Books Read in 2016

As I updated my reading progress this year, a few people had trouble grasping how I read so many books.  Reading is my favorite activity. That should be enough explanation, but here's some more.  I read instead of watching movies.  In fact, I believe that I watched not even one movie in 2016, which may be the first time that has ever happened.  Think about how much time you have spent watching movies, and there you go.  There's nothing surprising about watching lots of movies, and there shouldn't be anything surprising about spending that same time reading lots of books.

I also watch very little television.  That's more time freed up.

I don't read every word of every book.  I don't need to read the obligatory explanation of how Frank is older than Joe, their father Fenton is a detective, and so on in every Hardy Boys book.  I skim or skip over those paragraphs.  That saves time.

I am reading children's books.  Most of them do have at least 150 pages, but they are nowhere near as long as the average book for adults.  This means that I can read more children's books than I could adult books.

In "How to read 462 books in one year," Sarah Weinman explains her reading technique.  "What also seems to happen is that I read a page not necessarily word by word, but by capturing pages in sequence in my head. The words and phrases appear diagonally, like I'm absorbing the text all in one gulp, and then I move on to the next sequence I can absorb by paragraph or page."

I can't do what Sarah describes, but I do sometimes read individual paragraphs diagonally.  It considerably speeds up reading.

Now that I have explained, let's get to the point of the post.

I began 2016 reading the later titles in the original Hardy Boys series.  In the first few weeks of the year, I made the decision to read all of the Hardy Boys Digest, Undercover Brothers, and Adventures books.  This was a rather large commitment, and I did have doubt as to whether I could force myself to read all of them consecutively and in a timely fashion.  Actually, I knew that I could, but I knew that I couldn't allow myself to read much else, if anything, and that I had to stay strong and focused on just the Hardy Boys books.

By April, I was up to around #85 in the Hardy Boys Digest series.  As I just mentioned, I knew that I had to stay focused in order to get through around 150 additional Hardy Boys books.  If I were to continue reading books at the pace I had set to date, I would be able to read 282 books by the end of the year.  I then set a goal to read 300 books by the end of the year, and by the end of April, I had increased my pace to be on track to read slightly more than 300 books by the end of the year.

I set the goal to read 300 books by the end of the year in order to guarantee that I would be able to read through all of the Hardy Boys books by August.  I had to keep on task.

I reached my goal of 300 books in early November.  Not surprisingly, my pace abruptly slowed almost to a halt.  I majorly slacked off during the first half of November, partly because I reached my goal and partly due to many distractions.  I had decided to add several lengthy series to my list of books to read, and all of those books will take me at least 1 1/2 years to read even if I go very fast.  I needed to motivate myself into speeding up again.  Otherwise, I'd never get the books read that I want to read.

I had to set a new goal for myself in order to motivate myself to keep going.  At that time, I appeared to be on track to read around 325 to 330 books by the end of the year. I wasn't sure how much further I could go, so my initial goal was to push as far as I could to 335, 340, or 345 books.  I read fast and furiously in the second half of November and settled on a new goal of 350 books.  Somehow, I would read at least 350 books by the end of the year.

My pace in the first half of December was short of what I needed, but once I was off work for the holidays, I had the necessary time.  I read books as fast as I could, on some days completing two books.  By Christmas Eve, I had read 342 books altogether. I had one week to go.  My goal was so close that I could almost touch it.

At about 11:30 PM on December 31, I finished my 355th book of the year.  Obviously, I don't party on New Year's Eve, unless you consider reading to be the same as partying.

Next is a list of what I read by month and in the order I read the books.  I sometimes had to read out of order while I waited for books to arrive in the mail.  For the Hardy Boys Digests, I drove around to local stores purchasing what I could over a several week period as I awaited my complete set in the mail.  This resulted in me reading a random assortment of the entire range of titles.

