lindapanzo's 2024 ROOTs

I'm back for 2024 for my 10th year in the ROOTs challenge. I love being able to see books fly off my bookshelves, print or Kindle, though, of course, I do tend to pick up more. Ahem, way more than I expect.

Once again, for 2024, I plan to take a broader view of ROOTs, including both print and Kindle books that I own along with Net Galley books on Kindle.

My goal is again 84 ROOTs for 2024. In the end, I read 108 ROOTS in 2023 but, for 2024, I'd like to get more of the chunksters off my shelves.

For my Read for Julia book, I read Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg, finishing it on March 17th.

My ROOTS read in 2024:

1. Three Days in January by Bret Baier--finished on 1/1/24
2. The Cardinals Way by Howard Megdal--finished on 1/5/24
3. Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley--finished on 1/8/24
4. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride--finished on 1/14/24
5. Ill-Fated Fortune by Jennifer J. Chow--finished on 1/15/24
6. The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert--finished on 1/19/24
7. Crook o' Lune by E.C.R. Lorac--finished on 1/23/24
8. The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician's First Year by Matt McCarthy--finished on 1/24/24
9. The Stranger in the Library by Eva Gates--finished on 1/27/24
10. Run to Win: My Packers Life from Lombardi to Canton by Jerry Kramer--finished on 1/30/24
11. Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by József Debreczeni--finished on 2/1/24
12. Last Night by Luanne Rice--finished on 2/2/24
13. The Red-Headed League by Arthur Conan Doyle--finished on 2/3/24
14. Rhythm and Clues by Olivia Blacke--finished on 2/6/24
15. Navy Husband by Debbie Macomber--finished on 2/7/24
16. A Smoking Bun by Ellie Alexander--finished on 2/9/24
17. The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich--finished on 2/13/24
18. Random in Death by J.D. Robb--finished on 2/17/24
19. The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and Eating While Reading by Dwight Garner--finished on 2/19/24
20. Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them by Edward Segal--finished on 2/22/24
21. Murder at the Blarney Bash by Darci Hannah--finished on 2/25/24
22. Baseball's Great Expectations by Patrick Montgomery--finished on 3/1/24
23. Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly--finished on 3/3/24
24. Easter Basket Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross--finished on 3/5/24
25. Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser--finished on 3/8/24
26. The Socialite's Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden--finished on 3/10/24
27. Matagorda by Louis L'Amour--finished on 3/12/24
28. The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies by Susan Wittig Albert--finished on 3/16/24
29. Walk through Fire: The Train Disaster that Changed America by Yasmine Ali--finished on 3/18/24
30. Patchwork Quilt Murder by Leslie Meier--finished on 3/20/24
31. Murder in the Tea Leaves by Laura Childs--finished on 3/23/24
32. Save Me a Seat!: A Life with Movies by Rick Winston--finished on 3/28/24
33. Comiskey Park's Last World Series: A History of the 1959 Chicago White Sox by Charles N. Billington--finished on 4/2/24
34. No Parm No Foul by Linda Reilly--finished on 4/6/24
35. An Offer for a Spinster by Dorothy Sheldon--finished on 4/7/24
36. I Never Did Like Politics: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America's Mayor, and Why He Still Matters by Terry Golway--finished on 4/11/24
37. Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust by Mindy Quigley--finished on 4/12/24
38. Cut & Thirst by Margaret Atwood--finished on 4/13/24
39. The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan--finished on 4/20/24
40. The Last Word by Gerri Lewis--finished on 4/21/24
41. Season of Shattered Dreams by Eric Vickrey--finished on 4/23/24
42. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto--finished on 4/27/24
43. Fatal First Edition by Jenn McKinlay--finished on 5/1/24
44. The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal--finished on 5/4/24
45. Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge--finished on 5/8/24
