the first Gamache book and enjoying it quite a bit. I suspect he'll become a favorite for me.

>43 lycomayflower: I maintain that the wizard books are the weakest in the series (I'm reading one now and wishing it were a Granny Weatherwax one instead).

TV show hangover? What TV show could possibly have such an effect? Weird.

>46 scaifea:

The postman left a package on my porch on Sunday. Laura. Thanks. We'll see if I can leave them wrapped. Haha. Maybe I'll open 'em Sunday, when our kids and their kids visit to exchange gifts.

>47 lycomayflower:

>49 scaifea:

>48 weird_O: Yay! Glad it arrived safely!

86.) All Kinds of Tied Down, Mary Calmes ***1/2

Two federal marshals who are partners eventually realize they are in love. Entertaining, and with some interesting cases the characters work on, but ultimately the character development didn't quite work for me.

Congrats on reading far past 75, Laura. I was sad to see your review of Bloodlust and Bonnets as I have it on my shelves and hoped for really good things of the book. (I really think I bought it for the title.)

>53 Familyhistorian: Thanks!

I also largely bought Bloodlust and Bonnets for the title! It certainly wasn't bad--I hope it work better for you than it did for me!

87.) A Christmas Story, Jean Shepherd ***1/2

This is a collection of the short humor pieces that appeared separately and then were collectively the inspiration for the 1983 movie of this name. "Duel in the Snow, Or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid," which is the piece that all the BB gun stuff (and all the specifically Christmassy stuff) comes from, is the best. Some of the others go on a bit--and contain some attitudes that don't go down so smooth now as they might have when they first were written.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

>56 ronincats: Thanks, Roni!

88.) A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, read by Tim Curry ****

For my annual reread of A Christmas Carol, I listened to Tim Curry's audio performance of it. I enjoyed this, although there were a few moments where I thought Curry's read was inappropriately over the top.

89.) All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings, Gayle Boss, illustrated by David G. Klein ****

This advent book provides a short (about two pages) essay for each day in December about an animal and how they prepare for the long winter in the northern US. Each essay is accompanied by a black and white drawing of the animal in the essay. The book is a lovely meditation on nature, waiting, and preparation.

90.) A Holiday by Gaslight, Mimi Matthews ***1/2

A Christmas novella following Ned, a wealthy businessman, and Sophie, the daughter of a gentleman in financial straits as they try to buck the etiquette of Victorians times and actually get to know each other before deciding whether to marry. This was nice but never fully sparked for me. It didn't feel rushed, exactly, as I thought the pacing was good, but, ironically, I didn't feel like I got to know the characters well enough to care about them as much as I would have liked to.

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

>58 lycomayflower: Tim Curry? Over the top? Tim Curry!? Surely not.

>59 lycomayflower: This one sounds really good. Adding it to my list for next year.

Best wishes this holiday season!! See you in 2020!

>61 PaulCranswick:

Thank you!

>62 scaifea:



The advent book was good--I think you'll enjoy!

>63 Berly:

Thanks!

91.) The Ingenious Language: Nine Epic Reasons to Love Greek, Andrea Marcolongo ***1/2

Classics professor Marcolongo waxes enthusiastic about ancient Greek as a language, how it works, what's cool about it, how it differs from other languages. Reading this was by turns fascinating and a slog. Some of it went completely over my head (aspect) while some of it made me go "Neat!" (the dual). Some of it was hard to follow for someone not familiar with the Greek alphabet (any discussion of how stems change, for instance--I could follow that about a language that uses our alphabet, because at least I'd some sense of what I'm looking at), and some of it I think was lost in translation (the book was translated from Italian). Oh well. At least I learned a couple of things I didn't know before.

92.) Elizabeth II: Life a Monarch, by Ruth Cowen ****

This short audible original biography of Elizabeth II was compelling (I didn't want to stop listening), though it didn't really learn me anything new about the queen. Recommended as an entertaining listen or a brief introduction to the major events in Elizabeth's life.

Some sad news to close out the year, I'm afraid. We had to say goodbye to our beloved mischief-maker, Luthien, yesterday.

>65 lycomayflower: *grumblegrumblegrumble*

>67 lycomayflower: *raises tea cup* To Luthien, the best cat and friend to one of my favorite people. *piles on more hugs for Laura*

I don't expect to finish anything further before the night is out, so here is a round-up of sorts. I rather fell down on my data keeping this year, so I don't have as much to report as usual.

Pages Read: 18,660
Books Read: 92
Audio: 2
E: 0
Picture: 15
GN: 4
Comics: 16
Fiction: 79
Nonfiction: 12
Poetry: 1
YA: 10
MG: 14
SFF: 13
Romance: 12
Mystery: 5
AOC: 9
LGBTQIA Authors: 7

Top 5 Reads of 2019:
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Phoebe and Her Unicorn
Band Sinister
Pumpkinheads
A Fatal Grace

Worst Reads of 2019
The Book of Strange New Things
Sharp Objects
One Year Gone

I only completed half of my challenge categories for the year and didn't make my goals for number of books read by authors of color or LGBTQIA authors either. *shrug* It wasn't a fantastic reading year, nor was it a great year for trying to devote a lot of energy to focusing on reading goals (we bought a house! we moved! we sold a house! I fell in love with a new TV show that is 227 hours long!) Next year I am scaling back on goals. I'll discuss that further on my 2020 thread.

I fell in love with a new TV show that is 227 hours long!

>67 lycomayflower: Sorry to hear this news, Laura. Sending hugs.

>68 scaifea: *snork*

Thank you, friend. *hugs back*

>70 scaifea: *gigglesnort* It's funny because it is completely and utterly true.

>71 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky. Hugs gratefully accepted.

My 2020 thread is up here!

>67 lycomayflower: Sorry to hear about Luthian Laura.

>74 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline.

Sorry to hear about Luthian, Laura. What a sad end to the year.

>76 Familyhistorian: Thank you.