leslie.98 2017 ROOTs

I did so well in 2016 that I am increasing my goal this year. I hope that at least half of my ROOTs in 2017 will be print books - 50 paperback or hardcover books is my secondary goal.




Print books:
0. *Hanging Garden (1/3) (counted this one in my 2016 total)
1. *Moo (1/9)
2. A Tan and Sandy Silence (1/20)
3. Find a Victim (1/25)
4. Snow Country (1/28)
5. *Whisky Galore (2/9)
6. The Wycherly Woman (2/12)
7. The Scarlet Ruse (2/17)
8. The Zebra-Striped Hearse (3/4)
9. The Turquoise Lament (3/20)
10. The Poisonwood Bible (3/22)
11. *Exit Music (3/27)
12. Empire Falls (3/31)
13. *Vendetta (4/13)
14. The Dreadful Lemon Sky (4/19)
15. The Empty Copper Sea (6/1)
16. The Doomsters (6/8)
17. *The Crying of Lot 49 (6/16)
18. Mystic River (6/17)
19. The Far Side of the Dollar (7/13)
20. Time and Again (7/19)
21. The Green Ripper (7/25)
22. The Island of Sheep (7/28)
23. Black Money (8/16)
24. Appleby's Other Story (8/21)
25. Free Fall in Crimson (8/26)
26. From London Far (8/30)
27. Cinnamon Skin (9/10)
28. The Galton Case (9/19)
29. *The English Patient (9/19)
30. Picture of Guilt (9/21)
31. An Awkward Lie (10/5)
32. The Lonely Silver Rain (10/9)
33. The Instant Enemy (10/15)
34. *Atonement (10/29)
35. The Goodbye Look (11/6)
36. *Blindness (11/8)
37. Death at the Chase (11/22)
38. Some Buried Caesar (12/5)
39. The Open House (12/8)
40. *The Long Goodbye (12/14)
41. The Case of the Journeying Boy (12/18) {read as part of my omnibus The Michael Innes Treasury}
42. Room (12/19)

Kindle books:
1. *Villette (1/8)
2. The Four Feathers (1/16)
3. *Swann's Way (1/19)
4. *Malone Dies (1/22) {read as part of trilogy Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable}
5. *The Mill on the Floss (1/26)
6. The Spia Family Presses On (1/30)
7. *Sybil, or the Two Nations (2/6)
8. *Herland (2/8)
9. Agent of Change (2/20)
10. *Howards End (3/1)
11. The Da Vinci Code (3/3)
12. *Eugenie Grandet (3/7)
13. *Ennui (3/10)
14. Just Add Water (4/9)
15. Death in the Dentist's Chair (4/10)
16. Dubliners (4/22)
17. Dragonfly in Amber (4/27)
18. *Invitation to the Waltz (4/28)
19. Topper (5/5)
20. Cousin Bette (5/11)
21. *The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (5/17)
22. *The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson (5/25)
23. A Cold Day For Murder (5/25)
24. *Thief of Time (6/18)
25. *Evalina (6/20)
26. *Brewster's Millions (7/9)
27. Miss Mapp (7/30)
28. *Oblomov (8/6)
29. Fledgling (8/7)
30. Only Time Will Tell (8/9)
31. One for Sorrow (8/29)
32. Fragments of My Time (8/29)
33. September Fair (9/12)
34. Poison Pen (9/17)
35. *The Unbearable Bassington (9/24)
36. *The Swiss Family Robinson (9/24)
37. The Unnamable (included in my Kindle edition of Beckett's Trilogy) (10/3)
38. *The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (10/12)
39. A Very Private Grave (10/17)
40. A Very Quiet Guest (10/20)
41. *Adam Bede (10/25)
42. *The Rainbow (10/25)
43. *A Voyage to Arcturus (10/27)
44. The Queen's Poisoner (11/5)
45. Henry IV (11/12) {part of omnibus Three Plays by Luigi Pirandello: Six Characters in Search of an Author; Henry IV and Right You Are}
46. *The Luck of Barry Lyndon (11/27)
47. Julius Caesar (12/1) {part of my Kindle edition of the omnibus The Complete Works of William Shakespeare}
48. The Crime at Noah's Ark (12/10)
49. *Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (12/14)
50. Jazz Funeral (12/17)

Audiobooks:
1. *Villette (1/8)
2. Homicidal (2/4)
3. *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2/5)
4. *Prince Caspian (2/12)
5. The Winds of War (2/18)
6. *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2/20)
7. War and Remembrance (2/26)
8. *The Silver Chair (2/26)
9. The Da Vinci Code (3/3)
10. *The Horse and His Boy (3/5)
11. *The Magician's Nephew (3/12)
12. Egg and Spoon (3/14)
13. *The Last Battle (3/19)
14. The Sin Eater's Daughter (4/5)
15. *Invisible Man (4/13)
16. Dragonfly in Amber (4/27)
17. The Cider House Rules (5/29)
18. *Great Expectations (6/4)
19. Zac and Mia (6/14)
20. The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial (7/10)
21. Only Time Will Tell (8/9)
22. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock (8/9)
23. Olive Kitteridge (8/12)
24. Stick Fly (8/13)
25. The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent (8/16)
26. Fat Angie (8/19)
27. Whodunnit? Murder on Mystery Island (8/24)
28. The Faithful Spy (8/25)
29. Ceremonies in Dark Old Men (8/25)
30. 3 Truths and a Lie (8/26)
31. Professional Integrity (8/27)
32. Under a War-Torn Sky (9/5)
33. Project Alpha (9/11)
34. *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (10/14)
35. *Dracula (11/1)
36. Symphony of the Dead (11/24)
37. The Shape of Water (11/26)
38. L.A. Dead (11/29)
39. The Lost Art of Mixing (11/30)
40. Julius Caesar (12/1)
41. Rose Under Fire (12/8)
42. A Christmas Story (12/22)
43. On the Jellicoe Road (12/29)

* = a book from the Guardian's 1000 novels everyone should read list

Last year I started tracking how many new books I was acquiring and it was eye-opening! So I will be doing that again - hopefully the ticker will serve as a deterrent!




