Thursday, February 03, 2022

2022 Reading Log




(For personal reasons, I've been forced to put an unplanned end to 
Book Chase. I do intend, however, to use the site to keep a record of my reading and will do so via this list - and perhaps other variations. Please feel free to comment in the usual manner if so inclined; I miss book blogging a lot, but I miss our conversation the most...Sam.)

5-Star Books (Ranked within Fiction and Nonfiction):
The Searchers - Alan Le May
Slow Horses Mick Herron
Fight Night - Miriam Toews
Joe Country - Mick Herron
Nightfall - David Goodis
London Rules - Mick Herron
French Braid - Anne Tyler
The Bomb Maker - Thomas Perry
Cobra - Deon Meyer
Spook Street - Mick Herron
Devil's Peak - Deon Meyer
The First Stone - Carsten Jensen
Trunk Music - Michael Connelly
Endangered - C.J. Box
Red Bones - Ann Cleeves
The King Is Dead - Ellery Queen
Raven Black - Ann Cleeves
The Junction Boys - Jim Dent - NF
To Hell with Honor - Larry Sklenar - NF
The Splendid and the Vile - Erik Larson - NF
One Damn Thing After Another - William P. Barr - NF
Stolen Focus - Johann Hari - NF

4-Star Books:
Black Ice - Michael Connelly
Crime Hits Home - Various Authors
Little Big Man - Thomas Berger
Wednesday's Child - Peter Robinson
Get Back - The Beatles
Cold Earth - Ann Cleeves
Harlem Shuffle - Colson Whitehead
Tennison - Lynda La Plante
Innocent Graves - Peter Robinson
White Nights - Ann Cleeves
Cry Macho - N. Richard Nash
Dead Water - Ann Cleeves
Red Handed - Peter Schweizer
The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green
The Silence - Susan Allott
Murder in Mykonos - Jeffrey Siger
Open Season - C.J. Box
One Writer's Beginnings - Eudora Welty
Grave's End - William Shaw
Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers - Michael E. Newton
Pudd'nhead Wilson - Mark Twain
Last Stand at Saber River - Elmore Leonard
Rediscovering Travel - Seth Kugel
Dolphin Junction - Mick Herron
The Hag - Marc Eliot
Dead Lions - Mick Herron
Death Be Not Proud - John Gunther
Hidden Depths - Ann Cleeves
The List - Mick Herron
Blank Pages - Bernard MacLaverty
Thirteen Hours - Deon Meyer
The Trawlerman - William Shaw
The Ranger - Ace Atkins
Seven Days - Deon Meyer
We Came, We Saw, We Left - Charles Wheelan
Real Tigers - Mick Herron
A String of Beads - Thomas Perry
The Burglar - David Goodis
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
Isaac's Storm - Erik Larson
Cold Is the Grave - Peter Robinson
Black Fly Season - Giles Blunt
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow - Olivia Hawker
All That's Left Unsaid - Tracy Lien
Silent Voices - Ann Cleeves
Bad Actors - Mick Herron
The Woman They Could Not Silence - Kate Moore

3-Star Books:
Expats - Christopher Dickey
The Kings of London - William Shaw
The Illusion of Simple - Charles Forrest Jones
Final Account - Peter Robinson
The Mountain Lion - Jean Stafford
The Dutch Shoe Mystery - Ellery Queen
Black Money - Ross Macdonald
Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves
Rizzio - Denise Mina
Thin Air - Ann Cleeves
Wild Fire - Ann Cleeves 
Maigret in New York - Georges Simenon
Blood at the Root - Peter Robinson
Savage Run - C.J. Box
Indemnity Only - Sara Paretsky
1979 - Val McDermid
Old Man Country - Thomas R. Cole
The Madness of Crowds - Louise Penny
Back of Beyond - C.J. Box
The Good Daughters - Joyce Maynard
Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old - Steven Petrow
Bridge of Spies - Giles Whittell
Blood Safari - Deon Meyer
In a Dry Season - Peter Robinson
Leave the Grave Green - Deborah Crombie
Vanishing Act - Thomas Perry
Wrong Place, Wrong Time - Gillian McAllister
Bookends - Zibby Owens
Mourn Not Your Dead - Deborah Crombi
Our Country Friends - Gary Shteyngart
The Graduate - Charles Webb
Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield
Last Summer Boys - Bill Rivers
The Maid - Nita Prose
The Long Way Home - Karen McQuestion
Stargazer - Anne Hillerman
Uprooted - Grace Olmstead 

