bell7's (Mary's) Third Thread of 2014

Can you believe the year is more than halfway over? I can't believe how fast it's been flying by!

Many of you reading probably already know me a bit, but if not a short introduction: I'm a reference librarian in a small town library in western Massachusetts. My title is "adult services," which means reference, all the adult programs, and local history. I love to read and always have, and just about anything is fair game: fantasy, contemporary, mystery... I am picky about romance, about the only thing I won't read is horror, and I can be a little squeamish about violence in general. I usually read about half and half teen and adult books; depends on my mood and how busy life is.

Outside of reading, I really enjoy knitting, watching sports, and dipping my toes into genealogy. I inherited a bunch of books and papers from my grandmother earlier this year, and unfortunately have not had the time I'd like to really devote myself to it.

So that's a little about me! Hello and welcome - feel free to stop by and talk about bookish or other matters.

I facilitate a book discussion at the library as part of my job, and we're reading the following books this year:

January - The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
February - The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Orsuka
March - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
April - Plainsong by Kent Haruf
May - Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
June - The Round House by Louise Erdrich
July - Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
August - Home Town by Tracy Kidder
September - The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant
October - My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
November - Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
December - Midnight in Peking by Paul French

Books read so far – January
1. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe - mine and a reread
2. S. by Doug Dorst
3. Everlost by Neal Shusterman
4. Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
5. Breathe by Sarah Crossan
6. Everwild by Neal Shusterman

February
7. Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
8. Resist (Breathe) by Sarah Crossan
9. How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster - mine
10. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
11. Inhuman by Kat Falls
12. A Boy's Will by Robert Frost - mine
13. Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon - mine (since donated to the library book sale)
14. North of Boston by Robert Frost - mine

March
15. Longbourn by Jo Baker
16. Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
17. Mountain Interval by Robert Frost - mine
18. Hounded by Kevin Hearne
19. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
20. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
21. The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
22. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
23. The Odyssey by Homer - mine
24. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
25. All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry

April
26. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
27. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
28. Plainsong by Kent Haruf - mine (since given away)
29. Partials by Dan Wells
30. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
31. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
32. Legend by Marie Lu - audio and reread

May
33. Fragments by Dan Wells
34. New Hampshire by Robert Frost - mine
35. The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe
36. Ruins by Dan Wells
37. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Thomas - mine and e-book
38. The Selection by Kiera Cass
39. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
40. The Elite by Kiera Cass
41. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
42. Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
43. The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde
44. The One by Kiera Cass
45. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
46. Tesla's Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman
47. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
48. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

June
49. Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis
50. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
51. Thief's War by Hilari Bell
52. West-Running Brook by Robert Frost - mine
53. Prodigy by Marie Lu
54. The Round House by Louise Erdrich
55. Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
56. Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani
57. The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula Jones
58. Angelfall by Susan Ee
59. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
60. Sold Into Egypt by Madeleine L'Engle

July
61. Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
62. The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan - mine and e-book ARC
63. Scotland in the Time of Shakespeare by T.I. Rae
64. The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry - mine and e-book ARC
65. The Edge of the Precipice: Why Read Literature in the Digital Age? edited by Paul Socken
66. Masterminds and Wingmen by Rosalind Wiseman - e-book
67. Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin - mine and e-book ARC
68. Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith, read by Hugh Laurie - audio
69. Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
70. Kings of the North by Elizabeth Moon
71. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
72. The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney
73. The Jewel by Amy Ewing - mine and e-book ARC
74. Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrows
75. The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
76. A Further Range by Robert Frost
77. Divergent Thinking edited by Leah Wilson - e-book
78. Dark Eden by Patrick Carman
79. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
80. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

August
81. Champion by Marie Lu
82. As You Wish by Cary Elwes with Joy Layden - mine and e-ARC
83. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell - mine (since given away)
84. Pure by Julianna Baggott - mine (since given away)
85. The Trouble Ball by Martin Espada - mine
86. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks - mine (since given away)
87. Home Town by Tracy Kidder - mine
88. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - mine and e-book
89. Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth
90. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
91. Rash by Pete Hautman
92. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

September
93. Fuse by Julianna Baggott
94. Dark Eden: Eve of Destruction by Patrick Carman - e-book
95. The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant
96. Switched by Amanda Hocking
97. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
98. Torn by Amanda Hocking

Currently reading:
Doc by Mary Doria Russell - mine
The World Split Open by Margaret Atwood et al. - mine and e-book ARC
Collected Poems, Prose & Plays by Robert Frost - mine

A book with more than 500 pages:
A forgotten classic:
A book that became a movie: Plainsong by Kent Haruf
A book published this year: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A book with a number in the title:
A book written by someone under 30:
A book with non-human characters: Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
A funny book: Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Thomas
A book by a female author: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
A book with a mystery: The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
A book with a one-word title: Longbourn by Jo Baker
A book of short stories:
A book set on a different continent: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
A book of non-fiction: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
A first book by a favorite author: Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis
A book you heard about online: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
A best-selling book: Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
A book based on a true story: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
A book at the bottom of your to be read pile: Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
A book your friend loves: S. by Doug Dorst
A book that scares you: The Odyssey by Homer
A book that is more than 10 years old: Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
The second book in a series: Kings of the North by Elizabeth Moon
A book with a blue cover: The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness



A book with a female heroine: Inhuman by Kat Falls
A book set in a high school: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
The last book in a trilogy: The One by Kiera Cass
A book with a color in the title: Red Madness by Gail Jarrows
The first book in a series: Breathe by Sarah Crossan
A book set in the future: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
A book with a break up: The Selection by Kiera Kass
A book without a love triangle: Resist by Sarah Crossan
A book that became a movie: If I Stay by Gayle Forman
A book set in Paris:
A book set in the past: All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry
A book with magic: Thief's War by Hilari Bell
A book set in the summer: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
A book with a dragon:
A book that made you cry: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
A graphic novel: Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
A book based on a myth:
A "classic" YA book:
A book with a lion, a witch or a wardrobe:
A book with an incredible fight scene: Prodigy by Marie Lu
A book you heard about online: Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
A book set in another world: Everlost by Neal Shusterman
A book with an epic love story: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
A book with music: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Original book publication years read 2014 (through August):

2014 - 18
2013 - 20
2012 - 15
2011 - 10
2010 - 1
2009 - 4
2008 - 3
2006 - 2
2004 - 1
2003 - 1
2002 - 1
2001 - 1

1999 - 2
1997 - 1
1996 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1965 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

8th century BC - 1

Happy new thread!

I will bet sizable sums of Monopoly money that the discussion after Traveling with Pomegranates tends towards the tearful. Bring lots of kleenex.

>8 norabelle414: Thanks, Nora!

>9 richardderus: Hmmm... well, maybe. So far I'm not enamored with it myself, but I can always do that for the other participants. Maybe after reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers and The Round House for the same group, I find myself getting impatient with what seems to me to be navel gazing about first-world problems. But I've only got 50 pages in, so I may yet change my mind.

67. Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin - mine and e-book ARC

Sarah, an inmate in a secure hospital, has no past that she can remember. Doctors have been working with her to extract her memories, so she truly doesn't know why she's here or what she's done. When soldiers attack on a stormy night, apparently after her, she escapes with some help from an unknown friend, who leaves her pills to take every 24 hours that start returning her memories.

The book starts out interesting, but unfortunately doesn't hold up to its potential. The idea of a dystopia with a character who has no memory was intriguing to me; however, its plot is thin and cliche-ridden. As a reader, I was at the mercy of Sarah's memories returning at just the right moment or Pierce - the hacker she meets and befriends - finding information about the hospital/compound, again at just the right moment. I did like the fact that the boy (and, of course, potential love interest) was a hacker and cute. Otherwise, it didn't really stand out in the crowd of all the YA dystopias available now. 3 stars.

Too bad - I'd really hoped to like it, but unfortunately it kind of reminded me of Angelfall in how flat and thin it seemed. I also had a few issues with the way the e-book looked on my Kindle (hopefully this will be resolved in the finished copy). The paragraph breaks were weirdly not tabbed, spacing was uneven (sometimes in the middle of a word), sometimes two characters speaking would be on the same line throwing me off, and each chapter had a single letter of the first word on its own line which made it awkward when there was a break between pages right after. Hopefully that will get sorted out for the final printing/e-book. The book comes out September 23.

E-book provided by the publisher (free) through Edelweiss.

>10 bell7: I'm bettin' you won't change one single jot of your mind. It sounds like the kind of book where, while reading it, a "Y" bearer such as myself can feel a uterus growing in his abdomen.

>12 richardderus: With the caveat that I have not read either book, I think it might appeal to someone who enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love.

Sue Monk Kidd has a sort of spirituality aspect to what she says that I don't really understand, and so far she's talked about needing to add an aspect of it now that she's reached 50 (and she uses all sorts of icons of goddesses and the virgin Mary to describe it but it seems kind of... amorphous and confusing to me). Her daughter is 22 and clueless about what she wants to do after not getting into the graduate school program she wanted and a breakup. And they're in Greece bellyaching. I'm having a really hard time connecting, not because they shouldn't feel pain or struggle but do I really want to read about it? On the other hand, if it veers a little more into the mother-and-adult-daughter relationship, I think I could start to connect a little and maybe even compare it to The End of Your Life Book Club, which we read in January. In the meantime, I'm setting myself a 40-50-page a day reading goal to have it finished by next Monday.

No offense to anyone who liked the book - I'd love to hear a different opinion. At this point, I'm hoping that someone in the book club will tell me what they loved about the book and we'll be in for a good discussion with a variety of opinions. My mom won't be able to make it, but her views seemed to coincide with mine overall.

Happy new thread!

Hi there, Mary! :)

Happy New Thread, Mary!

>14 foggidawn: Thanks, foggi!

>15 Ape: Hi, Stephen! Why are you up so early?

>16 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

I'm an early bird, so I'm usually up around that time. :)

>18 Ape: Ah, that explains it! Generally if I'm awake before six it's going to be a loonnng day with lots of coffee needed.

68. Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith

Short, episodic chapters tell the humorous shenanigans of Professor von Igelfeld, the author of the eponymous Portuguese Irregular Verbs, and his compatriots Prinzel and Unterholzer.

Von Igelfeld is a sort of hapless bumbler who can't get the recognition he so desires for his niche philological studies, and his adventures made me smile. After much trial and tribulation, I managed to get a copy of the audio version read by Hugh Laurie (apparently it's really difficult to find in the U.S. library system!), and I enjoyed his presentation of it. He does an excellent job with multiple accents and characters, and brings out the humor in the situations in which the professors find themselves in. Light, fun reading. 4 stars.

Though I enjoyed it, between the light feel of the story and the fact that I listened to it on audio, I'm afraid in a week I won't be able to say a thing about what happened.

>20 bell7: A whole week! It takes about 10min for me to lose what little I've retained from an ear-read.

I've selected, after much deliberation, my favorite Great War novel: Regeneration, the Pat Barker work, is a beautiful and challenging book to read. The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day in July, has really focused my attention on getting the excellent reading I've been doing reviewed and therefore fixed more firmly in my mind.

See my review in my Orphans thread...post #49.

>21 richardderus: If I can do something with my hands at the same time, I retain a little more and I was knitting for the end of it... also their attempts at playing tennis amused me, so there's a handful of things I will retain. Otherwise, I'm with you. I generally keep ear-reads to children's books and rereads so if I miss something I'm not completely lost. And thanks for the link to your review - I shall have to add Regeneration to the ever-growing list, and may add it to near the top the next time I'm in the mood for a thought-provoking read.

>22 bell7: the next time I'm in the mood for a thought-provoking read. It will do that indeed. Oh my, yes.

