There are two categories by a lovely Canadian Métisse and lovely Hoosier American I love to do.  They encompass everything I read in one year.  The quantity of books and reviews I squeeze in by New Year’s Eve or shortly thereafter (Preferably after!  I go out and play!) exactly represents my reading  tally.  It’s an easy way to look at my literature year.  What I also appreciate greatly is, like my own three themes, these too are prize-giving women.  It makes a difference to have an outcome to which we look forward;  something to recognize what we do.

The subtle difference is Freda, here in Canada, merely wants you to strive for 100 books.  They can be absolutely anything.  Bev lays out very easy and higher achievements.  It’s a big deal that I nearly topped her maximum ‘mountain range’ of 150.  Despite the grief of our dear young cat passing away in a day, a cherished son;  I reached 138 books and reviews by New Year’s Eve 2014.  One rule is, selection should pre-date 2015 and shouldn’t be borrowed.

I am re-starting slowly, needing a break from constantly racing to read.  However a once infinitesimal one-hundred has become moderate.  It is possible to reach 150 this year, despite strolling out of the gate in unhurried enjoyment of scenery.  Since I insist all of my content makes a dent in “Mount To Be Read”, everything I list here fulfills both;  all genres and lengths too.

I declared level “Él Toro“, comprising 75 books.   For a used book draw, I have answered a quiz Bev made.  It is beneath my following book titles.

At Goodreads, I raise my aim by a little each year too, presently to 90 books.  I silently had my eye on 100 books, which was not the kind of reader I was before I started these activities in 2012.  I achieved it on the nose in 2013.  I extra-silently wondered if I could mosey up to 150.  This year, I have done it!  For the first time in my life, I have read:  one-hundred-and-fifty-one books!

My accomplishment is of well-varied literature at that.  Please take a look.  A “helpful vote” on these reviews at Amazon Canada would be marvellous.  I poured over Robert Bateman’s art book, Phyllis A. Whitney’s fiction-writing course, Stephen King’s essay on horror, a ton of Canadian literature – popular and classic, South American award-winners (not nearly as good).  I have taken pleasure in a beautiful bounty of children’s books because some will go to my niece and newborn nephew, who arrived just last month.  Hostesses needn’t fear:  no matter how short, I do a professional-like 300-word review of every book I read!  I’m pleased with the quantity of non-fiction I have absorbed too.  I was even enlightened by an essay about the women who created two versions of the Nancy Drew, whom we and our Mothers know.  Further to explaining Mildred A. Wirt’s originals and Harriet Stratameyer Adams’s revisions, we come to understand why these books continue to succeed, in Canada and the United States, ever since their creation in the 1930s depression.

I love the paranormal and believe in it, thus serious and ficitonal adventures top my list.  I enjoy mystery too, paranormal or gothic if possible.  Something I’ve written articles about and beseeched author recommendations from anyone who heard me, is that really good ghost fiction has been far too scarce for adults.  Everyone takes a really magical storyline and makes it for children, or turns it into a “cozy mystery” farce.  Finally, after about thirty years of settling for material that did not fulfill the niche I enjoy most dearly, with heroines of my own age:  one of my group members recommended Canadian Simone St. James.  She is wonderful and through her, I discovered Wendy Webb from not far south of me, in Minnesota.  More author names have followed.

For the first time in thirty years, I am indulging in what I really want to read at 43:  the same magic and excitement for grownups!  This is a momentous leap….  second only to revealing that I received a letter from Simone St. James!  Immediately after thanking and praising her for ending the adult ghost genre’s drought!  She said my letter is the most thoughtful she has ever received and that I made her week.  I am honoured my excited reader reaction fulfills her.  Happy new year 2016 to us all!

