Month: December 2017

Reading the Canon 2018

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December 29, 2017

8:41 pm

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Sherlock Holmes

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Along with the challenges I signed up for, I set a goal for myself to read the four novels and 56 short stories of the Canon in 2018. I went through my handy single-volume, 1122-page Doubleday and divided it over the year. The way it worked out, I’ll be reading A Study in Scarlet in January, The Sign of Four in February, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in March and April, Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes in April, May, and early June, The Return of Sherlock Holmes in June and July, The Hound of the Baskervilles in August, The Valley of Fear in September and into October, His Last Bow in October and November, and finishing out the year with The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes in November and December.

I anticipate reading some of the stories in digital form on my iPad rather than in my Doubleday, because there will be some travelling during 2018, and I’m not about to pack an 1122-page book in my suitcase!

This is the break-down by week, for anyone who wants to read along with me:

1/1 – 1/7 A Study in Scarlet, part 1 chapters 1-4
1/8 – 1/14 A Study in Scarlet, part 1 chapters 5-7
1/15 – 1/21 A Study in Scarlet, part 2 chapters 1-4
1/22 – 1/28 A Study in Scarlet, part 2 chapter 5-end
1/29 – 2/4 The Sign of Four, chapters 1-4
2/5 – 2/11 The Sign of Four, chapters 5-7
2/12 – 2/18 The Sign of Four, chapters 8-10
2/19 – 2/25 The Sign of Four, chapter 11-end
2/26 – 3/4 A Scandal in Bohemia
3/5 – 3/11 The Red-headed League and A Case of Identity
3/12 – 3/18 The Boscombe Valley Mystery and The Five Orange Pips
3/19 – 3/25 The Man with the Twisted Lip and The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
3/26 – 4/1 The Adventure of the Speckled Band
4/2 – 4/8 The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb and The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
4/9 – 4/15 The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
4/16 – 4/22 The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
4/23 – 4/29 Silver Blaze
4/30 – 5/6 The Yellow Face and The Stock-broker’s Clerk
5/7 – 5/13 The “Gloria Scott” and The Musgrave Ritual
5/14 – 5/20 The Reigate Puzzle and The Crooked Man
5/21 – 5/27 The Resident Patient and The Greek Interpreter
5/26 – 6/3 The Naval Treaty
6/4 – 6/10 The Final Problem and The Adventure of the Empty House
6/11 – 6/17 The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
6/18 – 6/24 The Adventure of the Dancing Men
6/25 – 7/1 The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
7/2 – 7/8 The Adventure of the Priory School
7/9 – 7/15 The Adventure of Black Peter and The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
7/16 – 7/22 The  Adventure of the Six Napoleons and The Adventure of the Three Students
7/23 – 7/29 The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez and The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
7/30 – 8/5 The Adventure of the Abbey Grange and The Adventure of the Second Stain
8/6 – 8/12 The Hound of the Baskervilles, chapters 1-4
8/13 – 8/19 The Hound of the Baskervilles, chapters 5-8
8/20 – 8/26 The Hound of the Baskervilles, chapters 9-11
8/27 – 9/2 The Hound of the Baskervilles, chapter 12-end
9/3 – 9/9 The Valley of Fear, part 1 chapters 1-3
9/10 – 9/16 The Valley of Fear, part 1 chapters 4-6
9/17 – 9/23 The Valley of Fear, part 2 chapters 1-2
9/24 – 9/30 The Valley of Fear, part 2 chapters 3-4
10/1 – 10/7 The Valley of Fear, part 2 chapter 5-end
10/8 – 10/14 The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
10/15 – 10/21 The Adventure of the  Cardboard Box and The Adventure of the Red Circle
10/22 – 10/28 The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
10/29 – 11/4 The Adventure of the Dying Detective and The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
11/5 – 11/11 The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot
11/12 – 11/18 His Last Bow
11/19 – 11/25 The Adventure of the Illustrious Client and The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
11/26 – 12/2 The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone and The Adventure of the Three Gables
12/3 – 12/9 The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire and The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
12/10 – 12/16 The Problem of Thor Bridge and The Adventure of the Creeping Man
12/17 – 12/23 The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane and The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
12/24 – 12/30 The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place and The Adventure of the Retired Colourman

2018 Discussion Challenge

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December 25, 2017

7:00 pm

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Everything Else

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Welcome to the 2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!

Even when I’ve failed to complete specific reading challenge lists, I’ve still read a lot of books. What I haven’t done is post about them! This challenge is all about starting discussions on book blogs.

There are five levels for this challenge:

  • 1-10 – Discussion Dabbler
  • 11-20 – Creative Conversationalist
  • 21-30 – Chatty Kathy
  • 31-40 – Terrifically Talkative
  • 41+ – Gift of the Gab

I’m aiming for “Creative Conversationalist” with a personal goal of 12 posts, because one post each month sounds reasonable.

Share-a-Tea 2018

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December 24, 2017

7:00 pm

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Everything Else

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Like I could resist this one.

