MemberSandyAMcPherson

About My Library

Bookshelf philosophy:
* Keep only that which I will re-read or use for reference
* Buy the book only if I adore it and know I will re-read it many times.

Interpreting my star ratings: remember, this is a personal evaluation based solely on what I enjoyed (plotting, creative writing, technically sound construction)

~ or less ~ Life is too short to finish this one

~ Sporadically engaging and readable, although flawed workmanship.

~ Enjoyably readable, though unimpressed with aspects of plot line & 'reveals'.

~ Very good ~ engaging content, characters, plausible themes. Recommended.

~ Highly recommended, for engagement and thoroughly well-done construction.

~ an inspired work; compelling reading (wholly drawn into the narrative in all its aspects, even if aspects have disingenuous situations).

Plus, Something I'm keeping in mind.

2023 Talk starts HERE.

Record of authors/titles read and rated in 2022
All books are reviewed and can be found in the Your Library link.

JANUARY
1. Georgette Heyer ~ Black Sheep ~ (re-read; better than remembered)
2. Georgette Heyer ~ Devil's Cub ~ (re-read)
3. Abir Mukherjee ~ A Rising Man ~ (meh plotting)
4. Patricia Wrede ~ Snow White and Rose Red ~ (re-read, still 5*)
5. Ann Cleeves ~ The Heron's Cry ~ (bumbling action; muddled intrigue)
6. Abir Mukherjee ~ A Necessary Evil ~ (enjoyable even tho' a rushed dénouement)
7. Martin Walker ~ The Dark Vineyard ~ (comfortably-engaging; great characters and atmosphere)

FEBRUARY
8. Martin Walker ~ Black Diamond ~ (complex plot; mild suspense; surprising twists; new characters)
9. Jenny Colgan ~ The Christmas Bookshop ~ (brilliant storyline; engaging, complex characters)
10. Sujata Massey ~ The Widows of Malabar Hill ~ (irrelevant backstory marred flow; confused plot)
11. Geraldine Brooks ~ People of the book ~ (disruptive plotting structure; fizzled dénouement)
12. Jenn Granneman ~ The Secret Lives of Introverts ~ (excellent; identifies innate temperaments)
13. John Harwood ~ The Ghost Writer ~ (gothic weirdness; disruptive sidestories; confused plot)
14. Will McCallum ~ How to Give Up Plastic ~ (Eco-activism; lay science; unrealistic "no-plastic" tropes)
15. Paige Gilchrist ~ Handcrafted Cards ~ (scant on details for the more complex designs; good ideas)
16. Martin Walker ~ The Crowded Grave ~ (suspenseful, complex mystery; great twists and reveals)
17. Martin Walker ~ The Resistance Man ~ (distracting side stories; good mystery, suspense)
18. Sarah MacLaughlin ~ Raising Humans with Heart ~ (non-punitive parenting; insightful tips)

MARCH
19. Iain Pears ~ Arcadia ~ (dystopian; time-travel)
20. Martin Walker ~ The Devil's Cave ~ (ho-hum in places; suspenseful mystery)
21. Susan Juby ~ Mindful of Murder ~ (excellent mystery-plotting; engaging characterizations)
22. Lauren Layne ~ Passion on Park Avenue ~ (fun chick lit; well-crafted characterizations)
23. Martin Walker ~ The Patriarch ~ (poor plotting, character development, unsatisfactory dénouement)
24. Lauren Layne ~ Marriage on Madison Avenue ~ (Amy's perspective of events in Naomi's book)
25. Martin Walker ~ Fatal Pursuit ~ (Engaging characters and plot; interesting French history)
26. Peter Bridgford ~ Halfway to Schist ~ (tediously slow; 2-D characters; backwoods trope)

