One Book A Week Club 2019

[MaryinArkansas]

Apparently I haven't posted anything yet, so here's my list for January. Some of the "reading" I'm doing this year is actually listening to BBC radio dramas on the archive.org site. Even though a lot of these are based on books, technically they aren't. I think of them as audio versions of Readers' Digest condensed books. These programs might introduce me to writers that I like and other people may be interested in them, so I'll post them each month.

So for January:
"Cry of the Owl" by Patricia Highsmith. BBC Radio drama. Dramatization of novel by Ms. Highsmith. Very nicely done. Glad I don’t know these people.

"Camp Nine" by Vivienne Schiffer. Hardback book. Very good fictionalized account of Japanese relocation camp in a small town in Arkansas and its impact on a girl living in the community.

"Agent Zig Zag" by Ben McIntyre. BBC Radio drama.Edward Arnold Chapman was an English criminal and wartime spy. During the Second World War he offered his services to Nazi Germany as a spy and subsequently became a British double agent. His British Secret Service handlers codenamed him Zigzag in acknowledgement of his rather erratic personal history.

"Avoid London Area Closed" by Mike Walker. BBC Radio drama. Very good fictional account of a London family coping with the crisis of the terrorist bombing of trains on 7/7/2005. Very good drama. The last part was deleted, apparently due to copyright laws.

"The Lane That Had No Turning" by Gilbert Parker. LibriVox download. Good book. Short stories about French Canada in the 19th century.

[ShadowRain]

Oh, this looks like fun. I'm going to shoot for 400 books and see how that goes.

January: (Several titles. I will come back later and update this.)

February:
The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren, Vampire Knitting Club book 1, 5 Stars. A cozy mystery with paranormal tones mixed with comedy. Set in Oxford, England. I highly recommended read.
Stitches and Witches by Nancy Warren, Vampire Knitting Club 2, 4 Stars.
Crochet and Cauldrons by Nancy Warren, Vampire Knitting Club 3, 4.5 Stars.
Stocking and Spells by Nancy Warren, Vampire Knitting Club 4, 5 Stars.
Purls and Potions, Nancy Warren, Vampire Knitting Club 5, 4 Stars.

A Christmas Present by Abby L Vandiver. 5 Stars. Interesting mystery alhough at first I feared that a character was going to be railroaded into prison.
Yuletide Murder by Sonia Parin. Deadline Cozy Mysteries. 4 Stars
The Candy Cane Killer by Mona Marple. 3.5 Stars
A Charming Blend by Tonya Kappes, Crossover between The Magical Cures & Killer Coffee Mystery Series. 5+ stars.
Christmas Parties are Murder by Jenna St. James. 4.5 Stars
The Candy Cane Killer by Constance Barker. 4 Stars
The Case of the Felonious Feline by Leigh Selfman & Sylvia Selfman. 3 Stars
Christmas, Chaos & Second Chances by Zanna Mackenzie 3 Stars
The Mystery of the Holiday Cards by Ani Gonzalezzz, Magical Curiosity Shoppe 2, 4 Stars
Merry Little Murder Eve by Tricia L Sanders. 3.5 Stars
Murder in Rhyme by Kathryn Dionne. 4.5 Stars A paranormal mystery with a mysterious pop-up book that appears to be predicting the future.
Murder After Midnight by Dianne Harmen. 3 starss
Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers, A Lord Peter Whimsy Mystery. 3.5 Star.

[lymiewithpurpose]

Ok y'all I'm going to jump in here. This is a really sad goal, but I would just like to be able to read one book for pleasure this year. I have health issues that make it really difficult for me to read, especially for long periods of time. It is a struggle getting my books read for school. I can read short blurbs or maybe a chapter at a time, but actually finishing a book seems difficult to me, so it would be really exciting if I finished one for pleasure .

[Cori]

Any reading goal is a good goal, Campbell. Off to do some updates on my list ...

[commonsparrow3]

Ok y'all I'm going to jump in here. This is a really sad goal, but I would just like to be able to read one book for pleasure this year. I have health issues that make it really difficult for me to read, especially for long periods of time. It is a struggle getting my books read for school. I can read short blurbs or maybe a chapter at a time, but actually finishing a book seems difficult to me, so it would be really exciting if I finished one for pleasure .

Remember, listening to an audiobook counts! If you look at our lists posted above, you'll see the majority of us are counting audiobooks.

[lymiewithpurpose]

Remember, listening to an audiobook counts! If you look at our lists posted above, you'll see the majority of us are counting audiobooks.

Unfortunately those are even harder for me. I can not comprehend anything audibly. I have found ways to get around it (in proof listening as long as I read along with it I am fine) but just listening is hard. Thanks for the suggestion though!

[commonsparrow3]

Just updated my list again here
viewtopic.php?p=1539071#p1539071

[philchenevert]

I would like to read 40 books this year.

[MaryinArkansas]

Here's my February list. Interesting assortment. Some good books, a good reading month.

