Tag: 2020 Retrospectives Page 1 of 2

If you have the means, I strongly recommend seeing Ben Folds live, as I did a couple of days ago (just one of the many reasons this week I spent almost no time online). No light show, no pyrotechnics, elaborate sets, backup dancers, or any of the typical tropes. Just one man and a piano (okay, a bunch of paper airplanes, too).

Much blog-hopping and so on to catch up on this week.
Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
How to read more, according to the Booker Prize 2024 judges—If anyone knows how to do this, it’s those who had to read all the (not quick and easy reads) for this Prize
My Guilty Pleasure: I’m a Gen Xer Reading Comic Books Once Again
Your Hero Could Beat Up My Hero—a fun little post to entice readers into The Recruiter
On Lying About Reading, or: How I Learned That Stieg Larsson Is Good, Actually—”Sara Martin Considers the Motivations Behind Our Literary Untruths”
When It’s Time To Change Your Reading Habits—Molly Templeton launches a personal attack against me. Or maybe it just feels that way.
“You Were Always The Wrong Guy Until You Weren’t” – Thoughts on the Flawed Hero—Peat Long continues his beef with Scrubs‘ Dr. Percival Cox while offering some good thought-provoking thoughts on flawed heroes.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison—one of the better entries in the series, iirc
W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton—the antepenultimate book in the series (how often do I get to use that word?)
The Competition by Marcia Clark
Never Go Back by Lee Child—Remember when I liked reading Reacher?
The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne—a new SF novella looks like a lot of fun (hint: he’s a hermit because he’s an alien trying not to get caught)
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell—I’ve always been a sucker for Rowell’s non-YA fantasy. This book about a couple’s second-chance looks like a nice time

Gail Borden Public Library helps me stay topical with this:

Even if the month brought me a bad Jack Reacher (stupid Lee Child wanting to retire…how selfish), I think it was pretty good for reading around here: 33 Books finished, 8,149 pages (or the equivalent) with a rating of 3.5 Stars on average (a little lower than I’ve had lately, but still really good).

I don’t have any books unfinished–sure, that meant I read short works for the last day and a half of the month, but I wanted to start 2022 with a clean slate (something I almost never do, so I was pretty happy about that).

Writing-wise, I put out a variety of things, and a pretty good number of posts, but the things left unfinished stack is way too large…

All in all, color me pleased. Although, at this point, anything that brings an end to the up-and-down year that 2021 was is good to me. Anyway, here’s what happened here in December.

	1		1
	1		1
	7		0
	5		0
	13
		Average =	3.5

“Traditionally” Published: 21
Self-/Independent Published: 11

• The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly: Ballard Tackles a Pair of Tough Cases in this Timely Novel
• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender: A Gorgeously Written Let-Down
• Psalms that Curse by Sean McGowan: A Primer on Controversial Prayers
• All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle: Extraordinary things can happen to ordinary people
• Dr. Rick Will See You Now by Dr. Rick is a Thing that Actually Exists (and I chuckled at)
• Mistletoe and Crime by Chris McDonald: Adam and Colin Get Called Back into Action
• Time and Tide (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson: The Times They Are a-Changin’
• Who Is Jesus? Knowing Christ through His “I Am” Sayings by J. V. Fesko
• The Last Time She Died by Zoë Sharp: The First Novel in This Series Will Keep your Brain Spinning
• I have a Few Unnecessary Thing to Say About A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry
• Better Off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child: Readers Would Be Better Off Without this Reacher 2.0 Mess
• OCDaniel (Audiobook) by Wesley King, Ramón De Ocampo: An Uplifting MG Mystery/Coming of Age Story
• Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest: Move Over Shawn and Gus, It’s Time for the Real Deal
• Leaving the LAW by Robert Germaux: Looking at JB’s Past as He Tries to Save a Kid’s Future
• We Had a Little Real Estate Problem (Audiobook) by Kliph Nesteroff: One of Those Books You Didn’t Know was Needed Until You Read It
• Pure by Jo Perry: A Murder Mystery and So Much More
• A Sheep Remembers by David B. Calhoun: Remembering Psalm 23
• Risen by Benedict Jacka: I Don’t Like to Use “Perfect”, but I Came Close in Describing this Series’ End
• Fools Gold by Ian Patrick: The Batford Trilogy Ends with a Bang
• The Case of the One-Eyed Witness by Erle Stanley Gardner: A Dose of Nostalgia Delivered in a Twisty Whodunit.
• The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman: A (weird) Classic Christmas Story
• Faith in the Time of Plague Edited Edited by Stephen M. Coleman and Todd M. Rester: Reformation and Post-Reformation Voices Speak to Our Moment
• Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg: True to the Rock Scene it Describes, there’s a Bit of a Sophomore Slump Here
• Some Things I Still Can’t Tell You by Misha Collins: A Thoroughly Pleasant Batch of Poems
• Fortune and Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven by Janet Evanovich: Stephanie’s on a Treasure Hunt
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: A Few 2021 Books I Can’t do a Full Post About (Super Powereds: Year 1 by Drew Hayes, Kyle McCarley (Narrator); Master of Formalities by Scott Meyer, Luke Daniels; See Her Die by Melinda Leigh; Cold Wind by C. J. Box, David Chandler (Narrator); Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal; Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives by Tim Hartford, Nicholas Guy Smith (Narrator); Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant)

