I'm with scaifea ~ this is a great place to keep track of what I've read over the year! I don't know that I'm going to try to challenge myself too strenuously number-wise in 2008. I would like to read a little more non-fiction and a few more classics and literary novels than I did in 2007, but, if I can read 110 books in 2008, which will just about match 2007, I'll be pleased.

Please come back to visit anytime, and I'd love to hear what you think.

(ETA counter)




ETA that I've begun a new blog to do with books and reading, including reviews, books giveaways, and other fun & interesting (I hope) features. It's called Just One More Page, and you can find it at http://justonemorepageblog.blogspot.com/. Stop by and check it out. If you do, I hope you'll leave a comment letting me know what you think and that you got the info from my challenge thread on LT.

Edited to change the goal to 110 books.

Message edited by its author, Oct 1, 2008, 11:10pm.

Good luck with your goal. I'm sure that you'll not only meet it...but that you'll beat it. =)

Just think in April you have a new Harry Dresden to read...granted its not non-fiction or classic...but Harry is always a fun read. =)

hey, no cheating... you still have 3 days to add to your '07 list (and knowing you, that's a dozen books!) ;)

Thanks, Irish ~ esp. for the reminder about the new Harry Dresden. (I didn't say I wanted to read only classics and non-fiction! Besides, Harry is a classic of another kind.) ;)

Hey, Teach! Thanks for your vote of confidence, but I've been spending all my free time with my daughter who came in from NYC to spend the Christmas holidays with me, so maybe one or two more books this year but certainly not a dozen! Although, she left this morning... lol

Hope you both have a safe, prosperous and happy New Year, filled with lots of great books!

1. Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak. 8 stars. Clever little book that mimics such travel guides as Frommers New York City from $90 a Day, packed with advice for the 2nd Century A.D. traveler, some hysterical and some really sobering that makes learning fun and memorable. Mr. Matyszak is a scholar and professor of ancient Roman studies at Cambridge and knows his stuff. Good photos and some maps. Only wish there had been more illustrations and maps; I might have given it a 9 or 10.

Edited to make more sense.

Message edited by its author, Jan 2, 2008, 5:54pm.

Sounds like a fun book.

2. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. 7 stars. LT. Until close to the end, I wasn't really sure where this was going, just that it was about a kid who had lots of really strange adventures in another world made up of storybook characters and situations. Reminded me somewhat of The Wizard of Oz (which was alluded to in the book) with a small amount of very warped Lion, Witch and Wardrobe mixed in, until the very end, which brought me to tears.

ETA "LT" notation to indicate it was a book I read bec. of LT recommendation

Message edited by its author, Jan 5, 2008, 8:38pm.

tears of joy or tears of pain? don't tell me, I haven't finished it yet!

How are you doing your star ratings? I'm used to the LT 5 star max -- do you count 1/2 stars in the total, e.g. is 7 stars equal to an LT 3.5 stars?

#8 I'll let you finish, then maybe we can talk about it. I didn't say so in my review, but I thought there was more action with less introspection and character study than I usually enjoy.

#9 I just got tired of doing the 1/2 thing so decided to try out a 10-star rating format and forget about the fractions this year. Plus, with the 10 star rating system, I get an extra rating fraction (10=5+) in case a book is extra special good. So, yes, 3 would be 2, I guess, and 4 would be 2-1/2.

Basically, unless I feel compelled to finish a book for some reason (i.e., book club) or if the author is one I usually like so I'm hoping it will get better, if the book hasn't "hooked" me by about halfway in, I won't finish it, no matter how much praise it has garnered from others. So you won't see very many 5/10 stars (3/5 stars) and lower in my list.

3. The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman. 7 stars. Although I had figured out the mystery about halfway through, it was worth reading for no other reason than it is a novel of the Dineh and the Southwest, and also very comforting to be back with Joe Leaphorn, who has gotten old along with me. :)

4. The Mosaic Crimes by Giulio Leoni, translated by Anne Milano Appel. 6 stars. I wanted so much to love this novel, which featured Dante of Inferno fame in 14th Century Florence. Parts of it I did find wonderful, but too much of it read like a bad translation. Sorry, I don't know if that's true ~ maybe the ineligent writing was the fault of the author, but it seemed more like a translation issue. It was a pretty good mystery, though I'd figured it out by the time I got about 3/4 of the way through (which isn't all that bad), and I loved the descriptions of Firenze in 1300 ~ a time of great expansion, when the duomo and baptistry was being built, and Giotto's tower. Made me long to return.

Edited to revise rating.

Message edited by its author, Jan 8, 2008, 12:44am.

I read the book in Portuguese--and agree with you--it didn't quite make it. Parts were great but I have a feeling that the parts that read like a bad translation were simply bad writing.

I'm so glad that you read this book....I saw it in the library the other day and thought about getting. I'll probably still do so but I don't think that I'll rush to check it out.

#10 - I totally agree with not completing a book if you aren't hooked. In the past, I'd sludge through a book that I was not enjoying because I just felt some compulsion that if I started the book, I needed to finish it. No more of that! There are far too many good books out there that need reading to spend time on a book that I am not enjoying. Rarely do I come across a book that I don't enjoy enough to actually not finish, but it does happen.

Good start to your year, BTW. The Book of Lost Things is in my TBR pile right now. Sounds like it should be an interesting read.

Storeetllr: I have you starred so will be dropping by regularly. A friend gave me The Book of Lost Things and I was concerned because I don't normally read fantasy. I really enjoyed it.

Drop by anytime & often, amandameale! I love to hear what you and others think of the books I've read.

About The Book of Lost Things, I enjoyed it, but not as much as I'd hoped. (I do read a lot of fantasy.) It was good writing, but a lot of the time it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. The ending, though, thoroughly justified the time the time it took to read. Reminded me a little of the ending to the movie "Titanic," and also Beauty by Sheri Tepper for some reason.

Message edited by its author, Jan 15, 2008, 8:14pm.

5. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. 8 stars. LT This was not quite as good as The Moonstone, although it hooked me from page one and got more intense & unputdownable as it went on. Still, after almost 3 months of consideration, I think I would prefer to reread The Moonstone, which means (to me) that I enjoyed it more.

***POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD***

Great characterizations, esp. of the Count (ick, ick, ick) and his wife (double ick factor), although I was bothered that the mystery of her great change of character (from women's libber to adoring wife) was not explored adequately imho. Laura was a bit annoying in that she was such a wuss, but I loved Marian and Walter and secretly wished that he'd get beyond looks and fall in love with Marian, who was by far the more worthy of the two. Glyde was horrid, but I found myself feeling a bit sorry for him too ~ the mores of that time and the unfairness of what would have happened to him made his actions more comprehensible, though he was still awful. I kind of figured out early on the mystery of who the woman in white was, though how it all came together at the end was a surprise. All in all, I'm really glad I read the two major Collins novels, both of which were superb and both of which were trailblazers in the mystery genre, but I am in need of some lighter reading for awhile and so have started Summer Knight by Jim Butcher.

ETA spoiler alert & LT designation.

Edited a second time to change the rating from a 9 to an 8 and add the reason why.

Message edited by its author, Apr 16, 2008, 12:04am.

6. Augustus by Anthony Everitt. 6 stars. LT Good overall but not the most exciting biography I've ever read. Also, I've read quite a bit about ancient Rome, and this book did not contain much that was new for me.

I'm delighted you've been reading The Woman in White but can't read your comments yet because I'm planning a re-read this year.

7. Twentieth Century Ghosts by Joe Hill. 6 stars. Good overall but not as thrilling as I'd hoped. There were a couple of stories that were excellent, others that were so-so. I thought the last story (Voluntary Committal) was probably the most memorable, and I also really enjoyed The Black Phone. My Father's Mask was the weirdest.

#21 Mary, did you read Heart Shaped Box ? I'd be curious what you thought of it, if you did. I haven't tried Hill's short fiction yet, but I wondered if it would appeal to me more than the novel did.

#22 Funny you should ask that, Linda. I started Heart Shaped Box awhile ago but it so annoyed me that I put it down after a few chapters and never bothered to go back to it. The characters were well drawn, and the writing was good, but the story didn't grab me and I absolutely despised the characters. Not sure about this, but I think I expect him to write as well as his father, with the same delicately nuanced characters and plot development and slowly building tension, and it just ain't happening. Yet. Maybe that'll change, but right now, a Stephen King he is not. IMHO. :)

Having said that, I did enjoy reading his short stories. As I said, some really resonated with me while others were ho-hum. Since I get most of my reading material from the library, it wasn't much of a gamble to try it out. I doubt if I'd have paid for it, based on my experience with Heart Shaped Box.

Sounds like we had very similar reactions to Joe Hill's novel. I quote myself (from my 50 Book Challenge notation on this book) "Talk to your Dad, Joe. I think he may have a thing or two left to teach you."

#24 Heehee ~ you're never too old to learn from your parents. lol

8. The Fall of Troy by Peter Ackroyd. 8 stars. First novel (or anything) I've read by Ackroyd, but it won't be the last! I really enjoyed this book. This was not a retelling of The Iliad (thank goodness) but a fictionalized account of the rediscovery of the lost city of Troy in the nineteenth century. The writing was almost Hemingway-esque, and it was a very interesting story with well-drawn characters and amazing descriptions of the plains of Turkey where Herr Obermann (who represented the real-life discoverer Herr Schliemann) was digging in and looting from the ruins.

Glad to hear that you liked Ackroyd. I have his Shakespeare: The Biography in my queue. Hopefully his writing style is consistent and that this one won't be a dry retelling of the Bard.

Well, The Fall of Troy was fiction, and Shakespeare: The Biography sounds non-fiction, so the requirements are different, but I've heard great things about his London: The Biography so hopefully all his non-fiction is similarly good. Be sure to let me know after you've read it what you think.

9. The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir. 3 stars. I've heard great things about Ms. Weir, and have been particularly interested in the doings of that time period ever since reading Daughter of Time, and especially after reading The Sunne in Splendour by Penman. Unfortunately, her obvious bias put me right off any slight evidence she may have presented to support her theory that Richard III was an evil, mad, and power-hungry fool who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower, because he was terrified of losing his throne after being a loyal, honorable, courageous, and princely man for 40 years.

Puleeze!

She was contemptuous of those she calls "revisionists," ignoring any evidence that doesn't agree with her theory, and piles scorn on Richard III for the very same sorts of actions and behaviors that she excuses in others, such as the Duchess of Richmond and Henry Tudor. It was painful to finish the book, but I did, just to say I did, just in case she redeemed herself before the end and became a rational, reasoning, even-handed and unbiased historian. Gaaah! Can you tell I disliked the book immensely?!? Almost as much as I despised Christian Meier's biography of Caesar in which he made the same kinds of broad statements about Caesar's thoughts and motives as Weir does of Richard III.

At least it was an easy read.

Edited to remove counter.

Message edited by its author, Feb 16, 2008, 12:53pm.

10. The Cleft by Doris Lessing. 6 stars. Really strange novel about a Roman senator writing an alternate history of the first people. In this version, women were first to climb out of the primordial ocean, giving birth to daughters without the aid of any males, until one terrifying day when a Monster was born ~ a boy, with lumps and tubes sticking out. Believing it to be a deformed baby, the women left it out on the killing rock to be eaten by eagles. But that first signaled a change, and suddenly lots of Monsters ~ later called Squirts ~ were being born. Eventually, women lost the ability to procreate without involving the male of the species. There's a lot in there about how the two sexes related to each other and an obvious parallel to how they related to each other in the time of the Roman senator and, ultimately, how we relate to each other today. It was a relatively easy read, well written, and the subject was interesting, but it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. Anyway, it was my first Lessing. I might try another, but, if it's not better than this one (not that this one was bad, just that it wasn't good enough to be excited about), probably won't read more of her.

Edited to correct grammar.

Message edited by its author, Feb 15, 2008, 6:51pm.

11. Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer. 8 stars. LT. This was one of the best of the series ~ exciting and poignant and well-written and funny. It's about another branch of fairies ~ the demons ~ who took themselves out of space and time when the fairy kingdom was defeated by humans 10,000 years ago, and it features a new character who rivals Artemis in the genius dept. I won't spoil it for anyone who happens to be reading this, except to say that Artemis is growing up (and not in the annoyingly angsty way Harry Potter did, either), and the ending gave me such a good feeling that I fell asleep smiling. I'm so grateful to LT for turning me on to this series.

