Decemeber Wrap-up & P.O.M. Award

Well, here we are...the final monthly wrap-up and P.O.M. Award for 2015. I've enjoyed another year of tracking reading progress and statistics for all things bookish on the Block. And I've also enjoyed contributing to Kerrie's Crime Fiction Pick of the Month. Here's what happened here on the Block in December....
 
Total Books Read: 14
Total Pages:  2.781 (not quite enough to make my goal of 40,000)
Average Rating: 3.46 stars
Top Rating: 5 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 50%
Percentage by US Authors: 64%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  0%
Percentage Mystery:  79%
Percentage Fiction: 100%
Percentage written 2000+: 7%
Percentage of Rereads: 0%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% {It's easy to have every book count for a challenge when you sign up for as many as I do.}  
Number of Challenges fulfilled: 42 (95%)

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't complete all the challenges and didn't make my goal of 40,000 pages. But it's still been a good year.  And now for the P.O.M. Award in Mysteries.


As mentioned above, Kerrie had us all set up for another year of Crime Fiction Favorites. What she was looking for is our Top Mystery Read for each month. Of the fourteen books read in December, eleven were mysteries. Here are the mystery-related books read:

The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay (4 stars) 
The Corpse & 3 Ex-Husbands by Sue McVeigh (3 stars) 
The Monday Theory by Douglas Clark (3 stars) 
The Chuckling Fingers by Mabel Seeley (3.5 stars) 
Game Without Rules by Michael Gilbert (5 stars) 
Cold Poison by Stuart Palmer (3 stars) 
The Valley of Fear by Doyle graphic novel reworked by Ian Edginton & I. N. J. Culbard (4 stars) 
Body of Opinion by Susannah Stacey (3 stars) 
Three Doors to Death by Rex Stout (4 stars) 
The Labor Day Murder by Lee Harris (3 stars) 
The Cashmere Kid by B. (Barbara) Comfort (2 stars) 
Just looking at the star count, it's no surprise that November's POM Award winner is my only 5-star winner:

Game Without Rules (1967) is the best collection of stories devoted to espionage and counter intelligence that I have ever read. The most amazing thing about these stories by Gilbert is that even though they are short, they pack a heck of a wallop. Each story could have been expanded into a novel--the themes are so rich and story-worthy--but Gilbert's economy and deft descriptions make it possible to tell the essentials in an action-packed short without losing any of the important points. Straight, to the point storytelling with believable plots and characterization make for a prize-package of reading.

Next up...A look back at the year's stats and the declaration of 2015's over-all P.O.M. Winner.