What Do YOU Want in My Monthly Newsletter?

If you subscribe to my e-mail list,  then you receive each of my blog posts in your e-mail inbox, plus a monthly newsletter that I write, with exclusive content just for subscribers, usually sent on the 1st or 2nd of each month.

I've been sending out monthly newsletters to the mailing list for the past 15 months now, and to kick off the new year, I'd like to hear your feedback on what YOU want to see in the newsletter ... or if you don't read it at all. Whether you are a current subscriber who gets the newsletter or are just signing up for the e-mail list for the first time, I want to hear from you!

Currently, I usually include the following topics in the newsletter that gets emailed at the start of each new month:

• Book Quote of the Month - a quote that resonated with me, from a book I read.
  
• Blog of the Month - a link to someone else's book blog and what I like about it.
• BookTube Channel - my recommendation for a book channel on YouTube or podcast.
  
• My Reading Life - what's up in my life, what I've been reading recently, seasonal challenges or events I'm participating in.
  
• A Look Back on the Blog - an older post from my blog that is still relevant, perhaps something seasonal.
  

 

 Please let me know what you think:

Do you read the monthly newsletter at all or just delete it?

Which features do/would you enjoy?

Which features do/would you skip?

What would YOU like to see in the newsletter?

 

I spend a lot of time each month writing the newsletter, and I want it to reflect what YOU want to get in your inbox. Please tell me your thoughts!

You can leave a comment on this blog post (click on "Post a Comment") or e-mail me at sljackson@suzanjackson.com with your feedback.

You can also connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Throwback Thursday: 17 Years of Blogging!

Two wonderful things happened 17 years ago today: my awesome nephew was born, and I started this blog!

I had recently begun reviewing books professionally, for Family Fun magazine, and I wanted to share my reading adventures with friends and fellow readers. You can read my very first blog post, Welcome to My Reading World. That post includes a bit of my reading history, plus some of my favorite books read recently.

And now, I have a 17-year record of all the wonderful books I have enjoyed!

I had fun looking back at the start of this 17-year blogging venture, and I hope you do, too!

Do you keep records of what you read?

Do you know what books you were reading 17 years ago?

Best Books Read in 2022

First, I'll share some stats and fun facts about my reading year, then my Top Picks in different categories, and finally my Top 10 (or whatever) lists in each category. It was an outstanding reading year, so I had some tough choices to make.

You can see a complete list, with links to reviews, of all the books I've read since 2015 at the Book Reviews tab.

Stats and Facts

Total Books Read in 2022 = 75 (a few less than the previous year)

 

Adult Fiction = 45 (60%)

Adult Nonfiction = 13 (17%) – 6 were memoir

Teen/YA = 6 (8%)

Middle-Grade = 13 (17%)

 

Of Those:

Audiobooks = 29

Graphic Novel/nonfiction = 6

Short Story Collections = 1

Classics = 7

Poetry = 0

Fun Facts:

Women Authors = 38 (51%)

Diverse books = 45 (60%)

From my own shelves = 33 (44%)

Re-reads = 0

Authors read more than once in 2022: Matty Dalrymple (2) and Emily St. John Mandel (2)

Shortest book:  History Comics: The National Parks by Falynn Koch

Longest book: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

Average book length: 347 pages

Pages read: 26,380

 

Top Picks - Best of the Best

Best Adult Fiction 

 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

 

 

Best Nonfiction  

The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton

 

 

Best Memoir   

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

 

 

Best Audio

 The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

 

 

 

 Best Teen/YA

 Kent State by Deborah Wiles

 

 

 

Best Middle-Grade  

Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott

 

 

 

Best Graphic Novel/Nonfiction
Booked by Kwame Alexander

 

 

Best Classic 

 The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

 

 

Top 10 (or Whatever) Lists

Lists are alphabetical, except for the Fiction list (the first 4 are those I liked best). Some books appear on more than one list.

