2017 reading list
So, inspired by clea2011 and fififolle who are doing book reading bingo, and also cordeliadelayne who is aiming to read 100 books this year (100!?!), I've decided to make a record of what I'm reading in 2017. I've never done this before so have no previous 'stats' to compare it to, but I think it will be interesting to see just how much, and what, I read over the course of a year.
I've decided to include magazines as well as books, because I have subscriptions to a monthly writing magazine and a monthly archaeology magazine, and also regularly buy a (surprise surprise, monthly) astronomy magazine (sometimes I think I have too many interests!), so between them they occupy a fair amount of my potential 'reading time', and I've decided they qualify as legitimate non-fiction reading the same as a non-fiction book.
As it's very much a work in progress, I might faff with the format of this post over the course of the year, but hopefully I'll remember to keep it updated regularly.
Magazines
January
Current Archaeology 281 Aug 2013
Current Archaeology 282 Sept 2013
Current Archaeology 283 Oct 2013
Current Archaeology 284 Nov 2013
Current Archaeology 285 Dec 2013
Current Archaeology 286 Jan 2014
(don't ask why I'm reading magazines from three years ago! CA arrives in the post every month, and I think these came at a time when I was having a bad patch and not reading, so I kept putting them aside and intending to read them later and never did. I found them at New Year when I was having a tidy out, and decided it was time!)
Astronomy Now special edition - Saturn: Exploring the Ringed Planet (technically I started reading this in 2016, but it got carried over as I only finished it this month)
Astronomy Now Dec 2016 vol 30 no 12
Astronomy Now Jan 2017 vol 31 no 1
Astronomy Now Feb 2017 vol 31 no 2 (yes, I was having a catch up on a small backlog of these as well!)
Current Archaeology 287 Feb 2014
Current Archaeology 288 March 2014
Current Archaeology 289 April 2014
Current Archaeology 290 May 2014
February
Writing Magazine Feb 2017
Astronomy Now special edition - Hubble: The Universe Revealed
Writing Magazine March 2017
New Scientist 3112, 25th Feb
March
Astronomy Now March 2017 vol 31 no 3
Current Archaeology 323 Feb 2017
History Revealed March 2017 (I only bought this for the article about King Arthur and the 'real' history behind the myths, but ended up reading it pretty much cover to cover).
Military History Monthly July 2013 (this came as a free gift along with one of those backlog of Current Archaeology magazines I was reading in January. Thought I may as well have a look since it was free. Won't be buying this one by choice...)
April
Current Archaeology 324 March 2017
Writing Magazine April 2017
May
Astronomy Now April 2017 vol 31 no 4
June
Current Archaeology 325 April 2017
Current Archaeology 326 May 2017
Astronomy Now May 2017 vol 31 no 5
July
Writing Magazine May 2017
New Scientist 3123, 29th April 2017
New Scientist 3135, 22nd July 2017
Astronomy Now June 2017 vol 31 no 6
Ancient History issue 9 March/April 2017 (OMGSQUEE! I have finally found a magazine that covers ancient Greece and Rome and occasionally takes a sideways dive into ancient Egypt and Meopotamia!)
August
Writing Magazine June 2017
Current Archaeology 327 June 2017
Astronomy Now July 2017 vol 31 no 7
Astronomy Now August 2017 vol 31 no 8
Writing Magazine July 2017
Current Archaeology 328 July 2017
Writing Magazine August 2017
New Scientist 3140, 26th August 2017
September
Astronomy Now September 2017
Ancient History issue 10 May/June 2017
Ancient History issue 11 July/Aug 2017 (I could only find this magazine in *one* branch of WHSmiths, and now they appear to have stopped stocking it. Can't find it *anywhere* else. Seriously considering taking out a subscription as that appears to be the only way I'll get to read any future issues :-( Very annoyed about this, as I really don't need *another* magazine subscription. As long as I was just buying it when I saw it in the shop it was fine because there as no commitment. Am I having commitment issues with a magazine? Maybe.)
