Roberta (luvamystery65) tries to ROOT in 2016

Howdy! I'm Roberta. My house is way too small for all my books but I love books. I am going to try to read 50 of my books/ebooks/audiobooks this year but that may be too ambitious. I will challenge myself to 30.

Yay, Roberta's here! Nice to see you! Good luck with your challenge :)

>2 rabbitprincess: Now I'm scared because I have committed and the library is calling my name. LOL!

Howdy, Ro. I've always the same problem. Too many good books from the library. Happy ROOTing 2016.

Welcome Roberta! Good to see you. Happy ROOTing.

Welcome & Happy Rooting!

>3 luvamystery65: lol it happens.... ;)

Glad to see you back!

Hi Roberta! Good luck with your ROOT reading!

>4 Ameise1: >5 connie53: >6 avanders: >7 cyderry: >8 lkernagh: Thank you so much! I hope to knock some books off the shelf this year.

>9 connie53: & >10 Tess_W: Happy New Year!

Hi Roberta! Happy New Year and have a great year ROOTing!

>12 MissWatson: Thank you and Happy February.

January Roots Roundup

Three Slices by Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson & Chuck Wendig
The Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
Side Jobs by Jim Butcher
Zer0es by Chuck Wendig
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Unbecoming by Rebecca Sherm

February Roots Possibles

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Let the Right One In by JohnAjvide Lindqvist
The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher
A Bride's Story, Vol 4 by Kaoru Mori
A Bride's Story, Vol 5 by Kaoru Mori
A Bride's Story, Vol 6 by Kaoru Mori
Sandman Overture by Neil Gaiman

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (3 month read due to end in March but I may finish early)

That's an impressive number of ROOTs!

>14 MissWatson: Thank you! I am trying to read first from my shelves before looking elsewhere.

How is A Bride's Story? I have heard some good things about it, but would be glad to hear what you thought to help me decide whether I should pick it up!

>16 Caramellunacy: I read volumes 1-3 last year and the drawing is just gorgeous. It's a culture I am unfamiliar with it so I don't know how authentic it is. It's read back to front and right to left. That took some adjusting at first but now I am able to adjust much quicker when starting a new volume. Give volume 1 a try. If you love it then you are safe to read the rest. If you don't then I don't think the series will be your cup of tea.

>13 luvamystery65: Way to go!

>18 avanders: Thank you!

Off to a very good start!

February Roots Roundup

A Bride's Story, Vol. 4 by Kaoru Mori
A Bride's Story, Vol. 5 by Kaoru Mori
A Bride's Story, Vol. 6 by Kaoru Mori
The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Fairest by Marissa Meyer
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Sandman Overture by Neil Gaiman

March Roots Possibles

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson
A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman
The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

>21 luvamystery65: Ooh I really want to read that Rachel Held Evans book - I first discovered her when she was blogging during the year that she wrote it, and really like her writing.

>22 Jackie_K: I do love her blog Jackie. I think I started following it a couple of years ago. She has really evolved but I love her transparency. I don't read her blog regularly anymore. I binge read it every now and then. I bet it was really interesting as she was going through the process for that book.

I used to admire Rachel Held Evans, until she started blogging about politics and had some not so nice, and not necessarily true things to say about the religious right, imho she became what she was putting down in her own blog.

>24 Tess_W: I do know where you are coming from, but I have a soft spot for Evan. Her spiritual journey while not exactly the same as mine, is similar in sentiment. She often puts in words exactly what I'm thinking. She has been criticized by many for exactly what you have stated but she has also very publicly addressed that criticism and and tried to make amends. She definitely has detractors but I admire her for standing up for her beliefs. I also admire her for speaking up for the disenfranchised in the church.

I know she is not for everyone, nor should she be. I still haven't read her book yet, but it's moving up my queue. I hope we can agree to disagree on our opinion of her.

>25 luvamystery65: Of course, we can agree! Viva la difference!

Another good ROOT month for me!

March ROOT Roundup

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo
A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

Next month I have 3 on my possible lists. If I get more time I will try to tackle some of my GNs that have been waiting patiently.

April ROOT Possibles

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Emma: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen, Edited by Bharat Tandon

Woo hoo! Great work!

I'll be reading The Master and Margarita along with you, but in a library copy rather than in a ROOT. It's interesting so far but I've had to put it aside for a bit to get through some other library books.

April ROOT Roundup
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

May ROOT Possibles
The Whites by Richard Price/Harry Brandt
Deliver Us by Kathryn Casey

I'll see what else I come up with but no more planning than this.

Hi Roberta, Just passing and waving.

You're quite far along in your ROOTing goal - congrats on your success so far this year!

>30 connie53: Hi Connie!

>31 avanders: Thank you. I really want to knock out some of these books. It's so hard when something new and shiny distracts you.

May ROOT Roundup
The Whites by Richard Price/Harry Brandt
Deliver Us by Kathryn Casey
Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

June ROOT Possibles
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives edited by Sarah Weinman

>33 luvamystery65: A great May!

