My Favorite Authors of 2022

 Based on how I rated the books I read last year, here's my favorite authors of 2022. Keep in mind this is strictly my opinion and it's pretty subjective. But it's fair to say I'll be watching for more from these authors in the future, as well as going deeper into their backlists. I've linked to the author's website where possible. Some obviously, don't have websites. A few websites seem to be having some trouble.

First, no surprise, is Agatha Christie. Long a favorite in a favorite genre.

Update to Currently Reading

 Time for an update to the books I'm currently reading. Cemetery Boys (by Aiden Thomas, readng for the Read Harder challenge); Dune (by Frank Herbert); Hidden in Snow (by Viveca Sten, reading for the Cloak and Dagger challenge); and Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder (by Joanne Fluke, reading for the Cruisin' Through the Cozies challenge).

Currently Reading (Challenge Books)

Cloak and Dagger: Hidden in Snow (Viveca Sten, 12/1/2022) - 4%
Cruisin' Through the Cozies: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder (Joanne Fluke, 2/23/2021) - 7%
Read Harder: Cemetery Boys (Aiden Thomas, 9/1/2020) - 5%

Read Harder Challenge 2023

I'll admit: I really like genre fiction. But I'll be the first to tell you, it's not always the most challenging stuff out there. So to up my reading a little, I've decided to do Book Riot's Read Harder challenge this year. It's only 24 books, maybe two a month, but the books selected have to meet certain criteria. Most of those are books I probably wouldn't normally read. For example, the first listed criteria is it has to be a book by a trans author about a trans character. I've chosen Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas. It's a book I've actually had for a while (audio), but I've never finished it. This time I will. It's not that I don't like the book. In fact, I do like the story of a Latine transgender person dealing with spirits and his (not always supportive) family very much. I just keep getting distracted by easier reads. It's time to fix that and get the book done. An hour a day, and I'll have it finished in two weeks.

2023 Reading Challenges

I've started looking for 2023 reading challenges, and I've found a couple that appeal to me. I believe I'll be doing the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge, hosted at Carol's Notebook, and Cruisin' Through the Cozies at Socrates' Book Reviews. These will be the first time I've done any challenges since I switched to audio and ebook as my preferred formats. Should be interesting! I realize they're both mystery challenges, but that is my favorite genre these days, so I think it will work for me. Since they're similar genres, I won't count the same book for both challenges. Both run from Janury 1 to December 31 of 2023.

For Cloak and Dagger, I intend to try the Inspector level (26-35 books). i figure that will be about half the books I plan on reading in 2023, maybe a little less. Cruisin' Through the Cozies, I plan on going for the first level (Snoop). I'm choosing option B, one cozy from each listed subgenre (culinary, animal, crafting, paranormal, outside USA, career-based, holiday, travel, historical, and reader's choice). If anyone has a recommendation for another challenge (not mystery), let me know in the comments and I'll take a look at it.

Also, today I started the audiobook version of Dune (Frank Herbert, Macmillan Audio). I must be the last American in my generation reading this book. I'm in the process of disconnecting from Goodreads and moving to StoryGraph, so if you're interested you can follow me there.

I hope everyone had some good holidays, and I'm looking forward to 2023!

Currently Reading, 8 June 2021

 I'm not doing Goodreads anymore, but here's a list of the books I'm currently reading (or listening to) Most of what I'm doing these days are audiobooks. I have quite a collection!

• Pains and Penalties (Sarah Biglow) - Book one in her Geeks and Things mystery series, and the only print book I'm currently reading.
• Red, White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston, read by Ramon de Ocampo)
•  A Quest of Heroes (Morgan Rice, read by Wayne Farrell) - The first book in Rice's Sorcerer's Ring series.
• Cemetery Boys (Aiden Thomas, read by Avi Roque)

So far I really like the McQuiston and Thomas books. I'm not so sure about A Quest of Heroes. Of course, the mystery is just some light summer fun reading. I'll let you know more about my opinions as I finish the books.

Currently Reading: Fiction and Nonfiction

Books are pretty important to me. So what am I currently reading? Only two books right now. I'm trying to get to where I only read one book at a time.

First, I'm reading The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries, by Emily Brightwell.  I like genre fiction, and I've been meaning to try this series for quite some time. It's not bad. The story is good, although the writing is not to my taste. The two main characters seem very much of a type: the clueless inspector, in over his head, and his brilliant housekeeper who pretty much leads him by the hand in solving his cases. I'm not sure I like those characters. I hope later books improve. I'm a little over halfway through, and as I usually do with mysteries, I haven't let myself think about who might have done it. I like to be surprised, so I let myself get carried along by the story. This one is easy to read, but not so easy to care about the people in it. I'll finish the book, but I'm not sure I'll read more of the series.

The second book I'm reading, I just started the other day. Marcus Borg's Meetiing Jesus Again for the First Time. This is a good book, very different from the other I'm reading now. It's not easy reading. I'm only about 10 pages into the book, so there's not a lot I can say about it. I'll finish it, and I believe I'll enjoy it. I'm working on a list of books about Postmodern Christianity, and this is the first on my list.I may put the list on this site, just in case anyone else is interested.

So what are you reading right now? Let me know in the comments.

Best Books I Read in 2011

It's that time of year again: time for year's-end "best of" lists. I'm going to start with the books I enjoyed most during the year. As it happens, they're all books from my library's reading groups: Brown Bag and a Book, and Murder by the Book. I like genre fiction better than literary fiction, so most of them come from the mystery group. Here, ordered by the author's last name, is the list: