Familyhistorian's Bookish Thread part 9

The view on an early morning walk. I don't envy all of those drivers going in to work

My name is Meg and this is my fifth year as one of the 75ers. 2017 brought some changes for me as I retired from my day job at the end of September. Retirement should give me more time to explore my many interests, at least in theory. I am interested in history and genealogy and actively research, read and write about those areas. When I talk about active research, I mean the type that involves travel and I hope to do more of that this year.

I am coming to the end of my posts about my London ancestors and have come up with puzzling information about my criminal ancestors. Check out the weekly posts at: A Genealogist's Path to History

Little Free Library

Number culled in January 2

Number culled in February 4

Number culled in March 4

Number culled in April 2

Number culled in May 2

Number culled in June 5

Number culled in July 3

Number culled in August 51

Number culled in September 15

Number culled in October 8

Number culled in November 1

Total 2018 culls

Challenges I will do my best to partake of in 2018

AAC 2018

January- Joan Didion - Where I was From - DONE
February- Colson Whitehead - The Underground Railroad - DONE
March- Tobias Wolff - This Boy's Life - DONE
April- Alice Walker - The Color Purple - DONE
May- Pete Hamil - Tabloid City - DONE
June - Walter Mosley - A Red Death - DONE
July- Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club - DONE
August- Louis L'Amour - Rider of Lost Creek - DONE
September- Pat Conroy - My Reading Life - DONE
October- Stephen King - On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - DONE
November- Narrative Nonfiction - Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger - DONE
December- F. Scott Fitzgerald

BAC 2018

JANUARY - DEBUT NOVELS - Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters - DONE
FEBRUARY - THE 1970s - The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge - DONE
MARCH - CLASSIC THRILLERS - The Chimney Sweeper's Boy by Barbara Vine - DONE
APRIL - FOLKLORE, FABLES AND LEGENDS - The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - DONE
MAY - QUEENS OF CRIME - The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie - DONE The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie - DONE - To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey - DONE
JUNE - TRAVEL WRITING - Scotland's Last Frontier: A Journey Along the Highland Line by Alistair Moffat - DONE
JULY - THE ANGRY YOUNG MEN - Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis - DONE
AUGUST - BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION - The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells - DONE
SEPTEMBER - HISTORICAL FICTION - Dr Syn by Russell Thorndyke - DONE
OCTOBER - COMEDIC NOVELS - Uneasy Money by P.G. Wodehouse - DONE
NOVEMBER - WORLD WAR ONE -
DECEMBER - BRITISH SERIES -

WILDCARD - THE ROMANTICS -

2018 MysteryCAT

January: Nordic Mysteries - The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo - DONE Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson - DONE
February: Female Cop/Sleuth/Detective - Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb - DONE Books, Cooks, and Crooks by Lucy Arlington - DONE American Blonde by Jennifer Niven DONE
March: Global Mysteries - The Dry by Jane Harper - DONE Ragtime in Simla by Barbara Cleverly - DONE The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel - DONE
April: Classic and Golden Age Mysteries - The Mayfair Mystery by Frank Richardson - DONE - The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley - DONE
May: Mysteries involving Transit - The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie - DONE
June: True Crime - With One Shot: Family Murder and a Search for Justice by Dorothy Marcic - DONE
July: Police Procedurals - The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny - DONE - Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb - DONE - The Blackhouse by Peter May - DONE
August: Historical Mysteries - Design for Dying by Renee Patrick - DONE - A Curious Beginning by Deanna Rayborn - DONE - Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley - DONE - The Alienist by Caleb Carr - DONE
September: Noir and Hard-Boiled Mysteries - The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain - DONE
October: Espionage - The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva - DONE
November: Cozy - The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman - DONE - Played by the Book by Lucy Arlington - DONE
December: Futuristic/Fantastical Mysteries

2018 Nonfiction Challenge

January - Prize Winning Books - The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin - DONE
February -- Biographies - The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson - DONE
March – Far, Far Away: Traveling - Road to the Isles: Travellers in the Hebrides 1770-1914 by Derek Cooper - DONE
April – History - Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill - DONE The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - DONE
May – Boundaries: Geography, Geopolitics and Maps - Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey by Madeleine Bunting - DONE
June – The Great Outdoors - The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert MacFarlane - DONE
July – The Arts - Dangerous Books for Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained by Maya Rodale - DONE
August – Short and Sweet: Essays and Other Longform Narratives - Women & Power: a Manifesto by Mary Beard - DONE
September – Gods, Demons, Spirits, and Supernatural Beliefs
October – First Person Singular - Secret Sister: From Nazi-occupied Jersey to wartime London, one woman's search for the truth by Cherry Durbin - DONE
November – Politics, Economics & Business - Empire of Deception by Dean Jobb - DONE - Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou - DONE
December – 2018 In Review

More challenges

Reading Through Time

Quarterly

January-March 2018 - 19th Century Europe (& rest of the world, excluding Northern America) - A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock - DONE
April-June 2018 - 19th Century Northern America (includes Civil War; excluding the Old West) - The Alienist by Caleb Carr - DONE
July-September 2018 - The Old West - Rider of Lost Creek by Louis L'Amour - DONE
October-December 2018 - 20th Century: Before WW1 (1900-1913)

Monthly

January 2018: "Baby, It's Cold Out There!" - The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin - DONE
February 2018: "Going Hollywood" - American Blonde by Jennifer Niven - DONE
March 2018: "Something Sporty" - Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder - DONE
April 2018: "Clash of Cultures" - A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson - DONE
May 2018: "Southeast Asia" - The Quiet American by Graham Greene DONE
June 2018: "Digging Up the Past" - Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths DONE
July 2018: "Nautical" - The Lost Empress by Steve Robinson DONE - Fourteen Minutes: The Last Voyage of the Empress of Ireland by James Croall DONE
August 2018: "Between the Wars, 1918 - 1939" - Design for Dying by Renee Patrick - DONE
September 2018: "Let's Have a Drink" - The Rum Runners by Frank W. Anderson - DONE
October 2018: "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" - The Salt of the Earth: The story of the homesteaders in Western Canada by Heather Robertson - DONE
November 2018: "She Blinded Me with Science" - Lamarck's Revenge by Peter Ward - DONE
December 2018: "It's All About Music"

I'm not going out of my way (much) to fill in the following non-LT challenges. Just interested to see what I can do.