2-Star Books:
The Words Between Us - Erin Bartels
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections - Eva Jurczyk
Shadows of Pecan Hollow - Caroline Frost
Sea of Tranquility -  Emily St. John Mandel
Tyrus: A Memoir - Tyrus
The Babes in the Wood - Ruth Rendell
The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery - Amanda Cox
The Woman in the Library - Sulari Gentill
Packing My Library - Alberto Manguel


 January 2022

  1. Black Ice - Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch  #2
  2. Crime Hits Home - Various Authors - Short Stories
  3. Little Big Man - Thomas Berger - Classic Western Novel
  4. Wednesday's Child - Peter Robinson - Inspector Banks #6
  5. Get Back - The Beatles - Documentary Companion Book
  6. Cold Earth - Ann Cleeves -  Jimmy Perez #7
  7. The Illusion of Simple - Charles Forrest Jones - Crime Novel
  8. Expats - Christopher Dickey - Nonfiction 
  9. The Kings of London - William Shaw - Breen & Tozer #2
  10. Harlem Shuffle - Colson Whitehead - Crime Novel
  11. Raven Black - Ann Cleeves - Jimmy Perez #1
  12. The Words Between Us - Erin Bartels - Thriller Romance 
February 
  1. The King Is Dead - Ellery Queen - 1952 Classic Mystery
  2. The Searchers - Alan Le May - 1954 Classic Western
  3. Final Account - Peter Robinson - Inspector Banks #7
  4. Tennison - Lynda La Plante - Jane Tennison #4 - Prequel 
  5. The Mountain Lion - Jean Stafford - 1947 coming-of-age novel
  6. Innocent Graves - Peter Robinson - Inspector Banks #8
  7. White Nights - Ann Cleeves - Jimmy Perez #2
  8. Stolen Focus - Johann Hari - Big Tech impact on ADD
  9. The Dutch Shoe Mystery - Ellery Queen - 1931 Classic Mystery
  10. Black Money - Ross Macdonald - 1965 - Lew Archer #13
  11. Red Bones - Ann Cleeves - Jimmy Perez #3
March
  1. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections - Eva Jurczyk - Novel about thefts from a university library 
  2. Cry Macho -  N. Richard Nash - 1975 novel & 2021 coming-of-age movie starring Clint Eastwood (brilliant book/so-so movie)
  3. Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves - Jimmy Perez #4
  4. Shadows of Pecan Hollow - Caroline Frost - Predictable crime/coming-of-age novel set in Southeast Texas
  5. Dead Water - Ann Cleeves - Jimmy Perez #5: Jimmy is back
  6. Red Handed - Peter Schweizer - How prominent Americans are bribed by the Chinese government and what they do in return
  7. The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green - A revealing memoir disguised as 44 short, unrelated essays
  8. Rizzio - Denise Mina - novella, 16th century historical fiction
  9. Thin Air - Ann Cleeves - Jimmy Perez #6
  10. The Silence - Susan Allott - British mystery set in Australia 
April
  1. The First Stone - Carsten Jensen - Danish novel about Afghani war
  2. Wild Fire - Ann Cleeves - 8th & Final Jimmy Perez novel - flat 
  3. The Junction Boys  - Jim Dent - Coach Bear Bryant's infamous 1954 football camp at Texas A&M (favorite sports book ever)
  4. Sea of Tranquility - Emily St. John Mandel - time-travel novel in which I never felt a connection to any of the characters
  5. Maigret in New York - Georges Simenon - Maigret #27 (1947)
  6. Endangered - C. J. Box - Joe Pickett #15; excellently plotted
  7. Murder in Mykonos - Jeffrey Siger - CI Andreas Kaldis #1
  8. Open Season - C.J. Box - Joe Pickett #1 - Perfect introduction
  9. One Writer's Beginnings - Eudora Welty - memoir in three parts
  10. Grave's End -  William Shaw - Alex Cupidi # 4 - well written, character-driven crime novel
  11. Blood at the Root - Peter Robinson - Inspector Banks #9
  12. Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers - Michael E. Newton - a revealing look at the American Revolution
May
  1. Savage Run - C.J. Box - Joe Picket #2 - modern range war
  2. Pudd'nhead Wilson - Mark Twain - slave-baby & master's-baby switched at birth - lots of social commentary of the times
  3. Indemnity Only - Sara Paretsky - V.I. Warshawski #1 - good introduction to series main characters, but mediocre plot 
  4. 1979 - Val McDermid - OK 1st book of proposed 10-book series
  5. One Damn Thing After Another - William P. Barr - at almost 700 pages, it answered all the questions I had about truth in politics
  6. Last Stand at Saber River - Elmore Leonard - excellent character-driven post Civil War novel set in Arizona
  7. Old Man Country - Thomas R. Cole - Interviews of elderly men about living into the "4th Age" - somewhat disappointing
  8. Rediscovering Travel - Seth Kugel - travel stories and tips from a professional traveler 
  9. The Madness of Crowds - Louise Penny - Unnecessarily long, dark post-pandemic novel; Penny may have "jumped the shark"
  10. Tyrus: A Memoir - Tyrus - short  memoir that completely manages to ignore the author's marriages and children
  11. The Babes in the Wood - Ruth Rendell - excellent mystery until Rendell ruins it by having Wexford recount its climax second-hand: show me, don't tell me  
  12. Slow Horses - Mick Herron - excellent tale about group of MI5 castoffs with ideas of their own - Book #1 in Slough House series
June
  1. Dolphin Junction - Mick Herron - collection of short stories & novellas featuring his series characters - uneven, but fun
  2. The Hag - Marc Eliot - maybe the definitive Merle Haggard bio
  3. Dead Lions - Mick Herron - "Slough House" #2 - excellent story about Soviet sleeper agents who "wake up" after two decades
  4. Trunk Music - Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch #5 in which Harry reconnects with ex-FBI agent Eleanor Wish and they marry
  5. Death Be Not Proud - John Gunther - memoir of a father who watched his son fight a brain tumor for 15 months (1947 death)
  6. Hidden Depths - Ann Cleeves - Vera Stanhope #3 (2007)
  7. The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery - Amanda Cox - heavy-handed Christian novel with boring final third
  8. The List - Mick Herron - Novella, "Slough House" #2.5 
