One Book a Week Club 2021

[Availle]

Welcome to the LibriVox One Book a Week Club, edition 2021 - the "everything will get better" year.

Sign up and set your goal for 2021 - how many books do you want to read this year?
Or do you just skip the goals and read as you go?

Anything goes: novels, non-fiction, audio- or e-books...
Anytime goes: one per day/week/weekend/month/quarter...

Update your post with your latest read, if you like, you can give a rating or even a short synopsis.

But most of all: Have fun!

This seems to be one of the oldest and longest going traditions on LibriVox. Threads from previous years are here - how do you compare?
2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007

[Availle]

Happy 2021!

According to last year's post, I have completed 28 books, which, given everything else happening in 2020, is not too bad I guess.

I have accepted the 2021 reading challenge by mightyfelix, so I'm copy/pasting the list here to see if anything I'm reading fits:

[*] A Complete Volume of Poetry by a Single Author or A Poetry Anthology – Anything from Mother Goose to the Oxford Book of English Verse
[*] A Book (or Selection) of Letters
[*] A Book of Essays
[x] A Collection of Short Stories - The Counterfeiter and Other Stories
[*] A Book from Your To-Be-Read Stack
[*] A Book You Have Avoided
[*] A Book in a Genre You Don’t Normally Read
[*] An “Out of Your Comfort Zone” Book
[*] Reread a Book You Read for Schoolwork
[*] Finish a Book You Started but Never Finished
[*] A “Guilty Pleasure” Book
[*] An Ancient Greek or Roman Work – A play, epic, or collection of myths
[*] A 14th, 15th or 16thCentury Book – A book written in, set in, or about
[*] A Shakespeare Play
[*] A Victorian Novel
[*] A Contemporary Novel
[*] A Book by a Minor Author
[*] A Classic Book by a Female Author
[*] A Lesser-Known Book by a Well-Known Author
[*] An “Other World” Book
[*] A Foreign (Non-Western) Book
[*] Something Russian – A play, short story, novel, or novella
[*] A Travel Book – Anything from Travels with a Donkey to A Walk in the Woods
[*] A Regional or Local Book
[*] A Book on Education, Art, or Literature
[*] A Biography or Memoir
[*] A Book on History
[*] A Historical Fiction Novel
[*] A Classic Detective Novel
[*] A Classic Children’s Book
[*] A Devotional Work
[*] A Light Comedic Novel – Such as P. G. Wodehouse
[*] A Satire
[*] A book in French, Spanish, Dutch or Japanese

As mentioned elsewhere, I'm also planning on reading 4 solos for LV; one by my favourite (dead) author, one German book by an Austrian, one book related to Japan, and one science book. I guess I'll do quite a bit of moving the above list to keep my usual distinction of:

"Real" books or ebooks for my own entertainment/edification/or for work:
1. The Counterfeiter and Other Stories by Yasushi Inoue. Very literary. Not much happening but I liked the language.

Audiobooks FROM LibriVox for my own entertainment/edification on commutes and during housework:

Audiobooks FOR LibriVox for my own entertainment/edification and possibly that of others:

[CSCO]

A Happy New Year to you all!

I have no goal. I will read steadily.



HALF FINISHED:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Story of O by Pauline Réage [Translator: Sabine d'Estree]
もつれっ話 (A Tangled Tale) by Lewis Carroll [Translator: Yanase]
アエネーイス (The Aeneid) by Virgil [Translator: Izui]
ニルスのふしぎな旅 (The Wonderful Adventure of Nills) by Selma Lagerlöf [Translator: Kagawa and Kagawa]
猫のゆりかご (CAT'S CRADLE) by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. [Translator: Ito]


FINISHED:


DISCARDED:

[ColleenMc]

Availle, is it okay if I (or others) copy and paste your layout? It's an excellent format, and I'm doing the other challenge as well also.

Thanks!
Colleen

[ColleenMc]

My reading goal for this year is the same as last year: 52 books or one per week. My biggest goals are to 1) put down the internets and READ at bedtime and 2) remember to track all year instead of just for a couple of enthusiastic weeks in January....

[MaryinArkansas]

I reached my goal of 52 books last year. It was a bit of a stretch, as I started a few books that I didn't finish, so they didn't get counted.
50 is a nice, round number, so it's 50 books for 2021.

[Peter Why]

I'll try to keep my record up to date this year. Let's say 60 books.

Completed in January
1 Lock Picking for Complete Beginners & Intermediates; author Charles Prince. (about 85 pages .. they're not numbered) If the subject interests you, don't bother with this book; there *must* be better ones on the subject! Not well edited. (*oooo)
2 Unnatural Issue - by Mercedes Lackey. One of the Elemental Masters series. A re-read. Magic, necromany and romance in London around the early 20th Century and WW1. An involving read, weakened a little by the infatuation-at-first-sight of the main protagonist. (*****)
3 Going Postal; author Terry Pratchett. A re-read. Another Ankh-Morpork story, our first encounter with confidence trickster Moist von Lipwig. Von Lipwig, without his knowledge, is set against against a group of what might be called "entrepreneurs" who, by embezzlement and use of legal loopholes, have taken over the semaphore "clacks" system which had been created by enthusiast engineers with no protections against their manipulations. (*****)
4 The Pinhoe Egg; author Diana Wynne Jones. A re-read for light entertainment. One of her novels set in the Chrestomanci universe. After we first encounter Cat in Charmed Life, there are a couple of novels and a few short stories which tell us how his powers are developing. (*****)

Current or planned books:
Ghost Trees - by Bob Gilbert.
The Hidden Life of Trees - by Peter Wohlleben
On Having No Head - by D.E. Harding
The New Hite Report - by Shere Hite
London Vagabond, the life of Henry Mayhew - by Christopher G. Anderson

Peter

[mightyfelix]

I had 32 books in 2020. I'm just proud of myself for keeping track of them all!

