Janet

Peter helped me sort out my 'to read' books last night. That involved him sitting in the hall shouting out titles to me and me making a list and then cross-referencing it with my spreadsheet, because I didn't keep up with my list of books acquired last year, and I also got rid of a couple of books that I decided I'm unlikely ever to get round to reading. So a big thank you to him (he won't see it, but I did, of course, thank him in person! ) to him. I've now updated my post above - my current 'to read' pile stands at 108. I'm hoping to reduce it this year, but of course I'm likely to add to it... Which brings me on to the second thing I meant to post last week, which is the books/vouchers I got for Christmas. I got Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lingdren (illustrated by Lauren Child) from my Mum. (Edit - bother - I forgot to add it to my 'to read' list!) Kay and Alan bought me Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig, as well as some delicious cheddar biscuits, a beer for Peter and some tree decorations that are really cute hanging Brussels sprouts! Thanks @poppyshake @chesilbeach gave me a Waterstones voucher (always welcome - the anticipation of spending them is as exciting to me as the actual spending ), so yummy chocolates and the most gorgeous glass snowflake that had prime position on the tree in the dining room. Thanks, Claire. I also had a further £75 of Waterstones vouchers. I'm a lucky girl! Christmas seems a long time ago now, but it was a wonderful one this year - I feel blessed.

Definitely! It would be awesome to meet up with you. Thanks, Claire. Looking forward to lots of coffee and cake with you this year!

Saltaire was wonderful. We went on the train from Bradford and spent ages there. The Hockney exhibition is great and we spent ages in the lovely book shop - my husband bought me an edition of A Christmas Carol there (I have several). We also poked our heads in the Victoria Hall and were invited in to have a look round. It's a beautiful building. I love Yorkshire - we were back up again in December where we had a few days in Harrogate. It's such a fab county - you're lucky to live in such a pretty part of the country.

I think Alex has finished too. I know it's not a race, but it's always nice to compete a challenge. Bradford was a bit of a surprise, actually. We stayed in the Premier Inn for a few nights (fantastic reviews on TripAdvisor and only £30 a night) specifically to visit Haworth and Saltaire - it was a great base. I agree that the Waterstones is the best building, and yes, the café is great. I thought Bradford Cathedral was lovely too, and particularly liked their inclusiveness (which I think all churches should have).

I'm always half expecting someone to ask what I'm doing! Luckily nobody has... yet. Thanks

That's just the Bradford one, Alex! This is Swansea.

Happy reading in 2018

I like the sound of the Pop Sugar challenge (but I'm not starting any new challenges myself this year). I hope 2018 is a good year for you.

Happy reading in 2018. You have some good books on your to read list. I must try some Jules Verne sometime so I'll be interested to know what you think of those (if you read any this year ).

I enjoyed it more the second time round. (I read it first for this challenge, and then it was chosen for my Book Club). The BBC adaptation was very good. Oooh, interesting. I have read P&P, but not as part of this challenge, and I have yet to read Mansfield Park (and Persuasion, but obviously not as part of this challenge) but I loved all of those books (I think I gave The Old Wives' Tale a 4/5, but now I'm wondering why it didn't get 5!)... ... And these are amongst my least favourites. I totally agree about the ending of Another World!

Thank, Gaia. You too. Oooh, that's tricky! Possibly Bradford in Yorkshire for the building - it's in an old Wool Exchange building and is stunning. Swansea is lovely too - it's in an old cinema. Reading is in an old chapel (but I haven't done that as part of this quest so will have to go back. ). Edit - sorry, pressed 'post' too soon - I hope you have a good year too, @Hayley

Thanks, Alex. And to you too. I'm not likely to complete the World Challenge before I die either No setting targets is a good thing, I think. I can't remember if I've cross matched the Counties Challenge and the 1001 one. Although I'm not actively pursuing the latter, I might have a look anyway. The Waterstones challenge is definitely going to be fun. It's very, very, very long term, as we have to go as far North as Elgin, and as far West as Cork! Oh, and Amsterdam to the East and Jersey South!

