J.D. Robb discussion

Welcome! Talk about anything that's on your mind!

Wishing you a multitude of blessings this year!

Any new year traditions in your family? I'm cooking our New Year Day meal of greens, peas, & pork. We never start off a new year without it. lol

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year 🎉🎉🎉🍾🥂

I don't have traditions. If I can spend it with friends I'm happy

Having grown up in Asia, I have some traditions that I've carried forward, such as having money in my pocket when midnight hits and a bowl of 12-14 round fruits on my table. The money is so you're not broke all year, and the fruit is to attract wealth (so basically the same thing). Also we cannot spend on the first day of the year, though I was very lax with this when I was younger because, you know, new year's sales at Macys. lol. We don't have a midnight feast anymore, but we do have a full pantry when the clock strikes.

I lovethat Meg. I hope I remember the money in the pocket at midnight.
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My dad when he was still alive use to have us eat cucumber slice so that we would keep our cool through the year. This was the first year I didn't manage that one.

For those that either didn't see my Christmas picture, or know what I've been doing (which I will admit I haven't been saying much.) I finally completed Book 1 of a rewrite of Batman that asks the question of "What if one parent lived and the other parent died?" And that parent became a single mom Batwoman. I'll be posting the full story if any of you are interested or curious.

It will be a four or five book series that I will be writing sporadically, so I'll update as things move forward.

Michelle wrote: "I lovethat Meg. I hope I remember the money in the pocket at midnight.
I
My dad when he was still alive use to have us eat cucumber slice so that we would keep our cool through the year. This was t..."

I love your cucumber tradition. It's the first time I've heard of it.

Hello everyone. I pray you all had a wonderful holiday season. I was MIA most of December, traveling and with limited internet access. Now I have to spend the day updating my December reading and reviews.

I love the money in the pocket at midnight. I need to remember that. I had money in my purse, hopefully that works.

I actually had cucumbers in my salad, but I'm not sure I ate it exactly at midnight.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2026 with lots of great books.

IT’S MY MOM’S BIRTHDAY TODAY!

I've spent a little time reviewing the series that i completed this year. I completed 14 and abandoned 2. I am considering changing my approach to reading them. In the past I have been just picking what sounded fun for the month. It doesn't get many series read and I've got a lot on my list. I'm wondering if maybe I should change to a binge read approach where I just read books from a specific series till I've read them all.

What does everyone else do?

Anita I binge read. But that approach isn't for everyone. Or for every author/ series. If you binge make sure to have a few going at the same time as sometimes you might fall out of like/love with it. It could feel repetitive. As I said this isn't always the case but allow yourself to have a "relieve from " read inbetween.

My plan this year was also trying to finish more series or get up to date. Basically make my TBR shelf lighter. Hence me trying not to join too many challenges. 😔

Thanks for the insight on how you approach this problem. Between ARC's, new books by favorite authors and group reads it is tough making progress on my series list. And I keep adding to it!

I think the key to making more progress MAY lie in figuring out how in the world to get more reading time!! lol

I do series at one book a month. It allows me to move forward with 3 or 4 series at a time, keep each series fresh & read other books.

I'm going to start with 2 of the same series books a month. That way I can feel like I'm making more progress.

Happy New Year everyone!
The end of the semester is approaching rapidly, so I've been busy marking with less time for reading. I am happily moving past my slump!

I'm not a binge reader. I've learned that if I read too many books by the same author, I start picking up on repetitive phrases they use in every book. After a while I'm not enjoying the stories because I'm listening for certain phrases to pop up in each book.

One book per month is usually my pace for a series. Sometimes a book every other month is even better for me.

An interesting conversation. It depends on the series. Like Robin if I read more than two or three books in a row, I pick up on phrases that an author repeats. I went through my list of series that I'm falling behind on and decided to read two or three per month to catch up.

I like how Lauren tracks her series on the monthly reading plan, and I may copy her.

Michelle, like you, I cut back on many challenges. Last year, I spent more time finding challenge reads, but I didn't really enjoy the stories.

