Sarah's 2015 ROOT Challenge

Back again for another year with still more books patiently waiting on the shelves to be read. I'm going to aim for 30 books that I owned before 1st Jan 2015, and try not to get too distracted by the shiny new books that are bound to wind their way on to my bookshelves.




1. Bad Blood by Mark Sennen 23/01/15
2. The Yard by Alex Grecian 30/01/15
3. Still Life by Louise Penny 12/02/15
4. Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie 19/02/15
5. The Sanctuary Seeker by Bernard Knight 04/03/15
6. The Last Templar by Michael Jecks 13/03/15
7. Eeny Meeny by M. J. Arlidge 09/04/15
8. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett 14/04/15
9. The Head Case by Bill Rogers 07/05/15
10. Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride 22/05/15
11. A Cold Day For Murder by Dana Stabenow 29/05/15
12. Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen 10/06/15
13. Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers 12/06/15
14. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters 14/06/15
15. Extraordinary People by Peter May 19/07/15
16. Ghost in the Machine by Ed James 19/07/15
17. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch 24/07/15
18. American Assassin by Vince Flynn 29/09/15
19. Savage Run by C. J. Box 13/10/15
20. Killing Hope by Keith Houghton 31/10/15
21. The Wrath of Angels by John Connolly 31/10/15
22. Stark Contrasts by Peter Carroll 05/11/15
23. The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill 16/11/15
24. The Wolf in Winter by John Connolly 02/12/15
25. Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser 12/12/15
26. Cop Hater by Ed McBain 18/12/15
27. The Shadows in the Street by Susan Hill 29/12/15

Good luck with your rooting!

Welcome back and good luck!

Happy ROOTing, Sarah!

I keep forgetting to add books here when I finish them, so I have a few to report

Finished Book #1 Bad Blood by Mark Sennen (can't find the right touchstone for this), #2 The Yard by Alex Grecian and #3 Still Life by Louise Penny.

Woot! Congrats on your progress!

Good job, Sarah!!

Nice start!

Finished Book #4 Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie and Book #5 The Sanctuary Seeker by Bernard Knight

Enjoyed both of these and I have about ten of Bernard Knight's series waiting patiently to be read so I'll have to get on that soon.

Finished Book #6 The Last Templar by Michael Jecks

I seem to have been in a bit of a medieval mood lately. I really liked this, both the story and it's characters and I know there are over thirty books in this series to look forward too. Oh well, looks like I'll be visiting a bookshop (and/or Amazon) soon.

Finished Book #7 Eeny Meeny by M. J. Arlidge

Really enjoyed this one. The main character, Helen Grace is unlike any other female detective I've come across before and the other characters are all sympathetic and believable. Rather dark and gory but very fast paced.

Finished Book #8 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

For some reason I've always resisted reading the Discworld books, even when friends recommended them. I don't even really know why. Then last year I read The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter and absolutely loved it, so I picked up the first Discworld novel and added it to the TBR list. Needless to say I'll be buying more sooner rather than later.

Finished Book #9 The Head Case by Bill Rogers

Really liked the story, but the kindle version needs to be edited as it is littered with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I'll definitely get around to the next one in the series at some point in the near future.

>13 sarahbradshaw: I hate it when that happens! That takes away a lot of the fun.

>14 connie53: Yeah, it takes you out of the story while you're trying to figure out what the author actually meant to say.

Finished Book #10 Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride

From Manchester, England to Aberdeen, Scotland. I love finding new crime series (not that I'm in dire need or anything), and the Logan McRae books are going on my list. There are some fantastic characters and his descriptions bring the snow cover city of Aberdeen to life. Enjoyed this one a lot.

Half way! Good job.

Finished Book #11 A Cold Day For Murder by Dana Stabenow

If I remember correctly, I got this as a freebie on Kindle sometime last year after it was recommended to me by a friend. Full of clever dialogue and humour and well drawn characters, I'm glad I listened to her recommendation. Although maybe my next read should be something without 'cold' in the title.

Finished Book #12 Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen, Book #13 Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayer and Book #14 Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

I read these while I was away on holiday for a few days recently and had some time to do nothing but read and relax. Three very different books which I've been looking forward to for awhile now and I'm happy to have finally got around to them.

Finished Book #15 Extraordinary People by Peter May and Book #16 Ghost in the Machine by Ed James

Two more holiday reads. I'm not sure yet what I think about the first one, the plot was interesting and intelligent and I wanted to keep reading to learn what had happened, but I found myself not particularly caring for any of the characters, including the main one, Enzo MacLeod. Not sure if I'll be continuing this series.

Finished Book #17 Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Definitely my favourite book of the year so far. I loved the writing, the humour and the characters (which includes London) and the story kept me interested until the end. I'd already ordered the next two in the series before I'd finished this one. Can't wait to get stuck in.

>20 sarahbradshaw: It is a fun series! Enjoy! :)

Finished Book #18 American Assassin by Vince Flynn

Wow, I didn't realise it had been two months since I'd read any ROOT's, I've been distracted by new shiny books. Hopefully I'll get back to reading them semi-regularly again.

I enjoyed this one. I read the original first four or so of this series quite a while back and it was interesting to see a familiar character when they were younger and just starting out.

>22 sarahbradshaw: Good to see you again, Sarah!

>23 connie53: Thank you. Good to see you, too.

Finished Book #19 Savage Run by C. J. Box

The second book in the Joe Pickett series. I'm still on the fence about this series, I liked the first and this one was enjoyable enough. I don't even know what it is about them that rubs me the wrong way. I have the third book so I'll probably read that one and see if I can put my finger on it.

Finished Booked #20 Killing Hope by Keith Houghton and Finished Book #21 The Wrath of Angels by John Connolly

I have absolutely loved the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly since I read the first two books back-to-back in 2000 and I've read them pretty much as soon as they came out since then, until a couple of years ago. For some reason I had the last three unread and I'm going to remedy that in short order. Some of my favourite characters ever come from this series and it's good to catch up with them and Connolly's superb writing style and prose.

>25 sarahbradshaw: That happens to me sometimes too, Sarah. Books by certain writers are bought immediately and then they stay upon this SoonTBR pile. You intend to start reading them in a few days, but you forget about them.

Finished Book #22 Stark Contrasts by Peter Carroll

A terrific, quick read that had me hooked from the start. This book is about revenge, but vengeance out of all proportion to the so called 'crime'. An interesting look at vigilantism, with a good twist at the end. Enjoyed it.

Finished Books #23 The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill, #24 The Wolf in Winter by John Connolly, #25 Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser, #26 Cop Hater by Ed McBain and #27 The Shadows in the Street by Susan Hill

A few books to add all at once, I keep forgetting to record them on here when I finish them. I really liked all of these, particularly the John Connolly.

Woo hoo congrats on a bunch more ROOTs pulled!