First Reads, Birthday Month, Genre Decades

Hello from snowy prairie Canada!  In this post, I am going to renew a reading group I enjoy very much, “First Reads” and leap into two that are new.  I update in one spot, so come back and see how I fulfill these fun themes.

This angle is useful.  It is like the ‘new author’ group but that hostess was too busy to visited blogs, or answer comments.  After three years, that fell flat.  Participants of my groups are guests.  I cherish their comments and acquainting them.  I was thrilled to find Debdatta’s group last year and love her level ranges.  This year in particular, I am breezing through new authors upon my shelves, like the wind.  I’ve owned single and great names for years, unopened.  I am endeavouring, with success already, to read their first novels;  so I don’t collect whole suites without knowing I like them.

I achieved 65 books in 2014, so I am going to aim for at least level “Expert” this year!

Amateur  Choose 1 – 25 New Authors
Lover     Choose 26 – 50 New Authors
Expert    Choose 51 – 75 New Authors
Fanatic       Choose 76+ New Authors.

(1) “Tempest In The Tea Leaves”  Kari Lee Townsend  2011
(2) “The Cat, The Quilt, And The Corpse”  Leann Sweeney  2009
(3) “Larceny And Old Lace”  Tamar Myers  1996
(4) “The Christie Curse”  Victoria Abbott  2013
(5) “A Novena For Murder”  Sister Carol Anne O’Marie  1984
(6) “Cats Know Best”  Lesley Anne Ivory, Colin Eisler  1988
(7) “Mystery Of The Piper’s Ghost”  Zillah K. MacDonald  1954
(8) “Death Of A Literary Widow”  Robert Barnard  1979
(9) “The Lost Steps”  Alejo Carpentier  1953
(10) “The Half-A-Moon Inn”  Paul Fleischman  1980
(11) “Astrology For Cats”  Traudl & Walter Reiner  1991
(12) “Marshy Winter”  Ed Golin, Jerry Maryniuk  1993
(13) “The Riddle Of The Lonely House”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1935
(14) “Body Of Intution”  Claire Daniels  2002
(15) “House Of Dark Shadows”  Robert Liparulo  2008
(16) “Selected Poems:  The Vision Tree”  Phyllis Webb  1982
(17) “Tom’s Midnight Garden”  Philippa Pearce  1958
(18) “The Ghost Of Thomas Kempe”  Penelope Lively  1973
(19) “Stars Near & Far”  Robin Dexter  1996
(20) “Shadows At The Fair”  Lea Wait  2002
(21) “Whose Body?”  Dorothy L. Sayers  1923
(22) “Greystones”  Antonia Lamb  1966
(23) “Aesop’s Fables”  George Fyler Townsend  1846
(24) “You Can’t Do That In Canada!”  Bev Spencer  2000
(25) “Crazy Canadian Trivia”  Pat Hancock  2000
(26) “Canadian Disasters”  René Schmidt  2006
(27) “Dinosaur Hunters:  Uncovering The Hidden Remains Of Canada’s Ancient Giants”  Lisa Murphy-Lamb  2003
(28) “Wish Upon A Unicorn”  Vicki Blum  1999
(29) “The Setting Lake Sun”  J.R. Léveillé  2001
(30) “Sonnets From The Portuguese”  Elizabeth Barrett Browning  1850