  9. French Braid - Anne Tyler - Gradual changes in family-tightness over four generations of a Baltimore family 
  10. Nightfall - David Goodis - New York noir classic from 1946
July
  1. Devil's Peak - Deon Meyer - Benny Griessel #1 - South African
  2. Blank Pages - Bernard MacLaverty - 12 memorable short stories from an excellent Irish author
  3. Thirteen Hours - Deon Meyer - Benny Griessel #2 - Two American teens run for their lives in South Africa
  4. The Trawlerman - William Shaw - Alex Cupidi #5
  5. Back of Beyond - C.J. Box - Standalone set in Yellowstone
  6. The Ranger - Ace Atkins - Introduces the Quinn Colson series
  7. Seven Days - Deon Meyer - Benny Griessel series #3
  8. Cobra - Deon Meyer - Benny Griessel series #4
  9. The Splendid and the Vile - Erik Larson - WWII history (1942) focusing on Churchill, Hitler, Goring, and Roosevelt
  10. The Bomb Maker - Thomas Perry - crazy bomb-maker tries to wipe out entire LAPD bomb squad
August
  1. The Good Daughters - Joyce Maynard - Two very different families share a huge secret for over 50 years
  2. We Came, We Saw, We Left - Charles Wheelan - man travels around the world for 9 months with wife & 3 teens - Nonfiction
  3. To Hell with Honor - Larry Sklenar - Brilliant explanation of what happened at The Little Big Horn and who was responsible
  4. Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old - Steven Petrow - writer vows to practice what he learned from watching his parents age
  5. The Woman in the Library - Sulari Gentill - Disappointing mystery using novel-inside-a-novel structure that is stupefyingly formulaic 
  6. Real Tigers - Mick Herron - #4 in the terrific Slough House series 
  7. A String of Beads - Thomas Perry - Jane Whitefield #8 - Jane hides he childhood Seneca best friend from cops and killers 
  8. Bridge of Spies - Giles Whittell - Account of U-2 pilot Gary Powers, his capture by Russia and exchange for Russian spy
  9. Blood Safari - Deon Meyer - Second novel in Meyer's Lemmer series about a South African bodyguard
  10. In a Dry Season - Peter Robinson - Inspector Banks #10 - a case going back to World War II; Banks meets DS Annie Cabbot
  11. Packing My Library - Alberto Manguel - Argentinian author's 10 essays and 10 "digressions" on packing away his personal library
September
  1. The Burglar - David Goodis - '50s noir at its best - really gets into the heads of the gang members and what motivates them
  2. Leave the Grave Green - Deborah Crombie - Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James #3 - in which the pair get "romantic"
  3. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë - the classic anti-Jane-Austen-novel; filled with dark, cruel, and egotistical characters
  4. Isaac's Storm - Erik Larson - nonfiction account of the September 8, 1900 hurricane that almost wiped out the city of Galveston
  5. Spook Street - Mick Herron - #5 in Slough House series - proves that this series really does need to be read in order; it's brilliant
  6. Vanishing Act - Thomas Perry - Jane Whitefield series #1; Jane fails a client - does not feel as formulaic as the more recent books
  7. Wrong Place, Wrong Time - Gillian McAllister - "Can you stop a murder after it happens?" One woman sure hopes so.
  8. Cold Is the Grave - Peter Robinson - Inspector Banks #11 - Banks's chief nemesis has his whole family destroyed
  9. Bookends - Zibby Owens - found it difficult to feel a lot of empathy for the author of this memoir; not bad, otherwise
  10. Mourn Not Your Dead - Deborah Crombie - rather simple mystery in this 4th Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series novel
October
  1. Fight Night - Miriam Toews - novel about a nine-year-old and her grandmother, each who thinks she's taking care of the other
  2. Black Fly Season - Giles Blunt - #3 in six-book Canadian detective series featuring John Cardinal of Algonquin Bay
  3. One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow - Olivia Hawker - two women are forced to share a single homestead in 1876 snowbound Wyoming if they are to survive - and one hates the other 
  4. Our Country Friends - Gary Stheyngart - Friends gather at a New York state estate to quarantine as the world tries to deal with COVID-19 in early 2020 
  5. The Graduate - Charles Webb - Pretty much the same plot as the movie, but "Ben" is an obvious sociopath and "Elaine" has mental problems of her own. Now I need to re-watch the movie.
November
  1. Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield - After being trapped in a submarine for five months, a woman returns to her wife
  2. Last Summer Boys - Bill Rivers - coming-of-age novel about three brothers and their city-boy cousin in rural PA
  3. The Maid - Nita Prose - a somewhere-on-the-spectrum maid in a big hotel discovers a murder victim then plays with everyone's minds, including the reader's
  4. The Long Way Home - Karen McQuestion - 4 women, all strangers, drive from Wisconsin to Las Vegas
  5. All That's Left Unsaid - Tracy Lien - Set in 1996 small town Australia; explores the Vietnamese immigrant experience 
  6. Stargazer - Anne Hillerman - Bernie Manuelito does not believe her old college roommate when she confesses to murder
December
  1. Silent Voices - Ann Cleeves - Vera Stanhope #4, in which a woman is strangled in the steam room of Vera's hotel health club
  2. Uprooted - Grace Olmstead - nonfiction - the author considers going back to Idaho - a look at declining family farm industry
  3. Bad Actors - Mick Herron - When a Russian mole is discovered working with the PM, the scramble to get rid of her is frantic
  4. London Rules - Mick Herron - North Korean terrorists use MI5 game-plan in London
  5. The Woman They Could Not Silence - Kate Moore - Nonfiction account of woman wrongly confined to insane asylum by husband
  6. Joe Country - Mick Herron - Slow Horses' search for son of former colleague's son culminates in bloody Wales snowstorm

