Beat the Backlist 2025: 01/01/25

Hosted by Austine of Beat the Backlist.

For the last two years I've had a reading goal of 250 books. I am sticking with that goal. From that goal I set aside 50% to be backlist books. I won't be posting my list of things I want to read yet. I have a case of books in my bedroom as well as a bunch of ebooks on my computer and audiobooks on my phone.

There are two prompts that I'm sure I'll struggle with or might not even finish:

• a book that's 600 pages or more because I don't typically read long books. I have two long books on hand: The Canterbury Tales and the Collected Stories of John Cheever.
• a book from a celebrity book club; again, I don't follow celebrities and I don't care what they're reading or telling us to read.
• For the books released in the year of the snake, that would be years: 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, 1941, 1929, and so forth.

From this year's Beat the Backlist, the breakdown by year is:

• 2023: 38 books
• 2022: 15 books
• 2021: 14 books
• 2020: 15 books
• 2010s: 41 books
• 2000s: 11 books
• 1990s: 5 books
• 1980s: 3 books
• 1970s: 8 books
• 1960s: 7 books
• 1950s: 4 books
• 1940s: 8 books
• 1930s: 2 books
• 1920s: 1 book
• 1910s: 7 books
• 1900s: 4 books

My Beat the Backlist reads for 2024 account for 67% of my reading for the year.

I read through most of Baum's Oz books and January 2025 will finish out his books. But I plan to keep going with Ruth Plumly Thompson's Oz books, although I'm not sure if I'll stick to a monthly reading schedule with hers.

I read a bunch of short stories which might not technically count but I plan to continue with them too.

I also read a bunch of older children's books, ones I learned about on Instagram. I might keep up with reading these older ones but that depends on other factors (like whether or not we end up moving).

There were a number of graphic novels and manga, cozy mysteries, some memoirs, and late in the year: books about the creative process.

Below is my list of my completed backlist books from 2024 and earlier:

2024

1. Ako and Bambi, Volume 2 by Hero and Jan Cash (Translator)
2. Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson and Hallie Bee Bard (Narrator)
3. Booked on Murder by Allison Brook and Mia Gaskin (Narrator)
4. Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala and Danice Cabanela (Narrator)
5. How to Draw the World: Harold and the Purple Crayon and the Making of a Children's Classic by Philip Nel
6. I Feel Awful, Thanks by Lara Pickle
7. Murder at the Rusty Anchor by Maddie Day and Rachel Dulude (Narrator)
8. A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke, Stefanie Kay and Petrea Burchard (Narrators)
9. Night for Day by Roselle Lim (2024)
10. What the Chicken Knows by Sy Montgomery

    2023

11. Captain Stone's Revenge by Carolyn Keene
12. Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 13 by Ryoko Kui
13. The He-Man Effect by Brian Box Brown
14. Huda F Cares by Huda Fahmy
15. Kowloon Generic Romance, Volume 9 by Jun Mayuzuki (2023)
16. Mermedusa by Thomas Taylor
17. Sugar Plum Poisoned by Jenn McKinlay and Susan Boyce (Narrator)
18. The Way of the Bear by Anne Hilerman
19. With or Without You by Eric Smith
20. Oh. It's You.: Love Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano
21. The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter Volume 4 by Kazuki Irodori
22. Paws to Remember by Sofie Kelly and Casandra Campbell (Narrator)
23. Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley and Holly Adams (Narrator)

    2022

24. The Blue Lady of Coffin Hall by Carolyn Keene
25. The Crime That Binds by Laurie Cass and Erin Bennett (Narrator)
26. Eden's Everdark by Karen Strong
27. Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 12 by Ryoko Kui
28. Kowloon Generic Romance, Volume 7 by Jun Mayuzuki
29. Kowloon Generic Romance, Volume 8 by Jun Mayuzuki
30. Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade
31. Steeped in Secrets by Lauren Elliott and Stephanie Richardson (Narrator)
32. Welcome Home to Murder by Rosalie Spielman and Eleanor McCormick (Narrator)
33. Whiskers and Lies by Sofie Kelly and Cassandra Campbell (Narrator)

    2021

34. Bond and Book: The Devotion of "The Surgery Room" by Mizuki Nomura
35. Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney and Henrietta Meire (Narrator)
36. Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 10 by Ryoko Kui
37. Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 11 by Ryoko Kui
38. Ganbatte!: The Japanese Art of Always Moving Forward by Albert Liebermann
39. Kowloon Generic Romance, Volume 5 by Jun Mayuzuki
40. Kowloon Generic Romance, Volume 6 by Jun Mayuzuki
41. Partners in Lime by Bree Baker and Thérèse Plummer (Narrator)

