MLISunderstanding

TBR List Update: November

2025-11-30T23:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In November 2025

Books read: 3

Books I decided NOT to finish: __

The

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 31

Best book of the month: S

I'm

Worst book of the month: Boyfriend Material

Kinda dragged on and had unresolved drama in both characters' lives just melt off the page without much fanfare. Some cute witty banter, though.

Actively watching more TV and also sleeping earlier during the dark winter months. I'm okay with that for now.

TBR List Update: October

2025-10-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In October 2025

Books read: 6

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

The Chairs Are Where the People Go: When I received the book on hold, I realized it was very short-form fiction, like essays or news articles, and their voice did not captivate me.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 31

Best book of the month: Sunrise on the Reaping

I'm glad I got to learn more about what happened in Haymitch's Hunger Games and the previous generation of District 12.

Worst book of the month: Hold My Girl

Eh. It was all right -- the setup of a mixup in a fertility clinic was gripping -- but it took me a looooong time to commit to finishing this one.

I passed the 50-book mark! I set a low goal this year so I wouldn't have to rush at the end. It feels good.

TBR List Update: September

2025-09-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In September 2025

Books read: 6

Books I decided NOT to finish: 0
No decisions made yet; I just have a few that have been checked out for ages.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 31

Best book of the month: Fighting Words

Re-read this quickly and it's still really good. A necessary book (and a great segue into Banned Books Week).

Worst book of the month: Nothing

Look, I'm not reading that much. I'm comfort-watching The West Wing.

TBR List Update: August

2025-08-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In August 2025

Books read: 3

Books I decided NOT to finish: 0

I returned Prairie Fires but haven't given up on it entirely yet.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 33

Best book of the month: Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston

A middle grade fantasy novel with a nonbinary main character! I ran across this on Mombian and thought it might be perfect for a friend's kid, but ended up reading it myself and ordering the two sequels. I'm looking forward to learning more about the history of Helston and how Callie's parents met and what Callie's magic looks like once they've trained it a bit.

Worst book of the month:

Nothing stands out -- none of the three were perfect, but they were all enjoyable. Can I read more than 5 in the next 3 months? I hope so.

TBR List Update: July

2025-07-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In July 2025

Books read: 2

Books I decided NOT to finish: 3

Little Rot: I keep intending to read more Emezi (I really got into Pet and the prequel, Bitter, which are for younger audiences), but this time around decided I didn't need a dose of "poison of power, sexual violence, murder, betrayals".

Sideshow: This one has been on the list for a while, and I was going to save it for October, but it's since left the library collection and I didn't care enough about reading it to track it down with interlibrary loan.

These Is My Words: I couldn't hang with the audiobook. When I checked the time and found I was only two and a half hours in (with eleven more to go!), I immediately noped out.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 31 (plus 5 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: Never Flinch

No surprise here. I waited on the library hold list for a month (and it would have been longer but I placed holds on multiple editions and got a large-print version while I was still #5 on the list for the standard one).

Worst book of the month: The Bog Wife

I am learning that Gothic looks cute in fashion but it's really not my literary genre. I have sufficient looming dread in my life already, thanks. This Appalachian Gothic tale dragged on and just seemed to get more depressing without answering my questions. I had a whole backstory and twist anticipated that turned out to be entirely unfounded, and I wish this book had been that one.

I didn't read any books the entire first week of the month, although I could've downloaded something from Hoopla or Libby. I just scrolled a lot and watched some TV I don't usually get a chance to see (The Gilded Age is back for a third season!) and idly wished I had books in front of me. *yawn* Lazy summer. Then I started a lot of new books/audiobooks and didn't like any of them much. THEN Stephen King came through!

TBR List Update: June

2025-06-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In June 2025

Books read: 8

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

The Garden: Recommended solely by title by a colleague. I struggled with the slowness of the plot and the sense of looming dread. Obviously there were secrets behind the life of these weird sisters, but when I realized I was more than halfway through the book without having learned any, I acknowledged that I just wasn't curious enough to sit through the rest.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 34 (plus 4 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: Plants That Feed Us

Surprise! A nonfiction title for young readers from the 1950s captured my attention. Although I have a few concerns that might need fact-checking (such as the etymology of "gumbo" originating from Portuguese sailors? Not enslaved West Africans?) and tripped over a couple of publishing-date-appropriate anachronisms (tinned powdered mustard on your mom's shopping list?), I'd feel comfortable transmitting most of the content to my small gardener as we work together on the vegetable beds and in the kitchen.