Thanks, Noll. You too. We've already visited a few places we'd otherwise probably have never been to (Abergavenny in Wales and Loughborough, to name but two. We need to do a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland at some stage!

Thanks. You too. It's a bit tidier this year, so hopefully I can stay on top of it. Thanks. You too.

Okay, I think I'm done for now, so I officially declare this thread open! Have a cookie... and a cup of coffee/tea or a glass of wine

Spare post

Spare post

Happy New Year, Alex Well done on nearly completing the Counties Challenge. I'm still some way off finishing it. I did manage to find England England by Julian Barnes in a charity shop, so that'll do for the Isle of Wight, seeing as I've already read The Day of the Triffids twice. I love the idea of the Round Robin challenge, but I don't really wanted any added reading pressure. If I'd finished the EC Challenge I'd have loved to have done it. I hope you have a good reading year (and a good year in general) in 2018.

Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility (1811) - finished 10.01.16 Pride and Prejudice (1813) - finished 20.08.08 Mansfield Park (1814) - Emma (1815) - finished 04.10.13 Northanger Abbey (1817) - 30.06.13 Persuasion (1817) - Jane Austen's Unfinished Novels (I'm not sure if I'm going to read these) Lady Susan (1871) The Watsons (1871) Sanditon (1925) Lesley Castle (2009) The Brontë Sisters Anne Agnes Grey (1847) - finished 22.02.17 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) - finished 08.02.13 Charlotte Jane Eyre (1847) - finished 23.09.10 Shirley (1849) Villette (1853) The Professor (1857) - finished 01.05.17 There is also: Emma Brown (2003) (with Clare Boylan) - but I'm undecided about this Emily Wuthering Heights (1847) - finished 22.07.15 Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes' novels 1. A Study in Scarlet (1887) finished 03.03.16 2. The Sign of the Four (1890) finished 14.05.16 3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) finished 13.02.16 'A Scandal in Bohemia' 'The Red-headed League' 'A Case of Identity' 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' 'The Five Orange Pips' 'The Man with the Twisted Lip' 'The Blue Carbuncle' 'The Speckled Band' 'The Engineer’s Thumb' 'The Noble Bachelor' 'The Beryl Coronet' 'The Copper Beeches' 4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) finished 14.07.16 'Silver Blaze' 'The Yellow Face' 'The Stock-broker’s Clerk' 'The ‘Gloria Scott' 'The Musgrave Ritual' 'The Reigate Squires' 'The Crooked Man' 'The Resident Patient' 'The Greek Interpreter' 'The Naval Treaty' 'The Final Problem' 5. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) finished 30.03.17 6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905) finished 19.09.16 'The Empty House' 'The Norwood Builder' 'The Dancing Men' 'The Solitary Cyclist' 'The Priory School' 'Black Peter' 'Charles Augustus Milverton' 'The Six Napoleons' 'The Three Students' 'The Golden Pince-Nez' 'The Missing Three-Quarter' 'The Abbey Grange' 'The Second Stain' 7. The Valley of Fear (1915) 8. His Last Bow (1917) 'Wisteria Lodge' 'The Cardboard Box' 'The Red Circle' 'The Bruce-Partington Plans' 'The Dying Detective' 'Lady Frances Carfax' 'The Devil’s Foot' 'His Last Bow' 9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927) 'The Illustrious Client' 'The Blanched Soldier' 'The Mazarin Stone' 'The Three Gables' 'The Sussex Vampire' 'The Three Garridebs' 'Thor Bridge' 'The Creeping Man' 'The Lion’s Mane' 'The Veiled Lodger' 'Shoscombe Old Place' 'The Retired Colourman' 6/9 Charles Dickens 1. The Pickwick Papers (1837) finished 18.04.18 2. Oliver Twist (1839) finished 09.06.13 3. Nicholas Nickleby (1839) finished 21.12.14 4. The Old Curiosity Shop (1841) 5. Barnaby Rudge (1841) 6. A Christmas Carol (1843) first finished 29.12.07 7. Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) 8. Dombey and Son (1848) 9. David Copperfield (1850) 10. Bleak House (1853) 11. Hard Times (1854) finished 09.02.16 12. Little Dorrit (1857 13. A Tale of Two Cities (1859) finished 17.11.15 14. Great Expectations (1861) finished 05.11.16 15. Our Mutual Friend (1865) 16. The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) 7/16 Thomas Hardy (From Wikipedia:) Hardy divided his novels and collected short stories into three classes: Novels of Character and Environment The Poor Man and the Lady (1867, unpublished and lost) Readable 1. Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School (1872) - finished 13.10.16 2. Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) finished 20.09.15 3. The Return of the Native (1878) 4. The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character (1886) finished 26.09.11 5. The Woodlanders (1887) 6. Wessex Tales (1888, a collection of short stories) 7. Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891) finished 07.0113 8. Life's Little Ironies (1894, a collection of short stories) 9. Jude the Obscure (1895) Romances and Fantasies 10. A Pair of Blue Eyes: A Novel (1873) 11. The Trumpet-Major (1880) 12. Two on a Tower: A Romance (1882) 13. A Group of Noble Dames (1891, a collection of short stories) 14. The Well-Beloved: A Sketch of a Temperament (1897) (first published as a serial from 1892) finished 10.08.15 Novels of Ingenuity 15. Desperate Remedies: A Novel (1871) 16. The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters (1876) 17. A Laodicean: A Story of To-day (1881) 5/17

