alsvidur's 2017 list

Hello and welcome!

I'm Emilie. I read mostly fluffy chick lit, YA, and kid's books when I am busy - and I will continue to be busy this year, so expect more of the same. I collect children's horse stories, but I'm not sure how many I will get to read this year. Last year's stats (and possibly a more detailed bio) will come after the New Year. I know there will be animal books somewhere in there though.

Edit: Last year's stats indicate that about 15% of my reading is on mostly domestic animals. I think most of it was textbooks for class though. 75-80% of everything was fiction, mostly American, split evenly between YA and adult fiction. The rest was history.

My goal this year is to hit over 75 books again. It's a lot less than the book-a-day I was accustomed to before my life exploded, but I'm trying to look on the bright side. Since I don't read much, and don't have time to write nice reviews much anymore, I will try to attract visitors with pictures of pets and animals (if I can figure out how to link to an image of my own without errors).

Hi Emilie, good to see you, happy reading in 2017!

Nice to see you back again Emilie. xx

I am part of the group.
I love being part of the group.
I love the friendships bestowed upon my by dint of my membership of this wonderful fellowship.
I love that race and creed and gender and age and sexuality and nationality make absolutely no difference to our being a valued member of the group.

Thank you for also being part of the group.

Title: The Shop on Blossom Street
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Fiction - chick lit/drama
Publication date: 2013
Catalog: 813 / PS
Acquisition: 3 days ago
Rating: 3

Lydia is in remission from cancer, is missing her recently deceased father, and decides to finally live her life. She starts a yarn store on a street under construction. To build business, she starts a knitting class. Only 3 women join. They are so different from each other - from a young felon knitting away her community service hours to a rich socialite knitting for a new grand-baby to a woman trying desperately to conceive a child, that Lydia despairs of ever building the group up. Everyone eventually becomes friends (spoiler-not-spoiler).

This is my first foray into the drama section of chick lit. It wasn't bad. But unfortunately, that means I can't really compare it to other books in the genre. On the plus side, it was well written and engaging. I cared about the characters. I did not miss the smut of the romance novels I had been reading lately. It was overall fairly refreshing, but that might just be the difference in genres.



Title: A Good Yarn: Blossom Street #2
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Fiction - chick lit/drama
Publication date: 2014
Catalog: 813 / PS
Acquisition: 5 days ago
Rating: 3

Lydia forms a new knitting group with new ladies. More of the exact same as above.

Ah ha! I figured out how to cut up the flickr links to post photos!

To start the year, here's a 10-year-old picture of my dog Scooby pretending to be from the 'hood. Scooby is quite the grey old lady now. We are celebrating her life this month and crossing things off her bucket list.

In other not-book-related news: We bought a house yesterday! One of the downsides of the million windows is that there is very little wall space for my bookshelves, but I am SO excited to be able to have all my books out of storage boxes and able to breathe! It'll be the first time in YEARS that this has happened. We start the move next month.

Hmm, what else, what else....

Still haven't read anything new aside from textbooks. Boring, poke your eyeballs out for something fun textbooks.

>7 alsvidur: I am glad you managed to include a picture of Scooby, Emilie.
Congratulations on your house, its not completely not-book-related as your books will come out of storage boxes ;-)

Congrats on the new house!

Title: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Author: Trevor Noah
Genre: Memoir, autobiography
Catalog: PN / 920
Acquisition: 3 days ago
Rating: 4

Noah's childhood was intense. I expected more laughs from a comedian's memoir, but what with he had to work with, I think it turned out pretty darn well. (edit: For those that don't know, Noah is the lead for The Daily Show.)

Also - reading a Handmaid's Tale on Trump's inauguration day is at a Twilight-Zone-level of creepy.

Hi Emilie,
I'm Jenny. I saw in your introduction that you're a fellow Spartan. Go Green! Looks like we also read a lot of the same kinds of books. Can't wait to see what you're reading this year!

I LOVE that you have a bunny named Mr. Jazz Hands!

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction
Catalog: PR / 813
Acquisition: 2 weeks ago
Rating: 4.5

Dystopian tale - The population growth is so slow, women are used for specific purposes. Some clean and cook, some are pretty wives, and some are for breeding. Offred narrates her story from when lives were like they are now, through the revolution and her life for a few years, to... (spoiler).

