My Goodreads Book Reading Challenges

On 2 Jan 2024 By SCLMRoseIn #Books, #mustreadbooks, Biography, Goodreads, Historical Novels, Memoirs, Reading ChallengeLeave a comment

There are book challenges that I have joined on Goodreads, but it’s not working for me, so in 2023, I did not enter any. I read whatever interested me and enjoyed them rather than attempting to reach a certain number of books and rushing to meet the quantity of books for my challenge. I want to enjoy every book I read, which I did except one – The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata by Gina Apostol. This particular book has lengthy footnotes on every page that distract the flow of the story. Some pages have one sentence or a short paragraph; the rest are all footnotes in small print. I could not get the hang of it. I read it early on and quit. Then I started again, and I’m now on p. 120 out of 342 pages, and I gave up again. I don’t know if I want to continue. I never gave up on any book, but with this one, I had it. If I could read War and Peace, all 1461 pages, I could deal with any book, but I could not stand those lengthy footnotes in this book. And the storyline is not at all interesting.

One factor of my book challenge this year is that I joined a book club, so I must read the book club choices, which often are not books I will choose to read. I like historical fiction and WWII books about the Pacific Theater. I’m starting to catch up on classics, so I read War and Peace this year.

Since 2010, I’ve been keeping track of how many books I read. I am not a fast reader and spend my days doing all sorts of projects, too. I write most of the time, and when I take a break, I either work in the garden or read. Besides, I also do some voluntary work and walk my son’s dog while my son is at work. So, my days are full of fun activities that I enjoy.

Looking at the chart, I realized I did more reading after my husband was diagnosed with Late Stage Kidney Disease in 2015, and I quit my volunteer work one by one. As his illness progressed and he needed more care, my reading slowly dropped, starting in 2018 when I had to give him two peritoneal dialyzes a day. After he passed away in 2020, I was so stricken with grief that I could not do much reading. Then, with the help of some friends, I went back to writing and devoted much of my time to writing late in 2020 and the whole of 2021.

Here are my statistics:

Below are the titles of the 18 books, their authors, and the number of pages I have read in 2023. I probably could have read more, except I read War and Peace, the longest book I have ever read. It’s a big accomplishment for me to do that. It took me 80 days to finish the book. I read between 16-20 pages daily, depending on how much my eyes could handle. They are small print, too, and it was hard on my eyes, but I persevered. It was an excellent book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Name of the Book	Author/Editor	Number of Pages
Barely Legal	Stuart Woods	368
A History of Wild Places	Shea Ernshaw	354
Demon Copperhead	Barbara Kingsolver	560
The Ghost Bride	Yangsze Choo	368
The Quest	Nelson DeMille	458
Linderhof Palace: Official Guide	Gerhard Hojer	62
The Greek Myths: Stories of the Greek Gods and Heroes Vividly Retold	Robin Waterfield	320
Running with the Giants: What the Old Testament Heroes Want You to Know About Life and Leadership	John C. Maxwell	160
Lessons in Chemistry	Bonnie Garmus	390
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women	Lisa See	368
Winning is a Habit: Vince Lombardi on Winning, Success, and the Pursuit of Excellence	Vince Lombardi, Gary George	160
War and Peace – Inner Sanctum Edition	Leo Tolstoy	1461
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine	Gail Honeyman	325
The Zigzag Road: A World War II Story of Love, Faith, Courage and Survival	Rosalinda Rosales Morgan	316
Someone Else’s Shoes	Jojo Moyes	438
Treasury of Christmas Stories	Ann McGovern (Editor), David Lockhart (Illustrator)	151
A Christmas Carol	Trina Schart Hyman	118
The Vintage Caper	Peter Mayle	229

My goal in 2024 is to read 15 books, which is doable in spite of what I have in store for me next year. I still want to read Story of Civilization by Will Durant, an 11-volume series of lengthy tome. That would be a monumental task! My husband did it with a goal of one book a year. He usually read three books simultaneously. I have so many books on my shelf that I want to read, and I will pick up some for this year’s reading. I want to revisit Shogun so that it will be my first choice for 2024.

I have a big writing project that I’m working on, and my schedule will be pretty tight. Of course, I’m also refiguring out my garden, which is time-consuming. I edit two newsletters every quarter, so my time is packed with things to do.

So there we go. I’ll continue writing and reading and then stop and smell the roses!