Worst book of the month: Jay's Gay Agenda

I feel bad, because it's nice to have queer rep in YA lit, and less of it is about men. But I had to convince myself to keep going (against my proclamation of only-what-I-like!) and didn't really love it. Maybe it's an authentic take on what it's like to be a gay teen guy, but I kept wishing there wasn't so much about the main character's pantsfeelings.

I actually returned most of my library check-outs at one point this month. Then I got fussy because I didn't want to finish the book I was in the middle of, didn't have anything else to read, and checked out five more. Once I read a chapter or two of each and decided I could keep going, I only DNFed one of the five (and I finished the one I'd gotten stuck on in the first place). Later, when I ran out of books at camp for a week, I made use of their lending library shelves. So not much progress on the TBR list overall.

TBR List Update: May

2025-05-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In May 2025

Books read: 9

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Courageous Love: I'm glad this was written, for those many grandparents who are raising their grandkids and need support. I'm not going to read it cover to cover, though.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 33 (plus 4 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: The Briar Club

Full of social mores and political concerns from the 1950s and a strong ensemble cast that I was more or less able to keep sorted, this story had some predictable and some surprising twists before concluding its whodunit throughline.

Worst book of the month: [none]

All good experiences this month!

TBR List Update: April

2025-04-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In April 2025

Books read: 8

Books I decided NOT to finish: 5

What She Ate: I only finished the first of 6 sections. I really thought there would be more on the actual food and foodways of the time/culture.

First Love: Eh. Tales of adolescent wildness rarely hold me; I don't relate. I thought there would be more variety in the short stories.

All Fours: Why is this on my list? Because some recommendation list told me so. Eh. *raspberry at "should"*

The Union: I wanted to get into this, but the story moved too fast, with huge stakes before I got invested in any of the characters. I wanted to know more about both the individuals and their world.

Persuasion: This was on the list from a colleague's recommendation more than a year ago, but I let it go.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 33 (plus 6 checked out/in progress; I put some back that I'd had checked out for a while but hope to read later)

Best book of the month: Ammonite

I learned three new words! That so seldom happens. And it didn't seem overwritten, like someone got hold of a thesaurus and used it irresponsibly. (Lambent, soughing, anther.) An interesting consideration how languages and cultures might develop in the presence of a single sex.

Worst book of the month: Legends

Hit-or-miss anthology.

TBR List Update: March

2025-03-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In March 2025

Books read: 5

Books I decided NOT to finish: 2

The Very Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan: It's not the right style of horror for me. Things were dark but maybe too eldritch.

Tin Star: Too much telling, not enough explaining. I could not invest emotionally.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 36 (plus 11 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: All the Sweeter

Technically I haven't finished it yet, but this was a nuanced exploration of foster parenting (not necessarily pitched as a 101 introduction) and it resonated with me.

Worst book of the month: A Splendid Ruin

Which is not to say it was a terrible story. Lots of architectural and social history of familiar places, but not satisfying in its tale of justified revenge.

My persistence in "only books I like" has led to a lot of impulse borrowings on Hoopla, instead of working on the TBR list. I also added a few titles to that list for later. Oh well.

TBR List Update: February

2025-02-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In February 2025

Books read: 11

Books I decided NOT to finish: 4

Iron Flame: Yeah, I read about a chapter and then flipped ahead trying to find something to get excited about. I just don't get why everyone loves this series so much.

The Children of Men: Interesting premise, but I'm not going to ask my brain to work that hard right now.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: It's been checked out to me for almost a year (bad librarian!). If I haven't read it yet, I'm not going to.

Camp Concentration: It kept looking good on the list, but I got it in person and it didn't. That is all.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 41 (plus 6 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: The Pairing

A culinary romp through western Europe with a pair of highly competitive bisexual friends-turned-lovers-turned-exes suddenly reunited. Made me laugh, scold the characters out loud, surprise-cry on the last page, and read many snippets aloud to my very tolerant wife.