This was heavier reading that I usually do, especially paired with all of the political news popping up on facebook, tv, work, everywhere....

January Totals

Total books: 4

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 1
Fiction: 3

TBR Pit books read: 0
Time spent in TBR: 0
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: uh oh, forgot to track!
Cash spent: ditto!

Classification:

1 - PN
1 - PR
2 - PS

3 - 813
1 - 920

1 - autobiography
2 - chick lit
1 - literary fiction/dystopia

Oh dear. Not a single book finished last month. We moved last week, mid-terms are this week, and I have no internet access at home yet.

We bought a few new bookcases, but they were the wrong color, so they have to go back tonight. I'll have a wall of cases done in the next few days, I hope. At least most of my fiction books are out. I just need the kid's books, picture books, and all the non-fiction books to find places, but I think I have a good plan. We have to prop up the house before I can put my non-fiction books on the case I have planned so the 150-year-old house with sagging floors doesn't crack a joist! That might take a bit.

February Totals

Total books: 0

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 0

TBR Pit books read: 0
Time spent in TBR: 0
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: 0
Cash spent: $0

I finally read a book! A picture book, but a book from start-to-finish nonetheless!



Title: I Dissent!: Ruth Bader Gisburg Makes Her Mark
Author: Debbie Levy
Genre: Picture book biography
Catalog: KF / 347
Acquisition: a few hours ago
Rating: 5

Disagreeing and fighting for what you believe in while still being nice and civil is something we could all use a reminder in, and this book delivers. I love that there's a picture book about RBG for girls to read!

New books:
BN, 1 book, unknown price
ER book, free
a bunch from Cindy to still catalog

>16 alsvidur: If it is between covers, it counts!

March Totals

Total books: 1

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 1
Fiction: 0

TBR Pit books read: 0
Time spent in TBR: a few hours
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: pending
Cash spent: $pending

Classification:

1 - KF

1 - 347

1 - picture biography

It's hard to scrape out time to read for fun and every time I do I feel my grades slipping :/



Title: The Assassin's Blade: Throne of Glass Novellas
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy short stories
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 18 months ago
Rating: 3.5

5 novella prequels to the YA fantasy series Throne of Glass - Celeana's last year before she gets captured and brought to the mines of Endovier - her relationship with Sam - some hints about things to come

I should be gearing up for exams, but instead, I am reading.



Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 4

Celaena is rescued from a slave camp and taken to battle with 23 other criminals and soldiers to be the King's Champion. If she wins, she gets out of camp. If she loses, she dies.



Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 3

Celeana spends time with Princess Nehemia, captain of the guard Chaol, and goes on quests for the King. Plots to overthrow the king abound, but who is plotting?



Title: Heir of Fire
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 4

Celeana goes to the next continent over and meets some of her extended family. She is trained by the fae Rowan before she can enter Queen Maeve's compound.

Title: Queen of Shadows
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 4

Aelin the queen of Terrasen returns to the continent with a mission of rescuing her general, saving and/or killing the Prince, taking down the King, and knocking out the clock towers to return magic to the realm. Rowan comes to offer support halfway through.

Accounting 4-2-17:
$2.99, 1 book, Amazon
Gaudenzia

April Totals

Total books: 5

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 5

TBR Pit books read: 1
Time spent in TBR: 18 months
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: 1
Cash spent: $2.99

Classification:

5 - PZ

5 - 813

5 - YA fantasy

Accounting 5-2-17:
$64.23, BN, 15 books
A Court of Wings and Ruin
Always and Forever, Lara Jean
a bunch of used horse books

Stopping by to say "hello!" I've only just now found your thread!

You haven't missed much. :( Oh! But I am starting riding again this week. I'm so used to being on the ground that I'm pretty excited about it. I'm even starting at the hunter-jumper pony barn I grew up riding at. Once I have some of my equitation (and muscles!) back, I'll move to a local eventing barn. It's been about 15-20 years since I rode competitively, but I was tickled that the barn staff still remembered me.

In other news, I finished my exams Wednesday, so I'm trying to cram as much reading in the next 6 weeks between semesters as humanly possible.