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (the 4th, the 11th, the 18th, and the 25th), I also wrote:

• The Count to 10 with Me Tag
• Book Blogger Hop: My Book Blogger Origin Story
• Book Blogger Hop: Main or Supporting Character?
• Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 covers of 2021
• Down the TBR Hole Revisited (1 of 3)
• Book Blogger Hop: How Many Books in 2021?
• Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 New Authors of 2021
• Down the TBR Hole Revisited (2 of 3)
• Festivus 2021: For the Rest of Us
• 2021 While I Was Reading Challenge
• Down the TBR Hole Revisited (3 of 3)
• The Irresponsible Reader in 2021: Thoughts, Thanks, and Stats
• WWW Wednesday for December 1, December 8, December 15, December 22, and December 29, 2021.
• The Friday 56 for 12/3/21 (Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski), 12/10/21 (Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest), 12/17/21 (Risen by Benedict Jacka), and 12/24/21 (A Dream About Lightning Bugs by Ben Folds).

How was your month?

So I finished 30 books for the month, with a total of 9,998 pages (or the equivalent)–although 598 pages of that belongs to a book I’ve been chipping away at since January, so that number is arguable. Either way, those are some decent numbers. A 3.65 average rating is nothing to sneeze at. As usual, I’m less than impressed with the writing output but I like the variety–let’s call that a win.

Eh enough of that…here’s what happened here in August.

	2		0
	2		2
	12		0
	5		0
	7
		Average =	3.65r

“Traditionally” Published: 22
Self-/Independent Published: 8

• Church History 101: The Highlights of Twenty Centuries by Sinclair B. Ferguson, Joel R. Beeke, Michael A.G. Haykin: A Quick Look at 20 Centuries
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: Nowhere To Run; Sworn to Silence; Three Mages and a Margarita
• The Heathens by Ace Atkins: Colson and Virgil Try to Stop a Modern Bonnie and Clyde
• Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne: Like the Spanish Inquisition, Nobody Expects a Turtle Dragon Spider
• Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster: The Debut of Your New Favorite Police Procedural Series
• Why I Still Believe by Mary Jo Sharp: Mark 9:24 Lived Out
• In Ten Years by Ian Shane: They’re Perfect For Each Other…But Can They Make It Work? Do They Even Want to Try?
• Firefly: The Magnificent Nine by James Lovegrove: The Hero of Canton Lives!
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: The Data Detective; All Creatures Great and Small; The Miracle Pill
• Lessons from the Upper Room: The Heart of the Savior by Sinclair B. Ferguson: A Guided Tour through The Savior’s Night before His Death
• Twice Cursed by J. C. Jackson: It’s Time to Bring Werewolves into this World
• The Far Empty by J. Todd Scott: Imagine if Don Winslow Tried to Write a Craig Johnson Novel…
• Moses and the Burning Bush by R. C. Sproul: A Brief Examination at What God Shows Moses About Himself
• Robert B. Parker’s Stone Throw by Mike Lupica: The Twentieth Jesse Stone Novel Shows this Series Still has Plenty of Life in It
• Faith Among the Faithless by Mike Cosper: An Example of Being Faithful (while Stumbling) in a Hostile World
• Love by Roddy Doyle: Pull Up a Stool, Order a Pint, Listen In on This Conversation
• A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz: The best and the worst things in life are sudden
• A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden: Back to the Beginning with Marty Singer