2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge

1. A book made into a movie you've already seen - 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
2. True crime - The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson
3. The next book in a series you started - A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths
4. A book involving a heist
5. Nordic noir - The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo
6. A novel based on a real person - The Last Man in Europe by Dennis Glover
7. A book set in a country that fascinates you
8. A book with a time of day in the title - It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long
9. A book about a villain or antihero
10. A book about death or grief - With One Shot: Family Murder and a Search for Justice by Dorothy Marcic
11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym
12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist - Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
13. A book that is also a stage play or musical
14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you - Bingo Love by Tee Franklin
15. A book about feminism - Women & Power: a manifesto by Mary Beard
16. A book about mental health - Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift - The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
18. A book by two authors - Design for Dying by Renee Patrick (Rosemarie and Vince Keenan)
19. A book about or involving a sport - Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder
20. A book by a local author - The Opposite of Dark by Debra Purdy Kong
21. A book with your favorite color in the title - Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
22. A book with alliteration in the title
23. A book about time travel - Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
24. A book with a weather element in the title - Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson
25. A book set at sea
26. A book with an animal in the title - Slow Horses by Mick Herron
27. A book set on a different planet
28. A book with song lyrics in the title
29. A book about or set on Halloween
30. A book with characters who are twins
31. A book mentioned in another book - The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
32. A book from a celebrity book club - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
33. A childhood classic you've never read
34. A book that's published in 2018 - A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner
36. A book set in the decade you were born - The Quiet American by Graham Greene
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn't get to
38. A book with an ugly cover
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges (you can easily Google these)

Advanced Reading Challenge

1. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school
2. A cyberpunk book
3. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place
4. A book tied to your ancestry - Ignored but Not Forgotten: Canada's English Immigrants by Lucille Campey
5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title
6. An allegory - The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
7. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you
8. A microhistory - Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
9. A book about a problem facing society today
10. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

2018 BookRiot Read Harder Challenge

1. A book published posthumously
2. A book of true crime - The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) - The Mayfair Mystery by Frank Richardson
4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person - California Dreamin': Cass Elliott Before the Mamas and Papas by Penelope Begieu
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa)
6. A book about nature
7. A western - Rider of Lost Creek by Louis L'Amour
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color - Bingo Love by Tee Franklin
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color
11. A children’s classic published before 1980
12. A celebrity memoir
13. An Oprah Book Club selection - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
14. A book of social science
15. A one-sitting book - The Middle Ground by Zoe Whittall
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image
19. A book of genre fiction in translation - Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson
20. A book with a cover you hate
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author
22. An essay anthology
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished)

Books read in 2018

First quarter

January

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo
Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson
Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger by Victoria Alexander
A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths
Where I Was From by Joan Didion
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
Better Read Than Dead by Victoria Laurie
Night's Child by Maureen Jennings
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn

February

A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock
A Very Fine Class of Immigrants: Prince Edward Island's Scottish Pioneers 1770-1850 by Lucille Campey
Siege by Roxanne Orgill
Nightblind by Ragnar Jonasson
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb
The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Ignored but Not Forgotten: Canada's English Immigrants by Lucille Campey
Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta
The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson
The Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
Books, Cooks, and Crooks by Lucy Arlington
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
American Blonde by Jennifer Niven

March

The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham
The Dry by Jane Harper
Testosterone Rex: Myths of Sex, Science, and Society by Cordelia Fine
Hit by Bryce Carlson
The Middle Ground by Zoe Whittall
A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh
The British: A Genetic Journey by Alistair Moffat
Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill
It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs
The Girl With The Make-Believe Husband by Julia Quinn
Ragtime in Simla by Barbara Cleverly
Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder
Drawing From Memory by Allen Say
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy by Barbara Vine
This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff
The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel
It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long

Books read in 2018

Second quarter

April

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Road to the Isles: Travellers in the Hebrides 1770-1914 by Derek Cooper
A Cast of Vultures by Judith Flanders
Hot Rocks by Nora Roberts
The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham (Sophie Kinsella)
Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright
The Mayfair Mystery by Frank Richardson
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

May

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson
Dooms Day Book by Connie Willis
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Slow Horses by Mick Harron
Love of Country by Madeleine Bunting
The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
Tabloid City by Pete Hamill
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Walking With Ghosts by J.G. Goodhind
Anatomy of Murder by Imogen Robertson
The Opposite of Dark by Debra Purdy Kong
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
The Detective's Daughter by Lesley Thomson
Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey
The Viking World by James Graham-Campbell
A Woman Unknown by Frances Brody

June

A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
Unsinkable by Dan James
With One Shot: Family Murder and a Search for Justice by Dorothy Marcic
Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
A Week from Sunday by Dorothy Garlock
Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths
Bingo Love by Tee Franklin
A Red Death by Walter Mosley
Britain's Last Frontier: A Journey Along the Highland Line by Alistair Moffat

Third quarter

July

Langston Hughes: American Poet by Alice Walker
A Howl of Wolves by Judith Flanders
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
Witches' Bane by Susan Wittig Albert
My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel by Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris
Come Hell or Highball by Maia Chance
Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past by David Reich
Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb
The Lost Empress by Steve Robinson
Fourteen Minutes: The last voyage of the Empress of Ireland by James Croall
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Teetotaled by Maia Chance
The Blackhouse by Peter May

August

Clara Voyant by Rachelle Delaney
The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert MacFarlane
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Design for Dying by Renee Patrick
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
Dark Descent: Diving and the Deadly Allure of the Empress of Ireland by Kevin F. McMurray
Force of Nature by Jane Harper
Rider of Lost Creek by Louis L'Amour
Dangerous Books for Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained by Maya Rodale
His Wicked Reputation by Madeline Hunter
Women & Power: a manifesto by Mary Beard
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me by Paul Joseph Fronczak and Alex Tresniowski
Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
Latte Trouble by Cleo Coyle
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Darkling Bride by Laura Andersen
The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker

September

California Dreamin': Cass Elliott Before the Mamas and Papas by Penelope Bagieu
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham
Forgotten Empress by David Zeni
The Merchant's House by Kate Ellis
Wallis in Love by Andrew Morton
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu
The Stranger in My Genes by Bill Griffeth
The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson
The Lewis Man by Peter May
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
The Rum Runners by Frank. W. Anderson
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney
An Early Wake by Sheila Connolly
Dr Syn by Russell Thorndyke