How exciting!! I haven't ridden in forever - I really need to look into getting back into it again! I hope your exams went well!

They did, thanks!



Title: Empire of Storms
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 8 months ago
Rating: 4

Plot twist after plot twist after plot twist! This one was setting a lot up for the next book, and every little bit referenced bread crumbs that were left in the previous books and also left larger bread crumbs for what was to come. (I am really glad that I read the prequel now - you pretty much need to read it beforehand to understand some new introductions.) On top of all the intrigue, the "side characters" were given their own time, and every chapter where we left Aelin and went to the others, I forgot about Aelin and wanted to keep reading about the other court members. The romantic lingering glances and building tension between characters in all the previous novels finally got their release in this one; it seems like everyone paired off. It was a bit of the teen book cliche, but still so satisfying.

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 4.5

Feyre is struggling to provide for her family in the harsh winter when she kills a wolf - that was really a fairy. An ancient bargain between the realms requires that Feyre go across the wall and live with the fairies. While she's there, she notices that things are 'off', and her fairy lord Tamlin isn't all he seems to be. When she goes to combat the 'plague' under the mountain, she risks her life to save his.



Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition:reread
Rating: 5

Tamlin and Feyre recover from under the mountain, but what of her bargain with the lord of the Night Court?

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah Maas
Genre: YA fantasy
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 3 weeks ago
Rating: 4

Feyre battles the King of Hybern while the High Lords bicker and scheme.

I was almost disappointed in this one. I stopped reading 2/3 through; either I wasn't in the mood or the story just didn't feel right. It did get better towards the end. Although Maas is done with Feyre, she said she would continue telling stories about the realm in other books - I wonder who she'll feature (and will I care about the character enough to read it?)



Title: Riding for the Rest of Us: A Practical Guide for Adult Riders
Author: Jessica Jahiel
Genre: Non-fiction, horses
Catalog: SF / 798
Acquisition: 3 days ago
Rating: 4

I read this book as a teenager and again 20 years later. The first time, I was baffled by the 'whining' and talk about goals. Riding is riding, right? This read through, I appreciated the book a million times more. What was easy then is painful now, and it *is* hard to balance everything. The discussion about setting short, medium, and long term goals vs dreams was a great starting point. No, the book doesn't hold the keys to life, but it is terribly helpful to know that I'm not alone in being frustrated in trying to make my body do things that were second nature as a child. And I may not need the chapters on how to select a lesson barn or an appropriate horse, there's still little reminder gems about not tolerating places that you aren't happy at (you *are* an adult, and you're paying for enjoyment) etc. I'll keep going back to this one every so often.

Title: The Rider's Fitness Program
Author: Dianna Dennis
Genre: Non-fiction, horses
Catalog: RC / 613
Acquisition: 1 days ago
Rating: 4

I haven't started the program yet, but I've read the book. I'm impressed. The exercises note what muscles are used in each exercise and how those muscles affect your riding. There is a 6-week plan to follow, with additional advice on what to do after the first 6 weeks. A get-sweaty-guru (that's what those trainer people are called, right?) worked with Anne Kursinski (an Olympic show jumper) to develop the program. I'm looking forward to starting it. The only thing I would change would be to make the photos color instead of black and white, and make a list of what exercises require what equipment - some of them require a weight bench, etc.

Title: World-Class Grooming for Horses: The English Rider's Complete Guide to Daily Care and Competition
Author: Cat Hill and Emma Ford
Genre: Non-fiction, horses
Catalog: SF / 636
Acquisition: 1 week ago
Rating: 4

Lots of pictures laid out in a step-by-step manner illustrate basic professional grooming tasks. The formatting was pretty to look at, the paper quality good, and the illustrations were great. The only beef I had was with areas that touched on veterinary care. There were lots of "drawing toxins out" and herbal=better, but other than that, nothing outright harmful was suggested. While World-Class Grooming didn't go into the detail that Harris did in Grooming to Win, this is a nice complement to it. I'm pretty sure I'll refer to it every now and then.

Title: 90 Days of Different
Author: Eric Walters
Genre: Young adult fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 1 week ago
Rating: 4

Early Reviewers. Sophie has just graduated high school and been broken up with. Her best friend Ella decides that she needs to get out of her comfort zone and do 1 new thing every day until they go away to college.