January: 8
Freebies: 3 Kindle, 1 epub; 2 audio
Paid: 2 Kindle (Xmas gift card)

February: 6
Freebies: 2 Kindle
Paid: 2 Kindle (Xmas gift card); 2 audio

March: 3
Freebies: 1 Kindle, 1 print
Paid: 1 Kindle (Xmas gift card)

April: 7
Freebies: 3 Kindle, 2 audio
Paid: 1 Kindle (Xmas gift card); 1 audio

May: 9
Freebies: 1 Kindle, 6 audio
Paid: 2 Kindle (Xmas gift card); 0 audio

June: 11
Freebies: 3 Kindle, 7 audio, 1 paperback
Paid: 0 Kindle (Xmas gift card); 0 audio

>2 leslie.98: I found that too, it was a bit eye-watering! But a good thing to do, it has made me think twice about buying (some) books, and I've used my wishlist a lot more.

Good luck with your goal this year!

>3 Jackie_K: Thanks - I am still a sucker for those Kindle & audiobook freebies, though I am getting a little better at being selective with the Kindle ones.

Have a great year reading and ROOTing!

Yay, Leslie's here! Welcome back and have a great reading year!

Good luck with your new goal, Leslie! The ticker keeping track of what I bought last year worked as a bit of a deterrent for me. Not enough of one, unfortunately, but a bit :).

Thanks for the warm welcome >5 MissWatson:, >6 rabbitprincess: and >7 readingtangent:! I am off to a poor start with 1 acquired and 0 read but it is still early days...

Oh well, at least you didn't pay for it.

Welcome back & Happy 2017 ROOTing!
100 ROOTs is way over my abilities these days, but I'm sure you can do it!

>8 leslie.98: lol it happens... the new year is so exciting in so many ways.. new books, not least of all ;)

100 is a nice round number, good luck with your reading

Welcome back, Leslie! Happy ROOting!

Thanks >10 avanders: -- now I just need to curb my enthusiasm for those new books. I got another yesterday so I need to work a bit harder on that - lol!

Hi there >11 HenriMoreaux: & >12 connie53:, thanks for stopping by :)

>13 leslie.98: I know.. it's a common "sickness" many of us ROOTers seem to have come down with...

Good luck with your 2017 rooting!

You will find lots of enthusiasm for new books here, that's why we are all into ROOTing. Best of luck with reading your ROOTs.

You are so right, >16 Familyhistorian:! Even if the 'new' book is a classic as often is the case for me :)

>15 Tess_W: Good luck to you too with the ROOTing effort of 2017!

My first real ROOT of 2017 (ignoring a book mostly completed in 2016) is the classic by Charlotte Brontë, Villette. I have had a Kindle edition since 2012 and the audiobook, narrated by Davina Porter, since 2015. I think that someone fluent in French would get more out of this but it was an interesting read. 3½* for the book and 4* for the audiobook.

My first print ROOT, 2nd overall, is the satire Moo by Jane Smiley. Quite entertaining but not as powerful as her A Thousand Acres, which I read last year. 4*

You are another Lion Heart, someone brave enough to put an acquisitions ticker before the public for all to say. I wouldn't dare. And NEVER on the same page as my ROOTing ticker!

Best of luck and lots of pleasure in meeting your 2017 goal.

>20 Limelite: I have to do something to slow the influx! If I can manage to read more ROOTs than the number of new books I acquire, it is at least a step in the right direction. Right now it looks doubtful if I can make that goal but January is always been a month when I get lots of new goodies, so fingers crossed.

ROOT #3 is my second Kindle ROOT, the classic adventure story The Four Feathers. I picked this up back in 2012 when I first discovered Project Gutenberg & am glad I finally got around to reading it. I have seen & enjoyed the Alexander Korda film (1939) so I knew the basic plot but the book had certain differences, mostly regarding Feversham's friend Durrance. 4*

ROOT #4 is my 3rd Kindle ROOT, the French classic Swann's Way, first in the series Remembrance of Things Past. Proust's style wasn't my cup of tea but I found many of his ideas thought-provoking & liked the characters and plot well enough. 3½*

ROOT #5 is the 2nd print book, another McGee book (I got a bunch of these when my parents moved in 2009): A Tan and Sandy Silence… Not one of the best imo 3*

ROOT #6 was the ebook/Kindle book of *Malone Dies which is the second book in Beckett's famous trilogy. Bizarre and yet oddly compelling look at the ramblings of a dying man. 4*

6 already! Congrats!

I am still full of enthusiasm for my New Year resolution to ROOT as much as possible!

ROOT #7 was my 3rd paperback root of the month - a Lew Archer mystery called Find a Victim. I found this one to be more hardboiled than I like so only 3*.

A good thing I finished this today, as I managed to pick up the audiobook of A Man Called Ove this morning -- right now my acquisitions just balances my ROOTs at 7 each!

ROOT #8 was George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss -- I liked it okay until the final 20% which I disliked & ruined the book for me. 2*

ROOT #9 was my 4th paperback -- Snow Country, which I picked up in 2015 at my local library book sale. While easy to read and written with beautiful prose, I just didn't understand it! 3*

With this, I have made my personal goal of 4 print books per month :)

>29 leslie.98: I also loved The Mill on the Floss, the end was tragic, but it was still a great book!