Top 10 Adult Fiction

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Lucky Turtle by Bill Roorbach

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

The Overstory by Richard Powers

 

 

 

Top 7 Nonfiction/Memoir

Black Boy by Richard Wright

History Comics: The National Parks by Falynn Koch

Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

 

 

Top 3 Teen/YA

Kent State by Deborah Wiles

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

A Lite Too Bright by Sam Miller

 

 

 

Top 7 Middle-Grade

Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Candicat

Booked by Kwame Alexander

Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott

History Comics: The National Parks by Falynn Koch

Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Secret Letters by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Ruby Lee and Me by Shannon Hitchcock

Set Me Free by Ann Clare LeZotte

 

 

Top 3 Graphic Novel/Memoir

Booked by Kwame Alexander

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo: The Tangled Web by Drew Weing

History Comics: The National Parks by Falynn Koch

 

 

Top 10 Audiobooks

Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Candicat

Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Kent State by Deborah Wiles

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

A Lite Too Bright by Sam Miller

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

 

What were YOUR favorite books read last year? 

Books Read in January

No, that's not a typo - yes, it is now early March, and yes, I am just now summarizing January! Definitely a slow start to the year in blogging, but I am catching up!

Fortunately, it was a good start to the year for reading. Here's what I finished reading in January:

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt, fiction (VT)
• Solitaire by Alice Oseman, teen/YA audio (UK)
• Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves, fiction (AL), reviewed for Publisher's Weekly

• The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman, teen/YA audio (MA)
• The Art Thief by Noah Charney, fiction (Italy, France, UK)

So, I read 5 books in January - not too bad since The Secret History took me a long time to finish. It was an all-fiction month, with three adult novels and two for teen/YA. And I listened to two audiobooks. I think my favorite of the month was Solitaire - the author captured a real-life combination of serious problems, humor, and typical teen experiences.

Progress on 2016 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! These are mostly new for this year. Click the link to see them all and check out my progress. Slow start to my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge - only one of these was a TBR book from my shelf! For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, The Art Thief fit nicely into the Who Dunnit?category for January - so far, so good!  No nonfiction yet for my 2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge or classics for the 2016 Classics Challenge. For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, I read two books with international settings and both dealt with their respective cultures in some depth, so I covered Europe quite nicely in January!

What were your favorite books read in January (if you remember back that far)?

What Does Summer Reading Mean To You?

(NOTE: This post is reprinted from my monthly book column in Vital! magazine, July issue)

Back when we were in school, “summer reading” meant having to read whatever was required by your teachers. Now, as adults, summer reading means whatever we want it to mean! Different people have different ideas about what makes an ideal summer book, but there are lots of good choices to help pass those lazy days of summer:

Light, Funny Books

Lots of people like to keep their summer reading light and fun. Here are some great choices:

The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich – you can rely on Evanovich for fast-paced suspense with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Her latest in the series, Top Secret Twenty-One, was released in May.

Author Bill Bryson’s nonfiction books are always good for a laugh, and his childhood memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, is one of his best, both amusing and informative.

If you like irreverent, slightly silly humor with a heart, then you will probably enjoy Christopher Moore’s novels. I liked the hilarious A Dirty Job, about an ordinary, slightly neurotic dad whose new job title is Death (this one contains profanity).

Mysteries & Suspense

Some people like their summer reading with a hefty dose of suspense and mystery. A few series to try:

The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child is my husband’s absolute favorite suspense/thriller series. Personal was his latest book.

If you prefer your protagonists younger (and precocious), you might enjoy the Flavia de Luce novels by Alan Bradley featuring the adolescent amateur detective. The series begins with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

My husband and I are both hooked on Tana French’s award-winning series featuring the Dublin Murder Squad that begins with In the Woods. Her latest novel is The Secret Place.

Big Books

For me, summer is the time to lose myself in the big books that I don’t have time for during the rest of the year. Some to try:

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett was the first big book I tackled a few summers ago that started my tradition. He has also written The Century Trilogy that starts with Fall of Giants – all are long but engrossing books.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon (recently made into a TV show) about a young woman in 1940’s Scotland sent back in time – adventure and romance in very big books.

My husband and son love the A Song of Ice and Fire series that begins with A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin – massive, epic fantasy tales set in a Medieval-type world.