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th), I also wrote:

• 20 Books of Summer 2021: July Check-in
• A Few (More) Quick Questions with…Ian Shane
• Book Snob Book Tag
• Quote of the Moment: from Burned by Benedict Jacka
• Yet A Few More Quick Questions with…Matthew Hanover
• These Dog Days Aren’t Over (3rd version)
• Opening Lines: The Dime by Kathleen Kent
• 20 Books of Summer 2021: Wrap Up
• WWW Wednesday for August 4, August 11, August 18, August 25, 2021.
• The Friday 56 for 8/6/21 (All Together Now by Matthew Norman), 8/13/21 (The Dead House by Harry Bingham), 8/20/21 (In Ten Years by Ian Shane), 8/27/21 (Fools Gold by Ian Patrick).

How was your month?

“Only” 24 books this month—I got off to a strong start, and then I started a period of readjustment thanks to returning to the office. I’m not sure I’ve got my feet under me when it comes to reading/listening to audiobooks yet. That’s 6,412 pages (or audio-equivalent), plus I’m guessing another 350 or so—there was one audio short story and one to-be-published novel that I can’t find page counts for. Which is not terribly shabby when I think of it in those terms. My average rating was 3.9, a tenth of a point higher than most months this year (4 tenths higher than my worst), so that fits.

Part of what use these posts to do is spur myself to action on various fronts—or that’s the intent, anyway. Am rethinking the Mt. TBR portion of these posts, because it’s sure not working too well.

Enough monologuing, I’m not a supervillain about to leave the hero to die in an (doomed) elaborate contraption—here’s what happened here in July.

	3		0
	3		0
	9		0
	4		0
	5
		Average =	3.9

I’m strongly considering renaming this to Tsundoku (積ん読), so I can celebrate the size of some of these bars rather than shaking my head at myself…What do you think?

“Traditionally” Published: 16
Self-/Independent Published: 8

• The Watchman by Rob Parker: Ben in the U.S.A.
• Faithful Theology: An Introduction by Graham A. Cole: Basics for Building a Theological Method
• Tender is the Bite by Spencer Quinn: Will Chet Share Bernie with a Ferret?
• Small Bytes by Robert Germaux: Back to the Beginning of JB Barnes
• Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin: Heroism Comes from the Unlikeliest Places
• In Plain Sight by Dan Willis: A P.I. with a Magical Edge Races the Clock in this UF Series Start
• Foundations of Covenant Theology by Lane G. Tipton: A Fascinating Approach to Genesis 1-3
• The Rags of Time (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator): DC Smith is a Fly in a Colleague’s Ointment
• Know Your Rites by Andy Redsmith: Murder, magic and now rap music. Oh joy.
• A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones: Sunny and Auri get into Some Cold Cases in their Hot Town
• The Attributes of God: An Introduction by Gerald Bray: Sketching out The Essence of God and How He Relates to Us
• Finding Hope in Hard Things by Pierce Taylor Hibbs: How the Hard Things Shape Us
• August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones: Even a Kindness from the Devil Must Be Repaid

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st), I also wrote (okay, mostly compiled):

