Luann’s Comments (group member since Oct 21, 2008)

Luann’s comments from the Pick-a-Shelf group.

My first time for FOUND, but I'll give it a try and see how many books I get to from my list.

Read 10 books which were:
1. added between 3/8/25 - 9/8/25
2. were published prior to 9/8/25

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1. West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
2. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
3. All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
4. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
5. My Friends by Fredrik Backman
6. Girl Braiding Her Hair by Marta Molnar
7. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson
8. Chronically Dolores by Maya Van Wagenen
9. The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys
10. Tree of Freedom by Rebecca Caudill

Thanks, Bea, Beth and Beverly!

All 10 finished! This is very early for me. I usually don't finish until December. :)

Tien wrote: "Happy New Year, everyone!

I hope you're all raring to finish 2025 challenges lol

Just wanted to check if anyone is keen for widgets this year? I haven't set them up because I wasn't sure if anyon..."

Looks like I'm in the minority, but I actually do like the widgets. For the past few years, I have only been participating in the LOST challenge, so that makes things simple. I use the same shelf for that challenge year after year. It's not a huge deal, though. If the widgets aren't useful to others, I can live without them.

Susan wrote: "Bea wrote: "Luann wrote: "Is there going to be a challenge for this year set up in the Group Challenge area?"

I am not sure what you are asking. This is the thread for the LOST challenge for 2025...."

Thanks, Susan. Yes, I was asking about the widgets for the challenges. I wasn't sure what they were called, but you get to them from the "challenges" link which is with all the other group links at the top right corner of each group page.

Where would I find the discussion where Tien asked about them? I've looked around in some of the discussions and haven't found it.

Is there going to be a challenge for this year set up in the Group Challenge area?

Bea wrote: "Woo Hoo! Congrats Luann!"

Thanks, Bea and Beth. :)

I finally finished! Three days before the end of the year!! 😀

My LOST list for 2025. All books were added to my TBR in 2009.
FINISHED on 9/8/2025 with a bonus title finished on 9/25/2025.

✔ 1. Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipović - finished May 28, 2025
✔ 2. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman - finished Jan. 24, 2025
✔ 3. Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy - finished June 13, 2025
✔ 4. Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen - finished May 28, 2025
✔ 5. Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix - finished Feb. 13, 2025
✔ 6. Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt - finished Aug. 11, 2025
✔ 7. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian - finished Mar. 13, 2025
✔ 8. The Islands of the Blessed by Nancy Farmer - finished May 13, 2025
✔ 9. Alma by H.B. Moore - finished Sept. 8, 2025
✔ 10. The Dragon Book edited by Jack Dann - finished July 28, 2025
✔ 11. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan - finished Sept. 25, 2025

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FINISHED: 11 of 11

I officially finished my 10 books back in November, but I wanted to try to read 12 this year. I just finished book 11, and I may get to book 12 before the end of the year.

These books were either added to my list in 2009 or they've been sitting on my actual bookshelves for the longest time - or both.

✔1. The Cuckoo Tree by Joan Aiken - finished September 9, 2024
✔2. Dido and Pa by Joan Aiken - finished October 26, 2024
✔3. The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy by Leonard S. Marcus - finished August 28, 2024
✔4. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - finished April 1, 2024
✔5. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear - finished July 16, 2024
✔6. East by Edith Pattou - finished August 2, 2024
✔7. The Enoch Letters by Neal A. Maxwell - finished December 28, 2024
✔8. Abinadi by H.B. Moore - finished December 7, 2024
✔9. Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen - finished January 13, 2024
✔10. A Garden of Eden in Hell: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer by Melissa Müller - finished reading July 7, 2024

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FINISHED: 10 of 10

These books were added to my list in 2009 and 2010. I've chosen a couple of extra titles in case I have time to read more than 10 this year.

1. Griffin's Castle by Jenny Nimmo - finished March 18, 2023
2. The Isle of Glass by Judith Tarr - finished July 23, 2023 (decided to only read the first book in the trilogy)
3. The Star Garden by Nancy E. Turner - finished March 4, 2023
4. Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories by Garth Nix - finished May 19, 2023
5. Dragon's Heart by Jane Yolen - finished June 26, 2023
6. The Whispering Mountain by Joan Aiken - finished Aug. 13, 2023
7. Fragments of Isabella: A Memoir of Auschwitz by Isabella Leitner - finished Sept. 18, 2023
8. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer - finished Oct. 1, 2023
9. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton - finished Oct. 14, 2023
10. In the Woods by Tana French - finished Dec. 28, 2023
11. Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie & Folklore in the Literature of Childhood by Jane Yolen - finished Nov. 8, 2023
12. Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata - finished Dec. 5, 2023
13. Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George - finished Dec. 29, 2023

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FINISHED: 13 of 13

Thanks, Bea and Tien!

I finished! I think it's the first time I've ever finished this early in the year.

I finished the last of my ten books today. I don't know why I tend to wait until December to finish - at least it isn't the very last day of December! :)

I'm finally getting to the last few of my to-read books added in 2008 and moving on to those added in 2009.

1. Madeleine L'Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life by Madeleine L'Engle - finished October 19, 2022
2. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart - finished Sept. 6, 2022
3. James Herriot's Yorkshire by James Herriot - finished March 16, 2022
4. The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman - finished February 14, 2022
5. The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd - finished October 11, 2022
6. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick - finished November 3, 2022
7. 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson - finished Aug. 15, 2022
8. Unwind by Neal Shusterman - finished April 27, 2022
9. Chalice by Robin McKinley - finished October 15, 2022
10. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - finished Aug. 8, 2022

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FINISHED! 10 of 10 in November! I'm not sure I've ever done that.

Bea wrote: "@Luanne: Your're #4 looks like it would work for January's shelf of the month read!"

Thanks for mentioning that, Bea. It will be an incentive to start with that one, and it will help me get started on my list right now in January!

Tien wrote: "Yay, Luann! For some reason, LOST books are always a struggle, hey, even if some of the times, we do find rare gems ;)"

I agree! I don't know why they are often such a struggle to get to. I guess that's why they've been on the TBR list for so long! It's great to have a challenge like this to help give motivation for reading them.

1. This One and Magic Life: A Novel of a Southern Family by Anne Carroll George - finished December 22, 2021
2. A War of Gifts by Orson Scott Card - finished July 13, 2021
3. The People in Pineapple Place by Anne Lindbergh - finished December 2, 2021
4. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King - finished June 7, 2021
5. The Island Keeper by Harry Mazer - finished May 30, 2021
6. Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge - finished July 5, 2021
7. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally - finished November 16, 2021
8. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers - finished October 9, 2021
9. Syren by Angie Sage - finished Feb. 22, 2021
10. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters - finished May 13, 2021

Finished: 10 of 10

Finally finished! Although at least this year I wasn't frantically trying to finish a book on December 31. :)