Goodreads.com insists that I’m still two books off my pace. There is nothing like a little pressure to make me feel like it’s OK to sit on the sofa all day with a book.

Two books.

Take note that Goodreads gives no credit for writing a book. Which I dare say should count for at LEAST two readings. At least.

13. The Spellmans Strike Again– Lisa Lutz
14. The Trail of the Spellmans– Lisa Lutz
I met Lisa Lutz at Bouchercon last year. I would say that she was nice, but I’m not sure that’s the best descriptor. She’s funny as hell, and she and her co-author (of another book, which I also really like, Heads You Lose) had a schtick going where they couldn’t stand to be seated next to each other, their writing relationship had grown so sour. If it’s not schtick, then at least it was enjoyable for the rest of us to watch. I’m caught up with the Spellmans now. Quick, someone meet me at the watercooler to talk about them. I’m hardly ever caught up on anything.

15. Search the Dark– Charles Todd
Third in a series that I’m still enjoying a lot. (And case in point in how I’m never caught up on anything—I have some ways to go to catch up with Todd.) These are the England between the wars mysteries where the protagonist detective has some help from an interesting source. Now if one-half of Charles Todd opens a door for me at Bouchercon this year, I can say I LOVE YOUR BOOKS with all honesty.

16. The Cater Street Hangman– Anne Perry
I heard about this series from a book by agent Don Maass. He’s in the selling business, and it worked. I did like this book, though I’d been hoping for a more solid finish. There are about 30 of these books, so if I’d found a new vein of reading gold, I would have a long stretch of catching up in my future. I decided to read #2 (see below).

17. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection– Alexander McCall Smith
Oh, I do love the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I don’t care if anyone else does. They’re so charming. They’re far too short, of course. This is the #13, I think. I already started re-reading them as the mood strikes, for pure enjoyment.

18. Callandar Square– Anne Perry
The second in the series I was trying to get into. I like the writing, I like the characters, but once again, the mystery’s ending isn’t strong enough for my tastes. In mystery writing, there’s a thing called “fair play,” where the author provides all the clues for the reader to solve the crime by the end with the detective. In this particular book, I don’t think the reader was dealt a fair hand. It might not bother every reader, but it bothers me. If anyone’s read the third one and liked it, can you let me know?

19. I Capture the Castle– Dodie Smith
This is a re-read from years past, a favorite that I found late in the game. Well, it was published in the ’40s, so who among us discovered it early in the game? It’s a coming-of-age story set in the English countryside in the 1930s. One of the reasons I like it is because the family is so devastatingly poor. It’s a bit of a Cinderella turnaround, don’t worry, but I like that the book has some economics to it. That makes it sound boring, doesn’t it? It’s not.

Now I’d better get on with my reading goal, or I’ll be shamed in the Goodreads.com community forever.