Update on Books I've read since 1/1/2015 until today

Books read in 2015, From Jan 15, through June 1, 2015.  There are probably more, but these are the ones I remembered to write down with the date I read them. These don't include any of the books I've written reviews for.



*Hess, Joan--Malice in Maggody  (bought 5/12/15, read 5/25/15)
*Quinn, Spencer--To Fetch a Thief (bought 5/10/2015, read 5/11/2015) 
*Craig, Elizabeth Spann--A Body at Bunco (bought 4/29/15, read 5/1/15)  
*Coco, Nancy--To Fudge or Not to Fudge (bought 4/10/15, read 4/11/15)
*Goldenbaum, Sally--Death by Cashmere (bought 4/7/15, read 6/11/15)  
*Reutlinger, Mark--Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death (bought 4/3, read 4/4/15)
*Bevill, C.L.--Bubba and the Ten Little Loonies (bought 4/2/15, read 4/2/15)
*Lavene, Joyce--Broken Hearted Ghoul  (bought 4/14/14, read 4/20/15)
*Greenwood, Kerry--Green Hill Murder (bought 4/10/15, read 4/10/15) 
*Greenwood, Kerry--Blood and Circuses (bought 4/10/15, read 4/12/15)  
*Shannon, Dell--Mark of Murder (bought 3/27/15, read 3/28/15)   
*Shannon, Dell--Root of All Evil (bought 3/27/15, read 3/27/15)  
*DeLeon, Jana--Soldiers of Fortune (bought 3/23/15, read 3/23/15)  
*Sanders, Angela--The Lanvin Murders (bought 3/24/15, read 3/25/15)   
*Shannon, Dell--Double Bluff (bought 3/23/15, read 3/24/15)   
*Shannon, Dell--Death of a Busybody (bought 3/23/15, read 3/25/15)   
*Shannon, Dell--Extra Kill (bought 3/21/15, read 3/22/15) 
*Shannon, Dell--Knave of Hearts (bought 3/21/15, read 3/21/15) 
*Shannon, Dell--Ace of Spades (bought 3/18/15, read 3/18/15) 
*Shannon, Dell--Case Pending (bought 3/18/15, read 3/19/15) 
*Crabtree, Elizabeth-- Revenge of the Pieman (bought3/16/15, read 3/17/15) 
*Charteris, Leslie--The Saint Abroad (bought 2/25/15, read 3/1/15)   
*McHugh, Mary--Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses (bought 2/8/15, read 2/9/15)  
*Johns, Madison--Ghostly Hijinks (bought 2/1/15, read 2/2/15)     
*Chase, Kennedy--Murder on the Hill (bought 1/27/15, read 1/28
There are about twenty five books I haven't written reviews for, in the first five months of the year.

Last year I purchased over 750 (an average of just over 62 books a month) And I read over 150 books altogether during the year.

In January, 2015, I bought 48 books for myself, under my average for 2014.  In February, 2015, I bought only 20 books, well under my 2014 average.

In March, 2015, I bought 37 books, and in April, 2015, 42 (they had a big sale on Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone series, and I bought 12 on one day.)  But still, under the 2014 average!

In May, 2015, I bought 57 books, just a little under my 2014 average, I need to be a little more watchful.  In June, I've bought 26 books.

From January 1, 2015, through June 30, 2015, I've bought 230, well under the 375 average I bought in the first half of 2014.  And when I say bought, a lot of these were free books for the Kindle, so I figured I should get them while they were free, and try out the authors.

To continue my list of books read through the end of June--



Another 39 books, but I didn't record exactly when I read them.  Most of them were read the end of May through the end of June, although there are several that I know I read earlier in the year, but didn't write them down.


That makes a total of at least  64 books read in the first six months of 2015, together with the 26 books I wrote reveiws for, for a total of 90 books read in the first half of the year, with about 230 purchased during that time. 

My Mount TBR (to be read) pile just keeps getting higher and higher.  

