I finished reading:

“On The Golden Porch” written by Tatyana Tolstaya.  198 pages.  Four stars.

The fiftieth book of the year.  17,296 pages at an average of 346 pages per book.

-Richard

End of read-a-thon hours 1-3/

Pages read these hours:  106

Time read these hours:  1 hour 10 minutes 

Books finished:  0

-Richard 

Tomorrow Jenn and I will once again be taking part in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon.   I will post progress updates every three hours.   I am just looking for some time just to relax after a crazy few weeks.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Texas: A History” written by Joe B. Frantz.  212 pages.  Three stars.

The forty ninth book of the year.  17,098 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Spandau Phoenix” written by Greg Iles.  695 pages.  Three stars.

The forty eighth book of the year.  16,886 pages at an average of 352 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“A Strange and Sublime Address” written by Amit Chaudhuri.  154 pages.  Four stars.

The forty seventh book of the year.  16,191 pages at an average of 344 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Saga:  Volume Eleven” written by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan.  160 pages.  Four stars.

The forty sixth book of the year.  16,037 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Beethoven in Russia:  Music and Politics” written by Frederick W. Sanger.  249 pages. Four stars.

The forty fifth book of the year.  15,877 pages at an average of 353 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“the comfort of strangers” written by Ian McEwan.  134 pages.  Three stars.

The forty fourth book of the year.  15,628 pages at an average of 355 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia” written by Orlando Figes.  586 pages.  Five stars.

The forty third book of the year.  15,494 pages at an average of 360 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“The Nine Nations of North America” written by Joel Garreau.  390 pages.  Three stars.

The forty second book of the year.  14,908 pages at an average of 355 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“A Change Meeting:  American Encounters” written by Rachel Cohen.  324 pages.  Four stars.

The forty first book of the year.  14,518 pages at an average of 354 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“A Prayer For The Crown Shy” written by Becky Chambers.  149 pages.  Five stars.

The fortieth book of the year.  14,194 pages at an average of 355 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Unforgettable San Jose Earthquakes:  Momentous Stories On & Off The Field” written by Gary Singh.  154 pages.  Five stars.

The thirty ninth book of the year.  14,045 pages at an average of 360 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“black dogs” written by Ian McEwan.  149 pages.   Four stars.

The thirty eighth book of the year.  13,891 pages at an average of 366 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“American Prometheus:  The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.  599 pages.  Four stars.

The thirty seventh book of the year.  13,742 pages at an average of 371 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Sacramental Journey of The Salvation Army:  A Study of Holiness Foundations” written by R. David Rightmire.  269 pages.  Four stars.

The thirty sixth book of the year.  13,143 pages at an average of 365 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Cyclops” written by Clive Cussler.  614 pages.  Two stars.

The thirty fifth book of the year.  12,874 pages at an average of 368 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Red Notice:  A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice” written by Bill Browder.  380 pages.  Four stars.

The thirty fourth book of the year.  12,260 pages at an average of 361 pages per book.

-Richard 

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I finished reading:

“Enduring Love” written by Ian McEwan.  245 pages.  Four stars.

The thirty third book of the year.  11,880 pages at an average of 360 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Skin of Dreams” written by Raymond Queneau.  203 pages. Three stars.

The thirty second book of the year.  11,635 pages at an average of 364 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“A Psalm For The Wild Built” written by Becky Chambers.  147 pages.  Four stars.

The thirty first book of the year.  11,432 pages at an average of 369 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Adventures in the Atomic Age:  From Watts to Washington” written by Glenn T. Seaborg.  296 pages.  Four stars.

The thirtieth book of the year.  11,285 pages at an average of 376 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Benn Diaries 1940-1990” written by Tony Benn.  641 pages.  Three stars.

 The twenty ninth book of the year.  10,989 pages at an average of 379 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“A Little Life” written by Hanya Yanagiihara.  814 pages.  Five stars.  The first and only review I have ever put on Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3191057276

The twenty eighth book of the year.  10,348 pages at an average of 370 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Spartan Gold” written by Clive Cussler with Grant Blackwood.  501 pages.  Three stars.

The twenty seventh book of the year.  9,534 pages at an average of 353 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Resistencia:  Poems of Protest and Revolution” written by various poets.  189 pages.  Four stars.

The twenty sixth book of the year.  9,033 pages at an average of 347 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Child In Time” written by Ian McEwan.  220 pages.  Four stars.

The twenty fifth book of the year.  8,844 pages at an average of 354 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Trojan Odyssey” written by Clive Cussler.  463 pages. Three stars.

The twenty fourth book of the year. 8,624 pages at an average of 359 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finish’s reading:

“The Unforgivable and Other Writings” written by Cristina Campo.  252 pages.  Three stars.

The twenty third book of the year.  8,161 pages at an average of 355 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Killer’s Christmas List” written by Chris Frost.  282 pages.  Four stars.

The twenty second book of the year.  7,909 pages at an average of 359 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Bee Sting” written by Paul Murray.  643 pages.  Four stars.

The twenty first book of the year.  7,627 pages at an average of 363 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Beyond The Limit” written by Irina Ratishinskaya.  121 pages.  Five stars.

The twentieth book of the year.  6,984 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“My Revolutions” written by Hari Kunzru.  279 pages.  Four stars.

The nineteenth book of the year.  6,863 pages at an average of 361 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Homage to Catalonia” written by George Orwell.  232 pages. Five stars.

The eighteenth book of the year.  6,584 Kaye’s at an average of 366 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Tamar” written by Mal Peet.  424 pages.  Four stars.