Books read in 2018

Fourth quarter

October

The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington by Charles Rosenberg
The Sea Queen by Linnea Hartsuyker
French Exit by Patrick deWitt

Book stats

Total books read 141

Fiction 105
Non-fiction 36

Female authors 86
Male authors 57

Books acquired in 2018




August

Smileys' People by John Le Carre
Beneath These Stones by Anne Granger
The Bat by Jo Nesbo
The Laws of Murder by Charles Finch
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
Crime Scene by Jesse Kellerman
Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce
A Brief History of the British Army by Jock Haswell
The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner
Scottish Genealogy by Bruce Durie
Bloody History of London: Crime, Corruption and Murder by John D. Wright
Sketch Your Style by Robyn Neild

September

The Tightrope Walker by Dorothy Gilman
Elyza by Clare Darcy
Funeral in Blue by Anne Perry
The Visitors by Sally Beauman
This is My Own by Muriel Kitagawa
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
The Wars of the Roses: England's First Civil War by Trevor Royle
The Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey
Introducing Epigenetics: A Graphic Guide by Cath Ennis & Oliver Pugh
The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill
The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
The Necklace by Claire McMillan
The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Myerson
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen
Olive by Linden Carroll

I have a very busy bookish week coming up. Will post highlights when time permits. In the meantime welcome to the new thread!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Meg!
>5 Familyhistorian: I see you are on track with culling ;-)

Happy new thread, Meg! You are reading up a storm!

My, my you folks are quick on the draw.

>15 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

>16 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita, the culling is going well but not keeping up with the books that are coming into the house, unfortunately.

>17 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, the reads are going down well but part of the secret to the volume is all the library holds that keep coming in bunches so I just have to get them read for the next people in line.

142. Death in Devon by Ian Sansom

A Death in Devon was the second book in the County Guides mysteries. They are clever take offs on Arthur Mea's guides to the various counties in England so I wonder how much Morley, the author of the county guides in the books, may be a caricature of Mea. Morley is over the top. Accompanying him on his journey to find out about the county in question are his daughter who acts as driver and Sefton, a recovering veteran of the Spanish Civil War, who acts as assistant.

Of course, while they are finding out about the county they run across mysteries. In this book they are staying in a boys' boarding school run by a friend of Morley's. All is not what it seems and the crew have some close calls on the way to finding out what is really happening.

Happy New Thread, Meg. Love the fall colors in the topper. I have been racing though California Dreamin'. A terrific GN bio. I appreciate the nudge.

Happy new thread! Love the picture of the little free library :)

>20 msf59: I thought you would like the Mama Cass GN, Mark. Thanks for the thread wishes.

>21 figsfromthistle: Thanks, figs. That little free library gets a photographic boost by being in a well tended city garden.

Some of the development going on in my neighbourhood which is why the developers are interested in our strata two blocks down the road.

Wow, some tall buildings in your neighborhood. That will raise your property value, no doubt. Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Meg.

Happy New Thread, Meg.

My sympathy on the development in the neighborhood. Those don't look like great additions?

Happy new thread, Meg. Beautiful topper.

Happy new thread, familyhistorian!

>1 Familyhistorian: I passed some tree like this on my way to work this morning. Beautiful.

Happy new thread Meg my dear, I saw that you had read A Death in Devon by Ian Sansom, Karen has picked up these books and are on our pile to read and I look forward to getting to one or two of them next year.

Sending love and hugs.

>25 The_Hibernator: Our property values are already sky high, Rachel. Those are the shorter towers, there is a 40 story one in the next block.

>26 katiekrug: Thanks Katie.

>27 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. Much of the area around here is starting to look very urban and, no, not particularly welcome but inevitable as developers want to get in on the real estate market.

>28 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. There are a lot of views like that where I live but the weather doesn't usually cooperate like that.

>29 brodiew2: Hi Brodie, it is nice to see the changing colours of the leaves.

>30 johnsimpson: Hi John, have you ever read any of the county guides by Arthur Mea? Sansom has used the guides as inspiration for his mystery series. They are fun reads.

143. Happiness by Aminatta Forna

Attila spent his time dealing with people displaced by war, his work an attempt to deal with their trauma. Jean came to London to study urban foxes after her marriage broke down. They meet and their lives become entwined as they searched for his niece's missing son. But Happiness, was not just a story about displaced people meeting in London, it was a story about resilience. The resilience of people and wildlife. It was about the ability to carry on in spite of what has been thrown at you and the ability to find happiness because of it all.

>33 Familyhistorian: - Did you like it, Meg? It's on my list...

144. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

In the first of the Jackson Brodie series, Case Histories, PI Jackson Brodie was drawn into a series of diseparate cases involving the missing and cold cases for which there has been no “closure”. The reader gets to know Jackson and his story through the pages. He was a bit of a mess, divorced with a young daughter and a fraught past. Still, he managed to resolve some of the issues he had been retained to look into even though someone kept trying to kill him.

It was a fun story and one had to wonder about Jackson's ethics as he tried but failed to keep out of his client's private lives. I will soon look for the next book in the series.

>34 katiekrug: I did enjoy it, Katie, although there were points in the story I felt something really bad was going to happen so I didn't really want to read on and find out. But I kept going and was happy with how things ended up.

Last night I went to two sessions of the Vancouver Writers Festival. Both of them were panels with a moderator. The first was about the soul of America and featured a diverse panel of writers, Elaine Castillo, Amitava Kumar and Tommy Orange. They write about living in America from a "minority" point of view. It was refreshing to hear about America from their perspectives but I do have a hard time with the label of "white privilege". Maybe part of that is a result of my gender?

The other session was a rollicking one - who knew that a writers' event could be so lively. That was due to the moderator, Cherie Dimaline and panelist, Eden Robinson. The panel included Carrianne Leung and Tommy Orange. Again a diverse mix but poor Tommy was a bit outnumbered. The theme of this talk was families as families and their messed up interactions inform the narrative in their books. As Carrianne said "Being fucked up is interesting."

>37 Familyhistorian: - Sounds like a great evening, Meg. Cherie Dimaline's book, which was one of the 5 finalists on this year's Canada Reads, didn't grab me enough to make me want to read it. Part of that could be because I really disliked Jully Black, the person who *defended* that book. I found her very aggressive and melodramatic and off-putting. But I recently saw Cherie Dimaline interviewed, one-on-one, on tv and was very impressed by her.

