I'm in a bookish organizational mood all of the sudden, so I've decided to put together a new page for my blog with links to all of my update/tracking posts. 

You can find the page by linking directly to my blog, if you're interested.

This is the page for my ongoing series tracking. My general plan is to identify the series that I am planning to continue reading, with a note to identify where I am at in the series. If I decide to quit a series, I'll move it from the "active" list to the "closed" list.

Active (listed alphabetically by author name):

Alexander, Tasha: Lady Emily. Next book Dangerous To Know.

Black, Cara: Aimee Leduc Investigations. Next book Murder in the Clichy

Box, C.J.: Joe Pickett. Up to date as of 3/31/2020. Last book read: Long Range.

Briggs, Patricia: Mercy Thompson. Next book Frost Burned.

Cleeves, Ann: Two Rivers. Up to date as of 3/31/2020. Last book read: The Long Call.

Cogman, Genevieve: Invisible Library. Next book The Masked City.

Connelly, Michael: Harry Bosch. Next book: The Wrong Side of Goodbye.

Crombie, Deborah: Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. Next book: All Shall Be Well.

French, Tana: Dublin Murder Squad. Next book: Broken Harbor.

Grafton, Sue: Kinsey Milhone. Next book: I is for Innocent.

Griffiths, Elly: Ruth Galloway. Next book: The Lantern Men.

Harris, C.S.: Sebastian St. Cyr. Next book: What Darkness Brings.

Huber, Anna Lee: Lady Darby Mysteries. Next book: Up to date as of 3/31/2020. Last book read An Artless Demise.

Locke, Attica: Highway 59. Next book: Heaven, My Home.

McGuire, Seanan: InCryptids. Up to date as of 3/31/2020. Last book read: Imaginary Numbers.

McGuire, Seanan: October Daye. Next book One Salt Sea.

Moyes, Patricia: Inspector Henry Tibbets. Next book Death on the Agenda.

Penny, Louise: Three Pines. Next book A Better Man.

Peters, Ellis: Brother Cadfael. Next book The Confessions of Brother Haluin.

Raybourn, Deanna: Veronica Speedwell. Next book: A Murderous Relation.

Sansom, C.J.: Matthew Shardlake. Next book Sovereign.

Silva, Daniel: Gabriel Allon. Next book: Prince of Fire

Spencer-Fleming, Julia: Rev. Clare Fergusson and Russ Alstyne. Up to date as of 3/31/2020. Last book read: Through the Evil Days.

Todd, Charles: Bess Crawford. Next book: A Forgotten Place

Wentworth, Patricia: Miss Silver. Next book: Mr. Brading's Collection

I will be adding to the list over the next few days. I just have to get back to work right now!

As BrokenTune said, I do love a master tracking post. I also have a bunch of first in series on my TBR list that I've been planning on getting to - so I can decide if I want to move on, or if I want to just take them off my list. This seems like a great time to make some progress on that project.

I'm going to add to this as I go along, but this is a good starting point. These are all books I currently own.

Mystery:

Bernie Gunther: March Violets by Philip Kerr

Inspector Ian Rutledge: A Test of Wills by Charles Todd

Jackson Brodie: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

The Enzo Files: Extraordinary People by Peter May

Paddy Mehan: Field of Blood by Denise Mina

Inspector Wexford: From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell

Jess Tennant: How to Fall by Jane Casey

Perveen Mistry: The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

India Black: India Black by Carol Carr

Speculative Fiction (Fantasy & Sci Fi):

The Kingkiller Chronicle: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Gentleman Bastard: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Lightbringer: The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

The Chronicles of St. Mary: Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodie Taylor

Wayfarers: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Monsters of Verity: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

The Nightmare-Verse: A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

Nevernight Chronicles: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Folk of the Air: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Imperial Radch: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Legend: Legend by Marie Lu

Red Rising Saga: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Keepers will be added to my ongoing series list. Life's too short to keep reading this lame series will not be added to my ongoing series list.

Keepers:

Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James: A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie

Life's Too Short:

The gritty and weird world of LA pops off the page as Detective Tully Jarsdel and his partner try and track down a killer who killed in a horrific fashion. A body cooked alive and dumped with little to no evidence to go on Tully's knowledge and out of the box thinking lead them to places they never thought. At the same time try and track down a serial dog killer the dubbed The Dog Catcher.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. it kept me guessing from start to finish with different leads and red herrings I was surprised at the end. There were one or two unanswered question, either my ADD brain didn't absorb the information or it never answered it, either way it was still a good read. I have been recommending everywhere.

