2021 Vintage Mystery Challenge - My Wrap Up Post

VINTAGE MYSTERY CHALLENGE 2021

VINTAGE SCATTEGORIES

MY WRAP UP POST

COMPLETED

The Vintage Mystery Challenge on My Reader's Block is one of my favorite challenges. The idea is to read at least eight vintage mysteries, either from the Golden Age of mysteries (those published prior to 1960) or the Silver Age of mysteries (those published from 1960 to 1989). 

Each year, Bev makes some kind of game out of it. This year the game is Vintage Scattegories. Participants are to read one book from at least eight of various categories. I signed up for both the Golden Age and Silver Age to try to read 16 books. 

MY VINTAGE MYSTERY CHALLENGE BOOKS - GOLD

In 2021, I read 13 vintage mysteries published before 1960. I was on a mission to read all the Father Brown books, having read the first one in December 2020 and wanting to go straight through, so Fr. Brown shows up a lot in this list. 

• Colorful Crime: The Scandal of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

• Murder by the Numbers: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers 

• Amateur Night: The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton 

• Jolly Old England: The Secret of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

• Dangerous Beasts: Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie 

• Staging the Crime: Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

• Cops & Robbers: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins 

• Locked Room: The Incredulity of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton 

• Murder is Academic: Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers 

• Repeat Offenders: Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers 

• A Mystery by Any Other Name: Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie (aka After the Funeral and Murder at the Gallop)

• Country House Criminals: Peril at End House by Agatha Christie 

• Dynamic Duos: The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

MY VINTAGE MYSTERY CHALLENGE BOOKS - SILVER

I read 11 vintage mysteries in 2021 that were published between 1960 and 1989. Most of them were by Dick Francis because he's my favorite. 

• Murder by the Numbers: Twice Shy by Dick Francis 

• Amateur Night: Dead Cert by Dick Francis 

• Jolly Old England: One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

• Yankee Doodle Dandy: Split Images by Elmore Leonard 

• World Traveler: Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie 

• A Calendar of Crime: March Violets by Philip Kerr 

• Malicious Men: LaBrava by Elmore Leonard

• Murder is Academic: The Theban Mysteries by Amanda Cross 

• Repeat Offenders: Whip Hand by Dick Francis 

• Killed in Translation: The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö 

• Hobbies Can be Murder: Reflex by Dick Francis 

I didn't review any of these books, so my challenge participation was minimal. But I had a terrific time reading them. I look forward to joining the 2022 version of the Vintage Mystery Challenge and will sign up soon!

2021 Back to the Classics Challenge -- My Wrap Up Post

2021 BACK TO THE CLASSICS

My Wrap Up Post

COMPLETED

Karen at Books and Chocolate hosts one of my favorite challenges, the Back to the Classics Challenge. 
I like it because the idea is to read up to 12 "classics" (loosely defined as a book more than 50 years old), one from each of 12 categories. It's like a scavenger hunt for classic books. 

I never fully participate because I don't have time to review the books I read for this challenge. So I don't get to enter the drawing for the prize. But those who review the books they read get one entry in the prize drawing if they read and review six books, two entries for nine books, and three entries for reading a book from all 12 categories. 

THE CATEGORIES

• 19th Century Classic
• 20th Century Classic
• Classic by a Woman
• Classic in Translation
• Classic by a BIPOC Author
• Classic by a New-to-You Author
• Classic by a Favorite Author
• Classic About an Animal
• Children's Classic
• Classic Humor or Satire
• Travel or Adventure Classic
• Classic Play

BOOKS I READ

I managed to read 10 books for this challenge, many from my Classics Club list. I focused on books from my CC list so I can make progress on finishing that list by my deadline goal of December 2023.

• 19th Century Classic: Walden by Henry David Thoreau (College Board)
• 20th Century Classic: Not Now, but Now by M.F.K. Fisher 
• Classic by a Woman: Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter (Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women) 
• Classic in Translation: The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö 
• Classic by a BIPOC Author: House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
• Classic by a New-to-You Author: The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald 
• Classic by a Favorite Author: Mysteries and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery O'Connor
• Classic About an Animal: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham 
• Classic Humor or Satire: Jeeves in the Offing by P.G. Wodehouse 
• Travel or Adventure Classic: Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome 

Even though I didn't qualify for the prize, this challenge is still a lot of fun for me! I plan to sign up again for the 2022 version. This pushes me to find classics I probably wouldn't read otherwise, or at least not pick first from my TBR shelf. 