>38 jessibud2: Cherie Dimaline was a very good moderator, Shelley, so I would probably look at her book with more favour. I'll have to have a look to see if they have her book when I get to the festival's bookstore. I was toting around a bag full of library books which saved me from going to the bookstore last night. I also want to have a look for Son of a Trickster as Eden Robinson really caught my attention.

Here is the link to that interview I watched on tv awhile ago, if you are interested:

https://tvo.org/video/programs/the-agenda-with-steve-paikin/reclaiming-lost-drea...

Happy new thread, Meg. I love the topper. This is a pretty time of year if one doesn't think about what is coming next.

>37 Familyhistorian: This sounds like fun.

I loved Happiness; it's one of my favorite reads this year.

Hooray for Happiness & Case Histories, Meg! I also loved both. I adore Atkinson.

Like Mark I'm a fan of both books.

I love the beautiful leaves in your topper: our trees are turning but those are really stunning.

>37 Familyhistorian: Sounds like a great event. Vancouver is on my bucket list, maybe one day I will make it!

Hi Meg, and happy new thread!

>4 Familyhistorian: How fascinating! I really liked the picture you used, too. How are you related to the Arments?

>40 jessibud2: Thanks for the link, Shelley. I checked on Dimaline's books at the library and they are either short stories or dystopian fiction, neither of which are my thing. She still seems like an interesting author though, even after the interview.

>41 BLBera: Hi Beth, we usually don't get to take many shots of fall colours because sunshine and fall don't usually happen at the same time. At the writer's festival bookstore last night we were all remarking on the weather because we are used to struggling from place to place while trying to keep dry. Happiness was a good one.

>42 msf59: I really like Kate Atkinson especially after seeing her a couple of weeks ago, Mark. She is a very funny lady. I can't wait to get to her Transcription but a few challenges and library holds are getting in the way. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup is currently in the mix.

>43 charl08: Thanks Charlotte, trees are one of our specialties here which you will see when you finally get to the visit Vancouver item on your bucket list. A good time to come would be during the Vancouver Writers Festival but it usually rains then - so there is that.

>44 karenmarie: Thanks Karen, it was a very colourful picture and a good illustration for sugar hogsheads which I had never realized were a thing. It shows what an appetite there was for sugar in Britain. The Arments in the story are my direct ancestors, Sarah Arment was my 4x great grandmother and her husband, Thomas, who died on a convict hulk in the river was my 4x great grandfather.

>45 Familyhistorian: - Yeah, neither of those genres are my cup of tea, either. I often love author interviews even when I don't like their work. I once heard a fantastic interview on the radio with Yan Martel (who wrote Life of Pi), together with his parents, who were his translators. It was one of the best interviews I ever listened to yet I couldn't get into that book at all and have never tried his other books. Go figure!

Last night at the Vancouver Writers Fest I saw a session called "Star Treatment" which was about authors whose works have been translated into film. The authors were Craig Davidson, Patrick deWitt and Iain Reid. I had read Patrick's French Exit before the event but didn't realize that Craig was the writer of Saturday Night Ghost Club which I read a couple of months ago. It was really interesting to hear how writers are treated by the film makers who option their books.

The other session for the evening was "Good Weeds" where various writers got up to share anecdotes about cannabis use from their lives. It was a fun way of marking the day that pot became legal in Canada.

This evening I only went to one session at the Vancouver Writer's Festival. I have to get up bright and early tomorrow to make my way to the Surrey International Writers Conference.

The session I saw was an interview with Joe Ide. There were lots of readings and Joe used them to illustrate how he writes. He is a very funny guy. One audience member asked him if he aspired to be a stand up comedian.

Happy new thread, Meg! >1 Familyhistorian: Yes! >51 Familyhistorian: >52 Familyhistorian: Good for you for using retired life wisely and doing what you want to do! Continue to enjoy the Writers Fest!

>53 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda. I rather think that I bit off more than I can chew because I am going to attempt to attend the writers conference in Surrey and take in one of the writers fest events in Vancouver during the evening for the next two days. It is a wonderful but exhausting time of year!

Yesterday was the first day of the Surrey International Writers Conference for me. As usual I feel energized by the sessions which is a good thing as I am about to head out again today. It was amazing as usual. I will post about it in more detail later as well as about the Vancouver Writers Fest session I attended in the evening.

You are having a busy and bookish weekend, Meg. At least you have had fantastic weather for your trips over to Surrey. Congrats on the new thread. :)

>56 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy. We were just remarking on the strangeness of not having to deal with rain for the Vancouver Writers Festival. I am on route to the last of my sessions there after a full day at the Surrey Writers Festival. I think I will sleep for a week after tomorrow.

Hi Meg. Did you happen to catch 60 Minutes on tv tonight? The first piece is something I found fascinating and I just have to think that you would, too.

I am not generally a fan of murder mysteries, as you may know. But this story really had me at the edge of my seat. It was all about a new technology, called genetic genealogy, that is being developed and is already being used in the USA to solve cold case murders, by using a family tree sort of approach to track killers. Here is the link. Watch the whole episode. It's really quite ingenious and seems to be a real break-through. I wonder if and when it will be used here in Canada.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/genetic-genealogy-tracing-family-trees-to-catch-kil...

The weather has been wonderful , hasn't it? Sunny and quite warm. I took Poppy out for an early evening walk and just wore a short sleeved cotton t shirt with a thicker cotton hoody on top. Walking briskly I was very comfortable.

Did I read earlier on your thread that your town house is going be demolished to make way for a high rise and thus you will be moving into a condo? A spacious condo, I hope. I also adore Kate Atkinson! I'd love a new Jackson Brodie mystery.

>58 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, I didn't watch 60 Minutes on Sunday so thanks for the link for the extras for the program, not the actual program itself. Genetic genealogy has been around for a long time and its primary use is for genealogy research it is only recently that it has been used to solve crimes.

I have seen numerous stories about the capture of the Golden State Killer and also saw a story on the news about the solving of the murder of the young Canadian couple in Washington State. At first I thought it would make people wary of using GEDmatch which would complicate things for genetic genealogists but it seems to have had the opposite effect in some cases. The fact is that no one who has been caught has gone to trial yet so we don't know how the courts will receive the information. Something else that is of concern is that it might become harder to convince relatives to submit their DNA to help with family history research.