Message edited by its author, Feb 17, 2008, 3:40am.

12. Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz. 7 stars. Really enjoyed this contemporary Archaic Society romance novel. Both the hero and heroine were likeable, strong without coming off as arrogant twits/jerks. Action was exciting but not over-the-top. Same with the sex scenes. Villains, well, villainous without too much cardboard cutout quality about them. Some humor. Altogether a fun, if easy read.

Message edited by its author, Feb 17, 2008, 3:40am.

I have his Chaucer in the mini-book format and it is both excellent and elegant! It was my favorite gift of 2007.

I like her short stories. I have not read any of her longer fiction.

Hi, medievalmama ~ I assume you are talking about Peter Ackroyd and Doris Lessing, respectively? :) I've put a number of Ackroyd's books on my TBR list, including the Chaucer one. As far as Lessing goes, I'll try her short stories on your recommendation. Thanks!

Whoops! Sorry. You are correct. Ackroyd and Lessing. I keep thinking that when I respond to a message, my answer will show up right beneath it.

13. Cicero by Anthony Everitt. 8 stars. Very readable biographical history of Cicero and his times. I actually enjoyed it more than the novel by Robert Harris. Everitt portrays the orator sympathetically without glossing over his faults, and details his relationships with the other major players of the day, including Pompey, Caesar, Catalina, Cato, Marc Antony, and the Senate. Very satisfying read.

Stor, I've had Cicero sitting on my shelf for sometime now. Glad to hear you liked it, I hope to get around to it eventually!

Ilithyia ~ Yeah, I had it on my TBR list for months before finally picking it up. I read his Augustus last year, and wasn't all that impressed, but this one was excellent.

But it was weird, I'd started 4 or 5 novels but keep putting them down a few chapters to even halfway in. I just wasn't enjoying them, though they were really good. Anyway, I decided I must want something different, so picked up Cicero and raced through it. Now I'm working on another non-fiction called Deep Ancestry by Spencer Wells, about the Genographic Project. Really interesting, though I'm a little too distracted to be reading so involved and substantive a book ~ tomorrow is moving day. (I keep asking myself, "Where in the heck did all this stuff come from? And why in the world am I keeping it?!?") lol

I read a book or two while I was moving, too. Whenever I got just too overwhelmed, I would stop and read a bit; I found it very comforting. Good luck with your move--are you all packed?

No. Not even half packed. The new unit came up for rent two weeks ago, and I decided only last week to take it. I'm having panic attacks ~ full-blown ones, with hyperventilation and rapid heartbeat and dizziness. I may need to take something stronger than chamomile tea to calm down. :)

Fortunately, I'm moving to another unit in the same building, and they're going to give me two days to move rather than just the one.

I hate moving -- 282 boxes last time and 228 of them were boxes of books.Shows where my priorities are, I guess. Good luck with the move -- may it go smoothly for you!

Oh, I hope you have a lot of people helping you! I moved within my building last June, and it was still really hard, in large part because we have WAY too much stuff. Also, I went from one third floor place to another, but they didn't have a common hallway, and no elevators, so there were a lot of steps. I hired someone to move most of the furniture, and it still took two three day weekends and some time during the week to get it all done. Since we moved I have been working hard on getting rid of a ton of stuff, so that the next time we move, it won't be so bad. That's what took so much time--trying to go through all of our stuff. Yuck.

I hope your move is going much more smoothly!

Sussabmax ~ Nope, not smoothly at all. I am NEVER going to move again. lolol

It only took me 2-1/2 days to move, but that's because I hired a moving guy to move the furniture and heaviest boxes. For everything else I was just throwing stuff in boxes without paying much attention to what it was and shlepping it upstairs by elevator using an industrial sized dolly. Now I have to walk sideways to get through my apartment, I can't even see my stove and sink, much less use them, my computer is likewise unreachable, and my bed is only clear because last night I just rolled everything onto the floor, threw a comforter down on the bare mattress, and crawled in. (Of course, my books are put away in the bookcase ~ priorities.)

But my new digs are wonderful! I love it and know that, once I get everything put away (or thrown away ~ I'm going to try anyway to pare down) ~ it's going to be amazing! :)

I can't even imagine doing all that without an elevator!

Glad that you've made the move ok. Moving sucks. I need to do it myself soon...(i've just begun my apt search)...already though I don't know where I'm going to begin when it comes to packing.

Woe is our closet space... any time I hear about moving, I look around at all our "stuff" and freak a little... what if we won the lottery and had to move to our new mansion this weekend (or what if my mother-in-law looked in our closets) ???? So now I'll go on a cleaning/reorganizing/throw it all away jag... the boys better hide their favorite toys, nothing is safe!

(except books)

Wanna have a good time? Try moving internationally--with 2 dogs and 3 cats as well!

We wound up selling or giving away almost everything except a core group of books, kitchen things, some clothes, and vital stuff for the animals; they got their beds shipped!

BTW, try giving away good, useable articles that are just a few years old. No thrift stores would take them. We wound up hauling things to the dump.

Here in Panama, if I can't find a use for them, I give away empty paint cans, for example (plant containers). People re-use almost everything. We used to think we recycled really well until we moved here.

Message edited by its author, Mar 4, 2008, 6:26am.

Now, good luck in unpacking! I did a lot of just throwing stuff into boxes, which is why I am no where near finished unpacking 8 months later. I have actually unpacked a LOT of stuff, but we had so much, I may never finish. I am getting rid of a lot of it, though, because we can't keep all this stuff and keep it clean. I am moving through the place, reclaiming rooms. The kids rooms are coming soon, they are a bit scared, lol.

Take it easy, relax some before you tackle the worst of it--you sound exhausted! At least the really hard part is over!

I'm breaking out in sympathetic hives just listening to these moving tales. "What if my mother-in-law looked in our closets" made me laugh out loud. Once or twice a year, we go away and my MIL house-and-dog-sits for us. There used to be full-blown meltdowns of cleaning, dusting, bagging and stuffing into the attic (she can't manage the pull-down steps by herself), but I've gotten over that. We've lived in our house for 24 years--it is truly scary to consider moving. Our daughter has moved out, but a very large proportion of her lifetime accumulation of STUFF remains. Someday, I assume, she will at least reclaim the books that still live with us.

My parents moved with the last few years, and anything that I didn't take with me when I left got packed up and stuffed into a closet. I've gone through most of it. But this morning my mom told me she was going to sell all my old Barbie stuff on eBay! Not that I mind, I never played with them anyway...but I want the money from the sales!!

That's what my mother does - and it's pretty constructive. She goes through all of her junk and my step-grandmother's old junk and sells it on eBay. She been turning quite the profit lately. I told her selling is better than buying! But I still think I should get the money from my Barbies!

Ilithyia: I've been tempted to sell some of my daughter's stuff on eBay myself. I think your mother probably figures you owe her storage fees and a commission on the sale -- but maybe she'd be willing to give you a small portion of the proceeds!!

Mary, have we hijacked your thread?? Please feel free to snatch it back anytime!

If my MIL house-sat, I'd clean for a week straight and it would still be shinier when we came home... if my mom stayed, I'd hide things in the couch cushions and under the furniture (mice, pizza slices, handcuffs, My Life, empty perscription bottles...) just to see what she could find!

TeacherDad, I love your comment about how nothing is safe (except books)--I am seriously trying to get rid of as much stuff as I can, and every once in a while, I look at the books, and realize how much space I could reclaim if I got rid of some of those. I attack the shelves, remorselessly getting rid of anything I have any doubts about...and come up with 2, maybe 3 books I can give away. Or maybe none. There's no help for me, there, lol.

Honestly, if you reclaimed all that space...what would you put there? Probably more books! At least that's my thinking in my space.

It's funny how you could quickly make a stack of 20 books to clear out, but the longer the stack sat, the smaller it would get... "Hmmm, I should re-read this one... oh, that's part of a series... hey, that was a gift... oh, someone liked this one on LT..." and soon all the books are back on the shelves, where they belong (and if you're quiet you can hear their relieved, contented sighs...)

Well, I am going to buy new books anyway, and I wonder where I am going to put those...that's when I start wondering if I can get rid of some of what I already have.

I know, I know, I need to just give in and buy more bookshelves. But, I live in a third floor apartment, and that is a long way to carry heavy shelves. I am also running out of space to put more shelves, but I do have some space in my bedroom that will be filled with more shelves soon.

ETA: Mary, how are you feeling? Recovering nicely from the move? I hope you are reading something good to help the recovery!

Message edited by its author, Mar 5, 2008, 4:23pm.

#55 I do exactly the same thing---I recently promised to send a certain book to a friend, and when I picked it up I started to re-read it, and now she must wait for it until I'm finished!!

Hi! I haven't been around much since the move because I haven't managed to hook up my computer yet. In fact, I still can't get to it. So I'm taking a break at work to check in, and I'm laughing out loud at all the wonderful posts about moving and hoarding and, of course, bookcases. Loved what teacherdad said about hiding questionable things for his mom to find, and what everyone has said about how hard it is to reduce the number of books owned. In my case, I've currently got a few more books in my apartment than will fit in my bookcase (6' x 30" x 12" deep), but I rent a 5' x 8' storage space that's half-filled with boxes of books, for which I pay about $40/month. lolol

I'm still sore, Sussabmax, and the only place to sit that isn't covered with or blocked by boxes and other stuff are the toilet seat and my bed, but I already feel so good being in this new place. I finally uncovered the stove and sink so I can at least make my coffee and rinse out my cup when I'm done. Otherwise...I definitely identify with what you said about just tossing things into boxes and now I've got to sort it all out. I just don't know where all this stuff came from, and why I'm still holding on to half of it!

14. Sword Dancer by Jennifer Roberson. 7 stars. I read these sword and sorcery novels a long time ago, but someone mentioned them on a thread and I just had to check them out. They are as good as I remember. Well, I didn't actually remember much about the first one of the series, but I did remember how good them were. Strong woman, strong man who isn't afraid to show his vulnerable side. So, I think I'll finish the series (5 more books to go), but not all at once. I find that too much of one series doesn't do it for me anymore. I need variety!

I am glad you like it! I felt that way when I moved in this place--I loved it right away. I hope the soreness passes quickly.

15. Entering Hades, The Double Life of a Serial Killer by John Leake. 6 stars. Not the greatest writing, the subject matter was gruesome and graphic, and the serial killer himself was as creepy as they come (ick factor 10 out of 10), but the story kept getting more grotesque as it went on and I couldn't seem to stop reading. I was so glad when I finished it last night! Now I think I'm going to read something uplifting, or at least something light and frothy, to cleanse my mental palate. :)

#60 Hi, sussabmax ~ Thanks for your good wishes. It's coming along, though the living room is still full of boxes. I decided to take my time putting things away ~ really consider where to put them for best use of space and so I can get to things I use often ~ rather than just jamming things willy-nilly into closets and onto shelves to get them out of the way.

I plan to stay here for a good long while and want everything right from the get-go.

Even with the mess, I still love this place and wake up every morning with a smile!

16. Out by Natsuo Kirino. 8 stars. Well, I both loved and hated this book at various times while reading it, but all in all I'm glad I persevered and do think it deserves an 8/10. Some things I did not like: parts of it went on for a much longer time than necessary; she kept explaining the characters' motivations, though their actions were quite enough to get the point across; none of the characters were really likeable. On the other hand, things I loved about it: the horror of it told in so ordinary a way was absolutely shocking and brilliantly done; the denoument was almost perfect; the characters were so awful they were fascinating. I'm looking forward to reading her next translated book.

Edited to fix touchstone

Message edited by its author, Mar 11, 2008, 11:09pm.

17. Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth. 7 stars. Much of it was incomprehensible ~ I need to go back and read the introduction and endnotes and then reread the story itself a little bit slower than I did ~ but what I did understand I enjoyed a lot! I'm now working on Ennui, which is apparently considered the sequel, and enjoying it much more. Perhaps I just needed to get into the rhythm of the late 1700s writing.

ETA: Anyway, it's about class distinctions and women's issues and other interesting bits of sociological history of Ireland in the 18th century.