Here you are! How interesting that my book group read The Round House in June, too. I am a big Erdrich fan so I was happy to reread this one. I have the Pomegranate book but haven't felt the urge to read it yet because of the reasons you stated, Mary. I don't quite understand that type of spirituality and am still trying to figure out what I got from The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, though I do love that title!

I read Regeneration a few months ago and need to get back to the trilogy. I thought it was quite good. I expected more war and less PTSD but, hey, it worked for me!

Mary, I have a star on your thread again so I won't lose you in this crush of wonderful LTers!

Lovely new thread, Mary!

>23 richardderus: It certainly sounds it!

>24 Donna828: Thanks for stopping in, Donna! I really enjoyed The Round House, and I'd never read anything by Louise Erdrich before. Now I really want to read more, and I kinda want to check out her bookstore when I go out to Minnesota this summer if I can.

>25 ronincats: Thanks, Roni!

Hi Mary, and Happy Thursday to you!

I've yet to read anything by Kidd, though she is on my short list after seeing her speak with Oprah on a recent Super Soul Sunday program. From the 40-odd minutes that I heard her talk, it seems like she believes the same kind of thing that I believe. (Though, of course, not having read her work, I'm not quite certain, but I think it's pretty similar.) Having said that, there seems to be what may appear to be a heavily female emphasis to some people. From what I've studied and learned, it's not necessarily a shunning of anything male, but rather a different focus to be more balanced between male and female. And at this point in time, my friends and I are having more conversations that are female-centric, sometimes just for the sake of having that conversation, bringing feminine energy into spirituality and discussion. Over the many hundreds of year of religion, women have been pushed to the side, and this is a conscious effort to try and start creating an equality in our minds.

Does that make sense? Sound crazy? It just came up out of me, so I apologize if it sounds strange or too "woo-woo" or anything. Just thought I'd leave my two cents here.

I'll try and pick up Pomegranates at work today.

And, regarding >20 bell7:, I always seem to have that issue of non-remembering whenever I read McCall Smith, regardless of whether it's audio or physically on paper. They're just gentle and enjoyable and humorous books, and while it's certainly his own style or writing, it seems to float into the general ether of reading after a day or so.

>27 LauraBrook: Hi Laura! Thanks for your thoughts - that does help me understand where she's coming from a little better, though I don't really relate to it as personally. I wonder if she kind of assumes a knowledge of her earlier book The Dance of the Dissident Daughter so what seems obvious to her isn't really explained in Pomegranates? Anyway, I'm moving along in the book and will certainly be finished in time for the discussion Wednesday. It'll be interesting to get a perspective from a bunch of women of different ages, too (I'm the youngest in our book discussion for sure).

Re: Sue Monk Kidd, she is not someone I would seek out but did read The Mermaid Chair and did find it more from about being female and the femaleness of the situation. I did find her prose interesting, which made it easier to be more forgiving of the all too human foibles of a couple of the characters.

>27 LauraBrook: I would posit that women have been shoved aside for eternity and that it's time to take back some of those conversations. When I was younger I went out of my way to basically shun women and seek male energy. That didn't work out so well for me. Now, while not shunning men by any means, I find myself surrounded by beautiful and strong female energy which makes me feel better about myself.

I prefer female energy too. :)

I really do prefer to surround myself with women as opposed to men, as I've always found it harder to connect with them. However, I do believe it is perilous to be exclusive when it comes to things like gender/race/sexuality/etc. Women have definitely suffered the worst where that is concerned, but ultimately I believe that also means the human race in general has suffered.

Let me explain, if you build a group of men and exclude women, you essentially cut your productive capabilities in half. Look at politics now and the way they are dominated by men. Let's say there is a group of 100 people, and in that group there are 5 amazing male politicians and 5 amazing female politicians. It just so happens that there are 10 political seats for them to occupy. If you pick the 5 amazing males, but pass on the 5 amazing females and instead choose 5 more sub-par males, you know have a government that will not function as well if you had taken the 5 females.

I look at our history and wonder how many amazing ideals women may have had, whether it be in politics, science, engineering, etc. Who knows where our civilization would be, how much more advanced we might be, had all those ideas that women may have had hadn't died with them.

I am glad that things seem to be changing, and I certainly hope it continues. It's better for everyone if everyone is given an equal chance in every field of study.

Now that I've hopefully made a good impression, I'll ruin it by cautioning that this works in both directions. Excluding men has the same effect of halving the potential capability of any given group.

>29 AuntieClio: I read The Secret Life of Bees several years ago (actually, listened to it, so I'm unfortunately even more shaky on the details that I would be had I read it) and remember really enjoying it. The parts of Pomegranates that talk about her process of writing that book are interesting me the most so far.

>30 Ape: Stephen, I agree with you quite a bit, and it worries me that we have a tendency towards extremes when it comes to sex/gender discussions (and discrimination). It's just as possible for us to say "Hey we need more women ____," and pick someone who wouldn't do a particular job as well as - perhaps - some of the men who applied, just so we can say we're not discriminating. The fact that I'm in a job that's traditionally female may certainly color my opinion on this, though I will add that men in libraries tend to be directors or in technology, so it's not exactly "even" either, just skewed differently.

I used to say I was "not a feminist" because most of the talk I heard labeled feminist was pretty anti-men, and even anti-woman if the woman in question wanted a traditional role like staying at home with kids. I'm a career woman in my thirties and very fulfilled in my job, and while I'm not waiting around for it, I would be very happy getting married and having kids and staying at home with them if it were feasible. I'd look at it as another adventure and challenge, rather than "wasting a degree." On the other hand, I've found myself really changing my views from, say, 15 years ago to call myself a traditional feminist, because I have seen stereotyping at work that really irks me, like the patrons I have who call me "dear" or "hon" (I'm working just as much as your doctor is, and I bet you don't call her/him that) or who will ask me a computer question, listen to the answer, and ask the guy who works here the same question (granted, he is our technology guy and could rebuild a computer, but still...).

Interestingly, I've always got along with guys great (after they turn 15...something about middle school boys I don't have the energy or patience for). I tend to be more analytical than emotional and do better with facts than metaphors (maybe that's why I'm having so much trouble with this book...). Also, I like sports, which earns me instant credit with everyone but my brothers, who know (and watch) more than I do. But when I think about it, I have a job that surrounds me with women and a women's group I get together with regularly, so I really do have a balance.

So now that I wrote all that, I open up the book and on the very next page is Ann (Sue's daughter) contemplating what her name should be when she marries - keep her maiden name? hyphenate or not? - and I thought, "Oh good, something concrete I can relate to!"

My generation (I'm the youngest by one or more) is going to show more than usual in this book discussion, I think.

>30 Ape: I do agree with you all the way down the line. It just turns out that at this stage of my life I have a lot of incredible female friends. I also have some great male friends, but the women outnumber the men right now. There was no (conscious) intention on my part to make it that way.

And I do agree that if one group of people is shunned over another, it creates an imbalance. I don't understand why this is so hard to understand.

>31 bell7: Mary, I too used to say I was not a feminist because of the stridency of some of the women in the public eye who called themselves feminists.

I don't remember this woman's name, but she was on The Colbert Report promoting her book several years ago (10 or so) and she kept insisting that women who chose to stay at home and raise a family, or a woman who left her career to do the same was making the "wrong" choice. It got my hackles so far up I couldn't think straight for a while. All I could do was be angry that some woman who doesn't know every woman had the audacity to tell me what was right and wrong.

It's funny how people think the best way to combat a stereotype or prejudice is to go to the opposite extreme, which is really just as bad. To forbid a person from working because of their gender is horrendous, but to forbid them from staying home is just as bad.

I came into contact with some 'militant' feminist on Librarything recently with a similar mentality and some of the things said were absolutely ridiculous and very saddening. :(

I thought the purpose was to give women (and everyone, for that matter) a choice in how they live their lives, but I guess some people have different opinions about what equality means.

Personally, I still don't consider myself a feminist. I prefer the term 'equalist,' which feminism falls under but excludes those who have anti-man or anti-anyone sentiments.

>35 Ape: I thought the purpose was to give women (and everyone, for that matter) a choice in how they live their lives ...

On this we certainly agree. And all these discussions about what women with children (presumably married) should do really leaves single women out of the conversation.

If it makes you feel any better, single/unemployed/stay-at-home men also face a lot of judgement. Though we are getting more and more accustomed to stay-at-home fathers, we still tend to think of unemployed stat-at-home men as lazy and useless.

I would wonder what would happen if you told a group of people that Person X is an unemployed 22-year-old and living with their parents, and you changed Person X's gender with different groups. I suspect if Person X is male they would consider them lazy or incapable of holding a job, and if Person X is a woman they would wonder how much longer it'll take until she finds the perfect man to take care of her.

We don't think that the woman might be having trouble finding a job, or that the man might make a perfect stay-at-home husband. I guess there is a lot or preconceived ideals about how a person should behave based on shallow things such as their age/gender/race/sexual preference/etc. It's very irritating!

Somewhere on the interwebs is a great video of Joss Whedon (of course it's Joss!) giving a short speech in which he explains why he kind of hates the word 'feminist.' It's fantastic.

I, too, find myself surrounded now with way more female friends than I've ever had before. I've always related better to guys than gals, but now that I'm in that Homemaker category, and in a small midwestern town, I'm in contact with other female homemakers much more than I am men. *shrug*

The Joss Whedon video is great. Thanks, Amber, for posting that.

I still haven't read anything by Erdrich. I must rectify that soon. I do have The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse on Planet TBR, but I'm not sure that's the one to start with.

>26 bell7:: Mary, a visit to Birchbark Books should be at the top of your list of things to see in Minneapolis. It's the only bookstore I know of with a confessional as part of the decor. It's in a lovely semi-residential part of the city and plays soothing Native American music in the background.

I'll be interested to see what your book group has to say about the pomegranate book. I may even decide to read it. I remember when Sue Monk Kidd wrote for Guideposts magazine and I always enjoyed her way of looking at life.

HI Mary...Such interesting conversations happening on your thread.. I love it!

Stephanie and Stephen - I'm at work and can't respond at length, but I'm enjoying the continuing conversation for sure! I will say briefly I like the word "equalist" much better, and Stephen, I think you're absolutely right. We often assume that a single woman still living with her parents much be their caretaker in some way but a man doing so needs a job/life.

>38 scaifea: I will have to look for that. Thanks, Amber!

>39 streamsong: The book I want to read next is Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country, but now I'm willing to try almost anything when before I was a little intimidated.

>40 Donna828: Thanks for the input, Donna! I'm hoping we'll have time, but I'll most likely be staying about a half hour out from Rochester for four days (the other two days are pure travel), and I don't know how much time we'll be spending in Minneapolis.

>41 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda, I'm enjoying it too! Nice to see you here, and I hope you had a lovely weekend.

So the next couple of weeks are going to find me out and about. I'm dogsitting in two places starting Wednesday and not getting back 'til the 25th, then the next day I'm headed out to my yearly missions trip, Workcamp, where I'll meet five teens on a crew and work on someone's house in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I'll post pictures to show the job we get - I won't know what I'm doing or who I'll be working with 'til I get there.

The dogsitting should actually be fairly relaxing - it's amazing how much reading I can get done when I'm at someone else's house instead of my own. But in the meantime, I'm getting laundry done and packing and cleaning and... I'm exhausted.

Oh, and I also have a couple of books that I need to finish (no really: one's for book club and one's due back at the library) for Wednesday, so when I get really tired after working for a bit I'm also reading. Almost guilt-free, ha!