APRIL
27. Lucy Foley ~ The Paris Apartment ~ (choppy perspective switches; poor character development)
28. Holly Black ~ The Darkest Part of the Forest ~ (tediously written, repetitive, slow)
29. Martin Walker ~ The Children Return ~ (Stale character development; repetitive plot tropes; OK 'cosy')
30. Allison Montclair ~ The Right Sort of Man ~ (a re-read from 2020; same opinion with more tolerance)
31. Dorothy Gilman ~ The Clairvoyant Countess ~ (fave re-read)
32. Andrea Carter ~ Death at Whitewater Church ~ (well-ploted; strong characterizations)
33. Martin Walker ~ The Templars' Last Secret ~ (contrived mystery; implausible scenarios with jihadis)
34. Andrea Carter ~ Treacherous Strand ~ (contrived plot; too many side stories)
35. Marie Benedict ~ The Personal Librarian ~ (tedious and dismal)
36. Sebastien De Castell ~ Spellslinger ~ (imaginative with flaws)

MAY ❉ JUNE ❉ JULY ❉ AUGUST
37. Shelley Wilson ~ The Last Princess ~ (Boring, gruesome; poorly written)
38. C. S. Harris ~ When Blood Lies ~ (adventure when Hero is the MC)
39. Michael Lewis ~ Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game ~ (the movie was way better)
40. Georgette Heyer ~ Black Sheep ~ (re-read even better than I remembered)
41. Katherine Addison ~ The Goblin Emperor ~ (re-read; excellent as before)
42. Georgette Heyer ~ Lady of Quality ~ (re-read; disappointingly repetitive; unsatisfactory ending)
43. Patricia A. McKillip ~ Od Magic ~ (fave re-read; excellent)
44. Martha Grimes ~ The Man With a Load of Mischief ~ (intriguing characterizations; mystery a bit lame)
45. Catherine Chung ~ The Tenth Muse ~ (whiny; angst-ridden love and failure)
46. Lois McMaster Bujold ~ Penric's Progress ~ (a fave re-read; so entrancing)
47. Lois McMaster Bujold ~ Penric's Travels ~ (LMB always a fave re-read)
48. Martha Grimes ~ The Case Has Altered ~ (boringly slow; muddy plot)
49. Martin Walker ~ The Body in the Castle Well ~ (decent mystery; tedious romances with old flames)
50. Walt Harrington ~ Crossings ~ (insightful RE: black American lives + history)
51. Nancy O'Bryant Puentes ~ First Aid for Family Quilts ~ (invaluable reference)
52. Nita Prose ~ The Maid ~ (locked room trope; poor characterizations)
53. Sara Rosett ~ Murder at the Mansions ~ (unoriginal stereotypes; poor mystery)

SEPTEMBER ❉ OCTOBER ❉ NOVEMBER ❉ DECEMBER
54. Megan W. Turner ~ The Thief ~ (re-read; well-crafted adventure and intrigue)
55. Ann Granger ~ Beneath These Stones ~ (intriguing characterizations; stale MC)
56. Ann Granger ~ A Restless Evil ~ (ok mystery; final reveal unsatisfying)
57. Ken Follett ~ Code to Zero ~ (re-read; espionage in the space race of the 1950's; silly ending)
58. Ann Granger ~ That Way Murder Lies ~ (great writing sequences; disappointed in a flatlined ending)
59. National Geographic ~ Women: The NG Image Collection (Remarkable images/brief biographies in interview format; ethnically & gender-diverse 🌈)
60. Georgette Heyer ~ Frederica (Re-read. Laugh out loud romp and mild romance with the Merrivilles)
61. Jim Corbett ~ Man-Eaters of Kumaon ~ (Outgrown childhood favourite: dated style)
62. Ann Granger ~ Mud, Muck and Dead Things ~ (amusing; great collection of characters)
63. Deanna Raybourn ~ A Curious Beginning ~ (Stoker the better character; plot improbable but fun)
64. Verity Bright ~ A Very English Murder ~ (tropes galore; side and backstories disrupt mystery)
65. R. A. Scotti ~ Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of the Mona Lisa ~ (Tedious; too speculative)
66. Elly Griffiths ~ The Locked Room ~ (pandemic crime investigation; Ruth's family secrets revealed)
67. Sally Hepworth ~ The Secrets of Midwives ~ (midwifery psychological thrill)
68. Sally Hepworth ~ The Younger Wife ~ (covert abuse, psychological suspense)
69. Kate Davies ~ Wheesht ~ (excellent insights into rediscovering creativity and serenity)
70. Danial Kahneman ~ Thinking, Fast and Slow ~ (details rational thinking vs limbic brain thinking)
71. Deanna Raybourn ~ Silent in the Grave ~ (socially unrealistic for the era)
72. Paulo Coelho ~ The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream ~ (slow-soporific; repetitive)
73. Suzette Mayr ~ The Sleeping Car Porter ~ (staccato, choppy writing; historical racism)
74. Lisa Gardner ~ Never Tell ~ (faltered plotline bogged down with poorly-executed reveals)
75. Tamora Pierce ~ Trickster's Choice ~ (a great re-read)
76. Tamora Pierce ~ Trickster's Queen ~ (wrap up of Aly's adventures in Copper Isles)
77. Joseph Schneider ~ The Darkest Game ~ (little engagement; philosophical twaddle)
78. Diana Wynne Jones ~ The Pinhoe Egg ~ (enjoyable but muddled focus)
79. Molly Fader ~ The Sunshine Girls ~ (inspired plot; compelling read).
80. Cara Florance ~ The Science Spell Book ~ (good theme; flawed procedures lacking safety)
81. Diana Wynne Jones ~ The Chrestomanci Quartet ~ (4 novellas Cat, MC in The Pinhoe Egg)
82. Diana Wynne Jones ~ Eight Days of Luke ~ (Nordic myths in a modern world, helping children)
83. Kristen Britain ~ Green Rider ~ (satisfying high fantasy for YA)
84. Diana Wynne Jones ~ Conrad's Fate ~ (re-read; quest; magical adventure)
85. Ken Forkish ~ Flour Water Salt Yeast ~ (interesting life's journey; decent bread tech ref)