TITLE:  The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

AUTHOR:  Abbi Waxman

______________________

DESCRIPTION:

"The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.

When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?

Nina considers her options.

1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)

It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page. "

_______________________

REVIEW:

Somewhat predictable but entertaining, cute and pleasant. 

The Bookish Academy Awards / Book Oscars is a questionnaire I found a couple of years ago on the Blogger blog of Ashley / Read all the things and decided to steal it for my then-recent and all-time favorites.  Most of my "all-time" answers are still true; however, here's an edition specifically for my 2019 reading (wherein "nonfiction" will not be limited to the specific "Best Documentary" equivalent category -- so expect, for example, my favorite / most respected "real life" people to show up amongst the "best protagonist" listings).

(Note: For the more seriously-minded, my "best new(-to-me) books of 2019" post -- with links to my reviews / reading status updates, where in existence -- is HERE.)

Best Director(s)
(This Year's Favorite Writers):

Three-way tie between Aminatta Forna, Toni Morrison, and Margaret Atwood.

Best Actress
(Best Female Protagonist):

Favorite New Encounters:
The (unnamed) goddess / narrator of Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower
Gertrude Bell (Writings: A Woman in Arabia)
Michelle Obama (Becoming)
Mildred Lathbury (Barbary Pym: Excellent Women)
Loveday Brooke (Catherine Louisa Pirkis: The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective)

Favorite Repeat Encounters:
Granny Weatherwax (and Nanny Ogg & Magrat Garlick) (Terry Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters)
Miss Marple (Agatha Christie)
Miss Silver (Patricia Wentworth)

Honorary Mention:
Harriet Vane (Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison / Have His Caracase / Gaudy Night / Busman's Honeymoon)
Can't officially include her because I didn't reread any of the Wimsey books featuring her in 2019, but hey, there is just no way she cannot be part of this list.

Best Actor
(Best Male Protagonist):

New Encounters with Long-Time Favorites:
Kofi Annan (Interventions: A Life in War and Peace)
Matthew Shardlake (C.J. Sansom: Tombland)

Favorite Repeat Encounters:
Hogfather (aka DEATH) (Terry Pratchett: Hogfather)
Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
Lord Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)
Hercule Poirot (Agatha Chistie)
Roderick Alleyn (Ngaio Marsh)
Brother Cadfael (Ellis Peters)

Best Supporting Actress
(Best Female Sidekick or Supporting Character):

Three-way tie between Ariadne Oliver (Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot series), Josephine Leonides (the self-appointed kid sleuth in Agatha Christie's Crooked House) and the wife of Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn, painter Agatha Troy.  (All repeat encounters.)

Best Supporting Actor
(Best Male Sidekick or Supporting Character):

Favorite New Encounter:
You Bastard, the mathematical genius in camel clothes (Terry Pratchett: Pyramids)

Favorite Repeat Encounters:

Dr. John Watson (Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes series)
Captain Arthur Hastings (Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot series)
(=> The two original / quintessential sidekicks)
Mervyn Bunter (Dorothy L. Sayers: Lord Peter Wimsey series)
Jack Barak and Guy Malton (C.J. Sansom: Matthew Shardlake series)
From the Unseen University of Terry Pratchett's Discworld: Hex and the Librarian

Best Ensemble Cast:

I know this isn't actually an Academy Awards category (only Golden Globes), but I've long felt it should be one -- and there are some books to which the same thought applies as well.

Three-way tie between Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, and Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaiman's Good Omens.

Best Original Screenplay
(Most Unique Plot or World Building):

Two-way tie between Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower -- far and away the most innovative world-building I've come across in a long time -- and, of course ... Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

Best Adapted Screenplay

In the original version of this questionnaire, "Best Adapted Screenplay" translates into "Best Book-to-Movie Adaptation".  However, I think in the book world (especially that of recent years) there is another translation which fits the purpose just as well; namely, "Best Pastiche / Series Continuation."  So I decided to go with both of them:

1 - Best Book-to-Movie Adaptation:

(Note: To correspond with all the other categories, this only takes into account the cases where I read the book AND also revisited the movie in 2019.  Which, as it turns out, boils down to not a whole lot more than my yearly Christmas favorites ...)

