QuestingA's 2023 ROOT Challenge

2022 again saw more books added to the pile than were read. This year I will try and read 50 books I already owned before 01 January.



Books Read: 57
Fiction: 52
Non-Fiction: 5
Date updated: 23 September

New books: 73
Books from sister: 10
Total new books: 83

1. Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley

I started reading this last year and finished it this year.

2. The Crossing Places by Elly Griffith's

I've owned this for a number of years, I've forgotten how many.

Happy Reading in 2023. Cheers!

Good luck for this year's goal! Hope you enjoy your chosen books.

Thanks rocketjk and Jackie_K!

I don't normally count books I can read in less than 1/2 a day, but I already added this to the tally of books acquired so now it's been read....

3. Spiralling: A Slow Descent into Madness Stories by writers from Sir John Colfax School, Dorset

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

Three ROOTs already! You're on a roll!

Happy New Year, QA and welcome to a new year of ROOTing

Thanks rabbitprincess, MissWatson and Connie! I'm looking forward to reading your threads and enjoying another year of reading with you all.

4. Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake

I think this has been on the pile since 2017.

5. Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler

No idea how long I've had this. Possibly since 2017, considering it's place in the pile.

6. Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges

This has also been on the pile since 2017, according to the docket inside.

7. The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde

This was given to me last year. We're reading it for my bookgroup.

>14 QuestingA: I hope you like it. I enjoyed it a lot. Of course, I'm just generally a sucker for Fforde's world view and sense of humor.

>15 rocketjk: Hi rocketjk, I'm alo a Jasper Fforde fan. I've read everything except Early Riser. With The Constant Rabbit I enjoyed the puns and was upset by the terrible world they lived in. The mix of unsettling dystopia, social commentary and clever puns is unusual. The book group in general agreed that it's a difficult mix.

8. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino and translated by William Weaver

This also had a receipt in it from 2017.

>16 QuestingA: " The book group in general agreed that it's a difficult mix."

Certainly a fair assessment in my view, as well. Shades of Grey also had some of the elements you're speaking of. It seems to me fairly clear that Fforde is a bit tired of only being humorous and clever and is purposefully pushing into more weighted social commentary.

9. The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns

I bought this last year.

10. The Edinburgh Mystery: And Other Tales of Scottish Crime edited by Martin Edwards

This came into the house last year. Short stories I've been reading at night.

11. Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer

I bought this last year.

Hi QA, Just popping in to see what you've been reading.

>22 connie53: Hi Connie. Hope you're well. I started the year attacking one of the floor-piles, but book group now dictates what I read. As usual. That and trying to keep on top of the British Library's crime classics, which I'm collecting.

12. Post After Post-Mortem by E.C.R Lorac

This became part of the pile last year.

13. The Seat of the Scornful by John Dickson Carr

Added to the pile last year.

14. The Chianti Flask by Marie Belloc Lowndes

This was added to the pile in 2021.

15. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

This has been on the pile since 2017.

16. Tales of Japan: Traditional Stories of Monsters and Magic illustrated by Kotaro Chiba

I bought this in 2021.

17. London Falling by Paul Cornell

Going on which pile this was in I'd say I bought it in 2017.

18. Crook O' Lune by E.C.R. Lorac

I bought this last year

19. Death on the Down Beat by Sebastian Farr

This was added to the pile last year.

20. Russian Tales: Traditional Tales of Quests and Enchantment illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

This was added to the pile last year.

21. Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov and translated by George Bird

This came from my sister last year. She read it with her book group.

22. Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards

I bought this in 2021.

23. The Mysterious Mr. Badman by W.F. Harvey

I bought this last year.

24. Dracula by Bram Stoker

I bought this copy last year, although it is also technically a re-read.

25. Dangerous Women: Fifty Reflections on Women, Power and Identity edited by Jo Shaw, Ben Fletcher-Watson and Abrisham Ahmadzadeh

I bought this last year.

26. Death of Jezebel by Christianna Brand

I bought this last year.

27. Fault Lines by Emily Itami

My sister passed this onto me last year. I think she read it with one of her book groups. It was good.

28. The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

This has been on the pile since 2021.

Hi QA, I hope you are doing fine. The reading is steadily going strong I see. I loved the book in >40 QuestingA:.
I hope you did that too.

29. I am Stone: The Weird Gothic Tales of R. Murray Gilchrist edited by Daniel Petersen

This has been on the pile since 2021.

>41 connie53: Hi Connie, as usual at this point in the year my "books acquired" are way outpacing my reading!

I mostly liked The Devil and the Dark Water, but thought the ending almost ruined it. With Evelyn Hardcastle I found it easier to separate the ending in my head and appreciate the novel despite the terrible ending.

Hope you're well.

30. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Not sure how long this has been on the pile. Several years.

31. Black Day at the Bosphorus Café by M. H. Baylis

Again, not sure how long this has been on the pile, possibly since 2015.