(1) “The Palace Guard”  Charlotte MacLeod  1981
(2) “The Corpse In Oozak’s Pond”  Charlotte MacLeod  1987
(3) “Tempest In The Tea Leaves”  Kari Lee Townsend  2011
(4) “The Cat, The Quilt, And The Corpse”  Leann Sweeney  2009
(5) “Larceny And Old Lace”  Tamar Myers  1996
(6) “The Christie Curse”  Victoria Abbott  2013
(7) “The Cat Who Played Brahms”  Lilian Jackson Braun  1987
(8) “A Novena For Murder”  Sister Carol Anne O’Marrie  1984
(9) “Dyeing Wishes”  Molly MacRae  2013
(10) “Aunt Dimity Beats The Devil”  Nancy T. Atherton  2000
(11) “Cats Know Best”  Lesley Anne Ivory, Colin Eisler  1988
(12) “Mystery Of The Piper’s Ghost”  Zillah K. MacDonald  1954
(13) “Death Of A Literary Widow”  Robert Barnard  1979
(14) “The Lost Steps”  Alejo Carpentier  1953
(15) “The Wishing Tree”  Ruth Chew  1980
(16) “The Half-A-Moon Inn”  Paul Fleischman  1980
(17) “Astrology For Cats”  Traudl & Walter Reiner  1991
(18) “Marshy Winter”  Ed Golin, Jerry Maryniuk  1993
(19) “The Riddle Of The Lonely House”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1935
(20) “Shattered Silk”  Barbara Michaels  1986

(21) “Body Of Intution”  Claire Daniels  2002
(22) “House Of Dark Shadows”  Robert Liparulo  2008
(23) “Fool’s Gold”  Juliet Blackwell  2013
(24) “Selected Poems: The Vision Tree”  Phyllis Webb  1982
(25) “Tom’s Midnight Garden”  Philippa Pearce  1958
(26) “The Ghost Of Thomas Kempe”  Penelope Lively  1973
(27) “When Midnight Comes”  Carol Beach York  1979
(28) “The Mystery Of The Other Girl”  Wylly Folk St. John  1978
(29) “Stars Near & Far”  Robin Dexter  1996
(30) “Shadows At The Fair”  Lea Wait  2002
(31) “Whose Body?”  Dorothy L. Sayers  1923
(32) “The Mystery Book Mystery”  Wylly Folk St. John  1976
(33) “Charmed”  Barbara Bretton  2011
(34) “A Vision In Velvet”  Juliet Blackwell  2014
(35) “Greystones”  Antonia Lamb  1966
(36) “Unsung Heroes Of The Royal Canadian Air Force”  Cynthia J. Faryon  2003
(37) “Aesop’s Fables”  George Fyler Townsend  1846
(38) “You Can’t Do That In Canada!”  Bev Spencer  2000
(39) “Crazy Canadian Trivia”  Pat Hancock  2000
(40) “Murder On Location”  Howard Engel  1982

(41) “Canadian Disasters”  René Schmidt  2006
(42) “The Unmasking Of ‘Ksan”  Eric Wilson  1986
(43) “The Lost Treasure Of Casa Loma”  Eric Wilson  1979
(44) “The Missing Chums”  Leslie McFarlane  1928
(45) “Dinosaur Hunters:  Uncovering The Hidden Remains Of Canada’s Ancient Giants”  Lisa Murphy-Lamb  2003
(46) “Wish Upon A Unicorn”  Vicki Blum  1999
(47) “The Setting Lake Sun”  J.R. Léveillé  2001
(48) “A Hill For Looking”  Martha Brooks  1982
(49) “Sonnets From The Portuguese”  Elizabeth Barrett Browning  1850
(50) “The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float”  Farley Mowat  1969
(51) “The Street”  Mordecai Richler  1969
(52) “Lament For A Lounge Lizard”  Mary Jane Maffini  2003
(53) “Through The Door”  Jodi McIsaac  2012
(54) “The Shadow Unicorn”  Vicki Blum  2000
(55) “The Summer Tree”  Guy Gavriel Kay  1984
(56) “The Wandering Fire”  Guy Gavriel Kay  1986
(57) “Canadian Hauntings”  Michael Norman, Beth Scott  1994
(58) “Rescue Dogs:  Crime & Rescue Canines In The Canadian Rockies”  Dale Portman  2003
(59) “Animal Heroes”  Karleen Bradford  1995
(60) “Weird British Columbia Places”  Michelle Simms  2006