Worst book of the month:

I liked everything! It was a good reading month in that regard.

TBR List Update: January

2025-01-31T23:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In January 2025

Books read: 5

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Moral Disorder: I'm treading lightly and trying not to read things I don't really like. And I'm trying not to feel like a failure for it. It's not very academically rigorous, for sure, but it's self-care.

I'm working on making the decision to DNF Iron Flame (the second in the Fourth Wing series that everyone's so get up about). I brought it along to wait in the hospital on January 30th, but didn't even finish the first chapter between everything else I was paying attention to. I'm going to give it one more chance this weekend.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 43 (plus 8 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: One Day

Loved the concept, loved the reporting that made proper chapter-length stories out of newspaper articles, TV clips, interviews, and other documents.

Worst book of the month:

Eh. All about the same.

January's count always gets a boost from the completion of books started in the previous year. Also, it's often a quiet time with less socializing and the inclination to stay in out of the rain, so there tends to be a bit more time to read. However, this January was so full of existential anguish that I found myself scrolling the short video feeds a lot more than reading print.

#VirtualMountTBR2025

2025-01-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

It's year three of this challenge, for me. The Virtual Mount TBR (to-be-read) challenge is hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block. Participants start with a list of books they don't own but have been meaning to read, and the challenge is scaling a virtual mountain by either reading or deciding to remove them unfinished from the list. You can sign up here! (If you have a literal pile of books, #MountTBR2025 is for you.)

Guidelines (and feel free to adapt them if you'd like to challenge yourself!):

Have a known list to begin the year. I have consolidated mine into the tool my library uses and have a list of ~50 titles here: TBR List.
Try not to add anything new! But it's okay to read off-list. I left a little room for this by making a less challenging goal this year.
Keep track of what I'm reading on my usual page: Reading List.
Remove titles from the TBR list as I complete them, OR as I decide that I will be okay never reading/finishing them.

I am aiming for White Plume Mountain (48 books) and I have 57 on my TBR list + in-progress stack at the beginning of the year. I will be updating at the end of each month (and sporadically otherwise) with a running total and some commentary.

Reading List 2024

2025-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Here's an archived copy of my reading list for this year. I'll be keeping up the new list here: http://mlisunderstanding.blogspot.com/p/reading-list.html

I would recommend the bolded titles with enthusiasm, and I enjoyed the italicized titles but probably wouldn't read them again.

Read in 2024:

1. The Very Nice Box, by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman

1.1.* The Devil in Silver, by Victor LaValle

2. A Good Neighborhood, by Therese Anne Fowler

3. Garment of Shadows, by Laurie R. King

3.1.* Life from Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness, by Sasha Martin

4. After Many Years, by L.M. Montgomery

5. Dreaming Spies, by Laurie R. King

6. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance

7. After Many Days, by L.M. Montgomery

7.1.* Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy, edited by Anthony Harkins and Meredith McCarroll

8. A Lady for a Duke, by Alexis Hall

8.1.* The Tropic of Serpents, by Marie Brennan

9. Welcoming Strangers: Nonviolent Re-parenting of Children in Foster Care, by Jane Hall Fitz-Gibbon and Andrew Fitz-Gibbon

10. A Face in the Crowd / The Longest December, by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

11. Mamo, by Sas Milledge

12. Weyward, by Emilia Hart

13. Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele

13.2.* She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity, by Carl Zimmer

14. Hench, by Natalie Zina Walschots

15. The Murder of Mary Russell, by Laurie R. King

16. Go as a River, by Shelley Read

17. Island of the Mad, by Laurie R. King

18. Dancing Girls, by Margaret Atwood

19. The Tumbling Turner Sisters, by Juliette Fay

20. The Girls in the Garden, by Lisa Jewell

21. The Wishing Game, by Meg Shaffer

22. Magic Has No Borders, edited by Sona Charaipotra and Samira Ahmed

23. My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell

24. Chocolate Cake for Imaginary Lives, by Genevieve Jenner

25. Camp QUILTBAG, by Nicole Melleby and A.J. Sass

26. Step, by Deborah Ellis

27. The Wife App, by Carolyn Mackler

28. How Can I Help You, by Laura Sims

28.1.* The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michelle Richardson