(31) “The Street”  Mordecai Richler  1969
(32) “Lament For A Lounge Lizard”  Mary Jane Maffini  2003
(33) “Through The Door”  Jodi McIsaac  2012
(34) “The Summer Tree”  Guy Gavriel Kay  1984
(35) “Canadian Hauntings”  Michael Norman, Beth Scott  1994
(36) “Rescue Dogs:  Crime & Rescue Canines In The Canadian Rockies”  Dale Portman  2003
(37) “Weird British Columbia Places”  Michelle Simms  2006
(38) “Ben The Bear & The Honeysuckle Tree”  Jay Conley  2000
(39) “A Promise Is A Promise”  Michael Kusugak  1988
(40) “Earth Witch”  Anne Cameron  1982
(41) “White Horses And Shooting Stars”  David Greer, Chum McLeod  1994
(42) “Aurore Of The Yukon”  Keith Halliday  2006
(43) “The Klondike Gold Rush:  Photographs From 1896-1899”  Graham Wilson  1997
(44) “Gold Digger”  Vicki Delany  2009
(45) “Deadly Appearances”  Gail Bowen  1990
(46) “The Castle In The Attic”  Elizabeth Winthrop  1985
(47) “Watcher In The Woods”  Robert Liparulo  2008
(48) “Time For Bed”  Mem Fox, Jane Dyer  1993
(49) “The Snail’s Spell”  Joanne Ryder, Lynne Cherry  1982
(50) “Does It Float?”  Lisa Ann Marsoli, Adam Devaney  2005
(51) “Too Many Secrets”  Betty Ren Wright  1997
(52) “The New House Villain”  Margaret Mahey  1987
(53) “Christopher Robin Leads An Expotition”  Alan Alexander Milne  1926
(54) “Dear Mr. Blueberry”  Simon James  1991
(55) “The Life Story Of The Butterfly”  Jilly MacLeod, Joanne Cowne  1996
(56) “Haunted Harbours, Ghost Stories Of Old Nova Scotia”  Steve Vernon  2006
(57) “Bluenose Ghosts”  Dr. Helen Creighton  1957
(58) “The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings”  Carolyn Sherwin Bailey  1931
(59) “The Easter Story”  Heather Amery, Norman Young  1998
(60) “Secrets & Mysteries Of The World”  Sylvia Browne  2005

(61) “Micawber”  John Lithgow, C.F. Payne  2002
(62) “Paddington At The Station”  Michael Bond  1976
(63) “Murder Buys A T-Shirt”  Christy Fifield  2012
(64) “Jonah And A Very Big Fish”  Sunny Griffin, Yacoba  1994
(65) “Lost Treasures:  True Stories Of Discovery”  Larry Verstraete  2006
(66) “Artifacts”  Mary Anna Evans  2003
(67) “The Haunting Of Maddie Prue”  Alfred Silver  2000
(68) “Night Gardening”  E.L. Swann  1999
(69) “Ghost House”  Paul Kropp  2003
(70) “The Four Musicians”  Brothers Grimm  1819
(71) “Heidi”  Johanna Spyri, D Marwood  1881
(72) “Haunted Pets”  Allan Zullo  1995
(73) “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything”  Linda Williams, Megan Lloyd  1986
(74) “Usborne True Stories, Ghosts”  Paul Dowswell  2008
(75) “Girl Sleuth, Nancy Drew & The Women Who Created Her”  Melanie Rehak  2005
(76) “Bambi Gets Lost”  Arthur G. Miller  1941
(77) “The Art Of Robert Bateman”  Ramsay Derry  1981
(78) “A Killer Plot”  Ellery Adams  2010
(79) “The Joy Of Cats”  Jo Kittinger  1999
(80) “The House On Tradd Street”  Karen White  2008
(81) “The Haunting Of Maddy Clare”  Simone St. James  2012
(82) “The Tale Of Halcyon Crane”  Wendy Webb  2010
(83) “Mouse’s First Christmas”  Lauren Thompson, Buket Erdogan  1999
(84) “Yummiest Love”  Lisa McCourt, Laura J. Bryant  2009
(85) “The Mystery Of The Stone Tiger”  Carolyn Keene  1963
(86) “Christmas On Top Of The World”  Tim Coffey  2003
(87) “The House Without A Christmas Tree”  Gail Rock  1974
(88) “The Cat Who Loved Christmas”  Caren Schnur Neile  2000
(89) “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”  Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)  1957
(90) “Der Stall Von Bethlehem”  Jenny Tulip  1993
(91) “The Black Dudley Murder”  Margery Allingham  1929
(92) “Clifford’s Animal Sounds”  Norman Bridwell  1991
(93) “No One Writes To The Colonel”  Gabriel García Márquez  1961
——————

 

I spotted this featurette a little while ago and am glad, because it is as flexible as all get go.  Also, I cherish anyone who considers cats precious.  Our dear, young Lovey passed away to our disbelief;  exactly six months ago (July 31, 2014).  Here’s to you, our energetic boy!