ENGLISH COUNTIES CHALLENGE - (TITLES READ IN RED) PROGRESS = 39/48 01. My Uncle Silas by H. E. Bates (Bedfordshire) – 5/5 02. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Berkshire) – 4/5 03. The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young (Bristol) - 4/5 04. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (Buckinghamshire) - 5/5 05. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers (Cambridgeshire) - 4½/5 06. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (Cheshire) - 5/5 07. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (City of London) 5/5 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (City of London) - 5/5 08. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier (Cornwall) - 5/5 09. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome 3½/5 The Maid of Buttermere by Melvyn Bragg (Cumbria) 10. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (Derbyshire) – 5/5 - I have already read this so may look for an alternative 11. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (Devon) - 5/5 12. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (Dorset) - 5/5 13. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (Durham) – 5/5 14. South Riding by Winifred Holtby (East Riding of Yorkshire) - 5/5 15. Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne (East Sussex) – 5/5 16. Flambards by K M Peyton – 4/5 / The Turn of the Screw by Henry James 17. A Child in the Forest by Winifed Foley - 4/5 18. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Greater London) - 4/5 19. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (Greater Manchester) - 5/5 20. Watership Down by Richard Adams (Hampshire) – 4/5 - have read this before so may look for an alternative 21. On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin (Herefordshire) – 4/5 22. Howards End by E M Forster (Hertfordshire) - 3/5 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Hertfordshire) – 5/5 23. England, England by Julian Barnes (Isle of Wight) - 3/5 24. The Darling Buds of May by HE Bates (Kent) – 5/5 25. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson – /5 - have read this before so may look for an alternative (alt) Mist Over Pendle by Robert Neill (Lancashire) - suggested alternative from Willoyd 26. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend (Leicestershire) – 5/5 27. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (Lincolnshire) - 3/5 28. An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge (Merseyside) – 3/5 - have read this before so may look for an alternative 29. The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley (Norfolk) - 4/5 30. All Creatures Great and Small by James Heriott (North Yorkshire) - 5/5 31. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Northamptonshire) 32. The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin (Northumberland) - 4/5 33. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence (Nottinghamshire) - 2/5 34. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (Oxfordshire) - 5/5 35. Set In Stone by Robert Goddard (Rutland) – 4/5 36. Summer Lightning by P. G. Wodehouse (Shropshire) – 3/5 37. Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore (Somerset) - 3/5 38. A Kestrel For A Knave by Barry Hines (South Yorkshire) – 4/5 - have read this before so may look for an alternative 39. The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett (Staffordshire) - 3/5 40. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (Suffolk) - 3/5 41. Emma by Jane Austen (Surrey) – 5/5 - have read this before so may look for an alternative 42. Another World by Pat Barker (Tyne and Wear) - 3/5 43. Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes (Warwickshire) 44. Middlemarch by George Eliot (West Midlands) - 4/5 45. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (West Sussex) – 4/5 46. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (West Yorkshire) 47. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (Wiltshire) 48. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (Worcestershire) - 3/5