29. Bookshops and Bonedust, by Travis Baldree

30. The Women Could Fly, by Megan Giddings

31. Holly, by Stephen King

32. Perfect Little World, by Kevin Wilson

32.1.* The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey

33. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt

33.1.* Lives of Girls and Women, by Alice Munro

33.2.* Predators: Who They Are and How to Stop Them, by Gregory Cooper and Michael King

34. Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

[The Dark Half, by Stephen King]

34.3.* When the Angels Left the Old Country, by Sacha Lamb

35. The Heart Goes Last, by Margaret Atwood

[Desperation, by Stephen King]

36. The Reformatory, by Tananarive Due

37. The Summerhouse, by Jude Devereaux

37.1.* The Orphan Collector, by Ellen Marie Wiseman

37.2.* The Apple: Crimson Petal Stories, by Michel Faber

38. After We Were Stolen, by Brooke Beyfuss

39. Cutting Lisa, by Percival Everett

39.1.* Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language, by Amanda Montell

40. Spells and Sensibility, by K.L. Noone and K.S. Murphy

41. Chaos and Conjurations, by K.L. Noone and K.S. Murphy

42. Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo

42.1.* Low-Demand Parenting: Dropping Demands, Restoring Calm, and Finding Connection with Your Uniquely Wired Child, by Amanda Diekman

43. You Like It Darker, by Stephen King

44. Ring Shout, by P. Djeli Clark

44.1.* The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler

44.2.* Cane River, by Lalita Tademy

44.3.* Delicious Foods, by James Hannaham

44.4.* Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward

45. Riviera Gold, by Laurie R. King

46. Set Me Free, by Ann Clare LeZotte

47. Blood Red, by Mercedes Lackey

48. Bloodchild and Other Stories, by Octavia Butler

49. Other Worlds Than These: Stories of Parallel Worlds, edited by John Joseph Adams

50. Castle Shade, by Laurie R. King

50.1.* The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, by Jonathan Haidt

51. Sail Me Away Home, by Ann Clare LeZotte

52. The Lantern's Dance, by Laurie R. King

53. An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon

54. Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

55. Kiss, by Jacqueline Wilson

55.1.* Stay Me, Oh Comfort Me, by M.F.K. Fisher

56. Love Comes Softly, by Janette Oke

57. An Expat's Relocation Guide to Baja California Sur, by Manny Serrato

58. How to Stand up to a Dictator, by Maria Ressa

59. Dear Sweet Pea, by Julie Murphy

60. A Sorceress Comes to Call, by T. Kingfisher

61. Starter Villain, by John Scalzi

61.1.* Big Girl, by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

62. Eat Joy, edited by Natalie Eve Garrett and Meryl Rowin

63. Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch

64. Dava Shastri's Last Day, by Kirthana Ramisetti

65. A Deadly Education, by Naomi Novik

65.1.* Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros

TBR List Update: December

2024-12-31T23:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In December 2024

Books read: 8

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Wordslut: Like many on the list, it just doesn't rank as highly in reality once I have to weigh it against other books and all the life stuff on my plate.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 56 (I added next year's)

Best book of the month: A Deadly Education

This author is new to me (sometimes I'm late to pick up trends) but I've liked everything far. I preferred the fairytale retelling from earlier this year. I've also placed an anthology of short stories from her various universes on hold for a treat in a couple of months. Close runner-up: A Sorceress Comes to Call.

Worst book of the month: How to Stand Up to a Dictator

From the title, it seemed timely. I saw the parallels. I learned a bit about world politics. But I was bored stiff.

Sum-up: There was a nice flurry of interesting, distracting fiction mid-month, just as I crested the peak of 60. I remember when all my reading used to be like that -- or so it seemed. That was why I liked it so much. Then I stocked up on library holds for our vacation days to end the year on a good reading vibe!

TBR List Update: November

2024-11-30T23:30:00.008-08:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In November 2024

Books read: 3

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Stay Me, Oh Comfort Me: I think I want to read more food writings by MFK Fisher before attempting her journals/memoirs.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 45

Best book of the month: Love Comes Softly

Kind of a funny choice, but it was a soothing bit of fluff.

Worst book of the month: None. They were all okay.

I don't think I'm going to summit Mount TBR this year. Too much disruption and too little reading time. But I'll keep swimming, just keep swimming.