January:  26 books

Hardy Boys #46-58
Hardy Boys Revised Text #4-7, 9, 10, 12-17, 19

February:  21 books

Hardy Boys Revised Text #20-23
Hardy Boys Digests #64, 81, 59, 123, 136, 168, 71, 173, 176, 131, 178, 154, 159, 164, 180, 187, 90

March:   22 books

Lance Todd #1, 2
Hardy Boys Digests #61, 60, 62, 63, 65-70, 72-80, 82

April:  36 books

Morgan Bay Mysteries #5
Hardy Boys Digests #83-89, 91-107, 109-119

May:  31 books

Hardy Boys Digests #120-122, 124-129, 132-135, 137-151, 153, 156, 157

June:  45 books

Hardy Boys Digests #158, 160-163, 165-167, 169-171, 174
White Princess by Elva Ditmann
Hardy Boys Digests #175, 177, 179, 181-186, 188-190
Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers #1-20

July:  42 books

Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers  #21-37, super editions #1, 2
2007 Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mysteries #1, 2, 3, 4
Nancy Drew Diaries #11, 12
Hardy Boys Adventures #1-12
The Seventh Hour by Tracey Ward
Morgan Bay Mysteries #1
Ashfall Trilogy #1, 2, 3

August:  27 books

Morgan Bay Mysteries #2-4, 6-8
Wynn and Lonny #1-6
Brains Benton, The Case of the Crossed Wire
Jenny Dean #1-4
Twilight Where Darkness Begins #1, 3, 4, 6, 10, 13, 8, 2, 11, 5

September:  21 books

Twilight Where Darkness Begins #7, 9, 12, 14-26
Dark Forces #1-5

October:  24 books

Dark Forces #6-12, 14, 15
Lois Duncan, I Know What You Did Last Summer
Lois Duncan, Killing Mr. Griffin
Nancy Drew Diaries #13
Hardy Boys Adventures #13
A.S. Maxwell, Secret of the Cave
Lois Duncan, Don't Look Behind You
Lois Duncan, Summer of Fear
Lois Duncan, Stranger with My Face
R. L. Stine, The Baby-Sitter
Lois Duncan, Down a Dark Hall
Lois Duncan, Daughters of Eve
R. L. Stine, The Baby-Sitter II
Lois Duncan, The Third Eye
Merivale Mall #1
Richie Tankersley Cusick, The Locker

November:  25 books

Lois Duncan, The Gift of Magic
Lois Duncan, Locked in Time
Lois Duncan, They Never Came Home
Lois Duncan, Ransom
Lois Duncan, Gallows Hill
Sweet Dreams, Love by the Book
Nightmare Hall #2 The Roommate
Merivale Mall #2-12
Lois Duncan, The Twisted Window
Richie Tankersley Cusick, Fatal Secrets
Richie Tankersley Cusick, The House Next Door
Richie Tankersley Cusick, Summer of Secrets
Richie Tankersley Cusick, Someone at the Door
Richie Tankersley Cusick, The Drifter
Diane Hoh, The Accident

December:  35 books

Richie Tankersley Cusick, Silent Stalker
Richie Tankersley Cusick, Overdue
Mysteries in Our National Parks #1-8, 10-13
Girls of Canby Hall #2-13    
Mysteries in Our National Parks #9
Mystery Solvers #4, 1-3    
Girls of Canby Hall #14-17                                  

The very first book I read in 2016, Hardy Boys #46, The Secret Agent on Flight 101, was the only book I read in 2016 that I had already read before.  Of the 355 books I read in 2016, 354 were for the first time.  That's quite an accomplishment.

In 2017, I expect to read quite a few books for the second time, based on what I intend to read in the near future.  I also expect to read at least around 300 books in 2017.

July 2016 Reading Update

Here are pictures of my reading bookshelf.  Remember that you can always click on images to see a larger version.

I am reading through the Hardy Boys Adventures series and will be completely finished with my Hardy Boys experience within one week.  I had forgotten to order Hardy Boys Adventures #12, so I took care of that a few days ago.  #12 most likely will arrive in time for me to read it right after #11.  If #12 does not arrive in time, then I have decided that I will read one or more of the Morgan Bay Mysteries if necessary until #12 arrives. The Morgan Bay Mysteries are the books with the mauve spines in the middle of the top shelf.  They are readers and are quick and easy to read.

As I read through the Hardy Boys Adventures, I am also skimming the Nancy Drew Diaries to locate certain passages that are important in my comparison of the Hardy Boys Adventures to the Nancy Drew Diaries.  The reason I read through the entire Hardy Boys Digest and Undercover Brothers series was so that I could then read the Hardy Boys Adventures to compare them to the Nancy Drew Diaries.