• 20 Books of Summer 2021: June Check-in
• Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag ’21
• Overdue 2021 Audiobook Challenge Mid-Year Check-In
• The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published “General” Fiction
• The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Non-Fiction
• The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Steampunk
• The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Fantasy
• The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Science Fiction
• The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Urban Fantasy
• The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Crime Fiction
• Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Want With Me While Stranded On a Deserted Island
• Authors/Bloggers/Anyone Else: Want to Pitch In with a Guest Post?
• WWW Wednesday for July 7, July 14, July 21, and July 28, 2021
• The Friday 56 for 7/2/21 (The Watchman by Rob Parker), 7/9/21 (In Plain Sight by Dan Willis), 7/16/21 (August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones), 7/23/21: Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster, and 7/30/21 (The Heathens by Ace Atkins).

That was my month…how was yours?

March is the best month of the year as far as books finished—28 titles, 6959+ pages (one was an Audible Original and I have no idea what the page count will be) for a 3.83 Star Average—including four 5-Star books. I’m clearly getting soft (and, yeah, they were some great books too). My writing—review-ish posts and otherwise—isn’t what I want it to be, but hope springs eternal. I really need to catch up. I have a couple of door-stopper novels on my shelf, I should probably break out one or two of them in April as a way of catching up on posts (if I only finish 12 books, I’ll have plenty of time to write them up), right?

In one of those little things that no one but me cares about: I’ve got too many things unfinished at the moment. I’ve got 4 “project” books (things I plan on spending months on), and then 3 others. I’d expected to finish two of those on 3/31, but, y’know, Life happened. Since I’ve started doing these month-end reports, I’ve never had this many in progress.

Anyway, here’s what happened here in March.

		Still Deciding

	4		1
	1		0
	11		0
	7		0
	4
		Average =	3.83

“Traditionally” Published: 18
Self-/Independent Published: 9

• He Drank, and Saw the Spider (Audiobook) by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki: LaCrosse’s Break from His Vacation Changes History
• What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch: Peter Grant’s Cousin Searches for Missing Kids
• What the World Needs Now – Bees! by Cheryl Rosebush, Zuzana Svobodová: A Much-Needed Lesson for Kids About those Tiny Pollinators
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XVII., i. – iv.
• Latent Damage by Ian Robinson: A Compelling Series Debut
• Cover Blown by Ian Robinson: DI Nash’s Professional Worlds Collide
• The Treadstone Resurrection by Joshua Hood: A Fast Popcorn Thriller Delivers the Action
• Junkyard Bargain (Audiobook) by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam: Shining Takes to the Road for the Next Step Installment
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XVII., v. – viii.
• Burying the Newspaper Man by Curtis Ippolito: A Young Police Officer’s Past Comes Back to Haunt Him
• Rejoice and Tremble by Michael Reeves: Gospel Fear
• Born in a Burial Gown by M. W. Craven: Before Washington Poe, There was Avison Fluke.
• You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey (Audiobook) by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar: You’ll Laugh While You All Lose Hope in Humanity. Fun Times!
• Invincible TPBs One-Three by Kirkman/Walker/Ottley: Prepping for the TV Series by Looking at this Dynamite Start
• Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire: Toto, I Have A Feeling They’re Not In Kansas Anymore
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XVII., ix. – BOOK XVIII., iii.
• Dead in the Water by Chris McDonald: These Amateur Detectives Start to Look a Little Less Amateur
• Animal Instinct by David Rosenfelt: The K Team Gets the Chance to Right an Old Wrong
• The Wasteland War by Michael R. Underwood: The Genrenauts are (FINALLY) Back—Are They Up for the New Challenges?

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th), I also wrote:

• Down the TBR Hole (22 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (23 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (24 of 24+): Phase 1 Wrap-Up
• WWW Wednesday for March 4, March 10, March 17, March 24, and March 31.
• The Friday 56 for 3/5/21 (Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire), 3/12/21 (Born in a Burial Gown by M. W. Craven), and 3/19/21 (Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs).

That’s that for me, how was your month?