>59 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb, I love this weather which is definitely not the norm for this time of year. Make the most of it because they are predicting rain.

Nothing has been decided yet about the townhouse complex but it is likely that the whole strata will be put up for sale. If that is the case we will have to move but I am not thinking of going into a condo. There are a lot of condo towers around here and I have no idea how anyone can live in them!

The fourth Jackson Brodie book should be out soon because Kate Atkinson said it was already finished. (The audience cheered when she said that so I had to go and read the first of those mysteries after that. It was good.)

Happy Monday, Meg. Beautiful day in Chicagoland. I like fall when it cooperates. I have a copy of Transcription. I hope to bookhorn it in next month.

Hi, Meg. Sorry to be so late to your thread this time!

Ancestry did a big update of their database a month or so ago, which had the result of eliminating all of those very questionable (by me) ethnicities and putting me solidly in the Germanic Europe section instead of Scandinavian and Spanish and other loose bits.

Your book festivals sound like lots of fun but exhausting. Hope you are resting up now.

It was strange this morning to get up and not have to rush out the door like I did for the three days of the Surrey International Writers Conference.



It was early enough to catch the sunrise. This was the view on my way to the conference. I hope it is symbolic of my career as a writer.

As usual it was a great conference. There were 4 sessions on Friday and Saturday and 2 on Sunday. I attended a few panel discussions and learned more about the business end of publishing. I attended 2 sessions given by Robert Dugoni and 2 given by Mary Robinette Kowal about character and structure. They are both very good at teaching the craft of writing. Also helpful were sessions about career planning and writing about trauma without traumatizing yourself.

By the end of the conference I was so hyped that I am contemplating NaNoWriMo.

>62 msf59: Fall is really nice when it cooperates, Mark. It doesn't do that often around here! I am hoping to get to Transcription soon as well as all the other books that I somehow ended up with after attending so many literary events in the past week.

>63 ronincats: Hi Roni, I got home yesterday afternoon and didn't know quite what to do with myself after being on the go for the last week.

On this latest Ancestry update I lost Denmark. Not sure what they did there. The ethnicity you get depends on the testing company so I take it all with a grain of salt. With Ancestry and FTDNA I have a significant Scandinavian portion of ancestry which doesn't show up on My Heritage. Have you uploaded your DNA to any of the other DNA testing sites? If you haven't uploaded to My Heritage and are going to do so you should do it before December 1 when they change the rules.

As I was in Surrey all day for the writing conference, I was only able to get to one writer's fest session on both Friday and Saturday. On Friday it was "UK Voices" with Aminatta Forna, Deborah Levy and Sarah Winman. They all read from their latest novels and it was cool to hear Aminatta read from Happiness that I finished recently. Winman's Tin Man sounded interesting and Deborah Levy was such a character that I will probably pick up one of her books.

The event on Saturday evening was "Scars of History" featuring Esi Edugyan, Rawi Hage and Alix Hawley. I am looking forward to Washington Black even more now after hearing Esi Edugyan read from the beginning of the book. Rawi Hage read from Beirut Hellfire Society interesting but not my cuppa. My Name Is a Knife is about Daniel Boone and Alix Hawley read the book excerpt in Daniel's voice which piqued my interest. It is her second book about Daniel Boone so maybe it would be good to start with the first.

145. Secret Sister: From Nazi-occupied Jersey to Wartime London, One Woman's Search for the Truth by Cherry Durbin

I am interested in family stories, perhaps because I uncover so many of them doing family history research. Cherry Durbin's story was an interesting one because she was adopted during WWII and later in life began searching for her birth family. During the search she found some of her family but discovered she also had a sister that the found part of the family had lost touch with. It is that part of the search which was done by the ITV series “Long Lost Family” which made the breakthrough and also delivered a surprise to Cherry.

Hello, Meg! I had fun catching up with you. The writing conference sounds full of fabulous. I recently read Winman's Tin Man, and I really loved it. Probably my favorite read of the year so far. And now I am reading When God Was a Rabbit, which is also one of her books. And just this morning I read The Lady Astronaut by Kowal - really fun. I had not read anything by her before, but I immediately went and bought the first novel in that series.

>64 Familyhistorian: I love your photo and that you shared your hopes with us here! I hope this for you, too.

>61 Familyhistorian: oh how great that you got to hear Edugyan! I am looking forward to Washington Black, too, and hope to get to it in November.

>69 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie. It was a fabulous week and so full of literary and writing info that I am still processing - so wonderful to learn from writers who are so good at their craft, both those who were teaching and those who were talking about their latest works at the writers festival.

>70 The_Hibernator: I am still waiting to get Washington Black from the library, Rachel. They are taking a long time in processing it. I went to that talk because I wanted to see Edugyan. This was actually the second time that I have seen her at the festival because she was there after Half Blood Blues was published as well.

146. I Let You Go by Clare MacKintosh

I have been directed to a lot of good reads through BBs on the threads. I Let You Go was actually a librarian recommendation that Charlotte posted about. It was a really well written mystery. Mackintosh is a master of misdirection.

At the heart of the action was the hit and run death of a young boy but as the reader follows the actions of the investigating officers and the main female character who was haunted by the accident little do we see the fork in the path we are being led down. It was really good.

I still haven't unpacked my notes from the Surrey International Writers' Conference but I know there is some good advise in there. One of the things I did pick up was an add for Left Coast Crime 2019 which is to be held in downtown Vancouver on March 28 - 31, 2019. Guests of honour are C.J. Box and Maureen Jennings and there are other authors among the attendees. Further info is at http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2019/index.html. I'm thinking of signing up.

147. Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness accounts from the greatest medical holocaust in modern history by Catharine Arnold

Each chapter in Pandemic 1918 looked a different aspect of the flu pandemic. It affected so many different countries and peoples that experiences varied. It also came in three waves as the virus mutated, grew in strength and became more deadly.

This book, provides the information that it is not known where the 1918 flu originated or how it got so strong. There is concern that a similar pandemic might happen in the future. That is why scientists are trying very hard to find out more about the devastating flu which started in 1918.

>73 Familyhistorian: I loved that one too, Meg!