Unfortunately, I stopped writing down the books I read, unless I actually wrote a review for them, so I know I've read a lot more books than what I've noted.

 In July I bought 23 books, and in August 52 books, although to be fair, 13 were in the Miss Marple complete collection.  And I read (reread) all of the Miss Marple books in August, too!

In September, I only bought 15 books, and in October, 2015, I bought 25 books.  As of Oct 31, I've only bought 345 books.  In November I only bought 9 books, and only 11 in December. That makes a grand total for the year of only 365 books!


Davis, Krista--The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer 
Hamilton, Donald--The Terrorizers 
Gardner, Erle Stanley--The Case of the Sulky Girl 
Francis, Dick--Break In 
Goldsborough, Robert--Archie in the Crosshairs 
Francis, Dick--Longshot
Francis, Dick--Banker 
Gilman, Dorothy--Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station
Gilman, Dorothy--Mrs. Pollifax on Safari
Gilman, Dorothy--Palm for Mrs. Pollifax
Gilman, Dorothy--Elusive Mrs. Pollifax
Gilman, Dorothy--Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax 
Gilman, Dorothy--Amazing Mrs. Pollifax
DeLeon, Jana--Hurricane Force
Carl, JoAnna--The Chocolate Moose Motive
Hamilton, Donald--The Retaliaters
Taylor, Phoebe Atwood--The Iron Clew
Taylor, Phoebe Atwood--Beginning with a Bash
Langtry, Leslie--Mint Cookie Murder
McHugh, Mary--Flamenco, Flan, and Fatalities
Coco, Nancy--Oh Say Can You Fudge
Reed, Hannah--Hooked On Ewe
Hamilton, Donald--The Terminators
Rice, Craig--The Lucky Stiff
Rice, Craig--The Big Midget Murders
Stevens, Jim--The Case of Moomah's Moolah
Hamilton, Donald--The Intimidators
Hamilton, Donald--The Intriguers
Hamilton, Donald--The Poisoners
Hamilton, Donald--The Interlopers
Reed, Hannah--Off Kilter
Hess, Joan--Malice in Maggody
Allingham, Margery--Dancers in Mourning
Allingham, Margery--Sweet Danger
Allingham, Margery--Hide My Eyes
Allingham, Margery--The Tiger in the Smoke 
Allingham, Margery--The Case of the Late Pig
Allingham, Margery--Flowers for the Judge
Allingham, Margery--Death of a Ghost 

I read approximately 90 books in the first half of the year, and another 38 (plus the 13 Miss Marple books) in the last half of the year, plus 36 I wrote reviews for, for a total of at least 177 books read. 

Last year, I bought 750 books, read 150, so my Mt. TBR was increased by about 600 books.  This year I've bought 365, and read at least 177, so my Mt. TBR was only increased by 188.  And if I had written down the books I had read, I'm sure there would be at least another 20 or 30 books.  So while my Mt. TBR pile is getting higher, it's at a much slower rate!  That is an improvement, of sorts!

More books read, July 1, August 30

I've read several other books over the summer, that were not part of my Mt. TBR Reading Challenge 2015.   I'm not going to write full reviews for them, but will just mention whether or not I liked it, with a few words to describe them.

Taylor, Phoebe Atwood--Diplomatic Corpse (bought 7/31/2015, read 8/3/2015).  Really liked this one!  This is the last in the Asey Mayo series, and has the Cape Cod ambience that really makes the books.

Frazer, Andrea--Choked Off (bought 7/29/2015, read 8/2/2015).  Another one I liked.  This is the second in the Falconer series.  The villagers are excited that a radio broadcaster will be reviewing their Arts festival, until he arrives in the village the day before the event.  He is not a nice person, and takes pleasure in hurting the people around him. When he is found dead, no one seems to be overly dismayed. However, DI Harry Falconer and his Sergeant, "Davey" Carmichael, are on the case.

