Finished books

I went back & checked my Goodreads log against my March 22 entry & found that I actually read 6 books in March, not the 4 listed. I had asked for interlibrary loan, but since it was a Hardy Boys Casefiles, as opposed to just a regular Hardy Boys, I got the wrong one. The librarian persisted & got me a double book from Washington State. Wow! I was impressed.

Open Season (Hardy Boys: Casefiles #59) by Franklin W. Dixon, 4 stars****
Spiked (Hardy Boys: Casefiles #58) by Franklin W. Dixon, 4 stars****

Even adding these 2 books, I only made it to 14 books in the first quarter. And I was mistaken, there was already a label for mystery in my labels.

I read 2 whole books in the 2nd quarter, April-June. Wow!

Dakota Home by Debbie Macomber, Book 2 of a trilogy, I gave it 2 stars ** This book took 3 weeks to read.
Knotted Gold by Lance Richardson, a memoir. I gave it 4 stars ****

So, I'm up to 17 books year-to-date & it's almost August. So, if we do the math, that's 45 books to read before Dec. 31. I don't think that will happen.

I read a book!

The March 22 blog entry is quite disgusting, actually. I am so far behind on my goal of 62 books, I will never make it. I did finish a book yesterday though!! W00t W00t!!

Panning For Murder (Murder, She Wrote, #28) by Jessica Fletcher, Donald Bain
Bookshelves: 2012-reads, fiction, mystery, new-author, 4 stars ****
Recommended by: Jean Carter
Read from June 06 to July 20, 2012
I have never read any Murder, She Wrote books. It was given to me during an extended hospital stay. It took me 6 weeks to read. Not that it wasn't interesting. It was large print too; but my mind wouldn't stay focused. Once I got home & started becoming interested in the world outside my pain, agony & diagnosis, I became caught up in the book. I had my own theories about who dunnit. I would've liked an epilogue. It left me with some questions, but ... can't have everything can we? 

 Since this is #28 in the series & I'm sure they are not consecutive, that gives me a lot of new books to read.

Went to label this & can't believe I didn't have an entry for mystery. It is one of my favorite genres.

First quarter reads of 2012

January:

 I did very well in January. I read SIX books 

1. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by Sarah L. Delaney, A. Elizabeth (Bessie) Delaney and Amy Hearth. Let's Talk About It
2. A Return to Christmas by Chris Heimerdinger
3. On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie by Sarah Delany and Amy Hill Hearth
4. 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life by Don Piper
5. The Delany Sisters' Book Of Everyday Wisdom by Sarah L. Delaney, A. Elizabeth (Bessie) Delaney and Amy Hearth
6. Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes (Sisterchicks #8) by Robin Jones Gunn

February:

I didn't do so well in February. I only finished 2 books. The key word here is finished. I started several books.

1. Naughty Neighbor by Janet Evanovich
2. The Wedding Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel (Elm Creek Quilts #18) by Jennifer Chiaverini

March:

More unfinished books. More good intentions.

1. When Tomorrow Comes (Canadian West #6) by Janette Oke
2. Before the Dawn: A Novel by Dean Hughes
3. Beyond the Law (Hardy Boys: Casefiles #55) by Franklin W. Dixon
4. Dakota Born by Debbie Macomber

Good Poems

My mother received a cassette book from Talking Books titled Good Poems by Various (authors). It is an anthology of poems chosen by Garrison Keillor from a radio program on National Public Radio (NPR) called The Writer's Almanac described as "Today in history & a poem or two." I found it online & if I knew how to, I would subscribe to the podcast.

The book was returned unread. I didn't think she'd like it, but I, of course, did. It is hard to listen to poem after poem after poem. It is much easier to have the book in your lap & savor the poem or listen to them one at a time with commentary.

A Goodreads friend, Wayne, from Australia, posted:

 Inside my copy of William Wordsworth I've written down what he considered to be the role of poetry: "...the most philosophical of all writing" whose object is "truth...carried alive into the heart by passion." WOW!!!!

I love Wordsworth's poem in praise of the sonnet.

"Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cell;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,
High as the highestPeak of Furness-fell,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth the prison, unto which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me,
In sundry moods,'twas pastime to be bound
Within the Sonnet's scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some Souls(for such there needs must be)
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,
Should find some brief solace there, as I have found"

Read it out loud and you will find it falls into place much better.

 

2012 reading plan finalized

Here it is 8 weeks into the new year & I finally have my reading plan finalized. In the last couple of years I have tried giving myself mini challenges to complete, but that isn't quite my style. My word to live by this year is "caregiver," so I wanted to focus more on my word.

The theme for Let's Talk About It this year was "Growing Older, Growing Wiser." It is almost over for the year, one more book to go. I haven't been to the last 2 discussions because of headaches.

I have read 7 books this year & have started 2 that are kind of high centered. I can't seem to get to the end. They are both library books so I either have to finish reading them or return them unread.

Book 2 for 2012

A Return to Christmas
by Chris Heimerdinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was telling an aunt about Donna VanLiere's Christmas Shoes series & how I loved those books. So my aunt told me about this book & that I would love it. It had been a gift to her & she read it in one sitting. She brought it over this evening. Yes, I did enjoy it. Yes, it was unputdownable, just as she had said. I had started another book this afternoon & was right in the middle of it. I did not plan to read A Return to Christmas tonight. However, I started reading the cover blurb & the beginning of the book. I IMMEDIATELY knew how it was going to end. I started for the end of the book, as I invariably do, & she made me promise, pinky-swear, that I would not read the end of the book. I had the hardest time keeping that promise. When I finished the book, just as my son & his girlfriend came home & wanted the only couch in the house, my mom immediately asked me if I had read the end. I had to tell her a couple of times, "I DID NOT READ THE END OF THE BOOK!!!"

Because it took place in Salt Lake City, & I lived there for almost 20 years, it was easy to picture the city, Temple Square all lit up, the Christus, the freeways ...

2011 Recap

I read 50 books in 2011 - barely. A list of the books I read is here.

For 2012, I plan to read 62 books, one for every year of my age. One book a week. The last couple of years I have had mini challenges. This year I'm thinking of doing it a little bit different. I'm still thinking.