(61) “Ben The Bear & Honey-Suckle Tree”  Jay Conley  2000
(62) “A Promise Is A Promise”  Michael Kusugak  1988
(63) “Hide And Sneak”  Michael Kusugak  1992
(64) “Earth Witch”  Anne Cameron  1982
(65) “This Side Jordan”  Margaret Laurence  1960
(66) “This Land Of Ours”  P.J. Peters  1972
(67) “Jacob Two-Two’s First Spy Case”  Mordecai Richler  1995
(68) “White Horses And Shooting Stars”  David Greer, Chum McLeod  1994
(69) “Aurore Of The Yukon”  Keith Halliday  2006
(70) “The Klondike Gold Rush:  Photographs From 1896-1899”  Graham Wilson  1997
(71) “Gold Digger”  Vicki Delany  2009
(72) “Too Hot To Handle”  Mary Jane Maffini  2007
(73) “The Sayers Swindle”  Victoria Abbott  2014
(74) “The African Quest”  Lyn Hamilton  2000
(75) “Deadly Appearances”  Gail Bowen  1990
(76) “Witchery Hill”  Welwyn Wilton Katz  1984
(77) “Haunted Canada:  True Ghost Stories”  Pat Hancock  2003
(78) “The Castle In The Attic”  Elizabeth Winthrop  1985
(79) “The Witch Lady Mystery”  Carol Beach York  1976
(80) “Look For Me By Moonlight”  Mary Downing Hahn  1995

(81) “Spinning In Her Grave”  Molly MacRae  2014
(82) “How To Tail A Cat”  Rebecca M. Hale  2012
(83) “Watcher In The Woods”  Robert Liparulo  2008
(84) “Time For Bed”  Mem Fox, Jane Dyer  1993
(85) “Danse Macabre”  Stephen King  1981
(86) “Guide To Fiction Writing”  Phyllis A. Whitney  1982
(87) “A Haunting Is Brewing”  Juliet Blackwell  2014
(88) “Step To The Music”  Phyllis A. Whitney  1953
(89) “The Snail’s Spell”  Joanne Ryder, Lynne Cherry  1982
(90) “Does It Float?”  Lisa Ann Marsoli, Adam Devaney  2005
(91) “Too Many Secrets”  Betty Ren Wright  1997
(92) “The New House Villain”  Margaret Mahey  1987
(93) “When A Cobbler Ruled The King”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1911
(94) “The Cat, The Professor, & The Poison”  Leann Sweeney  2010
(95) “The Evening Walk”  Joanne Ryder, Julie Durrell  1985
(96) “Advent Of Dying”  Sister Carol Anne O’Marie  1986
(97) “Christopher Robin Leads An Expotition”  Alan Alexander Milne  1926
(98) “Dear Mr. Blueberry”  Simon James  1991
(99) “The Life Story Of The Butterfly”  Jilly MacLeod, Joanne Cowne  1996
(100) “Haunted Harbours, Ghost Stories Of Old Nova Scotia”  Steve Vernon  2006

(101) “Bluenose Ghosts”  Dr. Helen Creighton  1957
(102) “The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings”  Carolyn Sherwin Bailey  1931
(103) “The Easter Story”  Heather Amery, Norman Young  1998
(104) “Secrets & Mysteries Of The World”  Sylvia Browne  2005
(105) “Micawber”  John Lithgow, C.F. Payne  2002
(106) “Paddington At The Station”  Michael Bond  1976
(107) “Murder Buys A T-Shirt”  Christy Fifield  2012
(108) “Jonah And A Very Big Fish”  Sunny Griffin, Yacoba  1994
(109) “Lost Treasures:  True Stories Of Discovery”  Larry Verstraete  2006
(110) “Artifacts”  Mary Anna Evans  2003
(111) “The Chardonnay Charade”  Ellen Crosby  2006
(112) “Murder Under Cover”  Kate Carlisle  2011
(113) “The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax”  Dorothy Gilman  1970
(114) “Murder Sees The Light”  Howard Engel  1984
(115) “The Haunting Of Maddie Prue”  Alfred Silver  2000
(116) “Night Gardening”  E.L. Swann  1999
(117) “Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree”  Joyce Lavene  2006
(118) “Murder At The Mendel”  Gail Bowen  1991
(119) “Ghost House”  Paul Kropp  2003
(120) “The Four Musicians”  Brothers Grimm  1819