October
Current Archaeology 329 August 2017
Current Archaeology 330 September 2017
Current Archaeology 331 October 2017
November
New Scientist 3143, 16th September 2017
December
Astronomy Now October 2017
New Scientist 3147, 14th October 2017
Astronomy Now November 2017
New Scientist 3148, 21st October 2017
Writing Magazine September 2017
Writing Magazine October 2017
Writing Magazine November 2017
New Scientist 3149, 28th October 2017
Writing Magazine December 2017
New Scientist 3150, 4th November 2017
Sky At Night Magazine September 2017
Astronomy Now December 2017
New Scientist 3152, 18th November 2017
New Scientist 3153, 25th November 2017
New Scientist 3156, 16th December 2017
Books
Veni Vidi Vici - Everything you ever wanted to know about the Romans but were afraid to ask, by Peter Jones. Non-fiction. Started 30/1/17. Abandoned for a while, started again 3/3/17 - finished 12/3/17
Fatal Shadows (Adrien English book 1), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 8/2/17 - finished 10/2/17
A Dangerous Thing (Adrien English book 2), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 10/2/17 - finished 11/2/17
The Hell You Say (Adrien English book 3), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 11/2/17 - finished 12/2/17
Death of a Pirate King (Adrien English book 4), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). started 13/2/17 - finished 15/2/17
The Dark Tide (Adrien English book 5), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 15/2/17 - finished 17/2/17
So This is Christmas (Adrien English book 6), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. Started 1/3/17- finished 2/3/17
It, by Stephen King. Fiction (re-read, have actually read this several times since first discovering SK as a teenager, but it's been probably over ten years since the last time so I felt it was overdue). started 29/3/17 - finished 14/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 16/4/17 - finished 17/4/17 (yes, I know it's a children's book, shut up. Someone I know on tumblr kept going on about these books and I found it cheap in a charity shop and it has Greek mythology and adventure so I thought I'd give it a go. I actually really enjoyed it, so I'll probably be reading the rest of the series now).
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 18/4/17 - finished 21/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 22/4/17 - finished 24/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 25/4/17 - finished 29/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 6/5/17 - finished 20/5/17
The King Must Die, by Mary Renault. Fiction. Started 21/5/17 - finished 27/5/17.
Phaestos and Ayia Triada (site guide book), by Stella Kalogeraki, trans by Jill Pittinger. non-fiction. started 24/5/17 - 26/5/17
Homo Brittanicus - the incredible story of human life in Britain, by Chris Stringer. non-fiction. started 29/5/17 - finished 16/6/17
The Story of English - how the English language conquered the world, by Philip Gooden, non-fiction. started 18/6/17 - finished 7/7/2017
Confronting The Classics, By Mary Beard. Non-Fiction. Started 13/7/2017 - I seem to have given up on this after about two chapters. :-(
Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, By Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 16/7/2017 - finished 17/7/2017.
Heroes of Olympus - The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 15/7/2017 - finished 20/7/2017
Eureka! - Everything you ever wanted to know about the ancient Greeks but were afraid to ask, by Peter Jones. Non-fiction. Started 26/8/2017 - finished 8/9/17 (see January reading for the other book in this series about the Romans)
A History of Britain volume 1 At the Edge of the World, by Simon Schama. Non-fiction. Started 23/9/2017 - finished 3/10/2017
A History of Britain volume 2 The British Wars, by Simon Schama. Non-fiction. Started 3/10/2017. (This has been abandoned after one chapter as another book that I'd requested from the library came in. Will return to this later).
Northmen - the Viking Saga 793 - 1241, by John Haywood. Non-fiction. Started 12/10/2017 - finished 3/11/17
Just One Damn Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary's bk 1), by Jodi Taylor. Fiction. Started 4/11/17 - finished 5/11/17. I now see why three different friends, entirely independently of each other, have all waved this book at me and said "You have to read this! You'll love it!".
A Symphony of Echoes (The Chronicles of St Mary's bk 2), by Jodi Taylor. Fiction. started 6/11/2017 - finished 7/11/2017
A Second Chance (The Chronicles of St Mary's bk 3), by Jodi Taylor. Fiction. Started 8/11/2017 - then temporarily put down as a book that had been requested from the library finally came in.
The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Parry. Fiction. started 13/11/2017 - finished 27/11/2017. This was far more 'literary' than my usual taste in reading, but I thought it looked interesting and I'd give it a go. I'm quite glad I got it from the library for free rather than buying it. It was alright, but I got to the end and was a bit, 'what, was that it?'.