Thanks for everyone's input. I agree that I'm not a binge reader mostly for the reasons that Robin cited. But I am really going to try hard to make headway on my Series list this year reading two a month to start. My problem is that there are so many shiny, enticing books on NetGalley and everyone's recommendations it is hard to stick to a plan.

Sharon wrote: ".Michelle, like you, I cut back on many challenges. Last year, I spent more time finding challenge reads, but I didn't really enjoy the stories"

Sharon that is one reason I had to stop joining everything that looks good. Im a mood reader and would land up thinking more about challenge directives that what I'm in the mood for. Somehow it's always going great January that makes me think okay I'll be able to do this but that's a false sense of being able to complete it.. This year fun and back to clearing my tbr shelf and possibly catching up on series. (yes I know Kay Hooper needs to be returned to but not yet 😁)

I'm a mood reader too, Michelle! I think that is one of the reasons I am having difficulty staying on track and finishing off more series book. I get easily distracted by the new and shiny and intriguing. I also need to get back to Kay Hooper books.

I stopped Challenges years ago. The required too much time trying to figure out books that fit them and then there was reading books I really didn't want to read just to satisfy a Challenge.

I guess I'm the weird one here in that I don't choose books to fit challenges. I read what I choose to read be it an arc, series book, etc., and then see IF it'll fit any of my challenges. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I don't have time to prioritize books to complete challenges. Probably why I don't finish many challenges. lol

I'm with you, Sandra! I read what I want to read when I want to read it. That's why I gave up on Challenges, that's also why I'm so behind on reading and completing my Series reads. The only deadline I accept is the deadline to read and review an ARC before publication.

Sandra wrote: "I guess I'm the weird one here in that I don't choose books to fit challenges. I read what I choose to read be it an arc, series book, etc., and then see IF it'll fit any of my challenges. Sometime..."

You mentioned this before. That is what I'm going to do this year. I spent so much time trying to find books that worked for my challenges that I didn't read many of the books I was interested in.

Sandra wrote: "I guess I'm the weird one here in that I don't choose books to fit challenges. I read what I choose to read be it an arc, series book, etc., and then see IF it'll fit any of my challenges. Sometime..."

I’m also weird like you Sandra! I make my books fit the challenge. I will check around November and if I’m close then I will try to complete that challenge. Plus by the end of year I am ready for some easy rereads of the In death series to complete the ones that need certain letters.

The same. For me a challenge is fun. The bright and shiny call me too much. Also I'm more open to buddy reads. So far this year I've joined 2. Let's just say I've added to my tbr shelf instead of lightening it up. 😁

I know people that have spreadsheets etc. as soon as the challenge is posted. I gave that a go December but I still had so many blank spots and honestly I just couldn't find the energy or whatever is required to do that. It did make me have a good look at my TBR shelf. Some clearing out happened and I started making a list rather of series I'd like to complete or catch up on instead of finding books for challenges.

Challenge reading is a interesting discussion. In the end it's all about what you want to get out of it or why you do them at all.

I did a thing this morning: https://www.deviantart.com/electricou...

https://www.deviantart.com/electricou...

ElectricOutcast wrote: "I did a thing this morning: https://www.deviantart.com/electricou..."

That's cool. It's kind of how I picture Eve.

That is really cool.

Did any of you see my other picture?

That was cool! Roarke wasn't quite how I pictured him but I did like your version.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I tend to view him with longer hair. Like a heavy metal listener.

Sandra and Michelle, are you two still rereading the In Death series? I read several over the holidays, but I can only find your comments on the first two. We are using the "spoiler" threads, right?

I am, Sharon but I’m only up to Vengeance. It’s slow for me with so many arcs & monthly buddy reads.

That's ok, Sandra. I listened to five over the holidays because I was in the car so much; it gave me uninterrupted listening time. I'll hold off until you both get back to them. I have a lot of new books that I need to read too.

I was thinking that I might reread these some day. Now, how far along are you? But I am not sure I have time right now.