Love, Top Of King Shelf

Anna’s idea will be wonderfully relaxing and rewarding to accommodate.  It doesn’t merely entail our first time with authors.  It could be our first time with a genre, or the head volume of a series;  even if it’s by an oldie.  I won’t choose a level yet and shall look forward to what I have in that library you see above, that qualifies.  Seventy-two happens to be a good number for me!
My total is:  16 oddballs here + the 93 above = 109!  I topped the board!  :)

Level 1— 06 new to you
Level 2— 12 new to you
Level 3— 24 new to you
Level 4— 36 new to you
Level 5— 48 new to you
Level 6— 72 new to you
Level 7 100+ new to you

Fool’s Gold”  Juliet Blackwell  2013
Unsung Heroes Of The Royal Canadian Air Force”  Cynthia J. Faryon  2003
Aesop’s Fables”  George Fyler Townsend  1846
The Unmasking Of ‘Ksan” Eric Wilson  1986
A Hill For Looking”  Martha Brooks  1982
Animal Heroes”  Karleen Bradford  1995
This Land Of Ours”  P.J. Peters  1972
Look For Me By Moonlight”  Mary Downing Hahn  1995
Danse Macabre”  Stephen King  1981
Guide To Fiction Writing”  Phyllis A. Whitney  1982
A Haunting Is Brewing”  Juliet Blackwell  2014
When A Cobbler Ruled The King”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1911
The Boarded-Up House”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1915
Six Darn Cows”  Margaret Laurence, Ann Blades  1979
The Night Of Four-Hundred Rabbits”  Elizabeth Peters  1971
(16) “Waiting For Willa”  Dorothy Eden  1970
——————

 

This is a fun idea.  It took a long while to search birthdates but now all I do is read twelve books, which check-off the month of an author’s birthday.  I finish nine times that many each year.  Speaking of “full”, “fill”, “ample”, and “birthday”;  this cake picture is a delight!  Hats off to this hostess for creativity.  When I have finished a review, see the link here, or in my alphabetized menu atop this blog.  I’m unable to get comments through ‘Blogspot’.  I hope she turns off ‘verification’.

JANUARY 1, 1879 – Augusta Huiell Seaman
FEBRUARY 15, 1885 – Zillah K. MacDonald
MARCH 13, 1951 – Alfred Silver
APRIL 2, 1931 – Howard Engel
MAY 30, 1964 – Karen White
JUNE 20, 1913 – Lilian Jackson Braun
JULY 15, 1944 – Martha Brooks
AUGUST 6, 1944 – Lyn Hamilton
SEPTEMBER 9, 1903 – Phyllis A. Whitney
OCTOBER 20, 1908 – Wylly Folk St. John
NOVEMBER 12, 1922 – Charlotte MacLeod
DECEMBER 9, 1937 – Mary Downing Hahn

The Boarded-Up House”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1915
Mystery Of The Piper’s Ghost”  Zillah K. MacDonald  1954
The Haunting Of Maddie Prue”  Alfred Silver  2000
Murder Sees The Light”  Howard Engel  1984
The House On Tradd Street”  Karen White  2008
The Cat Who Played Brahms”  Lilian Jackson Braun  1987
A Hill For Looking”  Martha Brooks  1982
The African Quest”  Lyn Hamilton  2000
Guide To Fiction Writing”  Phyllis A. Whitney  1982
The Mystery Of The Other Girl”  Wylly Folk St. John  1978
The Palace Guard”  Charlotte MacLeod  1981
Look For Me By Moonlight”  Mary Downing Hahn  1995
——————

 

The hostess of this creative theme is flexible.  Her concept is that a book release covers each year of a decade we choose.  Becky doesn’t mind repeats if we’re scrounging.  With those 10 we select, we make-up our preferred genre with it.  I see myself choosing a suite of novels in “Mystery” for the 1970s and perhaps “Paranormal” in the 2000s or 2010s.  I like this idea, although a link button would bypass the dreaded “Blogspot” comment issues.  This post will have updates when I work them out.