Whatever your preferences, enjoy your summer reading!

Suzan Jackson is a freelance writer who lives in Delaware with her husband and two sons. She writes a blog about books, featuring reviews, book news, and more at www.bookbybook.blogspot.com. You can find reviews of all of the books listed here on the blog.

(This article is reprinted from my monthly book column in Vital!, The magazine for Active Older Adults, available free in public places like libraries and drugstores in Delaware and North Carolina)

 

Which kinds of books do you like to read in the summer?

A Bookish Christmas

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it! Today's post is devoted to the wonderful books that we gave and received for Christmas - the best kind of gifts!

My husband gave me three novels I am dying to read, and my son gave me a cookbook I'm sure I will get a lot of use from:

• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• Close Your Eyes Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
• Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
• 500 Paleo Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes for Weight Loss and Super Health by Dana Carpender (we switched to a Paleo diet this year because my son and I have an immune disorder and it's supposed to help)

I can't wait to dig into these!

I gave my husband:

• The Three by Sarah Lotz (one that I want to read, too!)
• Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo, one of his favorite authors
• And my son gave him: Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard, Book 2 that the TV show Justified is based on, which he loves.

We gave our college-aged son:

• Shadow of the Winter King by Erik Scott de Bie (Volume 1 in the World of Ruin series)
• Much Loved, with photographs by Mark Nixon, a book of portraits of favorite stuffed animals that have been overly loved with short bios of each - fabulous! I read most of it before I wrapped it.
• Far Side Gallery 4 by Gary Larson, one of his favorites

We gave my mother's husband, for his Christmas birthday:

• The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries of Shark Behavior by A. Peter Kimley (he loves sharks)

We also gave a few more books as gifts, but they haven't been received yet, so I'll keep those a secret for now.

Did you give and receive books for the holidays? Hope you are enjoying this joyous season!

Books Read in June

Whew, where did June go? We've had a rough summer so far, with all kinds of family emergencies and extra health problems. Thank goodness we always have our books for comfort and distraction. June was an outstanding reading month for me! Here's what I read last month:

• Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, fiction (NY)
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, teen/YA audio (MA)
• UnSouled by Neal Schusterman, teen/YA novel and my first Big Book of the Summer (CO)

• Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots by Jessica Soffer (NY, Iraq)
• Endangered by Eliot Schrefer, teen/YA novel (Dem. Republic of Congo)

In my reading journal, I mark a * next to any book that I thought was really outstanding...and every one of these books read in June got a * - a very high-quality reading month! Wow, choosing a favorite is really hard. They were all so good and all so different. Hmmm...I refuse to choose a favorite for last month - just read them all! I can tell you that We Were Liars was the most suspenseful, UnSouled the creepiest, Endangered the fastest-paced, and Tell the Wolves I'm Home and Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots were both heart-breaking but also life-affirming and hopeful.

It was an all-fiction month, with one listened on audio. Three were teen/YA novels, and two were adult novels, though interestingly, both had teen girl narrators. As you can see from the lack of links above, I am behind in my reviews - just no time for writing lately, but I hope to catch up during some much-needed down time next week.

Update on 2014 Reading Challenges:

I added just one new state and two new countries to my Where Are You Reading Challenge 2014 this month. Oh, dear - I didn't read a single book from my TBR shelves for my 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge in June - I am really doing poorly on that one, and my shelves are piling up! I listened to one more audio book for my 2014 Audio Book Challenge, bringing my total to 10 in 6 months, so that one's going well so far. No nonfiction books last month, and no classics.

What was your favorite book(s) read in June? 

Play BOTNS Summer Reading Bingo!

Of course, you should join my own summer reading fun, The Big Book Summer Challenge, but here is another way to add some fun to your summer reading...

My favorite book podcast, Books on the Nightstand, is hosting Summer Reading Bingo. Just use this link to print out a Bingo card for yourself and your friends (just hit refresh to get a new card...but no fair clicking over and over to get the one you want!). You can count anything you've read from Memorial Day weekend (May 23) through to Labor Day weekend (Sept. 1) and try to fill in 5 blocks in a row in any direction...or if you really want a challenge, try to fill in the whole card!