The reading level of this one isn't quite as high as some other YA books - it seemed made for teenagers and not for adults who like to read kid's book. The relationship between Ella and Sophie was real and imperfect and excellently drawn. There were also undercurrents of other themes that could have been expounded on, but didn't really need to be - the easy addiction to social media, the awful sexism of being a teenage girl, parental relationships....

I actually requested this book because I wanted to be inspired to do new things too - to get out of my comfort zone. While the book didn't quite go that far, it was a solid read that did reinforce that you won't die from not being the best at something.

Title: What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear
Author: Danielle Ofri
Genre: Non-fiction, medicine
Catalog: R / 610
Acquisition: 4 months ago
Rating: 3

Early Reviewers. Patient history - it's where it all starts. Unfortunately, taking a history (linguistically note the "taking" a history from a client) can be difficult. Stories change between the phone call to the clinic, the history taken by the technician, and the history taken by the doctor. Communication is essential and needs to change based on the client's needs. Coming from the veterinary side of medicine, I have a slightly different perspective on the topic, but it's still a topic that everyone needs to improve upon.

Because of the difference between the 2 people involved - the owner who is scared for the pet that she loves and the doctor who needs certain data formatted a certain way to help the pet - there is a disconnect in communication needs at times. Ofri details examples of human medicine cases and how they illustrate certain points of communication.

There were a few phrases that I will test out in practice, but this wasn't a cookbook on communication; it was instead a general survey of potential errors in communication. It is a needed reminder to slow down and let the client speak without interruption. The times I've tried this, I found just what Ofri had - it didn't take as long as I feared and I gained additional insight to other areas of husbandry. I did put the book down for a month halfway through; it wasn't a stay-up-late page-turner, but had some necessary points to get across.

Title: Horsemanship
Author: Gordon Wright
Genre: Non-fiction, horses
Catalog: SF / 798
Acquisition: 2.5 years ago
Rating: 5

Not as widely available or known as 'Learning to Ride, Hunt, and Show', this book is still a great addition to a horsey library. For those that don't know, Wright was one of the greats in the jumping world and taught many other greats (even the god George Morris). Wright writes clearly and uses Sam Savitt's illustrations to further clarify certain points. I probably would have skimmed this book and not been impressed when I was a teenager; one sentence can mean a year of work on horseback to really master, not just be familiar with as I was. 'Horsemanship' really does spell out some techniques and form issues essential to riding forward seat, from the basics to the more advanced work.

May Totals

Total books: 10

Non-fiction, animals: 4
Non-fiction, other: 1
Fiction: 4

TBR Pit books read: 1
Time spent in TBR: 1 day - 2.5 years
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 10%

Books acquired: 21
Cash spent: $142.44
63.21 on Amazon, 64.23 BN, 15.00 Dogwise

Classification:

1 - R
1 - RC
3 - SF
5 - PZ

1 - 610
1 - 613
1 - 636
2 - 798
5 - 813

4 - Non-fiction horses
1 - Non-fiction medicine

4 - YA fantasy
1 - YA realistic fiction

Title: Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fiction
Catalog: PS / 813
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 4

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Author: JK Rowling
Genre: Fiction, juvenile
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 4.5

Title: Always and Forever Lara Jean
Author: Jenny Han
Genre: YA contemporary fiction/romance
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 2 months ago
Rating: 4

Title: Form Over Fences: A Pictorial Critique of Jumping for Junior Riders
Author: Jane Marshall Dillon
Genre: Non-fiction, horses
Catalog: SF / 798
Acquisition: 1 month ago
Rating: 4.5

Nice pictures and commentary. There are the stand alone pick-the-faults, judging 3 photos of the same rider, judging a small class, looking at different phases of the jump, etc. Bonus: Tiny Joe Fargis!

Title: Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt: Narwhal and Jelly #2
Author: Ben Clanton
Genre: Juvenile graphic novel
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 2 days ago
Rating: 3

Early Reviewer. Amusing, but it lost some of the novelty of the first book in the series. Narwhal and Jelly want to become super heroes, but have a hard time deciding on what their powers might be.