Message edited by its author, Mar 16, 2008, 5:05pm.

18. Double Take by Catherine Coulter. 6 stars. This one was better than the last, but the writing could still use a couple more revisions. :) I did find the story compelling, though, and the characters were better drawn. The whole premise is so outrageously unreal, however, that I think of it more as fantasy than an F.B.I. thriller/suspense. I did get drawn into it and finished it in two nights, so I can't complain too much.

19. Julius Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars. 8 stars. Something about reading the actual words written by one of the greatest Roman generals makes everything I've read about him and his times more real to me. I wish this translation had both the Latin and English, like the The Civil War did, but it was a satisfying nonetheless.

This one's my favorite. Loeb classical Library has both latin and English, but I'd never recommend buying it, if that's what you're doing--cheap doesn't begin to describe the "hardback" which warped almost immediately.

Hi, Joycepa ~ It's a wonderful read, isn't it!

I'm too broke these days to buy books (really, it's true), but also I live in a small apartment and just don't have the room (again, true!), so I borrow from the library. One of these days, I am going to start buying again. I hate having to return a book I love to the library. But, when I start buying again, I will not buy any hard-back Loeb classics (tho I do want the Latin & English together version). :)

***I'M SORRY, BUT THERE IS A POTENTIAL SPOILER IN THIS REVIEW, SO, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK ALREADY AND PLAN TO, THEN I SUGGEST YOU ONLY READ THE FIRST COUPLE OF LINES. THANKS.***

20. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. 7 stars. Just today, I read someone's review of The Road. They said something along the lines that they hated it because it was one of the most depressing books they'd ever read and it left them with no hope. Well, The Road has nothing on this one. Talk about hopeless. Of course, the writing was excellent, and the story itself, if you didn't mind the fact that

***SPOILER AHEAD, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE THE ENDING SPOILED FOR YOU, STOP READING NOW!!!!!***

so many characters I really cared about are murdered and the murderer is never actually caught ~ which I did mind, a lot, almost enough to stop reading it ~ then this is a brilliant novel. Just not quite as brilliant as The Road, imho.

both books heavy and depressing, but at least The Road had some hope at the end, and wasn't so... personal? immediate? I was jumpy after each chapter, and afraid to drive by any motels for weeks...

Yes, that may be it. W can hope that the events that led to The Road will never happen, but the events in No Country for Old Men are happening all the time now. Well, the drugs and gang wars and psycho killer(s), I mean.

I have to say, though ~ hopeless & depressing or not, I really love McCarthy's way with voices and characters. His dialogue is nothing short of perfect!

I didn't expect to like The Road at all but I thought it was brilliant and is one of my favorites so far this year. Not sure my interest is piqued enough to read No Country, but I would like to read more McCarthy. Is there something of his without a ton of violence???

Outer Dark has Less violence...but it still has a few fairly graphic scenes--nothing worse than The Road though I don't think...

The Border Trilogy was great, especially if you like a Western feel, not too violent but there's usually some in all his work... I'm trying to remember which one I liked best...

All the Pretty Horses was very good. If you could handle The Road that one shouldn't disturb you too much.

21. Dreamers of the Day: a novel by Mary Doria Russell. 8 stars. LT. This novel was a delight to read, even though the ending was just a little strange. In fact, I'm not sure why she wrote it that way. I suppose so she could comment on recent events, as the story takes place from about 1917 through about 1930, with the main action taking place in 1921. Anyway, loved it, loved the main character (I really wish I could meet Agnes, sit down with her over a nice pot of tea and have a cozy chat ~ she's that kind of woman), loved the story, loved her portrayals of Lawrence, Churchill, Bell and the other major players at the Cairo Peace Conference of 1921. I gave it 9/10 stars, but I'm seriously considering making it a 10/10, it was that good!

Message edited by its author, Dec 21, 2008, 12:11am.

THis thread is very entertaining. So pleased you've finally found 9 star novel. I read A Thread of Grace last year and it was very good.
I moved six months ago so you have my sympathy and all of those helpful posts from other people made me laugh.
I had a slight problem with No Country For Old Men but thought it quite good overall.

Now I want to go read Dreamers of the Day! Sounds like something worth reading. I myself have so many characters that I would love to be able to meet in real life, as well. I just love characters like that.

22. Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner. 9 stars. LT.

Oh, I am so glad I found LT all those years ago (two, I think). Not only has it given me an online community of folks with like interests, but it has introduced me to some wonderful books that I would not have picked up on my own. This is one of those.

Hotel du Lac has some of the most beautiful prose writing I've read in years ~ maybe ever. The characters are so well drawn, I felt I might have met them before in real life. The way the story unfolds is amazing ~ it has one of the best "hooks" I've ever read, but it isn't at all showy or obvious. I just kept reading because I simply had to know why the main character had been "exiled" and what she was going to decide to do next. It was brilliant, and I can see why it won the Booker Prize. I guess I'm going to have to read more of Brookner, as if I don't have enough on my TBR pile as it is. ;)

23. Embraced by Darkness by Keri Arthur, the fifth in the Riley Jensen, Guardian series. 7 stars. I think this is the best one of all, including the first, which I liked best up till now. As always, a fast read, lots of excitement and some new "talents" showing up. Among other things, she meets up again with a couple of those who tormented her and Rhoan back when they were young and with the pack. What happens with that is one of the best parts of the book. I also like the ending; though I know it was hard for her, I was glad. I won't say more here in case I spoil it for anyone else, but we can chat somewhere else about it if anyone wants to.

24. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. 8 stars. LT. Okay, this is weird. I read this around March 5, and I really enjoyed it, but I forgot to include it on my list! Usually the first thing I do when I finish a book is get on LT and enter it. Oh, well, I must have gotten distracted. Or that pesky short-term memory loss thing is getting worse.

Here's what I wrote on another thread on March 5: Am almost done with Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively and am just loving it! Amazing prose. For such a short novel, it has a lot of substance. It may take me awhile to process it once I'm finished.

25. Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher. 8 stars. LT. Okay, another addictive series to add to the list ~ Codex Alera. :)

For the first 1/3 of the book, I was "meh." It was okay, but not all that compelling. By the time I was halfway through, I was starting to see why so many have raved about this fantasy series. The entire last half was read last night in one sitting, late into the night, because I simply could not put it down.

I don't want to give anything away, so I'll save my review for the appropriate thread in the Jim Butcher Group. I'll only say that Book #2 is calling to me from where it sits on my bedside table, like a siren singing on her rock. I'll be starting that tonight.

We told you it was worth the read. =)

;b

Yes, you did, and glad I am that I listened! I'll be thanking you all later after I get home from work. I don't want to do a lot of gushing at the office. lol

Mary (so much easier to spell than Storettlreer): I loved Moon Tiger. I am so pleased to hear a positive review of Hotel du Lac because I've wanted to read it for ages and mooched it this year. Elsewhwere I've heard a few negatives.

I love reading through your reviews. My wishlist grows proportionately with the books you read! lol

Hi, Amanda ~ Don't listen to those nay-sayers. If you loved Moon Tiger, I think you will also enjoy Hotel du Lac (I just love saying it: Hotel du Lac. So sexy-sounding. Or something. LOL) I hope you'll let me know what you think after you've gotten round to reading it.

Thanks, tapestry. I'm glad you are enjoying my reviews. Some aren't really "reviews," per se ~ more like my feelings upon reading a book ~ but it's my list and so I'll keep doing it that way. :~) I just try not to put in (m)any spoilers.
8-O

Oh, yeah, and I know just what you mean about wishlists growing out of control from recommendations of other LTers.

26. Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper. 7 stars. One of the Noah Bishop/Special Crime Unit novels. Pretty good. This one is about twins ~ Dani and Paris ~ who can sense each other's thoughts and go into each other's dreams. They are targeted, along with Bishop & Hollis, by a serial killer who appears to also have special psi powers. These novels are like dark chocolate ~ not something I can live on exclusively, but not something I want to live without as an occasional treat, either.

27. Strangers in Death by J. D. Robb. 7 stars. As sometimes happens when I get that first taste of dark chocolate, I can't stop myself from having a second taste. So it was when I dove into the latest Eve Dallas/Roarke mystery romance, and I wasn't disappointed. This one was good on all counts ~ the mystery (though the who was apparent halfway through, the why and how wasn't), the relationships between Eve and Roarke and Eve and the rest of her posse, and the growth and evolution of Eve and all the recurring characters.

I totally agree, Mary! I was relieved to see that this time, Eve and Roarke started to have a big fight, and then caught themselves before it got really bad. The big fights were starting to get a bit unbelievable in what is supposed to be such a strong marriage. I really liked this one.

28. Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher. LT. 7 stars. Another good one, although I was getting just a tad weary of the non-stop action of this one by the end. Not going to stop me from reading the rest (started Cursor's Fury last night.

29. The Water Thief by Ben Pastor. LT. 7 stars. Very good mystery set in the time of Diocletian. Interesting take on the Christian martyrdom issue. Erudite, well-researched, and well-written, with good characterizations. I felt there was just something missing, though, and I'm not sure what that something was. Am going to read her next Roman mystery (assuming she writes another) before I make a final judgment call on this.

30. Rejection, Romance and Royalties by Laura Resnick. 7 stars. LOL funny in parts, this is the antithesis of a feel-good how-to-become-a-successful-writer self-help book but is, instead, a series of essays depicting the reality of being a published writer, with all the joys of fandom, a job well-done, and the solitary writerly life versus the agonies of evil editors, greedy publishers, crooked agents, vicious critics, rejections, late payment checks, cancelled contracts, writers' block, etc. etc. etc. I needed to read this book, being a wanna-be writer myself. Also, it was just flat-out fun to read. I'm going to have to look up her novels; I really like the way she writes.

Somebody's been on a roll!

:)

Actually, I've been down with a particularly nasty cold, so haven't been able to do anything else but read (since I don't care much for watching TV) while I am lying around waiting to get better. What's that they say about silver linings?

OK, so I'm not nearly as jealous now! Sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well.

**sending happy get-well-soon thoughts!**

Feel better Storeetllr....here's a nice bowl of chicken soup for you.

Aw, you guys are the best!

And that soup ~ mmm. Now I've simply got to have some for reals. Fortunately, I've got frozen chicken strips, egg noodles and organic chicken broth on hand, and I just stopped at the local Trader Joe's on my way home from the doctor (not pneumonia or bronchitis, thank God ~ just a garden-variety cold) and picked up a mix of already chopped up celery, carrot and onion. So, off I go to the kitchen to put together some "homemade" chicken soup.

31. The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout. 6 stars. Audio. Sounds like a popular thriller, doesn't it. Rather, it's a pop study of what sociopaths among us are really like. Sure, you got your Hitlers and your Genghis Khans, your Dubbyas and your Saddams, well-known sociopaths whose actions have caused the deaths of thousands and who have been (and will continue to be) the focus of study, but its the unrecognized sociopath who lives next door, or works in the next cubicle over, or who sits in the boss's corner office, or who teaches our children, that this book discusses. Pretty accessible and interesting, though it wasn't as gruesome as I expected from the title, and not too long of a read, which was also good.

Edited to make sense.

Message edited by its author, Dec 11, 2008, 11:22pm.

32. Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher. 8 stars. This third installment of Tavi's tale was best so far. Fantastic! Even though I wasn't surprised much by anything that happened, and it was still nonstop action, this novel came together for me, working on so many different levels. And I can't wait to read about what happens next!

With the Fury books....its not so much the ending that matters but the adventure leading up to it. =)

Captain's Fury is the worst because once its done you don't have another book to immediately jump into. Thankfully though book 5 is out in December.

Yes, that's it exactly!

I'm about 1/3 of the way into Captain's Fury now, and expect I'll be finished by the end of the weekend, if not sooner. December's a long way off. Fortunately, I still have the Dresden series to finish. That should help with the wait.

33. Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher. 8 stars. It was just wonderful to see Tavi come into his own in this one ~ and now that we know the whole (or most of) the back-story, I am beginning to like Isana. I've always liked Araris, in both his guises, and am pleased with what's happened there. What the First Lord did there at the end ~ I never saw that coming. Hated it.

34. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. LT. 9 stars. Audio. This novel blew me away. I know the author uses a lot of similes and metaphors, and her first person character's voice can sometimes be a bit precious and know-it-all, but it works. I mean, this is a teenage girl speaking, even if her IQ is around 175. That's the way many of them talk. I know. I have had a teenage daughter (who is, thankfully, almost 25 now and mostly over that, but not quite). :) I was reluctant to read this, having read a lot of bad reviews, but there were also some good reviews, and I'm glad I took the chance. It was so worth it.

Edited to change the rating to 9 stars from 8, because I keep thinking about it, and because I bought a copy to send to my daughter in her birthday package, and for me to do that, it rates a 9.

Message edited by its author, Dec 11, 2008, 11:24pm.

My local library has a give-away shelf where they put out of circulation books that people can just have, and I checked today and they had the ARC copy of Dreamers of the Day! I can't wait to start reading it after you said it was so good.

35. What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris. 7 stars. Billed as a historical mystery set in London in 1811, it was a fast, easy read. It was well-written, with interesting plot, multi-layered characters, & atmospheric descriptions of 19th century London. Ultimately, though, it struck me as a bit light, more in the way of a romance than a serious historical mystery. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it and will look for more books by this author.

36. Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg. 6 stars. It was okay, but not as wonderful as I'd expected after seeing some rave reviews. I had a hard time getting through the technical stuff (much of which was in the second half, when she was on the ship), and there was a LOT of that. Without the numbers and measurements and descriptions of the ship and the machinery, which I finally ended up skimming, the character study of Smilla was amazing, the bits about the culture clash between Greenlanders and Danes very interesting, even the stuff about the different types of snow and ice were fascinating. As far as the mystery/thriller went, the core mystery was good (Isaiah's murder), but the peripheral mystery was very X-Files and unbelievable and the ending a bit of a letdown, and I had a hard time comprehending the actions/reactions of many of the other characters.

Edited to fix typo.

Message edited by its author, Sep 16, 2008, 12:08am.

37. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. 9 stars. This is the best epic fantasy novel I've read since LotR. Even though the villains were not all bad and the heroes not all good (or, to paraphrase Kay, sometimes terrible things are done by good men for reasons that seem right to them) and the ending was partly sad (which I kind of expected after The Lions of al Rassan). Anyway, it was so good that I went back to the beginning and started rereading it right away, but then I forced myself to put it back in the bookcase so I can move on to my next novel, The House of the Spirits.

Message edited by its author, May 12, 2008, 1:26am.

I just did a quick search of your library and found nothing by George Martin in there, so I'm assuming you haven't read his fantasy series, A Song of Fire and Ice which starts with A Game of Thrones. Talk about addictive! I'm not much for fantasy, but this has proven to go way beyond the genre and reads like historical fiction. I was alerted to it by Talbin and others. I highly recommend it.

Thanks, Joyce. Actually, I tried to read Game of Thrones a few years ago and just couldn't get into it, but, as you know, it's quite possible the problem was me and where my head was at then. I have been thinking I'd try again, especially after you and others whose reading taste I respect have raved about the series so much. :)

Thanks. :-) I've had a lively correspondence with Talbin about the series. We are agreed that the first 3 books are terrific; the 4th is not quite as addictive but Martin changed his structure a little and it's clear he's starting to bring the players together for the end game.

But the writing is excellent, and the plotting never lets up--more twists and turns than your average mystery. The first book has very little "fantasy" in it. the amount increases with each book until it is a significant but by no means major part of the 4th.

I like it because it is utterly realistic about what war must have been like in the Middle Ages--anything but honorable, and the "smallfolk" suffered horribly. You certainly get that.

It may be that Talbin has reviews up. If so, I think they'll give you an excellent idea of what the books are like.

38. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. 9 stars. This is my first Allende; I was reluctant to try her because I thought she'd write more like Marquez, with whom I am not enamoured. In this I was proven completely mistaken. This is a novel about 3 generations of South American women (all of whose names in one way or another mean "light") and appears to span the years from the end of the 19th century through the 1980s. I say "appears" because no dates are mentioned, yet the eras are all made manifest by the descriptions of society, the dress, the attitudes, and events that take place. It reads somewhat like a particularly beguiling dream ~ I mean, events flow one into another, odd things happen that seem natural, the strangest people seem normal, and, whenever I'd take a break from reading, I felt as if I were awakening from a drugged yet satisfying sleep. The writing is elegant, the story both heart-wrenching and hilarious at various times. The understated tension crept up slowly, almost imperceptibly, until toward the end I was nearly shaking with fear for what was going to happen (a fear that was fully realized). Yet for all the brutality of that part of the story, the ending was filled with a transcendant hope for the future. I highly recommend this novel and will be reading more of Allende in the future.

All I can say is yes, yes, yes to everything you've written.

I just finished Zorro by Allende, and felt much the same way - but I didn't express it as well in my review. I, too, will be reading much more Allende. She's quite captivating!

Thanks, Joyce and dulcibelle. I can't say enough about how great this book is! I'm so glad I read it.

And, dulcibelle, I must respectfully disagree ~ your review (which I took the liberty of reviewing :) is very eloquent. I now have added Zorro to my much-too-long TBR list.

#112 After reading your review, I'd added this to my list, I have to read it now! I've never read anything of hers, but now I'm eager to!

39. Stardust by Neil Gaiman. 7 stars. LT I really enjoyed this relatively short fantasy novel ~ it was a fast, easy read with a good story and likeable characters, some cool twists, and a happy ending, though perhaps not the one the protagonist may have envisioned for himself.

ETA

40. Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong. 7 stars. Another light, easy read ~ fast-paced, with a half-demon mfc who goes undercover in a supernatural gang in Miami with help from her ex-boyfriend, a werewolf, and the rebellious sorcerer son of the head of the local "Cabal" and his witch wife. And not too much over-the-top sex, just enough to spice it up, which is a refreshing change.

Message edited by its author, May 18, 2008, 5:15pm.

Storeetir - come over and introduce yourself on the chat thread - a gathering place to chat!

41. The Case of Abraham Lincoln by Julie M. Fenster. 8 stars. Slim volume details the year the Republican Party was created, in conjunction with a criminal case in which Lincoln was involved as a defense lawyer. The murder was not too interesting, though the reactions to it of the people of Springfield and its surrounding area, was kind of amazing. What I found fascinating was this little slice of Lincoln's political life, when he worked like a field hand to make the Republican Party a reality. During this time, he first began to delineate his policy on slavery and seccession.

I'm in the midst of reading Lincoln , a biography by David Herbert Donald. I'm only up to 1837--he's just become a lawyer and has moved to Springfield. so not there yet. I'm interested to see if the biography will deal with this piece of his life in any way.

Do let me know what you think of the one you're reading, Joyce. I'm always eager to find more books on Lincoln that provide facts I didn't already know or that have a slightly different twist on the facts I have read in other books.

So far it's good Mary, but somewhat dry reading. I'm totally spoiled by Smith's biography of FDR that read like a thriller, practically from the first page.

Right now I'm on p. 80, 2/3 of the way through Chapter 3, in the early 1840s with Lincoln in his 2nd term, I believe, as a state legislator. Springfield has just become the state capitol.

The first chapter was structured annoyingly. All about Lincoln's early life. The Family moved around a good deal, moving finally into Illinois. Great. no problem--except that a map of those territories was included at the end of the chapter, not at the beginning. I didn't realize that until I turned the last page. It would have been so much better at the beginning.

I'm sure that the map is listed somewhere in the Table of Contents, but I almost never pay attention to things like that. and it simply makes more sense at the beginning. Or middle.

There was some interesting personal stuff on his first love, who died, his first engagement (didn't work out) and how "oafish" he was towards women (not surprising given his background). Interesting, but I wouldn't buy the book for a couple of pages of that material.

The author is a retired Harvard professor who has a couple of Pulitzers under his belt, one for a bio of Charles Sumner (I forget the other), but political 19th century US. Writing is typical academic. God knows I've read worse, but I've also read much better.

So far, lots of trivia I didn't know or hadn't read before. I was surprised to find out he had been a riverboat (flatboat, cargo) man. But it's getting more interesting now that he's in Springfield.

Message edited by its author, May 23, 2008, 6:07am.

42. SPQR XI: Under Vesuvius by John Maddox Roberts. 7 stars. Metellus is a praetor now ~ praetor peregrinus, to be precise, his imperium all foreigners/non-citizens, with all of Italy outside Rome as his province ~ and is becoming middle-aged and more aware of his dignitas, and his wife has become even more stuffily aware of hers and her connection to Julius Caesar. Still, he can't help himself from getting involved in the investigation when the daughter of a priest of Apollo is murdered, and the son of a foreign slave-trader is accused of the crime. Short, easy-to-read, fun ~ as usual ~ but not the best of the series, though I'm glad I read it and enjoyed it a lot.

43. Conspiracies: a Repairman Jack novel by F. Paul Wilson. 8 stars. LT Hoo-boy ~ another sleepless night spent finishing this entire book between 10:30 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., and another author & series to put on my must-read-them-all list. It is the second in the series ~ I couldn't find the first, so I cheated and started with the second, but now I will go back and read the first. The story involves the "First Annual" convention of a group of conspiracy theorists/investigators (nuts) with pet projects ranging from satanistic cults to UFOs to "One-World" domination, and many points in between. The convention and its attendees were being used by the group's leader as pawns in his quest to destroy the world and let the Otherness in ~ a true conspiracy, as it were, amongst all the weird theoretical ones.

There were some really funny scenes of arguments between these wackos regarding their pet theories, but beneath that was a real pathos ~ most of them have been deeply wounded by their life experiences, disconnected from normal love and human closeness, and have lost touch with reality. As a way of dealing with the feeling of being out of control and in order to feel part of something, they've latched onto various groups of conspirators (aliens, the government, shadowy cartels of financiers and world leaders) to blame.

The story itself was intense and I literally could not make myself stop reading until the last page. An altogether satisfying book, though I'm exhausted today and so behind in my weekend schedule of things-to-do that I may never catch up.

44. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. LT. 7 stars. I read this in one sitting also; it too was pretty darn intense. The long, convoluted sentences were a bit daunting, but I just couldn't stop reading until I found out just what was going on. Then, at the very last line, I was, like, "Huh? What just happened?" It was late, so I couldn't reread the damn thing, but I'm going to do some rereading, or maybe I'll look at a Cliff Notes on it and hope that clears things up for me a little. One thing that made me feel not so stupid ~ apparently even the experts can't agree on what was going on (I read the preface, intro, and end notes which is where I got that.)

Another weird book, that. I really do believe that james intended the ambiguity. Benjamin Britten wrote an opera based on the book, and depending on the governess is played, you can make a case for either of the two major endings. the opera is just as powerful as the book.

45. Great Tales from English History, Part 2 by Robert Lacey. 7 stars. LB. These were entertaining but short tales of events & people in history ~ sort of like the news stories you get from the "News at Ten" as opposed to the in-depth news you get from, say, NPR. Anyway, most of these historical tales were already familiar to me, but some of those contained surprises, and some of the tales had been completely off my radar and have whetted my appetite to learn more. The first was about Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales, which was (if I remember correctly) the first book written in "modern" English that, while a bit strange to the ear, a person from today might actually understand with a little effort (and reading it aloud, apparently). Next, I'm going to track down Part 1, which is even more up my alley, with "the truth about King Arthur, Lady Godiva, Richard the Lionheart, and more"!

46. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. 7 stars. I don't usually enjoy novels about lawyers. I work with and for lawyers and have done so since 1975, in both small and large firms, as word processor, secretary, and paralegal, and I have never seen some of the wild and criminal stuff that novels by, say, Grisham, portray. I have, on the other hand, seen sleazy practices, lawyers who seem to be possessed by the devil, and mean-spirited lawyers, but all in a small way that would never grab anyone's interest as novel-fodder. Plus, I get enough of lawyers in my day-to-day to make reading novels about them abhorrent to me. Thus, I hesitated to read The Lincoln Lawyer, even knowing that Connelly is a great mystery writer. I needn't have worried ~ though the lawyer of the title does engage in sleazy practices, he has a lot of redeeming qualities that made him (at least after a few chapters) likeable. And the mystery was pretty good, though it was easier to figure out than usual with Connelly. Except the bit about what Mickey planned as his coup d'etat. That was a surprise. The way he portrayed Jesus, too, was so poignant and real. And the end, everything turned out like it probably would have in real life with everyone suing him. lol Anyway, I'm looking forward to the sequel with Mickey and Harry together. Woot!