Last year my '2016 and earlier' list stood at 102 and I decreased it by 11. I've added in 2017's unread books so as at 1st January it stood at 110. I hope to make some inroads to it in 2018! 3 read so far in 2018 TOTAL TO READ PILE 2017 and before (total left = 107/110) 2017 (30) #000066 Ackroyd, Peter - First Light Allingham, Philip - Cheapjack Barnes, Julian - England, England - finished 23.01.18 Bates, H E - Through the Woods Benedictus, David - Return to the Hundred Acre Wood Betjeman, John (selected by Hugo Williams - John Betjeman Poems Bryson, Bill - The Road to Little Dribbling Calvino, Italo - If on a Winter's Night a Traveller Carroll, Emma - The Sky Chasers - finished 31.03.18 Collins, Wilkie - The Haunted Hotel Dickens, Charles - Dickens at Christmas Flagg, Fannie - A Redbird Christmas - finished 13.01.18 Gaiman, Neil - Fortunately the Milk Gibbons, Stella - Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm Greene, Graham - Our Man in Havana - finished 04.04.18 Highsmith, Patricia - Strangers on a Train Hill, Susan - Jacob's Room is Full of Books Høeg, Peter - Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow Holman-Hunt, Diana - My Grandmothers and I Lee, Laurie - Village Christmas and Other Notes on the English Year - finished 02.01.18 Lingdren, Astrid - Pippi Longstocking Nimmo, Jenny - The Snow Spider Rae, Simon - The Faber Book of Christmas Ransome, Arthur - Winter Holiday Russell, Willy - Educating Rita Somerset Maugham, W - Christmas Holiday Various - Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls Various - The Best Bear in the World Von Armin, Elizabeth - Elizabeth and her German Garden Wyndham, John - Chocky Wyndham, John - Consider Her Ways and others Wyndham, John - The Seeds of Time 2016 (13) #990000 Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi - Purple Hibiscus Bunzl, Peter - Cogheart Carr, J L - The Harpole Report Du Maurier, Daphne - Frenchman's Creek Faqir Fadia - Willow Trees Don't Weep Ferrante, Elena - My Brilliant Friend Gaiman, Neil - Anansi Boys McGrath, Alister - Deep Magic, Dragons & Mice Postgate, Oliver - Seeing Things Rodriguez, Deborah - The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul Various - Puffin Book of Christmas Stories Wells, H G - Ann Veronica Willis, Connie - To Say Nothing of the Dog 2015 (0) 2014 (4) #990066 Birch, Carol - Jamrach's Menagerie Lehman, Rosamund - The Weather in the Streets Milne, A A - Now We are Six Milne, A A - When We Were Very Young 2013 (18) #009966 Carr, J L - The Battle of Pollocks Crossing Delafield, E M - Diary of a Provincial Lady Dickens, Charles - Barnaby Rudge Dickens, Charles - Bleak House Dickens, Charles - David Copperfield Dickens, Charles - Dombey