(121) “Heidi”  Johanna Spyri, D Marwood  1881
(122) “Marsupial Sue”  John Lithgow, Jack E. Davis  2001
(123) “Haunted Pets”  Allan Zullo  1995
(124) “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything”  Linda Williams, Megan Lloyd  1986
(125) “Usborne True Stories, Ghosts”  Paul Dowswell  2008
(126) “Girl Sleuth, Nancy Drew & The Women Who Created Her”  Melanie Rehak  2005
(127) “The Boarded-Up House”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1915
(128) “The Girl Next Door”  Augusta Huiell Seaman  1917
(129) “Bambi Gets Lost”  Arthur G. Miller  1941
(130) “Six Darn Cows”  Margaret Laurence, Ann Blades  1979
(131) “Poisoned Petals”  Joyce Lavene  2007
(132) “The Art Of Robert Bateman”  Ramsay Derry  1981
(133) “A Killer Plot”  Ellery Adams  2010
(134) “The Joy Of Cats”  Jo Kittinger  1999
(135) “The House On Tradd Street”  Karen White  2008
(136) “The Night Of Four-Hundred Rabbits”  Elizabeth Peters  1971
(137) “Waiting For Willa”  Dorothy Eden  1970
(138) “The Haunting Of Maddy Clare”  Simone St. James  2012
(139) “The Tale Of Halcyon Crane”  Wendy Webb  2010
(140) “Mouse’s First Christmas”  Lauren Thompson, Buket Erdogan  1999
(141) “Yummiest Love”  Lisa McCourt, Laura J. Bryant  2009
(142) “The Mystery Of The Stone Tiger”  Carolyn Keene  1963
(143) “Christmas On Top Of The World”  Tim Coffey  2003
(144) “The House Without A Christmas Tree”  Gail Rock  1974
(145) “The Cat Who Loved Christmas”  Caren Schnur Neile  2000
(146) “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”  Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)  1957
(147) “Hunting For Hidden Gold”  Leslie McFarlane  1928
(148) “Der Stall Von Bethlehem”  Jenny Tulip  1993
(149) “The Black Dudley Murder”  Margery Allingham  1929
(150) “Clifford’s Animal Sounds”  Norman Bridwell  1991
(151) “No One Writes To The Colonel”  Gabriel García Márquez  1961
~~

BEV’S QUIZ FOR MOUNT TO BE READ, 2015.
Associate as many statements as you can with your book journey.

Describe yourself:  “Too Hot To Handle” (Mary Jane Maffini)
Describe where you live:  “Christmas On Top Of The World” (Tim Coffey)
If I could go anywhere I would be:  “Hunting For Hidden Gold” (Leslie McFarlane)
Every morning I am blessed to feel:  “The Joy Of Cats” (Jo Kittinger)
I consulted a psychic to discuss:  “A Vision In Velvet” (Juliet Blackwell)
The last meal I ate included:  “Dear Mr. Blueberry” (Simon James)
If a creep requests my number, I make:  “Clifford’s Animal Sounds” (Norman Bridwell)
Ignorant politicians remind us:  “You Can’t Do That In Canada!” (Bev Spencer)
People ought to spend more time:  “Night Gardening” (E.L. Swann)
My memoir could be entitled:  “Yummiest Love” (Lisa McCourt)
I would tell my teenage self about:  “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything” (Linda Williams, Megan Lloyd)
I’ve always wondered about:  “The House On Tradd Street” (Karen White)