>75 Familyhistorian: And this one! It's remarkable that it hasn't happened again since (on that scale, anyway) given that the world is so much more connected these days.

Happy Saturday, Meg. It looks like Pandemic 1918 might be a book, I would like. I have my library copy of Washington Black at hand and intend to start it, directly after finishing my current story-collection. Enjoy your weekend.

>76 susanj67: Wasn't I Let You Go good, Susan? Wonderful misdirection in that one. I wonder what she will do in the next book?

I didn't know quite how catastrophic the pandemic was until I started reading up on it. I think the fact that we are more connected now may be a point in our favour because we are exposed to more illnesses and can develop immunity for them. Back around WWI people were more likely to stay in one area so when they were all brought together to fight so were their germs. (When I say people I am not including my own ancestors because they didn't stay put. Maybe that is how they survived because they had robust immune symptoms from being exposed to many germs. Hmm, interesting theory there.)

Hi Mark, don't work too hard today. I am sitting at my dining room table catching up on LT (when I should probably be reading material for one of the courses I am taking). There are no birds in the woods next to my sliding glass door but it is a great view with the sun filtering through the morning mist.

Pandemic 1918 was really good. The flu reached further and affected more people than I knew about before I started reading about it. My library hold has come in on Washington Black so I should get to it soon.

148. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

I love good time travel novels and Just One Damned Thing After Another was among the very best of that genre. There were good forces and bad forces and a heroine who came into her own. The reader was left wondering how things would turn out in the end because there was fighting and action. It was a great rolicking adventure.

149. Uneasy Money by P.G. Wodehouse

Uneasy Money was classic Wodehouse. An impenious and not too bright young lord comes into an inheritance through a will that cuts out the American woman who is the rightful heir. Of course, the lord feels compelled to travel to the US to set things right with humourous results.

>80 Familyhistorian: I read this a while ago and just didn’t get on with it, but i’m starting to think maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it at the time. It was the sort of thing that I should have enjoyed. Maybe I’ll give it another go ...

>75 Familyhistorian: I should read that one. My grandfather's brother was one of the victims. He was a teacher and probably caught it from a student.

I couldn't live in a condo tower, either, Meg. I think a low rise condo would be okay, depending on the size etc. Our townhouse is far enough away from the centre of Richmond, I don't anticipate any such issues here. But around us, they are knocking down older houses and replacing them with more townhouses. I don't mind, but the newer townhouses have barely any visitor parking, so we have to keep an eye out on the few spaces that we have our townhouse complex. Plus, I worry a bit about the amount of increased traffic on the main streets that we are near to. But no big deal, so far. Enjoy Washington Black .

>82 SandDune: I hope you find it better when you take a second look, Rhian. I found it a very quick read but then I was probably in the right frame of mind for it.

>83 thornton37814: There a few books that have come out about the pandemic lately, Lori. I didn't know that it affected most of the world until I started reading up about it. Did your grandfather's brother survive the flu?

>84 vancouverdeb: At least they are replacing the houses in your area with townhouses, Deborah. The density here is increasing considerably and we are already in a fairly high traffic area as I am close to Coquitlam Centre but fortunately I back on to a dead end street. We even have street parking but a lot of that might be at an end in the coming years. I am looking forward to Washington Black.

If I lived in the Richmond Centre area, then I too would be surrounded by high rises. Thankfully I am closer to Steveston, so they don't allow that much density, at least not yet!. We have some street parking too, but it seems to be at a premium already. We are quite close to a highschool, so there goes that parking! :-) The density in Richmond Centre shocks me. They are getting rid of a 2 level parking garage and putting up high rises. I'm not sure how the parking will be for Richmond Centre - as in the shopping mall. Then they are taking out Lansdowne Centre, another shopping mall - it used to house Eatons, Woodwards etc and is very large. It is going to be pulled down and be replaced by high rises. I'm wondering where people are going to shop for groceries or even just stores in the mall for clothes, sheets - you know, the stuff a person needs. It's crazy! If it's close the Canada Line, you know it's going to be dense. We are a couple of miles away from the Canada Line.

>86 Familyhistorian: No. He died. He was teaching in Texarkana. He was buried in the State Line cemetery there--on the Arkansas side.

Sounds like some great events you've been to lately. I'd love to hear Joe Ide, I liked his first book and would like to read more. I'd also like to hear Forna, I thought Happiness was brilliant. Sad to hear it always rains at the book festival: although I'd mostly be indoors, so maybe that would work?! One day... (when I win the lottery!)

>89 thornton37814: That's too bad, Lori. Did the records say that he had died of flu or pneumonia?

>90 charl08: Ha Charlotte, I wouldn't say that it always rains at the writers festival because this year we had a stretch of warm clear weather. It was great and made it easier to get around Granville Island where the festival is held.

If you ever get a chance to see Joe Ide jump at it. He is very entertaining - think short Japanese guy who channels black gang members with humour. Forna was really good on the panel as were all the women on that panel who all had very interesting backgrounds. Deborah Levy had a big personality and Sarah Winman came across well.

>88 vancouverdeb: It sounds like you are well placed where you are, Deborah. I am at the edge of Coquitlam, so slightly out of the action but it sounds like it is going to come closer. Traffic to get in and out of this area is already pretty bad and even the street parking at city centre just three blocks away from here is pay parking where it used to be free. I am not sure how bad it will be once the condo towers they are working on have people living in them and, it seems, with more towers to come we probably will experience grid lock more frequently.

Meg, I am enjoying your mini reports on the author's conference and the writer's festival. You do a great job with book reviews so I'm glad you are interested in pursuing your writing either as a second career or an avocation. Personally, writing is difficult for me so I'll stick to reading. Haha.

I love the pictures you post of your beautiful area. So sorry that urbanization may be crowding you out. We live on an acre lot which gives me lots of comfort. The pond in back brings lots of diverse waterfowl. I looked out a short while ago and saw a Great Blue Heron waiting patiently for a snack.

Pandemic 1918 looks very interesting. I learned so much when our book group read The Great Influenza earlier this year and was sorry I couldn't go to the author's talk. We get so few author visitors here that I like to attend whenever possible. I also missed Jacqueline's Winspeare's visit because of a soccer game or some other granddaughter conflict. They still come first!

>91 Familyhistorian: Influenza

Hi Meg!

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the writer's conference.