The week of Workcamp and the month after usually starts a spurt of not quite reading as much, and I expect this summer will be much the same. There's no time that week, and then the week I return I've got a lot of catch-up to do and getting ready for my trip to Minnesota! I'm super-excited that I had enough time to take from work to do both (and, in fact, will be meeting up with one of the kids from last year's Workcamp crew).

Sounds like your time is well accounted for for the summer!

>44 lkernagh: :) And I wonder why my reading slows down! Thanks for stopping by, Lori.

69. Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor

Sue is dealing with turning fifty, an aging body and a new realization of her mortality. Her daughter Ann, at twenty-two, has received a rejection letter for grad school that has her questioning her purpose in life and her own self-worth. Both are redefining their relationship, as Ann has become a young woman and Sue begins to interact with her not just as a daughter but as a fellow adult and friend.

Told in alternating chapters, Sue and Ann share their internal struggles and joys as they travel in Greece, Turkey, and more. Sue especially is in search for the divine feminine and what she calls the "Old Woman," a sort of dimension she believes needs to be added to her spirituality. Ann struggles with depression and has an ongoing search to become less of a wallflower. Together, they tell the story of their joint travels - the external becoming a metaphor for the internal. Both women are incredibly introspective, to me quite frustratingly so as I prefer the concrete to metaphors, and boy is this metaphor heavy (Greek myths, understandably, figure hugely). My library categorizes this book as Travel Essays, but this is rather a misnomer as it has less to do with where they go and what they see as it is what they felt and experienced. If you like that, great. But I generally found it very hard to connect, especially with Sue. Ann is closer to my age and I can somewhat remember working through my own "finding my purpose in life" time, though not thinking nearly so much or so deeply. 2.5 stars.

It could be that the book sets off a really interesting discussion, much like what happened above. I struggled, but I did finish it and it still hasn't topped my least-favorite book club read. That would be Woodsburner, which actually had an excellent discussion. I simply hated the book.

70. Kings of the North by Elizabeth Moon

The story begun in Oath of Fealty continues with Kieri, now king of Lyonya, frustrated by the distance of his co-ruler, the Lady of Ladysforest while the Pargunese threat looms ever-larger. Dorrin has her work cut out for her continuing to heal the land and people that her Verrakai family twisted with dark magery. And Arcolin's troops are on the move, dealing with fights from apparent mercenaries who are also counterfeiters.

I really enjoyed diving back into this incredibly well-realized world. There are political maneuverings and wars, customs and traditions, religions, and history that add a depth to the story. No character is perfect, but each try to do their best with the information they have. Since the reader is following multiple perspectives, he or she knows more than any one principle character. Even though this one book has its own story wrapped up, there is still the overarching threat of the former pirate Alured now styling himself a ruler and descendant of the nobles of Aare, and the knowledge that there is more to come. A lot of complexity built into the world and the characters make this feel like a real place instead of a fantasy. 4.5 stars.

Roni (ronincats) first mentioned the series the Deed of Paksenarrion years ago, and I've been slowly making my way through the books. This is the second book in a series set in the same world, but you definitely get a more complete picture starting with the earlier story. That one begins with The Sheepfarmer's Daughter.

A short dogsitting gig starts tonight, and I'm not really sure if I'll have Wi-Fi (I will on the longer that follows Saturday). I'm bringing my Kindle along, so I may be lurking on threads but will limit my posts. I'm hoping to get a decent amount of reading in!

Well, I do indeed have no Wi-Fi so I'm quickly catching up on reviews at work (don't worry, I'll count it towards my break time).

71. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Ignite Me wraps up the Shatter Me trilogy and has *****major spoilers***** for the previous books. Read at your own risk.

Omega Point is destroyed and Juliette is now with Warner, the boy who had originally been her captor but used his power - the ability to "borrow" others' powers - to heal her from a fatal gunshot wound. Despite this, Juliette is more determined than ever to defeat the Reestablishment, the corrupt government headed up by Anderson, Warner and Adam's father. Meanwhile, she starts to realize that her original perceptions of what happened during her imprisonment may not have been accurate. Can Warner be trusted?

I love how you can tell just by the writing style how self-assured Juliette has become. In the first book, there were crossouts, broken sentences, and lots of counting as Juliette was near the breaking point, though not quite insane. In the second, this was less common, but still present, and Juliette went back and forth between weepy and strong. Now, Juliette projects confidence in herself and her abilities, and she's not crossing anything out anymore. The tight first-person point of view allows for surprising but believable revelations that turn the first book on its head, and the author isn't afraid to play with readers' expectations of the genre. This is more of a romance than a dystopia, but the non-stop pacing and complex characters kept me reading breathlessly. I wanted to cheer Juliette the whole way. 4.5 stars.

72. The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney

I don't know enough about Greek tragedy or even drama in general to give this a proper review, and I won't attach one to the work. What follows are rather random thoughts. I didn't know the original story, but what's presented here is still enough information for a neophyte like me. For a play in verse, it scans really well and I had no trouble following the action. Though it's short and I couldn't see it, the stage directions were clear enough that I could picture it. I became pretty invested in the characters, and enjoyed the story and its dealing with truth and personal responsibility (do you tell the truth always, or is it ever fair to lie?) as well as fate (does Philoctetes have to come back? Did Odysseus have any choice but to leave him in the first place?). It's both sad and hopeful. Lifelike, I guess? I'm not really doing this justice, but I will point you to the review richardderus wrote because it says everything much better than I can.

4.5 stars because I'd definitely read it again and mull it over and probably feel like I understood it better too.

I just realized I never commented on my book discussion of Traveling with Pomegranates. There were six women of varying ages, and we all had mixed feelings about the book (one did not get a chance to finish it, but did say she would). Different comments included some of the nuggets of wisdom (those pesky metaphors that didn't work for me stood out to another woman), the changing relationship with an adult child, the almost self-absorption of the narrators and the sort of bubble of a life they lead to be able to just up and go to Greece and ruminate on things, how we couldn't relate on some levels. One woman commented - and I agreed with her - that she enjoyed the discussion more than the book! We've read a lot of nonfiction this year, and both Behind the Beautiful Forevers and The End of Your Life Book Club were mentioned in the course of our discussion. (In fact, one of our members commented that a big difference between the two memoirs was you didn't get the sense that service was a way of getting out of oneself for Sue and Ann like it was for Mary Anne.) Only me and one other woman had read The Secret Life of Bees, which surprised me a bit. I did find it interesting that the other women assured me that menopause is truly a Change, and all seemed to relate to that part of Sue's story.

So it was a really lively discussion that I enjoyed thoroughly. Nobody loved the book and a few of us had to push to finish it, but we all had something we could come away with. Next book up is Home Town, and I'm rather enjoying the irony of reading about a town in my state while I'm going to be as far away from home as I've ever been on my own before.

73. The Jewel by Amy Ewing - mine and e-ARC

After today, a rich lady from Jewel will bid on Violet at auction, and she'll carry this woman's child to term. Violet doesn't want this life, but she knows the consequences of trying to run when she's known to have the Auguries - basically a magical ability to change something's color, something's shape, and make living things grow. This is the last day Violet can be herself; then she'll just be a surrogate.

This dystopia is definitely set on a different world where magic is real and who knows how the evil government ever got started? There's one city, as far as anyone knows, walling out the sea all around it, and having concentric circles from the poorest to the most rich. That inner circle, Jewel, has the most rich and powerful families, the duchesses and countesses who buy the girls from the poorer circles to have their babies. The set up was kind of interesting, but I found Violet rather lacking as a character. I had a hard time understanding her motivations for who she trusts or loves, and she rather passively sits back and waits for others to save her. I saw the twists at the end coming, and while I might recommend it to the most insatiable dystopia readers, I don't see it having the wide range appeal of the best. 3.5 stars.

E-arc provided through the publisher through Edelweiss/Above the Treeline (Free).

74. Red Madness by Gail Jarrows

In the early 1900s, the United States and in particular southern states were hit with a sudden outbreak of pellagra, a disease evident in a rash, digestive problems, and - before causing death - a breaking down of the nervous system. The first known case in the United States was a shock to doctors - it was thought to be caused by "bad corn" and primarily a disease of the European poor. But as more and more doctors realized their patients' cases were pellagra, a race to the cure and cause was on.

This is a treatment of the disease, its cause and cure, intended for young adult audiences. Given the repetitiveness of some of the text and the simple sentence structure, I might even bump it down a little younger to middle grade. It kept my interest enough to read the story, though it's not a topic I'm typically interested in. I wanted to read the book more for the subtitle "How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat," but this was more the story of the medical mystery than diet change, which was only addressed at the very end of the book. I did enjoy the layout, which included a chronological retelling of individuals with the disease interspersed with the narrative of finding pellagra's cause and lots of photographs. The recounting of the experiments done to determine this was compelling. 3.5 stars.

I wasn't sure if I would've liked it better or dropped it quick if I had been reading it while the intended age range. I'm not sure I would've had the patience for the story to unfold even then, and kept thinking this could've made a very interesting chapter or article, but was a little drawn out as a full book.

75. The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

Claire Roth, an aspiring artist in Boston, has been a bit of an outcast in the art world lately and is working making copies for Reproductions.com to make ends meet. She is approached by Aiden Markel, the owner of well-known gallery Markel G, with a proposition she's unsure she can take: make a copy of one of the Degas paintings stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the notorious 1990 heist, and he'll return to the original to the museum as well as make her name by offering her a show.

The level of detail about art and forgery included as Claire researches the painting and talks about what she does for her job at "Repro" lend a credibility to this thriller about an unsolved mystery. I simultaneously learned a lot and was left wanting to read and learn more about the Gardner heist and art forgery. I read fast, as the narrative moves along and I found myself unsure to the last about the "goodness" of some of the characters. Claire impressed me and irritated me by turns, as she was clearly smart about art but not about some of her relationships, and her naivete was grating. Flashbacks to events of three years earlier and insertions of (fictitious) letters from Isabella to her niece Amelia rounded out the story nicely. 4 stars.

I'm so glad you are continuing with, and enjoying, the Moon series, Mary!

Congrats on hitting 75!

Yeah! Way to go, Mary! :)

Yay! I hope it was a good book.

And the discussion of the Kidd book sounds like it was worthwhile. I'm still leaving a 12-mile exclusion zone around it.

Have a WONDERFUL mission trip!

>55 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! Hopefully it won't take me a full year to get to the next one ;) Actually, I took advantage of the ability through my library system to "suspend" a hold - I already placed a hold on the next book, but it won't be filled until after all my traveling.

>56 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! Congrats on being the first to spot it haha :)

>57 Ape: Thanks Stephen!

>58 richardderus: It won't be my all-time favorite of the year, but I enjoyed it. I don't blame you for leaving the exclusion zone; the discussion made it worthwhile, but if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have finished it. And thanks, I hope so! I'll share pictures as per usual when we return.

76. A Further Range by Robert Frost - mine

Not much to say about this poetry collection as I make my way through the collected works of Robert Frost. The one poem that stood out to me was "Unharvested."

Unharvested

A scent of ripeness from over a wall.
And come to leave the routine road
And look for what had made me stall,
There sure enough was an apple tree
That had eased itself of its summer load,
And of all but its trivial foliage free,
Now breathed as light as a lady's fan.
For there had been an apple fall
As complete as the apple had given man.
The ground was one circle of solid red.

May something go always unharvested!
May much stay out of our stated plan,
Apples or something forgotten and left,
So smelling their sweetness would be no theft.

77. Divergent Thinking edited by Leah Wilson

Twelve YA authors write an essay on an aspect of Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy, talking about a variety of topics such as the way in which the factions map to psychological classifications, whether honesty is truly the best policy in the world of the series, and the biology of fear.

