Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Challenge Complete: Outdo Yourself



January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014
Last December I signed up for Book Vixen's Outdo Yourself Challenge and with the number of books read in 2013 I was locked in to read at least 191 books in 2014. I have just made that goal by the skin of my teeth. Last book finished today and reviewed tonight. Sadly--given my struggle to meet the 191 goal this year--I don't see how I can possibly outdo myself in 2015. So, I'm going to sit out for a year, take it a bit easier, and hope to have a number by this time next year that will allow me to set an "Outdo" goal once again.  Happy New Year, everyone!


Books read: 
1. The Poison Belt by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1/2/14) [93 pages]
2. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (1/5/14) [280 pages]
3. Shakespeare's Planet by Clifford D. Simak (1/6/14) [202 pages]
4. The Skeleton in the Clock by Carter Dickson (1/8/14) [284 pages]
5. Dangerous Visions #3 by Harlan Ellison, ed (1/11/14) [224 pages]
6. Angels & Spaceships by Fredric Brown (1/12/14) [186 pages]
7. Shake Hands Forever by Ruth Rendell (1/13/14) [184 pages]
8. The Wonder Chamber by Mary Malloy (1/15/14) [265 pages]
9. Triumph by Philip Wylie (1/18/14) [240 pages]
10. The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton (1/18/14) [290 pages] 
11. The Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux (1/20/14) [353 pages]
12. Seven Footprints to Satan by A. Merritt (1/22/14) [225 pages]
13. The Winter Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine (1/23/14) [174 pages]
14. Death on the Aisle by Frances & Richard Lockridge(1/24/14) [256 pages]
15. The Adventure of the Eleven Cuff-Buttons by James Francis Thierry (1/26/14) [120 pages]
16. Other Times, Other Worlds by John D. MacDonald (1/26/14) [287 pages]
17. Too Much of Water by Bruce Hamilton (1/27/14) [272 pages] 
18. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1/28/14) [192 pages] 
19. Darkness at Pemberley by T. H. White (1/30/14) [286 pages] 
20. Death by Chick Lit by Lynn Harris (2/1/14) [242 pages] 
21. Exit Actors, Dying by Margot Arnold (2/4/14) [184 pages] 
22. Where There's Love, There's Hate by Adolfo Bioy Casares & Silvina Ocamp (2/5/14) [128 pages]
23. Shelf Life by Douglas Clark (2/6/14) [174 pages] 
24. Gambit by Rex Stout (2/8/14) [155 pages] 
25. You Can Write a Mystery by Gillian Roberts (2/9/14) [121 pages] 
26. Dandy Gilver & the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson (2/12/14) [293 pages] 
27. Death Walks on Cat Feet by D. B. Olsen (2/13/14) [144 pages]
28. Cursed in the Act by Raymond Buckland (2/16/14) [304 pages]
29. Made Up to Kill by Kelley Roos (2/18/14) [192 pages]
30. XCIA's Street Project by Hank O'Neal (2/20/14) [208 pages]
31. Ellery Queen's 20th Anniversary Annual by Ellery Queen, ed (2/22/14) [349 pages] 
32. The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie (2/25/14) [384 pages] 
33. The Purple Parrot by Clyde Clason (2/25/14) [191 pages] 
34. To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas (2/26/14) [275 pages] 
35. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick (2/27/14) [218 pages]
36. The Darker the Night by Herbert Brean (3/3/14) [213 pages]
37. India's Love Lyrics by Laurence Hope (3/4/14) [173 pages] 
38. Murder in the Vatican by Ann Margaret Lewis (3/5/14) [151 pages]
39. The Poisoned Island by Lloyd Shepherd (3/8/14) [409 pages]
40. It's Not All Flowers & Sausages by Jennifer Scoggin (3/10/14) [249 pages] 
41. Vicious Circle by Douglas Clark (3/11/14) [230 pages] 
42. A Girl Walks Into a Bar by Helena S. Page (3/12/14) [261 pages] 