Non-Christmas story:
Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (2015 BBC adaptation)

Christmas stories:
Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1995, ITV David Suchet Poirot series)
Agatha Christie: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (aka The Theft of the Royal Ruby) (1994, ITV David Suchet Poirot series)
Arthur Conan Doyle: The Blue Carbuncle (1987, Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series)
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (1974, BBC Ian Carmichael Lord Peter Wimsey series)
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol (1999 TNT adaptation starring Patrick Stewart)
Frances Hodgson Burnett: Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980 adaptation starring Ricky Schroder and Alec Guinness) (note: no specific Christmas connotations in the book)

2 - Best Pastiche:

Ben Schott: Jeeves and the King of Clubs
Perfect pitch -- no contest.

Best Cinematography
(Best Plot Twist):

Dame Agatha still taks the cake when it comes to original plot twists (even upon the umpteenth reread), but I think Joy Ellis has recently given her a fair run for her money -- even if the final twists in none of her books that I read in 2019 caught me quite as "from left field" as did my first ever Ellis book, Their Lost Daughters, which I read in late 2018.

Best Makeup
(Best Book Cover):

Book's Contents Lives up to the Cover's Promise:
Ann Leckie: The Raven Tower
Diarmaid MacCulloch: Thomas Cromwell: A Life

Cover Promises More Than the Contents Delivers:
Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Gods of Jade and Shadow
Elif Shafak: Three Daughters of Eve
Lorna Nicholl Morgan: Another Little Murder

Best Series Covers:

Discworld "black background" hardback and audiobook covers

Brltish Library Crime Classics series

Best Costume Design
(Best Historical or Contemporary Setting):

Contemporary:
Ann Cleeves: Raven Black and White Nights (Shetland series)
Peter May: The Lewis Man
Ian Rankin: In a House of Lies
(What can I say ... I just love Scotland -- and books set there!)

Xinran: The Good Women of China

Historical:
Toni Morrison: Beloved
Delia Owens: Where the Crawdads Sing
Diarmaid MacCulloch: Thomas Cromwell
Tom Reiss: The Black Count
C.j. Sansom: Tombland
Ellis Peters. Brother Cadfael series

Best Animated Feature
(A book that would work well in animated format):

Two-way tie between Ladyhawke (Joan D. Vinge's novelization of the movie starring Rutger Hauer, Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfeiffer) and, you guessed it ... Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

Best Visual Effects
(Best Action in a Book):

Hyeongseo Lee: The Girl With the Seven Names
Seriously, with a real life story like this, who even needs thrillers anymore?

Best Original Score

Originally, "Best Original Score" translated only into "Best Book-to-Movie Adaptation".  But I think this is another case where an Oscar category is capable of two equally valid different interpretations in the book world, and again I decided to go with both of them:

1 - Best Book / Series Incorporating Music as an Important Element:

Peter Grainger: An Accidental Death

2 - Best Audio Version:

Aminatta Forna: The Memory of Love
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's narration: Major goosebumps material.

Best Short Film
(Best Novella or Short Story):

Arthur Conan Doyle: Danger!

Best Documentary
(Best Non-Fiction):

Four-way tie between Diarmaid MacCulloch's Thomas Cromwell, Xinran's The Good Women of China, Tom Reiss's The Black Count, and Michelle Obama's Becoming.  Four outstanding books that are as engaging as they are informative.

Honorary / Lifetime Achievement Award
(Overall Favorite Body of Work):

New Encounters with Long-Time Favorites:
Elizabeth Gaskell: My Lady Ludlow
J.K. Rowling: The Casual Vacancy
Ian Rankin: In a House of Lies
C.J. Sansom: Tombland

Favorite Repeat Encounters:
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility
Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time
Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes series, stand-alone story Danger!
Dorothy L. Sayers: Whose Body?, Five Red Herrings, The Nine Tailors
Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy & Tuppence, and Quin & Satterthwaite series, And Then There Were None, Crooked House, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, and various short stories
Ngaio Marsh: Roderick Alleyn series
Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver series
Ellis Peters: Brother Cadfael series
Terry Pratchett: Discworld series and Good Omens (co-written with Neil Gaiman)