Though this book definitely falls under the definition of "literary criticism," these are not the stuffy sort of essays you might think of when you hear the term (personally, I don't, but then I was an English major and classify myself as Divergent, but mostly Erudite). These authors investigate the books from all sorts of point of views, but make it accessible and interesting reading. I really enjoyed essays that looked at the science of fear or the psychology of the factions or even the one that tried to map where each of the faction headquarters are in relation to the current city of Chicago. The writers who contribute to this book clearly enjoyed the books as stories, and I never got the feeling that they were trying to hard to interpret things - they're just continuing their enjoyment through their explorations. I would easily recommend this to teens (and adults) who can't get enough of the series - and who knows, maybe they'll find a new author to try! 4.5 stars.

So this book was first on my radar from when I went down to D.C. and saw it at the author's festival... but of course I didn't buy it then, and now it's on my wishlist.

Woo hoo - congrats on hitting 75 so early!

>62 RosyLibrarian: Thanks, Marie! I looked back at last year's reading and discovered that at this point last year I was close to reading the same number of books - my 77th was reviewed on July 26. I chalk it up to a lot of short books and dogsitting this month but I'm not sure I've ever completed as many books as I have this month in several years of keeping track.

You go Mary! Congratulations on hitting 75!

Wow! Congrats on reaching 75 already! There's still time enough to do it again!

Congratulations on flying past the 75 mark already!

>64 AuntieClio: Thanks, Stephanie!

>65 Copperskye: Haha, well, we'll see - the second half of the year usually slows down my reading tremendously, but who knows?

>66 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori!

78. Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

Will's been in therapy, but his psychologist tells him that she can't do anything more for him: he needs to go to Dark Eden with six other kids and face his fear. But what this woman doesn't know is that Will's already listened to audio files that tell him about these other kids, and he's not about to go quietly.

I expected a little bit of a horror novel, but what I got was more suspense. The plot starts slowly setting the stage and builds quickly to the denouement. The suspense and plot drive the narrative rather than characterization, so this is a fast read and probably not one I'd read again to get any more out of. However, it is really compelling and the ending had me gasping in surprise, ready to read the sequel. 4 stars.

Fast, fun, potato chip read of a YA novel.

WooHoo for 75!!

>69 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

79. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

Dr. Siri Paiboun, a doctor in Laos, reluctantly becomes the coroner in the capital city after the communist revolution in 1975. Still, he leads a fairly quiet life until the wife of Comrade Kham dies under mysterious circumstances and Siri is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Yes, I have finally succumbed to the book warbling of many fellow LibraryThing members and begun reading the Dr. Siri series. I really enjoyed the setting of 1976 in Laos, and learned a lot about the country and time period through information that was intertwined flawlessly with the story; Dr. Siri is a sort-of communist who is a bit cynical about the regime, but he can get away with saying a lot because of his position and age. He communicates with the spirits of the departed, mostly in his dreams, which means that he's often working backwards - Siri knows the solution, but just has to put together the facts to support it. As a result, this reminded me more of a classic Agatha Christie story in which some of the key parts of the puzzle aren't revealed until the very end. His friends and co-workers are well-drawn characters in their own right. I'm definitely keeping the series on my list to continue when I'm in need of a dependably good story. 4 stars.

80. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Every summer, Cadence goes to her family's private island off the coast of Massachusetts. Cady's best friends for the summer are her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, and a special boy named Gat. They're the Sinclairs: a rich, happy, perfect family, as far as anyone knows. But two years ago, Cady had a terrible accident leaving her with some kind of head trauma, migraines and selective amnesia. Now, year seventeen, she returns to the island for the first time since and begins to piece together the truth.

This type of book is incredibly hard to review without giving spoilers. It's a short book that packs a lot of punch. Cady narrates the story but through her eyes we get to see all of the Sinclair family - her grandfather the patriarch, his daughters, and their children - and a glimpse into their true selves. Fairy tales and retellings, King Lear, and Wuthering Heights are all referenced to good effect. The story is compelling readable, and I admire E. Lockhart's ability to write a completely different book from what she's written before. But for reasons I can't divulge without giving away the entire freaking story, I didn't particularly like it. It's been extremely popular in my library and is sure to garner discussion, no matter what you happen to think of it. 3 stars.

>72 bell7: Nice review, I admired that one for its uniqueness even if the characters themselves were a bit...uh...bizarre?

>72 bell7: Yeah, I kind of felt the same way about it. It was good and thought-provoking, but not the sort of thing that I'll particularly want to revisit.

>73 RosyLibrarian: Yeah, it's definitely one I admire more than actually like. Did you find the characters bizarre? I found them believable, for the most part, if quirky.

>74 foggidawn: Oh good! Our teen librarian loved it and one of the pages (a good friend of mine) told me I wouldn't like it... but even so, I felt a little bad for disliking a book that's getting so much notice, and it's good to know I'm not the only one. ;)

>75 bell7: Perhaps bizarre is the wrong word. I guess the situation they were in was the bizarre part.

>76 RosyLibrarian: yeah, I can see that, Marie. I thought the grandfather was really manipulative and his daughters just played right into it putting the kids against each other even though they didn't want to have any of that. It's the sort of terrible family dynamics that I've fortunately never witnessed but other than the kids taking... really extreme measures, I could buy it while I was reading. If that makes sense.

Well, I'm back from my trip, and no I didn't finish one book. I'm still at essentially the same place in Champion that I was when I left (maybe I read a page?), and will be starting Home Town for book discussion soon, though I may wait until my travel next week because I'll have a lot of down time.

So, a report on my travels! Here's the house we worked on:


We were to paint the outside, the front deck rails and stairs, the back porch rails and two rooms inside. We needed a second crew and then had a third crew (each of six, so we're talking 18 people) working with us on Friday and got the job mostly done. Our residents were super-sweet about it, however, and were just really happy that we had come out to help them. There's a local group who will finish any started-but-not-finished jobs, and they said they had a professional painter friend anyway who would be happy to finish that peak of the roof that we weren't able to get to. Unfortunately, we were so busy I didn't really take many pictures during or after our work, plus it started pouring rain when we were leaving our worksite Friday.

Here's the crew and Peggy (her husband Vincent couldn't make it to the evening program where the picture was taken):


And here is my ridiculous youth group (this is one of two pictures I have of all of us and we're pointing away in both), thirty-nine adults and kids who came out, were put on different crews with folks they'd never met from all over the country, and did a ton of work in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania:


They're really great kids, and I was so very proud of them this week.

This is my tenth year doing this type of trip, and I'm kinda sad that right now there's no plans to do one next year - my church is changing it to every other year because we ask for a lot of fundraising. The kids actually pay money to go, which goes to the facilities (we stayed at a college this year, but it's usually a school), food, etc. I'm certainly hoping to go again two years from now.

>78 bell7: I admire y'all's generous hearts, Mary! *smooch*

>79 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. It truly is the highlight of my year; I love going, and it's so great to see how the kids (whether on my youth group or my crew) grow throughout the week.

July in review -

61. Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
62. The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan - mine and e-book ARC
63. Scotland in the Time of Shakespeare by T.I. Rae - mine since given away
64. The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry - mine and e-book ARC
65. The Edge of the Precipice: Why Read Literature in the Digital Age? edited by Paul Socken
66. Masterminds and Wingmen by Rosalind Wiseman - e-book
67. Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin - mine and e-book ARC
68. Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith, read by Hugh Laurie - audio
69. Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
70. Kings of the North by Elizabeth Moon
71. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
72. The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney
73. The Jewel by Amy Ewing - mine and e-book ARC
74. Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrows
75. The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
76. A Further Range by Robert Frost - mine
77. Divergent Thinking edited by Leah Wilson - e-book
78. Dark Eden by Patrick Carman
79. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
80. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Books read: 19
Audiobooks listened to: 1
Graphic novels/Manga: 0
Picture books: 0
Adult/Teen/Children's: 12/8/0
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 12/6/1/1
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 14/6

Standouts: Kings of the North was really excellent, and I'm looking forward to continuing that series, but I'd have to give this one to The Cure at Troy (thanks, Richard!).

Thoughts: I... read 20 books. I'm pretty sure I haven't done that since I had the summers off from school. Granted, I had a pretty long dogsitting stint, but it just makes me wonder what on earth I do with my time when I'm at home if I had that much reading time. Well. I guess I'll read more this year than last.

Original book publication dates read year-to-date:

2014 - 15
2013 - 19
2012 - 13
2011 - 9
2010 - 1
2009 - 4
2008 - 2
2006 - 1
2004 - 1
2003 - 1
2002 - 1

1999 - 1
1997 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1965 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

8th century BC - 1

I am *so*glad* that you enjoyed The Cure at Troy as much as I did! Such a surprise for me to review a play, and one in verse!, positively.

>82 richardderus: Yup! I don't have quite the same aversion to either (I do enjoy some Shakespeare, myself), but both verse and plays are challenges for me and I was glad to find I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Okay, everyone, here's a reader's advice question:

What nonfiction history book(s) would you recommend to someone who grew up in England but wants a broad overview of the history of the United States?

I have a couple of titles/authors, but the only sort of broad overview books I could come up with were all textbooks and A People's History of the United States which I'm not sure would be a good first choice, if he doesn't really know the major players or events (I say this having not read the book myself). Then there's David McCullough, Joseph Ellis, Doris Kearns Goodwin... but I don't want to completely overwhelm him with titles either.

Any thoughts?

>84 bell7: Personally I would go with some kind of "for dummies"-type book. I feel like most books are too specific about a particular person or time period to be much use for someone looking for an overview.

David McCullough is a good choice

>85 norabelle414: and >86 AuntieClio: Thanks for your input! I found a book in the kids' section of my library that was organized chronologically and had a story for almost every year, and put a hold on a couple of general U.S. history books. I told him last night when I brought the book that I didn't mean to insult his intelligence with the younger book, just that we didn't have much and I didn't know if the others coming might turn out to be too textbook-y.

81. Champion by Marie Lu

Third book in the trilogy that begins with Legend so ***spoilers*** for earlier titles.

June and Day have consolidated Anden's power in the Republic, and he vows to make things better. June struggles with the politics surrounding being one of the three Princeps-Elect; Day and his brother Eden are now living with a caretaker in Ruby sector, but Day can't forget the poorer sector from which he came. Meanwhile, a new threat comes from the Colonies, who say that the Republic's plague has infected their people, and they will invade unless the Republic hands over a cure.

The adrenaline ride that begins with Legend culminates in Champion, where Day, June, and Anden must decide who they want leading the country. We get a fuller picture of what the world looks like, as we see Antarcticans for the first time and revisit the Colonies, whose corporate rule has just as many problems as the Republic's dicatorship. Day and June especially struggle with what kind of country they want for the future: who has it right, or closest to right? For whom should they fight? Champion delivers on all the promise of the earlier books, offering a fitting conclusion to a good teen dystopia. 4 stars.

Yeah, when it comes down to it, I just don't love love love the series enough to feel compelled to reread it. But I did enjoy it, and would recommend it wholeheartedly.

Hi Mary, going way up to July posts, I'm chiming in regarding Sue Monk Kid. And, I want to say I agree. Her spirituality is not my spirituality. the Secret Life of Bees may have been her one hit wonder, but I have no desire to continue on.

Happy Day!

>89 Whisper1: Happy weekend, Linda! I might try The Invention of Wings, but it got such mixed reviews from folks who have read it that it's not high on my list. I did enjoy The Secret Life of Bees, however.