Message edited by its author, May 31, 2008, 3:41pm.

47. The Serpent by David Wiltse. 7 stars. LT. This mystery thriller is about a psycho killer who had been abused by a boy when his pentacostal, constantly pregnant Southern-backwoods mother put him in a pit of vipers as a punishment and to drive "the Devil" out of him. Forty years later, he goes on a killing spree, his victim of choice ~ pregnant women. Pretty good story, gory at times, with a twist at the end that was only slightly foreseeable. I'll be looking for more by Wiltse in the future.

I read Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey - both parts a year or so ago and thought he gave entertaining snippetts of history. I ordered a few others of his based on these.

Message edited by its author, Jun 2, 2008, 3:03pm.

Snippets! That's the word I was looking for, kiwidoc! I kept using "tales," but I knew there was a better word ~ it was on the tip of my tongue ~ but I just couldn't spit it out. Thanks!

Anyway, I've got his The Year 1000 and thought it was pretty good, though I've heard negative comments about it, mostly for not going into greater depth, I think, as opposed to being inaccurate. I think.

48. Lush Life by Richard Price. 7 stars. LT. Really good, once I got used to the style and dialogue. Very gritty and realistic, not really a mystery but a slice of NYC life based around a mugging gone bad (one victim murdered and the other emotionally and mentally messed up). I may read Clockers sometime, but I'm not in any rush.

49. Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay. 7 stars. LT Really good fantasy, though nowhere as great as The Lions of al-Rassan, which is my favorite Kay so far, or Tigana, but it might have garnered 8 stars except that the ending was just so disappointing. I know this is the first of a two-book story, but I thought it was just cheesy to end it that way.

50. Ramses: The Eternal Temple by Christian Jacq. 6 stars. This is the second of a series of historical novels about Ramses II. I read the first ages ago, and, though I liked it, for some reason never got around to the reading the rest of the series. After I started this one, I think I know why ~ either the writing or the translation is kind of choppy. Beyond that, though, I like the descriptions of ancient Egypt, the way the characters are written, and the story. And the point of view: it feels as if it could have been written by some ancient fly-on-the-wall scribe, because for the most part the emotions & sensibilities portrayed aren't modern, whether or not they are ancient Egyptian. I'll probably continue the series, D.V., sometime, though I'm not going to be rushing out to get the next book.

51. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff. 8 stars. LT Excellent novel ~ sucked me right in from the first page. Loved the use of old photos, portraits and drawings, as well as the journal entries, to illustrate the genealogical aspect of it. Loved Vivienne, the mom ~ I so identified with her. She and I think a lot alike, and what she did to get her daughter out of her funk was something I might have done, had I had the same background. Loved the friendships and other relationships, they were done so realistically. Loved the lake monster. Even loved the town, though I am a big-city girl born and bred. Groff did what she set out to do, and did it well.

52. Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury. 7 stars. Two novellas by the Master: Loved "Somewhere a Band Is Playing," but was totally bored with "Leviathan '99," which is a retelling of Moby Dick. I think you had to have read the Melville novel to get it.

53. China Road by Rob Gifford. 8 stars. Very accessible study of modern China on the brink of ~ what? Collapse or successful integration into the 21st century seems to be the two most likely scenarios, according to Gifford, the NPRs China correspondent for about a decade. Gifford decides to return home to England from China, but, before he leaves, he takes a road trip across China from Shanghai in the east to the border with Kyrgyzhstan in the west. On the trip, which he takes in turn by hitchhiking with long-haul truckers, taxi, & bus, stopping off at various interesting places, he talks to people he meets along the way: farmers, salesmen, truckers, noodle shop owners, karaoke girls, and government doctors, among others, including Han Chinese, Tibetans, and Uyghurs (who are muslims living in northwest China, with their own language & traditions ~ who knew?), across the Gobi Desert on the Old Silk Road. Romantic, gritty, compelling, eye-opening, charming, and terrifying by turns, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in China and what the future may bode, which should pretty much be everyone on Planet Earth.

54. When Gods Die, a Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery by C.S. Harris. 7 stars. Second in the series of Regency mysteries and a bit better than the first. In this one, Sebastian agrees to help clear the Prince of Wales and new Regent of a murder charge after he is discovered in a private room of his Brighton Pavilion holding the lifeless body of the beautiful young wife of an elderly marquis. Not quite a romance, it is still very romantic. Looking forward to reading the third of the series ~ Why Mermaids Sing ~ which I have in my TBR pile.

55. A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong. 7 stars. If not for the rocky beginning, I'd have given this 8 stars at least. As it is, the mystery is secondary (or maybe even tertiary) to the description of modern China's inner workings and the relationship between East and West, as embodied in the relationship between Chen and Katherine, and between China's past and its present, as embodied in the relationship between the delicate, evocative poetry and philosophical sayings of China versus the reality of current events.

56. Why Mermaids Sing by C.S. Harris. 8 stars. Things are really heating up in Sebastian St. Cyr's world, and the mystery is pretty good in this third novel of the series. Someone is murdering, then butchering parts of, young men in and around London. One of the victims was the son of a lord, another the son of a merchant prince, another the son of a vicar. What could be tying these young men from such disparate backgrounds together? Sebastian just can't avoid getting involved. On the personal front, Cat still refuses to marry Sebastian, even to save herself from an even bigger problem ~ Lord Jarvis has threatened to have her tortured and killed if she doesn't give up the name of the new French spymaster. Okay, I admit, I've pretty much figured out where this is going with Sebastian and Cat, but getting there is going to be so much fun!

Message edited by its author, Jun 22, 2008, 6:37pm.

Wow, really knocked them off this weekend, didn't you?

Yeah. Too hot to do much else. (It's been about 100 degrees farenheit in L.A. the past few days.) It helped that they were all pretty easy reads. :)

57. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho. 7 stars. LT. Very strange little novel, but I really enjoyed it, until the ending, which was a bit of a letdown ~ either that, or I missed something. In fact, I plan to reread at least the last couple of chapters to see if it makes more sense to me the second time around. The writing, however, was amazing, and the way he draws the characters. At any rate, it hasn't made me an instant Coelho fan, but I wouldn't mind reading more of his works.

Coelho can be strange to American eyes and sensibilities. Try The Fifth Mountain for what I consider his most accessible book. It's truly great.

I really enjoyed Coelho's The Witch of Portobello. It was because of that book that I picked up The Devil and Miss Prym on the discount table at Borders a couple of months back.

I haven't read The Witch of Portobello--I just know that it got excellent reviews. Thanks for the reminder--something I'm going to want to get.

Both The Fifth Mountain and The Witch of Portobello sound good ~ I'll keep an eye out for them. (That sounds messy, but you know what I mean. ;)

Here's a neat little tool I learned about today from BookCrossing: a "map" of authors which aligns authors with others so that, if you like the one, you may like the others that are closest. http://www.literature-map.com/

I just checked out the Literature map--what fun! Just put in a few names of people I liked and sure enough, it came up with others I liked. i also picked up a few authors I don't know but am willing to give a try!

thanks, mary--it's really cool!

58. The Third Circle, an Arcane Society mystery by Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz). 7 stars. I'm in the middle of A Magnificent Conspiracy, Catherine the Great, Owls to Athens, and Fingersmith, plus dipping into Feng Shui Decluttering, all of which are really interesting and enjoyable, but I snagged the Amanda Quick from the library the other night and couldn't resist reading it right away. It didn't disappoint. I just love the novels Krentz writes as Quick ~ they are so melodramatic, the romances have just enough sex to be satisfying without the "oh-no-not-another-sex-scene" mental cringe, and the mysteries are fun. Oh, yeah, and the characters are always always wonderful, not at all arrogant or whiny or boringly predictable. Easy reading, true, but sometimes one needs that.

Tomorrow I am leaving for Florida, so all those books I've been reading will have to wait until I return as I am not schlepping hardcovers in my carryon. Instead, I've got a trade paperback of Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune and a very slim volume of The Yellow Wallpaper, as well as about 6 paperbacks including the first Anita Blake Vampire Huntress, a mystery, a historical romance (The Raven Prince), a contemporary romance Naked Brunch, and McMurtry's Telegraph Days. This way, no matter what my mood, I should be able to find something that to read (and that is the most important consideration for me when I am planning for a trip). ;D

Good grief, Mary, are you planning an extended trip?

And I completely agree with you about needing light relief/easy reading. I'm in the middle of abut three heavy-duty books, and I use the Sharpe series and mysteries to give me the breaks I need.

Heh. Not too long ~ just 9 days ~ but it makes me nervous to be away without enough books to keep me occupied "just in case." Just in case of what, I've never quite worked out. :)

Anyway, I've been gone now for 4 days and have finished the following books:

59. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 8 stars. LT. I think I read this a long, long time ago, but I'd forgotten most of it except the creeping part. Oooh, it was creepy and such an amazingly vivid description of a woman slowly going mad. And I wanted to smack the husband & his sister the whole time.

60. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. 8 stars. LT. Another excellent novel by Allende, though I think The House of the Spirits is the better of the two. Next up is Portrait In Sepia or Ines of My Soul.

61. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. 7 stars. LT. After trying and disliking one of her fairy novels, I have resisted her other novels for years but, on the recommendation of a number of LTers, I decided to give the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series a try, and I am so glad I did! It was a little on the overkill side, but not too much to handle ~ it reminded me, in fact, of Harry Dresden novels, where the action just keeps on coming and the hero just keeps getting beat up. Anyway, it shows a lot of promise, and I'm thinking of buying the second book of the series (as I am now down to a mere 5 books). Well, we'll see. There are lots of bookstores around Fort Myers, and I have to go shopping this afternoon.

I just bought Daughter of Fortune yesterday. I'd be interested to see what you think of Ines of My Soul I read it recently and loved it.

62. Telegraph Days by McMurtry. 8 stars. Another excellent novel about the taming of the wild west. I have seen some bad reviews of this one, but I enjoyed it. Very reminiscent of his earlier westerns, like Buffalo Girls and Anything for Billy. The narrator and main character is a young woman ~ very feisty and sure of herself, and very much a free spirit in matters of sexuality. Not sure if such free-thinking women actually he existed, but McMurtry makes it seem completely reasonable.

63. The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton. 7 stars. Yes, I bought the second in the Anita Blake series and enjoyed it very much!

64. The Circus of the Damned by Hamilton. 7 stars. Very consistent enjoyability factor with this series. After this, I bought and read the fourth of the series,

65. The Lunatic Cafe. 7 stars. I think that's all I can take at one time, so I'm glad I'm back home and can pick up with my hard cover books where I left off before I went on vacation. I'll get the rest of the Anita Blake series from the library in the coming months.

They are like chocolate chip cookies, though ~ After I finished with one, I found myself craving another.

Stor, It's definitely a good plan not to read all the Anita books at once. Hamilton is a very good storyteller and she has some fabulous lines that I've written down, but if you read too many in a row you start to really notice the flaws in her writing. She gets a little repititious, especially in her recapping at the beginning of each one.

But no matter what happens I will forever continue to read her books (I'm been reading them for probably close to 10 years), because I am now completely addicted to these characters! I hope you continue to enjoy!

btw, at some point pick up her Merry Gentry series as well. The men are yummy and the stories are interesting.

Hi, Ilithyia ~ Yes, that's it exactly! I was beginning to notice those things. Still, I found the books fascinating, and I really do like her characters.

I tried a Merry Gentry book awhile back and just could not get into it. No clue which one it was, but I do remember a couple of her "familiars" or magical little friends wanting to go along with her on an assignment to the mundane world, and she refused to allow them to accompany her, or something like that.

66. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris. 7 stars. Continuing with the vampire/supernatural binge in which I've been indulging, I read From Dead to Worse last night in one sitting. I'd heard some not-so-good reviews on this one, but I really enjoyed it. I agree that it didn't really have a focus or one big climax at the end, but there was so much going on and a lot of small resolutions all through the story that I was okay without one. Plus, I liked getting more into her mind and soul, and the possibilities offered with respect to Eric are quite intriguing. So, bottom line, a good one in a series of good ones.

