Saturday, February 1, 2014

January Wrap-Up & POM Award

Once again in 2014 I will be combining my monthly wrap-up post with Kerrie's Crime Fiction Pick of the Month over at Mysteries in Paradise.


Illustration by Abby Wright

Well, I have managed to start the year off with a bang.  Nineteen books in the month of January!  Now....if I can only keep up the pace throughout the year!  Here are the details:


Total Books Read: 19
Total Pages: 4413

Average Rating: 2.93 stars
Top Rating: 5 stars (Triumph by Philip Wylie--post-apocalyptic SF)
Percentage by Female Authors: 16%

Percentage by US Authors: 63%

Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors: 16%
Percentage Mystery: 58%
Percentage Fiction: 95%
Percentage written 2000+: 5%
Percentage of Rereads: 5%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% {It's eas
y to have every book count for a challenge when you sign up for as many as I do.}  
Number of Challenges fulfilled so far: 0 (0%)




AND, as mentioned above,
Kerrie has started us up for another of Crime Fiction Favorites. What she's looking for is our Top Mystery Read for each month. In January, I read eleven books that may count as mysteries.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (2.5 stars)
The Skeleton in the Clock by Carter Dickson (3 stars)
Shake Hands Forever by Ruth Rendell (3.5 stars)
The Wonder Chamber by Mary Malloy (2 stars)
The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton (1 star)
Seven Footprints to Satan by A. Merritt (3.5 stars) 
The Winter Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine (2.5 stars) 
Death on the Aisle by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4 stars) 
The Adventure of the Eleven Cuff-Buttons by James Francis Thierry (2 stars)
Too Much of Water by Bruce Hamilton (3.75 stars)
Darkness at Pemberley by T. H. White (3 stars)

And of those eleven books I handed out one 4-star rating to Death on the Aisle by my old friends, the Lockridges.  I thoroughly enjoyed the escapades of Pam & Jerry North among the theatrical folk of New York City.  But I've featured them often enough that I am going to award January's P.O.M. to Too Much of Water by Bruce Hamilton.  Hamilton gives us a near-four-star story.  The characters are interesting and somewhat comic at times.  Cantrell makes for a nice, male version of the middle-aged busybody getting himself drawn into a bit of amateur detective work.  There are plenty of red herrings and a twist or two--and I could fully believe in the identity of the murderer when revealed. 




4 comments:

Gigi Ann said...

What a nice reading month you had. Congrats.

I guess we are all thinking the same today, I too posted my January Round-Up today.

Have a lovely week-end.

Jennifer said...

I like your P.O.M. Award; how long have you been doing that one? I don't remember you doing that last time I was actively blogging. (It's so nice to be back, btw!) And your Victory Garden is certainly flourishing; I'm so proud!

Bev Hankins said...

Jennifer: This is, I think, my second year of P.O.M. awards and third year participating in Kerrie's Pick of the Month. And, actually, I've been neglecting my Victory Garden. I just finished a few SF books that I ought to go plant. Thanks for the reminder!

fredamans said...

Awesome month as always... Happy February reading!