Okay, people, the great Book Planning for my trip begins (because, after all, I can throw five shirts, a pair of shorts, and a pair of pants in a suitcase and call it a day, but books need to be carefully chosen because what if I'm stuck with a dud?). I'll be spending two days completely traveling by bus, plane, or shuttle, so I want to make sure I have enough reading material, and the following books have been carefully selected for offering an immersive experience to distract me from the fact that I'm flying and have the added potential for leaving with my friend in Minnesota if I finish said books and decide I don't want to keep them:

Home Town by Tracy Kidder - which is actually the exception to the above rules, as it's my book club book (and yes, I am reading about a town not far from me while traveling halfway across the country)

The Giver by Lois Lowry - a reread with the movie coming out and all

Pure by Julianna Baggott - teen dystopia, a genre my friend loves, and recent used book acquisition

The Complete Poetry of Robert Frost - I've been reading this on and off since February, as you can tell from my occasional posts about the latest poetry collection I finished

Aimless Love by Billy Collins - I started reading this in February, and bought it when I had to return it to the library. I've passed on a Billy Collins book or two to this friend, so I thought this might jumpstart my reading if I decide to leave it for him when I'm done.

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher - realistic teen fiction about someone dealing with a classmate's suicide; if I don't like it, my friend might and he hasn't read it either.

I'm on the fence about bringing The Trouble Ball by Martin Espada, because I already have two poetry books with me, but it's very thin so it may sneak into my carry-on luggage. Finally, I'm bringing my Kindle which has such goodies as the second Jodi Taylor book and Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I just prefer to lose my nose in a book while on the plane: it helps me block out the windows and, again, forget that I'm flying, not to mention I can be reading during takeoff and landing which are the worst parts.

Think I'll have enough options for my travels?

Yeah, well stocked. :)

>91 bell7: Mary, I really like Tracy Kidder, although I haven't read the one you're taking. Nose in the book, full steam ahead!

VERY well stocked reading larder. Have a terrific time!

>92 drneutron: Well, you know... I wouldn't want to run out of books ;)

>93 AuntieClio: I've enjoyed Mountains Beyond Mountains and Strength in What Remains, which are still the only two I've read by him though more are on the ever-growing TBR list. I suggested this to our book club because of both author and local appeal, though I find it ironic that I'll be reading it on the longest trip I've ever taken solo.

>94 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! I'll be around for the weekend but will enjoy next week, I'm sure, seeing a part of the country I never have before. I get to see one of the kids from last year's Workcamp crew and celebrate his birthday while there. We were hoping another crew member could come (and it would've been awesome to have a travel buddy as she lives nearer to me!), but she ended up being unable to.

Your list has my seal of approval as well.

>96 norabelle414: bahahaha! Excellent :) P.S. this is the kid that I got the Veronica Roth autograph for. So far I've also managed to get him a signed book for Christmas and this birthday, so I feel like I'm setting the gifts bar a little high in the book department for the future.

Honestly, I love that everyone's response on LT is, "Yes, that looks excellent" not "Why are you weighting down your luggage with books you won't read?" or "Seriously? You're more worried about books than your other packing?" It makes me feel like less of a reading oddball :)

>97 bell7: I was concerned that you wouldn't have enough until I saw that you were bringing your Kindle as well.

>98 norabelle414: Well, it has five unread books on it and if push comes to shove I can borrow library e-books!

>97 bell7: Mary, Oh please. I'm surprised no one is asking if you're sure you'll have enough to read. :-)

A friend I travelled with would say, "They have stores there you know." And I would just look at him that long-suffering, "You just don't understand" look.

>98 norabelle414: Ditto!

>100 AuntieClio: I fear your friend would have a similar confusion if I were to show him the many books I own that I haven't yet read, and then proceed to explain that I'm saving them for a rainy day and that's why I have this great big pile of library books...

>101 foggidawn: Hahaha, I'll only have two (travel) days of reading out of five, so I really should be covered unless I can't find enough to occupy myself the days he's working. But I have the ability to get a rental car and don't expect this will be a problem.

Oh, I should add I realized when I got home from work that day that I'd left another book in my bag I borrowed specifically to bring - the short story collection of Four's stories by Veronica Roth. Mostly I thought he'd be interested, and I figured it would be a quick read. So that's eight books plus the Kindle for five days... If I'm truly desperate, I'm sure I can borrow some books off him too (thank goodness he's a reader!).

Now my only determination will be what to bring on my carry-on and what to leave for the trip back.

Knitting report! I haven't had one in awhile since I've been working primarily on baby blankets this year, but here's my latest just in time, as I believe the mother's due date has passed and she should have her newest bundle of joy any day now:



Here's a closer up view that shows you the pattern a little more clearly:


It's one of those fun patterns that looks complicated but is really easy to follow once you're in a rhythm - only one row in three needs counting, and the scallop effect is made by knitting two together (twice) in the middle while adding stitches to make those circles on the ends of each pattern on that county row. I messed up once and had to add a stitch three rows up to make the pattern come out right again, but I don't think anyone but me will ever notice. It's also fully reversible with no "wrong" side.

>102 bell7: My friend understands the piles of unread books, just not the need to haul some of them with me for fear of running out. That's happened to me exactly once, getting stuck in an airport overnight with nothing to read because all the stores were closed. By the time the stores opened, I was so desperate I would have read something despicable just to have something to read. I wound up with The Horse Whisperer which I finished on the flight and handed to the attendant on the way off the plane.

82. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden - mine and e-book ARC

Cary Elwes - who, should you not be familiar with The Princess Bride played the male lead character Westley - recounts his memories of acting in that iconic movie, which for some time was notorious for being the screenplay no one could adapt to screen. In 1986, the stars apparently aligned and Rob Reiner, also known for the This is Spinal Tap mockumentary, took on directing the movie. Cary recounts his jitters as a young actor, meeting the cast, mishaps on set, the major work that went into making the sword fight all it could be, and more.

If you're a huge fan of the movie, as I am (and, honestly, if you weren't why would you want to read this book in the first place?), you'll be able to overlook the flaws in the book. The tone is overly conversational including several sentence fragments and bordering on the repetitive, including phrases like "but more on that later" and Elwes constantly repeating how blessed he was. I also had some slight issues with the e-book formatting that I assume will be taken care of in the finished product (and, of course, the book format). But his recollections are entertaining and gave me a new appreciation for the film (why yes, I am now going to look for the scene in which he sits a certain way because of a broken toe). I also really enjoyed the insets with recollections from others involved in the film, including Rob Reiner, Robin Wright, Billy Crystal and more. Enthusiastically recommended for any fan of the movie. 4 stars.

Free e-book ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss/Above the Treeline. No money or goods were exchanged, and all views are my own. The book is due to come out October 14.

Edited to try to get the touchstone to work.

Happy Travels Mary! And, I am in awe of your knitting projects

>105 bell7: Oh so many place to go ....
"Humperdink! HUMperdink!!! humperdinkhumperdinkHUMPERDINK!"

>106 Whisper1: Thanks on both counts, Linda! I'm leaving Monday, so I anticipate being able to start a book before the trip starts, and haven't quite decided what I want to read first... decisions!

>107 AuntieClio: "Nobody's hearing nothing!"

>107 AuntieClio: I know most of it by heart - and knew it even better about ten years ago - and one of my favorite moments to quote is "Mawwage... mawwage is what bwings us togethah today" and switching to "I am the Dread Pirate Roberts. There will be no survivors." Those scenes were just about perfect. And Billy Crystal is, of course, amazing. I didn't have a clue that he wasn't that old until several years after I'd first seen the movie.

Would you believe The Princess Bride is STILL in my tbr pile? And I've never seen the movie.

>110 ronincats: What? Oh, you need to move those to the top! It's a rare case where, in my opinion, the movie is better than the book -- but some people strongly disagree with me. At any rate, both are excellent!

Oh, lovely blanket, Mary! I remember when I first learned to knit scallops and chevrons - so fun!

>105 bell7:: Oh, gosh. On the list it goes!!! It's one of the favorite movies of all time for my immediate AND extended family (on my father's side), so you can imagine how family gatherings tend to go... :P

>110 ronincats: Well, you need to do something about that, on both counts!

>111 foggidawn: I completely agree, though it may have something to do with the fact that I saw the movie first. It's just so incredibly quotable and I prefer the way the movie does the outer frame of the grandfather reading the story though some would probably argue that the differences are minute.

>112 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! I really enjoyed that it looked intricate but was a really easy pattern to count.

>113 dk_phoenix: Hahahaha yesss - my immediate family doesn't love it like I do (we tend to quote famous sports bloopers and the Three Stooges), but my cousins and I will quote it extensively at larger family gatherings. :)

>104 AuntieClio: sorry to not respond - you sneaked in and I didn't see your post 'til just now! That sounds like a horrible experience, honestly, and is exactly the sort of fear I have prompting me to bring seven eight books and a Kindle along with me. I figure if I do manage to read (or start and abandon) them all, I will have the library e-book selection to cover me - as long as I have WiFi!

Hi Mary, belated congratulations on your week of work in Scranton. I think it's just wonderful that you continue to influence these younger people with your volunteerism. And what a gift you are giving to someone who can't keep up their house any longer. Good Job on that AND reading over 75 books already. You have been busy!

Have fun on your trip to Minnesota. It is a beautiful part of the country. We sometimes go that way when we drive to Upper Michigan. Last year we thoroughly enjoyed our detour to Duluth. I totally get the care that must be given to the accompanying books! I hope you discover some new bookstores while there as well. That is always a part of my vacations because I enjoy looking at the local author's section and the regional books.

>116 Donna828: Thanks, Donna, I really enjoyed the trip and I feel like I get as much out of it as many of the kids. Thanks also for your good wishes for the trip. I'll be traveling most of the day tomorrow and after my brother brings me to the bus station, I am pretty much on my own until the shuttle arrives late at night (and with the time change it's going to feel later to me...) so I'm a little nervous about the travel. But I think we're going to have fun, and I have been promised book shopping (though I think he's more interested in Barnes & Noble and I want a trip to Birchbark Books... oh well, he's working one day out of the week so I may find myself meandering on my own!).

Hi Mary! Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow. :)

Thanks, me too!

It was nice meeting you, Mary. You have a nice trip back home!

>120 The_Hibernator: It was great to meet you too! My trip home went much more smoothly than did the trip there. I will post a couple of the pictures Tanner took for us soon; I've just been really tired and busy unpacking today, and I'm leaving again for a couple of days (just dogsitting, so I'll be around). But I will get them up this week, honest!

83. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell - mine but since given away

It's 1947, and fifteen-year-old Evie Spooner, her mother, and returned veteran stepfather Joe, are ready to put the war behind them. In fact, when an old buddy of Joe's calls, they hightail it out of New York to Palm Beach, Florida. Then a young man named Peter sweeps Evie off her feet, and a tangle of intrigue and buried mysteries intrude.

This was an award-winning, accolade-ridden book when it came out in 2008, and I finally got around to reading it this summer. It's sort of literary fiction for teens as Evie's coming of age story and the way in which the story is told, giving you some information but leaving a lot of the details to be filled in for the reader. I found it rather ambiguous for my taste, and admired it without really loving it. 3 stars.

84. Pure by Julianna Baggott - mine but since given away

When the Detonations were released, the Dome went up to protect the lucky - or, some say, the rich and powerful - and those outside were left to heal as best they can. Everyone outside, like Pressia and her grandfather, have fused with something and survive as best they can. Those inside don't have it all perfect either, however, as we find out from Partridge, a boy who doesn't quite take to the "enhancements" being done at his school and whose father is in power but doesn't seem to like him much.