and Son Dickens, Charles - Little Dorrit Dickens, Charles - Martin Chuzzlewit Dickens, Charles - Our Mutual Friend Dickens, Charles - The Mystery of Edwin Drood Dickens, Charles - The Old Curiosity Shop Dickens, Charles - The Pickwick Papers - finished 18.04.18 Hosseini, Khaled - And the Mountains Echoed Keats, John - Everyman's Poetry Orwell, George - A Life in Letters Townsend, Sue - Adrian Mole - From Major to Minor Usher, Shaun - Letters of Note Wyndham, John - Web 2012 (3) #ff6600 Priestley, J B - English Journey Shakespeare, William - The Merchant of Venice (Cambridge School Shakespeare) Wayne, Jenifer - The Day the Ceiling Fell Down 2011 (17) #006600 Allende, Isabel - The House of the Spirits Blue, Lionel - Hitchhiking to Heaven Christie, Agatha - Sparkling Cyanide Cronin, A J - A Song of Sixpence Cronin, A J - The Green Years Cronin, A J - The Minstrel Boy Cronin, A J - The Northern Lights Fry, Stephen - The Fry Chronicles García Márquez, Gabriel - Love in the Time of Cholera Gee, Sue - The Mysteries of Glass Greer, Germain - Shakespeare's Wife Larsson, Steig - The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest Magnusson, Sally - Family Life Maugham, W Somerset - The Magician Maugham, W Somerset - The Travel Books of W Somerset Maugham Shakespeare, William - The Life and Death of King John Skinner, John (Rev'd) - Journals of a Somerset Rector (1803 to 1834) 2010 (5) #000099 Byatt, A S - The Children's Book Milne, A A - The Red House Mystery Shakespeare, William - Cambridge School Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare, William - Cambridge School Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors Wallington, Mark - Boogie up the River Pre-2010 (18) #ff0000 Bryson, Bill - A Short History of Nearly Everything Chesterton, G K - The Man Who Was Thursday Faulks, Sebastian - On Green Dolphin Street Golding, William - The Lord of the Flies Greene, Graham - The Third Man/The Fallen Idol Haggard, H. Rider - King Soloman's Mines Jerome, Jerome K - Three Men on the Bummel Orwell, George - Inside the Whale Orwell, George - The Decline of the English Murder and other Essays Osbourne, Frances -The Bolter Phinn, Gervase - Head Over Heels in the Dales Rees, Celia - Witch Child Shakespeare, William - Hamlet (Cambridge School Shakespeare) Shakespeare, William - Romeo and Juliet (Cambridge School Shakespeare Shakespeare, William - The Merry Wives of Windsor (Cambridge School Shakespeare) Shakespeare, William - Twelfth Night (Cambridge School Shakespeare) Streatfeild, Noel - Ballet Shoes Woolf, Virginia - The Common Reader I have lost a George Orwell book - Shooting an Elephant. Hopefully it will turn up. :/ Total read 4 Abandoned 0 Given Away 0