I felt that I needed to be as knowledgeable about the Hardy Boys series as Nancy Drew in order to be able to decide whether Simon and Schuster is treating the two series equally.  I haven't been thrilled with the Nancy Drew Diaries, and I have wondered whether the Hardy Boys Adventures have the same issues.  I don't yet know for sure, although I have made some interesting observations.

I have not decided what I will read next after I finish the Hardy Boys Adventure series. I will delay reading the two Norvin Pallas books in hopes that Wildside Press will soon publish the other three titles that I need.  I would prefer to read all five books together. It is always my preference to read books in a series together and in order so that I do not get sidetracked.

I recently finished reading the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series.  I would never have made it through the entire Undercover Brothers set if I had allowed myself to read anything else during that time.  If I had let myself read something else, I would have abandoned the set.  That's because most of the books are not very good.

The Wynn and Lonny Racing Books and the Girls of Canby Hall series are a top priority.  That is, I want to read those two series, so they are a top priority for that reason.  However, I do have another top priority, one that I don't want to do that will be hard to force myself to complete.

I would like to finally try out the many series books I have in order to decide whether I like the books enough to complete the sets.  Many of those books have been placed in the middle row of the bookcase.  I figure if I have them in front of me that I will be more likely to try some of them.  I hope so, anyway.

My collection is based on readability.  While I do collect different formats, first printings, and books in excellent condition, I never keep a set of books when I do not find them readable.  If I do not enjoy the books, then I sell them regardless of how collectible they are.

That's why I have already sold my Melody Lane books and most of my Cherry Ames books. I did not enjoy the stories enough to want to keep them.  Meaning, I knew I would never read them again, so I did not want them taking up valuable shelf space.

I'd like to tackle the books on the middle shelf sometime soon so that I can send some of them away if they aren't good enough.  If the books are good enough, then I will complete the sets.  I do already have complete set of Marjorie Dean and the Boy Ranchers, so reading the first book of each will determine whether I keep my sets.  If I should read the first book of either set and like it enough, then I would probably go ahead and read the rest of the set in order without allowing myself to read anything else.

I set a goal to read 300 books this year.  I am currently reading my 212th book of 2016.

An Update on My Reading

Earlier this year I decided to read the entire Hardy Boys Digest series followed by the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers and Hardy Boys Adventures series.  I purchased a huge lot of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books on eBay in order to get the Hardy Boys Digest books.  Once I had the books in my possession, I set up the books in a little bookcase that is nearest to where I read.

I read fast, and I like for the books to be within easy reach.  I finished the Digest books earlier this month and moved on to the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers books.  I moved all of the Digest books to another room and changed the contents of the shelf to the Undercover Brothers and Adventures books, as well as other books that I want to read or try once I finally finish my Hardy Boys experience.

The idea was to place what I am currently reading on the top shelf and then fill out the bookcase with the books I plan to read and in the approximate order I plan to read them.  It is for certain that I will go in the order seen in the bookcase from the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers through to the end of the Hardy Boys Adventures.

Everything else placed in the bookcase could change order depending upon how I feel when I get to that point.  Sometimes I add books to the queue.  Just this week I added the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mystery books from 2007 to my reading list.  For those of you with sharp eyes, I do have just four of the six, but I will have the remaining two titles within one week.

I do not plan to read the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mystery series from 1988 or the Hardy Boys Casefiles series at this time. I'd like to read them, but I'm not sure I can keep up the momentum after having read so many Hardy Boys books.  It does wear on me.

The Girls of Canby Hall series has been in the queue since October.  I would have gotten to them months ago if I hadn't decided to read over 250 Hardy Boys books.  If you wonder why I don't give a specific number of Hardy Boys books, it's because I didn't read all of the Hardy Boys Digest books from beginning to end.  I have read parts of all of them, but around five to ten of them were only partially read due to how boring I found them.  I don't count books in my total unless I read the entire book.  I do still count the book if I skimmed a little here and there. 

When I made my decision to read all the way through the Hardy Boys Digest, Undercover Brothers, and Adventures series, I was somewhat uncertain whether I would be able to do it.  I had trouble getting through the original 58 Hardy Boys books, so I knew that I could run into problems.  After all, I would not like all the books, and that's when I would be tempted to quit.  Committing to reading over 250 Hardy Boys books altogether is a significant task and not an easy one to accomplish.