Wow!  Make that eight categories!  That means eighty books fit this tricky game:  books I have already read!  I did not strategize.  I elected this year to read what I wished and see how it panned out.  I fared very well, without planning.  Happy new year 2016 from Carolyn, in central Canada!
——————

INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY OF THE 1970s
Waiting For Willa”  Dorothy Eden  1970 (Stockholm, Sweden)
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax”  Dorothy Gilman  1970 (Turkey)
The Night Of Four-Hundred Rabbits”  Elizabeth Peters  1971 (México)
The Ghost Of Thomas Kempe”  Penelope Lively  1973 (England)
The Mystery Book Mystery”  Wylly Folk St. John  1976 (U.S.A.)
The Witch Lady Mystery”  Carol Beach York  1976 (U.S.A.)
The Mystery Of The Other Girl”  Wylly Folk St. John  1978 (U.S.A.)
Death Of A Literary Widow”  Robert Barnard  1979 (England)
The Lost Treasure Of Casa Loma”  Eric Wilson  1979 (Canada)
When Midnight Comes”  Carol Beach York  1979 (U.S.A.)

CANADIAN & AMERICAN MYSTERY OF THE 1980s
The Half-A-Moon Inn”  Paul Fleischman  1980
The Palace Guard”  Charlotte MacLeod  1981  *Canadian*
Murder On Location”  Howard Engel  1982  *Canadian*
Murder Sees The Light”  Howard Engel  1984  *Canadian*
A Novena For Murder”  Sister Carol Anne O’Marie  1984
Shattered Silk”  Barbara Michaels  1986
Advent Of Dying”  Sister Carol Anne O’Marie  1986
The Unmasking Of ‘Ksan”  Eric Wilson  1986  *Canadian*
The Corpse In Oozak’s Pond”  Charlotte MacLeod  1987  *Canadian*
The Cat Who Played Brahms”  Lilian Jackson Braun  1987

FANTASY OF THE 1980s
The Wishing Tree”  Ruth Chew  1980
The Snail’s Spell”  Joanne Ryder, Lynne Cherry  1982
The Summer Tree”  Guy Gavriel Kay  1984
Witchery Hill”  Welwyn Wilton Katz  1984
The Castle In The Attic”  Elizabeth Winthrop  1985
The Evening Walk”  Joanne Ryder, Julie Durrell  1985
The Wandering Fire”  Guy Gavriel Kay  1986
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything”  Linda Williams, Megan Lloyd  1986
The New House Villain”  Margaret Mahey  1987
A Promise Is A Promise”  Michael Kusugak  1988

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE OF THE 1990s
“Clifford’s Animal Sounds”  Norman Bridwell  1991
Dear Mr. Blueberry”  Simon James  1991
Hide And Sneak”  Michael Kusugak  1992
Marshy Winter”  Ed Golin, Jerry Maryniuk  1993
Time For Bed”  Mem Fox, Jane Dyer  1993
Jonah And A Very Big Fish”  Sunny Griffin, Yacoba  1994
Jacob Two-Two’s First Spy Case”  Mordecai Richler  1995
Too Many Secrets”  Betty Ren Wright  1997
“Mouse’s First Christmas”  Lauren Thompson, Buket Erdogan  1999
Wish Upon A Unicorn”  Vicki Blum  1999