BOOKS ACQUIRED IN 2018 (TITLES READ IN RED!) 1. High Rising - Angela Thirkell - given to me by my Mum - 12.01.18 - £0 2. Dickens' London (Folio Edition) - Charles Dickens - Oxfam, Wells - 19.01.18 - £2.99 3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman - 22.01.18 - £0 - finished 02.02.18 4. Caravel - Stephanie Garber - 22.01.18 - £0 - finished 22.02.18 5. George Orwell Diaries - George Orwell - 03.02.18 - £0 6. A Vicarage Family - Noel Streatfeild - 03.02.18 - £1.00 - finished 23.02.18 7. How to Stop Time - Matt Haig - 14.04.18 - £4.00 Total new books acquired in 2018: 7 Number of these read: 3 Total cost* of books acquired: £3.99 Books abandoned: 0 * Taking into account money off/vouchers/gift cards etc - so price paid, not necessarily cover price

BOOKS READ IN 2018 Key: English Counties Challenge (EC) - total 30/48 World Challenge (W) - total 51/223 Classics (C) Library (L) Kindle (K) Nook (N) Book club (real or online) (BC) Audiobook (A) FICTION / CLASSICS (#006600) / CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT / NON-FICTION (#0000cc) / SHORT STORY (#ff3399) / PLAYS / POETRY 1. Father Christmas and Me (2017) by Matt Haig - 01.01.18 - 3/5 2. The Keeper of Lost Things (2017) by Ruth Hogan - ( K ) - 02.01.18 - 3/5 3. Village Christmas: And Other Notes on the English Year (2015) by Laurie Lee - 07.01.18 - 4/5 4. A Redbird Christmas (2004) by Fannie Flagg - 13.1.17 - 4/5 5. England, England (1998) by Julian Barnes - 23.01.18 - 3/5 6. Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne - 29.01.18 - 5/5 7. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (2017) by Gail Honeyman - 02.02.18 - 4/5 8. The Bette Davis Club (2015) by Jane Lotter - ( K ) - 14.02.18 - 3/5 9. Caravel (2017) by Stephanie Garber - ( BC ) - 22.02.18 - 4/5 10. A Vicarage Family (1963) by Noel Streatfeild - 23.02.18 - 4/5 11. Career of Evil (2015) by Robert Galbraith - ( K ) - 27.02.18 - 4/5 12. The Word is Murder (2017) by Anthony Horowitz - ( K ) - 03.03.17 - 4/5 13. Wives and Daughters (1866) by Elizabeth Gaskell - ( K ) - 16.03.17 - 5/5 14. Aberystwyth Mon Amour (2001) by Malcolm Pryce - ( BC ) - 20.03.18 - 4/5 15. The New Mrs Clifton (2016) by Elizabeth Buchan - ( K ) - 26.03.18 - 4/5 16. Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) by Jean Rhys - 28.03.18 - 4/5 17. Parliament of Rooks: Haunting Brontë Country (2017) by Karen Perkins ( K ) - 30.03.18 - 3/5 18. Sky Chasers (2017) by Emma Carroll - 31.03.18 - 4/5 19. Our Man in Havana (1958) by Graham Greene - 04.04.18 - 4/5 20. A Time to Change (2017) by Callie Langridge ( K ) - 07.04.18 - 4/5 21. The Pickwick Papers (1837) by Charles Dickens - 17.04.18 - 3/5 22. The Couple Next Door (2016) by Shari Lapena - 20.04.18 - 3/5 23. The Silent Companions (2017) by Laura Purcell - 28.04.18 - 4/5 24. How to Stop Time (2017) by Matt Haig - ( BC ) - 07.05.18 - 4/5 25. Reservoir 13 (2017) by Jon McGregor - 16.05.18 - 4/5 26. My Family and Other Animals (1956) by Gerald Durrell - 31.05.18 - 5/5 27. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1963) by John le Carré - ( A ) - 03.06.18 - 4/5 28. Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) by Gerald Durrell - 06.06.18 - 4/5  29. The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2018) by Helen Morris - ( K ) - 11.06.18 - 4/5 30. The Walworth Beauty (2018) by Roberts, Michèle – 21.06.18 – 4/5 31. Less (2017) by Sean Andrew Greer - (K) - 06.07.18 - 3/5 33. Knots and Crosses (Rebus #1) (1987) by Ian Rankin - ( A ) - 11.07.18 - 4/5 34. The New Woman (2015) by Charity Norman - ( K ) - 11.07.18 - 3/5 35. A Lesson in Dying (Inspector Ramsay #1) (1990) by Ann Cleeves - ( A ) - 15.07.18 - 3/5 36. Alice (Alice Chronicles#1) (2015) by Christina Henry - ( K ) - 22.07.18 - 4/5 37. The Stormkeeper's Island ( 2018 ) by Catherine Doyle - 26.07.18 - 4/5 38. Hide and Seek (Rebus #2) (1991) by Ian Rankin ( A ) - 29.07.18 - 4/5 39. Tooth and Nail (Rebus #3) (1992) by Ian Rankin ( A ) - 07.08.18 - 4/5 40. Heartburn (1983) by Nora Ephron ( BC ) - 08.08.18 - 3/5 41. The Grand Babylon Hotel (1902) by Arnold Bennett ( K / C ) - 16.08.18 - 3/4 42. Secrets of a Sun King (2018) by Emma Carroll - 18.08.18 - 4/5  5/5 - I loved it 4/5 - I really liked it 3/5 - I liked it 2/5 - It was okay 1/5 - I hated it (or variations!)