I've read several books about the 1918 influenza pandemic. I frequently marvel that I'm here - that my families, both maternal and paternal, somehow got through all the wars, accidents, and illnesses for decades, centuries, and millennia so that I can be sitting here drinking coffee and 'chatting' on LT.

>94 Donna828: It sounds like you live in an idyllic spot, Donna. I hope it long remains that way. I know what you mean about seeing wildlife about the place. Funny that you spotted a Great Blue Heron at your pond. I have a creek that I can see outside my back patio doors. The other day, I was closing the curtains as it was getting dark when I saw a heron in the water. It looked like he was hunting at the time from the way his head was moving.

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the writing. It is something I have always wanted to do and it seems like a good time to get on with it. Apparently reading a lot helps writers, I think I have that one down pat. LOL

There are a lot of books coming out about the flu pandemic lately due to the 100 year anniversary. It is strange that books about WWI don't usually mention it although the flu did influence the fighting at the end of the war as well as the peace talks.

>95 thornton37814: Then he was counted as a victim of the pandemic. The books that I read said that it is difficult to come up with stats for the actual death count because other reasons like pneumonia were often listed as the cause of death.

>96 karenmarie: It is indeed a miracle that we are sitting here isn't it, Karen? I often marvel at it myself. What really brought it home to me was when I wrote about my maternal grandfather. I wanted to find out why he immigrated in 1911. One of the major reasons is that he was the only one left in his immediate family who were felled by heart disease and TB. How did he survive TB? Then he also survived the flu pandemic. He must have been a tough nut and he passed those genes onto me.

I used to wonder at the fact that my lot survived the wars. But really, when you think of it, of course we are the progeny of survivors or else we wouldn't be here.

150. Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough

I started reading the Nero Wolfe stories way back. My love of mysteries started early and who could resist Stout's narrator, Archie Goodwin? Goldsborough caught the flavour of the original series in Murder in E Minor although the setting has been updated to the late '60s or early '70s. It's still back far enough to continue that retro feel I enjoyed when reading about Nero Wolfe and his supporting cast back then.

151. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

I picked up Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft at the Surrey writing conference one year. It sat among my writing advice books until the AAC had Stephen King for this month's author. I am glad I read it both for the writing advice and for the memoir aspect of the work.

Some of the information about his early life had me laughing out loud. He can tell a droll story about his early years. I didn't realize until the last part of the book that this was what he was working on when he was involved in a catastrophic motor vehicle accident. He was a pedestrian at the time and had multiple fractures. He was so very lucky. His injuries were life threatening but they easily could have been so much worse. A brain injury would probably have ended his writing career. The fact that he had this book in progress to go back to helped in his recovery. That shows how powerful writing can be.

>1 Familyhistorian: I long for the days when I can go for a morning walk like that instead of being one of the ones in my car on my way to work.

I love that you are getting excited about pursuing more writing! If you do NaNoWriMo, I'll be interested in how it goes. I had a friend who did that a few years ago and she said it was a positive experience that pushed her through some "stuff" with her writing.

I'm considering doing NaNoWriMo, but working on ancestral sketches. I've got a couple of client projects in the works so some days I may not write many words. Do citations count in the word count? LOL

>102 EBT1002: Your time is coming, Ellen.

Right now I am concentrating on getting stuff done and out of the way so that I have time for NaNoWriMo starting in Thursday. I am hoping for a positive experience too.

>103 thornton37814: You should do it, Lori. I'm not sure about citations - but you are the one keeping track of your word count as far as I can see.

Hi Meg - I don't know how I got so far behind. You are so lucky to have been able to attend the Vancouver Writer's Festival -- and thanks for sharing. I would love to see even a few of the authors you got to hear.

>100 Familyhistorian: Congratulations on reaching 2 x 75, Meg!

>106 BLBera: I try to make it to the Vancouver Writers Festival every year, Beth. They have really good writers and it is a good way of finding new ones to read.

>107 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. I can't keep up with you but I have read more now than I did all last year. Guess that's what retirement can do for you.

Meg-- You have been having a great time I see--author conferences and writers seminars and loads of book read too! Nice. : )

>110 Berly: All that literary stuff seems to come at the same time, Kim. I have to keep the reading up just to keep up with the TBRs which increase exponentially because all those events have books for sale!

152. Salt of the Earth: The story of the homesteaders in Western Canada by Heather Robertson

I knew that my family came to the Canadian Prairies in the years around the dawn of the 20th century so I picked up Salt of the Earth: The story of the homesteaders in Western Canada. It was a comprehensive history of those days and included lots of photos but my family had a tendancy to live in cities. After reading what the homesteaders went through, I can see why.

>111 Familyhistorian: It's a tough life, but someone's got to live it. : )

Happy Friday, Meg. About 120 pages into Washington Black and I am really enjoying it. I will be well into the 2nd half by the end of the day. I am surprised how smooth the narrative is.

>112 Familyhistorian: It still sounds like an interesting book. I've read quite a bit about homesteaders in the United States. I'm sure the experiences, at least to some extent, were similar. Geography and climate may have added a little different twist in Canada.

>113 Berly: : )

>114 msf59: Hi Mark, I just finished a couple of reads so should be getting to Washington Black shortly. Good to hear that it is a smooth read.

>115 thornton37814: I am sure a lot of the experiences were similar, Lori. After all, a lot of the homesteaders were from south of the border.

Hi Meg, I see you are going to go for NaNoWriMo so good luck to you on that. My husband's family left Ontario to homestead in the Dakotas but found it so hard they that they relocated to Southern Saskatchewan - imagine, find Saskatchewan easier!

>105 Familyhistorian: I ended up coming up with "LoGenWriMo" (or Lori's Genealogy Writing Month). You'll find the first two entries on my blog (http://familyhistorian.blogspot.com).

>119 DeltaQueen50: Nothing about homesteading sounds easy, Judy, and Saskatchewan - I wouldn't have wanted to spend a winter there without central heating! Thanks about NaNoWriMo. So far it is going well but it is only day 2. It is hard to juggle around normal obligations.

>120 thornton37814: Good luck with posting your family histories on your blog, Lori. Are you keeping a word count in NaNoWriMo tradition? I hope to keep up with the NaNoWriMo for the book that I am working on while keeping up with my weekly blog posts and a couple of other writing projects I committed to. Wish me luck!