TBR List Update: October

2024-10-31T23:30:00.016-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In October 2024

Books read: 7

Books I decided NOT to finish: 3

Low-Demand Parenting: This is useful info in general, especially for parents and people who work with kids, but it was most relevant to the foster kiddo who's recently left our house. I'm going to let it go.

Model Home: See below about Rivers Solomon.

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat: I realized that my library system only had one volume available, and it wasn't the first one. I didn't want to read this manga badly enough to seek it out from interlibrary loan.

Brown Girl in the Ring: I don't know why. I've previously read excerpts and it just doesn't sound so appealing anymore.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 45

Best book of the month: Bloodchild and Other Stories

Yummy, chewy morsels of Octavia Butler's work, with an accompanying author's note on each one.

Worst book of the month: An Unkindness of Ghosts

*sigh* This is the second Solomon book I've not connected with, and at this point I'm not up for reading another. There's so much character development and interesting worlds/life circumstances, and you start to really care about the characters' choices, but then what happens in terms of plot? Is there resolution? No! Very unfulfilling.

TBR List Update: September

2024-09-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In September 2024

Books read: 3

Books I decided NOT to finish: 4

When the Angels Left the Old Country: I started this before going on sabbatical, and found my interest in demons and dybbuks and demonstrations at sweatshops waned.

Delicious Foods: Maybe it was the "daring and shape-shifting prose" (as advertised in the jacket copy) , but when I was sorting through my pile, I decided to turn it in unread.

She Has Her Mother's Laugh: Science written for a popular audience -- which is fine, but I thought from the introduction that I'd be reading the author's personal experience with his family. It didn't make the back-to-work cut.

Cane River: This one WAS the author's family's story... and as interesting as it might be over a glass of sweet tea, it doesn't have the systemically crafted plot twists of a novel.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 41

Best book of the month: An Unkindness of Ghosts

Space-age SF with social justice along multiple axes.

Worst book of the month:

They were all fine.

TBR List Update: August

2024-08-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In August 2024

Books read: 3

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

The Mountain in the Sea: Looked forward to this for ages based on the sf premise and a colleague's recommendation, but found it slow going and the loan expired.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List:

Best book of the month: Aft

This read

Worst book of the month: Cu

What the heck was this??

TBR List Update: July

2024-07-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In July 2024

Books read: 9

Books I decided NOT to finish: 2

The Orphan Collector: Usually books like this are my cup of tea, but I just couldn't get into it after a second or third attempt, and decided not to spend my vacation time on it.

The Apple: Eh. Not as racy as I'd been led to believe.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 55 (I pulled some from Hoopla recommendations, not the list)

Best book of the month: After We Were Stolen

This read like a long and twisty episode of Criminal Minds or Law & Order: SVU, with a little nod to the second half of Room. I appreciated the glimpses into safe house etiquette and the perspective of our unreliable narrator as she learns more about the outside world.

Worst book of the month: Cutting Lisa

What the heck was this?? I finished it because it was short, but I regret it. No explanation of character motivation. If you didn't already think just like this guy (an old white straight man), you don't get a clue as to what he's feeling or why. No plot development! Characters would have conversations, and either nothing at all would change about the situation (so why have the conversation on the page?) or somehow it would trigger a bold action, without explanation. I selected this because of the acclaim given to the author's latest, James, but reading this doesn't incline me in the slightest toward his other novels.

Spent the whole month on leave (and much of the reading occurred on an airplane or ship), but it often felt like I was just substituting work at home or travel for work at the office. I finished up a few that had been hanging out half-read, and succumbed to a sequel in a series I don't think I want to finish,

TBR List Update: June

2024-06-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In June 2024

Books read: 2

Books I decided NOT to finish: 3

Predators: Who They Are and How to Stop Them: Going through some stuff right now that made me not want to read more. Good advice in what I did read, though.

REMY: I *had* to try a book with my own name! Then I couldn't get through the writing in the first pages. Too much telling without showing. Slow and ungainly. I gave up on myself.

The Orphan Collector: Started it again, got half a chapter further, skimmed a bit, and decided it was too slow/boring.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 58 (yes, it's getting bigger now)

Best book of the month: There's not much to choose from...