December is over, 2020 is over–approximately 8 years after it started, somehow. I didn’t read quite as much as I wanted to (nor write nearly as much as I wanted to), but I’m getting back to form. I finished the equivalent of 9,447 pages (or the equivalent) over 25 books. And I think this may have been my best month of the year, a 3.88 Average. A couple of the posts I did write this month are my favorites for 2020, which makes up for the lack of productivity.

I’ll be back today (I think) with a look back on 2020 as a whole but let’s focus on what happened here in December.

rating25

	3		0
	2		0
	9		0
	8		0
	3
		Average =	3.88

“Traditionally” Published: 20
Self-/Independent Published: 5

• Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell: A Tense, Taut Conclusion to this Series (that I really don’t want to see conclude)
• Mostly Human 2 by D. I. Jolly: The Further Adventures of the Rock Star Werewolf
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XIII., ix. – xii.
• Madness of the Q by Gray Basnight Left Me Ambivalent (I didn’t dislike it, but…)
• Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston: Look Out World, There’s a New Magician on the Loose!
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XIV., i. – iv.
• The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman: Every once in a while the world is unfair in a good way.
• One for the Money by D. B. Borton: This Would-Be Gumshoe Gets By on Her Charm, Wit, Gumption, Friends and a Healthy Dose of Expletives
• The Sentinel by Lee Child and Andrew Child: A New Era for the Series Kicks Off with this Presciently Timely Thriller
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares; Undeading Bells; Paranormal Bromance; My Calamity Jane
• Cooking for Cannibals by Rich Leder: An Ex-Con turned Cook, Experimental Drugs, Reverse Aging and a Gerontologist make for a Very Strange Crime Novel
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: The Power of Bad, Everything is F*cked, The Checklist Manifesto, And Then You’re Dead
• Bone Canyon by Lee Goldberg: Eve Ronin Digs Up Bones, Secrets and Ugly Truths in this Great Follow-Up
• Olive, Mabel & Me by Andrew Cotter: Two Very Good Dogs and the Human Who Introduced them to the World
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: Greenlights, The World’s Strongest Librarian, No Time Like the Future, A Very Punchable Face
• Light It Up by Nick Petrie: Peter Ash Throws a Monkey Wrench into a Denver Conspiracy

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th), I also wrote:

How was your month?

Okay, so trying to do a little catch up. Three months: 62 books, 17,772+ pages/equivalent (one book was audio-only, so I don’t have a page number). A lot of audiobooks in there. Honestly, that number suprises me–I had a better-than-normal September that helped a lot. There were some blah books in there, yet on the whole, the numbers were good enough that I averaged 3.6. But anyway, I’m pretty much back to form on the reading front, now I’ve got to work on writing. Doing this helped (psychologically, anyway).

So, here’s what happened here in September-November.