Title: The Geography of You and Me
Author: Jennifer E Smith
Genre: YA contemporary fiction/romance
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 2 years ago
Rating: 3

Girl meets boy during blackout in NYC. Boy travels west, girl moves to Europe.

Title: Since You've Been Gone
Author: Morgan Matson
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 1 year ago
Rating: 3

Standard YA fare - friend moves away, shy girl blossoms.

Title: Casey: American Extreme Bull Riders Tour
Author: Kelly Hunter
Genre: Romance - contemporary
Catalog: PS / 813
Acquisition: 1 week ago
Rating: 3

Early Reviewers. Rowena works with her father as a stock contractor providing bulls for rodeos to use. She loves her job and her bulls, and just like everyone else in the sport, sometimes she wishes for a 9-to-5 with the ability to have friends or spend time on self-care. Casey is a bull rider whose had his eye on Rowena for several years.

I wasn't really involved in the characters nor did it steam the windows, but Casey kept me reading until late at night and it didn't have any glaringly obvious errors about rodeos or stock care (a sure way to pull me out of the story). For that alone, it earned its stars.

Title: Grooming Your Horse
Author: Neale Haley
Genre: Non-fiction, horses, for kids
Catalog: SF / 636
Acquisition: 1 week ago
Rating: 2.5

A pictoral in grooming from the 1970s(ish) for kids. That means that the black-and-white pictures don't show detail. It also means that there wasn't much selection for brush types. Although there were a few pages for braiding, there was nothing else detailed. Skip this one and save your money for the Harris bible or the Emma Ford one.

July Totals

Total books: 8

Non-fiction, animals: 2
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 6

TBR Pit books read: 2
Time spent in TBR: 2 days - 2 years
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: PENDING
Cash spent: yeah, this is lost to time forever

Classification:

1 - 636
1 - 798
6 - 813

2 - SF
1 - PS
5 - PZ

Title: High Courage
Author: CW Anderson
Genre: Juvenile fiction, horses
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 1 week ago
Rating: 4

Holley the groom tells stories about horses he's met, while bringing a rogue horse along to jump timber races. This is the book that precedes "Bobcat". I enjoyed the little girl character, but I can't remember her name....

Title: Summer Pony
Author: Jean Slaughter Doty
Genre: Juvenile fiction, horses
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 4 years ago
Rating: 4

Title: Winter Pony
Author: Jean Slaughter Doty
Genre: Juvenile fiction, horses
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 6 years ago
Rating: 4

Ginny's family rents a pony for the summer for her. It's her first time caring for a horse, and she makes some mistakes and learns from them. Of course, her family ends up keeping Mokey, and Ginny and her friends teach Mokey to drive a sleigh in the second book.

Books like these set up unrealistic exceptions for me (and others) when I was younger. I mean, Ginny's parents cleared out the garage for her to keep a horse, and they built a little pen next to the house. She could ride down the road and in her neighbor's yards.
Why couldn't mine to that (20 years later than the publication date and in the suburbs)?

I LOVE those two books! But, you're totally right about the unrealistic expectations. All those characters eventually got a horse or pony...I, however, did not :(

Title: Something Old, Something New: For Better or For Worse Treasury
Author: Lynn Johnston
Genre: Comic collection
Catalog: NC / 741
Acquisition: reread
Rating: 4

Title: In the Beginning, There was Chaos: For Better or For Worse Treasury
Author: Lynn Johnston
Genre: Comic collection
Catalog: NC / 741
Acquisition: 7 days ago
Rating: 4

August Totals

Total books: 5

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 5

TBR Pit books read: 2
Time spent in TBR: 7 days - 6 years
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: PENDING
Cash spent: PENDING

Classification:

2 - NC
3- PZ

2 - 741
3 - 813

Title: Belle: Breyer
Author: J Elizabeth Mills
Genre: I Can Read
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 2 weeks ago
Rating: 3

Breyer series. A girl is scared of riding in the city, but grows to have confidence in the school horse Belle.

Title: Arthur's Halloween Costume
Author: Lillian Hoban
Genre: I Can Read
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 2 weeks ago
Rating: 3

Arthur wants to be a ghost for Halloween, but doesn't want to be basic like all the other kids.