Books read In 2006 - 20 Books read In 2007 - 30 Books read In 2008 - 40 Books read In 2009 - 65 Books read In 2010 - 45 Books read In 2011 - 60 Books read In 2012 - 76 Books read in 2013 - 63 Books read in 2014 - 57 Books read in 2015 - 69 Books read in 2016 - 86 Books read in 2017 - 74 I am simplifying things in 2018. I was focussing too much on spreadsheets etc, and forgetting about the main purpose of reading - enjoyment. Therefore this year I am not going to record purchases of Kindle books (after all, I can see those on Amazon any time I want) or Library Books. I am going to keep a list of books read, acquired and books on my 'to read' pile acquired prior to 2018. I am going to continue with the English Counties Challenge (and therefore that spreadsheet). I think I'm the last to complete this challenge, but I'm not going to stress about it - I'll finish it eventually, if not this year. I *think* I have about 12 books out of 48 left to read. I'm not sure what else 2018 will hold. I really loved the idea of the Round Robin challenge (I think that's what it's called) but I think that will just be more pressure. I am doing an offline challenge - very, very long-term - a quest to visit, and blog, every branch of Waterstones! It started off after a comment from @chaliepud (whom I don't think I've ever thanked - so thanks! ) as a bit of a joke between Peter and myself, but then we decided to do it! We love the UK and this quest has made us visit towns we would never have otherwise visited. We're on 57/281 so far! Wish us luck! I think that's it for this post. I will reserve a few before working out exactly my plans for 2018 and then open the thread. I aim to post more this year - I slipped away in June last year and got so far behind that I found it difficult to come back. Hopefully simplifying things in 2018 will help.

The above where as far as I got in listing books read in 2017. I have only reviewed up to #28 - Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie. Books I have read since 21st July are: 44. The Lewis Man by Peter May – 5/5 45. The Mystery of the Painted Dragon by Katherine Woodfine – 4/5 46. Call for the Dead by John le Carré – 3/5 47. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham – 4/5 48. On the Marshes: A Journey into England's Waterlands by Carol Donaldson – 3/5 49. The Misses Mallett by E H Young – 4/5 50. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy – 3/5 51. Pattern: The Secrets of Lasting Design by Emma Bridgewater – 3/5 52. Holding by Graham Norton – 4/5 53. Strange Star by Emma Carroll – 4/5 54. The Trouble with Henry and Zoe by Andy Jones – 3/5 55. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith – 4/5 56. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel – 4/5 57. Lorna Doone by R D Blackmore – 3/5 58. The Mystery of the Midnight Peacock by Katherine Woodfine – 4/5 59. The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy 60. Kitchens of the Great Midwest by Ryan J Stradal – 3/5 61. Pax by Sara Pennypacker – 4/5 62. A Literary Christmas: An Anthology – various – 4/5 63. The Invisible Child and the Fir Tree by Tove Jansson – 3/5 64. The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton – 3/5 65. Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak – 3/5 66. A History of Britain in 21 Women: A Personal Selection by Jenni Murray – 4/5 67. The Last of the Spirits by Chris Priestley – 4/5 68. Pablo Picasso's Noël by Carol Ann Duffy – 3/5 69. Winter Magic by various, selected by Abi Elphinstone – 4/5 70. The Nutcracker by E T A Hoffmann – 3/5 71. The Chessmen by Peter May – 5/5 72. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – 5/5 73. A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment by John Preston – 4/5 74. A Murder of Quality by John Le Carré – 4/5 So many of those books I can't really remember what happened in. I do worry about my memory sometimes! Not as many as last year, but I'm happy with that total.