ROOT #10 was a Kindle mystery I picked up in August 2012 - The Spia Family Presses On. It was a cozy about a recovering alcoholic whose family owns an olive grove & presses their own olive oils. Oh, and they are "recovering" Mafiosos connected by family ties to a still-active mob family in Italy. 2½*

ROOT #11 was the 2nd audiobook ROOT, a fairly short audiobook I picked up as a freebie from Audible back in 2013 -- Homicidal by Paul Alexander. I thought it was a mystery/thriller but it turned out to be a true crime story about the serial killer nicknamed "the Grim Sleeper". While this is a genre I don't much care for, I found this audiobook to be pretty good. 3*

>30 leslie.98:

Snow Country is a beautiful novel that manages to be lyrical (as you say -- "love the prose") and minimalist at the same time. Understanding it requires some effort, I admit. Especially when we read literature that is considered classic and great from non-Western cultures.

But that's the fun of reading, in part. We get to experience and even appreciate cultures other than our own from books we read that we cannot otherwise.

This novel is informed with Buddhist values and its major theme follows the philosophical ideas of Buddhism, one of which is impermanence.

While we've become familiar with symbolism in Western literature because our culture inculcates us. We don't all have the same advantage when reading, say, Japanese literature.
For instance, why do the lovers meet in the Camellia Room? Because the camellia is a much admired winter blossom in Japan known for it's perfection and loved the more because that lasts but a single day. Think about the beautiful Japanese maple -- how it flames with brilliant red leaves in Fall, but those wither and turn brown with winter. The impermanence of that which is beautiful. Even snow.

But two examples of symbolism from the book that help you understand the work as an expression of poetic Buddhist philosophy. Of course, I'm just scratching the surface. It's just that we may have to "work" harder to appreciate stories that are foreign to our own cultural milieu.

Standards of beauty are not only in the eye of the beholder, but the beholder's eye is tuned to the surrounding dominant culture. Perhaps you'll enjoy the novel more as a beautiful yet sad story that you can identify with if you return to it again after time.

Thinking about it and your comments has made me want to read it again! But it's not one of my ROOTs.

>34 Limelite: Thanks for your insights. As I own this, I have the ability to reread it sometime in the future. Hopefully I will get more out of it then!

ROOT #12 was audiobook #3, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I got this audiobook (and those for the rest of the series) last July. I had read my brother's copy of this back in the 70s but I think that I liked it even more now that I am older. 4½* for this podcast audiobook and 5* for the book itself.

ROOT #13 was Kindle book #7: *Sybil, or the Two Nations. I got this back in August 2012 and have been meaning to read it "soon" since it showed up on the Guardian's 100 best novels written in English in 2013... I am glad I finally got around to it! Surprisingly humorous in places and a nice love story too. 4*

ROOT #14 was Kindle #8, *Herland, the feminist classic which I have had on my Kindle since August 2012. I much enjoyed this look at an all-female Utopia! 4*

ROOT #15 was a hardcover book I bought last March, *Whisky Galore. While I found the plot hilarious, I struggled a bit with the written Scotch dialects. There is also some Gaelic sprinkled throughout but my edition had a glossary for those. 3½*

Print #6, #16 overall, was another Lew Archer mystery, The Wycherly Woman, which I got when my parents moved 18 months ago. This one wasn't too hardboiled; one of the best in the series so far! 4*

#17 was the audiobook of Prince Caspian - I enjoyed the first book (see ROOT #12 in post 36) so much I decided to do the whole series. I liked this sequel but it's not as great as the first book. 3½*

#18 was print book #7 - another Travis McGee mystery, The Scarlet Ruse. It was good but not great; 3½*

#18 was print #7, The Scarlet Ruse, another Travis McGee mystery. Good but not great; 3½*

#19 was audiobook #5, The Winds of War which I got last summer. Excellent audiobook & very good book so 5*

#20 was audiobook #6, another of the Narnia books I got last summer -- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This one was less satisfying but still a good way to spend an afternoon/evening. 3*

Root #21 is Kindle book #9 - a sci-fi space opera I picked up in 2015, Agent of Change. Very fun! 4*

ROOT #22 was audiobook #7, War and Remembrance, the sequel to The Winds of War. I got this last February and I am glad I did! While not as powerful as the first book in all respects, I still couldn't put it down and Kevin Pariseau did a marvelous narration. 4*

ROOT #23 was audiobook #8, my next Narnia book The Silver Chair. With this 4th one, I entered into the part of the series that I have no actual memory of and so listened to this as if for the first time. I was enchanted by the story! 4½* for the book, 4* for this audiobook edition.

#24 was Howards End, which has been on my Kindle since August 2012. Very good & easy to read 4*.

Note to self: ticker has not been updated...

#25 (Kindle #11; audio #9) was a Kindle/audiobook Whispersync deal I picked up in 2013 - The Da Vinci Code… Despite the improbable plot, it is an exciting thriller. 3*

#26 (paperback #8) was another Lew Archer mystery, The Zebra-Striped Hearse. Good but I figured out the solution (for me, that is a negative)... 3*

I have now updated my ticker and the group ones...

#27 (audio #10) was the next Narnia book, The Horse and His Boy. This one struck me as more of a straightforward fairy tale though Aslan does play a part. 3½*

#28 was a French classic by Balzac which I have had on my Kindle since August 2012 -- Eugenie Grandet. I was pleasantly surprised by this - very easy to read & great (though somewhat sad) story. 4*

#29 (Kindle #13) was the Irish satire Ennui by Maria Edgeworth. I got this one in August 2012 - it was a pleasant and fast read. 3½*

#30 is the 6th Narnia audiobook I downloaded last July -- The Magician's Nephew. Excellent story and decent narration by Chrissi Hart 4*

I've only read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I've always wanted to read the others, you may have pushed me closer towards them.