The seventeenth book of the year.  6,352 pages at an average of 374 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Rob Roy” written by Walter Scott.  382 pages.  Two stars.

The sixteenth book of the year.  5,928 pages at an average of 371 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Complete Poems” written by Basil Bunting.  220 pages.  Four stars.

The fifteenth book of the year. 5,546 pages at an average of 370 pages.

-Richard 

I finished reading/

“A Rule Against Murder” written by Louise Penny.  322 pages.  Four stars.

The fourteenth book of the year.  5,326 pages at an average of 380 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Jesus and the Disinherited” written by Howard Thurman.  102 pages.  Four stars.

The thirteenth book of the year.  5,004 pages at an average of 385 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Prophet Song” written by Paul Lynch.  309 pages.  Five stars.

The twelfth book of the year.  4,902 pages at an average of 409 pages per book..

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Dearly Beloved” written by Cara Wall.  338 pages.  Three stars.

The eleventh book of the year.  4,593 pages at an average of 418 pages per week.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Red Wheel March 1917 Node III Book 2” written by Alesandr Solzhenitsyn.  673 pages.  Four stars.

The tenth book of the year.  4,255 pages at an average of 425 pages per book.

-Richard 

 End of Bout of Books Day 7, Jan 7th and Final Stats:

Pages read on Day 7:  565

Books finished on Day 7: 9

Total Pages Read: 2226

Total Books Finished: 9

A record bout of books for me in terms of pages read and books finished.   A great start to the reading year :)

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Harry Heathcote of Gangoil” written by Anthony Trollope. 313 pages.  Four stars.

The ninth book of the year.  3,582 pages at an average of 398 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Churchill’s Secret Agent” written by Max and Linda Ciampoli.  474 pages.  One star.

The eighth book of the year.  3,269 pages at average of 409 pages per book.

 -Richard

I finished reading:

“The Collected Poems” written by Wallace Stevens.  534 pages.  Four stars.

The seventh book of the year.  2,795 pages at an average of 399 pages per book.

-Richard 

End of Bout of Books Day 6, Jan 6th:

Pages read on Day 6:  441

Books finished on Day 6: 1

Total Pages Read:  1661

Total Books Finished: 6

-Richard

I finished reading:

“The Thursday Murder Club” written by Richard Osman.  377 pages.  Five stars.

The sixth book of the year.  2,261 pages at an average of 377 pages per book.

-Richard

 End of Bout of Books Day 5, Jan 5th:

Pages read on Day 5: 188

Books finished on Day 5: 2

Total Pages Read: 1, 220

Total Books Finished: 5

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Gnedich” written by Maria Rybakova.  112 pages.  Four stars.

The fifth book of the year. 1,884 pages at an average of 377 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Blood and Fire, Tsar and Commissar:  The Salvation Army in Russia, 1907-1923” written by Tom Aitkin.  302 pages.  Four stars.

The fourth book of the year.  1,772 pages at an average of 443 pages per book.

-Richard 

 End of Bout of Books Day 4, Jan 4th:

Pages read on Day 4:  252

Books finished on Day 4: 1

Total Pages Read:  1,032

Total Books Finished: 3

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Escape From The Soviets” written by Tatiana Tchernavin.  320 pages.  Five stars.

The third book of the year.  1,470 pages at an average of 490 pages per book.

-Richard 

End of Bout of Books Day 3, Jan 3rd:

Pages read on Day 3:  186

Books finished on Day 3: 0

Total Pages Read:  780

Total Books Finished: 2

-Richard

End of Bout of Books Day 2, Jan 2nd:

Pages read on Day 2:  237

Books finished on Day 2: 1

Total Pages Read:  594

Total Books Finished: 2

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Sizzling Sixteen” written by Janet Evanovich.  326 pages.  Three stars.

The second book of the year.  1,150 pages at an average of 575 pages per book.

-Richard 

 End of Bout of Books Day 1, Jan 1st:

Pages read on Day 1:  357

Books finished on Day 1: 1

-Richard

I finished reading:

“A People’s Tragedy:  The Russian Revolution” written by Orlando Figes.  824 pages.  Four stars.

The first book finished in 2024z

-Richard 

Here are my final reading stats from 2023

Books finished:  204.  This was the second moat ever with the record of 243 set last year.   I read 60,534 pages which was the fourth most.   The record is  previous record was 74,393 from last year.   

Average # of pages per book: 207.  This was a record low for average pages per book.   The previous low was 306 last year.   The highest average number of pages per book was 420 in 2013.

I read authors born in 38 different countries, which was the same as last year:  1. USA: 92, 2. England: 41, 3. Russia: 16, 4. Ukraine 8 and Germany 7.   

I read authors both in 32 different USA States (incl DC):  1. New York and Texas 15  3. New Jersey: 13  4. California: 12,  5. Illinois and Massachusetts: 9.   Last year was 39 different States.  

   
I read books with titles starting with 25 different letters of the alphabet.  The only one I missed wad V.

I read authors with last names starting with 24 different letters.  I did not read Q and X

I read authors who won the Booker Prize (3), the Nobel Prize (5) and the Pulitzer Prize (7)

I read the most books published in 2019 (11) the newest book was published in 2023 and the oldest book I read was published in 1667

My average rating of books was 3.8 (last year was 3.9)

Since I've started tracking the number of books (2005) I have read 2206 which means an average of 116 per year.   Since I've started tracking the # of pages (2008) I have  read 694,859 pages at an average of 43,429  per year at an average of 337 per book.

This years goal is 120 books.

Happy New Year.