Traveling the World through Reading

On 25 Jul 201816 Aug 2018 By SCLMRoseIn #amwriting, #Author's Life, #BeautifulPlaces, #Books, #mustreadbooks, #PlacesToSee, #SummerReads, Blogging, Good Writing, Goodreads, Historical Fiction, Literature, World History, Writer's Goal2 Comments

Reading takes you places. As Dr. Suess said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Where in the world will your next book take you?

When I was young, I dreamt of seeing the world. Coming from the back country of the Philippines, I was curious to know what other places look like. I did not get out of Batangas, my home province till I went to college in Manila. I always had that nagging feeling to go abroad and widen my horizon.

When I went to college, I thought of majoring in Foreign Service or Journalism so I could get out of the country. But Dad got a different idea and I ended up in Accounting. He needed an accountant in the family. But that did not thwart my dream of going abroad. I pursued my dream and in 1966. in spite of my fear of flying, I left the Philippines on my first trip abroad when I went to Hongkong and then Japan. There’s an interesting story about that trip which should be an interesting post for later. A year later, in 1967, I left for New York.

While working in the business world, I had no time to read. So fast forward to 2011 when I retired to South Carolina. I started reading in earnest. Here are a few of the books I read which took me to interesting places:

1. Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd – United Kingdom

2. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett – 12^th Century Feudal England

3. A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford – England

4. At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen – Scotland

5. A Monk Swimming by Malachy McCourt – Ireland

6. Helen of Sparta by Amalia Carosella – Paris and Troy

7. The Bells by Richard Harvell – Switzerland, Austria, Italy

8. Raised from the Ground by Jose Saramago – Portugal

9. Winter of the World by Ken Follett – Germany, England, Russia and Washington DC.

10. The Amber Keeper by Freda Lightfoot – England Lake District and Russia

11. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – Russia Federation, Soviet Union

12. The Archimedes Codex – Constantinople, Greece, England and New York

13. The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly – England, Africa

14.Through a Glass Darkly – Karleen Koen – England, France

15. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre – England, East Germany

16.Hawaii by James Mitchener – Hawaii, Bora-Bora

17. Day of Infamy by Walter Lord – Pearl Harbor

18. The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck – China

19.The Fall of Japan by William Craig – Okinawa and Tokyo, Japan

20. Rescue at Los Baños by Bruce Henderson – WWII Philippines

21. Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder – Peru

22. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers – Iraq

23. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – Afghanistan

24. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande – India and New York

25. Don’t Fall off the Mountain by Shirley Maclaine – Virginia, New York, California Africa, India and the Himalayas.

26. Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York’s Legendary Chelsea Hotel by Sherill Tippins – New York

27. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin – New York and Ireland

28. A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert – Wisconsin, Kansas and New York

29. The March by E.L. Doctorow – Georgia to the sea and up the Carolinas (Civil War)

30. The Only Way to Cross: The Golden Era of the Great Atlantic Liners – From the Mauretania to the France and the Queen Elizabeth 2 by John Maxtone-Graham. – Atlantic Ocean Voyage

There you have them – 30 of my most memorable books that I read and travelled worldwide. I hate plane rides and ocean voyages but I have travelled the world through books, experiencing new authors and cultures along the way. I will keep on reading because as Irwin Shaw said, “There are too many books I haven’t read, too many places I haven’t seen, too many memories I haven’t kept long enough.”

Until next time. Stop and Smell the Roses.

Rosalinda

Goodreads Giveaway ends Feb. 28

On 25 Feb 2017 By SCLMRoseIn #Books, #GildedAge, #goodreadsgiveaways, #KirkusReviews, #LongIslandGoldCoast, #LongIslandNY, #lovestory, #RoaringTwenties, #Romance, GoodreadsLeave a comment

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Wentworth Legacy

by Rosalinda Rosales Morgan

Giveaway ends February 28, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Don’t miss the chance to win a signed copy of “The Wentworth Legacy” by Rosalinda R Morgan at Goodreads Giveaways. Enter for a chance to win now. Giveaways ends on Feb. 28 at 11:59 pm. Open only to Goodreads members in U.S.

“This plot-driven, emotionally complex tale effectively details Spencer’s determination to sacrifice his own happiness in favor of his family’s success. An engrossing love story. . . ” – Kirkus Reviews

An urgent telegram from his family’s attorney to come home immediately interrupts Spencer’s carefree life in England in 1927. Spencer A Wentworth, a scion of an old wealthy banking family of the New York Gold Coast in Long Island, returns from a three-year Grand Tour with a big surprise waiting for him that he is not prepared to handle. Thus begins a series of events putting pressure on his personal life. With the stock market about to collapse, he can lose everything including Wentworth Hall, his ancestral home which he was determined to save at all cost even if it means losing the only woman he loves.