This is a pretty laid-back “challenge”, as it’s all about slowing down and enjoying a book along with a cup of tea. And discussing said books and tea with like-minded folks. You may have noticed that I like tea. A lot.

Becky says, “If you write a post on your blog announcing the challenge (and making a place to keep track of what you’ve read), consider sharing a bit about yourself–your reading and drinking habits.”

So, hi! I’m Beth, a Librarian at a busy branch library in the San Fernando Valley. I’m a transplant from Chicago, but I’ve been here 15 years. I’ve been told that my accent has even changed. (Of course, I can’t hear it!) I’m obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, knitting/crochet/spinning, and tea.

I drink a lot of black tea blends from Adagio. I also get a monthly subscription box from Tea Runners. I like lapsang souchong more than is probably reasonable. I also have a completely ridiculous sweet tooth. I recently won a tea-themed gift basket at a work function, in which there were 13 kinds of tea. (The basket was donated by my area of the library system. Three of those teas were donated by me.)

I’ll admit I was a tiny bit disappointed that that was not actually one giant Lindor truffle.

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018

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December 23, 2017

7:00 pm

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Everything Else

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How many books do I have on my shelves that I’ve not got ’round to reading just yet?

Um… well… a few. Some. More than I would like. Enter the Mount TBR Reading Challenge!

Like the Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge, this is all about reading those books that have been lying around waiting to be read. Those books that were enticing enough to buy, or perhaps were gifts, or (and this covers quite a few of mine) were part of a book-of-the-month type club many months ago.

This challenge is a little bit looser than the other TBR Challenge. Any book you own before 1/1/18 is fair game, and you can pick and choose throughout the year. There are several levels you can choose. I’m aiming for Mount Blanc: 24 books. Half of those will come from the other challenge, naturally. I may end up shooting for a higher goal by December. A girl can dream.

Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018

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December 22, 2017

7:00 pm

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Everything Else

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The Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge is another challenge that relates to my professional reading interests. In addition to keeping up with the latest trends in children’s literature, it’s good to go back and check out some classic books. The rules are pretty simple: set a goal number of children’s books published in the decade of your birth or earlier. I decided on 12 books as my goal, with this tentative list in mind:

  • Sounder by William H. Armstrong
  • My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier
  • Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
  • The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
  • My Father’s Dragon by Ruth S. Gannett
  • Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
  • M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
  • To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
  • It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
  • The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
  • Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
  • The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

They’re all Newbery winners or honor books, because I’m doubling-up for these with the Newbery Reading Challenge.

The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge

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December 21, 2017

7:00 pm

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Everything Else

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The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge is one of two challenges I’m going to work on that focus specifically on books owned but unread. (The other is Mount TBR, which I will post about tomorrow.) I have some books on my shelves that I totally meant to read, but never got around to. Book People know what I’m talking about here.

This challenge has stricter rules than most of the ones I’m attempting. There are no levels. There is no setting your own goal. There is one simple goal: read 12 books from your TBR pile within the year. Only books from 2016 and earlier are allowed; books published in 2017 and still unread do not qualify. The list of 12 – plus two alternates, in case a couple of the 12 turn out to be un-finishable – must be specified by January 15th, 2018.

My List:

  1. The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers
  2. Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks, and Other Misfits Are Taking Over the World by Leslie Simon – Reviewed: January 3
  3. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova
  4. The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson – Reviewed: October 17
  5. The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy edited by Leonard S. Marcus
  6. Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers by Carolyn See
  7. The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table by Tracie McMillan
  8. A Study In Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes edited by Joseph R.G. DeMarco – Reviewed: April 12
  9. Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices Leonard S. Marcus
  10. Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street by William S. Baring-Gould
  11. Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson
  12. Shadows Over Baker Street edited by Michael Reaves and John Pelan

And the two alternates:

Newbery Reading Challenge 2018

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December 20, 2017

7:00 pm

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Everything Else

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The Newbery Reading Challenge fits nicely into my professional interests as a Children’s Librarian. It’s a points-based challenge:

  • 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
  • 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
  • 1 point for a Caldecott Book

You choose which level to aim for:

  • L’Engle: 15 – 29 points
  • Spinelli: 30 – 44 points
  • Avi: 45 – 59 points
  • Lowry: 60 – 74 points
  • Konigsburg: 75+ points

I’m in for the Konigsburg level. I’m planning to double-up a number of books for this one with the Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge and looking at these possible titles:

  1. Sounder by William H. Armstrong
  2. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier
  3. Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
  4. The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
  5. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth S. Gannett
  6. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
  7. M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
  8. To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
  9. It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
  10. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
  11. Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
  12. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Every year, too, after the ALA Youth Media Awards are announced (February 12th, 8am MT this year), I go back and read the books I didn’t get to yet. And Caldecott books are often a part of my weekly Storytimes.

Read Harder 2018

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December 18, 2017

7:00 pm

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I’m not entirely sure why I decided to make a BINGO card out of the Book Riot 2018 Read Harder Challenge tasks. But I did.