2021 Mt. TBR Challenge -- My Wrap Up Post

 

2021 MT. TBR CHALLENGE

MY WRAP UP POST

COMPLETED

The Mt. TBR Challenge hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block is one of my favorite challenges every year! In 2021, I signed up at the Mr. Kilamanjaro level with the goal of reading 60 books off my TBR shelves.

I do the Mt. TBR Challenge each your in connection with a TBR challenge of my own that goes with the year. So this year it is the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge. I do the two together because the I pick the "yearly" challenge books ahead of time and the Mt. TBR books at whim. You can see my book picks for my TBR 22 in '22 Challenge here.   

In 2021, I ended up reading past my Mt. TBR goal. In addition to the 21 book I read for the 21 in '21 Challenge, I read 70 others for a total of 91 books off my TBR shelves. That means I made it to the Mt. Toro level and came close to reaching the Mt. Everest level. 

MY MT. TBR BOOKS

Here are the additional 70 books I read for the Mt. TBR Challenge. to see the other 21 books I read, see my wrap up post for the TBR 21 in '21 Challenge, here. 

• Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

• The Red and the Black by Stendhal 

• Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow

• Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter

• Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis

• Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan

• The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall

• Reflex by Dick Francis

• Whip Hand by Dick Francis

• The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

• Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount

• The Midnight Line by Lee Child

• Charlotte Moss: A Visual Life: Scrapbooks, Collages, and Inspirations by Charlotte Moss

• Missing Joseph by Elizabeth George

• On The Wealth of Nations: Books That Changed the World by P. J. O'Rourke

• Dead Cert by Dick Francis

• Obasan by Joy Kogawa

• The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

• How They Decorated: Inspiration from Great Women of the Twentieth Century by Gaye P. Tapp

• A Faithful Place by Tana French

• Consequences by Penelope Lively

• The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe

• Jeeves in the Offing by P. G. Wodehouse

• The Private Patient by P. D. James

• A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

• Skios by Michael Frayn

• The Purpose-driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren

• The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by Maarten J. Troost

• A Place in the World by Amy Maroney

• Twice Shy by Dick Francis

• A Little Book of Japanese Contentments: Ikigai, Forest Bathing, Wabi-sabi, and More by Erin Niimi Longhurst

• Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King

• Jolie Blon's Bounce by James Lee Burke

• Bruno: Chief of Police by Martin Walker

• The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

• Mysteries of Pittsburg by Michael Chabon

• The Shape of the Journey: New & Collected Poems by Jim Harrison

• Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

• Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie

• Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

• The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend

• The Darlings by Christina Alger

• The Choir by Joanna Trollope

• Pope Joan by Donna Cross Woolfolk

• Noah's Compass by Anne Taylor

• A Changed Man by Francine Prose

• Split Images by Elmore Leonard

• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

• We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

• May We Be Forgiven by A. M. Holmes

• The Theban Mysteries by Amanda Cross

• Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle

• The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

• BUtterfield 8 by John O'Hara

• Building Beauty: The Alchemy of Design by Michael S. Smith

• The Incredulity of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

• Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie

• French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

• Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie 

• House Made of Dawn by Scott N. Momaday

• Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

• Past Tense by Lee Child

• The French Chef in America: Julia Child's Second Act by Alex Prud'homme

• March Violets by Philip Kerr

• Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

• LaBrava by Elmore Leonard

• Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

• The Secret of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

• The Scandal of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

The TBR 21 in '21 Challenge -- My Wrap Up Post

THE TBR 21 IN '21 CHALLENGE

COMPLETED

MY WRAP UP POST

2021 was the first year I hosted a TBR reading challenge I called the TBR 21 in '21 Challenge. The idea was to read 21 books off your TBR shelves in 2021. Not particularly creative maybe, but easy to remember! And the challenge will get just a tiny bit more difficult each year. 

If you want to join me in 2022 for the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge, please check out the main challenge page here and sign up! 