46. Brie Careful What You Wish For by Linda Reilly--finished on 5/13/24
47. Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles--finished on 5/16/24
48. Village Politics Can Be Murder by Jeanne M. Dams--finished on 5/19/24
49. The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson--finished on 5/22/24
50. The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson--finished on 5/26/24
51. Trouble Is Brewing by Vicki Delany--finished on 5/29/24
52. Death by Chocolate Raspberry Scone by Sarah Graves--finished on 6/1/24
53. A Cyclist's Guide to Crime & Croissants by Ann Claire--finished on 6/5/24
54. Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose--finished on 6/8/24
55. Through the Eyes of a Young Physician Assistant by Sean Conroy--finished on 6/9/24
56. Sticks and Scones by Ellie Alexander-finished on 6/13/24
57. My Day with the Cup by Jim Lang--finished on 6/14/24
58. An October to Remember 1968 by Brendan Donley--finished on 6/20/24
59. Just Add Water: My Swimming Life by Katie Ledecky--finished on 6/23/24
60. Maigret in New York by Georges Simenon--finished on 6/25/24
61. A Pie to Die For by Gretchen Rue--finished on 6/28/24
62. Fondue or Die by Korina Moss--finished on 7/3/24
63. Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black--finished on 7/4/24
64. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman--finished on 7/7/24
65. Sleep in Heavenly Pizza by Mindy Quigley--finished on 7/10/24
66. Pinned 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton--finished on 7/15/24
67. The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr--finished on 7/18/24
68. In the Event of Murder by Cynthia Kuhn--finished on 7/22/24
69. Murder on Devil's Pond by Ayla Rose--finished on 8/1/24
70. Predicting the Winner by Ira Chinoy--finished on 8/7/24
71. Peach Tea Smash by Laura Childs--finished on 8/13/24
72. I'll Be Home for Mischief by Jacqueline Frost--finished on 8/17/24
73. A Controversial Cover by Lorna Barrett--finished on 8/24/24
74. A Killer Clue by Victoria Gilbert--finished on 8/29/24
75. A Slay Ride Together With You by Vicki Delany--finished on 9/1/24
76. The Football Game That Changed America by Dennis Deninger--finished on 9/4/24
77. Booked for Murder by P. J. Nelson--finished on 9/9/24
78. Hurricane by John D. MacDonald--finished on 9/13/24
79. Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson--finished on 9/14/24
80. The Body in the Bookstore by Ellie Alexander--finished on 9/19/24
81. A Murder at the Movies by Ellie Alexander--finished on 9/22/24
82. The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss--finished on 9/30/24
83. Death at the Dinner Party by Ellie Alexander--finished on 10/4/24
84. Dynasty Restored by Thomas J. Whalen--finished on 10/12/24
85. Sugar Plum Poisoned by Jenn McKinlay--finished on 10/19/24
86. Hockey's Wildest Season by John G. Robertson--finished on 10/26/24
87. Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber--finished on 11/4/24
88. You Feta Watch Out by Linda Reilly--finished on 11/10/24
89. A Holiday Homicide by Ellie Alexander--finished on 11/11/24
90. Christmas at Lilac Cottage by Holly Martin--finished on 11/14/24
91. The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny--finished on 11/18/24
92. A Merry Little Murder Plot by Jenn McKinlay--finished on 11/20/24
93. Madrigals and Mayhem by Elizabeth Penney--finished on 11/21/24
94. A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah--finished on 11/26/24
95. Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac--finished on 11/28/24
96. Deadly Crush by Maddie Day--finished on 12/1/24
97. Christmas TV Memories: Nostalgic Holiday Favorites of the Small Screen by Herbie J. Pilato--finished on 12/6/24
98. The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord--finished on 12/9/24
99. The Forgotten 1970 Chicago Cubs by William S. Bike--finished on 12/12/24
100. The Christmas Book Hunt by Jenny Colgan--finished on 12/13/24
101. Blue Christmas Bones by Carolyn Haines--finished on 12/16/24
102. Don't Toy With Me by Diane Kelly--finished on 12/18/24
103. Basket Case by Karen MacInerney--finished on 12/20/24
104. A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh--finished on 12/21/24