>52 Tess_W: Each book is fairly short - I have been reading one each Sunday and have had no trouble finishing in a day.

#31 (audiobook #12) was one of last summer's SYNC audiobooks - Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire. This YA/children's novel didn't work very well for me... 2½*

#32 (audiobook #13) was the final book of the Narnia series, The Last Battle. Sad story all around & the religious aspects didn't work as well for me this time but still well worth 4*

#33 (print #9) was another of the Travis McGee series - The Turquoise Lament. A good entry in the series & I loved the ending. 3½*

Print #10 (#34 overall) was my first Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible. Excellent writing & great setting. 4½*

>57 leslie.98: It seems like I have a lot of what you read on my TBR pile! Will push this one up.

>58 Tess_W: I hope you like it as much as I did!

Print #11 (35th overall) was an Inspector Rebus mystery, Exit Music. I got this (along with boxes of other books) when my parents moved to a smaller place back in 2009 and had been holding off thinking I might tackle the series in order. However, even though I had liked the other books in the series I had read, it just wasn't happening so I decided to go ahead and read it out of order. This one is #17 in the Inspector Rebus series and I suspect that it didn't have the impact that it would probably have on someone who had read the whole series but it was still excellent! 4*

#36 (print #12) was the hardcover of Empire Falls which I got in the 2015 library sale. I liked it! 4*

#37 (audio #14) was a YA fantasy book I got in May 2016 - The Sin Eater's Daughter. While I was pleased that it didn't have all the typical cliques, the plot was fairly predictable. 2½* for the book rounded up to 3* for the audiobook edition...

Kindle #14 (#38 overall) was a cozy mystery that I picked up as a freebie back in 2015 - Just Add Water, the first Hetta Coffey book. Too much about her personal life for me (plus some incredible stupid decisions) led to my 2* rating.

Kindle #15 (39 overall) was a Golden Age mystery by a new-to-me author Molly Thynne. While Death in the Dentist's Chair wasn't the sort of mystery that the reader could solve independently, I liked the characters & setting. 3½*

Paperback #13 was the second Aurelio Zen mystery, Vendetta. Very good read! 4*

#41 overall (audio #15) was the classic on American race relations in the mid-twentieth century, Invisible Man. Joe Morton's narration really added to this -- 4*

Hi Leslie, just stopping by your thread to see what you have been reading. Quit a lot I see.

Thanks for stopping by >65 connie53:! This challenge to ROOT has been a great motivation for me, especially for those Kindle freebies I overindulged in when I first discovered them.

Paperback #14 (#42 overall) was another McGee mystery, The Dreadful Lemon Sky. This series has improved a lot from the early books! 3½*

#43 (Kindle #16) was the short story collection by James Joyce, Dubliners which I got in 2014. Straight forward writing makes these stories some of Joyce's most accessible prose. 4*

>68 leslie.98: just read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man so I know what you mean about accessibility - that starts off quite simply but gets progressively more complex. I could have spent days looking up stuff on Google but decided just to read it through, and still got a lot out of it. I've got Dubliners and Ulysses as 30 year old ROOTs - wonder which one I'll tackle first...hmm...? :)

>69 floremolla: Good luck with Ulysses! I read it with some friends & I definitely needed that support in order to finish.

#44 (Kindle 17 & audiobook 16) was the second Outlander book, Dragonfly in Amber, which I I got in a Whispersync deal in May 2015. I liked this one more than the first one. 3½* for the book, 4* for Davina Porter's narration.

Kindle #18, 45 overall, was Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann. I think that I would have enjoyed this more if I had first read it as an adolescent. 3½*

#46 (Kindle #19) was the satire Topper. Very enjoyable & with significant differences from the Cary Grant movie version. 4*

Can't catch up, but will start anew here! Happy reading!

>73 Tess_W: I know that feeling! Hope you are having a good reading year too.

#47 (Kindle #20) was Cousin Bette, a French classic I picked up from Project Gutenberg a few years ago. Balzac's view of people is a bit bleak but such a great story! 4*

#48 (Kindle #21) was the classic Tristram Shandy. Not as hard as I expected but very digressive. Similar in style to Don Quixote… 3*

Wow, 48 ROOTs already. You are really on track with your reading.

Thanks >77 connie53:, I am trying hard to overcome my library addiction *grin*

Wow! Great number of books read, and including some chunky and challenging reads, which is very impressive! Are you aiming to complete the Guardian 1000? I just checked via your link and I've only read about 10% :(

>79 floremolla: While I am actively working on the Guardian list, I don't aim to complete it. I have finished ~44% and have discovered some wonderful books and authors but others just don't appeal to me. (BTW, when I first discovered the list in 2012, my total was about 10% also so don't feel bad!)

For me, it has already fulfilled its function which was to broaden my reading - I had gotten into a bit of a rut, reading mostly mysteries. As you can see from my list above, I still read a lot of mystery books but with a generous helping of other genres interspersed.

>80 leslie.98: that's good going! I've been using the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list in a similar way - no intention of reading them all but trying to read some from each decade and that gives me a kind of structure while, as you say, broadening my reading. Otherwise I'd just be reading whatever I stumbled over in the book shop - not that that's a bad thing but I sometimes feel certain books and authors are punted more than others and I've felt let down by some of the recent best sellers.

Have you put your five favourites from last year onto the '2016 5 Best Reads' thread? I'd be interested to hear about your best 'finds'!

>81 floremolla: said: "Have you put your five favourites from last year onto the '2016 5 Best Reads' thread? I'd be interested to hear about your best 'finds'!"

Didn't even know about that thread! What group is it in, this one? I'll have to think about what my top 5 were...

>82 leslie.98: It's in this group - I didn't read much last year so it wasn't too difficult!

2 more Kindle ROOTs brings me to a total of 50.