I've decided to include magazines as well as books, because I have subscriptions to a monthly writing magazine and a monthly archaeology magazine, and also regularly buy a (surprise surprise, monthly) astronomy magazine (sometimes I think I have too many interests!), so between them they occupy a fair amount of my potential 'reading time', and I've decided they qualify as legitimate non-fiction reading the same as a non-fiction book.
As it's very much a work in progress, I might faff with the format of this post over the course of the year, but hopefully I'll remember to keep it updated regularly.
Magazines
January
Current Archaeology 281 Aug 2013
Current Archaeology 282 Sept 2013
Current Archaeology 283 Oct 2013
Current Archaeology 284 Nov 2013
Current Archaeology 285 Dec 2013
Current Archaeology 286 Jan 2014
(don't ask why I'm reading magazines from three years ago! CA arrives in the post every month, and I think these came at a time when I was having a bad patch and not reading, so I kept putting them aside and intending to read them later and never did. I found them at New Year when I was having a tidy out, and decided it was time!)
Astronomy Now special edition - Saturn: Exploring the Ringed Planet (technically I started reading this in 2016, but it got carried over as I only finished it this month)
Astronomy Now Dec 2016 vol 30 no 12
Astronomy Now Jan 2017 vol 31 no 1
Astronomy Now Feb 2017 vol 31 no 2 (yes, I was having a catch up on a small backlog of these as well!)
Current Archaeology 287 Feb 2014
Current Archaeology 288 March 2014
Current Archaeology 289 April 2014
Current Archaeology 290 May 2014
February
Writing Magazine Feb 2017
Astronomy Now special edition - Hubble: The Universe Revealed
Writing Magazine March 2017
New Scientist 3112, 25th Feb
March
Astronomy Now March 2017 vol 31 no 3
Current Archaeology 323 Feb 2017
History Revealed March 2017 (I only bought this for the article about King Arthur and the 'real' history behind the myths, but ended up reading it pretty much cover to cover).
Military History Monthly July 2013 (this came as a free gift along with one of those backlog of Current Archaeology magazines I was reading in January. Thought I may as well have a look since it was free. Won't be buying this one by choice...)
April
Current Archaeology 324 March 2017
Writing Magazine April 2017
May
Astronomy Now April 2017 vol 31 no 4
June
Current Archaeology 325 April 2017
Current Archaeology 326 May 2017
Astronomy Now May 2017 vol 31 no 5
July
Writing Magazine May 2017
New Scientist 3123, 29th April 2017
New Scientist 3135, 22nd July 2017
Astronomy Now June 2017 vol 31 no 6
Ancient History issue 9 March/April 2017 (OMGSQUEE! I have finally found a magazine that covers ancient Greece and Rome and occasionally takes a sideways dive into ancient Egypt and Meopotamia!)
August
Writing Magazine June 2017
Current Archaeology 327 June 2017
Astronomy Now July 2017 vol 31 no 7
Astronomy Now August 2017 vol 31 no 8
Writing Magazine July 2017
Current Archaeology 328 July 2017
Writing Magazine August 2017
New Scientist 3140, 26th August 2017
September
Astronomy Now September 2017
Ancient History issue 10 May/June 2017
Ancient History issue 11 July/Aug 2017 (I could only find this magazine in *one* branch of WHSmiths, and now they appear to have stopped stocking it. Can't find it *anywhere* else. Seriously considering taking out a subscription as that appears to be the only way I'll get to read any future issues :-( Very annoyed about this, as I really don't need *another* magazine subscription. As long as I was just buying it when I saw it in the shop it was fine because there as no commitment. Am I having commitment issues with a magazine? Maybe.)