The third-person present-tense narration takes us between several perspectives, but most often those of Pressia and Partridge. While those outside think the Dome represents safety and some inside - like Partridge - find it stiflingly controlled, the reader can see just how messed up this society is. The strong worldbuilding carries the story well even through some chancy plot twists, and left me interested enough to try the next book in the series. 3.5 stars.

85. The Trouble Ball by Martin Espada - mine

A book of poetry by a professor at my alma mater, UMass Amherst. I've been meaning to read it since I heard him perform ("read" is not a strong enough word in this instance) one of his poems at the Massachusetts Book Awards ceremony a year or so ago. I really enjoyed the first two poems, "The Trouble Ball" and "Blessed Be the Truth Tellers." Many of the poems were sad or political and as such entirely over my head. But they are definitely accessible and the images from the first two poems will stay with me.

I don't rate (or truly review) poetry books, but it's one I would give away since I really only liked the first two poems.

86. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks - mine but gave right back to the library sale

Noah and Allie were first loves, but circumstances have kept them apart for years. Noah is living alone after service in the war and his father's death. Allie is engaged and living in another state, but suddenly decides to go back to the town and visit Noah if he's still there. They find themselves picking up where they left off, and Allie needs to decide if her fiance Lon or Noah is the right man for her.

I don't usually like romance (sorry, Nicholas, I know you like to call your books "love stories," but as far as I'm concerned, this one is romance through and through), but I picked this up because one of my library book discussions read it recently and one of the members was singing its praises. I didn't love it, but it's romantic and bittersweet, so if you're a fan of his books go ahead and give it a try. 3.5 stars.

So now that I'm done the book reports, I suppose I should give you the trip report.

I had a really great time visiting my friend in Minnesota. We did some hiking, visited a cave, and celebrated his birthday. I also got to meet The_Hibernator and eeblue (hope my "little brothers" weren't too out of control... they're really great kids for all their bickering, honest!) before running off from brunch to the Mall of America. I did not run out of reading material. I did get exhausted. On the way there, both my planes were delayed and I had a bit of an adventure getting a shuttle down to Rochester, but I did indeed make it albeit an hour late. On the way home, my planes were only slightly delayed and I had to kill time at the bus stop in Boston. So now you know how I managed to read four books while I was gone.

Unfortunately, one of those books was not my book club book for, erm, tomorrow. So I've been binge-reading Home Town while dogsitting and am very excited to report I only have about 30 pages left. I am planning on rewarding myself by watching at least an episode of Supernatural tonight after work, and do not plan on binge-reading my book club books from here on out. I get sick of them that way no matter how much I would enjoy them otherwise.

Photos to come - I have them on my laptop at home and have barely been there for the last week and a half...

87. Home Town by Tracy Kidder - mine

Northampton is a small town in western Massachusetts with a lot of history and unique local favor. Tracy Kidder takes you through the town in the '90s when its Main Street shops were burgeoning and there was an influx of people from outside joining the lifelong "townies." He tells the story of Tommy O'Connor, who lived in town all his life and became a cop seeing the seedier side of town, Judge W. Michael Ryan of the District Court, scholarship student at Smith Laura Baumeister and more.

These compelling snapshots tell a sort of mosaic of the town of Northampton. Tommy O'Connor's story is essentially the one that connects all the dots, and the other people involved have at least some relationship with him when first introduced, though Kidder gives us more of their story than Tommy could have known from their interactions. Though he's never present as an "I," Kidder's presence is felt as the listening ear for Tommy in the cop car or Alan Scheinman explaining how OCD took over his life. Interspersed in these vignettes are stories from the history of the town, and as a result of the United States, and a glimpse of a small town still existing in today's busy society. The book is about fifteen years old, but I could recognize the town that I've visited several times myself in its pages. 4 stars.

I loved the local history of it (my hometown is mentioned briefly, which made me think about the interconnectivity of history in this region) and the descriptions of various people. I'm not sure I'd read it all the way through again, but I've decided to keep the book for its extensive bibliography to keep in mind more books about my area of the country. Read for book club tonight - I'm not sure if this conversation will be one of those where we enjoyed the book but had difficulty talking about it (like At Home: A Short History of Private Life) or if we'll have plenty to say.

>127 bell7: *boom* BB :-)

^^^What she said.

>128 AuntieClio: and >129 richardderus: My work here is done :)

As promised, here are some pictures from my trip:

Meeting up with Rachel (The_Hibernator) on the left and eeblue on the right (I'm standing between them):


My friend "Ginger" whose birthday I came to celebrate and who was kind enough to take the above photo (and a few more before I stopped him...) for me:


A view of the valley near where I was staying:


Sending the dog chasing stones in the water:


It was a really gorgeous area of the country and I so enjoyed my trip. The friend I was visiting was from my Workcamp crew last year and we've stayed in touch pretty regularly ever since. My youngest sister is about his age and was hoping to go for a visit at the same time, but had travel plans of her own so it didn't work out this year. Maybe a road trip next year, we'll see!

Oh, lovely photos! Jealous of the meet-up, of course...

>131 bell7: Yay! That looks like so much fun.

Speaking of meetups, you haven't chimed in on the National Book Festival thread yet. Are you joining us this year?

>132 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! I didn't get to meet Morphy because that was the day her migraine viral meningitis hit :( but that'll give me another reason to go back for another visit right? :)

>133 norabelle414: I had a blast! Unfortunately I now have a reputation... I tried to pass on a book of poetry I was done with saying that the author was a professor at my alma mater, and Ginger's response was, "Oh, so you can get it signed." :::sigh::: I'm thinking about making sure his Christmas gift does not include books just so I can surprise him... And sadly I will not make the National Book Festival this year. I'm going to the U.S. Open in New York on the 31st and the dates being so close I just didn't want to have that much hectic traveling in one weekend. Hopefully next year though!

>134 bell7: TBH you're probably picking a good year to skip. I'm very skeptical of this whole "1 day, 12 hours, indoors" thing. I'll let you know how it goes. And hopefully I'll see you in the spring!

>135 norabelle414: This is true: even if the format ultimately works, they're bound to have some hiccups the first time around. Keep me in the loop for the spring dates and I'll see what I can do. I'll be out of vaca time but I may be able to squeak in a weekend, depending.

My brother in law talked me into joining a fantasy football league for the first time ever. I managed to muddle my way through the draft last night, and don't think I did half bad (though my current quarterback is listed as "probable" in the next game and recovering from ankle surgery, hmm....). Anyone ever done this before? Or know the general gist of how this works so I don't entirely embarrass myself in front of his brothers (all his siblings + mine + some of their friends are in this league of 10)?

For the record, I'm a huge football fan I've just never done the fantasy stuff.

>137 bell7: *feigns blissful ignorance*

I love the photos from your meetup and trip, Mary, and as always love hearing the doin's of your life. Your thread is always like a comfy chair in the living room of a good and valued friend.

>138 richardderus: *blushes* why thank you! It does my heart good to know that my thread is a comfortable place, as many of my friends on LT are for me too.

>137 bell7: I do fantasy football every year. I always make it to the top 4, but I've never won. I must admit my husband helps me along, so if you have any questions let me know and I'll pass them along. :)

>140 RosyLibrarian: Why yes I do (and many thanks to you & your husband)! First question: how does this work? I mean, I kinda sorta get that I have players and they give me points, but how do I determine who gets off the bench, and when do I decide by? Does it start this week or with week 1 of the regular season?

I could find all sorts of "insider" tips but nothing so basic as this haha :)

>141 bell7: Who are you playing through? ESPN, Yahoo, etc? I am in a Yahoo league, so it may differ and of course every league is set up differently too depending on the commissioner and their rules.

Our league starts week 1 of the regular season. You can switch players until they start playing and then they are locked in - either on the bench or on your roster.

I guess I should back up... so you do a draft and select players for all the different positions (QB, kicker, etc). These players earn you different points depending on how the league is set up. Most companies do a projection, which really helped me. For instance, when trying to decide between which QB to play I would look at their projected points and pick the one that was probably going to do better. So I would have one QB playing and one on the bench.

Keep in mind that teams don't play every week, and so when a team doesn't play their players are on bye week. This means they won't earn you points so make sure to put them on the bench on those weeks.

Does that help? Feel free to ask me more questions. :)

Ah okay it's ESPN. We did the draft and I used the projections for points and who they thought was best available, and made sure I had players on the bench that I could at the very least switch out for the bye weeks. I'm assuming it starts week 1 of the regular season too, but I should probably double check with my brother-in-law since he's the one who set up our league...

Finished a book on Friday? Thursday? And apparently forgot to post a review, oops!

88. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

In this fascinating retelling of Cinderella, somewhere in the future the Earthens are ruled by an emperor who is dealing with a plague and negotiating with the Lunar queen, who has been threatening war for years. Now, it seems imminent as the emperor himself is dying of the plague. Cinder is a mechanic who just happens to be a cyborg - her mechanical parts make her a second class citizen and ward to Adri, a rather nasty piece of work whose husband died leaving her with Cinder, an orphan whose parents died when she was eleven. Then Prince Kai himself (who, it must be mentioned, is the celebrity heartthrob) brings a robot for Cinder to repair, and he seems most anxious to have it fixed quickly.

This is the first in the series and if I were going to find fault with the book, it would be for the way it sets some things up and then leaves you hanging, waiting for the next book (why why why must there be cliffhangers?). I really enjoyed the characters, especially Cinder, and really want to see where it goes next. While the fairy tale is recognizable in places (the evil stepmother, the two stepsisters), it's also reimagined in delightfully surprising ways that fit the feel of this story, which stands well on its own two feet. I found some of the twists predictable, but I still relished the reveal when it came. I'm looking forward to seeing where Scarlet takes the story. 4.5 stars.

89. Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

Four longish short stories and three short-short scenes from Divergent told from Tobias' perspective give more of his backstory.

"The Transfer," "The Initiate," "The Son" and "The Traitor" are not traditional short stories in that they don't stand alone from the Divergent novels, but for fans interested in more of Tobias' story, they're worth reading. I believe most if not all were released as e-books and meant to be read alone or together, as some of them repeat or briefly sum up what happens in another so they can be read in any order. The three scenes explain what's going on in Tobias' head during three interactions he has with Tris.

As such, this isn't really a cohesive collection, which is why I ultimately rated it 4 stars. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't reread it apart from the series, and it's not really necessary to your overall understanding of the characters. But for those that can't get enough of the story, it is interesting to get Tobias' take.

What I'm reading:
Rash by Pete Hautman
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

What I've been watching lately:
Well, the new Doctor Who started soooo... I've been going over to a friend's house to watch it because I don't get BBC America. Does anyone have a free and legal online source to this as well, just in case a Saturday night doesn't work out for us?

Supernatural - started watching in Minnesota and came back to watch all of Season 1 which ending on an absolutely maddening cliffhanger. So Season 2 is on its way to me on interlibrary loan.

The US Open starts today and I can choose between several courts online, hurray! So between work I've had it up on the laptop, though more often than not I'm reading in front of it during the early rounds.

>146 bell7: What cable provider does your friend have? Mine (Verizon) and my mom's (Comcast) both have Doctor Who On Demand for free. The episodes usually show up 12-24 hours after airing.

>147 norabelle414: She has Charter. I have Comcast, but we recently changed our cable back to a mini basic and I'd have to see if we even had on demand anymore and "borrow" my landlords' (for lack of a better word... the couple I rent from) TV in the family room. So if it's online like Downton Abbey is on PBS, I'd be much better off...

>148 bell7: Usually On-Demand is also available on the cable providers' website. The only catch is that you'll have to know the account name and password for the cable.
While free tv stations like PBS, NBC, CW, etc. post their shows online for free, cable tv stations like BBC America almost never do.

