January TBR

 Let's start this year and with that in mind, I have a very nice list. 

To start off Readathons

Buzzwordathon by Keyla from BooksandLala the link to the announcement. The gist of it is, we have a word or set of words and we look for books that include it;  in the title or the series name.

1. When the art of perfect timing, Stuart Albert. This is a nonfiction. Timing is everything. Whether we are making strategic business decisions or the smallest personal choice, we must decide not only what to do, but when to do it. Act too early--or too late--and the results can be disastrous. Based on a 20-year investigation into more than 2,000 timing issues and errors, When presents a single and practical approach for dealing with timing in life and business.

2. How to lead when you are not in charge by Clay Scroggins. Another nonfiction I need to get through for work. It should bring very good team-building experiences. The pitch sold to me "will help you nurture your vision and cultivate influence, even when you lack authority in your organization. And he will free you to become the great leader you want to be so you can make a difference right where you are." 

3. What we believe but cannot prove by John Brockman. When I say to myself that I wish to read more nonfiction works in the science department but at the same time I don't want to put myself in a slump. Sometimes those works are a bit bland even if the subject discussed is interesting and so it takes me forever to get through. So the nice middle ground was this. The pitch: "Eminent cultural impresario, editor, and publisher of Edge (www.edge.org), John Brockman asked a group of leading scientists and thinkers to answer the question: What do you believe to be true even though you cannot prove it? This book brings together the very best answers from the most distinguished contributors." 

4. How we disappeared by Jong-Jing Lee. This is historical fiction. I am not sure this is a book I will be able to get through. The pitch: "Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child." 

Trigger warning: Rape, kidnapping, possible torture.
This is part of some horrific tragedies that have passed over all over the world in consequence of wars and squabble. Most of the time people never talk about it, the winner writes the story.  And no matter what sides, atrocities are committed while authorities are unable to stop it or they are too busy looking the other way. 

Series I wish to continue/Start

5. The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan. This is a fantasy story based on a chosen one, very weird magic abilities based on gender and with wars breaking out between good and evil plus a few gray area parties.  This might be spoilers: 

"The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.
In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?
In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn. In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland. In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve. Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn"

6. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells. This is the 4th book following Murderbot.
"Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.
But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?
And what will become of it when it’s caught?" 

7. Home: Habitat, range, niche, territory by Martha Wells. This short story is told from the point of view of Dr. Mensah and follows the events in Exit Strategy. 

8. Shaman King omnibus vol 5, Hiroyuki Takei. This includes volumes13, 14 and 15. Yoh and his friends are still trying to find their way in the Shaman King. Anna was told the Asakura secret and now her mission is to find Yoh and train him in order to prepare him to face their greatest enemy. 

9. Wolves of Calla by Stepehn King. This is the 5th in the Dark Tower. "Roland and his tet have just returned to the path of the Beam when they discover that they are being followed by a group of inexperienced trackers. The trackers are from the town of Calla Bryn Sturgis, and they desperately need the help of gunslingers. Once every generation, a band of masked riders known as the Wolves gallop out of the dark land of Thunderclap to steal one half of all the twins born in the Callas." 

In my Author challenge we have:

10. The girl who loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. "Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher, she listens to baseball games and fantasizes that her hero will save her. Nature isn't her only adversary, though - something dangerous may be tracking Trisha through the dark woods." 

11. Heart in Atlantis by Stephen King. A short story collection. Five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War. 

12. Crooked house by Agatha Christie. Published in 1949. This is one that is not part of any of the detectives. The pitch: "In the sprawling, half-timbered mansion in the affluent suburb of Swinly Dean, Aristide Leonides lies dead from barbiturate poisoning. An accident? Not likely. In fact, suspicion has already fallen on his luscious widow, a cunning beauty fifty years his junior, set to inherit a sizeable fortune, and rumored to be carrying on with a strapping young tutor comfortably ensconced in the family estate. But criminologist Charles Hayward is casting his own doubts on the innocence of the entire Leonides brood. He knows them intimately. And he's certain that in a crooked house such as Three Gables, no one's on the level." 

13. A murder is Announced by Agatha Christie. This is the 4th Miss Marple in her detective series. "The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple who is staying nearby, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.’ Is this a childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd gathers at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out." 

14. A time to kill by John Grisham. The first book in the Jake Brigance series. Book description: 
"The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young men. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime. That is, until her black father acquires an assault rifle and takes matters into his hands.
For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life, and then his own." 

Trigger warning: Mention of rape, pedophilia. 

Other books

15.  Wife upstairs by Rachel Hawkins. This is a mystery/thriller that was mentioned by several people online. I know very little the pitch I've seen:
"Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates—a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.
But her luck changes when she meets Eddie­ Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie—not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for." 

16. Apples never fall by Liane Moriarty. A 2021 mystery/thriller release. The pitch " a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest. The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . . If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?" That is enough to pique my interest. 

17. Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and translator Geoffrey Trousselot. The small blurb is enough to dive right in, this is book one in the series of the same name. 
"What would you change if you could go back in time?
In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold." 

This book was also selected to cover a few other of my challenges. It is by an author from a different country, it's a translated work and the first book in a series by a new to me author. Overall I can tick off a few goals in one.

18. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. A harsh and moving historical fiction. This is the sneak peak "In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant — and that her lover is married — she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations." 

19. The shadow king by Maaza Mengiste. This is another historical fiction story involving some very heavy topics.
"A gripping novel set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King takes us back to the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who were left out of the historical record.
With the threat of Mussolini’s army looming, recently orphaned Hirut struggles to adapt to her new life as a maid in Kidane and his wife Aster’s household. Kidane, an officer in Emperor Haile Selassie’s army, rushes to mobilize his strongest men before the Italians invade. His initial kindness to Hirut shifts into a flinty cruelty when she resists his advances, and Hirut finds herself tumbling into a new world of thefts and violations, of betrayals and overwhelming rage. Meanwhile, Mussolini’s technologically advanced army prepares for an easy victory. Hundreds of thousands of Italians—Jewish photographer Ettore among them—march on Ethiopia seeking adventure." 

Rereads

The illuminae files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. This is a Sci-fi romance. This is the gist of the first book: 
"This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra — who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy, and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents — including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more — Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes." 

It includes

20. Illuminae

21. Gemina

22. Obsidio

23. A game of thrones by George R.R. Martin. There is really no need to introduce this series. I am still trying to get through it. I will reread the first book so I can continue and catch up to the last published one. 

As if that was not enough I really want to try to start a few more mangas:

Black Butler by Yana Toboso translator Tomo Kimura. "In the Victorian ages of London The Earl of the Phantomhive house, Ciel Phantomhive, needs to get his revenge on those who had humiliated him and destroyed what he loved. Not being able to do it alone he sells his soul to a demon he names Sebastian Michaelis. Now working as his butler, Sebastian must help the Earl Phantomhive" 

I wish to get through a few volumes per month. I have not verified but I think the library has the whole library, so unless other people are also in the middle of it, I should be able to check out a few at a time.