67. Fingersmith by Sara Waters. 8 stars. LT It took me awhile to finish, mostly because I did not take it with me to read on vacation, but also because parts of it seemed to bog down a bit for me so that I would put it down and read something else for awhile. Still, overall, it was a wonderful novel! Lant Street and Briar came alive as I read the descriptions, and the atmosphere of Briar in particular made me shiver. I thought the characters were all well-drawn ~ especially the villains, who were suitably chilling but with just enough humanity to make them at times seem sympathetic. The twists in the story were shocking and took me completely by surprise, especially the first one. And the ending was absolutely perfect!

Message edited by its author, Jul 19, 2008, 1:23pm.

OK, got all three of her books on my Wish List!

I have to say, I tried reading her Tipping the Velvet and just couldn't seem to get interested. Who knows, though ~ could've been my mood, and, if I try it again sometime, I'll like it.

How about Affinity, her 2nd in the series?

I didn't know it's a series! I hadn't read any Sara Waters before Fingersmith, which I only read as part of the Orange July challenge.

Let me know what you think of them all when you've read them.

Aaagh! You're right!!! Where did I get that idea from, I wonder?

In which case, I'll start out with Fingersmith! :-)

Message edited by its author, Jul 21, 2008, 5:53am.

68. Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry. 7 stars. The latest Thomas Pitt novel has virtually no Charlotte in it, and only cameos of Vespasia and Emily, it was one of the better ones in recent memory. A prostitute has been found gutted in a linen closet on the guest level at Buckingham Palace after a wild party given by the Prince of Wales, and Special Services has been called in, both to investigate or keep it quiet to avoid a scandal. After it becomes clear that one of the Prince's guests must be the murderer, Thomas asks Gracie to become an undercover agent and pose as a new maid and keep an ear open for belowstairs gossip that might lead to a clue.

69. Undead and Unworthy by MaryJanice Davidson. 7 stars. Book 7 of the Queen Betsy series was, I think, the best since around the 2nd of the series. In this one, the Fiends have escaped and are wreaking havoc around the town. Now they are coming after Queen Betsy to get even with her for her treatment of them. Betsy has to reach deep within herself to find the power to control them, before they destroy her and her friends or Sinclair has them staked by Tina.

70. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin. 9 stars. Audio. LT

Oh, this one was wonderful! Atmospheric, excellent writing, good dialogue, likeable & believable characters, exciting mystery/plot, delightful & believable love story. And the reader was superb! This historical mystery is set in 12th century Cambridge and features a female coroner, a doctor from Salerno, Italy, who has been sent by the King of Sicily, at the urging of King Henry II, to discover who is murdering the children of Cambridge in a particularly brutal and terrifying way, murders that have been blamed on the Jews of the city. Together with Simon, a Jewish investigator, and her bodyguard ~ a Saracen eunich, she braves the prejudices against Jews, women, laity, and foreigners to reveal the shocking truth. Can't wait to get the next in the series.

Edited to change rating from 8 to 9 stars, half because of the novel itself and half because of the reader.

Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2008, 11:53am.

71. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. 9 stars. LT ARC. I was a little afraid to start this Early Reviewer novel, due in part to the expectation engendered by the rave reviews of other LTers who had already read it and in other part to the title, which sounded a bit too precious for my taste. But, I had requested it, and the premise of the story sounded good, and, most importantly, LT and the publisher had been good enough to send me an ARC gratis, so, reluctantly, I picked it up the other night before bed and...stayed up waaay past my bedtime and only by dint of an extraordinary effort of will was able to stop reading it at the halfway point.

Oh! It was wonderful! I am going to write an in-depth review and post it in my Library and on my blog (yes, I can finally bring myself to admit I started a blog, though it isn't half as cool as some of the other LTers' blogs I've seen recently), and I will edit this post to add the links to the reviews when I've completed them. But, for now, all I can say is run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore or library and get this book (which I think has now been released), no matter how huge and daunting your TBR pile is. It will be well worth it!

Edited to change rating from 8 to 9 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2008, 11:52am.

72. Caesar's Triumph by Steven Saylor. 7 stars. There was something about this mystery that struck me as very different from the earlier ones. First off, the mystery was almost a second thought. I know Saylor writes mysteries that have more depth than many, but it was almost like a swan-song to the series. Pretty much everyone Gordianus ever knew (dead and alive) are either mentioned in or made a cameo in this one, as well as a few up-and-comers. The first 2/3 of the book was a bit slow, too, though the last 1/3 made up for it. At least I found myself unable to put it down toward the end. Saylor's writing and research and characterization is, as usual, spot on. I hope it's not the end of the series.

73. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. 7 stars. LT. Good writing, great characterizations, and amazing visuals ~ I could see vividly the Flats and that desolate little area at the back of the tavern next to the Mystic River as if I had been there before. The fact that I suspected the murderer about 1/4 of the way through didn't detract, and the coincidence (which I usually can't stand) only bothered me a tiny bit. Am looking forward to reading more of Lehane and, in fact, have the audio of Shutter Island to put on my iPod. Glad I listened to the LTers who praised Lehane and tried out this book.

I think Lehane is one of the very top writers in the genre. I have Shutter Island on tap to read, but am holding off until the rainy season REALLY sets in so that I can have some uninterrupted time to enjoy it. too busy right now.

His series that stars Gennaro/Kenzie is also superb. Start from the beginning, which is, I think, A Drink Before the War.

Message edited by its author, Aug 9, 2008, 4:01pm.

74. The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin. 8 stars. Almost but not quite as good as Mistress of the Art of Death, which I thought was brilliant, it's still very much worth reading. Henry II makes a brief but memorable appearance. Eleanor, his estranged rebellious queen, foments a war after receiving incendiary letters from Henry's mistress, Rosamund the Fair, who is murdered by someone who gifts her with a dish of poisoned mushrooms. Rowley, on behalf of the king, brings Adelia into the case, along with her patchwork family. I won't write more about it except to say it was very satisfying, and the end, which tied up all the loose ends, left an opening for more in this wonderful medieval mystery series. Can't wait for the third in the series to come out, which I think I read would be in a month or two.

I may have to buy this series as I already want to reread them.

Hi, Joyce ~ I've got A Drink Before the War on reserve from the library. Can't wait to get to it. How many books are there so far in that series?

Ooh....Shutter Island was so good! Like another LTer told me, you are in for a treat!

I think there are 6, although I only have 5--and they are all consistently superior. What I really like about Lehane is that he's an excellent writer as well as imaginative storyteller.

Message edited by its author, Aug 10, 2008, 6:35am.

Drum roll, please! And for my 75th book, I give you ~

75. Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton. 7 stars. Another well-done Anita Blake, though with a particularly nasty cast of bad guys. In this one, she comes up against a pedophile vampire and must call on Jean Claude to help. The story takes place out of the city, and the usual cast of characters is only peripheral. Just Anita, Larry, and Jean-Claude are featured through most of the book, and I missed the others, but Jean-Claude almost makes up for it. In fact, because he's part of the main cast, so to speak, we learn a little more about him, and, I must say, in the question vamp or wolf, I come down pretty squarely on the side of the vamp.

Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2008, 3:44pm.

Congratulations on hitting 75! And look how much year you have left ahead of you. Let the reading continue!

Thanks, laytonwoman! And, yeah, it's kind of cool to be so close to my goal before summer's even over, esp. since November is pretty much a non-reading month.

76. Already Dead by Charlie Huston. 6 stars. LT. Not your average vampire private detective, Joe Pitt (aka Simon) is just trying to stay, well, alive. While trying to discover the zombie that's infecting others and simultaneously trying to locate the 14-year old runaway daughter of a wealthy research physician who happens to know the head of the Consortium, one of the more powerful vampire organizations that run Manhattan, Joe runs afoul of just about everyone, plus someone steals his stash of blood from his padlocked refrigerator in his hidden underground lair. I'm ready to read the second in the series.

77. Eternity in Death by J.D. Robb. 7 stars. An Eve Dallas/Roarke novella. In this one, Eve goes up against a charismatic vampire who's raping and draining the blood from young, wealthy women. Pretty good story, and I'm counting it even though it was shorter than most In Death mysteries.

78. In a Glass Darkly by Sherian Le Fanu. 7 stars. LT Wow! I almost did not finish the stories in this book after reading Green Tea, which I thought rather insipid. But I decided to read one or two of the shorter ones, just to be sure, and enjoyed them more. Then I read Carmilla, which was really wonderful, and The Room in the Dragon Volant, which was very good, though not actually horror so much as a murder-mystery thriller. Anyway, I am glad I persevered. The ones that were good were very good and made up for the first.

79. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn. 8 stars. LT. Even though the first paragraph is a bit offputting ("To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."), and that almost too precious tone of voice continued intermittently through the story, I ended up very much enjoying this Victorian mystery. The mystery was well-done, the descriptions of London so atmospheric and the characters so finely drawn (even the somewhat annoying and anachronistic Julia March), that I am planning to find and read the second in the series as soon as possible. Also, tho I suspected "whodunnit" early on, I never came close to imagining the motive for the crime(s).

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2008, 1:47pm.

80. Magyk by Angie Sage. 6 stars. LT. Audio. Harry Potter this is not, nor is it Artemis Fowl, but Septimus Heap has the potential of getting close(r) to those YA fantasies, depending on how the rest of the series shapes up. It took awhile for me to begin to enjoy this story, the first of the series, and I was never completely engrossed in it, but I found it entertaining toward the 2/3 mark and felt the ending justified the time I spent listening to it.

You're just tooling right along, Mary!

I've wondered from time to time if the Septimus Heap stories were worth getting. Are you going to read further in the series?

Probably, but I'm not going to rush right out and buy the next one. :) I like the Artemis Fowl series much better, and, though I'm not an HP fanatic, I enjoyed that series more too.

At least so far. It's possible the second book will be better.

How's everything going with you, Joyce?

Good points to make about the different series--think I'll pass on the Septimus Heap.

Life has really slowed down here after a recent 8 day period of dealing with various crises! Standard stuff now. I'm busy rereading the Inspector Montalbano series--always delightful--in preparation for reading the latest one, Paper Moon.

Ah, crises! All those adrenalin rushes. Stimulating. (I'm a former litigation paralegal/secretary, and I know about adrenalin rushes!) :D Hope things stay settled down for you for awhile at least so you can get some serious reading done (though I note you don't seem to let crises stop you from getting your book fix :). I haven't read any Inspector Montalbano. Yet another to put on the TBR list. What is the first book of the series?

I'm not giving up on Septimus yet ~ I'll let you know what I think after I've read the second. Sometimes a first book in the series is the best, but sometimes it's not (case in point: Mallory's Oracle, which I didn't like, though I love the rest of the series). I felt with Septimus the author spent a lot of time "setting up" the world, etc., which is almost always a bore (to me).

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2008, 3:26pm.

Another good point--I tend to forget that about series.

The Montalbano series should NOT be missed, believe me! I finished the 6th, I think, last night, and there were two, related scenes in the very beginning which had me laughing out loud, so hard that I was in tears. And I must be on my 3rd or 4th rereading. Camilleri teaches (or taught) stage direction for over 20 years, and it shows in his writing. I've also picked up on at least one new mystery author because his protagonist is quite a reader.

I should add that while comedy is an integral part of his stories, it's like Shakespeare and his tragedies--Camilleri tends to use comedy the same way. Like Shakespeare, at times you think it verges on slapstick but it really doesn't--it's just people caught in very funny circumstances.

The first in the series is The Shape of Water.

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2008, 5:27am.

Thanks, Joyce ~ It's now on my wishlist and TBR list. :)

81. The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton. 7 stars. Okay, this one had sex in it. It was a surprise, since the ones before it had Anita refusing both the "men" in her life. Speaking of which, are you one the side of the werewolf/shapeshifter or a vampire? I have to say, though the werewolf had some good points, he reminded me of Joe in the Stephanie Plum series ~ gorgeous & sexy but plainly intent on changing the heroine to suit his idea of how his woman should behave. Jean-Claude, on the other hand, reminds me of Ranger ~ also gorgeous and sexy but quite dangerous ~ yet more accepting of the heroine on her own terms. I really prefer that in a man, dangerous or not. Anyway, The Killing Dance was good, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series, which I think is Burnt Offerings, as soon as I finish a couple of "serious" novels.