#49 was a Mark Twain novel from the Guardian list, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson, which I got from Project Gutenberg back in August 2012. Not one of Twain's better efforts in my opinion. 3*

#50 (Kindle #23) was a mystery that I acquired in October 2015 as a freebie: A Cold Day For Murder, the first in the Kate Shugak series set in remote Alaska. I have been told that this is the weakest in the series so I look forward to reading more of them. 3½*

Way to work on those roots!

Thanks >85 Tess_W:!

#51 was an audiobook that I got in October 2015 - The Cider House Rules. Good though rather sad, 4*

>87 leslie.98: this is one I had intended to read, but the movie was on tv a few months ago and I watched it. Yes it is rather sad and, having a low sadness threshold, I don't feel ready to relive it by reading the book just yet, but will wishlist it for the future!

>87 leslie.98: I have that book on my TBR pile. Now I know to read with a box of tissues!

>89 Tess_W: It's more melancholy than weepy so tissues may not be necessary but good idea to have some handy just in case!

>88 floremolla: I think that I saw the film when it first came out but my memory of it was dim. Maybe I should rewatch it now that I have finished the book.

#52 was print #15, another McGee mystery called The Empty Copper Sea. An okay entry in the series: 3½*

#53 was audiobook #18: Great Expectations narrated by Anton Lesser. I picked this up from SYNC in May 2015. Lesser does a marvelous narration but this is one Dickens classic that doesn't appeal to me much. 3½* for the book & 4* for the audiobook edition.

>91 leslie.98: Anton Lesser would be a great narrator!

>92 rabbitprincess: He's a narrator I have only recently discovered but I look forward to hearing some more.

#54 was print #16, The Doomsters by Ross MacDonald. I found Lew Archer less likeable in this one but the mystery was good. 3*

#55 was an audiobook that I got last June, Zac and Mia. The subject matter (dealing with cancer) was particularly relevant to me since my father was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma (even though the protagonists in the book are teenagers, I suspect that the emotional response to being diagnosed with cancer has many similarities with that of older patients). 3*

#56 was print #17, *The Crying of Lot 49. A bizarre book that I enjoyed reading even though I don't have any idea what it was about! 3½*

#57 was print #18, Mystic River. I picked this up in a library sale in 2015 and then put off reading it because I was afraid it would be too dark for me. While it was gritty and violent, Lehane managed to make me care about the characters (even those I didn't like!). 4*

#58 was Kindle #24, a DiscWorld book I picked up several years ago: Thief of Time. I am glad that I waited until I had read the prior books in the Death subseries as Susan wouldn't have been as good if I hadn't read Reaper Man already. As it was, I enjoyed this immensely! 4½*

Oop, I had one final ROOT in June that I seem to have overlooked -- the Kindle edition of Evelina, the classic romance and social satire. Very enjoyable! 4* So that is #59.

#60 is another Kindle book (#26) from the Guardian's list, Brewster's Millions, which barely counts as a ROOT as I got it in December 2016! I liked this one as well, a humorous book which reminded me of Wodehouse (though not as zany)! 4*

#61 was a nonfiction audiobook that I got last summer through SYNC, The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial. While I have trouble visualizing how this play would be on the stage, it was a very good full cast recording and I am interested in the Scopes trial. 4*

#62 was print #19, another Lew Archer mystery called The Far Side of the Dollar. Plenty of twists at the end! 4*

>97 leslie.98: I loved the end of The Far Side of the Dollar! (My review details why.)

Print #20, 63 overall, was a great blend of time travel and mystery -- Jack Finney's Time and Again which was one of the many books I got when my parents moved. I should have read it sooner! 5*

>99 leslie.98: wishlisted -I do like a good time travel story :)

Hi Leslie, just stopping by to say Hi. I've been away from LT for some time due to RL things. But now I'm back trying to keep up with threads.

You are doing a marvelous job.

Print #21, 64 overall, was another McGee mystery, though this one was more of a thriller, The Green Ripper. Make sure that you read the previous book, The Empty Copper Sea, first as this one depends upon it more than is typical for this series. 4*

Print #22, 65 overall, was the final book in the Richard Hannay series - The Island of Sheep. Another exciting adventure, this one including his son. 4*

#66 was Kindle #27, a book I picked up in August 2012: Miss Mapp, the 2nd entry in the Mapp & Lucia series in publication order (though the 3rd in the omnibus edition). Social satire of 1920s English village life is a favorite genre of mine so 3½* for this book which isn't quite as good as the first book (Queen Lucia).

Kindle 28 (#67 overall) was Oblomov which I got back in 2015. Fairly short Russian novel & easy to read but not as funny as I had thought it would be. 3*

Kindle #29 was a Liaden series book that I got last year from Baen ebooks - Fledgling. I enjoyed this coming-of-age story and look forward to reading more about Theo Waitley!

ROOT #69 was a Kindle/audiobook WhisperSync freebie I picked up a few years ago -- Only Time Will Tell. (so Kindle #30 & audiobook #21). A historical fiction family saga - the audiobook swept me along despite some flaws in the book itself. 4* for the audio, 3½* for the book itself.

>107 leslie.98: I loved that entire series! Always had them pre-ordered.

>108 Tess_W: Didn't you find it difficult to believe that neither Maisie nor Sir Hugo broke down and told Harry & Emma the truth about their probable relationship before the wedding day? I could perhaps believe Sir Hugo would keep quiet but Maisie?? I found that hard to swallow.

ROOT #70 (audiobook #22) is a SYNC audiobook from June 2014, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock. I hated the ending of this enough that it brought down my rating to 3...

>109 leslie.98: I didn't think too much about it until you brought it to my attention! However, I think she was just hoping against hope?