    2020

42. Beautiful Shades of Brown: Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist by Nancy Churnin and Felicia Marshall (Illustrator)
43. From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris and Nancy Wu (Narrator)
44. A Murderous Misconception by Lorraine Bartlett, Gayle Leeson and Jorjeana Marie (Narrator) (2020)
45. Nonsense! The Curious Story of Edward Gorey by Lori Mortensen and Chloe Bristol (Illustrator) (2020)

    2010s

46. Memories and Murder by Lynn Cahoon and Susan Boyce (Narrator) (2019)
47. Sealed Off by Barbara Ross and Dara Rosenberg (Narrator) (2019)
48. Word to the Wise by Jenn McKinlay and Allyson Ryan (Narrator) (2019)
49. Boxes in the Basement by Kathi Daley and Angel Clark (Narrator) (2018)
50. Curses, Boiled Again! by Shari Randall and Tiffany Morgan (Narrator) (2018)
51. Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower and Rebecca Mitchell (Narrator) (2018)
52. The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder and Callie Beaulieu (Narrator) (2018)
53. Killer Party by Lynn Cahoon and Susan Boyce (Narrator) (2017)
54. A Story to Kill by Lynn Cahoon and C.S.E. Cooney (Narrator) (2016)
55. As Gouda as Dead by Avery Aames and Brooke Hoover (Narrator) (2015)
56. Assault and Pepper by Leslie Budewitz and Dana Rosenberg (Narrator) (2015)
57. At the Drop of a Hat by Jenn McKinlay and Karyn O'Bryant (Narrator) (2015)
58. Fatal Reservations by Lucy Burdette and Laura Jennings (Narrator) (2015)
59. Shadow of a Spout by Amanda Cooper (2015)
60. Crime Rib by Leslie Budewitz and Rebecca Mitchell (Narrator) (2014)
61. Here by Richard McGuire (2014)
62. Inherit the Word by Daryl Wood Gerber (2014)
63. Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander and Dina Pearlman (Narrator) (2014)
64. The Whole Cat and Caboodle by Sofie Ryan and Marguerite Gavin (Narrator) (2014)
65. Pleating for Mercy by Melissa Bourbon (2011)
66. Savage Chickens: A Survival Kit for Life in the Coop by Doug Savage (2011)
67. Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists by Carla Sonheim (2010)

    2000s

68. Spice and Wolf, Volume 1 by Isuna Hasekura, Jyuu Ayakura (Illustrator) and Paul Starr (Translator) (2006)

    1999-1990

69. Black and White by David Macaulay (1991)

    1989-1980

    1979-1970

70. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978)
71. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs and Mercer Mayer (Illustrator) (1975)
72. Carrie by Stephen King (1974)
73. Casa tomada y otros cuentos by Julio Cortázar (1971)

    1969-1960

74. Good Night, Little Bear by Patricia M. Scarry and Richard Scarry (Illustrator) (1961)

    1959-1950

75. Who Is My Friend? by Louise Corum and Birdice McLaughlin (Illustrator) (1959)
76. "The Housebreaker of Shady Hill" by John Cheever (1956)
77. I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue by Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak (Illustrator) (1956)
78. "Just One More Time" by John Cheever (1955)
79. "The Day the Pig Fell into the Well" by John Cheever (1954)
80. "The Five-Forty-Eight" by John Cheever (1954)
81. "O Youth and Beauty" by John Cheever (1953)
82. "The Sorrows of Gin" by John Cheever (1953)
83. The Unstrung Harp by Edward Gorey (1953)
84. "The Chaste Clarissa" by John Cheever (1952)
85. "The Children" by John Cheever (1952)
86. "The Cure" by John Cheever (1952)
87. "The Superintendent" by John Cheever (1952)
88. "Clancy in the Tower of Babel" by John Cheever (1951)
89. Hattie Hen's Red Umbrella by The Ryans (1950)
90. "The Pot of Gold" by John Cheever (1950)
91. "The Season of Divorce" by John Cheever (1950)

    1949-1940

92. "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor" by John Cheever (1949)
93. The Trouble with Harry by Jack Trevor Story (1949)
94. Pretzel by Margret Rey with H.A. Rey (Illustrator) (1944)

    1939-1930

95. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)

    1929-1920

96. Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery (1925)
97. The Royal Book of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson (1921)
98. Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum and John R. Neill (1920)

    1919-1910

    1909-1900

99. Through the Air to the North Pole by Roy Rockwood (1906)

    1899 and earlier

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