ETA

82. Lifeblood by P.N. Elrod. 7 stars. Better than the first (Bloodlist), a very different take on vampires. Jack Fleming is a newly made vampire whose maker has disappeared and who has hooked up with a human P.I. to find her. Almost finished with the third of the series (Bloodcircle), which I've had to read before the anthology (The Vampire Files, Volume One is due back to the library. Then it's on to more serious novels. (Lord, I have absolutely no willpower!)

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2008, 7:06pm.

83. Bloodcircle by P.N. Elrod. 7 stars. In this book, the best of the first three, Jack and Encott continue their search for Jack's lost maker/lover, Maureen. Their investigation leads them to Maureen's maker, and Jack has to deal with feelings of jealousy as well as the knowledge that he has to be very careful in the presence of another vampire, whose tangled affairs nearly lead to his own demise and cause Jack to do something he thought he could never do.

Obviously, I'm hooked on this series.

84. The 13 Best Horror Stories of All Time, edited by Leslie Pockell. 7 stars. Some pretty good short horror stories by some of the masters of the genre, including Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Le Fanu, Arthur Machen, and Shirley Jackson. I particularly enjoyed rereading The Lottery, The Telltale Heart, The Yellow Wallpaper, and The Call of Cthulhu. New (to me) stories by Robert Lewis Stevenson (The Bottle Imp), M.R. James (Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad), and Arthur Machen (The Great God Pan) were chilling. Some of the others were meh, but all were worth reading if, for nothing else than to see where it all began.

85. Art in the Blood by P.N. Elrod. 6 stars.
86. Fire in the Blood by P.N. Elrod. 7 stars.
87. Blood on the Water by P.N. Elrod. 6 stars.

In the first book, Jack Fleming, undead P.I. in Chicago during the wild days of post-Prohibition Chicago, goes after the murderer of an up-and-coming artist and discovers within himself a new level of depravity. In the second, he and Escott are hired by a wealthy tycoon to recover a special bracelet that was stolen by a houseguest and ends up on the wrong side of vicious mob boss Vaughn Kyler. Even worse, from his perspective, he violates his own code of honor because of his insatiable blood lust. In the third, he manages to get on the wrong side of Frank Paco's daughter, who is as ruthless as her father had been, and it seems he might not escape undead.

All in all, a satisfying series, though I think I should have given myself some breaks between each book. Still, I hope she wrote more books in the series so I can find out "what happens next!"

whoa! sounds like an interesting series.

Hi Storeetllr, "Saw" you in the talk listings and thought I'd drop by. I am in awe of you reading output. I only thought I read a lot! Having quickly read through your entries, I must say I've found some books to add to my TBR pile. Hope all is well.

88. Night Lost by Lynn Viehl. 6 stars. I'm obviously on a vampire reading streak. There were two stories in one in this novel about the Darkyn. I really liked the main female character Nick (Nicola) a lot. She was so cool, so kick-ass. Gabriel was okay, but it was Nick who stole the show. The second story was a continuation of the Richard/Elizabeth and Michael/Alex saga, and we learn what Richard's disease is caused by. Maybe because I never really liked the name Richard (except Richard III), or maybe because I never really liked Richard and Elizabeth, this one was not so good. At least Alex was her usual feisty self.

Anyway, one more vampire novel to get through before I am swearing off them for awhile. One can only take so much fangs and angst, ya know?!?

89. Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton. 7 stars. Obviously, I have not yet gotten enough fang action. In this one, the raciest yet, Anita becomes the protectress/earth mother/goddess of the werewolf pack and the wereleopard pack left leaderless after she killed its leader in the last book. Also, Richard's back, and he's really pissed at her and JC and the whole situation. At one point, she says something like, "Just get over yourself." I applauded (mentally, anyway). Anyway, there's a new bunch of vamps in town, and they are cruisin to take both JC and Anita out.

90. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. 8 stars. ER

Review to follow.

91. Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende. 9 stars. Audio. LT.

Review to follow.

92. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. 9 stars. LT

Review to follow.

Mary: I've just read the last 90 posts. And it was worth it!

#199 Thanks, Amanda! It's good to know that you got something out of my mini reviews. I know I enjoy writing them, and do it mainly for me to aid my poor memory, but it's gratifying to know others enjoy them too!

93. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King. 7 stars. Audio. LT. After trying to listen to Brunelleschi's Dome and just not being able to get interested in it, I didn't have much hope for Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, but after I finished one audio the other day, this came on and I was too lazy to change it to something else.

Man, am I glad I let it play! It was surprisingly good for a non-fictional account of an historical event. It only took me about 4 days of intermittent listening to get through it because I found myself listening to it long after I would normally have stopped listening and started reading, but I wanted to find out what happened next, just as if it were fiction!

I'm going to try the Brunelleschi is better to listen to.

I read both these Ross King books some time ago and enjoyed them very much, but then I am very interested in art history which may have made a difference!

Hi, English ~ Not sure why the Brunelleschi book on audio didn't appeal ~ I was in Florence a few years ago and was in awe of the Duomo, so I should have enjoyed reading about its creation. Sometimes my moods dictate my enjoyment of books ~ one week I can't be bothered with it, the next I might devour it voraciously. :)

I know what you mean, sometimes you have to be in the right mood for certain books. I do envy you your trip to Florence!

94. Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana by Anne Rice. 7 stars. Audio. I think I'd have given it 8 stars, except I wasn't thrilled with the reader (sorry, I don't know his name). Although I think it was Rice's intent to show Yeshua as a gentle man with a greater than normal capacity for forgiveness, there were times the reader made Him sound like a village simpleton instead of a simple man. The story itself was beautifully told, and Yeshua's character shone with goodness and divine grace, yet no He was not portrayed as being without ordinary (and one in particular extraordinary) temptations and human desires ~ only that He did not succumb. I am really looking forward to the next in the series.

Just thought I'd mention that I've begun a new blog to do with books and reading, including reviews, books giveaways, and other fun & interesting (I hope) features. I've called it Just One More Page, and you can find it at http://justonemorepageblog.blogspot.com/. Stop by and check it out. If you do, I hope you'll leave a comment letting me know what you think and that you got the info from my challenge thread on LT.

95. Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton. 7 stars. LT. I understand now what a lot of people have said about the too much sex in the books as the series goes along. If it gets any more pornish and less supernatural-mystery and adventurish and I'm going to stop reading.

In this installment, Anita has to go to the rescue of Richard, her werewolf ex-fiance, who gets himself framed and arrested for rape in a small town in the Ozarks. Pretty good story.

96. Mr. White's Confession by Robert Clark. 9 stars. LTER. My review can be found here: http://justonemorepageblog.blogspot.com/...

97. Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton. 8 stars. LT. This is undoubtedly the best of the Anita Blake novels I've read so far. First, she is on her own with Edward, whom I have always liked, and a couple of other scary bad mercenaries. She comes up against an ancient Aztec vampire who believes she is a goddess, and who is really cruel and nasty, but who I kind of liked, in a twisted sort of way. She also comes up against a plethora of other scary foes, both human and monster, but Jean-Claude and Richard are nowhere to be seen or even felt (except in one short bit), so there weren't any distracting sex scenes like there have been in the past few books (I'm reading the series in order). I also liked the development of Edward's character, as well as Anita's burgeoning powers.

98. Crime Beat by Michael Connelly. 6 stars. Audio. I enjoyed the stories in the first part of this book, but then by the second half it seemed like just a collection of his newspaper columns. Not sure it would have been better on paper.

99. Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. 7 stars. A first novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let Me In is urban horror fantasy of high literary quality. It tells the story of what happens when a vampire moves to a suburb of Stockholm and befriends Oskar, a geeky 12-year old boy who is the victim of school bullying. I think I may really need therapy, because again I was rooting for the vampire and a troubled and troublesome teenage boy. The story was uneven, and the tension never reached the almost painful tautness that King at his best can create, but it was well worth reading, if for no other reason the new take on vamps.

100. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Florde. 8 stars. LT. Audio. My hundredth book of 2008! Woot! It was surprisingly good, too. Why do I say "surprisingly" when I'd heard such good things about the Thursday Next novel? Because I tried listening to it a couple of months or so ago and absolutely hated it! To tell the truth, I don't know what changed. Oh, yeah, I had read Jane Eyre before I tried listening to The Eyre Affair the first time, so that wasn't it. Perhaps it was simply my mood, but the first time I found the reader annoying, the story stupid, and the writing nothing special. When I started listening to it a few days ago (!), all that had changed. The reader was appealing, the story charming, the writing witty and funny. Now I'm looking forward to listening to Lost in a Good Book, which is also downloaded on my iPod. I'm just hoping my mood stays receptive.

Message edited by its author, Oct 3, 2008, 10:00pm.

Congrats storeetllr - 100 books!

I read the Fforde series earlier this year and really enjoyed them. They appealed to my skewed sense of humour I think. I hope you continue to get something out of the rest of the series.

I also read your book #99, which was called Let the Right One In here. I totally agree with your comments about it. It was uneven, not the best writing, but it really had me entranced. And like you, I loved those two characters.

Thanks, Judy! I'm feeling pretty good about it. It's especially impressive (to me anyway) this year since more of the books I've read so far have been classics and/or literary novels than in prior years, and I still have two months to go! (I know, but I don't read anything during November because I do NaNoWriMo all month which leaves me no time for reading.) :)

I really enjoyed the screwed humor of the Thursday Next novel too. "Jack Schitt." Too funny. I'm still a 12-year old in many ways.

101. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman. 9 stars. Audio. All I can say is wow. This is the first book since Find Me that made me cry, yet I never felt that the author was manipulating my emotions (which is, perhaps, why I was able to cry, since it was so subtle and crept up on me that I wasn't prepared). The entire book was dark, and for at least half of it I disliked the female protagonist, but the last half of the book details her redemption and was so powerful and intense that I was literally breathless and, as I said, I actually found myself sobbing at times.

It is a story of a woman who, because of a few defining events in her life, tries to make sense of Death and ends up making sense of Life. It's a book I am sure I'm going to reread again, it is that good.

Congrats on your 100!!

Thanks, Amanda! I wish I didn't have to work. I'd probably read twice as many if I had the time. What, don't I have a social life? What is this "social life" of which you speak?

102. Miami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman Mailer. 7 stars. LTER. I wrote a really long review in case anyone would like to know more than that I think the book is timely and worth reading, if only for the historical and political insights Mailer provides. My LT Review.

Message edited by its author, Oct 9, 2008, 1:38am.

103. Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland. 6 stars. LTER. I suspect that a lot of the reviewers who panned this novel are not lovers of the genre. In fact, I believe that, unless you are into romantic horror/paranormal/supernatural fiction, you won't care all that much for this novel.

A longer, more in-depth review can be found at
http://www.librarything.com/work/5516574...

104. Broad Street by Christine Weiser. 6 stars. LTER. This is really good chicklit, with good character development, a good story, and a mostly excellent writing style. It could have used one more go-through by a copy editor, but otherwise was tightly written. I probably would have given it 7 stars but for the very last paragraph (prior to the Epilogue), which I thought kind of fizzled, and for one minor glitch early in the novel that threw me out of the story.

See my review on LT and at http://justonemorepageblog.blogspot.com/....

Message edited by its author, Oct 18, 2008, 1:11pm.

105. Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles. 8 stars. LT. I picked this slim volume up not knowing what to expect except that everyone who's read it (on LT) has invariably praised it. Having finished it, I can only heartily agree. I laughed so hard at some of the things he wrote, yet others were heart-wrenching. Some bits were like he was writing about my father. Some others like my mother. Still others, me.

The parts where he castigates the airline are the most hysterically funny, yet I kept thinking, oh, yeah, I've felt like that sooo many times when I was traveling, and I have heard from other people the same thing.

Anyway, I liked it so much I'm going to buy a copy or two, maybe send one to my sister who was the last person I know to have experienced a similar layover (for 2-1/2 days in a small airport in South Carolina during the heat of July).