Allingham, Margery--Coroner's Pidgin (bought 7/22/2015, read 7/23/2015).  I liked this, but not as much as some of her others. Albert Campion returns from several years overseas, and while refreshing himself in his apartment, he sees his servant, Lugg, entering the apartment with a Lady, and a woman's corpse.  Campion is then forced to detect, which he does with his usual skill.

Hamilton, Donald--Matt Helm-The Terminators (bought 7/9/2015, read 7/10/2015).  Liked this, really like the character and the style of the writing.  This is one of my favorite series from that era.

Bowers, Mary--Murder in Tropical Breeze (bought 7/6/2015, read 7/10/2015).  This one was okay, and I might try the second in the series, but I'm not really big on paranormal, although it wasn't too intrusive in this story, it still lessened my enjoyment a little.

Johns, Madison--High Seas Honeymoon (Bought 7/2/2015, read 7/2/2015).  This is the seventh in the series, and I thought it was just okay.  Agnes and Eleanor and their new husbands go on a honeymoon cruise, and find out that several of their friends and neighbors are also there.  Then they find a body, which disappears.

Rice, Craig--Murder, Mystery and Malone (borrowed 6/28/2015, read 7/3/2015).  A collection of a dozen stories, most of them featuring John J. Malone, a lawyer who claims he has never lost a case.  I thought this was pretty good, considering the limitations of short stories.  But then, I am a fan of the  1940s hard boiled detective stories, with a dash of screwball comedy.

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen review

 Her Royal Spyness is the first in the Royal Spyness Series.  It is set in England in the early 1930s, and features Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, who is 34th in line for the English throne.  While she has a title, and is a member of high society, she doesn't have any money.  As Royalty, and a woman, she can't really take a job, which would be hard to find during the Depression in any event.

She is being supported by her brother and lives with him and his wife in their castle in Scotland.  However, her sister-in-law isn't happy they have to support her, and wants her to marry, preferably some one rich. And if not, then she wants her to become the companion of some elderly relative.

Lady Georgie runs away to London, and decides to stay in their family house.  It had been closed up, and there are no servants there, and no heat. To keep herself, she decides to start a housecleaning business, but keep her name out of it. 

When she returns one day, she finds a body in the bathtub.  The dead man was someone trying to collect on her late father's gambling debts, and had set up a meeting with Lady Georgina's brother, known to his family and friends as Binky.  And Binky had returned to Scotland, which Lady Georgie meant he would be the main suspect in the death.

She decides to investigate to clear her brother's name, and then the Queen wants her to go to a house party to see how infatuated her son is with the divorcee, Mrs. Simpson.  Lady Georgie is supposed to become the Queen's spy. 

While trying to solve the murder, and spying for the Queen, Georgie is also becoming terribly accident prone.  It finally occurs to her that someone is trying to kill her. 

Lady Georgina is a bright, determined, independent woman ahead of her time, and manages to solve the murder and finish her spying while managing to stay alive.

This was an interesting read, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

This is #35 of 48 for the Mt. TBR Reading Challenge 2015. Bought in August, 2014, read November, 2015.

Two Widows and the Thrift Store Murders by Ruth Ross review

A mother and daughter, both widows, love to visit thrift stores, more for the entertainment value than actually needing to watch their pennies.

To their dismay, one of the thrift store workers is found murdered.  Then another of the workers is also found murdered.  When they realize one of the board members, an elderly woman, had also died recently, they become suspicious and begin to investigate.  As they found out information, they let the police know of their findings, which is rare in a lot of the current mysteries.

I thought the book was interesting, although it was what I would call an easy read. I bought this book in August of 2014, and finished it November of 2015.

 34 of 48 for the 2015 Mt. TBR reading  challenge.

The Betrayers by Donald Hamilton review

This is the tenth of the Matt Helm spy series.  Another enjoyable read.

