October List

So this presetting the random order, is a fun twist. Problematically, I'm still not getting through books very fast. I have come to realize that I need to have my non-fiction and my fiction on separate lists. As much as I really do like non fiction, they are always slow reads and I do best if I intersperse chapters with fiction. As a general rule, it's good for me to have multiple books going at a time.

In other news: The family has all renewed their library cards. Thomas's school librarian started an inititive. It's a good thing though, it's like guilt free shopping with a time limit. I managed to find all my TBR books for this cycle at the library and a couple of interesting books off of the new book shelves. Obviously these books have a time limit, so I made sure they were in the first 10 books on the list and reassigned the rest of them new numbers. It's a silliness but also a lot of fun. 

1. Poppy by Avi - (Dropped - yet another second book in a series that I haven't read the first of)
2. Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi (Library Book) - 7
3. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (professional Reading) - NF 2
4. Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson (Finished 10/9/24)
5. A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey (Finished 10/29/2024)
6. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) - 17
7. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows - 6 
8. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug - 15
5. An Orc on the Wild Side - 16
9. The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (Finished 10/18/2024)
10. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe - Graphic Novel) - 12
11. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor -11
12. A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett - 13
13. The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett - 14 
14. Her Night with the Duke: A Novel by Diana Quincy (Finished 10/20/24)
15. You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo (New TBR) -10
16. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR) - 19 
17. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann - NF 1
18. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma -8 
19. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - 18
20. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (Science Fiction) -9

Assigned or otherwise pre-scheduled Reading:

1. Strategic Communications for School Leaders by Vicki Gunther, James McGowan, and Kate Donegan (Grad School)
2. The Principal's Guide to School Budgeting by Richard D. Sorenson & Lloyd M. Goldsmith (Grad School)
3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)

Mid Year Assessment and August List

Usually, I do a kind of informal assessment at the halfway point of the year to see how I'm doing and make plans to catch up if I'm behind. That should have been at the beginning of July, however I was a bit busy at the time trekking across the country and back. As a result, I'm assessing now. 

It's not a surprise to find that I'm a little over a month behind overall and about three months behind in my YA goals. It sounds dire, but it actually works out great for a catch up month of reading. It works out that I need to read about 30 books in August to get entirely back on track. Coincidently, I need about 30 books to get back on track in my YA sub-goal.  This is great. I tend to read YA at a much faster clip than other things and while 30 books in a month is still a pretty steep order, it's not impossible either. Even if I don't quite make it, I'm sure I can certainly make up ground by focusing on YA. Anything over 15 means that I'm catching up. (I will worry about my other sub goals in September). 

As a result, I have here a list of 35 YA books and series to work through. I'll be using my random number selection to keep motivated with a bit of a twist. There's a second list of 15 books that are not YA to use to cut the YA with. I love YA, but after a while it gets a little mind numbing. That second list is only open after every 5 YA books read. I don't have to pick from the second list, but it's there if I need it to cut the YA with.

Cross your fingers for me.

1. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold (YA)
2. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (YA)
3. The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA)
4. The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls by James Bird (YA)
5. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (YA)
6. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (Classic, YA)
7. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (Finished 8/21/2022)
8. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA, Library)
9. The Rope Maker by Peter Dickinson (YA)
10. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (YA)
11. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (YA)
12. The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman (YA)
13. Quest For A Kelpie by Frances Hendry (Finished 8/16/2022)
14. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (Finished 8/27/2022)
15. Doctor Dolittle Vol 1 by Hugh Lofting
1. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
2. The Story of Doctor Dolittle
3. Doctor Dolittle's Post Office
16. The Casket of Time by Andri Snaer Magnason (YA)
17. Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire (YA)
18. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (YA?)
19. Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull (YA)
20. Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri (YA, Library)
21. Avatar the Last Airbender: Smoke and Shadow by Nickelodeon (Finished 8/2/2022)
22. The Borrowers by Mary Norton (series YA)
1. The Borrowers
2. The Borrowers Afield
3. The Borrowers Afloat
4. The Borrowers Aloft
5. The Borrowers Avenged
23. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA, Library)
24. The End and Other Beginnings by Veronica Roth (Finished 8/25/2022)
25. The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski (Finished 8/11/2022)
26. Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage (YA, Library)
27. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez (YA) 
28. The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti  (YA)
29. What Goes Around by Courtney Summers (Series YA)
1. Cracked Up to Be
2. Some Girls Are
30. Fruits Basket Another by Natsuki  Takaya (Series YA)
1. Vol 1 (Finished 8/2/2022)
2. Vol 2 (Finished 8/13/2022)
3. Vol 3 (Finished 8/17/2022)
31. Songs to Make You Smile by Natsuki Takaya  (finish 8/3/2022)
32. Tsubasa by Natsuki Takaya
1. Vol 1  (Finished 8/09/2022)
2. Vol 2 (Finished 8/30/2022)
3. Vol 3
33. Twinkle Stars Vol 1 by Natsuki Takaya  (Finished 8/19/2022)
34. The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson (YA)
35. The Magic Three of Solatia by Jane Yolen (Finished 8/5/2022)