________________________________
The 2022 DNF graveyard
1. Cue for Treason (skimmed; dated writing style too-often losing focus)
2. The Bookshop on the Corner (Jenny Colgan)(couldn't stand the dithery MC, Nina)
3. The Darkest Part of the Forest (Holly Black)(boring Urban fantasy invoking faerie)
4. Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon (Lesley Adkins) (bombastic, mind-numbingly detailed)
5. In Praise of Shadows (Jun'ichirō Tanizaki) (opening chapter engaging; otherwise, architecturally obscure)
6. Swamplands (Edward Struzik) (repetitive and anecdotal)
7. Tess of the Road (Rachel Hartman) (oppressive and angst-ridden)
8. Persuasion (Jane Austen) (writing style too disjointed; tedious)
9. A Perilous Undertaking (Deanna Raybourn) (implausible and uninteresting)
10.Alice Network (Kate Quinn) (slow and unrealistic, not engaged perhaps)

About Me

Retired from research and embracing all the pursuits that took a backseat to the Daily Grind. Thus, reading for pure pleasure ~~

* Fiction ~ mysteries, fantasy, historical fiction
* Non-fiction ~ Biographies, memoirs, intrepid female explorers in the 1800's - early 1900's
* Literary fiction ~ Penelope Lively, Anne Tyler, Anita Brookner are favourites
* Children's and YA fiction, especially with a magical bent

My Talk history in the 75-Book Challenge Group:
2019 Talk: https://www.librarything.com/topic/303911#
Reading total, 109 in 2019.

2020 Talk: starts here. And the last thread is here.
Reading total, 142 in 2020.

2021 Talk:
2021#1, 2021#2, 2021#3, 2021#4, 2021#5
Reading total, 101 in 2021

2022: An LT Talk sabbatical ~ the books read are listed above (with a few descriptive review words)

Location

Western Canada

Memberships

LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Favorite Authors

Susan Cooper, Terry Fallis, John Grisham, Georgette Heyer, Tony Hillerman, Diana Wynne Jones, Penelope Lively, Patricia A. McKillip, Robin McKinley, Susin Nielsen, Tamora Pierce, Sharon Shinn, Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Member Connections

Friends

AbigailAdams26, allisongryski, BLBera, quondame, richardderus, SandDune, scaifea, sibylline, Whisper1

Interesting Library

AbigailAdams26, allisongryski, BLBera, Cait86, Familyhistorian, familyresourcecentre, foggidawn, humouress, jjmcgaffey, karenmarie, katiekrug, LizzieD, lkernagh, quondame, ronincats, scaifea, sibylline, thelibraryladies, VivienneR, Whisper1