Vestafan ROOTs still further!

Keskustelu2020 ROOT CHALLENGE

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Vestafan ROOTs still further!

1vestafan
tammikuu 8, 2020, 9:13 am

After my successful achievement of my goal of 50 ROOTs in 2019, I have decided to go for 60 ROOTS this year! A bit of a stretch but I hope I can make it. I call anything bought before the end of 2019 a ROOT.

2MissWatson
tammikuu 8, 2020, 10:19 am

Welcome back and good luck with your ROOTing!

3Robertgreaves
tammikuu 8, 2020, 10:47 am

Happy ROOTing, vestafan

4mstrust
tammikuu 8, 2020, 12:33 pm

Happy ROOTing!

5Jackie_K
tammikuu 8, 2020, 1:33 pm

Good luck with your goal - I increased mine to 60 too this year.

6connie53
tammikuu 8, 2020, 3:16 pm

Welcome back, Sue! Happy ROOTing.

7rabbitprincess
tammikuu 8, 2020, 7:30 pm

Welcome back and good luck with your new goal!

8vestafan
tammikuu 31, 2020, 10:34 am

Thank you to everyone for their good wishes! I have got off to a good start this year, reading:

Cold Comfort by Quentin Bates- one of a series of Icelandic crime novels
Dark Pines by Will Dean - first in a new Scandi-crime series - don't live in deeply rural Sweden!
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore - a historical novel set in late 18th century Bristol
Thinking On My Feet by Kate Humble - a memoir of the joys and benefits of walking
Bookworm by Lucy Mangan - a memoir of childhood reading
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry - an interesting historical novel set in the Victorian era, dealing with the conflict between faith and science
and
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson - first in a series of books imagining Agatha Christie's involvement in crime in her real life

9mstrust
tammikuu 31, 2020, 10:53 am

All ROOTs? You're off to a great start.

10connie53
helmikuu 2, 2020, 3:17 am

Wow, Sue. Great job.

11vestafan
helmikuu 29, 2020, 6:16 pm

I've managed 5 ROOTs this month:

Chilled to the Bone by Quentin Bates
Winterlude by Quentin Bates
Come and Find Me by Sarah Hilary
Bones of the Buried by David Roberts
and
The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

All these are crime novels and three are Icelandic! A bit of a theme here. I also recommend Sarah Hilary - her Marnie Rome novels are really gripping, although the themes can be quite harrowing.

12mstrust
maaliskuu 1, 2020, 4:01 pm

Excellent! You're really sticking to it.

13vestafan
maaliskuu 31, 2020, 10:16 am

Thank you! I'm enjoying it.

14vestafan
maaliskuu 31, 2020, 10:29 am

Due to current circumstances, I've done quite a bit of reading this month and have got through eight (!) ROOTs:

Summerchill by Quentin Bates
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Hollow by Agatha Christie
Home by Harlan Coben
The Woods by Harlan Coben
Hell Bay by Kate Rhodes
Hollow Crown by David Roberts
Thank You Jeeves by P G Wodehouse

The Cobens were read due to recently having binge-watched The Stranger on Netflix, Hell Bay is the first of a promising new crime series set on the Scilly Isles, and P G Wodehouse just seemed right for this point in time.

15rabbitprincess
maaliskuu 31, 2020, 5:54 pm

Great set of reading this month! Glad to hear the Scilly series is promising.

16vestafan
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 30, 2020, 9:57 am

If you can find anything positive in the current situation, being able to read more is right up there (very grateful for my continuing good health and that of my family). I've managed to read eight more ROOTs this month:

Mourning the Little Dead by Jane A Adams
Dead Man's Time by Peter James
A Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh
Ax by Ed McBain
Ruin Beach by Kate Rhodes
Dangerous Sea by David Roberts
Educated by Tara Westover
and
The Code of the Woosters by P G Wodehouse

Tara Westover's memoir of her childhood outside the system and later achievements in higher mainstream education was a really compelling read. Surely I can't be the only reader who felt increasing anxiety as she kept returning to her parental home where she had experienced abuse from her brother but was never believed by her parents. By the end I felt emotionally exhausted.

17Jackie_K
huhtikuu 30, 2020, 11:29 am

>16 vestafan: You're right, Educated was a compelling but exhausting read. I must admit I was frustrated by the lack of detail about how she became PhD-standard, but other than that thought it was an amazing read - she really knows how to write!

18connie53
toukokuu 11, 2020, 3:53 am

Hi Sue. I agree with you about reading in these times. It's a kind of escape from reality and I do a lot of that. Keep safe.

19vestafan
toukokuu 31, 2020, 5:15 am

Thanks for your kind thoughts. Happy to report all is still well here (fingers crossed).

20vestafan
toukokuu 31, 2020, 5:23 am

I've read 7 ROOTs this month. It might have been more but I've discovered how to borrow ebooks from the public library so got a bit distracted! Anyway, the ROOTs I did read were:

Seven Dead by J Jefferson Farjeon
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (puts the current lockdown into perspective)
The Pusher by Ed McBain
The More Deceived by David Roberts
Normal People by Sally Rooney (now I can watch the BBC dramatization!)
How to Read a Novel by John Sutherland
and
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

21Jackie_K
toukokuu 31, 2020, 6:48 am

>20 vestafan: I finally got round to borrowing library ebooks too this month! So much temptation, though thankfully due to (probably) my technical incompetence, my ereader only lets me open non-DRM protected books, so I don't have quite such a range of temptation now!