Ooh, well I'll ask the folks of they have that info and if not I'll try calling Comcast

90. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

Tenth book in the series and necessarily ***spoilers*** for previous titles.

Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete du Quebec has retired with his wife, Reine-Marie, to the cozy village of Three Pines. Instead of being able to enjoy the quiet, however, he is asked by a friend, Clara Morrow, to help her find her husband, who had promised to come back after a year and was overdue.

I should just pre-order these books. Forget getting them out of the library, because it's not like I don't know I want them all on my own library shelves eventually. But no, I had to go and request the book and steal it from our shelves barely processed and take home to borrow. What can I say about the series that I haven't already, in trying to explain why I am so drawn to this story and these characters? Because despite the abundance of staccato fragments and an amazing amount of crime in one tiny village, I adore these books. These characters have become like real people to me, almost family, so I am carried along with emotions like a pendulum reading about their ups and downs and yelling to them (and the author) mentally when I don't like what's happening. This story, Clara's journey, was no different. I laughed, I cried, I read with bated breath, I stopped reading at points because I didn't want the story to end. I still feel somewhat battered and bruised, but of course I'd read it again in a heartbeat. 4.5 stars.

Fun fact of the day:

Though my number of books read by the end of July was very close last year and this, it took me until October 23 to read 90 books in 2013. That book was Allegiant.

>151 bell7: That was a very deft review, my dear! Anyone who reads a review for book 10 and doesn't expect spoilers for earlier books is a bit silly.

>152 bell7: You GO!! Working full-time, even in a library, militates against racking up really high reading numbers for most people. That's a major achievement.

>153 richardderus: Why thank you! Re: spoilers, well, yes but often on my thread I'll note if a book is part of a series just in case someone happens by who doesn't know. I seldom copy that part into the review on the book page itself, as if you're looking at it I'm assuming you can see the series number at the top :)

And yeah, I'm actually pretty surprised by the number of books I've managed at this point, especially compared to last year. I don't think I'll get up to the numbers I did while still getting summer vacations off from school (150-60 was the norm) until I retire, but I can still pretty handily reach 100+.

And at that, you're 99.5 books a year ahead of the bulk of American readers. Who are less than 20% of the population.

An elite company indeed!

>155 richardderus: Sad, but true. Granted I don't watch nearly as much TV or as many movies as the average American either. They cut into my reading time...

91. Rash by Pete Hautman

In the future, the USSA - that's the United Safer States of America - takes everyone's safety extremely importantly. There is no more football, you must wear protective gear even to run on a special surface, and losing your temper is a punishable offense. When Bo Marsten breaks the rules, he's assigned to work making pizzas for McDonald's (a huge corporation that does a whole lot more than just restaurants), and doesn't quite know how he's going to get out of this fix.

The book had a lot going for it at the start: interesting premise, humor, a likable protagonist who finds himself in a tough situation only partially of his own making. But I felt like the author just started running out of ideas partway through. The middle started to drag even as the situation became more and more over-the-top, and it finally ended in a way that made me completely unsure if anything was actually accomplished other than Bo's development - and I'm not convinced that he couldn't have changed like that given another set of circumstances. I muddled through to the end because it was a fast read and I liked the AI program that Bo creates for a school assignment. 2.5 stars.

Hey Mary! Thanks for posting that picture! It's nice to see. Sorry for the delayed reaction to it. :) You know how Real Life can be.

>158 The_Hibernator: You're welcome, and don't worry about it! I do know how Real Life can get. I enjoyed seeing it re-posted on your thread as well :)

92. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

On the island of Nollop, where the written word is prized above all, the man Nollop who crafted the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is also revered for creating a short sentence with all the letters of the alphabet, and his statue has been standing with said sentence for generations untold. When letters start falling off the statue, the Council determines that Nollop himself is speaking, and they can no longer use the letters in question, leaving the poor people of Nollop to try their best not to use outlawed words on pain of banishment.

Told in letters between the eponymous Ella Minnow Pea, her mother and father, and her cousin Tassie, this clever little book definitely has some things to say about thoughtless censorship and those who go along with it. The format makes it tough, because there's a lot going on between letters, but it's also quite entertaining - and you have to give a tip of the hat to his writing ability - to see how the author writes without using the illegal letters. However, between the cleverness and the writing style I didn't connect with the story itself or the characters as well as I would have liked to. 3.5 stars.

Could potentially nudge this up to 4 stars. I think I'm in a picky mood lately.

August in review -

81. Champion by Marie Lu
82. As You Wish by Cary Elwes with Joy Layden - mine and e-ARC
83. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell - mine (since given away)
84. Pure by Julianna Baggott - mine (since given away)
85. The Trouble Ball by Martin Espada - mine
86. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks - mine (since given away)
87. Home Town by Tracy Kidder - mine
88. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - mine and e-book
89. Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth
90. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
91. Rash by Pete Hautman
92. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Books read: 12
Audiobooks listened to: 0
Graphic novels/Manga: 0
Picture books: 0
Adult/Teen/Children's: 6/6/0
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 10/2/1/0
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 5/7

Standouts: The Long Way Home was head and shoulders above the rest.

Thoughts: I'm not sure if it was my mood, the books, or some combination of the two but I had kind of a mediocre month as far as reading quality went with only a couple of books that I'd consider rereading. I do believe this is the first month all year I've read more of my own books than library books. Coincidence?

Original book publication dates read year-to-date:

2014 - 18
2013 - 20
2012 - 15
2011 - 10
2010 - 1
2009 - 4
2008 - 3
2006 - 2
2004 - 1
2003 - 1
2002 - 1
2001 - 1

1999 - 2
1997 - 1
1996 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1965 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

8th century BC - 1

Even though yesterday was a holiday, I did not read (*gasp*shock*horror*). I did go book shopping with my cousins, and did end up with a pretty excellent haul if I do say so myself. Only two were books that I haven't yet read:

The Falconer by Elizabeth May - unread
The Host by Stephenie Meyer - read already; not great Literature but I've been thinking about rereading it and it was only $9
Les miserables by Victor Hugo - unread but it doesn't count because it's replacing a really beat up copy I got from a library book sale; a lovely B&N classics edition
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - read and loved
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley - unread and has been on my TBR; my cousin said she'd read it when I was done, so it pushed it onto the "buy" pile
Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik - read, filling a gap in the series
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny - same as above

After I got back home, I was so brain dead I couldn't read The Quick, which had a lot of long sentences and older feel to it, kind of like The Thirteenth Tale, and I just couldn't find it in me to pay attention. I updated my reading notebook instead and didn't read a thing. Today I started Fuse by Julianna Baggott. Still tired and needing a book I could read quickly on breaks at work, I thought this fit the bill of my current reading needs the best. It's the second in a teen dystopia trilogy about a community in which there is a Dome keeping some people in and others - who, because of Detonations have fused with something (or, in some cases, someone) and essentially live with disabilities - are kept out. So far so good - only about 30 pages in.

>162 bell7: Les Miserables made me want to learn to read and speak French so I could read it in the original language. Of course, I haven't yet learned how to read or speak French.

>163 AuntieClio: Ha! I took French but it was so long ago that I only remember basics, certainly nowhere near enough to read the classic in its original language. Les Mis has been on my reading list for-e-ver, and I really should move it up (says the girl with a pile of library books and over 180 unread books at home).

93. Fuse by Julianna Baggott

Taking up where Pure left off, Fuse tells the continuing story of Pressia, her half-brother Partridge, Lyda, and Bradwell as they attempt to salvage the formula that could reverse the fusings caused by the Detonations (for example, Pressia's doll head as a right hand) and save the life of Willux, the evil leader of the Dome and Partridge's father. Each has his/her own role to play in the potential coming revolution: will Partridge become the leader he's been primed to be and take over from his father?

My reactions to this trilogy continue to be mixed. I really like the worldbuilding and the realistic way the "fusings" seem to be a natural outcome of an apocalyptic bombing. We're following even more characters in this book, as the third-person points of view switch between Pressia, Partridge, Lyda, Bradwell, and El Capitan (the reformed leader of a military group who is now working with Pressia). There are many threads to follow and it makes the story, quite frankly, a little too long even though I still find myself interested enough to read to the end. 3.5 stars.

The other thing that gets me is that every main character at some point has been almost dead and then survives at the last second through some random plot twist, leaving me reasonably sure that no one I care about too deeply is going to die. It's sort of annoying to read along and be like, oh, this character was left hanging about to die with a spider grenade embedded in his leg, but I know somehow he gets out of it. It will be interesting to see if this carries on into the third book or not.

In other news, fantasy football is keeping me paying attention not just to my NY Giants but to football in general - and I won my first game!

>166 bell7: Congrats! I lost mine...stupid Drew Brees didn't get me a lot of points.

>165 bell7: I need to start that series.

>167 RosyLibrarian: Thanks! My opponent (one of my sisters) had Drew Brees which didn't hurt me any, especially since Jay Cutler did better than expected (my first drafted quarterback was Cam Newton, and he was out with rib injuries soooo...). But my goodness, I was watching New Orleans/Atlanta on Sunday - what an exciting game! Too bad the Giants lost, though :( Last night was rather a frustrating one in our house.

I hope you enjoy the series when you get to it! They are fast reads, and I think they both suffered from the way I read them - Pure in one day while I was waiting for planes and Fuse taking me over a full week because I was so busy.

Fun fact:

One of the blurbers for my current book The Night Swimmer which I'm reading for book club now was Julianna Baggott, who wrote the last book I read.

That doesn't happen all that often.

Graphic Novels/Manga (3 for the year now):

Fairy Tale Volume 1 by Hiro Mashima
Imagine that wizards had a guild just like any other job, and you'd essentially have the idea behind this story. One girl who does magic by making deals with celestial spirits wants to join the famous Fairy Tale guild more than anything - and gets her chance when she meets one of the wizards! But though the Fairy Tale wizards are pretty good folk, they also have a habit of leaving mayhem and destruction in their wake...

Fun and light reading, though as the first volume there is kind of a lot of setup involved in learning about the magic rules and the guild, so I'm planning on reading the 2nd and 3rd volume before deciding for sure to continue with the whole series. My library just purchased it because it's a really popular manga series.

94. Dark Eden: Eve of Destruction by Patrick Carman

In Dark Eden, Will Besting and six teens were cured of their fears but left with ailments (loss of hearing, debilitating headaches, sleepiness, etc.) while an old - actually, ancient - man diabolically stole their youth to keep living indestructibly. Now, his former wife Eve Goring calls Will and the others back to Eden to get cures from their ailments: vials of blood taken to cure their fears that need to be mixed together and administered to cure their old age. But Eve seems to hold all the cards, and Will knows there's something not right.

I summarized the first book by calling it a "fast, fun, potato chip read of a YA novel," and the sequel is more of the same. Actually, it's even more over-the-top unbelievable than the first book, and I'm still left wondering if that was really it. The plot moves fast and suspensefully, but I had an easy time figuring out faster than Will what was going on and it didn't keep moving so fast that I could suspend disbelief. I would recommend it to readers looking for a fast read after the first book, but my summary in the first paragraph pretty much says it all. If your reaction is "Oh, that sounds fantastic!" go for it, but if you're scratching your head the novel won't clear anything up for you. 3.5 stars.

Meh. It passed a few hours but it's not one I'm enthusiastic about to say the least.

95. The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant

When Elly's husband Fred Bulkington wins a contest that gives them a pub in Ireland, they move to the town of Baltimore in Cork County and try to make a go of running the Nightjar. What they don't know is that they're smack in the middle of small town politics and a small population that doesn't always take kindly to newcomers.