This year, I again have no goal, except to continue to track my books all throughout the year.

Current reads: (I am clearly not a book monogamist.)

• Christus Victor, by Gustaf Aulén. Theology. Somewhat dense, but worth it.
• The Marquis of Lossie, by George MacDonald. My current solo, and the sequel to my last solo, Malcolm. I read this once before, but it was many years ago, so a lot of it will feel new to me!
• St. George and St. Michael, by George MacDonald. Reading this aloud with my husband. I've read it once before, and finally convinced him that we should read it together.
• Heather and Snow, by George MacDonald. (I like MacDonald, all right???) I've read this once before. Starting it again because I recently joined a MacDonald facebook group, and they were coincidentally getting ready to read it and discuss.
• The Divine Comedy, by Dante. I started this as a read-along with a group of friends. But after we got started, it was clear that only one or two people were really committed to it. But then a professor I follow started doing a free seminar on it, so I picked it back up.
• The Riddle of Joy. A collection of scholarly talks about C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton, which were all delivered at a conference in 1987.
• Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. LV listen. Picked this one out on the recommendation of strangers who happen to like books that I like. I haven't been interested in it before, and I've only read one other Russian novel (The Brothers Karamazov, which was awesome). So I have really no idea what I'm in for!
• Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. My husband got this one for me for Christmas!

Finished:

1. Boy: Tales of Childhood, by Roald Dahl. "This is not an autobiography," the author states in his dedication. Nevertheless, it is a non-fictional account of his own childhood, and is utterly fascinating!

Abandoned:

[Availle]

Availle, is it okay if I (or others) copy and paste your layout? It's an excellent format, and I'm doing the other challenge as well also.

Oh, I didn't see that until now - sure, go ahead.

[ColleenMc]

Thank you!

Colleen

[ColleenMc]

Official placeholder to track my progress in 2021:

I have accepted the 2021 reading challenge by mightyfelix, so I'm copy/pasting the list here to see if anything I'm reading fits:

--A Complete Volume of Poetry by a Single Author or A Poetry Anthology – Anything from Mother Goose to the Oxford Book of English Verse

--A Book (or Selection) of Letters

--A Book of Essays

--A Collection of Short Stories

--A Book from Your To-Be-Read Stack

--A Book You Have Avoided

--A Book in a Genre You Don’t Normally Read

--An “Out of Your Comfort Zone” Book

--Reread a Book You Read for Schoolwork

--Finish a Book You Started but Never Finished

--A “Guilty Pleasure” Book

--An Ancient Greek or Roman Work – A play, epic, or collection of myths

--A 14th, 15th or 16thCentury Book – A book written in, set in, or about

--A Shakespeare Play

--A Victorian Novel

--A Contemporary Novel

--A Book by a Minor Author

--A Classic Book by a Female Author

--A Lesser-Known Book by a Well-Known Author

--An “Other World” Book

--A Foreign (Non-Western) Book

--Something Russian – A play, short story, novel, or novella

--A Travel Book – Anything from Travels with a Donkey to A Walk in the Woods

--A Regional or Local Book

--A Book on Education, Art, or Literature

--A Biography or Memoir

--A Book on History

--A Historical Fiction Novel

--A Classic Detective Novel

--A Classic Children’s Book

--A Devotional Work

--A Light Comedic Novel – Such as P. G. Wodehouse

--A Satire

--A book in French, Spanish, Dutch or Japanese (I can't do this one so I'll settle for a book in translation from one of these...)


Books/audiobooks/graphic novels for my own entertainment/edification/or for work:

JANUARY


Audiobooks FROM LibriVox for my own entertainment/edification on commutes and during housework:

JANUARY


Audiobooks FOR LibriVox for my own entertainment/edification and possibly that of others:

JANUARY

[Availle]

A book in French, Spanish, Dutch or Japanese (I can't do this one so I'll settle for a book in translation from one of these...)

This one is my own addition to the list upon Kevin's suggestion. Feel free to leave this one off

[commonsparrow3]

I read at least 30 books last year, counting both audiobooks and paper books. The 2020 list is here.

My goal last year was to remember to update the list once a month, so I wouldn't have to work from memory at the end of the year. I posted one book on New Year's Day 2020, then forgot about it entirely until today, more than a year later. Of course, I tend to forget about that list at some point every year, but this year I forgot more thoroughly and sooner than usual. My excuse this time is simply - "Hey, it was 2020!"

So this year, I'll set the same goal -- update once a month -- and try to remember!

I have a couple of books in progress as we begin 2021, but haven't quite completed any to begin listing here yet. I'll edit this post to add my books soon!

[CSCO]