(I had to ask a younger coworker what 'basic' meant this week. I'm still a bit confused.)

Title: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 3 weeks ago
Rating: 5

Read this in a day - and considering it takes me about 2 weeks to get through a book now, that says something. I didn't want to put it down.

Starr is one of the few black students at a private school in the suburbs, but she still lives in the city. She witnesses a police shooting of her friend one night and her world gets turned upside down.

Title: The Problem with Forever
Author: Jennifer Armentrout
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 1 week ago
Rating: 3.5

Mallory had been adopted after a hellish childhood, but is still trying to get back to normal - she has problems speaking in front of people at times. She wants to go to college, so she decides to go to leave her homeschool for public high school for her senior year to get experience. Everything is going great until she runs into Rider, a boy that also lived through her childhood - and made she she survived it.

I'm usually not a big reader of the heavier topics, but this one wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Light YA swoon.

Title: The Star Spangled Banner
Author: Peter Spier
Genre: picture book
Catalog: PZ / 782
Acquisition: 3 years ago
Rating: 2

It was in the TBR pile of picture books, and given what has been going on, I grabbed this one. The verses of The Star Spangled Banner are illustrated with scenes from the attack on Fort Hastings. There is a 2-page dense summary of the situation at the back of the book, as well as 2 pages of sheet music. The cover pages are illustrated with the changes the flag made over the years, as well as examples of the flags used by the military branches.

Eh, I didn't feel it as much as his other picture books for some reason. (Maybe I'm not a 8-year-old boy? I dunno.)

September Totals

Total books: 5

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 5

TBR Pit books read: 1
Time spent in TBR: 1 week - 3 years
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: PENDING
Cash spent: oh who am i kidding?

Classification:

1 - 782
4 - 813

5 - PZ

Title: Completely Clementine
Author: Sarah Pennypacker
Genre: juvenile fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 3 weeks ago
Rating: 4

The last in the Clementine series. Clementine is finishing 3rd grade while awaiting the birth of her little sibling. She's not talking to her father since she decided to become a vegetarian and he did not.

The Clementine books remind me a lot of Ramona Quimby. I'm sad to see them done, but it looks like the author's new books about Waylon feature Clementine as a recurring character.

October Totals

Total books: 1

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 1

TBR Pit books read: 0
Time spent in TBR: 3 weeks
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: PENDING
Cash spent: oh who am i kidding?

Classification:

1 - 813

1 - PZ

Title: The Christmas Wish
Author: Lori Evert
Genre: picture book
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 1 day ago
Rating: 4.5

A photo-illustrated story of Anja, a little girl who wants to help Santa. She travels through Norway to reach him, encountering many animal friends along the way.



Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Illustrated Edition
Author: JK Rowling
Genre: juvenile fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: a week ago
Rating: 4

A few gorgeous and intricate illustrations are scattered throughout this perfect-for-reading-aloud edition.

Title: Merry and Bright
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: fiction - light romance
Catalog: PS / 813
Acquisition: a week ago
Rating: 2.5

The literary equivalent to a Hallmark channel made-for-TV Christmas movie. OK way to spend 2 hours if you're in that mood, but you will know the entire plot within the first 5 pages.

Much like The Shop Around the Corner, faceless internet dating brings together coworkers.

This is a time of year when I as a non-American ponder over what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this group and its ability to keep me sane during topsy-turvy times.

I am thankful that you are part of this group.

I am thankful for this opportunity to say thank you.

Title: Dashing Through the Snow
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: fiction - light romance
Catalog: PS / 813
Acquisition: 3 months ago
Rating: 1.5

This one was not quite as good as some others. The romance led to implied marriage proposal after under 24 hours of the characters even meeting, after simply sharing a ride from CA to WA. It was terribad. The only reason I continued to read was the subplot of the FBI chasing a mistaken identity terrorist. Stick with the other Christmas novels!



Title: Twelve Days of Christmas
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: fiction - light romance
Catalog: PS / 813
Acquisition: 2 days ago
Rating: 4

Another Hallmark-Christmas movie-type book, but also a decent usual romance. A girl is really tired of her neighbor's grouchiness, so she decides to kill him with kindness and use the idea for her blog.