Print #24 (73 overall) was another Lew Archer mystery, Black Money. I think that this is one of the better books in the series - 4½*

ROOT 74 (Audiobook #25) was a novella I picked up last spring - The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent. Quite silly but a fun novella to while away a summer day. 4*

>114 rabbitprincess: Ooh, maybe that will be my next Lew Archer!

>116 leslie.98: I think that you will like it!

ROOT #75 (audiobook #26) was a YA book I got last summer, Fat Angie. While I didn't care for the writing style (too YA for me), it was a pretty interesting plot about a teenage girl whose sister in MIA in Iraq. 3*

Print #24 (76 overall) was the 28th Inspector Appleby mystery, Appleby's Other Story. I have had this on my shelf since 2009! A good country house murder mystery; 3½*

Audiobook #27 (ROOT #77) was a freebie I picked up in 2013 - Whodunnit? Murder on Mystery Island… It was okay but this one, as in the first book of the series, failed to provide any satisfactory explanation of why the killer does what he/she does. 2½*

Audiobook #28 (ROOT 78) was another freebie, this time from Random House Audio, which I got in August 2015: The Faithful Spy… Not bad but not my kind of spy book; if I hadn't owned this, I wouldn't have read it. 2½*

Yet another audiobook freebie (ROOT #79), given by Audible in February 2015 in honor of black history month, is a play by Lonne Elder - Ceremonies in Dark Old Men. 3* for the play and 3½ for the full cast recording.

This Audible contest I signed up for sure has been great for getting me to listen to a lot of the audiobook freebies I have accumulated! ROOT #80 (audiobook #30) was a short mystery story by Lisa Gardner called 3 Truths and a Lie. Not knowing anything about it, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it is set in my neck of the woods. The mystery was good and I liked the narration. 3*

Print #25, ROOT 81, was another McGee mystery/thriller, Free Fall in Crimson. A solid entry in the McGee series. Not as much social commentary as in some of the previous books but also missing is the slightly offensive remarks about women & sex that sometimes appear; that is a trade-off I can live with! 3*

ROOT #82 is another Audible freebie, a short story in the Riyria series called Professional Integrity. I quite liked this one & you don't need to be familiar with the series to enjoy it. 3½*

ROOT #83 (Kindle #31) was a mystery I got back in 2012 called One for Sorrow by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer. The historical fiction aspect was good (it is set in Constantinople during Justinian's reign ~550 A.D.), the mystery was satisfying and I liked the main character John, Lord Chamberlain to Justinian. Should have read it sooner! 3½*

Kindle #32 (overall 84) is a short story book by Brazilian writer Geraldo Pereira called Fragments of My Time. This book is more memoirs than stories, looking back at life in Recife during 1960s through to present time. Not bad but I just didn't connect to many of the stories. 2*

ROOT #85, print #26, was a standalone Michael Innes' mystery called From London Far. Bizarre and I kept expecting Inspector Appleby to arrive on the scene but fun (if you can get past the first chapter). 4*

ROOT #86, audiobook #32, was Under a War-Torn Sky, one of the 2015 SYNC offerings. This is a YA historical fiction novel about a downed WW2 flier's experiences while trying to get back to Allied territory. 3*

You are doing great with ROOTs, Leslie.

Thanks >128 connie53:! It is a constant battle with my desire to check out bunches of library books.

Hey, It would not be a challenge to read ROOTs if it was not a battle with library books or new an shiny ones. ;-))

How right you are!

Print #27 (overall #87) was the penultimate McGee book, Cinnamon Skin. This one follows upon the previous one, making me glad that I had decided to read this series in order, but could be read as a stand-alone. 3½*

Audiobook #33, ROOT 88, was billed as a science fiction adventure for middle-school-aged children (preteens) - I guess it is the first of a series - called Project Alpha. I got this through a promotional offer from Penguin Random House Audio in June 2016. It was terrible! Well, the narration was fine but the book itself was awful. 1*

Kindle #33, overall 89, was a cozy mystery that I got 5 years ago but kept forgetting to read - September Fair. Not bad, though the writing could have been better. 2½*

>133 connie53: WOW 1 star is really bad!

>135 leslie.98: It really was - I don't often give 1 star ratings as I generally give up on those books before finishing.

Kindle 34 (overall ROOT #90) was another cozy mystery, a freebie I acquired back in Feb. 2014, called Poison Pen by Sheila Lowe. I liked the forensic handwriting aspects, some of the other aspects not as much. 3*

Print #28, ROOT #91, was a very good entry in the Lew Archer PI series, The Galton Case. This one doesn't depend on the others in the series at all so would be a good one to try if you wonder whether you would like this series. 4*

and

Print #29 was the 1992 Man Booker Prize winner, *The English Patient. To be frank, I found this boring. Only 2* from me...

you're going tremendously well with your ROOTing - shame about The English Patient, I liked the movie and hoped the book would be equally good so I'm sorry to hear it was boring!

>138 Tess_W: I tried to read The English Patient once and gave up due to boredom. I might try again.

>140 Tess_W: I should have known that it wasn't my type of book since Man Booker prize-winners usually aren't!

>141 leslie.98: I agree with Man Booker prize-winners. I also usually run quickly and far away from Oprah's book of the month club read...tried the 1st 3 and they were awful!

>142 leslie.98: Oh, good to know about the Oprah BotM choices! Thanks for the heads up.

Print #30, overall 93, was #23 in the Appleby series, Picture of Guilt (aka A Family Affair). Nice entry in the series, with Appleby's son & wife taking a significant part (hence the original title, A Family Affair). 4*

>141 leslie.98: >142 leslie.98: I have never really got on with Man Booker Prize-winners either.

I think our equivalent of Oprah's book club is the Richard & Judy book club - I wouldn't automatically dismiss the titles, but more often than not they don't appeal (currently kobo seem to be recommending quite a lot of R&J past reads to me).