This is the reason why in March I set myself a goal to read 300 books by the end of the year.  I had read approximately 262 books in 2014 and exactly 231 books in 2015, so this goal is within reach.  I set a goal of 300 books because I always achieve specific goals that I set for myself, and this would force me to read through the Hardy Boys books as fast as I can.  And so far I have.

Since February, I have read through the Hardy Boys Digest series and am currently halfway through the Undercover Brothers series.  If I continue at my current rate, I will be finished with my Hardy Boys experience by the end of July, and that does include the Hardy Boys Adventures series.

The year is halfway over, and I have read 180 books so far.  My pace will slow down once I finish the Hardy Boys books, but I am well on track to finish the year having read at least 300 books.

Several of you have expressed awe about my reading and have wondered how I do it.  We all have a certain amount of time for various recreational activities, and we all have to make decisions on how to use that time.  I choose to use that time reading.

This means that I do not watch much television.  I do not watch movies at all.  Movies take up too much time, time that can be spent reading a book.  I use reading as a means to lowering my stress, and my stress level has been quite high for a few years.  That's why I have read so much since 2014.  Reading is my coping mechanism.  It takes me to a happy place.

Purchasing More Books to Read

I continue to have a strong desire to build sets of series books that I have not yet read, so I am constantly looking ahead to what I plan to read in the coming months.

In the fall, I purchased the complete set of the Girls of Canby Hall books.

My plan was to read them immediately after finishing the original 58 Hardy Boys books, but I decided instead to read the Hardy Boys Digest series.  Soon after I began reading the Hardy Boys Digests, I decided that I wanted to compare and contrast Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys as both series have evolved over the years.  This means that I decided that I will read the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series and then the Hardy Boys Adventures series immediately after I finish reading the Hardy Boys Digest series.

I had already purchased nine of the Hardy Boys Adventures in hardcover editions in December when I saw a wholesale lot of remaindered books on eBay.

I just purchased the two most recent Hardy Boys Adventures books from Amazon, so now I have the complete set of what has been published so far.

I held off for the last couple of months hoping to get a set of Undercover Brothers cheap, but books never do show up when I need them. 

I decided in early April to set a goal to read 300 books this year.  At that point, I was on track to read 282 books.  I sped up my pace, and I am now on track to read slightly more than 300 books.  This means that I am progressing rather quickly through the Hardy Boys Digests, and I need to build the Undercover Brothers set in advance of needing them.  I project that I will be finished with the Hardy Boys Digests before the end of June, and that isn't so far off.

This is what I have so far, purchased from three different sellers.

Since time is beginning to draw short, I went to Thriftbooks.com and purchased every title I could find that I had not already acquired.  There were two titles, #19 Foul Play and #20 Feeding Frenzy, that were not available on Thriftbooks.  Obviously I could purchase both books individually elsewhere.  However, Foul Play presented a dilemma, since unfortunately a Hardy Boys Casefiles book is also titled Foul Play.  I would have no way to guarantee that I would get the Undercover Brothers book instead of the Casefiles book, especially since most sellers who have one available are the volume sellers who pay no attention to detail.  I then realized that I could solve the problem by purchasing Foul Play new from Amazon.

Problem solved.  I have not made the purchase yet, primarily because I am too cheap to purchase Amazon Prime or to pay for shipping from Amazon, so I group items together and always get free shipping.

I will order the last two Undercover Brothers with the Nancy Drew Diaries book that is set to be released on May 10 and with another Ted Wilford book that I need.  And of course Amazon will wait until around May 15 to ship the order to punish me for getting free shipping, but that's okay.  I don't need the books for a couple of months.

In case you didn't know, the Ted Wilford series is being reprinted.  So far, Wildside Press has released five of them, and all 15 will be reprinted.  The books are being reprinted with permission of the Norvin Pallas family.

I have also purchased two short series which I will probably read sometime between now and the end of June during my reading of the Hardy Boys Digest series.  If a series is short, it will not break my momentum of reading the Hardy Boys.

First, I purchased the entire Winn and Lonny series.

Second, I  purchased the Morgan Bay mystery series, which were published as school readers.

I have also begun purchasing the Sweet Dreams books as I find them.

Ah, the 1980s.  The complete set of Sweet Dreams set consists of over 200 books, so I don't have very many of them.

This is my plan on what I intend to read and in what order.

Hardy Boys Digest series along with Wynn and Lonny/Morgan Bay
Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series
Nancy Drew Diaries #11 and #12
Hardy Boys Adventure series
Girls of Canby Hall series
The Sweet Dreams books (This one is not definite.)

As of right now I am not intending to read the Hardy Boys Casefiles set this year, although I do own the complete set.  I could always change my mind and decide to read them.

This will take me through September or October and a total of around 250 of the 300 books I intend to read this year.  I can do it.

Books Read in 2015

I read 231 books in 2015.  This is a list of what I read and in the order I read them.  I have also included a rough timeline of when I read them.

January:

Ken Holt #1-18
Hal Goodwin, Feathered Cape
Nancy Drew Diaries #8

February:

5 Brains Benton by Charles Morgan
Roger Baxter #1-3
John Bellairs, The House with a Clock in Its Walls
John Bellairs, The Figure in the Shadows
Louise Dickenson Rich, Star Island
Lovecraft Middle School #1-4
Magic Repair Shop #1-3

February/March:

Troy Nesbit, Sand Dune Pony
Troy Nesbit, Jinx of Payrock Canyon
Troy Nesbit, Indian Mummy Mystery
Troy Nesbit, Rustlers' Fort
Troy Nesbit, Diamond Cave
Troy Nesbit, Forest Fire
Franklin Folsom, Hidden Ruin
Franklin Folsom, Search in the Desert
Neal Shusterman, Unwholly
Neal Shusterman, Unsouled
Neal Shusterman, Undivided
Ted Wilford #14 SS Shamrock Mystery
3 Brandon Mull Five Kingdoms

April/May:

Cherry Ames #1-27
Biff Brewster #2-13

June:

Tom Quest #1-8
Nancy Drew Diaries #9
Sandy Steele #1-6
Mill Creek Irregulars #1-10

July/August/September:

August Derleth, Beast in Holger's Woods
Ted Wilford #15 Greenhouse Mystery
Brad Forrest #1-8
Secret Circle #1-11
Phyllis Whitney, Secret of the Spotted Shell
Ted Wilford #2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13
Phyllis Whitney, Mystery of the Gulls
Phyllis Whitney, Linda's Homecoming
Phyllis Whitney, Mystery of the Strange Traveler
Phyllis Whitney, Black Diamonds
Phyllis Whitney, Isle of Skye
Phyllis Whitney, Green Cat
Phyllis Whitney, Samurai Sword
Phyllis Whitney, Haunted Pool
Phyllis Whitney, Tiger's Eye
Phyllis Whitney, Golden Horn
Phyllis Whitney, Hidden Hand
Phyllis Whitney, Emerald Star
Phyllis Whitney, Angry Idol
Phyllis Whitney, Goblin Glen
Phyllis Whitney, Crimson Ghost
Phyllis Whitney, Missing Footprint
Phyllis Whitney, Vanishing Scarecrow
Phyllis Whitney, Scowling Boy
Phyllis Whitney, Haunted Mesa
Phyllis Whitney, Stone Face

October:

Teen Witch #1-4
Nancy Drew Diaries #10
Bret King #1-6
Canby Hall #1
Bret King #7-9

November/December:

Hardy Boys #1-11
Demitria Lunetta, In the After
Demitria Lunetta, In the End
Scott Cramer, Night of the Purple Moon
Alexandra Moody, Tainted
Hardy Boys #12-45

Some books stood out as excellent or outstanding books that I enjoyed far more than the average book.  The following books fit that category.

Ken Holt, Clue of the Phantom Car
5 Brains Benton by Charles Morgan
Roger Baxter #1-3
Magic Repair Shop #1-3
Troy Nesbit, Rustlers' Fort
Troy Nesbit, Diamond Cave
Troy Nesbit, Forest Fire
Franklin Folsom, Search in the Desert
Neal Shusterman, Undivided
Biff Brewster, Alaska Ghost Glacier
Sandy Steele, Fire at Red Lake
Mill Creek Irregulars, Watcher on the Heights
Hardy Boys, Hidden Harbor
Hardy Boys, Yellow Feather
Hardy Boys, Screeching Owl

There are also some books that come to mind as ones that I enjoyed the least.  I usually had to skim large portions of these books in order to get through them.