October
Current Archaeology 329 August 2017
Current Archaeology 330 September 2017
Current Archaeology 331 October 2017
November
New Scientist 3143, 16th September 2017
December
Astronomy Now October 2017
New Scientist 3147, 14th October 2017
Astronomy Now November 2017
New Scientist 3148, 21st October 2017
Writing Magazine September 2017
Writing Magazine October 2017
Writing Magazine November 2017
New Scientist 3149, 28th October 2017
Writing Magazine December 2017
New Scientist 3150, 4th November 2017
Sky At Night Magazine September 2017
Astronomy Now December 2017
New Scientist 3152, 18th November 2017
New Scientist 3153, 25th November 2017
New Scientist 3156, 16th December 2017
Books
Veni Vidi Vici - Everything you ever wanted to know about the Romans but were afraid to ask, by Peter Jones. Non-fiction. Started 30/1/17. Abandoned for a while, started again 3/3/17 - finished 12/3/17
Fatal Shadows (Adrien English book 1), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 8/2/17 - finished 10/2/17
A Dangerous Thing (Adrien English book 2), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 10/2/17 - finished 11/2/17
The Hell You Say (Adrien English book 3), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 11/2/17 - finished 12/2/17
Death of a Pirate King (Adrien English book 4), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). started 13/2/17 - finished 15/2/17
The Dark Tide (Adrien English book 5), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. (re-read). Started 15/2/17 - finished 17/2/17
So This is Christmas (Adrien English book 6), by Josh Lanyon. Fiction. Started 1/3/17- finished 2/3/17
It, by Stephen King. Fiction (re-read, have actually read this several times since first discovering SK as a teenager, but it's been probably over ten years since the last time so I felt it was overdue). started 29/3/17 - finished 14/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 16/4/17 - finished 17/4/17 (yes, I know it's a children's book, shut up. Someone I know on tumblr kept going on about these books and I found it cheap in a charity shop and it has Greek mythology and adventure so I thought I'd give it a go. I actually really enjoyed it, so I'll probably be reading the rest of the series now).
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 18/4/17 - finished 21/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 22/4/17 - finished 24/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 25/4/17 - finished 29/4/17
Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 6/5/17 - finished 20/5/17
The King Must Die, by Mary Renault. Fiction. Started 21/5/17 - finished 27/5/17.
Phaestos and Ayia Triada (site guide book), by Stella Kalogeraki, trans by Jill Pittinger. non-fiction. started 24/5/17 - 26/5/17
Homo Brittanicus - the incredible story of human life in Britain, by Chris Stringer. non-fiction. started 29/5/17 - finished 16/6/17
The Story of English - how the English language conquered the world, by Philip Gooden, non-fiction. started 18/6/17 - finished 7/7/2017
Confronting The Classics, By Mary Beard. Non-Fiction. Started 13/7/2017 - I seem to have given up on this after about two chapters. :-(
Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, By Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 16/7/2017 - finished 17/7/2017.
Heroes of Olympus - The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan. Fiction. Started 15/7/2017 - finished 20/7/2017
Eureka! - Everything you ever wanted to know about the ancient Greeks but were afraid to ask, by Peter Jones. Non-fiction. Started 26/8/2017 - finished 8/9/17 (see January reading for the other book in this series about the Romans)
A History of Britain volume 1 At the Edge of the World, by Simon Schama. Non-fiction. Started 23/9/2017 - finished 3/10/2017
A History of Britain volume 2 The British Wars, by Simon Schama. Non-fiction. Started 3/10/2017. (This has been abandoned after one chapter as another book that I'd requested from the library came in. Will return to this later).
Northmen - the Viking Saga 793 - 1241, by John Haywood. Non-fiction. Started 12/10/2017 - finished 3/11/17
Just One Damn Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary's bk 1), by Jodi Taylor. Fiction. Started 4/11/17 - finished 5/11/17. I now see why three different friends, entirely independently of each other, have all waved this book at me and said "You have to read this! You'll love it!".
A Symphony of Echoes (The Chronicles of St Mary's bk 2), by Jodi Taylor. Fiction. started 6/11/2017 - finished 7/11/2017
A Second Chance (The Chronicles of St Mary's bk 3), by Jodi Taylor. Fiction. Started 8/11/2017 - then temporarily put down as a book that had been requested from the library finally came in.
The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Parry. Fiction. started 13/11/2017 - finished 27/11/2017. This was far more 'literary' than my usual taste in reading, but I thought it looked interesting and I'd give it a go. I'm quite glad I got it from the library for free rather than buying it. It was alright, but I got to the end and was a bit, 'what, was that it?'.