Wednesday, June 30, 2021

June Pick of the Month

 

When I decided to renew my Pick of the Month Awards, I was amazed to find that it had been three years since I put together a monthly list of books read, stats, ratings, and overall My Reader's Block P.O.M. Award winner. So far, I'm sticking to the plan. I had participated in Kerrie's Pick of the Month meme which focused on mysteries, but it doesn't look like she's got that up and running. My plan is to focus on mysteries (since that's the bulk of what I read), but if there are non-mysteries worthy of a P.O.M. award then I will hand out two awards. So, since it's unlikely that I'll get another book read tonight...let's see what I've been up to in June. 

June wasn't quite as productive as last month's high of 28, but twenty books is still a good showing. Fingers crossed that I can keep up the pace--I just might make it to the top of Mount Olympus on Mars in my Mount TBR Reading challenge after all!

Total Books Read: 20
Total Pages: 5,181

Average Rating: 3.6 stars  
Top Rating: 5 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 65%
Percentage by Male Authors: 25%
Percentage by both Female & Male Authors: 10%
Percentage by US Authors: 55%

Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  20%
Percentage Mystery: 85
Percentage Fiction: 95%
Percentage written 2000+: 45%
Percentage of Rereads: 5%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% {It's eas
y to have every book count for a challenge when you sign up for as many as I do.}    
Number of Challenges fulfilled so far: 16 (62%)

Mysteries/Mystery-Related Reads:

The Bitter Path of Death by Pierre Audemars  (3 stars)
Mrs. Jeffries on the Ball by Emily Brightwell  (3 stars)
The Youth Hostel Murders by Glynn Carr  (3.5 stars)
Dragon's Cave by Clyde B. Clason  (3 stars)
Hunt the Tortoise by E. X. Ferrars  (4 stars)
When Falcons Fall by C. S. Harris  (4.5 stars)
Where the Dead Lie by C. S. Harris  (4.5 stars)
Who Slays the Wicked by C. S. Harris  (4.5 stars)
Why Kill the Innocent by C. S. Harris  (5 stars)
The Marais Assassin by Claude Izner [on TBR since 5/3/12] (3 stars)
The Predator of Batignolles by Claude Izner  (2 stars)
A Tasty Way to Die by Janet Laurence  (3 stars)
The Judge Is Reversed by Frances & Richard Lockridge  (4 stars)
A Silver Spade by Louisa Revell  (4 stars)
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Murder at Sorrow's Crown by Steven Savile & Robert Greenberger  (4 stars)
The Curious Custard Pie by Margaret Scherf  (3 stars)
Mystery on the Isle of Skye by Phyllis A. Whitney  (4 stars)




Well...this is awkward. As a general rule, I try not to give out more than one monthly P.O.M. Award to the same author...and I just gave C. S. Harris the prize last month with Who Buries the Dead. But the numbers don't lie. Not only did her Why Kill the Innocent grab up the only five-star rating, but the other three books in her Sebastian St. Cyr series are runners-up with 4.5 stars each. This is currently my favorite historical mystery series. Her research into the period is superb and she has given us a lively cast of recurring characters to support Sebastian. The mysteries are pretty well done as well with plenty of red herrings and clues for careful readers to sift--and, if we're sharp enough, we can spot the killer. So...with all that, for the first time on the block, I'm handing out a second consecutive P.O.M. Award to




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