It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (12/21/15)

Hosted by The Book Date.

The holiday craziness finally settled down (mostly) last week as I got most of my big to-do items checked off and was finally able to concentrate on my reading. Whew – it feels great to breathe again!

End of the year “Best of” lists are one of my favorite types of blog posts, so I’ve loved seeing everyone else’s go up this week! I shared my Best Books of 2015 and Best Debuts of 2015…and will finish up with the Best of My 2015 Backlist Reading tomorrow. 

Finally, as I’ve started digging into my EOY stats, I’ve noticed some weird quirks on Goodreads. First, if you mark different formats of the same book as “read”, that book will be double-counted in your year-end total. I pay close attention to versions on the website, but find that more difficult on the iphone app. Second, there was one case where I marked a book as “currently reading”, then switch it back to “to read” WITH a rating (something I do when I DNF a book since Goodreads has no good method for handling DNFs), and Goodreads counted that book in my total books read. I’ve done this with multiple other books this year, but it only counted this one in my total books read number. So…anyone have any good tips for handling stats on Goodreads?! I’d love to avoid these issues next year!

I finished reading…

Along the Infinite Sea, The Handmaid's Tale


Along the Infinite Sea
 by Beatriz Williams (November 3, 2015)
I posted a mini review last week.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
I’m thrilled I FINALLY read some Atwood and it was everything I’d hoped it would be! It gave me the same “WTF is going on here” feeling I got from The Beautiful Bureaucrat and the writing is just as gorgeous as I’d heard. I might do a Quotable Books feature on this one at some point. 

Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

I’m currently reading…

After the Crash, Michel Bussi


After the Crash
 by Michel Bussi (January 5, 2016)
I figured I’d have trouble getting into whatever book I read after The Handmaid’s Tale…but, I was immediately pulled into this mystery/thriller. I’m 20% through and cannot put it down. And, it’s different enough from The Handmaid’s Tale that it’s not competing with it. 

Upcoming reading plans…

I’m alternating between backlist books I’ve been meaning to read forever and January 2016 releases through the end of the year.  

Dept. of Speculation, The Guest Room


Dept. of Speculation
 by Jenny Offill (January 28, 2014)
This very short novel about a marriage has been a blogger darling for awhile now…time to finally check it off the list! Plus, that page count sure helps my chances of reaching my Goodreads goal!

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian (January 5, 2016)
I love Chris Bohjalian and heard from reliable sources that his latest novel about a bachelor party gone wrong is great and also different from his others.

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31 Comments

  1. Oh my gosh – you reminded me that I have The Handmaid’s Tale sitting in a pile of books beside the bed, just waiting for a wintery night when I can spend a few hours curled up reading 🙂 I hope you enjoy all your books this week.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I hope you get to it soon – it was so good even though it was really hyped in my head!

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  2. So glad you’re enjoying The Handmaid’s Tale! I kind of ignore the stats on Goodreads (ugh, I’m tempted to delete my account every other week anyway) and use my spreadsheet for my “official” stats. They’re usually off by a book or two because of weird shelving, but I know my spreadsheet has things right.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Now that I’m aware – I’m going to be more careful next year. It turned out I had forgotten to add 2 audiobooks that I never talked about on the blog to my spreadsheet and GR had a bunch of duplicates that I cleared up. I have a list of suggestions for Goodreads – ha!

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  3. Kathy Martin wrote:

    I have The Handmaid’s Tale somewhere on my stack too. I’ve started reading February review books but still want to fit in some from my own stack. I find GoodReads a little confusing. I use it to keep track of what I’m currently reading and my yearly total but I also keep a spreadsheet which I find is more accurate. Come see my week here. Happy holidays and happy reading!

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Good for you already on Feb books! I’m just starting January!

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  4. Some great titles in your post this week. The Handmaid’s Tale has been a favorite of mine for a long time.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  5. The Handmaid’s Tale sounds interesting! I’ve created and used different shelfs on Goodreads in the past. Maybe a DNF one would work. But I don’t keep track of those books myself anymore. I’m not sure how that figures into the stats though. I love your stats post. Enjoy the holidays!

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I created a DNF shelf that’s “exclusive”…just like “read”, “to read”, “currently reading” so will see how that works. It seems to be the solution I was looking for and was super easy!

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  6. Carmen wrote:

    I’m glad you loved Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. I have The Guest Room on my list to read in January; I hope Bohjalian delivers again.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Me too – he’s a go-to author for me!

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  7. My GoodReads total is lower than it should be and I haven’t had time to figure out why. I know a lot of people who loved Dept. of Speculation but I wasn’t crazy about it.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’ve heard that from a couple people about Speculation, but it’s so short I figure I have to see for myself!