Non YA for Sanity's Sake Cut List:

1. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (borrowed)
2. Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey 
3. Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers (Ryan Pick)
4. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
5. The Devil & Sherlock Holmes by David Grann (NF)
6. The Fireman by Joe Hill
7. Star Mother by Charlie N. Holmberg (Library)
8. Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li (TBR)
9. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
10. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
11. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
12. The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade (TBR)
13. Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (NF)
14. No Gods, No Monster by Cadwell Turnbull (Library)
15. The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine (NF)

Packing List (Books) for the Car Trip

Alright, going rogue is all well and good but I need to be at least a little organized for a three week road trip. I was originally going to bring only doorstoppers, and there are still a few in there, but a lot of those fell under "should read" rather than "excited to read." Every book on this list is something I'm excited about for some reason or another and there is limited space in a civic with three passengers. (I'll probably be shipping boxes home as I finish things.)

1. Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey (Book 3 in The Expanse) - It could be considered a doorstopper but more importantly is the third book in a series and it's been sitting on my list for a few months so I've been staring at it, wanting to find out what happens next and the randomizer just wasn't picking it.
2. Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey (Book 4 in The Expanse) - Same as Abaddon's Gate.
3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas - I've been wanting to read this book actively for over a year but it's been a comedy of errors. On my first attempt I realized that I had a heavily abridged copy, so I put it down. I received this more complete copy and it's just been sitting on my list. Got to love random systems. I've always liked Dumas, I first read The Three Musketeers in middle school.
4. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Mom recommended this one to me years ago and because it is a doorstopper, I just haven't picked it up but it does look like a really good book. My literature taste doesn't overlap with Mom's all that much, but where it does I can attest to her excellent sense of writing so I'm looking forward to this one.
5. The Devil & Sherlock Holmes by David Grann - A year ago or so, I read The Killers of the Flower Moon with my mystery class kids. I'm not a big one for true crime but it was an excellent read and several of my mystery kids became dedicated fans (These were not big readers to begin with.) I tripped across this one, randomly, at a used book store and I'm super psyched to read it just so I can share it with my mystery kids.
6. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress - I do a lot of research for my Literature Electives and I tripped across this one while researching for Sci Fi. I know there are some content issues with reading it in high school so I didn't select it for the class that year. However, it seemed like an interesting read so I bought a copy. It's sat on a stack ever since. I'm going to read it. I'm teaching Sci Fi again in the spring so maybe I'll get to teach it too.
7. Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li - TBR recommendation. There are three of these on this list but I really trust my recommender: Amanda. 
8. John Eyre by Mimi Matthews - Another TBR rec. (Finished 7/15/2022)
9. The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade - The third TBR rec.
10. Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton Series Book 4) - I'm not a huge romance reader but when I like them, I really love them. So this is a guilty pleasure that I don't generally make time for. This particular one has been sitting on my lists for a least three months and Rando just wasn't selecting it. I'm preempting it just cause I want to. (Finished 6/28/2022)
11. To Sir Philip, With Love by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton Series Book 5) - Same as Romancing Mister Bridgerton. (Finished 6/30/2022)
12. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab - Victoria Schwab and V.E. Schwab are the same writer. She, wisely, publishes her adult work as V.E. and her YA as Victoria. That's the only difference. She's written so much work that I haven't read yet, but I'm an intense fan of her "Shades of Magic" series. I bought this one for my classroom library but I've been sitting on it because I want to read it. Enough of that; I need to read it and stop hoarding it. (Finished 7/6/2022)
13. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - Doorstopper of all doorstoppers. This one probably seems like it should fit into the category of "literature bran muffin" and I suppose it is, but I also really want to read it. I read Anna Karenina  a few years ago and loved it, even though it was one of the more difficult books I've read. However, picking up War and Peace is this weird proposition. Karenina took me close to a month to get through, and I suspect that this could as much of an undertaking. Nevertheless, I really want to do it.
14. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson - This is another book I discovered in my research for Sci Fi lit class. This one I did take a risk on and offered to the kids even though I hadn't read it, which is why I have a copy. The kids picked something else, but I'm thinking I might read it and try again. (Finished 7/26/2022)

June List

Ok, for the sake of variety I'm officially increasing the size of the list to 40. It's still half YA, but that gives me 20 slots for the other categories and other sorts of non YA. This particular list will end when I head out for my massive road trip. I will create a separate road-trip list - I'm thinking dense doorstoppers. I have a lot of those building up in the backlog. 

1. Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed* (Finished 6/2/2022)
2. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold* (YA)
3. Machine Man by Max Barry* (Finished 6/24/2022)
4. Beard on Food by James Beard* (nonfiction, gift)
5. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (Borrowed)
6. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA)
7. Abaddon's Gate by James S. Corey* (Series Book 3)
8. Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers* (Ryan Pick)
9. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Corey Doctorow* (YA)
10. Avatar the Last Airbender: The Official Cookbook by Jenny Dorsey* (Finished 6/4/2022)
11. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (Classic)
12. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke* (YA)
13. The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman (YA)
14. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han* (Finished 6/4/2022)
15. Quest for a Kelpie  by Frances Hendry (YA)
16. The Fireman by Joe Hill
17. The Returning by Christine Hinwood* (YA)
18. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (YA)
19. The Metamorphosis and other Stories by Kafka (classic)
20. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress*
21. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu* (Series book 2)
22. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu*
23. Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire* (YA)
24. Wildwood by Colin Meloy (YA, Series Book 1)
25. Coyote's Pantry by Mark Miller and Mark Kiffin* (Cookbook)
26. The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and Other Plays by Moliere* (Plays)
27. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
28. Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull* (YA)
29. The Borrowers by Mary Norton (YA)
30. The Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton (YA)
31. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA)
32. Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Series book 4)
33. Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage (YA)
34. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez* (YA)
35. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab* (YA)
36. School Struggles by Richard Selznick (borrowed Professional Reading)
37. Science Fiction 101 by Robert Silverberg (borrowed)
38. What Goes Around by Courtney Summers* (YA)
39. All the Rage by Courtney Summers* (Finished 6/13/2022)
40. Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson*

The necessary overflow:

1. Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson (Finished 6/16/2022)
2. Dear Bully edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones (Read for my Principal)
3. Still Life by Louise Penny (Finished 6/8/2022)
4. The Road Trip Survival Guide by Rob Taylor (Nonfiction)
5. Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci* (Nonfiction, gift)

April Retrospective & May List

I don't know why I ever think April is going to be a good reading month. Yes, that's when my spring break is, but it's also the busiest month in my year.  Our spring show, 12 week grades, and the senior trip lead up all happens in April. Basically, I get one week in that is also all the usual Spring Break hoopla and then there's no reading time. So, this list is basically the same as last month minus the books I did manage to read. 

1. Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed* (YA)
2. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold* (YA)
3. Machine Man by Max Barry* (Ryan Pick)
4. Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (Series book 3)
5. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA)
6. Best American Side Dishes by Cook's Illustrated (Cookbook)
7. Abaddon's Gate by James S. Corey* (Series Book 3)
8. Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz* (Finished 5/16/2022)
9. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Corey Doctorow* (YA)
10. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (Classic)
11. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason (Finished 5/6/2022)
12. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke* (YA)
13. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han* (YA)
14. The Returning by Christine Hinwood* (YA)
15. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (YA)
16. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress*
17. Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (Finish 5/9/2022)
18. Wildwood by Colin Meloy (YA, Series Book 1)
19. Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull* (YA)
20. Still Life by Louise Penny (TBR)
21. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA)
22. Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Series book 4)
23. Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay* (Finish 5/30/2022)
24. Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage (YA)
25. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez* (YA)
26. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab* (YA)
27. Bone by Jeff Smith* by Jeff Smith (Finished 5/14/2022))
28. What Goes Around by Courtney Summers* (YA)
29. All the Rage by Courtney Summers* (YA)
30. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas* (Turns out I already read it at some point)
31. The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas* (Finished 5/14/2022)
32. Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci* (Nonfiction, gift)

As always lately, it seems like there are a handful of books that I'm reading under a bit of pressure. While these are subject to the random system, I might be pushing them up to get through them.

1. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (Finished 5/2/2022)
2. Puffs the Play: One Act Edition for Young Wizards by Matt Cox (Finished 5/10/2022)
3. Dear Bully edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones (Read for my Principal)
4. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman (Finished 5/21/2022)
5. Kim by Rudyard Kipling* (Finished 5/1/2022)
6. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden (Finished 5/27/2022)
7. The Road Trip Survival Guide by Rob Taylor (Nonfiction)
8. Reader, Come Home by Maryanne Wolf (Professional Reading)

March Retrospective and April's List

March was a good month for reading. I almost managed 16 books and it was a good mix of material. I'm still a little behind on pacing but I'm catching up there too. My favorite read was actually a bit of a surprise: Quest for a Maid by Frances M Hendry. It's a strangely good historical YA set in medieval Scotland and I plan to right a review on it in the near future. I also managed to read a work of non-fiction, a cookbook, and a collection of short plays which all hits some of my smaller categories. I'm finishing out the month and starting out April in the middle of Kim by Rudyard Kipling which is, of course, a classic. It was a good month.

 Putting these lists together is starting to get complicated. It used to be that I just grabbed things off the shelf more or less on whim. Now I'm putting together planning documents to make sure I hit all my categories enough. One flaw with the randomized system of selection is that it's random. Which means, I'm not hitting the items on my little subcategories because there's only a 1 in 30 chance of hitting the single item on the list. I'm not sure how to fix this. It's a random system and that is just what happens. For this list, I made sure there were at least a couple titles for my smaller categories which made the whole list longer. I can already see an unintended consequence. Pretty much anything that isn't in one of the categories has dropped off the list which wasn't the intention. I'll think more on that for May. For now, there's a lot of interesting things here and I'm going to leave it as is. 

1. Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed* (YA)
2. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold* (YA)
3. Machine Man by Max Barry* (Ryan Pick)
4. Bittman Bread by Mark Bittman and Kerri Conan (Finished 4/4/2022)
5. Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (Series book 3)
6. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA)
7. Best American Side Dishes by Cook's Illustrated (Cookbook)
8. Abaddon's Gate by James S. Corey* (Series Book 3)
9. Puffs the Play: One Act Edition for Young Wizards by Matt Cox (Play, Borrowed)
10. Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz* (YA)
11. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Corey Doctorow* (YA)
12. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (Classic)
13. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason (TBR, Series book 1)
14. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke* (YA)
15. Cazadora by Romina Garber (Finished 4/16/2022)
16. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han* (YA)
17. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman (Borrowed from Dad)
18. The Returning by Christine Hinwood* (YA)
19. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (YA)
20. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress*
21. Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (TBR)
22. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (Finished 4/11/2022)
23. Wildwood by Colin Meloy (YA, Series Book 1)
24. Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull* (YA)
25. Still Life by Louise Penny (TBR)
26. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA)
27. Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Series book 4)
28. Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay* (YA)
29. Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage (YA)
30. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez* (YA)
31. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab* (YA)
32. Bone by Jeff Smith* by Jeff Smith (Ryan Pick)
33. What Goes Around by Courtney Summers* (YA)
34. All the Rage by Courtney Summers* (YA)
35. The Road Trip Survival Guide by Rob Taylor (Nonfiction)
36. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas* (YA)
37. The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas* (YA)
38. Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci* (Nonfiction, gift)
39. Reader, Come Home by Maryanne Wolf (Professional Reading)
40. The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (TBR)

As always lately, it seems like there are a handful of books that I'm reading under a bit of pressure. While these are subject to the random system, I might be pushing them up to get through them.

1. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (reread for class)
2. Dear Bully edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones (Read for my Principal)
3. Kim by Rudyard Kipling* (Classic) (almost done with it)
4. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden (YA, Borrowed, Series book 1)
5. Fruits Basket vol 11 by Natsuki Takaya* (finished 4/2/2022)
6. Fruits Basket vol 12 by Natsuki Takaya*(finished 4/3/2022)

Retrospective and March List

February was a frustratingly busy month and it sucked down most of my time for reading. Also rando continues to focus on non-YA. I only managed to read four books in total. As a result I'm going to try to force the issue somewhat.  I like the randomizer for selection but in any random system there will be streaks like this. While, it has given me some YA, mostly it's selecting the biggest tomes on my lists to give me. So, I've only replaced two with non-YA books and added an extra five books of YA to make the ratio somewhat more than half YA on the list.

I'm almost to the end of The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag and I need to finish my reread of The Chocolate War for school. I also need to bump The Quiet Boy up the list since my next TBR set is due at the end of the month. Hopefully, March will calm down some and I'll get some reading in.   I need to make up some numbers.

1. Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed* (YA)
2. Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson (Finished 3/6/2022)
3. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold* (YA)
4. Machine Man by Max Barry* (Ryan Pick)
5. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley (Finished 3/2/2022)
6. Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (Series book 3)
7. The Homesteader's Kitchen by Robin Burnside* (Finished 3/27/2022)
8. The Pants Project by Cat Clarke* (YA)
9. Abaddon's Gate by James S. Corey* (Series Book 3)
10. Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz* (YA)
11. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Corey Doctorow* (YA)
12. The Wild Things by Dave Eggers* 
13. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke* (YA)
14. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han* (YA)
15. Quest for a Maid by Frances M Hendry* (Finished 3/17/2022)
16. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman (Borrowed from Dad)
17. The Returning by Christine Hinwood* (YA)
18. Kim by Rudyard Kipling* (Classic)
19. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress*
20. The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour* (YA)
21. Laugh Lines: Short Comic Plays edited by Eric Land and Nina Shengold (Finished 3/26/2022)
22. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (YA)
23. Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull* (YA)
24. An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn* (Finished 3/26/2022)
25. Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay* (YA)
26. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez* (YA)
27. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab* (YA)
28. What Goes Around by Courtney Summers* (YA)
29. All the Rage by Courtney Summers* (YA)
30. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas* (YA)
31. The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas* (YA)
32. Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci* (Nonfiction, gift)
33. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall  by Williamson* (Finished 3/8/2022)
34. The Dead Girl in 2A by Carter Wilson* (Finished 3/12/2022)
35. The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters (Finished 3/11/2022)

Extra for school or because people are waiting (or both): 

1. Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn (YA)
2. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Finished 3/11/2022)
3. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (YA)
4. A Long Walk for Water by Linda Sue Park (Finished 3/18/2022)
5. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA)
6. Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage (YA)
7. Fruits Basket vol 7 by Natsuki Takaya* (Finished 3/16/2022)
8. Fruits Basket vol 8 by Natsuki Takaya* (Finished 3/22/2022)
9. Fruits Basket vol 9 by Natsuki Takaya* (Finished 3/28/2022)
10. Fruits Basket vol 10 by Natsuki Takaya* (Finished 3/29/2022)
11. Fruits Basket vol 11 by Natsuki Takaya*

December List

 December is here again. I always get reflective in December. In terms of reading, it was a good year. I made my goal of 125 books with time to spare. In fact, it is entirely possible that I'll make it all the way to 150; I'm only 11 books away. I, at least until I made my goal, stuck to my parameters of reading primarily gifts and books sitting on the to-be-read-stack. So I made all my goals which doesn't always happen for me. I tend to get a bit ambitious. 

This month's list isn't substantially different than Novembers. I had so overloaded the thing that it barely feels like I made a dent. I'm starting fresh in January, so this is by way of being a last chance fore some of these. I'm going to stick with the random number method of picking next reads...it yielded some interesting results and I ended up blasting through two huge books that I may have otherwise passed over for length.

1. Nothing But the Truth by Avi
2. Machine Man by Max Barry (Ryan's Pick)
3. Animal, Vegetable, Junk by Mark Bittman (Valentines Gift from Ryan)
4. From Standards to Rubrics in 6 steps by Kay Burke (Professional Development)
5. The Terrorist by Caroline B. Cooney (Finished 12/8/2021)
6. It's Not News, It's FARK by Drew Curtis (Finished 12/29/2021)
7. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (Birthday Gift)
8. Finding Freedom by Erin French (Birthday Gift)
9. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman (Ryan's Pick)
10. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (Ryan's Pick)
11. Dune by Frank Herbert (Finished 12/15/2022)
12. Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen (Ryan's Pick)
13. Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami (TBR)
14. Everything's Eventual by Stephen King
15. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
16. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis (Ryan's Pick)
17. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu (Birthday Gift)
18. Invisible Planets translated by Ken Liu (Finished 12/22/21))
19. Swan Song by Robert McCammon (Ryan's Pick)
20. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown by Seanan McGuire (Turns out this is book 2 of a series, waiting on it until I can get book 1)
21. Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Finished 12/6/2021)
22. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
23. Transformative Assessment by W. James Popham (Professional Development)
24. An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
25. Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
26. The Shut-Down Learner by Richard Selznick (Professional Development)
27. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Ryan's Pick)
28. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers 
29. Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
30. Reader, Come Home by Maryanne Wolf (Professional Development)