MY TBR 21 IN '21 BOOKS

I kept my books in this basket near my bed and read them in random order. One is missing because it was on my nightstand when I took the picture and I didn't realize it until I did my sign up post. Doh!

See any here that sound good?

• Not Now but Now by M.F.K. Fisher, the one missing from the picture. Fisher wrote about food and almost entirely nonfiction. This is her only novel. It was very odd and involved time travel. Reminiscent of Virginia Wolfe's Orlando. 

• Fear of Fifty: A Midlife Memoir by Erica Jong. My mom gave me this when I turned 50 a while back. I loved it!

• Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome, the sequel to Three Men in a Boat, which I had already read but reread this year because it is so funny. The sequel was good but never as good as the original. 

• Old Filth by Jane Gardam. Gardam's Old Filth trilogy tells the story of the long, complicated marriage of Sir Edward Feathers and his wife Betty. The three were the highlight of this challenge. 

• The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam. In Old Filth, we get the story from Sir Edward's point of view. In this one, we get Betty's story and our perceptions change accordingly.

• Last Friends by Jane Gardam. In this last volume, we get the story of Terence Veneering, Sir Edward's professional and romantic rival. 

• The Florence King Reader by Florence King. King was a prolific writer, mostly of essays and articles, known for her writings about the American South and her acerbic wit. 

• The Library Book by Susan Orlean. A history of the Los Angeles library from an amazing storyteller. 

• Orchids & Salami by Eva Gabor. I got this 1954 memoir for its funny title and glamorous cover. It was the oddest book in the bunch, so obviously ghostwritten! Unless Eva Gabor wrote like a 1950s wise cracking sports columnist. 

• A Really Big Lunch: The Roving Gourmand on Food and Life by Jim Harrison, a collection of  food essays by one of my all-time favorite authors. 

• Love your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks. This was a timely read.

• Plum Sauce: A P. G. Wodehouse Companion by Richard Usborne. I've been meaning to read this for years. It was a deep dive into the Wodehouse oeuvre. 

• Fork it Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater by Alan Richman, a former food critic for GQ magazine. This was one of my favorites in the bunch.

• What French Women Know: About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind by Debra Ollivier. Her book Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl inspired me to start a "French Connections" list of books set in France or by French authors, but this one fell flat for me. 

• Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle. An excellent book that will make anyone put away their phone!

• Walden by Henry David Thoreau. This was on my Classics Club list. I tried to read it with my ears last year but could not engage with the audiobook. I got through the paper book, but can't say I'll be rushing out to read everything Thoreau ever wrote. Lots of words about the value of a good wool suit and descriptions of ponds. 

• Mysteries and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery O'Connor, a collection of essays, lectures, and criticism by one of America's best authors. 

• Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. A memoir about soccer fandom is not exactly my cup of tea, but if anyone can make a description of 30 years of soccer games readable, it is Hornby. I'm a Hornby completist, in part because he taught me that word. 

• Wry Martinis by Christopher Buckley is a book of his collected essays. I found it a little uneven. I think it was cobbled together after the success of Thank you for Smoking.  

• An Alphabet for Gourmets by M. F. K. Fisher. Unlike her novel, this quirky book of food essays is Fisher at her idiosyncratic best.

• The Book that Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them, edited by Roxanne J. Coady and Joy Johannessen. I like books about books, so enjoyed this one, although some of the choices of contributors struck me as a bit random. 

All in all, I was pleased with my picks. I read over 125 books in 2021, more than usual. So these 21 were only a small part of the total. The others I didn't pick ahead of time, just at whim. I like preselecting a manageable number of books that I know I want to read for one reason or another and making myself read them. Usually the only thing "making" me want to read them is curiosity or the time they have been sitting on my shelf. 

THE TBR 21 IN '21 CHALLENGE -- Wrap Up Page

WRAP UP PAGE

FOR THE TBR 21 IN '21 CHALLENGE

January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LINK TO YOUR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LINK REVIEWS OF INDIVIDUAL BOOKS, GO TO THIS PAGE

If you want to join us again in 2022 for the TBR 22 in '22 challenge, please go to the main 2022 challenge page here to sign up. I hope you do!

LINK YOUR WRAP UP POSTS HERE

Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle. Please link to your review post and not your blog home page or main social media profile page.

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If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media wrap up post, leave a comment or email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com.

If you have trouble adding your link, leave it in a comment and I will add it or email me your link at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com and I will add it for you. Please put your name and the name of your blog or social media handle in the comment or email. Thanks!

WRAP UP

The idea of the challenge was to pick 21 books off your TBR shelf and read them in 2021. You do not have to review the books to "complete" the challenge, just read them. Do a wrap up post and tell us about the 21 books you read.

If you didn't make it through all 21 books, do a wrap up post anyway and tell us about the books you did read and what distracted you from reading all 21. Will you join us again in 2022 to read 22 books?

If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! Please still link to the updated post.

Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Funerals are Fatal would have been a good book to read last week for Halloween. I'm a bit late. Not it's time for Nonfiction November. Maybe next week I'll have a nonfiction book to share. I've been reading a lot of nonfiction this year to make room on my overflowing nonfiction TBR shelves, so November will be nothing different. But I have a couple of books set aside for Nonfiction November, including Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Are you reading nonfiction this month?

I'm trying to catch up on vintage mysteries these last two months of the year. I've made progress on the Vintage Mystery Challenge but have a ways to go to finish before the end of the year. Funerals are Fatal is one for the challenge. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Old Lanscombe moved totteringly from room to room, pulling up the blinds.

-- From Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie.

The Vintage Mystery Challenge has a "Scattegories" theme again this year and this 1953 mystery counts as my entry in the "Mystery By Any Other Name" category. Funerals are Fatal is more often found under it's other title, After the Funeral. But I love the campy cover on my old pulp paperback edition.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week -- or just a book that caught your fancy. If you share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings.

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THE FRIDAY 56

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From Funerals are Fatal:

“Mr. Timothy Abernathie is her only surviving brother and her next of kin, but he is a recluse and an invalid, and is quite unable to leave home. He has empowered me to act for him and to make all such arrangements as may be necessary.”

May Wrap Up -- My May Books

MAY WRAP UP

Oh, the merry month of May! Apparently I spent most of it with my nose in a book. How about you?

During May, I made progress on my TBR 21 in '21 and Mt. TBR Challenges, but read nothing for the Vintage Mystery Challenge. I read one more for the European Reading Challenge and three for the Back to the Classics Challenge.

Here are the 14 books I read in May, in the order I read them, not the order they are stacked in the picture. Spot anything that looks good? 

Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks, spot on and couldn’t be more timely. (TBR 21 in '21) 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Consequences by Penelope Lively, an excellent novel about three generations of women. (Mt. TBR) 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald, her fictionalized and lighthearted story of pre-WWII life on a chicken ranch in the PNW rainforest. This one counts as the "new to me author" pick for the Back to the Classics Challenge. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Day of the Jack Russell by Colin Bateman, the hilarious second book in his Mystery Man series. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Orchids & Salami by Eva Gabor, the most random book on my shelf, a TBR 21 in '21 pick and my "Hungary" pick for the European Reading Challenge. 🌹🌹🌹

The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe, his fascinating critique of linguistics, Darwinism, and a lot more! (Mt. TBR) 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Jeeves in the Offing by P. G. Wodehouse, always funny. (Mt. TBR) 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Dead Bell by Reid Winslow, a page-turner of a new mystery out this fall. Check back for my review and look for the book this September -- it may just have a Rose City Reader blurb on the back cover! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, historical fiction about Depression-era orphans, Indian Schools, tent revivals, and other sad things by someone who really doesn’t like alcohol. (Book Club pick) 🌹🌹🌹

The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer, a memoir of growing up in a bar by someone who really did like alcohol. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Private Patient by P. D. James, the final book in her Adam Dalgliesh series. (Mt. TBR) 🌹🌹🌹🌹

A Really Big Lunch by Jim Harrison, a collection of later food essays by one of my favorite authors. (TBR 21 in '21) 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Mark Hampton: An American Decorator by Duane Hampton, a delightful anchor to my coffee table book collection. (Mt. TBR) 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham, a reread of an all time favorite. Every few years, I listen again to the audiobook narrated by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame and love it even more! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

How did May treat you? Anything good in store for June?

