Friday, November 29, 2019

2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List

Hi, folks.  I wrote this list in Google Docs and just wanted to share it.  I have GOT to get these series under control.  With that said, while I won't say this listing is "tentative" I will stretch around when needed.  This is from just one single shelf–out of four.  I also want to focus on this list to see what's going to stick around and what isn't. 
2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List
1st BOOK SHELF
I’m making this list because I’m tired of myself starting a new series, while having 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)
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)
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
Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley Series
Book #3: Well-Schooled in Murder
I have to either order or check out the following books in this series.  I’m still in limbo about my approach with this series.  Maybe after I wrap up a few other series will I come back to this one.
Nikki Bakker’s Virginia Kelly Series
(Will be completed with these three books)
Book #2: The Lavender House
Book #3: The Long Goodbye
Book #4: The Ultimate Exit Strategy
Charlotte Carter’s Nanette Hayes Series
(Will be completed with these two books)
Book #2: Rhode Island Read
Book #3: Drumsticks
Tanya Huff’s Torin Kerr Series
(Will be completed with these three books)
Book #1: An Ancient Peace
Book #2: A Peace Divided
Book #3: The Privilege of Peace
Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Series
(Really excited to continue forward in this series.  I will not buy the following 3-book collection UNTIL I finished the one I currently am up-to-date with)
Book #4: People of Darkness
Book #5: The Dark Wind
Book #6: The Ghostway
Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody Series
This is probably going to take the longest.  I have all the remaining books in this series, and they’re all long-winded reads.  But, if able, maybe I can finish this series in 2020.  It’s possible with nine books left.  One or two books a month, perhaps?
Book #13: Lord of the Silent
Book #14: The Golden One
Book #15: Children of the Storm
Book #16: Guardian of the Horizon
Book #17: The Serpent on the Crown
Book #18: Tomb of the Golden Bird
Book #19: A River in the Sky
Book #20: The Painted Queen
I will focus on these series for the time being.  That is before starting any new series.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

A Touch of Sailor Moon-Related Updates

Yoooooooo. Listen. Errr… read. I finally bought my first Sailor Moon S.H. Figuarts figure. I picked my favorite character, Aino Minako. And she's here in my favorite of her two heroine identities as Sailor V. As opposed to Sailor Venus–which I plan on getting sooner than later. Sailor V is Naoko Takeuchi’s first Sailor Senshi. So that counts as well.


Anyway, I stopped buying Sailor Moon figures and collectibles a long time ago. I suppose that's a product of my getting older and focusing more toward the manga and video releases. Still, I wanted to make the exception here with this figure.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

WEEK TWO #NonFictionNovember ~ CLASS & CHINA


So what’s next on the #NonFictionNovember reading TBR? The image is obvious, but to walk it on down through there it goes like this…
"In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same." 
Yes, yes, yes. I’m a year late to this party. But, as I always say, when a book comes it comes at the right moment in which it needs to be one's hand (or, heck, e-reader). Which, as a given, is now about Michelle Obama's Becoming for me. I wanted to use this #NonFictionNovember to lean into inspirational memoirs/autobiographical stories. You know, to get my own inner seas a glimpse of direction. Besides, life is a recipe that takes the right amount of timing of ingredients to bring it taste. BOOOOMMMMM! Put that expression on a T-shirt, buddy. It sounds like an opening tagline for a Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member. I’m picturing Cynthia Bailey. (But did y'all see what I just did there?)
But I digress. Y’all get the gist. I'm taking on the story of one of my most classiest of classiest women ever to exist. And that twinkle of thought is only the beginning. Basically, I'm looking for more confirmation to commit to this...


"Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a gripping story of love, war, intrigue, bravery, glamour and betrayal, which takes us on a sweeping journey from Canton to Hawaii to New York, from exiles' quarters in Japan and Berlin to secret meeting rooms in Moscow, and from the compounds of the Communist elite in Beijing to the corridors of power in democratic Taiwan. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China."

Author Jung Chang tackles China’s history in the most storytelling of fashions. And finally we have a new release (you better believe it was on my pre-orders list) from her. Chang hasn’t released a book since 2013’s Empress Dowager Cixi (CLICK HERE TO SEE MY THOUGHTS ON THAT BOOK). Now she’s back with Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China. As I said, Chang knows how to relay China's history and make it both real, fascinating and enjoyable to digest. With this book I’m particularly interested in getting into Madame Chiang Kai-shek’s story. Years ago I attempted to read a biography of her story, but also that of her surrounding sisters. Let’s just say that biography didn’t have the spell-binding gusto and finesse as a Jung Chang book. HA! Now’s my chance to go further into this fascinating woman in history. And just China's history as a whole. Considering I have a deep fascination with The Cultural Revolution–among other eras of extremeness within China's history.

Anyway, I’m off to read. How about yourself, eh?

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