Mad Honey was fine; I saw the twist coming (not always true with Jodi Picoult!) and it was handled well. Perhaps groundbreaking at the time it was published? I wrote, until I checked and found it it was from 2022. I liked the setting and learning more about bees!

Worst book of the month: I haven't finished enough to say!

I had a lot of balls to juggle this month, between work and home responsibilities. Starting in July I'll be on sabbatical/family leave, and there will be traveling, so hopefully some free time to read.

TBR List Update: May

2024-05-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In May 2024

Books read: 6

Books I decided NOT to finish: 5

Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: After reviewing this slim volume, I realize that I've read it before.

The Husband Hunters: I added this to the list in 2020 (when I was working with the Main Library collection during its pandemic closure), having watched a lot of Downton Abbey. Since then I've also viewed The Gilded Age, and closely enough to recognize a number of real-life personages that those characters were modeled on, from the photographs in the book. The text reads like Debrett's -- too many names for me -- so that was sufficient.

Miss Pym Disposes: a recommendation that would've been all right had I nothing else pressing to read; since I do, and was looking for something to cast off, I have disposed of it.

The Echo Wife: I have enjoyed Sarah Gailey's previous work, but I just couldn't get into this one. I ended up skipping through and getting the gist of the plotline, then turned it back in.

Lives of Girls and Women: I tried the first chapter and couldn't see what all the fuss was about. But there's also a book club reading it, so many people on the hold list who do want it.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 56

Best book of the month: The Women Could Fly

At about the halfway point, I hadn't yet decided whether I liked this book. Reserving judgement until the last page was turned, I'm still a little perplexed, but I'm falling on the side of no. It's a little too acid-trippy in its musings on witchcraft and magic, and the realistic aspects -- a Handmaid's Tale-like authoritarian government bent on eradicating witches, and by TOTAL COINCIDENCE I'M SURE oppressing women, gender minorities, POC, and under-resourced people -- were grim but not all that insightful. I'm still interested in the social effects of having all unmarried women under suspicion of terrible acts, requiring them to leave the workplace by 30 if they haven't married, putting them under formal control by a male relative and/or government monitor, etc. The main character in this story is conflicted about what she wants and needs, and so was I. Was this a happy ending? Would I have preferred a different one? It's all a twisting, foggy path.

Worst book of the month: I'm not prepared to name one. The Echo Wife would've been it, if I had read the whole thing.

TBR List Update: April

2024-04-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In April 2024

Books read: 9

It was my birthday month, and I had some protected time alone to read. But then I got sick at the end of the month and didn't get to read ANYTHING. It balanced out.

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Appalachian Reckoning: I put this on my list at the same time as Hillbilly Elegy, because I wanted to get a rounded perspective of the issues raised. However, I didn't find myself fully believing or supporting the author of the memoir, so when reading the response was slow-going, I eventually decided to pitch it.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 65

Best book of the month: The Wishing Game

Wish fulfilment in so many ways!! I sobbed over this book. It's published for grownups. There is darkness in it -- and confrontation of the darkness. And yet I would hand it to a middle-schooler without hesitation. There is so much hope. I can see why there was a waiting list.

Worst book of the month: How Can I Help You

So... nothing HAPPENED in this mystery about murderous librarians. I did not care about the fate of either of the main characters, and the anticlimactic ending ground my gears. Also, I'm annoyed about the lack of punctuation in the title.

TBR List Update: March

2024-03-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In March 2024

Books read: 5

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

The Outrun: I didn't realize that it's an addiction recovery memoir, not fiction. I'd honestly rather read about imaginary people's struggles sometimes, especially when real life is being difficult.

I quailed at the size of Stephen King's Desperation, which I've started a few times in the past, but decided I really do want to finish it, so I won't include it here. Just... set it to the side.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 75 (It went up -- I found new titles to add)

Best book of the month: The Murder of Mary Russell

A selection in the Mary Russell series that actually had very little to do with Mary! Most of the book was taken up with the backstory of Mrs. Hudson, the landlady/housekeeper for Sherlock Holmes. As previously intimated, she led quite a different sort of life when she was younger. I adored this (and in my mind I kept seeing the fashions from the TV series The Gilded Age).