Sharon and Sandra I'd completely forgetten we're doing a reread. 🤦🏻
Kateblue we hadn't gotten very far and if I'm honest I don't know which one was next.
Okay if one of you ladies remember which one is next maybe we could do a buddy read starting next month Kateblue we would do maybe one a month. And yes Sharon we'd be using the spoiler threads.

We are using the In Death Buddy Read folder where each individual book is listed from previous buddy reads so there are spoilers in each one. This is the folder:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

The last book we spoke about was Vengeance in Death (book 6) and that was that we were starting it. (obviously no longer accurate) We're at different places in the series now. I actually don't mind backing up to read the first 3 books again because they're some of my favorites with Eve and Roarke meeting, etc.

We can start new in Feb., or each person hop onboard when we reach the book you're currently reading.

I will have to say upfront - I'll try one a month, but again, I'm swamped with other books, and I will occasionally miss a month for sure. Don't worry about me - If that happens, I'll catch up when I can.

As far as using spoilers, if we progress through the series discussing each book in the previous (old) discussion thread, spoilers shouldn't be necessary. Those threads are titled by book name and already filled with spoilers. I would just caution anyone who's reading along for the first time NOT to open those threads until you complete the book.

Let's jump over to the buddy read folder to continue this discussion.

I want to mention here that if I disappear for several days it's because of loss of power & internet. We have a massive winter storm heading our way with an excessive amount of sleet & ice and bitterly cold temps forecast for my area. Warnings indicate a high likelihood of going days without power, etc., because of downed power lines. I'm personally as prepared as I can be other than anticipating going without power.

Robin wrote: "I'm not a binge reader. I've learned that if I read too many books by the same author, I start picking up on repetitive phrases they use in every book. After a while I'm not enjoying the stories be..."

Very true!
This happened to me with Cynthia Eden's books. I had to stip reading because of the repeated use of the word "guy" instead of "man".

Sharon wrote: "I like how Lauren tracks her series on the monthly reading plan, and I may copy her."

Thanks Sharon! I find this way of reading very helpful both in not getting burned out on a series and in actually reading the books 😂

I hope everyone in the US is staying warm and safe in the winter storm! Take care!

I'll second that Lauren. Please take care and stay as safe as you can.

Thank you Sandra for those posts. I'm really wanting to start at the beginning and make a proper go of it. I love those first books. And as you said everyone could just jump in when, where or if they want to. I think the rule of only discussing that book and those before should still apply because I'm terrible with posting in spoilers. Let's also say one book a month which will probably work for most of us. And let's discuss the novellas as they come along in the series order. If it should be read as a solo monthly read or if it could be adding to the month

Sandra, stay safe and hopefully you will have power. I have family in Houston and Austin and they are hunkered down for the storm.

Our Indiana house has at least 8 inches of snow, but I don't care, I'm in Florida. I noticed there were lots of check-ins here, the last few days. People fleeing the storm, I expect.

At least I know they plowed out our driveway.

As to this reread of inDeath. I would love to join. In February, I can probably read and catch up to book 6, where you said you were, or we can start over. Whichever you guys want to do.

Oh, BTW, I'm Kate and I'm new. I am getting burnt out on all the SF and fantasy I usually read, so I came looking for something else. I just read Framed in Death. It was good, though (view spoiler)[ I was kinda disappointed that they ended it without having the party they were all talking about. (hide spoiler)]

Later!

Welcome Kateblue. Know that feeling of burning out. Usually for me that's followed by a slump which get me rereading all time favourites.

Happy to have you joining us, Kateblue!

If y'all want to start over with Naked in Feb., jump to that previous buddyread here - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Our last posts there were in March 2025 when we started the buddy read over.

Welcome Kate. We have a good group of readers here. Be prepared for your TBR list to grow though. They recommend some excellent books and authors.

I'll go back to Naked in February. I never get tired of reading those first few books. They made me fall in love with Eve and Roarke, even when I wanted to punch Roarke in the nose. :-)