Starting the New Year with A Clean Sheet

[smallhobbit]

First of all, Happy New Year to one and all!


New Year's Eve was remarkably productive for me, since I finished writing the last of my Twelve Additional Days of Christmas ficlets, bringing my total words for 2021 to 140K.  It confirms my goal this year of 135K.

Yuletide reveals were today, meaning I can say I wrote a Temeraire fic: Laurence's Visit in which everyone conspires to bring Laurence and Tharkay together.

In return I received The Case of the Switched Suitcases a Red House Mystery fic which delighted me 'Antony and Bill take a holiday together, and run into a mystery at the first stop.'  Plus a treat: Nothing Sweeter, Finer a Ghosts (UK TV) story 'Snowfall brings back memories for everyone, but for the Captain most of all.'


I also finished another audiobook: Hostage to Fortune by Sarah Hawkswood read by Matt Addis.  This is the fourth in the Bradecote and Catchpole series.  I'd read the first three a few years ago, but the fourth isn't available in our library, so when Audible gave me a free credit for Christmas I jumped at the chance.  I really enjoyed the story, and am looking forward to borrowing the next few in the series from the library.


I had already finished reading all my 2021 books on 30 December, and I've now signed up for 75 books for this year's Goodreads challenge.  That's only just over 6 books a month, which is achievable - or if something happens and it isn't it won't matter.

Last year I worked through four lists, which I found very successful at maintaining a variety of reads, so this year I've expanded to 6 lists, as follows:
List A:  From the library, some detective novels, but not all.
List B: Books from TBR pile pre-2021, plus a couple of series continuations from pre-2021 series.
List C: 2021 TBR pile - all detective novels, I won't apologise
List D: Continuation of last year's list D, further books from Miss Read's Fairacre stories, Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn and Monica Ferris' Needlecraft Mysteries
List E: Shedunnit book of the month, or replacement when I've either already read the book or there are no copies in the library/copies are more than I'll pay
List F: A general mishmash: books pre-ordered in 2021/reserved from the library with long waiting list, Miss Read's Thrush Green stories, some of the books from the Agatha Christie reading challenge 2022, certain books in our local library branch which I can wander in and pick up (I normally reserve as books are at other branches), etc

Comments

[smallhobbit]

That's excellent - I'm delighted to have introduced you to the series. My next book is no 14, so at my current rate of progress I won't finish until early next year - I read about three a year. Do let me know what you move onto!