Currently Reading: 
  • The World Played Chess - Robert Dugoni
  • The Marylebone Drop - Mick Herron

Categories:
  • E-books - 32
  • Audiobooks - 32
  • Abandoned - 9
  • Translations - 7
  • Library Books - 79
  • From My Shelves - 28
  • Review Copies - 3
  • Amazon Prime Loans - 5
  • Fiction - 91
  • Nonfiction - 24
  • Male Authors - 73
  • Female Authors - 41
  • By Both - 1
  • American - 59
  • British - 39
  • Canadian - 6
  • Danish - 1
  • French - 1
  • South African - 5
  • Irish - 1
  • Australian - 2
  • Argentinian - 1

  • 2022 - 19
  • 2021 - 18
  • 2020 - 3
  • 2010s- 31
  • 2000s - 14
  • 1990s - 14
  • 1980s - 1
  • 1970s - 1
  • 1960s - 3
  • 1950s - 4
  • 1940s - 4
  • 1930s - 1
  • 1920s - 0
  • 1910s - 0
  • 1900s - 0
  • 1800s - 2
Pages Read: 
  • Jan -    3,348
  • Feb -   3,559
  • Mar -  3,326
  • Apr -   3,466
  • May -  3,316
  • Jun -    3,229
  • Jul -     3,702
  • Aug -   3,265
  • Sep -    2,774
  • Oct -    1,738
  • Nov -   2,082
  • Dec -    1,991
  • Total - 35,896