A large number of the Cherry Ames books
Both John Bellairs books
Sandy Steele, Black Treasure
Phyllis Whitney, Mystery of the Strange Traveler
Phyllis Whitney, Isle of Skye
Phyllis Whitney, Golden Horn
Phyllis Whitney, Hidden Hand
Phyllis Whitney, Vanishing Scarecrow
Hardy Boys, Footprints Under the Window
Hardy Boys, The Twisted Claw
Hardy Boys, Skull Mountain
Hardy Boys, Viking Symbol
Hardy Boys, Haunted Fort

The only books I had read before 2015 are Ken Holt #1-18, Unwholly, Unsouled, Five Kingdoms #1-2, and at least 41 of the Hardy Boys books.  So, around 63 books were repeats, and around 168 books were read for the first time.

My Journey through Boys' Series

I have never cared for boys' series books.  That is... I didn't think that I cared for them.  The only boys' series I had read were the Hardy Boys, Perry Pierce, and Ken Holt.  While I overall enjoyed the Hardy Boys books, I did not like certain aspects of them, such as some of the boisterous behavior of the boys.  I enjoyed Perry Pierce more than the Hardy Boys, but I also didn't care for similar situations.  When I read Ken Holt back in 2010, I struggled with the great detail and some of the qualities shared with the former two series.  Based on those experiences, I concluded that I didn't like boys' series books very much.

In the last year I have read the Three Investigators, Brains Benton, the Power Boys, Rick Brant, Roger Baxter, Troy Nesbit, and Biff Brewster.  I greatly enjoyed most all of the books in most of the series.  I read the Ken Holt books again, and I liked them better than I did in 2010.  Since I responded quite well to most of the books in these boys' series, I can now conclude that I do in fact like boys' series books.  This is quite a revelation for me, since I thought that I didn't like boys' books.

Since I have been hungrily reading as many boys' books as I can as fast as I can, I have paid particular attention to the recommendations of boys' series enthusiasts so that I can acquire more books to read.  Several collectors recommend the Tom Quest books.  In fact, the comments to a post I made on Facebook caused me to build a set of the Tom Quest books with the idea of reading them right after Biff Brewster.  I was able to get all eight books at reasonable prices.

Since I built the set in one hour by perusing several online sites, some of the books have flaws.  I had to take the best of what was available that evening, since I wanted to build the set fast in order to have it on hand by the time I finished Biff Brewster.  Even with flaws, the set is a good solid set that I will enjoy reading.

Meanwhile, several collectors have recommended the Mill Creek Irregulars, which is also known as the Steve and Sim series.  The series consists of ten books written by August Derleth.  I decided that I wanted to try these books.  I wanted copies with jackets in at least very good condition, but these books are much more expensive and hard to find than the Tom Quest books.  I would have to invest quite a bit in order to build a set, and I didn't want to do this without a better idea of whether I would enjoy the books.  This meant that I needed to secure the first title to see how I responded to the beginning of the series.

I purchased the first two books with dust jackets off of AbeBooks.  While I was waiting for these books, I was busy reading the Biff Brewster series and was greatly enjoying them.  When the two books arrived, I read the beginning of the first book, The Moon Tenders.  The text flows so well, and the book pulled me in immediately.  Reading those opening pages was like eating a delectable dessert.  It was that good!  I quit reading after a bit and decided that I would purchase more of the set.  I kept getting pulled back to The Moon Tenders, and I found myself obsessed with it.  I forced myself to quit on the third chapter, since I didn't have the set.  I told myself that I would not allow myself to read another word until I had all ten books in my possession.  That settled that.

I then found myself thinking of The Moon Tenders while continuing with Biff Brewster.  It was an internal struggle to keep myself going with Biff Brewster.  I try to avoid reading anything else while reading a series, because I can so easily throw myself off.  Reading most of the first three chapters of The Moon Tenders was enough to nearly pull me away from Biff Brewster. 

I decided that I had to get the entire set of the Mill Creek Irregulars.  I ordered six of the eight titles that I still needed.  Volumes 3 and 4 were problematic.  The Pinkertons Ride Again and The Ghost of Black Hawk Island were in low supply online, especially The Ghost of Black Hawk Island.  Several days passed before I finally settled on which copies I would purchase for those two titles. 