NON-FICTION OF THE 1990s
“Der Stall Von Bethlehem”  Jenny Tulip  1993
Canadian Hauntings”  Michael Norman, Beth Scott  1994
White Horses And Shooting Stars”  David Greer, Chum McLeod  1994
Animal Heroes”  Karleen Bradford  1995
Haunted Pets”  Allan Zullo  1995
Stars Near & Far”  Robin Dexter  1996
The Life Story Of The Butterfly”  Jilly MacLeod, Joanne Cowne  1996
The Klondike Gold Rush:  Photographs From 1896-1899”  Graham Wilson  1997
The Easter Story”  Heather Amery, Norman Young  1998
The Joy Of Cats”  Jo Kittinger  1999

NON-FICTION OF THE 2000s
Crazy Canadian Trivia”  Pat Hancock  2000
Unsung Heroes Of The Royal Canadian Air Force”  Cynthia J. Faryon  2003
Dinosaur Hunters:  Uncovering The Hidden Remains Of Canada’s Ancient Giants”  Lisa Murphy-Lamb  2003
Rescue Dogs:  Crime & Rescue Canines In The Canadian Rockies”  Dale Portman  2003
Secrets & Mysteries Of The World”  Sylvia Browne  2005
Girl Sleuth, Nancy Drew & The Women Who Created Her”  Melanie Rehak  2005
Weird British Columbia Places”  Michelle Simms  2006
Canadian Disasters”  René Schmidt  2006
Lost Treasures:  True Stories Of Discovery”  Larry Verstraete  2006
Usborne True Stories, Ghosts”  Paul Dowswell  2008

MYSTERY OF THE 2000s
Aunt Dimity Beats The Devil”  Nancy T. Atherton  2000
The African Quest”  Lyn Hamilton  2000
Body Of Intution”  Claire Daniels  2002
Lament For A Lounge Lizard”  Mary Jane Maffini  2003
The Chardonnay Charade”  Ellen Crosby  2006
Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree”  Joyce Lavene  2006
Too Hot To Handle”  Mary Jane Maffini  2007
The House On Tradd Street”  Karen White  2008
Watcher In The Woods”  Robert Liparulo  2008
The Cat, The Quilt, And The Corpse”  Leann Sweeney  2009

PARANORMAL OF THE 2010s!
The Tale Of Halcyon Crane”  Wendy Webb  2010
Tempest In The Tea Leaves”  Kari Lee Townsend  2011
Charmed”  Barbara Bretton  2011
The Haunting Of Maddy Clare”  Simone St. James  2012
Murder Buys A T-Shirt”  Christy Fifield  2012
Fool’s Gold”  Juliet Blackwell  2013
Dyeing Wishes”  Molly MacRae  2013
A Vision In Velvet”  Juliet Blackwell  2014
A Haunting Is Brewing”  Juliet Blackwell  2014
Spinning In Her Grave”  Molly MacRae  2014

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About RIEDEL Fascination

I cherish animals, plants, reading, music and free spirituality. I welcome you for articles, literary activities, and interaction! Surrounding ourselves with good people is a delight. I occasionally review at The Book Depository.
This entry was posted in Animals Or Pets, Book / Novel / Literature, Canadian and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to First Reads, Birthday Month, Genre Decades

  1. Becky says:

    First, welcome to the challenge :) I am not strict about having every single year represented. As long as ten books are read per decade, then that completes the challenge. I’ve updated the original challenge post to answer a few of your questions.

    • Hi Becky! It’s great to have your comment! I’m excited about your concept because I love being challenged a little. I’ll see if I can hit every year of a decade but know you’re cool, if a few are repeated. I reach for the top but I’m happy there’s a net. :)

  2. eloisej says:

    Great job completing the Birthday Month challenge! I enjoyed reading your reviews. :)
    youmeandacupofteablog.blogspot.com

    • Thank you so much, Lois! For this kind visit, along with the generous $10.00 Canadian gift certificate! Oh my goodness, I was excited to tell my fiancé about it. If ‘blogspot’ permits, I will do the respect of a comment at your post announcing winners. :) God bless you!

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