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda R Morgan

Author and Garden Writer

Women’s March and “The Iron Butterfly”

On 26 Jan 2017 By SCLMRoseIn #Feminism, #Inspirational, #mustreadbooks, #Parenting, #ThursdayThoughts, Goodreads, Historical Novels, Single Parenthood, Women's Rights MarchLeave a comment

The Iron Butterfly Cover

When I heard about the hullabaloo about the Women’s March, I could not help thinking about my grandmother portrayed in my book called “The Iron Butterfly”

Unlike the boisterous women some of the marchers were, my grandmother tackled the equality rights silently some 90 years ago when equality rights were still unheard of. She had nine children to support when her husband died and left penniless. She did something about her situation. She worked hard and tackled the business world heads on where men still ruled the business world but doing it with grace and her dignity intact. She did something about it without sacrificing her image, a gentle lady with poise and a determined mind and spirit to do what is right for her family. She did not go out on the street whining and demanding to be treated like men. She was a different kind of feminist.

Using vulgar language and making threats are not the ways to make a point. They make women look bad in the face of the world. Working hard and being the best you can be are the only answers to be successful and be heard. I’m glad I was not part of the Women’s March.

“The Iron Butterfly” is available in print and Kindle at www.amazon.com/author/rosalindarmorgan. Ibook, Nook, Kobo and other formats of “The Iron Butterfly” are available at www.smashwords.com.

Until next time – Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda, The Rose Lady

Rosalinda Morgan

Author & Garden Writer

Kindle Countdown Deal for The Wentworth Legacy – 99 cents

On 18 Jan 2017 By SCLMRoseIn #DowntonAbbey, #GildedAge, #LongIslandNY, #PoweredByIndie, #RoaringTwenties, #Romance, Blogging, Goodreads, Historical Fiction, KindleLeave a comment

Starting Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 to Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, you can order the kindle copy of The Wentworth Legacy for 99 cents at Amazon.com.

The Wentworth Legacy Kindle Cover Revised

In 1927 while on a Grand Tour, Spencer A. Wentworth, a young scion of a wealthy old banking family of Long Island, New York Gold Coast, receives an urgent telegram to come home immediately. No explanation. Upon arriving home, he was handed a huge responsibility that he was not prepared for.

As the stock market begins to collapse, he is plagued with worries that the family will lose everything including Wentworth Hall, his ancestral home. Honoring his promise to preserve it, he is determined to save Wentworth Hall at any cost.

His sister, Emma, caught in a love triangle with a married man who ends in a tragic death has her own worries to save the family reputation.

It is a tale of responsibility, love, betrayal and suspense during the Gilded Age with a backdrop of a way of life long gone.

Take advantage of the Kindle Countdown Deal and get your copy today!

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda Morgan, The Rose Lady

Last call of Goodreads Giveaways

On 3 Nov 2016 By SCLMRoseIn #BeautifulPlaces, #Books, #DowntonAbbey, #GildedAge, #LongIslandGoldCoast, #LongIslandNY, #PoweredByIndie, #RoaringTwenties, #Romance, Blogging, Book Promotion, Goodreads, Historical FictionLeave a comment

wentworth_front

The Goodreads Giveaways for The Wentworth Legacy ends tonight at 11:59 pm, Nov. 3. Enter now to win one of 3 signed copies of The Wentworth Legacy, a Long Island Story. It is a tale of responsibility, love, betrayal and suspense during the Gilded Age. Reminds one of Downton Abbey except this is on U.S. soil.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh…

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda Morgan, The Rose Lady

Author of “The Wentworth Legacy”

www.rosalindarmorgan.com

Final Report on my 12-week Challenge

On 3 Nov 2016 By SCLMRoseIn #Author's Life, #Inspirational, #PoweredByIndie, Blogging, Good Writing, Goodreads, Motivation, NaNoWriMo, Writer's Goal, Writing ChallengeLeave a comment

Here is my 12th and final report for my twelve weeks challenge:

1. I made my reading goal for my 12-week challenge. I finished two books this week which means I’m also on track with my Books To Read in 2016 Challenge for Goodreads.

