I Think I Have a 2024 Reading "Initiative" Plan

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE EACH MONTH WHEN IT COMES TO READING IN 2024?

(USING GOOGLE DEVICE TO CHOOSE THE NUMBER IF I CAN'T MAKE A PATH.)

1. Read at least one NEW RELEASE (or NEW ARRIVAL) book from the library each month

JAN   FEB   MAR   APR   MAY   JUN   JUL   AUG   SEP   OCT   NOV   DEC

2. Read at least one book in a MYSTERY series I’m currently in the middle of (or one I’m not)

JAN   FEB   MAR   APR   MAY   JUN   JUL   AUG   SEP   OCT   NOV   DEC

3. Read at least one book in a FANTASY/SCI-FI/URBANFANTASY series I’m currently in the middle of (or one I’m not)

JAN   FEB   MAR   APR   MAY   JUN   JUL   AUG   SEP   OCT   NOV   DEC

4. Read at least one NON-FICTION book each month

JAN   FEB   MAR   APR   MAY   JUN   JUL   AUG   SEP   OCT   NOV   DEC

5. Read at least one CONTEMPORARY or ROMANCE or HORROR book each month

JAN   FEB   MAR   APR   MAY   JUN   JUL   AUG   SEP   OCT   NOV   DEC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOOK SERIES I’M CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF (IN WHICH I OWN ALL THE

REMAINING BOOKS OR AM CLOSE TO AND THAT I FEEL CAN BE WRAPPED UP

BEFORE THE END OF 2024):

MYSTERY

1. P. D. James: Adam Dagliesh (5 Books Remaining)

2. Patricia Raybon: Annalee Spain Mystery (1 Book Remaining)

3. Dorothy L. Sayers: Lord Peter Wimsey (8 Books Remaining)

4. Carolyn G. Hart: Dead on Demand (Anytime Pick Up)

5. Chester Himes: Harlem Detectives (5 Books Remaining)

6. Michael Nava: Henry Rios (2 Books Remaining)

7. Peter Tremayne: Sister Fidelma (Anytime Pick Up)

8. Margaret Maron: Judge Deborah (Anytime Pick Up)

FANTASY/SCI-FI/URBAN FANTASY

1. Claire O’Dell: Janet Watson (1 Book Remaining)

2. Patricia Briggs: Mercy Thompson (Anytime Pick Up)

3. Juliet Marillier: Sevenwaters (Anytime Pick Up)

4. Max Gladstone: Craft Series (3 Books Remaining)

5. David Weber: Honor Harrington (4 Books Remaining)

6. Daniel Jose Older: Bone Street Rumba (2 Books Remaining)

7. Phillip Pullman: Dark Materials (1 Book Remaining)

8. Mercedes Lackey: Anything (Anytime Pick Up)

9. Lynn Flewelling: Nightrunner (Anytime Pick Up)

10. Ilona Andrews: Kate Daniels (Anytime Pick Up)

11. Seressia Glass: Shadowchasers (Full 3-Book Read)

12. Seanan McGuire: Rosemary & Rue (Anytime Pick Up)

13. Tanya Huff: Anything (Anytime Pick Up)

14. M. H. Boroson: Daoshi Chronicles (1 Book Remaining)

15. Tolkien: Lord of the Rings (3 Books Remaining)

16. Modesitt: Spellsong or Another (Anytime Pick Up)

17. Brandon Sanderson: Stormlight (3 Books Remaining)

18. L. A. Banks: Crimson Moon (6 Books Remaining)

19. Jennifer Fallon: Hythrun (2 Books Remaining)

UPDATED: 2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List

2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List

1st BOOK SHELF

*Updated notes as of December 2020

I’m making this list because I’m tired of myself starting a new series, while having a series I already need to read hanging around my shelves.  

This list will be used to help me stay focused!  Other genres in-between will come as well.

Mrs. Murphy Series by Rita Mae Brown

Book #13: Cat’s Eyewitness

Book #14: Sour Puss

Book #15: Puss N’ Choots

Book #16: The Perrfect Murder

(The rest of the series I’ll check out from the library)

*Got absolutely NOWHERE here.  Very unfortunate, considering this was once a beloved cozy series of mine.  I honestly think I just grew out of it.

John Le’ Carre Smiley Spy Series

Book #3 The Spy Who Came Out of the Cold

Book #4 The Looking Glass War

Stand-Alone: A Small Town in Germany (This’ll be my first read)

*Didn’t get anywhere with Le’Carre.  I started to read his stand-alone, The Little Drummer Girl, back in August.  Unfortunately, I got distracted with other reads.  Specifically that of Laura Child’s Tea Shop Mystery series.  In that, I took on books 4-8 and made progress there instead.  I also made progress in Margaret Maron’s series.  So there’s that! 

Suzanne Arruda’s Cameron Del African Series

It is vital that I finish this series this year.  I only have five books left to read.  The last two I’ll have to order.  Nevertheless, I must finish this series in 2020.

✅Book# 3: The Serpent’s Daughter

✅Book #4: The Leopard’s Prey

✅Book #5: Treasure of the Golden Cheetah

(I have to order the following two for my personal library.  Will not do until I’m done with BOOK #5)

✅Book #6: The Crocodile’s Last Embrace

✅Book#7: Devil Dance

*OFFICIALLY DONE AS OF OCTOBER 2020.  I buckled down and knocked this series out.  I enjoyed finishing it the whole way, too.  I will say the 7th and final book, Devil Dance, was self-published.  Not that this was necessarily a factor, but the quality of the series dipped here.  There was a five year break between books 6 and 7, and I suspect the author didn’t have the same editor as previous.  Nevertheless, I completed the series.  Going to miss Jade del Cameron and her adventures. 

The Babysitter’s Club #1 | Why I Loved Kristy’s Great Idea

"Kristy thinks the Baby-sitters Club is a great idea.  She and her friends Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Ann all love taking care of kids.  A club will give them the chance to have lots of fun–and make tones of money.

But nobody counted on crank calls, uncontrollable two-year-olds, wild pets, and parents who don't always tell the truth.  And then there's Stacey, who's acting more and more mysterious.  Having a baby-sitters club isn't easy, but Kristy and her friends aren't giving up until they get it right!"

So let’s go ahead and get any “gender specific” matters straight.  Okay?  Great!  So as a pre-teen, I read the hell out of The Baby-Sitters Club series.  And, trust me, I could get away with it freely.  Nobody had any reason to think twice about me, as a guy, reading these books.  So from that small bit of perspective, I’ve always wanted to write posts on Ann M. Martin's series of pre-teen books.  Or, the years I discovered the joy of escapism through various book series during my own pre-teen years.  And just to push a little bit further into my reading past, I recently learned a kid in daycare bit me on the forehead over a book.  I'm sure it was a book I refused to give up, or the bite must have been worth it.  I also learned my daycare teacher used to report how I would always enter the room, grab a book, and settle in for the day.  At least on that count, nothing has changed.

Nice to know books have always been there for me.  Especially when all along I thought my reading bug struck around 6th grade.