Worst book of the month: Dancing Girls

Having loved The Handmaid's Tale and its sequel, The Testaments, I thought I'd explore Margaret Atwood's short fiction. I found the collection uneven, though; the first few stories were confusing to me and I didn't find much that resonated with my experience. A standout: "When It Happens", which played to my looming sense of dread and social apocalypse. "Rape Fantasies" was a clever conceit. But overall, it was a slog, and I'm reconsidering the other two anthologies of her work on my list.

TBR List Update: February

2024-02-29T23:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In February 2024

Books read: 7

Books I decided NOT to finish: 2

The Tropic of Serpents: #2 in a series I started last year. Just not compelling enough to keep.

Secrets of Happiness: Honestly, I got it in person, flipped through it, and decided, "Too literary." It won a lot of awards, though.

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 72

Best book of the month: Hench

This is the first title I added to the 2024 list, way back about a year ago. I deeply enjoyed the witty repartee between the main character and her friends.

Worst book of the month:

Most of them were disappointing, but none were really bad. I'm not going to name a "worst".

I've started adding a few new titles to the current TBR List, rather than maintaining a separate one for next year. I'm hoping that I'll have it whittled down enough by the end of 2024 that I won't need to keep up the challenge next year and can just read what I want to and happen across.

TBR List Update: January

2024-01-31T23:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In January 2024

Books read: 7

Books I decided NOT to finish: 3

The Devil in Silver: This one seemed like it would make a good suspense film, but the novel opened too slowly for me. I wanted to know more about either the police corruption angle or the supernatural factors, but I didn't stick with it.

Life from Scratch: I picked this up again after a couple months and just couldn't get through it. Is the whole book about the author's disrupted childhood, or does she do something interesting later? Dunno.

Unexpected Magic: I'd already read this! Didn't remember having done so from the title/cover, but as soon as I opened the first story...

Life Undercover

Books left on the TBR List: 78

Best book of the month: Dreaming Spies

This is one of the handful of remaining titles in the Mary Russell series that I started two decades or more ago and have been trying to finish up. Although there was a definite whiff of Orientalism (suitable to the era in which the story is set), I think the implausible storyline -- ninjas! the emperor of heaven himself! -- acquitted itself well. I also found myself reading with... anticipatory nostalgia? the scenes of the shipboard travel, as I was lucky enough to book a cruise this coming summer.

Worst book of the month: Garment of Shadows

Funny that the least interesting of the half-dozen this month would be the novel directly preceding the most interesting (in the same series)! Russell had amnesia throughout the first half of this book, which did cut down on any reminiscing about past cases or training with Holmes if not her quick-witted deductions. Maybe I missed that.

Not a bad start to the year!

MLISunderstanding

TBR List Update: November

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In November 2025

Books read: 3

Books I decided NOT to finish: __

Books left on the TBR List: 31 Best book of the month: S

I'm

Worst book of the month: Boyfriend Material

TBR List Update: October

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In October 2025

Books read: 6

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Books left on the TBR List: 31 Best book of the month: Sunrise on the Reaping

I'm glad I got to learn more about what happened in Haymitch's Hunger Games and the previous generation of District 12.

Worst book of the month: Hold My Girl

TBR List Update: September

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In September 2025

Books read: 6

Books I decided NOT to finish: 0No decisions made yet; I just have a few that have been checked out for ages.

Books left on the TBR List: 31 Best book of the month: Fighting Words

Re-read this quickly and it's still really good. A necessary book (and a great segue into Banned Books Week).

Worst book of the month: Nothing

TBR List Update: August

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In August 2025

Books read: 3

Books I decided NOT to finish: 0I returned Prairie Fires but haven't given up on it entirely yet.

Books left on the TBR List: 33 Best book of the month: Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston

Worst book of the month:

TBR List Update: July

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In July 2025

Books read: 2

Books I decided NOT to finish: 3

Books left on the TBR List: 31 (plus 5 checked out/in progress)Best book of the month: Never Flinch

No surprise here. I waited on the library hold list for a month (and it would have been longer but I placed holds on multiple editions and got a large-print version while I was still #5 on the list for the standard one).