Title: Gingerbread Friends
Author: Jan Brett
Genre: children's picture
Catalog: PS / 813
Acquisition: 3 months ago
Rating: 3

A gingerbread man is lonely so he goes about town looking for other gingerbread people to play with.

November Totals

Total books: 6

Non-fiction, animals: 0
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 6

TBR Pit books read: 0
Time spent in TBR: 1 day - 3 months
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 0
% TBR/library/borrowed: 0%

Books acquired: PENDING
Cash spent: I figured this out last month, but the numbers are at home

Classification:

5 - 813
1 - 823

3 - PS
3 - PZ

I have read a measly 46 books this year, but I WILL make it to 50, even if I have to read picture books to do so! Or, I'll just count my textbooks from this semester. Yeah.



Title: Veterinary Parasitology Reference Manual
Author: William Foreyt
Genre: non-fiction veterinary medicine
Catalog: SF / 636
Acquisition: 3 months ago (borrowed)
Rating: 2

It's great if you need something to look at to quickly refresh your memory of a certain parasite's life cycle, but other than that, it's not really that useful, especially for learning.



Title: Laboratory Procedures for Veterinary Technicians 6th edition
Author: Margi Sirois
Genre: non-fiction veterinary medicine
Catalog: SF / 636
Acquisition: 3 months ago
Rating: 3

Average clin path book for techs



Title: Large Animal Clinical Procedures for Veterinary Technicians
Author: Kristin Holtgrew-Bohling
Genre: non-fiction veterinary medicine
Catalog: SF / 636
Acquisition: 2 years ago - reread
Rating: 2.5

Another standard textbook. Fairly basic.



Title: Veterinary Hematology: Atlas of Common Domestic Species
Author: William Reagan
Genre: non-fiction veterinary medicine
Catalog: SF / 636
Acquisition: 1 year ago - reread
Rating: 4

Many pretty pictures of multiple cell types in multiple species. ooo... colors....

Ha! 50 books!

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Illustrated Edition
Author: JK Rowling
Genre: juvenile fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 1 month ago
Rating: 4

Illustrated edition great for reading aloud.

Title: Tarzan of the Apes
Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
Genre: fiction, classics
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 5.5 years ago
Rating: 4

More engaging and humorous than I thought it would be. It's pretty pulpy. As long as you can get past the terrible stereotypes and the assumptions/science of the day, it's pretty good. (I had to do some googling to see what ape species he was talking about and found out he just made it up.) Word of warning though: Have the second book on standby, since the ending is kind of terrible for romance fans.

Title: Geekerella
Author: Ashley Poston
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 2 days ago
Rating: 4.5



Title: Star Wars OBI-123
Author: Calliope Glass
Genre: Children's picture book
Catalog: PZ / 813
Acquisition: 2 days ago
Rating: 3

December Totals

Total books: 8

Non-fiction, animals: 4
Non-fiction, other: 0
Fiction: 4

TBR Pit books read: 1
Time spent in TBR: 2 days - 5 years
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 1
% TBR/library/borrowed: 12%

Books acquired: PENDING
Cash spent: I figured this out last month, but the numbers are at home

Classification:
4 - PZ
4 - SF

4 - 636
3 - 813
1 - 823

2017 Yearly statistics

Total books: 54 (53? 55? My math is not adding up)

Non-fiction, animals: 10
Non-fiction, other: 3
Fiction: 40

TBR Pit books read: 8
Time spent in TBR: 1 day – 6 years
Library books read: 0
ILL books read: 0
Books borrowed and read: 1
% TBR/library/borrowed: 16%

Classification

1 – 347 - Law: Procedure and courts

1 - 610 - Medicine and health
1 - 613 - Human physiology
6 – 636 - Animal husbandry

2 – 741 - Drawing
1 – 782 - Vocal music
3 - 798 - Equestrian sports

36 - 813 - American fiction
2 – 823 - British fiction

1 – 920 - Biography

1 - KF - US Law

2 – NC - Drawing

2 - PN - General literature
1 - PR - English literature
7 - PS - American literature
31 - PZ - Juvenile literature
1 - R - General medicine
1 - RC - Internal medicine

9 - SF - Animal culture