I’ve already started tagging books in my GoodReads TBR that could satisfy various tasks. Some of the tasks are going to be pretty easy for me, like “a children’s classic published before 1980”. I’m having difficulty with “an assigned book you hated (or never finished)”. If I really hated an assigned book (and I must have!), I seem to have repressed all memory of it. The only assigned book that I definitely remember not finishing at the time is Don Quixote, which I’ve since read and don’t really feel a pull to read again just now.

The most likely contenders for that task for me would be A Christmas Carol or A Tale of Two Cities, though I don’t think I’d say I hated them. (Hated the class in which I was assigned the latter, yes. But not the book itself.) Something will come up, I’m sure.

Someone in the Read Harder group on GoodReads mentioned Maurice as their posthumous publication choice. I’d forgotten that Maurice wasn’t published until well after Forster’s death. I’ve seen the movie, but I haven’t read the book yet. So, there’s that one sorted. Just 23 to go!

Reading Challenges 2018

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December 17, 2017

9:54 pm

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Everything Else

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You know what I really don’t need to do right now? Sign up for more reading challenges. I do this to myself just about every December, and the challenges fall by the wayside with alarming speed.

But they always sound like so much fun! And there’s something about the new year that just makes me want to set ridiculous goals. The one that first dragged me down the rabbit hole for 2018 was this one:

The Grand World of Books Book Bingo 2018

The challenge: get a BINGO any way you choose. I tend to like to go for “black-out” or “cover-all” when it comes to things like this. I kind of assume I’m going to read at least 24 books over the course of the year anyway.

2018 is the second year of this challenge, but I didn’t hear about it last year, so I’m jumping in now!

One challenge that I did know about in 2017 was Book Riot’s Read Harder. I didn’t do terribly well at it, frankly, but it’s a new year and a new set of tasks. I’ve put all 24 of the tasks for Read Harder 2018 in BINGO card format, because… well, mostly just because I could.

Mount TBR (hosted at My Reader’s Block for 2018) is another challenge I’ve attempted and abandoned in the past. But I’m here again, aiming for the Mount Blanc level (24 books). We’re not going to discuss how very many books are actually in my personal Mount TBR, thanks.

(Much of my TBR on GoodReads consists of books I want to read but do not own, making them ineligible for TBR challenges. So, you know, the hundreds of books marked “to-read” over there don’t really count. Kind of like sock yarn purchases when one pledges to knit from stash. Right? Right.)

 

I figured that while I was at it, I might as well join in The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge at Roof Beam Reader. This is a 12-book challenge, with the requirement that the 12 books (plus two alternate selections, just in case) be specified by January 15th, 2018. I’m working on my list now.

Of course, it won’t be all TBR, all the time around here. I’m also joining in two challenges that speak to my professional as well as personal interests.

The Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018 at Read-at-Home Mom is a very self-directed challenge. Qualifying books must have been “published in the decade of your birth or before.” There are no monthly themes, and you set your own goal. I’m going to aim for 12 books, because one per month seems like a good goal..

Some possible titles:

  • Sounder by William H. Armstrong
  • My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier
  • Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
  • The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
  • My Father’s Dragon by Ruth S. Gannett
  • Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
  • M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
  • To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
  • It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
  • The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
  • Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
  • The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Yes, there is a certain Newbery winner/honor theme going on there. That’s because I’m doubling up with the Newbery Reading Challenge at Smiling Shelves

This is a fun, points-based challenge. You pick a level to aim for (15-75+ points over the year), and books are awarded 3 points (Newbery winner), 2 points (Newbery honor), or 1 point (Caldecott winner or honor).

I’m going to go ahead and aim for the Konigsburg level (75+ points). In addition to the books I’m lining up for Old School Kidlit challenge, I always go back and read the new Youth Media Award books that I didn’t get to before the announcements in January. Caldecott books tend to pop up throughout the year in my Storytime selections, too.

Two challenges that aren’t about quantity of books read also caught my eye.

 

The 2018 Share-a-Tea Reading Challenge at Becky’s Book Reviews seems like a perfect fit for me. There will be a monthly check-in post over at Becky’s site for it. Expect to finally here about some of the new-to-me teas I’ve been trying lately.

 

The 2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge is a new challenge for me, and one I’m hoping will help me perk this place up a bit. It’s been quiet around here for quite some time. My goal is the “Creative Conversationalist” level (11-20, but my personal goal is 12). Who knows: maybe I’ll even pop a new podcast episode in here sometime in 2018!

There is an astounding array of reading challenges out there. I had two or three more I was considering, but I decided that really would be pushing it too far.

One thing I didn’t find: a Sherlock Holmes Challenge. I’d really like to read through the Canon over 2018. My Doubleday single-volume is 1122 pages, which divides into 21-22 pages – about two short stories or a couple of novel chapters – per week. Anybody want to join me on this one?

While you’re thinking about that, I’m going to go sip a cup of honeybush vanilla tea and read something.