One Book a Week Club 2024

Post by **Availle** » January 1st, 2024, 1:56 am

Welcome to the LibriVox One Book a Week Club 2024!

Sign up and set your goal for 2024 - 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 - or make a new post every book/month/quarter... If you like, you can give a rating or even a short synopsis too.

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?

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007

Post by **Availle** » January 1st, 2024, 1:57 am

Happy 2024 - Year of the Dragon - and it's already off to an energetic start here in Japan...

Personally, I could use a bit more energy this year. Last year, I only read 30 books, my 5th worst year since I started keeping track. In my defense, I did discover a great local taiko drum rock band and spent quite a bit of time on their concerts - and listening to their CDs in between. They are better live, though.

Anyway, here's my list, I hope to get a few more books FOR LV in this year.

"Real" books or ebooks for my own entertainment/edification/or for work:
1. The Showa Anthology by Van C. Gessel and Tomone Matsumoto. Wonderful collection of literary short stories written from 1929 to 1984.
2. Cha-no-yu by A. L. Sadler. The ins and outs of Japanese tea ceremony in extremely detailed detail.
3. Tea ceremony by Shozo Sato. Illustrated book on tea ceremony; I'm not sure if kids are really interested in all the meticulous details here, no matter how "creative" they are.
4. Raku - A Legacy of Japanese Tea Ceramics by Raku Kichizaemon XV & Raku Atsundo. Fascinating family history with lots of pictures - of tea bowls.

5. Invitation to Tea by Horacio Quieroga. Picture Book with a story that wouldn't be published today - and rightfully so. What did the cat do to deserve this?
6. Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink. How 2nd gen. Germans deal with the Holocaust. Slow book that deserves attentive reading.
7. Seventeen by Hideo Yokoyama. A reporter of a local newspaper has to deal with the deadliest single-aircraft accident, the crash of JAL-123 in 1985. Probably based on his own experiences at the time.
8. The Woman on the Stairs by Bernhard Schlink. A book about love - found, lost, regained - and a woman who lives according to her own ideas.
9. What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami. Autobiographical 50:50 on running and writing. Didn't grip me, but it's better than his "Novelist as Vocation".
10. The Temples of Kyoto by Donald Richie & Alexander Georges (photos). Part travel guide, part history, part personal observations with photos of 21 temples sprinkled in.

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:

zachh · Post by **zachh** » January 1st, 2024, 6:49 am

Thank you for keeping this club going. Last year was my first time and it was good to keep track of what I read and listened to. I only recorded two books for LV last year, and am hoping to maybe get to three this year. Last year I listened to 90 LibriVox books, mostly while in the workshop, and two commercial audiobooks. I read 36 physical books. I'll continue to post a little list each month like I did last year. I am very grateful to LibriVox and all the folks who do all the work for providing so much great, free listening.

January LV listens:
The Odd Women by George Gissing
The Paying Guest by George Gissing
Sinister House by Leland Hall
The Revolt Of The Birds by Melville Davisson Post
At The Gates Of Samaria by William John Locke
Danger At The Drawbridge by Mildred A. Wirt Benson
December Tales by William Harrison Ainsworth
Dust Of The Desert by Robert Welles Ritchie
Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge
The House Of Skulls by H. Bedford-Jones
That Affair Next Door by Anna Katherine Green
The Land Of Hidden Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Man Who Knew by Edgar Wallace
The Mystery Of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
The Square Emerald by Edgar Wallace

Books read:
The Waterworks by E. L. Doctorow
Homestead by Melinda Moustakis

February LV listens:
The Wind Boy by Ethel Cook Eliot
A Study In Shadows by William John Locke
Dark Hollow by Anna Katherine Green
Deliver Me From Eva by Paul Bailey
The Adventures Of A Woman Hobo by Ethel Lynn, MD
The Call Of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft
The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts
The Gem Collector by P. G. Wodehouse
The Perfect Frame by William Ard
The Shining Pyramid; The Definitive Edition by Arthur Machen
They Return At Evening by H. Russell Wakefield
Voice From The Cave by Mildred A. Wirt Benson
When The Earth Screamed by Arthur Conan Doyle
A Fiend In Need by Milton K. Ozaki
Bunce, The Bobby, And The Broads by Fritz Zorn
Ruth Fielding At The War Front by Alice B Emerson

February books read:
Good Bones And Simple Murders by Margaret Atwood
Invisible by Paul Auster
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
The Book Of Fire by Christy Lefteri

March LV listens:
The Blind Man’s Eyes by William MacHarg and Edwin Balmer
The Hill Of Dreams by Arthur Machen
The Terror by Arthur Machen
The Uninhabited House by Charlotte Riddell
The House On The Marsh by Florence Warden
The House On The Cliff by Franklin W. Dixon
His Darling Sin by Mark Elizabeth Braddon
Yesterday’s Doors by Arthur J. Burks
The Cheyne Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts
One Man’s Initiation, 1917, by John Dos Passos
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Missing by Mary Augusta Ward

First 2024 LV recording completed:
Money For Nothing by P.G. Wodehouse

March books read:
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Year Of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Post by **mightyfelix** » January 1st, 2024, 7:55 am

Happy New Year!