Still Deciding
Still Deciding

	5		1
	5		4
	16		0
	11		0
	17
		Average =	3.6

“Traditionally” Published: 40
Self-/Independent Published: 23

• Firefly: The Sting by Delilah S. Dawson (and several artists): The Women of Serenity Misbehave on Their Own
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz, Simon Prebble; Deadly Assessments by Drew Hayes, Kirby Heyborne
• Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin: He’s Hardly the Retiring Type
• Curse the Day by Judith O’Reilly: A Technothriller/Conspiracy Novel filled with Action (and some low tech solutions)
• Bad Turn by Zoë Sharp: Charlie Fox is On Her Own and in Treacherous Waters
• The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold: A Fantasy Novel that Defies My Pithy Headline Composing Abilities
• Lone Jack Trail by Owen Laukkanen: Trouble Strikes Deception Cove Again
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XII., vii.-xii.
• A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire: McGuire’s Latest Will Satisfy—and Shock—All of Toby’s Fans.
• The Secret of Rosalia Flats by Tim W. Jackson: A Trip Home to a Tropical non-Paradise Brings Nothing But Trouble
• Venators: Legends Rise by Devri Walls: The Venators Have Their Hands Full in this Packed Adventure
• Far from the Tree (Audiobook) by Rob Parker, Warren Brown: A Disturbing Crime, A More Disturbing Investigation
• Velocity Weapon (Audiobook) by Megan E. O’Keefe, Joe Jameson: A Brother, A Sister, A Battleship, and the War that Unites Them
• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: A princess. A riddle. An heiress. A game.
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XII., xiii – BOOK XIII., iv..
• May Day by Josie Jaffrey: Even Vampires Need Law Enforcement
• Kitty’s Mix-Tape by Carrie Vaughn: One More Trip to Kitty’s World in this Collection
• The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, Isabelle Follath: A Story of Friendship and a Magical, Voracious Beast
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XIII., v. – viii.
• Next to Last Stand by Craig Johnson: Boy Howdy, Walt Longmire and an Art Crime, Who’d Have Seen That Coming?
• Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi, Zachary Quinto (Narrator): When You Can’t Kill Someone Anymore, Criminals Have to Get Creative
• Silent Bite by David Rosenfelt: Andy Carpenter Does a Favor for a Friend and Ends Up Regretting It
• Rattlesnake Rodeo by Nick Kolakowski: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
• Venators: Legends Rise (Audiobook) by Devri Walls, Daniel Thomas May: The Venators Have Their Hands Full in this Packed Adventure
• The Nicotine Chronicles edited by Lee Child is a thing I read
• Breaking Bread with the Dead by Alan Jacobs: Interacting with the Classics from a Contemporary Perspective in Order to Learn and Critique
• The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly: To Prove He Didn’t Do It, Haller has to Prove Who Did
• My Life as a Dog by L. A. Davenport: Man’s Best Friend, Indeed
• The City That Barks and Roars by J. T. Bird: It Takes Four Legs to Walk These Mean Streets
• The Man in Milan by Vito Racanelli: A Hunt for the Truth on the Streets of New York and Milan
• What the World Needs Now – Trees! by Cheryl Rosebush, Zuzana Svobodová: Orangutans and Rainforests for Kids
• Criminal Collective by Russell Day: Great stories about People at Their Worst

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (September 5th, 12th, 18th, 26th; October 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st; and November 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th), I also wrote:

• 20 Books of Summer 2020: Wrap-Up
• Even More Quick Questions With…Nick Kolakowski (his fourth time doing this!)
• Happy Birthday, Archie! (my annual tribute to Archie Goodwin)
• Shelfies! (an Irresponsible Reader first!) Also, Looking for Some Advice
• Thanksgiving 2020
• Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 Favorite Characters A-E, Top 5 Favorite Characters F-J, Top 5 Favorite Characters K-O, Top 5 Favorite Characters P-T
• Down the TBR Hole (13 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (14 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (15 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (16 of 24+)
• WWW Wednesday for September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23, November 11, November 25
• The Friday 56 for 9/4/20, 9/11/20, 9/18/20, 9/25/20

How were your months

In a nutshell: 27 books, 7,415+ (one book of I’m guessing 200+ pages was an Audible Original, so I don’t have a solid page count), and an average of 4 (there are four books I’m still deciding on tho, so that average can really change). Didn’t write as much as I wanted to, but more than I feared I would. A busy month, and a good one.

So, here’s what happened here in August in a bit more detail.