Matt takes a vacation in Hawaii after his last assignment was completed.  The agent in charge of operations there is someone Helm hasn't gotten along with, and who is suspected of being a rogue agent. 

Lots of action, a little romance, and a straight forward spy plot.  Who could ask for anything more?

I enjoyed this story as much as the others I've read in the series, and looking forward to reading more.


Bought October 15, 2014, read July 2, 2015.  This is number 33 of 48 in my 2015 Mt. TBR reading challenge.

Flying too Hign by Kerry Greenwood review

Found a note with several of the books I had read last spring/early summer.  While I had remembered most of them, and  reviewed them (or at least put them on another list to write the reviews), there were a few that I had forgotten.  This was one of them.

Flying Too High is the second in the Phryne Fisher series of books, and like the others, takes place in Australia.  I enjoy the descriptions of 1920s Australia, similar to the U.S. at that time, but different, too.  Phryne, of course, is a one of a kind heroine, with flaws.

Phryne is approached by Mrs. McNaughton.  Phryne is hired to stop Mrs. McNaughton's son, Bill, from killing Mr. McNaughton.  Bill has a temper and is short money, and Mr. McNaughton is pretty nasty himself, and the two are in the middle of a disagreement about a loan.  Phryne takes the case, but Mr. McNaughton ends up dead, anyway. 

Phryne now has to prove Bill innocent, but along the way decides to solve the kidnapping of a little girl, and protect her from the pedophile who is one of her kidnappers.

Phryne flys an airplane, has hot sex with a couple of different men, procures a prostitute, and solves the cases. 

Enjoyed the book, especially the recurring supporting characters of Dot, Bert and Cec, and the new characters of Mr. and Mrs. Butler.

Part of my 2015 Mt. TBR reading challenge. #32 of 48.  Bought Mar 21, 2014, finished late May, 2015.

The Devastaters by Donald Hamilton review

First published in 1965, this is the ninth in the Matt Helm series. This story takes Helm to England and Scotland, an interesting background for the events taking place.


A body is found in Scotland, and the cause of death is bumonic plague.  The victim is an agent, and is the third agent to be found dead.  Helm is sent to find the scientist causing the deaths.  There is a lot of exciting events, and interesting characters, including a reunion of sorts for Helm.

Enjoyable story, but then, I usually enjoy reading Matt Helm novels. 


This is # 31 of 48 for my 2015 Mt. TBR reading challenge. Bought June 8, 2014, read June 28, 2015.

The Menacers by Donald Hamilton review

The eleventh in the Matt Helm series, this was published in 1968. I've read several books in this series, and usually enjoy them, including this one. 

Helm is sent to Mexico, because of reports of UFOs attacking people.  He is assigned as protection to one of the witnesses, and told to bring her to the U.S. at Los Alamos.  Most importantly, she is not to get into the hands of the Russians.  If that seems likely, he will have to kill her.

I was a little concerned when I saw this was about UFOs that the series was taking a weird turn in the direction of Science Fiction, but as it turned out, it didn't.  Enjoyed reading this one!


Bought Nov. 13, 2014, finished July 4, 2015.  # 30 of 48 in my 2015 Mt. TBR reading challenge.

The Case of the Buried Clock by Erle Stanley Gardner review

First published in 1943, this story includes references to the war, but not as a major part of the mystery.  The twenty-second of the Perry Mason stories, it is well written and interesting.

In this story, a man, Jack Hardisty, embezzles money from the bank his father-in-law, Mr. Blane, owns.  When he is found dead, the most obvious suspect is the man's wife, Millicent, especially as she had been seen in the area.  Mr. Blane hires Perry Mason to protect his daughter.

Along the way a buried clock is discovered, there is an interesting, but confusing, discussion of sidereal or star time, Perry Mason actually becomes confused, and the murderer is discovered.  All in all, a pretty good read.

This is part of my 2015 Mt. TBR Challenge, # 29 of 48. Bought Dec. 12, 2014, finished July 2015.