BEST COVER OF THE MONTH

April Wrap Up -- My April Books

APRIL WRAP UP

April showers brought these May flowers! And a basket of books I read in April.

I continued to make progress on my TBR 21 in '21 and Mt. TBR Challenges and the Vintage Mystery Challenge. I read one that could count for the European Reading Challenge, although it is not a challenging pick. I am not making much progress on the Back to the Classics Challenge so need to pay more attention to that one in the months ahead.

Here are the 11 books I read in April, in the order I read them, not the order in the picture. There wasn't a dull read in the bunch. 

See any favorites or anything that looks good?

MY APRIL BOOKS

The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam. This is the second in her Old Filth trilogy. I read the first, Old Filth, last month. Wonderful books! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Last Friends  by Jane Gardam, the last book in the trilogy. I am glad I read them straight through to get the most out of the experience. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Slightly Foxed, No. 60, edited by Gail Pirkis. Hubby got me a subscription for my birthday and this 2018 back issue from eBay so he would have something to wrap. I started by reading it and loved it, of course. I'm counting these as "books" read so I can keep track of which ones I finish. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Apropos of Nothing, Woody Allen’s new autobiography (not shown because I read it with my ears). I wanted to read this because of all the controversy and am glad I did. He reads the audiobook himself, which I like with nonfiction. It is also really funny. This was a surprising highlight of the month. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Dead Cert by Dick Francis, his first novel, published in 1962 and showing the hallmarks of his always-satisfying stories. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers, more vintage mystery. This one a deserved classic. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Obasan by Joy Kogawa is on the Erica Jong Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women list and has been on my TBR shelf a long time. It is about Japanese Canadians during WWII. I am familiar with the history of interned Japanese Americans during WWII, but knew nothing about what happened to Japanese Canadians living in British Columbia during and after the war. Heartbreaking. It is excellent novel and a moving novel. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton, vintage mystery short stories. (Free on Kindle, by the way.) 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Florence King Reader is an introduction to this eccentric, hilarious, impossible to categorize writer. It has samples from all her books. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Faithful Place by Tana French. I’m slowly making my way through Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series. This one is the third in the series and my favorite so far. In general, I enjoy them tremendously but find they all get a bit soft in the middle. This counts as my "Ireland" book for the European Reading Challenge. 

How They Decorated: Inspiration from Great Women of the Twentieth Century by P. Gaye Tapp, Foreword by Charlotte Moss, is another beautiful book published by Rizzoli. This was  part of my project to read all my coffee table books. This one inspired a mantel makeover, which was long overdue. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

What were your favorite April books? Or are you already deep into your May reading?

MOST BEAUTIFUL APRIL COVER

March Wrap Up - My March Books

MONTHLY WRAP UP

MARCH

March was a good reading month for me. I didn't have a clunker in the bunch. I continued to climb Mt. TBR, as seven of the ten books I read had been on my shelf before the year started. Some have been around a long, long time! 

Two of these were books for my TBR 21 in '21 Challenge (Old Filth and The Library Book). The other five TBR books count toward my Mt. TBR Challenge goal of 60 total off my TBR shelves. Otherwise, I made no progress on my 2021 reading challenges.

Here is the list, in the order I read them, not the order in the picture:

The Lighthouse by P. D. James. This is the penultimate book in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series. This may be my favorite of all mystery series, so I hate to see it end, although I plan to read the last book, The Private Patient, this year. I don't usually keep mystery books after I finish them, but I keep all my P. D. James books because I can see myself rereading all of them one day.  🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Anglophile's Notebook by Sunday Taylor. This was a charming romance with a literary theme and a bit of a mystery. This was one of the three new books I read last month. I got a review copy and my review is on it's way! 🌹🌹🌹🌹
 
The Midnight Line by Lee Child. I was a diehard Reacher Creature, and this one was pretty good, but after 22 books, I think I’m fading on the series. I read that Lee Child decided to retire and is turning the series over to his brother, who is also an author. There are two more books after Midnight Line written by Lee Child, then two written by Lee Child and his brother Andrew Child (both pen names, by the way). I plan to read the last two Lee-only book and call it quits. I'll retire along with Lee. 🌹🌹🌹🌹
 