22vestafan
kesäkuu 30, 2020, 10:04 am

My ROOTs this month were:

Thin Ice by Quentin Bates
The Summer School Mystery by Josephine Bell
A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
All Change by Elizabeth Jane Howard - a satisfying concluding volume in the Cazalet Chronicles
A Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh
Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh
Silenced by Kristina Ohlsson
and
Right Ho Jeeves by P G Wodehouse

Most of these are quite light reads - I do seem to be finding sustained concentration hard in these distracting times.

23rabbitprincess
kesäkuu 30, 2020, 6:10 pm

Light reads are where it's at for me these days, too. I've been bingeing the British Library Crime Classics on offer in my library's electronic collection.

24vestafan
kesäkuu 30, 2020, 6:41 pm

I've enjoyed some of those too, although as with Christie and Ngaio Marsh, some of the attitudes to race and class are 'of their time'!

25connie53
heinäkuu 15, 2020, 3:13 am

>22 vestafan: Strange how that works. I find big complicated books distracting in these Corona-times

26vestafan
heinäkuu 31, 2020, 11:20 am

I think the disappearance of the usual routines and activities makes time rather open-ended with no time pressure!

27vestafan
heinäkuu 31, 2020, 11:24 am

Six ROOTs read this month:

James Acaster's Classic Scrapes by James Acaster - essentially a book of anecdotes, but they are very funny
The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson
Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson
Joy in the Morning by P G Wodehouse

28vestafan
elokuu 31, 2020, 11:44 am

Five more ROOTs read during August:

A Bleeding of Innocents by Jo Bannister
A Long Way to Verona by Jane Gardam
Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh
The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood
Carry On, Jeeves by P G Wodehouse

29connie53
syyskuu 5, 2020, 4:27 am

Hi Sue. Just popping in to say Hi! and see how you are doing with your ROOTs. Are you anywhere near your goal?

30vestafan
syyskuu 30, 2020, 4:01 am

>29 connie53: Hi - pleased to say that I've actually reached it this month! I think the lockdown has contributed to this. However, I'm about to visit a bookshop for the first time since January so the TBR list is about to increase again!

31vestafan
syyskuu 30, 2020, 4:18 am

I've managed to read 8 ROOTs this month. This surprises even me, but it's what my list says so I'd better believe it.

The books are:

My Dog Tulip by J R Ackerley - set in the 1940s and 50s, a middle aged writer unexpectedly acquires a German Shepherd dog and becomes besotted with her - well written but somewhat obsessed with defecation and mating!
The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson - a good historical crime novel by an author new to me - recommended and looking forward to reading the next in the series
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - my reading group book, and one I had meant to get around to for ages - a substantial read but well worth the effort
The Virgin and the Gipsy by D H Lawrence
Sensation by Isabel Losada
Killer's Choice by Ed McBain
Redemption by Jill McGown
and
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers

32mstrust
syyskuu 30, 2020, 2:08 pm

Excellent! I don't think I've read that many Roots in any month so far.

33rabbitprincess
syyskuu 30, 2020, 6:31 pm

>31 vestafan: An excellent month! Hope you had a good time at the bookstore :D

34connie53
lokakuu 3, 2020, 3:05 am

Congrats on reaching your goal, Sue!

35vestafan
lokakuu 31, 2020, 7:39 am

I decided to press on with my ROOTs project for the year, just to see how many I can read in a year (although this year has been so strange it's unlikely to be repeated). So, I got through seven more this month:

Misogynation by Laura Bates
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Off with his Head by Ngaio Marsh
'Til Death by Ed McBain
Sanctum by Denise Mina
The Unlucky Lottery by Hakan Nesser
and
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My main comment would be that the Marsh and Christie really show their age, with racial slurs and stereotypes that jar. To a certain extent, so does the McBain - all women seem to want is marriage, no matter how capable and intelligent they are. All these issues come with the era in which they were written, but they do shock.

36vestafan
marraskuu 30, 2020, 6:10 pm

My November has included four ROOTs:

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Charioteer by Mary Renault
and
The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

37connie53
joulukuu 21, 2020, 7:56 am

Hi Sue, good to read you got to get some more ROOTs done. Congrats!

I hope you stay safe and have a good Christmas.

38connie53
joulukuu 25, 2020, 6:51 am



Happy Holidays from the Netherlands!

39vestafan
joulukuu 30, 2020, 9:54 am

>37 connie53: Thanks for your good wishes. Picking this up after Christmas so I hope you have a happy and positive New Year.

40vestafan
joulukuu 30, 2020, 10:12 am

Looking at my final list of ROOTs this year, I'm amazed I got so many read! This month I've finished:

Natives by Akala
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
One Woman's Year by Stella Martin Currey
The Steel Kiss by Jeffrey Deaver
The Christmas Card Crime and other stories edited by Martin Edwards
and
You Learn By Living by Eleanor Roosevelt

41rabbitprincess
joulukuu 30, 2020, 10:18 am

Hurray, an excellent month! I liked The Christmas Card Crime collection.

42connie53
joulukuu 30, 2020, 10:37 am

>39 vestafan: Thanks. It can't be worse than this year. I hope everyone has a very good 2021.

43Jackie_K
joulukuu 30, 2020, 10:48 am

I've got Natives on the pile for 2021 - I've heard lots of good things about it.