Last year I read 90 books [EDIT: Correction, 91! I just remembered something I DPLed but forgot to put in my list!], the most I've done in a long while! It was a really great year for me, not only in quantity, but in the wonderful quality of books I read. There were a couple of stinkers thrown in, unfortunately. But lots of real winners. Two themes for the year are Shakespeare and Gothic novels. I've been enjoying both of these explorations.

I started using Story Graph to track my reading towards the very end of 2023, and I plan to continue using it. So rather than keep one updated list here of all my reading throughout the year, I'll check in more or less monthly with updates. If you use Story Graph and you want to add me, send me a PM and I'll give you my link. (Don't want to post it here publicly, because bots.) Looking forward to a great year!

Oh yes, and one goal I have decided on is that I want to read at least a little bit of poetry every day. 3-4 years ago, I read almost zero poetry, but it has been slowly pulling me in, and I'm totally ok with that.

CuriousEntling · Post by **CuriousEntling** » January 2nd, 2024, 10:05 am

Hi! I did SO much listening last year (2023) and it was so fun to have a long list, so glad we do this! Thank you and happy reading!!!

Currently reading...

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - with the kids
The Enchanted Castle by E Nesbit - with the kids
Strange Peoples -DPL
The Story of the Treasure Seekers - DPL
Satan - DPL

New-To-Me Listens/Reads

Land of the Burnt Thigh by E Kohl - 8 hrs - Librivox
Every Living Thing by J Herriot - 9.5 hrs - other
Don Quixote Vol 1 &2 - 38 hrs - Lib
The Flying Carpet by Halliburton - book
The Swiss Family Robinson by J D Wyss - 12.5 hrs - lib
Star Trek Voyager Battle Lines by Brodeur and Galanter - book

Too-Tired-For-Life Re-listens

All Things Wise and Wonderful by J Herriot - 15 hrs
The Lightning Thief by R Riordan - 10 hrs

Perused

Blue Like Jazz by D Miller << sadly this book has nothing to do with the color blue OR Jazz
Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon - book
QiGong for Treating Common Ailments - book
Simple Chinese Medicine by A Kuhn - book
Welcoming Food by Andrew Sterman - book

...Up Next

The Ottoman Endgame by Sean McMeekin - other
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Chalice of the Gods by Riordan - other
Alexander the Great by Arrian - other
Star Trek Voyager Violations by Wright - book
Napoleon by Andrew Roberts - other
Incidents of Travel in Central America by J L Stephens - lib
History of Egypt etc Vol 1 by G Maspero - lib
History of the Decline etc Rome vol 2 by E Gibbons - lib
The Celestial Garden by J H Stevens - book
Pacific Northwest Edible Plant Foraging by W Walsh - book

niobium · Post by **niobium** » January 4th, 2024, 2:37 am

The only books I ever read now are non-fiction. slowly getting through a collection of climatology and anthropology books, but still collecting science books slightly faster than i can read them. The audiobook collection on my hard drive usually alternates between a non-fiction then a novel to break up the monotony. Right now im listening to the lord of the rings with a couple of leftovers of true war history.

MaryinArkansas · Post by **MaryinArkansas** » January 4th, 2024, 4:20 pm

My goal for 2024 is 44 books. Let's see what happens!

aj2005 · Post by **aj2005** » January 6th, 2024, 9:04 am

Currently hoping to read at least 18 books this year. Let's see what I read.

Jazbees · Post by **Jazbees** » January 20th, 2024, 4:44 pm

(Just realized that I commented on my 2024 reading plans in the 2023 thread.

Moving the notes here with some minor editing...)

Our family does a "book exchange" every Christmas (each person buys books for someone else in the family; not sure what else to call it). While putting this year's books on the shelf, I realized with some shame that I didn't finish reading all the books that I'd been given last Christmas.

My goal this year is to read last year's books, the new ones I received, and some others that have been sitting unread on my shelf for far too long.

On Goodreads I set a goal of reading 20 books this year, so I'll just carry that over here as well and post updates periodically.

Read: 4

Words with Fiends, by Ali Brandon
QR Codes Kill Kittens, by Scott Stratton
Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis
Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People, by S. Truett Cathy

Currently reading

206 Bones, by Kathy Reichs

Planning to read

The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis
The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
Shout at the Devil, by Wilbur Smith
As You Wish, by Cary Elwes
J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter
Make Your Own Rules, by Andrew Huang
The Illustrated Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Books

Abandoned

It's Always Sunny in Wrexham, by Andrew Foley Jones (turned off after only reading half of the first chapter)

Now that I'm starting to make progress, I've broken down the list into groups. I'll update this throughout the year. At the rate I'm going I'll probably need to find more books, but that's absolutely not a complaint.