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  8. Andi wrote:

    Goodreads is so very quirky. I generally trust my own list more than GR, but I do a little cross referencing to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything anywhere. Love The Handmaid’s Tale! Enjoy!

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      That’s what I’m figuring out – and I did figure out I’d left 2 audios off my spreadsheet, so I guess I can thank Goodreads for pointing that out!

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  9. Naomi wrote:

    So glad you liked The Handmaid’s Tale!
    And, now you have me curious about The Guest Room. I have found Bohjalian’s books to be hit and miss, but I quite liked his last one. This one sounds intriguing, too…

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Me too on Bohjalian – Double Bind and Secrets of Eden were my faves. And I also really liked Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands.

      Posted 12.21.15 Reply
      • Naomi wrote:

        Yes, Double Bind and Close Your Eyes were both good! I haven’t read Secrets of Eden – I’ll have to check it out!

        Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  10. I stopped marking my currently reading on GR because of the DNF issue an they always want a rating and mark it as read. You can remove those from your read list, but it seems like too much work for me. lol I FINALLY got my copy of Have You Ever Had a Family from the library. I’m still waiting on my gut punch.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  11. Judy wrote:

    Boy do I agree that the holiday madness is all in the preps! Well, then there are the parties. But I got to read more this week as well. I finished China Dolls by Lisa See, Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr (excellent mystery series all set in National Parks!) and The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli.
    I do not count on Goodreads for accuracy of stats.ever. I keep my own. But I liked their personal year in reading thing!
    Today I am reading Ghostwritten by David Mitchell. I am halfway. Each year between Christmas and New Years Day I read all the books I want to catch up on by one author. This year it is Mitchell and I started early!

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  12. Going to check out your mini review of Along the Infinite Sea.

    The Guest Room looks good. I always enjoy his books.

    ENJOY this week, and Merry Christmas!!

    Elizabeth
    Silver’s Reviews
    My It’s Monday, What Are You Reading

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  13. Kathryn wrote:

    I love your three ideas for eoy posts. I have been thinking about mine but like your three so will do some thinking today. Enjoy all that great writing and have a great Christmas.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  14. I read The Handmaid’s Tale back in the 80s, but recently bought a kindle edition for a reread!

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  15. I love Chris Bohjalian also!!! If you don’t follow him on Instagram, you should – he is so down to earth, adoring of his family, and an avid cyclist. He’s an Instagram fave of mine. I didn’t love Dept. of Speculation quite as much as others (it almost makes me want to go back and reread in case it was my mood). I’m intrigued by After the Crash, and can’t wait to read your final review!!!!

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
  16. Oooh, I had Along the Infinite Sea in my inbox from the library but couldn’t get to it! I will skip it.

    Right now I’m working my way through Fates and Furies. A little frustrated with the pace. Does anything happen?

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I felt the same way about the first section of F&F…but, I thought the second section was so dazzling that it made the slower pace of Fates worth it. Would love to hear what you think once you’re finished!

      Posted 12.22.15 Reply
  17. Lindsay wrote:

    I’m thinking about re-reading “The Handmaid’s Tale” next year. I read it forever ago in high school and didn’t like it at all — but maybe I was just to young to grasp what it was really about. I’ve heard so many good things about Margaret Atwood and I’d like to read the MaddAddam series, but maybe I’ll give “The Handmaid’s Tale” another try first.

    Someone else has probably already suggested this, but I made a did-not-finish bookshelf on Goodreads. What book did you DNF?

    Right now I’m reading “This is Your Life, Harriet Chance” by Jonathan Evison. It’s a quirky novel and I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the writing style, but the plot is holding my interest, AND it involves our elderly main character taking an Alaskan cruise!

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I bet I wouldn’t have appreciated The Handmaid’s Tale in high school..I definitely wouldn’t have understood the whole women’s role theme. I feel like that’s not something I really internalized until I was out in the real world…maybe not even until marriage!

      Most recently, I DNF’d Calf by Andrea Kleine…but I’ve DNF’d 19 books this year. I did add a DNF “exclusive” shelf, so that’s helped out a lot!

      Hope you enjoy Harriet Chance!

      Posted 12.22.15 Reply
  18. Athira wrote:

    That Goodreads thing bothers me so much! Occasionally, that site adds two editions of the same book to my shelves, esp when I use my phone app as well. There is a way to find these duplicates on Goodreads but I wish they didn’t happen in the first place.

    I need to start analyzing my 2015 reads as well. It will be interesting to see what my reading habits have been like this year.

    Posted 12.21.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yep – agreed about the iphone app vs. website issues. That’s how I ended up with so many duplicates. I wish Goodreads would just count a book once, even if you mark various versions.

      I do love the EOY stats also – just wish they were accurate without me having to cross-reference with my spreadsheet!

      Posted 12.22.15 Reply

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