The Library Book by Susan Orlean, which is a history of the Los Angeles Public Library using the devastating 1986 fire at the central, downtown branch as the organizing feature. This was a fascinating book. It makes me want to read more of Orlean's books, many of which are on my TBR shelves. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
 
A Visual Life: Scrapbooks, Collages, and Inspirations by Charlotte Moss. I loved this gorgeous book, which I read as part of my project to read all my coffee table books. I'm trying to read one a month. 🌹🌹🌹🌹
 
Missing Joseph by Elizabeth George, book six in her Inspector Linley series, another fave of mine. I read this one with my ears, even though the book book was on my shelves. Focusing my audiobook borrowing on my existing TBR shelf is one of my reading resolutions for 2021. 🌹🌹🌹🌹
 
On The Wealth of Nations: Books That Changed the World by P. J. O’Rourke, which I read to bone up on an Adam Smith study group I’m in this year. 🌹🌹🌹🌹
 
Old Filth by Jane Gardam. I finally read this and loved it! I've already raced through the other two books in the trilogy, which will show up in my April wrap up. What a wonderful story of marriage, friendship, and the legal profession! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
 
One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters, book two in her Brother Cadfael series. This was the second new (to me) book I read. It was not on my shelf and I borrowed the audiobook from the library. I’m not sure I will stick with this series. I have so many others I prefer, including her George Felse series. This one just isn't grabbing me as much as it does other people. Am I wrong? 🌹🌹🌹
 
Mystery Man by Colin Bateman. Oh my! I laughed so much when I listened to this!  I looked like a mad woman, walking around my neighborhood park, snorting with laughter. This was a new to me book and author my law partner insisted I read with my ears. She gifted me the audiobook from Audible. Why have I never found his books before? I loved the narrator's Irish accent and now I can't wait to listen to the other three books in this hilarious mystery series. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

February Wrap Up -- My February Books

FEBRUARY WRAP UP

Um, March is speeding along, almost over, and I just realized I forgot to post my February wrap up post! This is why I skipped bookish New Year's resolutions in the past -- just like all New Year's resolutions, they never last longer than a month.

But it takes repetition to create a new habit. So I am posting now, several weeks late. My intention is to post my March wrap up post in a timely manner and try to get in the habit of posting a wrap up post of the prior month's reads early each month. Baby steps.

In February, I continued my plan to try to choose as audiobooks (which I borrow from the library for the most part) those books already on my TBR shelf. It may seem silly to borrow a book I already own, but there are so many books on my TBR shelves it will take me at least 15 years to read them all at the rate I'm going. I need to speed things up and borrowing the audiobook edition from the library is my plan for doing it. 

I'm also trying to finish, or at least work on, some of the mystery series I've started. And I'm trying to read at least one coffee table book each month to justify my ever-expanding collection of these oversized beauties.

Here are the 13 books I read in February, in the order I read them, not the order in the picture.

MY FEBRUARY BOOKS

 
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I was slow to get on the Backman bandwagon, but I’m all on now. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers, a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery and highlight of the month. I read this one with my ears and it is one of the few in the series I do not own in a paper edition. I am close to finishing the series and hope to do so this year. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Murder in the Bastille by Cara Black, who does for Paris what Donna Leon does for Venice. This was another audiobook not on my TBR shelf. I own several from later in the series and want to fill in so I can read them. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Reflex by Dick Francis. I love his horse-racing themed mysteries. I read this one with my ears although I had a beat up paperback as you can see in the picture. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for their Libraries by Estelle Ellis, Caroline Seebohm, and Christopher Simon Sykes. A gorgeous coffee table book with useful information and lots of inspiration. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Fear of Fifty by Erica Jong. I meant to read this, her midlife memoir, when I turned 50 and finally got to it now for my 55th birthday last month. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, the one new book I read last month. I read it because it won the Booker Prize. I could have done with 100 times more Shuggie and one tenth of Agnes. Grim. 🌹🌹🌹

Whip Hand, also by Dick Francis, which won the Edgar Award for best mystery in 1980. I read the three Sid Halley books out of order (3, 1, 2) and they were all great, but I wish I had read them in order. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

 
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, which was a reread for me and I loved it even more this time around. It is so funny! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle, the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel. It was very good! I set out to read all the Sherlock Holmes books in order. I still have two books of short stories to get through and then I’ll be finished. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Three Men on the Bummel, also by Jerome K. Jerome. Also really funny, especially his descriptions of Germans liking to tidy up their forests – so true! He wrote it in 1900 and we tease our German cousins today about tidying the forests. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount. This was beautiful and entertaining – and greatly expanded my wish list. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, which I’m glad I finally read. I don’t understand the Spanish Civil War any better than before, but at least I understand why I don’t understand it. This will be my Spain book for the 2021 European Reading Challenge. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The prettiest cover of the month!

