My Top Ten Series in 2022

Posted on November 8, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

My Top Ten Series in 2022
TTT for November 8, 2022
#TopTenTuesday

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The topic for Top Ten Tuesday today is Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish.
It was a good opportunity for me to check what series I have been reading from this year so far.
I realize I have read books from 21 series, which is more than I thought. According to my stats, that’s 33% of my total reads so far.

I have read an entire series (5 books) – see below The Once and Future King.
Six series I have decided to stop after reading only 1 or 2 books.

I have happily continued 6 series. So my post will focus on these.
And to make 10, I will pick 3 series among the 8 I have started this year and that sound very promising.

My series will be very different from most posts I have the feeling, so I’m sure you can discover some great ones here.
Three are classics in English, and the others are in French, or translated from the Japanese or the Chinese. They all have at least one book available in English translation.

Click on covers to read my reviews on learn more about these books

1. The series I have started and finished this year: 5 audiobooks
The Once and Future King, by T. H. White

2-7: Series I have enjoyed continuing in 2022

The Inspector Maigret series by Georges Simenon has 75 books.
I’m currently reading #20 with one of my French students.

The Sharko & Henebelle series by Franck Thilliez has 12 titles.
I have read 5.

The Arsène Lupin series by Maurice Leblanc has 18 novels (plus 39 short stories and 5 plays). I have read 2 novels.

The 9 series by Marc Levy has 3 titles so far, and I have read them all.
Here is a short review of volume 2.

The Inspector Alan Grant series by Josephine Tey has 6 books.
I have read 2.

The Kyoichiro Kaga series by Keigo Higashino has 10 books,
though only three have been translated into English so far.
I have read two, and just got the third on Netgalley!

8-10: Series I started in 2022 and want to continue

The Remembrance of Earth’s Past Series by Cixin Liu has 4 books so far.
La Saga des Fourmis by Bernard Werber has 3 books.
The Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout has 47 books, and they are all highly rated.
That should keep me busy for a while.

Have YOU read
or are YOU planning to read any of these?
Please leave the link to your own post,
so I can visit.

Paris in July 2022: Day 5

Posted on July 5, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

Paris in July 2022
#ParisinJuly
Co-hosted by Readerbuzz and Thyme For Tea

Day 5

Sharing more on the 26 French books I have read so far this year.
Actually a lot of these I have listened to.

Click on the covers to read my full review,
or get more details on the books

Read in February-March:

Intuitio
This was an intriguing thriller on a fascinating topic: intuition.
A woman working for the FBI knows about this author (main character in the book) who seems to have an amazing intuition. So they hire him to try to identify a terrorist who’s been bombing towers all over the US, and also to try to identify the next target.
It’s based on real scientific data. In fact, Gounelle explains that he went through these tests, and they seem to work. And some police forces do use these techniques.
I liked the pace, and some great twists in the plot.

Gataca
The first chapters are VERY depressing, but then, it becomes so fascinating with Thilliez’ usual gift at inserting awesome and accurate science into his novels.
Here genetics and evolutionary paleontology. I learned so much, for instance on laterality. The parts about lactose intolerance were so informative.

Lean on Me
VERDICT: Romance and social analysis of the impact of urban life on human nature. An exquisite French mix.

Chez les Flamands
As usual, Simenon is fabulous at creating and describing an ambiance. The city seems both half asleep and violent, with the cold rain and the raging waters of the Meuse, flooding the area.
What is special to this novel, is the description of the animosity between French and Flemish people in the same city.

Le Fou de Bergerac
Yes, you are going to see a bunch of Maigret books here, as I have been reading them in order with one of my French students.
This was an unusual one. For the first time in the series, there was a lot of humor, in Maigret’s situation and habits, and in the descriptions of locals.
And for once, we really get to know Madame Maigret.

L’Aiguille creuse
The style does betray its age (the book was published in 1909), but still, I enjoyed the plot, the enigma, and the characters – especially of course the many disguises adopted by Lupin; but also Herlock Sholmès!
It was neat to see also how we get closer and closer to discover the real meaning of the title.

HAVE YOU READ THESE BOOKS?
OR BOOKS BY THESE AUTHORS?

2022: February wrap-up

Posted on March 1, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

FEBRUARY 2022 WRAP-UP

With the world events, I debated sharing about the books I have read.
Praying is definitely more important than reading at this point, but I guess some of you may experience comfort in the usual routine, so here we go.

February had only 28 days, so it seemed I read less. In fact, my average page per day was higher than in January, and I also had more listening time for audiobooks.

So far, I have managed to review everything.

📚 Here is what I read in February:

12 books:
9 in print
= with 2,082 pages, a daily average of 74 pages/day
3 in audio
= 40H05, a daily average of 1H25

4 in mystery:

Intuitio, by Laurent Gounelle – French audio
Gataca [Bred to Kill], by Franck Thilliez – French audio
The Final Days of Abbot Montrose, by Sven Elvestad – Norwegian classic
Maigret chez les Flamands (Maigret #15), by Georges Simenon – read with a French student