I then eagerly awaited my purchases.  I was nervous about The Ghost of Black Hawk Island since so few copies were available and I had to pay more than I would have preferred.  Finally, I had all ten books in my possession.  16 days passed between submitting my order for the first two books and receiving the final book that I needed.  It didn't take me long to complete the set!

Except for a few minor wear issues, the books and jackets are in excellent condition.  None of the books are library discards, with the exception of the one that is surplus from the Library of Congress Copyright Office.  As far as I'm concerned, that one does not count as a library discard, since it did not come from a public library and was never circulated.  One book was signed by August Derleth.  I am very pleased with the books.

I have started reading the Tom Quest series, and so far, I am greatly enjoying the first book.  I started the first Tom Quest book two days before my final book arrived to complete the Mill Creek Irregulars set.  I will finish Tom Quest before I begin the Mill Creek Irregulars, but it is next on my list. 

After that, I'm not sure what will be next.  It depends upon whether I build another set of a boys' series to read.  If I don't have another set compiled, then I will read the Hardy Boys books again.  I have not read the Hardy Boys books in 20 years.  I'd like to see what I think of the Hardy Boys now that I have read a good many boys' series books. 

Items for Sale + Reading Update

I have two extra issues of Schoolgirls' Weekly that I placed on eBay yesterday.  I used an auction for each, just in case more than one person is interested.  You can find them in this category of my eBay store.

I also listed some new books on eBay yesterday in order to avoid losing out on most of my remaining January free listings.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

I haven't listed any new books on Bonanza, but I have most of a set of Rick Brant books available in addition to many other nice books different from what I have listed on eBay.

Jennifer's Series Books on Bonanza

I finished reading one of the Brains Benton books by Charles Morgan last night.  The book was The Case of the Lost Loot.  As with most self-published books, it does have some errors in the text, but the story is so excellent that I didn't mind at all.  There are probably a few mistakes per chapter.  There are not a huge number of mistakes, but they always stand out when I read books.  The book is outstanding and is a worthy addition to the Brains Benton series.

When I finished the book, I reflected that I had just read a story that is better than anything Simon and Schuster has published for Nancy Drew ever since they took over the publication of Nancy Drew.  Yes, I'm saying that this Brains Benton book is better than all of the Nancy Drew Digest, Girl Detective, and Diaries books.  It's also better than some of the original 56 books as well.

The reason I compared the book to Nancy Drew is because I read the eighth Nancy Drew Diaries book, The Magician's Secret, a few days ago.  It's sad how far Nancy Drew has fallen.  The new Nancy Drew books lack that spark that makes a book special.  The Case of the Lost Loot has that spark.  There were several scenes during The Case of the Lost Loot when I was utterly delighted by a passage.

Many of the best books available today are being published by independent authors.  The publishing companies have their own agendas, and people who are able to write creatively and not have to answer to an editor are able to create wonderful books. 

The Brains Benton books by Charles Morgan are available on Lulu.com.

I read 21 books in January, so I'm on track to read almost as many books as I did last year.  I am going to read three more books by Charles Morgan this week.  After that, I will choose from the books seen in the following photo.

Most of the books were purchased with the intent to try them to see whether I should pursue additional books by those authors.  The last three on the right were purchased because they are by the authors of Rick Brant and Ken Holt, and I definitely plan to read them.

I also want to read the fourth book in Neal Shusterman's Unwind Dystology, but I'm not sure whether I will do that this month or wait awhile.

Cherry Ames and Biff Brewster are still on my list of series that I want to read soon.  I also want to read the Hardy Boys books again, but I don't think I will choose those in the next few months.

I know that some of you want me to review certain series or books, and I'm sure some of you want me to get back to girls' series.  I have been asked several times in the last year if I will review the Nancy Drew Files.  That's way too big of a commitment right now, and I don't have the motivation for it.  I have read them before, and I found the set difficult to get through because of too much repetition.  I'm going to have to be finished with absolutely all other books I want to read in the near future before I read those again.  I'd like to review them someday, but I don't have the stamina for them at this time.

I have to want to read a book.  If I'm not in the mood, it's not going to happen.  I'm not sure how many of the books in the above photo that I will try this month, because to be honest, I'm not sure I'm in the mood for some of them.  Hopefully, I will have the motivation to try several of them.