43. Endless Night by Agatha Christie (3/13/14) [224 pages]
44. John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars by Roland Hughes (3/17/14) [274 pages]
45. Harlan Ellison's 7 Against Chaos by Harlan Ellison (3/17/14) [200 pages]
46. India Black & the Gentleman Thief by Carol K. Carr (3/19/14) [312 pages]
47. A Tale of Two Biddies by Kylie Logan (3/21/14) [304 pages] 
48. The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout (3/23/14) [320 pages] 
49. Tut, Tut! Mr. Tutt by Arthur Train (3/25/14) [315 pages] 
50. Grimms' Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm (3/28/14) [373 pages] 
51. The Clue of the Leather Noose by Donald Bayne Hobart (3/31/14) [254 pages] 
52. The Coral Princess Murders by Frances Crane (4/5/14) [235 pages] 
53. Decoded by Mai Jia (4/5/14) [315 pages] 
54. After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman (4/6/14) [334 pages] 
55. A Hangman's Dozen by Alfred Hitchcock, ed (4/7/14) [223 pages] 
56. Naked Is the Best Disguise by Samuel Rosenberg (4/8/14) [253 pages]
57. The Mammoth Book of the Lost Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Denis O. Smith (4/13/14) [503 pages] 
58. Gale Warning by Hammond Innes (4/15/14) [226 pages]
59. Murder at the Museum of Natural History by Michael Jahn (4/18/14) [268 pages] 
60. My Antonia by Willa Cather (4/20/14) [238 pages]
61. Death by the Book by Julianna Deering (4/21/14) [317 pages]
62. The Lady of Sorrows by Anne Zouroudi (4/26/14) [270 pages]
63. Dorothy Dixon & the Double Cousin by Dorothy Wayne (4/26/14) [253 pages]
64. For Old Crime's Sake (aka Lucky Jane) by Delano Ames (4/29/14) [223 pages]
65. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (4/29/14) [120 pages] 
66. Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer (5/1/14) [218 pages] 
67. Ship of the Line by Doug Drexler & Margaret Clark (eds) [5/1/14] (176 pages) 
68. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin (5/6/14) [342 pages]
69. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (5/9/14) [412 pages]  
70. Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell (5/16/14) [218 pages] 
71. Bed-Knob and Broomstick by Mary Norton (5/16/14) [240 pages]
72. Sinners & the Sea by Rebecca Kanner (5/21/14) [339 pages] 
73. Whispers of Vivaldi by Beverle Graves Myers (5/21/14) [288 pages] 
74. Mind Fields: The Art of Jacek Yerka/The Fiction of Harlan Ellison by Yerka & Ellison (5/22/14) [71 pages]
75. By the Watchman's Clock by Leslie Ford (5/23/14) [280 pages]
76. Red Herring by Edward Acheson (5/25/14) [281 pages] 
77. Beyond Uhura: Star Trek & Other Memories by Nichelle Nichols (5/29/14) [320 pages]
78. Steampunk Poe by Edgar Allan Poe; illustrated by Zdenko Basic & Manuel Numberac (5/30/14) [263 pages] 
79. Invisible Green by John Sladek (6/2/14) [186 pages] 
80. Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell (6/5/14) [320 pages]
81. 12.21 by Dustin Thomason (6/6/14) [326 pages]
82. The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo (6/8/14) [220 pages]
83. Plain Sailing by Douglas Clark (6/11/14) [208 pages]
84. The Corsican Caper by Peter Mayle (6/11/14) [162 pages]
85. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (6/12/14) [290 pages]
86. Total Harmonic Distortion by Charles Rodrigues (6/12/14) [124 pages]
87. A Hearse on May-Day by Gladys Mitchell (6/15/14) [158 pages]
88. Undead & Unpopular by MaryJanice Davidson (6/17/14) [175 pages]
89. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker (6/19/14) [201 pages]
90. No. 9 Belmont Square by Margaret Erskine (6/21/14) [190 pages]
91. The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (6/23/14) [197 pages]