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers - BOOK BEGINNING

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Back again for another Book Beginnings on Fridays. I don't know what it's like where you are, but here in Portland, it is cold! Cold and damp and the rain is coming back tomorrow. This is exactly the kind of winter weekend that calls for an old-fashioned murder mystery.

Which is why I'm hunkering down with The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. This is the ninth novel in Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series and was published in 1934. It is my first read for the 2021 Vintage Mystery Challenge hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block. It counts as my "Murder by the Numbers" entry in the Golden Era category (mysteries published before 1960).

Please share your book beginning here by sharing a link to the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are highlighting this week. Share a link to your blog post or social media post if you play along on Instagram, Facebook, or some other social media that generates a link. If you just want to leave your opening sentence in a comment below, that's fine too! Make sure to tell us the name of the book and th author!

If you link to social media or post on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From The Nine Tailors:

"That's torn it!" said Lord Peter Wimsey.

That first line doesn't tell you much, but the opening scene is a good one. Lord Peter and his butler Bunter have driven into a ditch in a snowstorm on New Year's Eve. They take refuge with the parson of the local church and become embroiled in a local murder that may be linked to the theft of an emerald necklace 15 years earlier. 

The title has nothing to do with sewing clothes. Nine Tailors refers to the tradition of tolling nine church bells when a man dies. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

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THE FRIDAY 56 

Another weekly teaser event is The Friday 56, hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice, where you can find details and add a link to your post. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book you are featuring. You can also find a teaser from 56% of the way through your ebook or audiobook.

MY FRIDAY 56

Fenchurch St. Paul is the smallest village, and has neither river nor railway; it is, however, the oldest; its church is by far the largest and the noblest, and its bells beyond question the finest. This is due to the fact that St. Paul is the original abbey foundation.

There is a lot about bells, the old church, and village life in this one. It is right up my alley!

Any other Dorothy L. Sayers fans? It's one of my favorite series. I hope to finish all the novels this year -- I only have two more to go after this. I haven't read the short stories yet and will save them for another day.

January Wrap Up - My January Books

JANUARY WRAP UP

One of my bookish New Year's resolutions was to try to post monthly wrap ups of the books I read each month. I haven't done this in the past because I read so many books with my ears that I don't have book books to photograph. I also often give books away right when I finish reading them so don't have a complete stack to take a picture of at the end of the month. 

Because I made this resolution -- let's call it an intention, it's less than a resolution -- I did two things. First, I remembered to keep the books I finished reading until the end of the month so I could take a picture of them. Important. 

Second, I concentrated my audiobook selection on books that were already on my TBR shelves. This might sound silly to you. Why chose an audiobook when the perfectly good paper book is sitting right there, waiting to be read? I'll tell you. Because some of those books have been sitting on my TBR shelves for years - years! According to LibraryThing, there are over 1,700 physical books on my groaning TBR shelves. It could be many more years before I get to any particular book. So I decided to start reading some of them with my ears and clearing off those shelves just a tiny bit faster.

The result is that I managed to knock nine books off my TBR shelves, reread an old favorite, read one new one for book club, and still get in two audiobooks not otherwise on my shelves. 