This sometimes poetically written book is much more about Elly, our narrator, and what she sees in the people and the unique geography and history of Baltimore, Clear Island, and the lighthouse on Fastnet than any kind of real plot. It's meandering and slow until you get kind of deep into it, and if heaven help you if you don't particularly care for Elly or Fred. Elly is a long-distance open water swimmer and has an added layer of fat in her body that allows her to brave colder water than most. Fred is wrapped up in the idea of writing a novel, though he doesn't particularly seem to get anything done. Though Elly describes their relationship in Vermont as a very close one (almost to the point of neediness), the cracks begin to show after their arrival in Ireland. They still seem somewhat stuck in party mode, getting drunk or high rather regularly, and expecting things to just fall into place for them or ignoring problems instead of working hard. The Prologue sets you up for something bad to happen, and I spent most of the book wondering what that was going to be; I'm still kind of confused about what happened. 2.5 stars.

I was going to rate it higher but as I started to write about it, I started realizing how much I disliked it. I think it will make an interesting book discussion, however, and I'm quite happy to say I finally found discussion questions online so I won't have to scramble quite as much as I thought I would.

96. Switched by Amanda Hocking

Like any teenager, Wendy has often felt like she doesn't fit in. Even her own mother went crazy on her, telling her she wasn't her child, and her brother Matt is about the only one who's ever looked out for her. She's a picky eater and can't stand to wear shoes...oh, and she discovers she's actually a changeling, a troll or "Trylle," and did I mention the daughter of the Queen?

After a few books in a row that didn't work for me in one way or the other, it was really fun to rediscover my enjoyment of YA fantasy. The story suffers a little from predictability and setting up the trilogy, but I enjoyed getting to know Wendy and the other characters she meets - especially Finn, Rhys, and the other returned changelings. This is a solid traditional fantasy story that reads fast, and I'm looking forward to starting the next book soon. 4 stars.

Random notes from me:

I am now 2-0 in my fantasy football league and ridiculously happy to be one of only two undefeated teams. The next team I play is "Team Hotness," which my sister tells me was draft based entirely on the good looks of the players. I kind of want to win on principle now.

I'm currently reading Scarlet but have been rather tired when I get back from work in the evenings and not progressing very fast.

I have been progressing in Supernatural and only have 3 episodes left in Season 3. So far my favorites are the Christmas special and "Ghostfacers," done in the style of reality ghost shows where people spend the night at haunted houses - the Hell Hounders from an earlier episode run into Sam and Dean actually trying to, you know, take care of a problem in a haunted house without killing off the amateurs.

I finished the second volume of Fairy Tail and started the third. Jury's still out on this one. It's fun, but not grabbing me.

Books on deck:
The Quick by Lauren Owen
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Echoes of Betrayal by Elizabeth Moon
Born Reading by Jason Boog

Graphic novels/manga #4:

Fairy Tail Volume 3 - the Fairy Tale gang takes on a dark guild who's bent on using an evil flute to kill the master wizards who are all meeting together. More shenanigans follow.

I'm not into the constant fighting and while a hint was given that everyone has a backstory, nothing's really been investigated yet. I'll keep it in my when I'm in the mood for something light & quick, but I'm not planning on continuing the series at this point.

Book discussion of The Night Swimmer tonight. I don't think anyone wholeheartedly loved it, and several people commented on things that confused them or mentioned how difficult it was. Thank heavens, I don't feel so alone now! One person clarified something that had entirely mystified me, and she actually thanked me for my insightful comments...

My reading is going ever-so-slowly at the moment, but I'm in to Season 4 of Supernatural now. I'm hoping to make some progress in Scarlet and also to start The Killer Angels over the next few days, as I'd forgotten about a genre study on historical fiction that I'm facilitating at work next week (oops). I've read a lot of historical fiction and it's very participatory in nature, so I don't think I have to have it finished, but I do need to at least start it and be thinking about the genre. So that's what I'll be up to when I'm not working over the next few days!

Less love still for The Night Swimmer. Sad (not).

>177 richardderus: It was a very frustrating book that I would not have bothered to finish had it been something I was reading for fun. Though I will say everybody had a variety of opinions, and it made for a very rich discussion.

By the way, I came to it late but has anyone else been having fun discovering the "treasure" for Talk Like a Pirate Day? So. Much. Fun.

>179 bell7: Me, me, me! Or, should I say, "Aye, matey!"

I had a ton of fun too. Best pirate day ever, imo.

>180 foggidawn: Hahahha :)

>181 norabelle414: Right? I'd forgotten it was 'til I got home from an all-day workshop and had such fun decoding the riddles!

>122 bell7:. Hi Mary, I'm so sorry for being out of touch with so many LT friends.

I read this book, and I actually liked it. I hope you are well.

>183 Whisper1: Linda! I'm glad you stopped by. How have you been?

I kind of felt bad for not liking What I Saw and How I Lied more because it was excellent writing and plot-building. I'd thought the story would more of a historical fiction with period details regarding the war, and didn't really get as much as I'd expected, but what I really disliked was the ambiguity of the story. I like nice, neat answers and tend to dislike the award-winning type books that don't leave you with everything wrapped up in the end. So I guess it's one I'd recommend to the right reader without truly loving personally, if that makes sense.

97. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (AKA yes, I actually have been reading...)

The second book in the Lunar Chronicles focuses on Scarlet, whose grand-mere has been missing for weeks and the police seem to think she's simply run away. Scarlet knows that isn't the case, but she's hard-pressed to find anyone who will believe her until she runs into the mysterious Wolf, a fighter who has been hanging around her small town of Rieux for the past couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Cinder makes her escape from prison and Queen Levana is demanding her return, much to Emperor Kai's dismay.

I'm really enjoying this series, a mix of science fiction - futuristic technology, cyborgs and the like - and fantasy through fairy tale retellings. There are references to the fairy tales, in this case Red Riding Hood, but Meyer makes the story her own and takes it in new and sometimes surprising directions. The overarching story of the queen of the moon trying to take over the world and the twist of the Lunars vs. Earthens gives what might be individual fairy tales cohesiveness. On to the next book! 4.5 stars.

So if anything I liked this one even better than Cinder. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens in Cress, but I've got a couple of other books lined up before I start that one. I started Torn late last night and am really hoping to dig into Born Reading soon too.

Scarlet is waiting for me to pick up at the library right now!

>186 ronincats: Oh good, I hope you enjoy it, Roni!

Hi Mary! Sounds like life has been treating you well, lately, which is always an excellent thing! That manga Fairy Tail series is crazy popular at work (library), with dozens of volumes and I've always been curious about them. I think I'll do what you're doing, wait for when I need something easy and kind of mindless and grab a few editions at a time. (That is, assuming I can get them at the beginning - seriously, there are only usually a few random numbers on the manga shelves, hardly ever at the beginning.) Also, I just found out that it's an aminated series too - crazy!

TGIF to you!

>188 LauraBrook: Happy Friday to you, Laura! Life's been good, if busy, but I can't complain. Our teen librarian purchased Fairy Tail on the recommendation of a regular manga reader who said it was really popular. I checked and it looks like four volumes from the middle of the series are out, but it didn't have the instant popularity of a bunch of volumes checking out. But we don't seem to have the population of manga readers that some other libraries seem to (the plus side of this is that random volumes also don't get stolen), so it's hard to say based on one quick look. :)

Well, the genre study came and went and I never did pick up The Killer Angels. It's one of two must-reads for October (the other is my book discussion book, My Beloved World).

What I am reading is Torn, the second in the Trylle trilogy by Amanda Hocking. It's solid YA fantasy that reads fast and doesn't have anything too unexpected in it, so it's a good sort of comfort read. I'm in the mood for something a little more challenging next, though.

I also started Born Reading by Jason Boog. I've only read the Intro and will read a little further before I decide what I'm going to do with it. I thought it would have a lot of studies and experts on reading - and it does - but it's more of a parenting book in the vein of "how to read to your kids" as opposed to the general info that I'd be interested in as a librarian. So we'll see where it goes.

Other books currently out from the library:
Echoes of Betrayal by Elizabeth Moon which is glaring at me after sitting on the nightstand unread for five weeks
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, a book I'm pretty sure Micky originally recommended and will conveniently fill the "book set in Paris" bingo square

I have about five (?) episodes left of Season 4 of Supernatural. The first half or so was extremely funny and the second half suddenly got more intense. I had my first Supernatural-related dream a couple of nights ago that involved hiking with a bunch of friends, and me and my cousin going off on our own and following a path that took us to a room inside a historic house/former church in my hometown. I lost her in the passageway somewhere and when lights flickered I thought ghosts got her, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

97. Torn by Amanda Hocking

The second book in the Trylle Trilogy picks up right after the first leaves off, with Wendy and Rhys escaped from the Trylle palace in Forening and staying with Matt, Wendy's sort-of foster brother and Rhys's actual brother. But changeling Wendy isn't safe, as she's soon attacked and taken prisoner by a warring faction, the Vittra. What exactly do they want with her?

Though this book wasn't quite as action-packed as the first one, we start to learn more of the Trylle - trolls who practice leaving changelings with rich humans, of which Wendy is a Princess - and the Vittra, and if not why they're at war in the first place at least what their recent history has been. Wendy finds herself making tough choices that could impact the rest of her life and the troll peoples well into the future. 4 stars.

I'd actually be inclined to dock half a star in my rating but it's not so much that this is a worse book than the second as it is my reading mood has shifted. I enjoyed both, but I'm in the mood for something deeper or more complicated.

I returned all my library books today and am starting for scratch, finding myself in a mood of not wanting to read any of the books I had out. It probably doesn't help that, despite getting a good night's rest both nights, I woke up tired yesterday and today and have simply felt out of it for no particular reason.

I am currently reading a couple of my own books instead:
Doc by Mary Doria Russell, because at the end of October I'll be going to a genre study on historical fiction and need to read one book in addition to The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (and no, I still haven't started that one); and The World Split Open an e-ARC that's a collection of lectures by authors on various topics related to their writing. I'm finding them both a refreshing change from the reading I'd been doing lately - not that it was bad, but it had started to feel like much of the same.

And for those of you not yet sick of my Supernatural updates, I'm now a little over a third of the way into Season 5 and still enjoying it very much. There's a nice mix of humor and seriousness, and I like the way the brothers interact even if I do find myself knitting to keep my eyes off the bloody parts. Actually, mostly because of said Supernatural watching, my knitting has been going along swimmingly and I should post some pictures soon...

September in review -

93. Fuse by Julianna Baggott
94. Dark Eden: Eve of Destruction by Patrick Carman - e-book
95. The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant
96. Switched by Amanda Hocking
97. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
98. Torn by Amanda Hocking

Books read: 6
Audiobooks listened to: 0
Graphic novels/Manga: 3
Picture books: 0
Adult/Teen/Children's: 2/4/0
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 6/0/0/0
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 6/0/0

Standouts: Scarlet by far.

Thoughts: Unfortunately a rather mediocre reading month in more ways than one. I read six books, tying my 2014 low (January was also six), and only one book is a potential reread. The book discussion book was a dud for me, though the discussion itself was great. All in all, I'm ready for things to pick up a bit.

Original book publication dates read year-to-date:

2014 - 18
2013 - 22
2012 - 16
2011 - 11
2010 - 3
2009 - 4
2008 - 3
2006 - 2
2004 - 1
2003 - 1
2002 - 1
2001 - 1

1999 - 2
1997 - 1
1996 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1965 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

8th century BC - 1

New month, new thread.