Worst book of the month: The Bog Wife

TBR List Update: June

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In June 2025

Books read: 8

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Books left on the TBR List: 34 (plus 4 checked out/in progress)Best book of the month: Plants That Feed Us

Worst book of the month: Jay's Gay Agenda

TBR List Update: May

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In May 2025

Books read: 9

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Books left on the TBR List: 33 (plus 4 checked out/in progress)Best book of the month: The Briar Club

Full of social mores and political concerns from the 1950s and a strong ensemble cast that I was more or less able to keep sorted, this story had some predictable and some surprising twists before concluding its whodunit throughline.

Worst book of the month: [none]

TBR List Update: April

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In April 2025

Books read: 8

Books I decided NOT to finish: 5

Books left on the TBR List: 33 (plus 6 checked out/in progress; I put some back that I'd had checked out for a while but hope to read later)Best book of the month: Ammonite

I learned three new words! That so seldom happens. And it didn't seem overwritten, like someone got hold of a thesaurus and used it irresponsibly. (Lambent, soughing, anther.) An interesting consideration how languages and cultures might develop in the presence of a single sex.

Worst book of the month: Legends

TBR List Update: March

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In March 2025

Books read: 5

Books I decided NOT to finish: 2

Books left on the TBR List: 36 (plus 11 checked out/in progress) Best book of the month: All the Sweeter

Technically I haven't finished it yet, but this was a nuanced exploration of foster parenting (not necessarily pitched as a 101 introduction) and it resonated with me.

Worst book of the month: A Splendid Ruin

TBR List Update: February

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In February 2025

Books read: 11

Books I decided NOT to finish: 4

Books left on the TBR List: 41 (plus 6 checked out/in progress) Best book of the month: The Pairing

A culinary romp through western Europe with a pair of highly competitive bisexual friends-turned-lovers-turned-exes suddenly reunited. Made me laugh, scold the characters out loud, surprise-cry on the last page, and read many snippets aloud to my very tolerant wife.

Worst book of the month:

TBR List Update: January

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In January 2025

Books read: 5

Books I decided NOT to finish: 1

Books left on the TBR List: 43 (plus 8 checked out/in progress) Best book of the month: One Day

Loved the concept, loved the reporting that made proper chapter-length stories out of newspaper articles, TV clips, interviews, and other documents.

Worst book of the month:

#VirtualMountTBR2025

Reading List 2024

TBR List Update: December

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.In December 2024

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In November 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 31

Best book of the month: S

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In October 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 31

Best book of the month: Sunrise on the Reaping

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In September 2025

Books I decided NOT to finish: 0
No decisions made yet; I just have a few that have been checked out for ages.

Books left on the TBR List: 31

Best book of the month: Fighting Words

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In August 2025

Books I decided NOT to finish: 0

I returned Prairie Fires but haven't given up on it entirely yet.

Books left on the TBR List: 33

Best book of the month: Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In July 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 31 (plus 5 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: Never Flinch

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In June 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 34 (plus 4 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: Plants That Feed Us

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In May 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 33 (plus 4 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: The Briar Club

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In April 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 33 (plus 6 checked out/in progress; I put some back that I'd had checked out for a while but hope to read later)

Best book of the month: Ammonite

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In March 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 36 (plus 11 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: All the Sweeter

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In February 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 41 (plus 6 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: The Pairing

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2025. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In January 2025

Books left on the TBR List: 43 (plus 8 checked out/in progress)

Best book of the month: One Day

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In December 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 56 (I added next year's)

Best book of the month: A Deadly Education

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In November 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 45

Best book of the month: Love Comes Softly

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In October 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 45

Best book of the month: Bloodchild and Other Stories

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In September 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 41

Best book of the month: An Unkindness of Ghosts

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In August 2024

Books left on the TBR List:

Best book of the month: Aft

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In July 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 55 (I pulled some from Hoopla recommendations, not the list)

Best book of the month: After We Were Stolen

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In June 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 58 (yes, it's getting bigger now)

Best book of the month: There's not much to choose from...

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In May 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 56

Best book of the month: The Women Could Fly

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In April 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 65

Best book of the month: The Wishing Game

I'm working my way through #VirtualMountTBR2024. Here's my current To-Be-Read List, and here's the list of titles I have read this year.

In March 2024

Books left on the TBR List: 75 (It went up -- I found new titles to add)

Best book of the month: The Murder of Mary Russell