Good ROOTing this year!

Hi Linda, Happy New year and good luck with your ROOTing!

Welcome back, Linda! Happy new year :)

Welcome back!

Didn't do well with chunksters last year, only 4. FDR was 858 pages. SMH

Good luck with those chunksters especially!

Good luck with the chunksters, Linda!

Hey Linda, you can join the Big Fat Book group if you want a little support :)
https://www.librarything.fr/ngroups/24196/2024-BIG-FAT-BOOK-CHALLENGE

Good luck and happy reading

>9 Cecilturtle: Ahh, that's in progress now! Great, I meet you over there.

>9 Cecilturtle: I'll have to look into that. Maybe this'll be the year I finally read War and Peace. I'd also like to read the new Barbra Streisand memoir.

Thanks for the info!!

>11 lindapanzo: I read War and Peace in a year a few years ago. In the edition I had it worked out at about 30-something pages a week, which felt more manageable than approaching a 1700 page book without a plan!

>11 lindapanzo: Happy ROOTing! fyi the Barbra Streisand engaged me when nothing else held my attention last month.

>12 Jackie_K: We'll see what happens with War and Peace. I would definitely have to break it down into manageable pieces, for sure.

>13 detailmuse: Since I so rarely read chunksters, I think reading the Barbra Streisand book would be a good way to get back into it.

Hope all is well. We had a mild, totally non-snowy winter until just about 10 days ago when we made up for lost time. A week of bitter cold with only a slight moderation and lots and lots of snow. Over the course of 2 or 3 stories, probably 18 inches of snow.

Lots of time to stay inside reading.

In honor of rosalita (Julia), who I actually met once at the meet-up at Mark's house in 2014, I am reading the Carl Sandburg poetry collection Chicago Poems from Julia's TBR list.

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted here. I'm doing quite well in terms of reading ROOTs once again this year. After the first week of May, I've read 45 of my 84 ROOT goal.

While I'm ahead of last year's pace, that's due in large part to the fact that I'm reading more than I have in years. However, I've also been making at least one trip to the library this year and so a few of my books read are library books.

For instance, my current weighty tome, the new Doris Kearns Goodwin book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s is a library book.

>16 lindapanzo: Awesome ROOTing! And that memoir sounds very good.

>16 lindapanzo: Nice job, Linda! 48 of 84. You did read a lot. And now you have time to read a library book or two. I decided early this year to read books that I think I probably like and not make a challenge of everything. Reading should be fun.

>17 detailmuse: >18 connie53: I've been reading quite a bit more than usual this year and, for the most part, the books have been better too. I just checked out two library books so, while my number of ROOTS has been higher this year, the percentage of ROOTS to total books read this year is lower.

How are you doing on the reading, Linda? Just curious about that.

>20 connie53: Hello, this has been a great reading year for me. I'm at 72 ROOTs out of my goal of 85 for the year. With two weeks of Olympics watching and then this past week focused on recovering from a nasty fall, I haven't read as much lately. I don't want anything challenging so I'm just focusing on cozy mysteries for awhile. Comfort reads for me.

>21 lindapanzo: I'm sorry about the fall, Linda! I hope you get better fast - nothing like a cozy mystery to keep spirits up!

Five more books til I reach my ROOT goal.

I'm in my 4th week of physical therapy and I'm seeing some improvement. Yay!! I also got permission to park in the visitors lot at work, which is much closer to the building. Even so, it's still a pretty fair hike for someone using a cane. Quite tiring. So yesterday, I borrowed Mom's rollator to see how it'd work out. It's pretty easy to use but I was concerned about using it to step up and down on the curb. Stepping up this morning was a success and I was not nearly as tired as I have been.

That's not nice, Linda. That must have been a nasty fall. Glad you can borrow a rollator and that it works better than a cane. Keep reading those cozy mystery books to cheer up.

Mission Accomplished!! I just met my ROOT goal for 2024,. about a week earlier than last year.

Congratulations, Linda! And all my best wishes for a speedy recovery, that must have been a nasty accident.

Congrats, Linda! Great job.

Congrats!

My reading pace has slowed to a crawl. Justifiably so.

Dad has been living in memory care for two years, with additional hospice care. Advanced stage dementia. Two weeks ago today, the hospice nurse called to say that Dad was nonresponsive, couldn't swallow, and was transitioning. He passed away 3 days later. The funeral was on Wed. We had a lot of family and friends in attendance and they're been a huge support for Mom, my younger sister, and me. I hate public speaking but gave the eulogy. Tears at the beginning and at the end but, otherwise, it went just fine. I was afraid I'd be clinging to my walker as I spoke, which worried me, but they had a podium/lectern so I had something sturdy to hold onto. Luncheon after at a Polish restaurant (our family is Polish American). Burial on Thurs.

Little by little, Mom, my sister, and I are getting back to what is a new normal. I'm sleeping again, at long last. Reading again. Watching sports.

>29 lindapanzo: My deepest sympathies to you and your family, Linda

>29 lindapanzo: Condolences to you, Linda, and so thankful for your sleep and renewing interests.

I'm sorry for your loss. Wishing you and your family the best.

>30 Cecilturtle: >31 detailmuse: >32 mstrust: Thanks for your kind wishes. It's now been just over a month since Dad died. Still not easy but a new normal is settling in. And I am getting back into reading, at long last.

I've got one more mystery to read and I will have completed all of my 2024 categories.

Mission accomplished!! Finished all of my categories for 2024 when I finished my latest mystery, Murder at the Lemonberry Tea by Darci Hannah.

>34 lindapanzo: Congratulations, Linda!

Well done, Linda!