"The Quest for Corvo, An Experiment in Biography" by A.J.A. Symons. This was a very interesting, unique book about a very interesting, unique character...to say the least. I read it because the comments by another LibriVoxer on Goodreads made it sound so interesting. I liked the book a lot. My reading source was Archive.org's online library.
"Black Oxen" by Gertrude Atherton. Book from library sale. Unusual, sort of scifi themed book written in the 1920's about an older woman who undergoes a rejuvenation process and has an affair with a younger man. Interesting comments on the post-war era.
"Swan Watch" by Budd Schulberg. Archive.org library download. Nice, short book of Mr. Schulberg's writings and wife’s Geraldine Fitzgerald’s photographs about their observations of a swan family living on the lake where the Schulbergs lived in New York. Compassionate, interesting study of the lives of these birds.
"The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" by John Taylor. BBC Radio. Pretty good. Entertaining, but it seems that there were a lot of bad women in these stories. Quality of sound recording wasn’t always the best. Background noises sometimes interfered with the dialog. Even so, nicely done.
"Far Side of the Moore" by Sean Grundy. BBC Radio. Entertaining, very nicely done drama about self-taught astronomer Patrick Moore.
"Bad Monkey" by Carl Hiassen. Library audio book download Very good, entertaining book. He writes a good story and has a great sense of humor
"I Saw a Man" by Owen Sheers. BBC Radio, reading of edited book. Very good story very well read by Mark Bazeley. Contemporary story about loss and redemption.
"The Dreaming Woman" Don Taylor. BBC Radio. Drama telling of the relationship between D. H. Lawrence and a young woman in the early days of his writing career. Excellent performances.

[MaryinArkansas]

Another month gone by. Time for me to post books read (or listened to) in March. Several BBC radio programs here. Not all of them complete books, but a nice way of "reading" when other projects give me less sit down reading time.

"Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula" by Loren D. Estleman. BBC Radio Entertaining radio mystery bringing together two famous fictional characters. Great performances reminiscent of the 1940s movie series
"The Painted Veil" by W. Somerset Maugham. BBC Radio. Good, well done dramatization of the novel by Maugham.
"Dreaming in Africa" by Mike Harris. BBC Radio. Very good, factual drama
"Defoe: Merchant, Writer, Convict, Spy" by Philip Farmer. BBC Radio. Very interesting program. Piques my interest about DeFoe. Don't think I've read anything by him.
"The Great Chocolate Murders" by John Fletcher. BBC Radio. Another well done BBC radio drama. True story of a woman who attempts to murder (several attempts, one victim) in Brighton in the 1870s. A true “nut case”. Entertaining and well done.
"Henry Esmond" by William Makepeace Thackeray, LibriVox Recording. Good book, very nicely done. A lot of historical reference to British monarchy that I’m not familiar with, but I followed the plot pretty well – thanks to Wikipedia and some BBC history specials that I've watched on TV. Most interesting character was the “bad girl” Beatrix. Probably a forerunner of Thackeray’s character Becky Sharp of Vanity Fair.
"Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf" by Raymond Kaquatosh Wisconsin Public Radio, Chapter a Day Good memoir. Nicely read by Jim Fleming
"The Jekyl Island Club" by Brent Monahan. Book from local library's ongoing sale (.25) Pretty good mystery. Liked the various characters. Entertaining
"The Wench is Dead" by Colin Dexter. BBC Radio Program. Very good Inspector Morse mystery. Entertaining, nicely done.
"Verses for the Dead" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Library audiobook download. Good Agent Pendergast mystery. Very little of his usual characters, but a good Pendergast story with possible new, recurring character (Agent Coldmoon)

[MaryinArkansas]

April's list of books read. Some good reads.

"The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah. Library audiobook download Excellent novel about people (women especially) who are part of the Resistance movement in France during WWII.

"Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya. Book from library sale years ago Excellent novel about a woman in India and her tribulations. Written in the 1950s.

"A Death in the Family" by John Parker. BBC Radio Drama. Pretty good story. Great radio acting.

"Demon Brothers" by Matthew Broughton. BBC Radio Drama Good supernatural type thriller. Kind of predictable, but well done

"Lincoln in the Bardo" by George Saunders. Library book sale purchase for .25. I liked this book a lot. It’s an unusual story written in a unique way. The basis of the story is the incident of Abraham Lincoln visiting his son, Willie’s grave, in the days after the child’s death. In between several actual incidents at the time concerning the Lincoln family, the ghosts of the cemetery who are in a sort of Purgatory (Bardo) reflect on their lives and the love that Lincoln and his son had for one another

"The Kingdom of the Blind" by Louise Penney. Library audiobook. Another excellent 3 Pines, mystery novel.

[JayKitty76]

I just finished reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.

Oh my goodness, such a beautiful book but soooo sad. Victor Hugo is past master at wordsmithing! There are just layers and layers of meaning in this book. His characterizations are simply wonderfully done, and it definitely made me cry on more than one occasion.

For anyone who is not familiar with the book, it is quite different from the Disney movie and even the musical (but the musical is much closer to the actual storyline than the movie is).

It takes place in the beautiful Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, in 1482. It follows four main characters: the Archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, the deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo, the dancing-gypsy La Esmeralda, and the romantic (but unfaithful) Captain Phoebus de Martin. It's definitely a tear-jerker, but so worth reading. I don't want to give away the plot (because I know I'll spend like 20 minutes typing this post and not get to my other work here on LV) but if anyone hasn't read it, please do. It's not depressing per se, but very sad, though. But it definitely makes you think...a lot.


Rachel

[MaryinArkansas]

I just finished reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.

Oh my goodness, such a beautiful book but soooo sad. Victor Hugo is past master at wordsmithing! There are just layers and layers of meaning in this book.


Rachel

I’ve only read this once, but it was unforgettable. After reading your comments, I will definitely read it again. Actually, probably listen to the LibriVox version.

[commonsparrow3]

Well, my goal this year was to remember to update my book list once a month. While I remembered to do that in January, February, and March, I must admit that I completely forgot April and May!
Luckily, a friend just happened to ask me "What've you read lately?", and that inquiry jogged my memory about the neglected book list. So I've just updated my list as of today, June 1st, HERE.

[KevinS]

I just discovered this thread.

I will have to add to it:

Books I started and didn't care for, abandoning them with no regret.