Pulling this off will require reading more consistently than ever, but that's kinda the goal anyway. Onward!

aj2005 · Post by **aj2005** » January 31st, 2024, 3:13 pm

January 2024

Read:
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories (Alexander Pushkin)
The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories (Leo Tolstoy)
Main Street (Sinclair Lewis)

Currently Reading:
Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)
The Rules of Attraction (Bret Easton Ellis)
It (Stephen King)

MaryinArkansas · Post by **MaryinArkansas** » February 14th, 2024, 9:30 am

I'm finally getting started with my 2024 reading list. I'm currently reading a couple of other books, but I don't post books until I've finished them. Books completed so far are:

JANUARY: SQUEEZE ME BY CARL HIAASEN LIBRARY AUDIOBOOK FUNNY AS HECK, OFTEN TOO CLOSE TO THE TRUTH

FEBRUARY: ROUGHING IT BY MARK TWAIN LIBRIVOX DOWNLOAD VERY ENJOYABLE. GREENMAN DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB.
JOHN GREENMAN, READER)

There will be more books for February. I just wanted to get started on posting books read.

aj2005 · Post by **aj2005** » February 29th, 2024, 10:15 am

February 2024

Read:
Summer (Edith Wharton)
Red Dragon (Thomas Harris)
The Green Mile (Stephen King)
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Killers of the Flower Moon (David Grann)
The Turn of the Screw (Henry James)
The Rules of Attraction (Bret Easton Ellis)

Currently Reading:
Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)
It (Stephen King)
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)

Post by **mightyfelix** » February 29th, 2024, 8:13 pm

I forgot to give an update for my January reading. So I'll do January and February together.

In January, I finished:

Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper. This is the first in a series. I enjoyed it and intend to finish the rest. But I got sidetracked. I'll get back there eventually.
Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. I'm continuing my readthrough of Shakespeare's works that I started last year. I hadn't read this one since high school and remembered perhaps 5% of it.
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and The Story of Rome, by Jim Weiss. I needed some extra help on Julius Caesar, and someone recommended this excellent work to me. It helped immensely.
Maud - A Monodrama, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. This one is an interesting long-ish narrative-ish poem. I liked it overall, but there's plenty I didn't understand.
Till We have Faces, by C.S. Lewis. This was a many times over reread. A personal favorite.
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, by John Milton. Should this count as two? They are in one volume... Ah, well. I liked it! Especially PR.
Irish Myths and Legends, by Michael Scott. This collection was nicely done, and structured especially well.
As You Like It, by William Shakespeare. Yay Shakespeare!
The Bacchae, by Euripides. This was my first exposure to this play. Again, plenty that I didn't totally understand, but there was lots of good stuff in here.

In February, I finished:

The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan. Second book in the Wheel of Time series. (I finished the first in late December.) I've read this series before, but never straight through in one go, so that's what I'm doing. It's going to take me all year.
The Book of Judith. From the apocrypha. Unless you're Catholic, and then it's just part of the Bible. Anyway, I'm not Catholic, so I had never read this one, although I knew the main points.
The Last Man, by Mary Shelley. This was a bit of a slog. It moved a bit too slow for my taste, but it wasn't bad.
Thomas Wingfold, Curate, by George MacDonald. A reread, for my book club.
Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare. Another Shakespeare comedy.
The Dragon Reborn, by Robert Jordan. Number three in the Wheel of Time series.
Howards End, by E.M. Forster. My first time with this one. I've enjoyed some of Forster's short stories, and this was the first of his novels for me.
The Vampyre: A Tale, by John Polidori. This is just a short story, but I'm counting it. I've been exploring a lot of books in the Gothic tradition.
Troilus and Cressida, by William Shakespeare. This was a brand new one for me. I'd like to read the Chaucer work that Shakespeare based it on, but I don't know when I will find the chance.

I'm still working on a good dozen or so all at once, which I won't list here. I'll report back at the end of March. Or April, whenever.

Jazbees · Post by **Jazbees** » March 6th, 2024, 10:03 pm

Words with Fiends, by Ali Brandon
QR Codes Kill Kittens, by Scott Stratton
Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis
Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People, by S. Truett Cathy
206 Bones, by Kathy Reichs

Currently reading

Make Your Own Rules, by Andrew Huang
Double Booked for Death, by Ali Brandon

Planning to read

The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis
The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
Shout at the Devil, by Wilbur Smith
As You Wish, by Cary Elwes
J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter
The Illustrated Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Books

Abandoned

It's Always Sunny in Wrexham, by Andrew Foley Jones (turned off after only reading half of the first chapter)

aj2005 · Post by **aj2005** » March 31st, 2024, 9:40 pm

Bernice Bobs Her Hair (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Ragtime (E. L. Doctorow)
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
13 Reasons Why (Jay Asher)
A Separate Peace (John Knowles)

I have about half a dozen books I'm currently reading, so I'm not going to list them for this month.