		</a
Still Deciding
Still Deciding	Still Deciding
Still Deciding

	5		0
	2		0
	7		0
	6		0
	3
		Average =	4

“Traditionally” Published: 22
Self-/Independent Published: 5

• Luck and Judgement (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson : Death at Sea, Corruption and Destruction on Land
• Catch-Up Quick Takes on Timeless; Point Blank; Smarter Faster Better; Heartburn; In Plain Sight; Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed; The Bitterroots
• The Silence by Luca Veste: A Chilling Look at Spiraling Consequences of One Fatal Night
• The Heirs of Locksley by Carrie Vaughn: Robin’s Kids Go Looking for Fun and Find Trouble Again
• Betty by Tiffany McDaniel: A Beautiful Novel about a Tragic Childhood
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK X., vi-BOOK XI., ii.
• The Blues Don’t Care by Paul D. Marks: Jazz, Murder, and Rampant Phone Book Vandalism
• Coffee and Condolences by Wesley Parker: Two People with an Incredible Amount of Baggage Trying to Fit It All in the Same Overhead Compartment
• The Answer Is . . . (Audiobook) by Alex Trebek, Ken Jennings: The Living Legend Reminisces
• Going Back by Neil Lancaster: Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Just another day for Novak.
• The Revelators by Ace Atkins: It’s All Been Leading to This
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XI., iii.-viii.
• Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire: The Most Exciting Mathematician This Side of Charlie Eppes and Dr. Larry Fleinhardt
• Screamcatcher: Dream Chasers by Christy J. Breedlove: Back to the Nightmares
• Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne: This Atypical UF is full of Action and Laughs (and Deadly Raisins)
• The Library Murders by M.R. Mackenzie: An Unlikely Duo on the Hunt for a Killer
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XI., ix.-BOOK XII., ii.
• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Audiobook) by Angela Duckworth: The Key is Passion and Perseverance, not Talent
• The Rome of Fall by Chad Alan Gibbs: 90s Rock and High School Football Combine for a Shakespearean Tale
• Pub Day Post: As the Stars Fall by Steve N. Lee: A Girl and Her Dog. A Dog and His Girl.
• Dark Jenny (Audiobook) by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki: Eddie LaCrosse Meets a Legend
• The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge: The Norwegian-Chinese Ninja Hero You Never Realized You Needed in Your Life
• Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch: Entertaining Quick Dips into the Rivers of London
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK XII., iii.-vi.
• Classic Spenser: Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th), I also wrote:

• Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 books where something went wrong
• Down the TBR Hole (10 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (11 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (12 of 24+)
• WWW Wednesday for August 5, August 12, August 19, August 26
• The Friday 56 for 8/7/20, 8/14/20, 8/21/20, 8/28/20

How was your month?

I finished 27 books (okay, fine…26 books and one picture book), with 9,217 pages (800+ of those I’ve been working on for a few months, though) and a 3.85 average rating. That counts as a very good month around here. I didn’t post as many things as I wanted to (I talked a little bit about that this morning), but I liked what I did post. If I only felt free to leave me house, I’d call July a win—a pretty good month, regardless.

So, here’s what happened here in July.

	/td>
		Still Deciding

	5		1
	1		0
	8		0
	8		0
	4
		Average =	3.85

“Traditionally” Published: 19
Self-/Independent Published: 8

• Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine (Audiobook) by Derren Brown: DNF
• Catch-Up Quick Takes: Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner; Out of Range; The Fangs of Freelance; Wonder Twins, Vol. 1: Activate!
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK VIII., xi.-xv.
• The Curator by M. W. Craven: I do not have enough superlatives in my repertoire to do justice to this novel
• Elphie Meets the End of The World by Hagit R. Oron, Or Oron Misgav (Illustrator): It’s the End of the World as he Knows it, and Elphie (eventually) Feels Fine
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK IX., i.-iv..
• One Man by Harry Connolly: A Broken Man Against the World
• Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter: Nell and Her Team Face a New Type of Deadly Threat
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK IX., v.- BOOK X., i.
• Peace Talks by Jim Butcher: Family Complicates Everything
• Vagrant Queen by Magdelene Visaggio, Jason Smith: A Quirky Space Opera that Hits the Mark
• The Silence by Luca Veste: A Chilling Look at Spiraling Consequences of One Fatal Night
• I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman: The Cat’s in the Cradle and all that…
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK X., ii.-v.
• Classic Spenser: Looking for Rachel Wallace by Robert B. Parker

Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th), I also wrote:

• 20 Books of Summer 2020: July Check-In
• Ultimate Book Tag
• Down the TBR Hole (8 of 24+)
• Down the TBR Hole (9 of 24+)
• WWW Wednesday for July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22
• The Friday 56 for 7/3/20, 7/17/20, 7/24/20, 7/31/20

How was your month?