Tuesday 1 January 2019

December books, stats for 2018 and on into 2019


I don't usually have a normal reading month in December. For obvious reasons it tends to get a bit busy and I end up reading just 2 or 3 books. But this December I've done a little better with a grand total of 5. And these are they:

63. Against a Dark Sky - Katherine Pathak

64. A Song of Shadows - John Connolly

65. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust - Alan Bradley

66. The Z Murders - J. Jefferson Farjeon

67. Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure - Artemis Cooper.

Quite a long, involved biography of one of the most celebrated travel writers of all time, famous for the trilogy he wrote about his walk across Europe to Constantinople just before WW2. Having read those three books a lot of the book was familiar to me but I did enjoy reading of Leigh Fermor's exploits during the war especially on Crete. (A film was made about his capture of a German General.) It was also interesting to have a lot of the background to the books filled in and to learn a bit about Leigh Fermor's rather ebullient personality. One thing's for sure, he was learned and highly intelligent, also a perfectionist which is why it took him so long to write his famous walking books and why the third book was not finished and had to be finished by the author of this biography, Artemis Cooper, and travel writer, Colin Thubron. Anyway, I enjoyed this biography but overall it was a bit hit and miss... enjoyed parts of it, other bits dragged a little.

So that's my December in books and also the end of my 2018 reading. 67 books in all (as usual exactly the same number as Nan from Letters From a Hill Farm - hilarious) and a good mix. 33 were books from the library, 34 were my own. 22 were non-fiction, almost a third, so I'm quite happy with that number. All in all it was not a bad reading year for me, very few of the books were disappointing and you can't hope for better than that.

So, onwards and upwards and into 2019. These are the books that came into the house over the Christmas period and will be read this year, mainly gifts but not all.


Highly delighted with all of these!

And these are the books I have lined up for January.



Not sure exactly which will get read or how many but I suspect they'll all be cracking good reads so I'm quite excited at the prospect.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading in 2019.


~~~oOo~~~

8 comments:

DesLily said...

Wow.. that's quit a group of books and very diversified !! I wish I was a faster reader but this late in life it ain't gunna happen lol!! I hope 2019 is yet another good reading year for you and that you come across a few of those "rare" ones that you really can't put down and know you will read again some day!! Love You!!

Nan said...

Oh, Michael Palin. I have spent many hours watching his travel shows. Tom has read the books. I miss him. I wonder if he does any traveling now. I'll go look him up.

I thought I'd read something about PLF in The Oldie, so I did a search and here are the results. Hopefully, this will come up with the page that has a bunch of articles.
https://www.theoldie.co.uk/search?result=patrick+leigh+fermor

We are quite the reading duo!

Kay said...

Cath, I think it's so funny that you and Nan read about the same number of books each year. Hope 2019 is a good one for you and your family! I'll be watching for what you think about Louise Penny book. It's the one set in the monastery and it's a good one indeed.

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

First off and most importantly, I would like to wish you and yours a Very Happy New Year!

Now for the bad news - You have already led me astray in 2019 and have me adding books to my TBR pile so soon!

'Friday The Rabbi Slept Late' and 'The Beautiful Mystery' sound too good to resist, but the one which really caught my attention was 'Death In Profile' and as you are reading from the very beginning of the series, I am sorely tempted to join you on the journey.

Whichever catches your eye as the first book of 2019, I wish you Happy Reading :)

Yvonne xx

Margaret @ BooksPlease said...

Happy New Year, Cath - and I hope it'll be a good one! Your Christmas books look so enticing! I've read Once Upon a River and loved it - hope you enjoy it too. And I've been wondering whether to read Michelle Obama's book, so I'll look out for your thoughts on that one. The rest look good too.

Cath said...

Pat: I wish I was a faster reader too, I'm the slowest in my family. LOL Yep, lets hope to find a few of those wonderful books this year. *Sending hugs*

Nan: Yes, I too have spent hours watching MP's travel shows but never read any of the accompanying books. My grand-daughter gave me this one for Christmas so I thought I'd put that right. Such fun to read a book in the author's voice because you know it so well.

Thanks for the PLF link. He wrote a lot of articles for newspapers and magazine I think, mainly prevaricating because he didn't want to write that third book. Interesting man.

We are quite the reading duo. LOL!

Kay: It really is strange and funny how often Nan and I read exactly the same amount of books. To the point where we even finished our 67th. book on the same day.

I can't wait to read the Gamache book, the monastry setting is a real draw for me.

Yvonne: Thank you!

Sorry about adding to your tbr mountain. I've been meaning to start the Rabbi Small series for a while. And I've had Death in Profile on my Kindle for a while too, follow the author on FB and am followed back so I thought it was time I read one of his books. He also writes Mapp & Lucia books I believe. I suspect he's a good writer.

Thank you, I've started the Michael Palin and the Anne Perry. Happy 2019 reading to you too.

Margaret: Thank you and the same to you. Yes, I've just spotted that you've reviewed Once Upon a River, will pop and read that later. Becoming seems to be one of *the* books of moment so I'm looking forward to that. I admire Michelle Obama greatly.

Simon T (StuckinaBook) said...

I thought Becoming was brilliant!

Cath said...

Simon: I can't wait to read it! She's one of my heroines.