Witchyrichy (aka Karen) Wades Into Reading In 2023 - Thread #3

Welcome to my third thread! I am Karen Richardson, aka Witchyrichy, and this is my 9th year in the 75ers group. I am mostly retired from public life although I do a bit of teaching related to educational technology and instructional design for a few clients. Otherwise, when I wake up on Monday mornings, I can pretty much do what I want. And, often what I want to do is read!

Fall has arrived here at the farm. It is my favorite time of year: just warm enough for read on the porch without so much gardening to do!

I live with my husband of 31 years, Bob, and Circe the cat, in a 19th century farmhouse on 18 acres in rural southeast Virginia. The picture above is the view from our front porch. The former owner was working on making the front yard into an arboretum so there is an interesting collection of trees including a gingko.

Bottle Tree Farm, as we call it, is our own little bit of paradise and came with a library for my books, which helps make up for the challenges of living in an old house. The books also spill out into every other room of the house. My major goal this year is to read the books I already own (lots and lots of ROOTS) and start clearing the shelves a bit.

Besides reading, I garden, crochet and play music as my main hobbies. I reignited my blog last year when I retired and plan to publish more posts in 2023. My husband and I share a love for the outdoors including birding.

I am looking forward, once again, to sharing my life and reading with this wonderful group of people!

What I am Reading

The 1619 Project
Death Knells and Wedding Bells

A book about a topic you don’t usually read: Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos
The next book in a series you started: Friends in High Places by Donna Leon
A book that taught you something: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Switched or stolen identities: The Third Girl by Agatha Christie
With a book on the cover: The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels
A book rated above 4 on LT: The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama
Book is set on a plane, train or ship: The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
A bestseller from 20 years ago: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
STEM topic
Inn or hotel: Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jennifer Colgan
Journalist or journalism: Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir by Jann Wenner
Small town or rural setting: The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede
Read a CAT: I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys (January GEOCat)
Title contains a number or quantity: Planning to read 1619
Book by a local/regional author where you live/have lived: The Virginia Plan by Robert Gillette
Author who shares your zodiac sign: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
A popular author’s first book: Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
Art or craft related
Written by an author under 30: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
A memoir: Dinners With Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg
Features a cat (cats) or member of the cat family (leopard, lion, tiger, etc.): The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
Involves an accident: The Endless Beach by Jennifer Colgan
More than 1000 copies on LT: The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff
With a plant in the title or on the cover: Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Music or musician

January - March 51

January - 21
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Christmas Shop by Jennifer Colgan
A Murderous Grudge by J.M. Roberts
I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
South to America by Imani Perry
The Third Girl by Agatha Christie
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede
Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan (audio)
Bloodlines by Fred D'Aguiar (analog)
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
The Virginia Plan by Robert H. Gillette
Friends in High Places by Donna Leon (audio)
The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (analog)
I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall
A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon (audio)

February 15

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini
21st Century Balance by Mark H. Law
The Café by the Sea by Jennifer Colgan (audio)
The Killing At Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham
The Endless Beach by Jennifer Colgan (audio)
The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama XIV
An Island Christmas by Jennifer Colgan (audio)
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
The Falcon's Malteser by Anthony Horowitz
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer (audio)
The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry

March 15

An Island Wedding by Jennifer Colgan
Honeycomb by Joanne M. Harris
Wilful Behavior by Donna Leon
The King's Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell
A Feather on the Water by Lindsay Jayne Ashford
The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Cogan
Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Uniform Justice by Donna Leon
Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon
The Goddess Effect by Sheila Yasmin Manikar

Apr - June 52

April 14

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
Murder on the Pneumatic Railway by Lisa M. Lane
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness by Jeff Warren
The Book of Esther: A Commentary and History by Benjamin J. Segal
Socrates by Francesco Barilli and Alessandro Ranghiasci (I don't think this one has made it into LT yet so I may need to add it. It is a graphic book from Comixology.)
Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent by Richard Rohr
Blood From a Stone by Donna Leon
Mystic Tea by Rea Nolan Martin
Garment of Shadows by Laurie King (audio)
The Trackers: A Novel by Charles Frazier
Final Chapter by Pam Stucky
Why Woo Woo Works by David R. Hamilton
At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier

May 20

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King (audio)
A Conventional Murder by Pam Stucky
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Through a Glass, Darkly by Donna Leon (audio)
Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way,… by Diana Butler Bass
Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom by Sharon Salzberg
Suffer the Little Children by Donna Leon (audio)
The Forest Unseen by David George Haskell
Paper Cuts by Ellery Adams (audio)
Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes
The Library of the Dead by Tendai Huchu
The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon (audio)
About Face by Donna Leon (audio)
The Shunning by Beverly Lewis
The Confession by Beverly Lewis
The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
The House At Sea's End by Elly Griffths
The Reckoning by Beverly Lewis
The Medici Manuscript by C.J. Archer

June 18
Soul Boom by Rainn Wilson
Long Summer Day by R. F. Delderfield
Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos
The Matter of Wales by Jan Morris
Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon (audio)
The Marriage of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King (audio)
Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer by Richard Rohr
Bees and Their Keepers by Lotte Möller
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Courage, My Love by Kristin Beck
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
Beastly Things by Donna Leon (audio)
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

July - September 39

July 13

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Murderer's Apprentice by Daryl Anderson
The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick (audio)
The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick (audio)
Small Rain by Madeleine L'Engle
Ghosts Walk The Shenandoah by Daryl Anderson
The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick (audio)
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (audio)
Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
The Golden Egg by Donna Leon (audio)
The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy
The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani
Back to Yoga by Steve Kelley

August 14

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Murder in the Book Lover's Loft by Ellery Adams
Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy
Fearless Jones by Walter Moseley
By Its Cover by Donna Leon
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemison
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
The Southern Lawyer by Peter O'Mahoney
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gould

September 12

September by Rosamunde Pilcher
Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir by Jann Wenner
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
What Makes Us Human by Jasmine Wang, Iain S. Thomas, and GPT-3
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker (audio)
Black Diamond by Martin Walker (audio)
The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker (audio)
The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
The Devil's Cave by Martin Walker
Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg

October - December

I hope I am not too early to wish you a happy new thread, Karen.

That is a lovely topper up above.

Happy new thread!

>1 witchyrichy: What a beautiful topper!

Happy new thread, Karen. I love the photo at the top! What a lovely setting.

>9 PaulCranswick: You are just fine, as always! Thanks for the welcome!

>10 figsfromthistle: Thank you! I do love my front yard.

>11 BLBera: Thank you! Hope all is well.

Happy New Thread, Karen!

Beautiiful front yard!

I really learned a lot (enjoyed may not be quite the right word!) and gave it one of my rare 5 stars. Hope you love it, too!

Happy new one, Karen!

Such a beautiful view you have from your porch!!

Happy new thread, Karen!