I've got 6 blocks filled in so far, plus my free square in the middle, but no full row yet.

Join in the fun!

Books Read in May

Here we are, mid-June, and once again, I am just posting my monthly summary from May! I keep thinking I will just catch up on my reviews first...and I never do!


May was a big month here at Book By Book because I launched my Big Book Summer Challenge for the third year in a row. It's still early (not even officially summer yet according to the calendar), so join in the fun! You only need to pledge to read at least one book of 400 pages or more - easy as a summer breeze.

May was also an outstanding reading month for me, with 9 books finished:

• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, YA fiction (Virginia)
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed, a memoir (California)
• Popular by Maya Van Wagenen, a teen memoir on audio (Texas)

• This One Summer by Jillian & Mariko Tamaki, an outstanding teen graphic novel (Canada)
• Velva Jean Learns to Fly by Jennifer Niven, adult fiction (Tennessee)
• The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom, adult fiction (Michigan)

• The Here and Now by Ann Brashares, YA audio book (New York)
• Gypsy Davey by Chris Lynch, YA fiction(no location specified)
• Time Management From the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern, nonfiction

 

So that's 9 books for May - I think that's a record for me for one month! Four were adult books and the other 5 were for teens and YA. Three books were nonfiction, and I listened to two books on audio. And one book was a graphic novel. A very nice mix for the month! My favorite? Wow, there are so many to choose from, and I enjoyed them all. I think Wild by Cheryl Strayed was my favorite - so powerful and compelling.

Update on 2014 Reading Challenges:

I added just four new states and one new country to my Where Are You Reading Challenge 2014 this month - woohoo!  I read only one book from my TBR shelves for my 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge this month (and none last month!) - I really need to focus on those TBR books. I listened to two more audio books for my 2014 Audio Book Challenge, so that one's going well so far. And I also added three nonfiction books this month.  No classics - I need to get moving on that one! All in all, an excellent reading month for me.

What was your favorite book read in May? 

Armchair BEA - Beyond the Borders

Fun topic for today's Armchair BEA! I love books that transport me to a different world, let me travel someplace I have never been before, or give me insight into a different culture. I think that is one of books' primary purposes (besides entertainment).

My various book groups have really helped me to branch out to more diverse reading over the past 10 years or so. I often read books for book clubs that I might not have picked up on my own but that I end up enjoying...and very often, those are books set in other places or immersed in other cultures.

For the past 4 years, I have participated in Book Journey's Where Are You Reading Challenge, so I have tracked books set in various states, as well as in other countries. Last year, I read these books set in 13 different countries around the world:

Australia: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, Tales of Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan, Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Canada: In Other Worlds by Margaret Atwood
England: The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein, Crispin -The Cross of Lead by Avi, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Japan: The Yokota Officer's Club by Sarah Bird, The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Agawa
North Korea: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson 
Germany: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, City of Women by David Gilham
France: The Infinity Ring #2: Divide and Conquer by Carrie Ryan
Italy:  Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
South Africa: The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh
Russia: Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andre Makine
Ireland: In the Woods by Tana French
Lithuania: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Scotland:  Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

Of these, I would say that  The Orphan Master's Son had a particularly strong (and scary) sense of place, and The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein, City of Women by David Gilham, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh, Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andre Makine, and Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys all had a strong sense of place but in a particular time in history.

So far, in 2014, I've visited 3 different countries listed in my Where Are You Reading Challenge:

France: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Czechoslovakia: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
India: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

India is one place I seem to visit frequently in books - oddly, it is the only place that I have a separate category for on this blog! You can see all the books I've read set in India here.

I love to make top ten lists, and three of my past lists fit perfectly with this topic:

• Top Ten Books Travel-Related Books (some of these are actually about travel but others just have such a strong sense of place that you feel as if you've traveled after reading them)
• Top Ten Books That Taught Me Something (many of these fit with this topic of broadening my horizons in multiple ways)
• Top Ten Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone (these are not necessarily set in other places or cultures but in some way expanded my reading interests and my knowledge)

It was fun going down memory lane, remembering all of these wonderful books that expanded my horizons and broadened my views! I would love to hear about your transporting reading experiences.