>145 Jackie_K: I am unfamiliar with the Richard & Judy book club - what is it?

It's a UK thing - Richard & Judy are a couple who have been on British daytime TV for years and years - they're our Oprah equivalent, and also do a book club. I can't believe I googled them, but here they are: http://www.richardandjudy.co.uk/home

Thanks for the info >147 leslie.98:.

Kindle #35 (overall ROOT #94) was a satire from the early twentieth century called *The Unbearable Bassington by Saki. I have had this on my Kindle since August 2012. While I enjoyed this bittersweet social satire, I prefer Saki's short stories. 3½*

Kindle book #36 was *The Swiss Family Robinson. While the range of animals they encountered was unbelievable, I still had fun with this adventure story. 4*

Almost there, Leslie! Only five more.

>151 leslie.98: Yes, I am happy to be closing in on my goal!

I am not updating my ticker yet to give Cheli a chance to get September totals done.

ROOT #96 was Kindle #37, the final book in Beckett's Trilogy: The Unnamable. This final book was much more difficult to read than the previous 2 but had some very interesting ideas in it. 4*

Now that October's thread is up, I have updated my ticker :)

Print #31, overall ROOT 97, was another Michael Innes' book, An Awkward Lie. Enjoyable though more pedestrian than Innes' best books. 3*

Print #32, overall 98, was the final Travis McGee book - The Lonely Silver Rain. A fitting way to end the series. 3½*

Kindle #37, overall 99, was an 18th century satire called The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. The first half was funnier than the second but by then the desire to find out what would happen to Peregrine carried the day. 3½*

Audiobook #34, overall 100, was a SYNC audiobook from 2015 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn narrated by Robin Field. 4*

I have read this book before at least twice but had not listened to this audio edition before so I am counting it as a ROOT.

And that brings me to my goal!

Yeah, congrats!

Congratulations!

Well done on reaching your goal! :)

Thanks >159 floremolla:, >160 leslie.98: & >161 leslie.98:! I will still be ROOTing away, especially in trying to read the print books I own.

ROOT 101 was print #33, another Lew Archer mystery - The Instant Enemy. I didn't care for this one as much as some of the other Archer books, maybe because the people Archer is working for were all so unpleasant. 3*

Well done on reaching your very impressive goal! I am in awe :)

Thanks >164 rabbitprincess:! I have always been a big reader but this year I have managed to increase the proportion that is ROOTs.

Woo hoo! Congratulations on meeting your goal!

Thanks >166 leslie.98: :-)

Kindle book 39, overall 102, was a mystery I picked up back in 2013 - A Very Private Grave, the first in a series featuring two members of an Anglican monastery. It was OK though I thought the bad guy was pretty obvious long before the end. 2½*

ROOT #103, Kindle 40, was a mystery I got in August 2012 as a freebie: A Very Quiet Guest. Not recommended! 1½*

I finished 2 Kindle ROOTs today, 41 and 42 respectively, bring my total to 105.

*Adam Bede was surprisingly enjoyable as I don't generally like George Eliot very much. 3½*

*The Rainbow I didn't care for but if you like D.H. Lawrence, you would like this. His writing style & main themes irritate me so my main feeling on finishing this is relief that I am done. 2*

Glad to hear Adam Bede was enjoyable as I've got that in my TBR pile for 2018. I've never read DH Lawrence but instinctively feel I probably wouldn't like his work either! Though I suppose I ought to give him a chance...

>171 Tess_W: If you are just going to read a single book by Lawrence, I would say this one is the one to pick (rather than Women in Love or Sons and Lovers).

>170 leslie.98: I really liked Adam Bede, but then Eliot is one of my top 5 authors.

Thanks for the advice! But he's still going to be near the back of the queue ;)

>173 leslie.98: She is a tad too preachy for me but I have noticed that I have enjoyed each book of hers that I read more than the previous one so maybe she is growing on me!

>174 leslie.98: Understandable!

Another Kindle ROOT, #43, finished: *A Voyage to Arcturus. I am not sure what to make of it - it was more a philosophical metaphor than the space travel adventure story that I had hoped for. I don't think that I understood what Lindsay was trying to say... 3*

Print ROOT #34 was a book I bought back in 2015 at the local library's book sale: *Atonement. Friends told me I would like it but I kept putting it off because I didn't much care for the only other McEwan I had read, The Child in Time. Now I wish I had trusted my friends more as I thought this one was amazing! 4*

>177 floremolla: That is on the 1001 Books to Read list. I might try it!

>177 floremolla: I liked Atonement a lot - also enjoyed the movie!

>178 leslie.98: It's on the Guardian's list as well, which is why I bought it. In addition to the story, there are some interesting ideas about books & writing as the main character is a writer.

>179 leslie.98: I will have to look for the movie now that I have finished the book!

I think I've got Atonement on my TBR too (rescued from my husband's declutter - I didn't mind the out of date tech books going to the charity shop, but thought I'd better try Atonement at least!).

ROOT #108, audiobook #35, was another SYNC offering from 2015 -- *Dracula. As with Huckleberry Finn, I had read this before but I hadn't listened to this particular audiobook edition before. A good book to listen to at Halloween! 4*

ROOT #109, Kindle 44, was one of the Kindle First offerings from last March -- The Queen's Poisoner. Quite good variation of Middle Ages but I wish that the fantasy element of the Fountain had been a bit more prominent.

ROOT #110, print #35, was the second to last of the Ross MacDonald books that my dad gave me when my parents sold their house -- The Goodbye Look. It was good PI fare but not as great as a few others in the series. 3*

Print #36, ROOT 111, was Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago's Blindness. I had some issues with the way this was written but it was compelling. 2½*

hi Leslie. 33 unread posts, to much for me to read right now. Waving at you from the Netherlands!
And congratulations on reaching your goal!