>33 luvamystery65: I read A Town Like Alice last year during a visit to Australia (I felt I had to pick it up when I saw it in the Alice Springs airport). It was quite dated in some ways (there's quite a bit of casual racism that kept throwing me out of the story as it seemed so out of place as the characters were otherwise good-hearted), but the underlying story of WWII and Japanese occupation of Malaysia is an incredibly interesting read, and the main female character Jean is pretty awesome, in my opinion. I'd love to hear what you think of it if you end up picking it up.

>33 luvamystery65: Thanks! I did better than my projections so I am very pleased.

>35 Caramellunacy: I'm excited to read it. I remember loving the the miniseries from 1981. I will keep in mind the racism and share my thoughts here. I have the audio so I'm looking forward to listening to this.

>33 luvamystery65: wow that's an emotionally heavy set of books in May! The Whites is on my wishlist.. how did you like it?
And I read Dept. of Speculation for my RL book group this year (or maybe last year).. what did you think of that one?
To the Lighthouse is on my longlist TBR...

>37 avanders: Dept of Speculation was good, but not memorable. I listened to the audio and I'm not sure if that influenced my opinion. The author narrated and I felt like I was listening to someone reading a story rather than being drawn into the story. Again, it's good, just not one I'll be raving about. Now, The Whites was a great read. It was well paced and written. A good police procedural with two mysteries going for it. I will look for more work by this author.

I really loved To the Lighthouse. My reaction surprised me. I'm not a fan of stream of consciousness writing but this worked for me. I do have to say that I was heavily influenced by reading the essay Woolf's Darkness by Rebecca Solnit in her collection Men Explain Things to Me. I also listened to the audio which was narrated by Juliet Stevenson. I absolutely love her narration. Those two things made To the Lighthouse a lovely experience for me. I've never read Woolf but now that I have I will continue to read her works and works about her.

>38 luvamystery65: interesting.. I might actually want to go back and listen to the audio to see how it changes my impression of the book...
Good info - I'll add To the Lighthouse on audio to my wishlist! :)

Hi Roberta, just dropping in to see what you have been reading!

I am way behind here!

June ROOT Roundup
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives edited by Sarah Weinman

July ROOT Roundup
H is for Hawk Helen Macdonald
The Reluctant Matador by Mark Pryor

>41 luvamystery65: Hey, you're back!

I always smile when I see A town like Alice mentioned. I read that one way back, but it must have left an impression in my mind to make me smile like that.

You met and passed your goal! Congratulations!!

Passed your goal! How did I miss that.

Woo hoo!!! :D

Congrats on reaching your goal!

Congratulations!

>42 connie53: Connie I loved A Town Like Alice. As >35 Caramellunacy: says there is some casual racism in the book that makes it dated, but the core story is really beautiful.

>43 avanders: >44 connie53: >45 rabbitprincess: >46 Tess_W: Thank you! I should have been more ambitious but I was afraid I would get distracted by shiny new things.

August ROOT Roundup

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

I really didn't read much this past month and this is the only ROOT I read. The shiny has been calling my name. I hope to buckle down before the end of the year.

>48 luvamystery65: I started A Town Called Alice once but didn't get very far, so didn't encounter the racism so much as the age-ism (I think children were pretty much non-people - I don't think they were ever referred to by gender, never mind name!). I've heard so many people like it though that I do intend to try again some time!

>48 luvamystery65: ambition is overrated ;)
But seriously, setting an achievable goal is the way to do it!

September ROOT Roundup

Thirty Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill
Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill
Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman
Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman

October ROOT Roundup

Bird Box by Josh Malerman
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

My ticker won't update. It does show updated in Ticker Factory but it won't cross over. :(

>53 luvamystery65: :( Hopefully it's been fixed by now!

>52 luvamystery65: looks like some great books -- especially reading some fun Halloween books in October! :)

>54 avanders: I love those Halloweens reads!

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi is my only ROOT for November. Will try to see what else I can squeeze in once I finish my reading goals.

I've completed my ROOT for November and in tallying my year end totals, I am realizing that I missed a ROOT in August. I am up to 42. I updated my Ticker but it hasn't crossed over yet.

November ROOT Roundup
White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

December possibles
The Chimes by Charles Dickens
Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
The Dogs of Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron

Looks like some lovely Christmas possibilities for December!

December ROOT Roundup

Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson
Silent Nights edited by Martin Edwards
The Chimes by Charles Dickens
A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk

>59 avanders: Indeed! I hope your holiday was lovely.

>60 Tess_W: Thank you and a very Happy New Year to you!

What a nice year for my ROOT. I was hesitant to join this challenge. I love the shiny new. I committed to 30 and surpassed that with 47!

2017 I have committed to 50! See you in the new year and thank you to all who encouraged me in this journey.

Awesome, Roberta!!! :D

>63 rabbitprincess: Thanks so much RP!