If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

106. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale. 6 stars. LT. This nonfiction account of a murder which spawned the murder-mystery genre of fiction was well written and erudite, and the subject matters highly interesting, but it also seemed to bog down frequently so that the only way I was able to finish it (before it was due back to the library) was to skim over some of the paragraphs.

Suspicions tells the story of Jack Whicher, the beginnings of Scotland Yard, and the horrifying murder of a young child at a country house in England. It also discusses early detective fiction and how it influenced the development of detective agencies and public perception of them and how detective fiction was influenced by this particular crime. It also throws in a bit of medical information about madness and disease.

Frankly, to me, it seemed a bit all over the map, like it was attempting to do too much. I think that may be why it continually put me to sleep when I tried to read it at bedtime. (I usually read for 1-3 hours before bed, but, except for last night when I allowed myself to skim over some of the minutiae, I could barely get to the half-hour mark before nodding off.)

As I said earlier, it was really interesting subject matter, and I'm sorry I just couldn't enjoy it more.

107. Company of Liars by Karen Maitland. 7 stars.

Review to follow shortly (I hope).

Hi Storeetllr,
Just dropping by to admire your prodigious reading habits! See that you got around to reading "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher." Your opinion of it was about the same as mine.

Thanks, TheaElizabet! It's just because I have no social life to speak of that I'm able to read so much. lol

108. Mozart's Ghost by Julia Cameron. 6 stars.

Review to follow shortly (I hope).

Message edited by its author, Oct 21, 2008, 4:20pm.

109. Real World by Natsuo Kirino. 7 stars. Another weird noir story about life in modern Tokyo by the author of Out. This one is about teenagers running amok and, though I don't normally care all that much for novels about angsty teens, this one was not only eye-opening but a good (not emotionally easy, but good) read too.

110. The King's Rose by Alisa Libby, an LT author. ER. 8 stars. YA historical novel about Catherine Howard, the 5th of Henry VIII's unhappy brides. Here's a longer review on LT, with a link to an even more detailed review on my book blog, Just One More Page: http://www.librarything.com/work/6458745...

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2008, 12:24am.

111. Ines of my Soul by Isabel Allende. 9 stars. Audio. This woman just doesn't stop! Every new novel of hers I read just continues to be wonderful! This one is about a woman who is the mistress of one of the Conquistadors of Chile. It is another strong, intelligent female character with an amazing story.

If I could write one novel like Ms. Allende, I'd be able to die happy.

Message edited by its author, Dec 11, 2008, 11:27pm.

112. Living Agelessly by Linda Altoonian. LTER. 7 stars. Little information in this slim book is new, but I like that it has brought all the facts together in one volume for ease of use. I will be reviewing it in more detail and will post a link to my review here when I write it.

113. Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell. 8 stars. ARC. Good though not as perfect as Judas Child and Find Me. Detailed review will be available after December 1.

114. Blood of Heaven by Bill Myers. 6 stars. Not the best writing but not terrible, the story itself was pretty good, though about 2/3 of the way through I almost stopped reading it. I'm glad I finished it, as the ending was really good.

115. Threshold by Bill Myers. 6 stars. Actually, the writing was better but I liked the first story better; it seemed to have resonated more with me. This one was about a psi testing lab and the difference between seeing visions sent from God and performing miracles at God's behest and engaging in occult practices that result in demonic possession.

116. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. 8 stars. LTER. I love dystopian novels; I just can't help myself. Every now and then I love being depressed by a story of people at their worst that turns around at the end to offer a ray of hope for the human race, in whatever form the race looks like it may be evolving into.

This was very well written stuff, too, very well-received apparently back when it was written, and I really don't know how I managed to miss it when I was heavily into Sci-Fi back in the 70s and 80s. But there you are. I missed other classics too, like Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and such.

The only thing I can say about it that I didn't find wonderful is that I never really felt close to any of the characters. The narrator seemed to be so disconnected that I never really connected emotionally with him or anyone else, though I did care deeply about their fates (and ultimately the fate of the human race).

In the end, though, I liked it better than, for instance, 1984, though that had it's positive points too, and highly recommend this novel to anyone who hasn't yet read it.

Message edited by its author, Dec 2, 2008, 8:10pm.

Just popped in to see what you have been reading.

Allende is a great author, I agree with everything you have written about her in #226. I find her characters fascinating and her storytelling superb.

I read a lot of Wyndham when I was younger. I still have his books and always want to reread them, but never quite get around to it! And btw, I still haven't read Dick's novel either, although it seems almost everyone else on the planet has!

Hi, Judy ~ Next Allende I plan to read is Zorro. She is my favorite writer these days, and I'd never have tried her if it hadn't been for LT. (I used to think she was a female version of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose Love in the Time of Cholera I didn't care for. Boy, am I glad I found out how mistaken I was!!!)

Message edited by its author, Dec 6, 2008, 10:56pm.

117. Fool: a Novel by Christopher Moore. 8 stars. ER When Moore or his publisher says it's bawdy, you had better believe it. I, who am no prude by any stretch of anyone's imagination, was a bit taken aback at first by the language and scenes of lewdness and debauchery. However, I stuck in there and got used to the bawdiness ~ or else the story got better past 100 pages. However, I suspect that it was the former, which simply allowed me to stop being startled and begin enjoying the very funny but very screwed skewed (Freudian slip?) take-off of Shakespeare's tragic play, King Lear. I want to read it again from the beginning soon so I can see if my theory is, in fact, true. At any rate, it was very enjoyable, though not as good as Lamb, which is my favorite of his and pretty much on my top 25 list of favorites.

Edited to fix typo...or Freudian slip, whichever you prefer. :)

Message edited by its author, Dec 17, 2008, 2:25am.

Just a note to self: I read 112 books last year. They broke down as follows:

83 general (genre & popular) fiction
6 literary fiction
6 classics
9 nonfiction
8 young adult

20 of them were audiobooks (unabridged)

My goal was to up the number of classics/literary fiction and non-fiction this year. I'm interested in how I did with that.

Message edited by its author, Dec 11, 2008, 11:33pm.

118. Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais. 8 stars. Excellent mystery and the best in the series for a long time.

119. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. 7 stars. ER. Interesting concept, lol funny in some parts, this debut novel tackles some heavy issues, like death vs. immortality, morality vs. immorality, the afterlife, religion, faith, love. I went into it thinking it was chicklit, and I guess that's where it would be shelved, but it was so much more.

120. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim. 9 stars. I've watched the film a couple of times and loved it, so I've been wanting for awhile read to the novel. Finally, last night, I did. All in one sitting. Couldn't put it down! It was, well, enchanting, utterly charming and enough like my life at present (the first, dreary, dissatisfying part of the book) that it meant a lot to me. The descriptions of the villa brought me right there in my imagination, as well as making me long to go back to Italy ~ this time to San Salvatore. A month in a place like that would be rejuvenating and life-changing.

Message edited by its author, Dec 21, 2008, 12:05am.

I love The Enchanted April, too. Like you, I started with the movie, but have loved the book even more both times I've read it now.

I thought Gods Behaving Badly was a great read too. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

#236 Tapestry ~ Oh, yes, that novel is definitely a keeper and a reread! I am now longing to see the film again. Maybe over Christmas vacation.

#237 Judylou ~ It was a lot different than I expected, which was light and fluffy romantic humor, but I like it more for that.

Happy Holidays!

Message edited by its author, Dec 15, 2008, 5:51pm.

121. The Dracula Dossier by James Reese. 6 stars. Not the best historical horror/ mystery/ thriller, although parts of it were really good. It felt like slogging through mud to finish it, and I actually started skimming over long paragraphs toward the last quarter of the book. Also completely stopped reading the footnotes.

I may do a more comprehensive review, but probably not.

122. The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri. 7 stars. LT-rec. Well written and translated mystery set in a small town in Sicily, a place I was once supposed to visit but missed the only train of the day by mere minutes so had to forego seeing, much to my continuing disappointment. This is the first of a series, recommended to me by Joycepa, a fellow LTer, and, while I wasn't blown away by it, I did enjoy it and plan to search out the rest of the series to read. I especially enjoyed the main character's quirky sense of justice, as well as his portrayals of the other characters and his descriptions of Sicily (esp. the political and law enforcement).

Message edited by its author, Dec 20, 2008, 11:51am.

In 2008, I read:

12 - 9 stars
32 35 - 8 stars
55 56 - 7 stars
21 - 6 stars
1 - 3 stars

The ones to which I gave 9 stars are:

Tigana (amazing epic fantasy; can't stop thinking about it)
House of the Spirits (amazing, period; also still thinking about)
Hotel du Lac (excellent women's literary novel)
Special Topics in Calamity Physics (I know others have panned this novel as being annoying and "precious," but I thought it was outstanding & am still thinking about it)
Mistress of the Art of Death (excellent historical mystery; wonderful new "detective")
Mr. White's Confession (this was an LTER and stunningly good!)
Ice Queen (this one was also amazing, and it made me cry)
Ines of My Soul (so beautiful and heartbreaking; another one I can't stop thinking about)
Enchanted April (one of the most beautiful and romantic novels I've ever read; magical; I want to go to San Salvatore)
Portrait in Sepia (Allende's writing just doesn't stop)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (again, others have panned this as being too light, but I found it to have a lot of substance and be very moving)
Gargoyle (this is my least favorite of the list of 9s, but it was still a good read; very different; a bit confusing, sort of on the order of The Magus by Fowles

ETA that one reason there are more 8s and 7s than 6s or lower is that I tend to abandon books that I really don't like. The lone 3-star book was an alleged history of Richard III and the Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir, but it was so biased and took such great liberties with so-called "facts" (i.e., "eyewitness" accounts by Sir Thomas More, who was I think about 3 years old when the events took place). I read it months ago and it still rankles.

Okay, rant over. I'm stepping down now.

Edited to update stats on 1/1/09.

Message edited by its author, Jan 1, 2009, 4:59pm.

123. Perfume by Patrick Suskind. 8 stars. LT. I found this novel fascinating on many different levels: the character study of the main character, the description of France during the pre-Revolutionary period, the story of how perfume was made then.

Message edited by its author, Dec 28, 2008, 11:17am.

Hi Storeetllr. I, too, found Perfume original and thought provoking. Did you see the movie? I understand it's not very good. It would be difficult to bring to the screen, I think.

Hi, Teresa ~ I didn't see the move version. I didn't even know there was one! :) I agree, I can't imagine how it could have been adapted to film. To tell the truth, I don't usually find movie adaptations are worth seeing, so, unless one is praised to the sky, I stay away from them.

124. Guide to Fiction Writing by Phyllis A. Whitney. 8 stars. I'm planning to get back into writing in 2009, so, when an online writing buddy suggested this book, I picked it up. It seemed to be aimed at the beginning writer who has perhaps tried to write a novel or two but hasn't been noticeably successful. I found it helpful in the way that many "how-to" books on writing are not. It was simple, to-the-point, well-organized, and encouraging without being condescending. It also provided examples of good writing, though not enough. (There are never enough for me.)

One caveat: It was written in 1982, in the ancient pre-computer days, and there were many references to typewriters, even one to writing the manuscript by hand and then having it transcribed by a typist. That sort of thing could have been fatal but was not, because the novel-writing advice itself was sound and remains true. Whitney made one suggestion that I never considered before, in this day of computers: keeping all notes, outlines, plot devices, character studies, research, etc. on loose-leaf paper in a 3-ring binder. I don't like the idea of using something so unwieldy, but I have not had a lot of success keeping all that on the computer because I tend to forget about it and seldom can even find it when I am looking for it, so I've started one for my next novel.

It's definitely worth looking for at at a used book store so I can add it to my library.

Message edited by its author, Dec 30, 2008, 9:47am.

Last book of 2008! Happy New Year, everyone!

125. The Wildcats of Exeter by Edward Marston. 7 stars. Easy-reading medieval mystery set in the reign of William the Conqueror, about 20 years after Hastings. Ralph Delchard and the other members of the King's Commission investigating disputed claims to land and estates, which is why its title includes Volume VIII of the Domesday Books, are sent to Exeter to adjudge various disputes, but first they must solve a horrific murder when one of the chief claimants is killed on the eve of their arrival by what appears to have been a wildcat, except for the fact his throat was slit from ear to ear.