Thanks >187 leslie.98: & no worries about the unread posts. Once the number of unread posts gets over 10, I start feeling overwhelmed so I certainly understand :)

Kindle #45 was a play by Nobel Prize winner Pirandello called Henry IV. Pretty bizarre! 3*

Print #37, overall ROOT 113, was another late Appleby book - Death at the Chase. Thoroughly enjoyable mystery with both Appleby & son Bobby participating. 4*

It's been about a week since I checked in here & I have finished 3 more ROOTs bringing me upto #116!

Audiobooks #36 & 37 were Symphony for the City of the Dead & The Shape of Water. Symphony for the City of the Dead was a digital audiobook I acquired in July 2016 about Dmitri Shostakovich; nonfiction is not generally my thing but I found this fascinating & learned a lot of details about Russian history so a solid 4* rating. The Shape of Water was audiobook CD's which I won as a prize in December 2015. This book is the first in the Inspector Montalbano series so it was past time that I finally get to it! It was fun to find out some of the background of various characters in the series but overall, it was not as good as some of the later books in the series. Grover Gardner's narration is as always excellent. 3*

Kindle #46 was *The Luck of Barry Lyndon by Thackeray. While I am glad that I read this, I was a bit disappointed that it didn't wow me the way Vanity Fair did. 3.5*

>190 leslie.98: I've added Symphony for the City of the Dead to my wishlist, it sounds right up my street!

>191 leslie.98: I hope you like it!

ROOT 117 was audiobook #38, L.A. Dead by Stuart Woods, which I got as a freebie from Random House Audio in June 2016. It was an okay lawyer-driven mystery but the sex life of the protagonist Stone Barrington smacked of male fantasy to me... a low 3*

Audiobook #39 was a freebie I got from Random House Audio in November 2016: The Lost Art of Mixing. While Cassandra Campbell did a fine job of narrating, I didn't much care for the book. 2½* for the book, 3* for the audiobook…

ROOT 119, audiobook #40, was a full cast recording of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar that I got in June 2015 as part of the SYNC program. I also read the text in my Kindle edition of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare so this is also Kindle #47. This LA Theatre Works recording was excellent - 4*.

I am waiting to update the ticker until the November stats have been compiled...

Ticker now updated :)

ROOT #120 was paperback #38, the next Rex Stout in my collection, Some Buried Caesar. This 6th book in the series has Nero Wolfe & Archie once again out of their NYC brownstone (!), this time to exhibit Wolfe's orchids. I especially liked the banter between Archie & Lily Rowan, who makes her first appearance in this book. 4*

ROOT #121 was paperback #39, The Open House, the 26th book in the Appleby series. Quite diverting & it was nice to again have Appleby Senior as the focus. 3½*

122 was audiobook #41, Rose Under Fire, the sequel to Code Name Verity, which I got in June 2015. 3½*

Almost there, you got this!

Thanks >198 Tess_W: - I hope to get a few more ROOTs done this month! But even if I don't I am happy with what I managed to clear this year.

>199 leslie.98: Ahhh, I see you already met your goal! I looked at post wrong and thought it was #41! Great job this year!

Kindle #48, overall ROOT #123, was a Christmas murder mystery called The Crime at Noah's Ark which I got in Sept. 2016. A very enjoyable Golden Age mystery by little-known author Molly Thynne. 4*

You are doing great, Leslie!

Thanks >202 leslie.98:!

Paperback #40, overall 124, was The Long Goodbye, a book I thought I had already read this so when I got my dad's paperback copy, I didn't read it right away. Well, it turns out I hadn't read it & now I am sorry I let it sit on the shelf so long! Chandler managed to surprise me with twists right up to the end. And unlike some of his earlier works, there was very little objectionable language (i.e. little to no racial slurs, etc.). A 5* read for me :)

Kindle #49, overall 125, was *Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson. I have had this on my Kindle since August 2012. A short book (under 200 pages in most paperback editions), I found it an uneasy mix of satire and philosophy but worth reading. 3½*

ROOT 126, Kindle #50, was a mystery I picked up as a freebie about 5 years ago -- Jazz Funeral. I had read the previous book in paperback so was delighted to get it as a freebie; I don't know why it took me so long to actually read it! The New Orlean setting was good and I like Skip Langdon, the series' protagonist. A solid 3* read.

ROOT #127 (print 41) was The Case of the Journeying Boy, a mystery in my hardcover omnibus, The Michael Innes Treasury, and indeed finished my reading of that omnibus! I very much enjoyed this non-Appleby suspense novel, 4.5* for this novel and 4* for the omnibus overall.

Print #42, overall 128, was Room, a book I picked up at my local library's book sale back in 2013. A compelling book, even though I felt the ending was a bit too convenient. 4*

ROOT #129, audiobook 42, was a freebie I got back in December 2015 from Random House Audio: A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd. Though only the first story involved Christmas, this was an enjoyable book to read at the holiday season. 3½*

Happy Holidays, Leslie!

Thanks Connie! I hope you had a good holiday & wishing you a happy New Year :)

Audiobook 43, overall ROOT #130, was On the Jellicoe Road, an audiobook I got in July 2016 through the SYNC program. This Australian YA book was a bit predictable... 3½* for the audiobook edition, 3* for the book itself.

And that's it for 2017!

130 ROOTs completed, 116 acquired (though the majority of those were free Kindle & audiobooks) so I managed to make a small dent in my mountain of unread books ;)

Great amount of reading and TBR total heading in the right direction - what more can you ask? Well done!

Thanks >214! I really need to work on my resistance to those freebie offers in 2018 and then my progress will take off ;)