2. However, I did not make my marketing goal of 70 items this week. I only make 34 marketing promotions this week. But I did something important this week. I redesigned my website. I like the new design. Take a look at www.rosalindarmorgan.com and tell me what you think. My Giveaways post on Goodreads have 768 total so far, a gain of 414 entries this week alone. “To Read List” has 308 entries to date, a gain of 172 entries this week alone. The Goodreads Giveaways end tomorrow, Nov. 3 at 11:59 pm. Enter to win one of three signed copies of The Wentworth Legacy.

3. I did not make my word count challenge. I tried but I finished the challenge at 48,506 words. I’m happy I made it this far. But yesterday I decided to do the NaNoWriMo, the National November Writing Month challenge. I have done it the last three years and was able to publish two of my NaNoWriMo novels, The Iron Butterfly published in 2015 and The Wentworth Legacy published in 2016. All are available at www.amazon.com.

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda Morgan, The Rose Lady

Author of “The Wentworth Legacy”

www.rosalindarmorgan.com

Goodreads Giveaways End Soon. Enter for a Chance to Win Now.

On 27 Oct 201627 Oct 2016 By SCLMRoseIn #Books, #DowntonAbbey, #GildedAge, #LongIslandGoldCoast, #PoweredByIndie, #RoaringTwenties, #Romance, Book Promotion, Free Promotion, Goodreads, Historical Fiction, KindleLeave a comment

Goodreads Giveaways for “The Wentworth Legacy” end on Nov. 3, 2016. Don’t miss the chance to win 1 of 3 signed First Edition copies of “The Wentworth Legacy” by Rosalinda R Morgan. Enter for a chance to win now. Open only to Goodreads members in U.S. and Canada.

An urgent telegram to come home interrupts the carefree life of Spencer A Wentworth, a scion of an old banking family of the New York Gold Coast in Long Island, that can change his life forever when he returns from a Grand Tour. Thus begins a series of events putting pressure on his personal life.

With the stock market about to collapse, can the family save the family fortune including Wentworth Hall and retain their way of life as the country gets deeper into the Great Depression? As Spencer struggles with his financial problems, he has to find a way to save his legacy at all cost even if it means losing the only woman he loves.

A tale of responsibility, love, betrayal, and suspense during the Gilded Age.

“The Wentworth Legacy” is available now at amazon.com

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda R Morgan

Author and Garden Writer

My 11th report for my 12-week challenge

On 25 Oct 2016 By SCLMRoseIn #Author's Life, #PoweredByIndie, Blogging, Good Writing, Goodreads, Motivation, Writer's Goal, Writing ChallengeLeave a comment

I’m getting near the end of the challenge. One more week to go. Here is what I did during the 11th week of the challenge:

I finished one book this week and I’m still one book behind on my book-to-read goal. I started another book today and I have to finish reading these two books next week to end my reading goal for my 12-week challenge.
I did not make my marketing goal of 70 items this week. I only make 56 total this week. The Giveaways post on Goodreads have 354 total so far, a gain of 30 entries this week. “To Read List” has 136 entries to date, a gain of 12 entries this week. I’m been posting too much on social media the last 10 weeks. It might be construed as hard-core spamming so I have to tone it down a bit for one week. Next week, I have to do it again in earnest since my Goodreads Giveaways are ending on Nov. 2.

1 posts on Social Media

54 Press Releases

1 Giveaways post on Goodreads

3. I’m still trying to catch up on my word count challenge. I’m only at 44,355 words. I only have a week to catch up. This will be a tough order but I just keep on plugging along. My mind has been preparing for the NANOWRIMO in November so I’m not concentrating on this one. We’ll see what happens next week.

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda Morgan, The Rose Lady

Author of “The Wentworth Legacy”

www.rosalindarmorgan.com

Fifth Report of My 12-Week Challenge

On 12 Sep 2016 By SCLMRoseIn #amwriting, #Author's Life, Blogging, Book Promotion, Goodreads, Motivation, Reading Challenge, Writing ChallengeLeave a comment

Here is my fifth report for my twelve weeks challenge:

My book to read goal is still on target. I finished Angels & Demons by Dan Brown on 9/8/16. I now have to read 5 more books in 7 weeks to make my reading goal for my 12-week challenge.
I made my marketing goal this week – 73 marketing posts/pitches:

3 posts on Social Media. One of them has 191 members. The Giveaways post on Goodreads have 254 entries total, 43 entries this week alone. It have 94 on “to read” list so far.
70 emails and letters to friends.

I’m still way behind my word count challenge. I’m only up to 21,740 words. This week, I’m supposed to be on 25,000 level. I have to double my effort next week.

See you next week.

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda, The Rose Lady

Author of The Wentworth Legacy