92. This Private Plot by Alan Beechey (6/26/14) [307 pages]
93. DeKok & Murder in Ecstasy by A. C. Baantjer(6/28/14) [219 pages]
94. The 7 Professors of the Far North by John Fardell (6/29/14) [220 pages] 
95. The Day They Kidnapped Queen Victoria by H. K. Fleming (7/2/14) [171 pages] 
96. A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott (7/3/14) [354 pages]
97. The Chief Inspector's Daughter by Sheila Radley (7/5/14) [211 pages] 
98. On the Beach by Nevil Shute (7/7/14) [312 pages]
99. Selections from the Essays of Montaigne by Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (trans & ed by Donald M. Frame) [7/7/14] (120 pages)
100. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby [7/8/14] (333 pages) 
101. The Forgotten War by William R. Forstchen [7/9/14] (270 pages) 
102. Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout [7/12/14] (190 pages) 
103. Murder at the Villa Rose by A. E. W. Mason [7/14/14] (216 pages) 
104. Death in an Ivory Tower by Maria Hudgins [7/16/14] (208 pages) 
105. The Tattooed Man by Howard Pease [7/17/14] (332 pages) 
106. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis [7/20/14] (188 pages)
107. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes [7/21/14] (369 pages)
108. Relic by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child [7/22/14] (468 pages)
109. Who Guards a Prince by Reginald Hill [7/23/14] (338 pages)
110. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym [7/25/14] (218 pages)
111. Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell [7/30/14] (307 pages)
112. Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley [7/31/14] (215 pages)
113. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Angel of the Opera by Sam Siciliano (8/4/14) [309 pages] 
114. The Mangle Street Murders by M. R. C. Kasasian (8/5/14) [329 pages]
115. Introducing C. B. Greenfield by Lucille Kallen (8/6/14) [201 pages]
116. Date With Danger by Roy Vickers (8/11/14) [193 pages]
117. Button, Button by Marion Bramhall (8/13/14) [199 pages]
118. Book of the Dead by Elizabeth Daly (8/14/14) [245 pages]
119. Book Clubbed by Lorna Barrett (8/16/14) [308 pages]
120. New Orleans Requiem by D. J. Donaldson (8/17/14) [280 pages]
121. Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card (8/19/14) [214 pages]
122. Zingers, Quips, & One-Liners by Geoff Tibballs, ed (8/25/14) [596 pages]
123. The Bigger They Come by A. A. Fair (8/28/14) [200 pages]
124. The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh (8/29/14) [338 pages]
125. The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh (8/30/14) [356 pages]
126. The Shakespeare Mask by Newton Frohlich (9/2/14) [348 pages]
127. Vertigo 42 by Martha Grimes (9/5/14) [336 pages]
128. Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh (9/6/14) [274 pages]
129. The Unfinished Crime by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (9/8/14) [249 pages]
130. Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet by Harry Kemelman (9/8/14) [312 pages]
131. Red Cent by Robert Campbell (9/10/14) [221 pages]
132. Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie (9/11/14) [264 pages--length of my paperback copy]
133. The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie (9/12/14) [192 pages--length of paperback copy I read earlier]
134. The Herb of Death & Other Stories by Agatha Christie (9/14/14) [80 pages]
135. Death Takes a Sabbatical by Robert Bernard (9/16/14) [213 pages]
136. The Edison Effect by Bernadette Pajer (9/20/14) [246 pages]
137. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (9/21/14) [204 pages]
138. The Footprints on the Ceiling by Clayton Rawson (9/25/14) [256 pages]
139. Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson (9/27/14) [482 pages]
140. A Death for a Dancer by E. X. Giroux (9/28/14) [180 pages]
141. Bleeding Maize & Blue by Susan Holtzer (9/30/14) [294 pages]
142. Blood on the Stars by Brett Halliday (10/4/14) [192 pages]
143. The Witch's Grave by Philip DePoy (10/5/14) [301 pages]
144. Death by Hitchcock by Elissa D. Grodin (10/6/14) [208 pages]
145. Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes (10/8/14) [264 pages]
146. The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie (10/11/14) [255 pages]
147. Death on Allhallowe'en by Leo Bruce (10/11/14) [176 pages]
148. Only a Matter of Time by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley (10/13/14) [187 pages]
149. Murder on Mike by H. Paul Jeffers (10/15/14) [167 pages]
150. Appleby's Answer by Michael Innes (10/17/14) [158 pages]
151. The Haunted Lady by Mary Roberts Rinehart (10/19/14) [269 pages]
152. Too Many Doctors by Holly Roth (10/22/14) [204 pages]
153. Madman's Bend by Arthur W. Upfield (10/24/14) [187 pages]
154. Roast Eggs by Douglas Clark (10/25/14) [175 pages]
155. Nor Live So Long by Sara Woods (10/26/14) [221 pages]
156. Head of a Traveller by Nicholas Blake (10/29/14) [233 pages]
157. The Mind-Murders by Janwillem van de Wetering (10/30/14) [201 pages]
158. Copper Gold by Pauline Glen Winslow (11/1/14) [100 pages]
159. The Lady in Black by Anna Clarke (11/1/14) [165 pages]
160. Guest in the House by Philip MacDonald (11/2/14) [157 pages]
161. The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart (11/4/14) [301 pages]
162. The Final Deduction by Rex Stout (11/10/14) [172 pages]
163. American Eve by Paula Uruburu (11/11/14) [386 pages]
164. Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier (11/12/14) [256 pages]
165. Two Men in Twenty by Maurice Procter (11/14/14) [247 pages]
166. Death by Sheer Torture by Robert Barnard (11/15/14) [186 pages]
167. The D. A. Breaks a Seal by Erle Stanley Gardner (11/16/14) [154 pages]
168. Murder Within Murder by Frances & Richard Lockridge (11/17/14) [163 pages]
169. The Pavilion by Hilda Lawrence (11/17/14) [234 pages]
170. Death of a Dutchman by Magdalen Nabb (11/18/14) [216 pages]
171. The Dark Ring of Murder by Misa Yamamura (11/19/14) [189 pages]
172. Oxford Knot by Veronica Stallwood (11/20/14) [298 pages]
173. The Curious Affair of the Third Dog by Patricia Moyes (11/24/14) [203 pages]
174. Lament for the Bride by Helen Reilly (11/24/14) [249 pages]
175. Past Encounters by Davina Blake (11/29/14) [428 pages]
176. Alone Against Tomorrow by Harlan Ellison (11/30/14) [277 pages]
177. Mayhem in B-Flat by Elliot Paul (12/4/14) [304 pages]
178. Black-Headed Pins by Constance & Gwenyth Little (12/7/14) [155 pages]
179. The Secret of the Gondola by David Alan Brown (12/7/14) [44 pages]
180. A Curtain Falls by Stefanie Pintoff (12/10/14) [405 pages]
181. The Finishing Stroke by Ellery Queen (12/13/14) [190 pages]
182. Then Gone by Romayne Rubinas (12/13/14) [15 pages]
183. The White Dress by Mignon Eberhart (12/15/14) [191 pages]
184. Words for Murder Perhaps by Edward Candy (12/16/14) [183 pages]
185. Sick to Death by Douglas Clark (12/17/14) [155 pages]
186. A Crossworder's Holiday by Nero Blanc (12/21/14) [193 pages]
187. The Night Before Christmas Profusely Illustrated  by Clement Moore, et al (12/24/14) [134 pages]
188. Star Wreck III: Time Warped by Leah Rewolinski (12/26/14) [117 pages]
189. The Films of Sherlock Holmes by Chris Steinbrunner and Norman Michaels (12/30/14) [253 pages]
190. Book Lovers' London by Lesley Reader (12/30/14) [185 pages]
191. Tzimmes by Arthur Marshall Fell (12/31/14) [90 pages]

No comments: