Six in Six: What I've Been Reading for the Last Six Months

 

I used to do this meme a few years ago, so I was very pleased when Emma @ Words and Peace decided to host for this year. It's a fun way to do some wrap up for the first semester, reading and blogging wise. 

What is 6 in 6?

The idea is to look back at the books you have read so far in the six months of this year. You can post any time in July, or as early as 6/6, June 6th.

What do you post?

Choose 6 books in 6 categories. Check here for the choice of categories

Without further ado, here's my Six in Six, with links to my reviews in the titles (five from the given choices, one - the last - is my own):

I. Six new authors to me

1. Minor Disturbances at Grand Life Apartments by Hema Sukumar
2. Call Mr. Fortune by H.C. Bailey
3. The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson
4. Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson
5. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
6. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes 

II. Six books I have enjoyed the most:

1. Murder in Regent's Park by Christina Koning
2. The Case of the Perjured Parrot by Erle Stanley Gardner
3. Evening Class by Maeve Binchy
4. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
5. The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp
6. To Fetch A Thief by Spencer Quinn

III. Six mysteries, thrillers or crime novels NOT by Agatha Christie

1. Murder at the Spring Ball by Benedict Brown
2. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man by Jesse Q. Sutanto
3. Murder at the Homecoming by Merryn Allingham
4. Death Around the Bend by T.E. Kinsey
5. The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson
6. Fell Murder by E.C.R. Lorac

IV. Six books that didn’t live up to expectations

1. Dim Sum of All Fears by Vivien Chien
2. The Layton Court Mystery by Anthony Berkeley
3. Pearly Everlasting by Tammy Armstrong
4. Death of a Kingfisher by M.C. Beaton
5. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
6. The Body in the Dumb River by George Bellairs

V. Six authors I am looking forward to reading more of

1. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun
2. The End of Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher
3. The Demon in the House by Angela Thirkell
4. Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
5. The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
6. The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart

VI. Six Book that Exceeded My Expectation:

1. Paw Prints in the Moonlight by Denis O'Connor
2. The Golden Collar by Elizabeth Cadell
3. An Afternoon Walk by Dorothy Eden
4. Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge
5. The Splendor of Ordinary Days by Jeff High
6. Bramton Wick by Elizabeth Fair

That's my Six in Six, 36 books in total.
Yet, I have read 48 books, meaning that 12 books are still left behind.
Not that they are not worth mentioning, but because they don't quite fit with the categories - or just run out of space.


Here are the other twelve books worth mentioning, with no particular order:

1. If Life is A Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck
2. Keeping A Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie
3. The Boy and the Dog by Seishū Hase
4. Night on the Milky Way Railway by Kenji Miyazawa
5. The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida
6. The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide
7. A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
8. Grey Mask by Patricia Wentworth
9. They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie (a reread)
10. A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie (a reread)
11. The Lost Horizon by James Hilton
12. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie (a reread)

This year has been a bit of surprise for me. As one who don't usually keen on reading nonfiction, I have read three so far, and am even reading the fourth as I'm typing this. Moreover, I have read 48 books in half year, meaning that, if I keep the pace, I could even end the year by reading 100? Well... fingers crossed, and let's just see!

How have your reading year been?

Six in Six, 2023 edition

I first saw this meme at Words and Peace, and thought it's a fun way to recap my first semester reading of this year.

What is Six in Six?
It's an annual meme created and hosted by Jo @ Book Jotter.
As we are halfway through the year, let us share the books we have read in those first 6 months. In fact let’s share 6 books in 6 categories. 

From the list of categories to choose from, I picked these six which accommodate every single the books I have read from January to June, except for three re-reads:

* Sad Cypress (Agatha Christie)
* The Ladies Paradise (Émile Zola)
* N or M? (Agatha Christie)

Now the Six in Six:

Six New Authors to Me

(with the books I have read of)

1. Susan Fenimore Cooper (Rural Hours)

2. J.A. Lang (Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle)

3. James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small)

4. Bailey Booth (Art Heists and Hairballs)

5. Nancy Mitford (Pigeon Pie)

6. Margery Sharp (The Stone of Chastity)

Six authors I am looking forward to reading more of

(with the books I have read of)

1. Moray Dalton (One by One They Disappeared)

2. Barbara Pym (Some Tame Gazelle)

3. Merryn Allingham (The Bookshop Murder)

4. Dolores Hitchens (The Cat Saw Murder)

5. Jesse Q. Sutanto (Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers)

6. Margery Sharp (The Stone of Chastity)

Six books I have enjoyed the most

1. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

2. The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

3. Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym

4. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

5. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography

6. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Six blogging events I enjoyed

1. We ❤ L.M. Montgomery Week

2. Classics Club Spin #32
3. Buddy Read of Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk with @melmarian

4. Zoladdiction 2023

5. The 1940 Club

6. Reading the Meow

Six classics I have read

1. The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

2. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

3. Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery

4. Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk (The Dancer) by Ahmad Tohari

5. The Professor's House by Willa Cather

6. Aunts Aren't Gentleman by P.G. Wodehouse

Six book covers I love

1. The Enchanted April

2. The Magic of Faraway Tree

3. Some Tame Gazelle

4. All Creatures Great and Small

5. Summer

6. Pigeon's Pie