MY JANUARY BOOKS

My January books, in the order I read them, not the order in this picture, were:

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. A friend gave this to me and I read it on New Year's Day. It is charming and I understand its popularity. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Lucky Jim by Kinglsey Amis made me appreciate this old favorite even more than when I first read it in college. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Red and the Black by Stendhal. This was a clunker for me. I found the hero, Julien Sorel, unbearable. 🌹🌹

Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow. I'm not much of a Doctorow fan and was surprised how much I enjoyed this one. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Now Now, But NOW by M. F. K. Fisher. This is Fisher's only novel. I read it for book club. It's an odd book, really four short stories about the same character, set in four different times and places, so connected by time travel. It was like Orlando, written by Colette, commissioned by Gourmet magazine. I'm glad I read it but I prefer her nonfiction. 🌹🌹🌹

Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter. This is on the Erica Jong list of Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women and on my Classics Club list. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. This is one of the audiobooks I read that isn't pictured. Another bookish resolution of mine is to read several C. S. Lewis books this year. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis. Another audiobook. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Pale Morning Light with Violet Swan by Deborah Reed. I loved this book! See my review here. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan. This was a nice surprise. It was much better, with a lot more heft to it, than the cover and description led me to expect. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. I've been meaning to read this classic sci-fi forever and am glad I finally did. I didn't love it like I loved War of the Worlds, but it was still very good. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. This early police procedural didn’t engage me, even though it won the Edgar Award for best mystery. It felt like a prototype compared to more recent versions of Nordic Noir like Jo Nesbo’s books. And the female characters were absurd – “nymphomaniacs,” shrews, or dipsos. 🌹🌹

On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist by Clarissa Ward. I just finished this gripping memoir about being a war correspondent. Can’t wait to discuss it at book club! 🌹🌹🌹🌹

I usually only read eight, maybe nine, books in a month. I don't know why I finished 13 in January. We will see what February has in store. 

What was your favorite January read? What books are you looking forward to in February? 

TBR 21 in '21 Challenge - REVIEW PAGE

REVIEW PAGE

FOR THE TBR 21 IN '21 CHALLENGE

January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE, HERE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle and the name of the book you reviewed. Please link to your review post and not your blog home page or main social media profile page.

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LINKS

When you review a book for the TBR 21 in '21 Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, not the main page of your blog or social media account.

You can participate in this challenge even if you do not have a blog. If you review books on social media, use the link from your social media review post in the Link box above. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment or email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com. 

If you have trouble adding your link, leave it in a comment and I will add it or email me your link at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com and I will add it for you. Please put your name and the name of the book you reviewed in the comment or email. Thanks!

BOOKS AND REVIEWS

The idea of the challenge is to pick 21 books off your TBR shelf and read them in 2021. But it's supposed to be fun! If you change your mind, switch books! 

You do not have to review books to complete the TBR 21 in '21 Challenge. 

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! Please still link to the updated post. 

The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

This week I'm reading a 1968 classic Swedish mystery, The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. I wanted to get a jump on all the 2021 reading challenges I signed up for and this one counts for several:

• The Vintage Mystery Challenge: This one counts for my pick in the Killed in Translation category for my Silver Age challenge. Bev at My Reader's Block, the host of the challenge, defines "Silver Age" mysteries as those published between 1960 and 1989.

• The Mt. TBR Challenge because this has been on my TBR shelf for eight years. 

• The Back to the Classics Challenge: Again, I'm counting this one in the translation category. It shows up on several classic crime lists and is over 50 years old so meets the general definition used by Karen at Books and Chocolate, the host of this challenge.

• The European Reading Challenge: I host this one myself. It used to be difficult for me to find Scandinavian books for the challenge but not so since I started reading "Nordic Noir" mystery books. 

I like giving myself that big jolt of accomplishment of getting a book done for all the challenges. It makes me want to keep reading!

What are you reading this week? Any books for challenges you signed up for?

Please share the opening sentence (or so) of your book you are enjoying this week. Add the link to your blog or social media post in the linky box below. As always, if you post or share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings so we can find each other. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From The Laughing Policeman: 

On the evening of the thirteenth of November it was pouring in Stockholm.

Maj Sjöwall and her husband Per Wahlöö wrote ten crime novels featuring Stockholm police detective Martin Beck. The Laughing Policeman is the fourth book in the series.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

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THE FRIDAY 56

Another fun Friday event is The Friday 56. Share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your book, or 56% of the way through your e-book or audiobook, on this weekly event hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

Martin Beck should, therefore, know most of what there was to know about him. 

Oddly enough, he didn't know very much.

Enjoy your book and enjoy your weekend! See you next week for another Book Beginning on Friday!