Armchair BEA - Author Interaction

Today's Armchair BEA topic is Author Interaction. Book authors are like rock stars to me, and I am a total fangirl when it comes to meeting them or interacting with them!

The first thought that came to mind when I read this topic was my recent experience. I just started a new Twitter account for this book blog recently, and one of my first Tweets was a quote that I love from Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick ("I am practicing being kind rather than right"). Soon after, Matthew Quick favorited my Tweet - I was so excited! My first week of Tweeting about books, and Matthew Quick himself responded! I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. So, yeah, that's how excited I get about interacting with authors.

I have had the pleasure of attending several book signings and/or talks by favorite authors, and every time, I was bowled over by how fun, funny, and intelligent they were.

My first encounter with an author was talking my sons to see Brian Jacques at our local Borders back in 2007. My oldest son was a HUGE fan of Jacques' books, especially the Redwall series, and I'd read about the author appearance in the newspaper that morning. So, it was a last-minute kind of thing, but we all enjoyed it immensely. This blog post has more details of his appearance, and some pictures of him, including this one where he shared a laugh with my sons.

Brian Jacques laughing with my sons

Our county library system does an All-County Reads program, and always invites the author of the chosen book to talk. I have been fortunate enough to attend two of those talks so far. The first was Jamie Ford, author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a novel that I had loved. I expected Ford to be interesting, but he also had a great sense of humor, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing him speak.

Last year, our All-County Reads book was March, and the libraries brought Geraldine Brooks in to speak. I have read every one of Brooks' novels and loved every one of them. She is one of my favorite authors, so I was very excited to hear her speak. As with Jamie Ford, Brooks was interesting, personable, and had a great sense of humor. I didn't have the stamina to stand in line to get a book signed, but I did snap a photo.

This year, just last month, Silver Linings Playbook was our county's chosen book, and Matthew Quick came to talk. I had plans to go but wasn't feeling well enough and had to cancel at the last minute. I was so disappointed! So, you can see why I got so excited when a couple of weeks later, he favorited my Tweet.

How about you? What have been your favorite author interactions?

Best of 2013 and Year-End Summary

I'm a bit behind, but I have finally put together my Best of 2013 List - whew, it was a hard choice! I read so many great books this past year.

All together, I read 79 books last year (that's 15 more than in 2013!). Here's the break-down:

• 32 were adult fiction
• 23 were teen/YA fiction 
• 16 were middle-grade fiction
• 4 were memoirs
• 4 were nonfiction but not memoirs

Of the 79 books, I listened to 12 of them on audio.

As always, I had a hard time choosing my favorites! In no particular order, here are my Top Ten of 2013  (you can check out my top ten list of kids/teen/YA books read in 2013 at Great Books for Kids and Teens).

• The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
• Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver  
• The Invisible Wall and The Dream by Harry Bernstein (memoirs)
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey 
• The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker 
• The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson 
• Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain 
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 
• City of Women by David Gillham 
• TheHousekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Agawa  

 And I couldn't resist a few Runners Up! I just didn't want to leave these out: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, Redfield Farm by Judith Redline Coopey, Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, and The Yokota Officer's Club by Sarah Bird

And, for a little extra fun, here are a few superlatives:

Best Book of the Year and Best Book by a New-to-Me Author:

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

(I agree completely with the Pulitzer committee - it blew me away - I am still thinking about it 8 months later!)

Best Book from an Old Favorite Author:

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

(just LOVED it and also The Bean Trees, read in 2012)

Best Audio Book of the Year: 

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  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne  

(I counted it as best audio for both adults and teen/YA)

 Best Memoir of the Year:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou  

(can't wait to read the rest of her memoirs!)

 

Best Nonfiction Book of the Year:

In Other Worlds by Margaret Atwood 

You can also check out how I did on my 2013 Reading Challenges.

What were YOUR favorite books read in 2013?