>122 Familyhistorian: I'm not really keeping a word count. I wrote the first one in WikiTree first, but I wrote this last one in Word. It did the footnotes differently than the footnote code I used on the other one, but I think it worked okay. I think that may be how Judy Russell inserts hers. I can get counts from Word if I decide to look. I'd like to do 30 sketches by the end of the month. I may spend Thanksgiving catching up if I fall behind.

153. Women Talking by Miriam Toews

I read Women Talking for my real life book club. The meeting is tonight. I am not sure what will be said about the book. It was impressive how Toews created a story based on women talking. She is able to bring the characters and their story to life through their speech and actions even though all the “action” takes place in a barn where the women are meeting. It is a momentous meeting of Mennonite women contemplating a big step due to the wrong that has been done them. Their decision will be life altering but so was what has already happened to them.

>123 thornton37814: Thirty profiles is a lot, Lori. Best of luck keeping up.

Meg, if you want an eye opener of a book about homesteading on the prairies in Canada, keep an eye out for Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell. It was published in 2009 or 2010, but boy, was it a hard hitting read. It still sticks with me. My husband's maternal grandparents were homesteaders in Saskatchewan, and while I don't know any details about them or their lives, I do know that my mother in law got on a train the age of 16 and went to New Westminster and trained at Royal Colombian Hospital to become an RN. She told me that her young life was dreadful, that her parents divorced way back in the 1940's or earlier and she never wanted to go back home. She did stay in touch with her mother and one sister, but she really wanted to get far away from her family and never go back.

I'll be interested in what your book club has to say about Women Talking. So far, Miriam Toews has not appealed to me. But I know many people love her writing.

Hi, Meg! I hope your NaNoWriMo is going well. I'm sitting it out this year but rooting you on in my place!

>126 vancouverdeb: Thanks for the book recommendation about homesteaders, Deborah. It sounds like your husband's maternal ancestors went through a lot. I am not sure if my ancestors were part of the homesteading group. I have a suspicion that they came along later and stayed close to cities although my maternal great grandparents went off to farm in California in the late 1920s. Hmm, maybe I should read books about farming in Monterey.

Quite a few of the book club members like Miriam Toews writing and they said that Women Talking isn't her usual style of book. Apparently this story was based on a news story about Mennonite women who went through a similar but worse horrific event.

>127 rosalita: Hi Julia, well I am keeping up with NaNoWriMo but it is a struggle. So many other things keep coming up that it is sometimes hard to find the time to get all the words in. Maybe your rooting helped me along yesterday after I was busy all day and barely finished writing by 11:30pm.

154. The Case is Closed by Patricia Wentworth

Hilary Carew lives with her cousin, Miriam Grey, now that Miriam's husband is in jail after being convicted of his uncle's murder. To Hilary, it all just seems so wrong and she sets out to put things right and eventually ropes her on-again, off-again fiance, Henry, into her investigation. Henry, of course, has the sensible idea of bringing in Miss Silver. Between them will they find the answers without getting hurt themselves?

I have read books in the Miss Silver series on and off through the years but never read the series from start to finish. I was inspired to read the series in order after seeing Julia posting about the Miss Silver books.

155. Empire of Deception by Dean Jobb

Maybe people were less sophisticated back then in the rough and ready days of 1920s Chicago but they were ready to believe that Leo Koretz was onto a great way to make money and the less he seemed to want it the more they pressed their money on him to invest in his schemes. Why wouldn't they trust him, even his family was investing in his ventures. But it was that same old story, taking in new money to pay dividends to previous investors until everything collapsed, like a house of cards. Then Leo fled to Nova Scotia to live the high life while the law was hunting for him.

Happy Monday, Meg. I hope you had a good weekend. Empire of Deception sounds really good. I will throw it on the NF list. I should finish Washington Black. It takes many turns I did not expect. Quite excellent.

>132 msf59: Morning Mark, I hope your day is going well. Empire of Deception was very interesting. As I had read that so recently it was easy to draw parallels between the characters of Leo Koertz, the swindler in "Deception" and Elizabeth Holmes of Bad Blood.

I am in the early pages of Washington Black which I am enjoying so far. Good to see that it gets your seal of approval.

156. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

There was a lot of LT warbling about this book which was why I put a hold on it at the library and read it quickly because other readers are waiting for it. It was an amazing story of how one medical testing company, Theranos, hoodwinked investors and other companies into buying their blood testing apparatis which didn't really work. This went on for years as the company hid behind lawyers and harrassed exemployees. It is chilling how long they got away with it.

>134 Familyhistorian: - I haven't read this one, Meg, but I did see an in-depth report of it on 60 Minutes a few months back. Really chilling, as you say.

>135 jessibud2: Carreyrou writes for The Wall Street Journal and the first articles on the story appeared there in 2015 at great personal cost to Carreyrou, who was threatened by Theranos. The Wall Street Journal also deserves kudos for standing behind the story and not caving to pressure from the company, their legal reps and all their highly placed political allies. It makes me wonder what else is out there hiding behind the threat of law suits and political pressure. Something else for us to be nervous about, Shelley.

>136 Familyhistorian: - You know, I thought about the same thing: what else don't we know about that we need to know and should be worried about. On the other hand, if anything is going to get us, its going to get us. Can't live our lives in total paranoia. I suppose...

>137 jessibud2: Maybe we should just take comfort in the fact that there are people out there who are willing to bring suspicious things to light, Shelley.

Hi Meg, congrats on getting to 150 books read my dear. Hope you had a good weekend and send love and hugs to you from both of us dear friend.

>139 johnsimpson: Hi John, thanks for the congrats. My reading is going well this year. I hope that you and Karen are doing well.

>130 Familyhistorian: I'm glad I was the inspiration for re-visiting the Miss Silver series, Meg. I'm having fun with it, never having read any of them before.

Hi Meg! I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.

Wow, 150+. Fantastic.

>100 Familyhistorian: I did not know there were Nero Wolfe books written by anybody but Rex Stout, much less 13 of them. Ya learn something new every day!

>101 Familyhistorian: I think this book would work for the AAC Nonfiction Narrative theme for November, so I might try it instead of the book I was thinking about.

>141 rosalita: I thought that Miss Silver was out of fashion until I saw on your thread that you were reading her, Julia. The books must be enjoying a come back though because after I saw you mention them I actually saw some reprints in a bookstore. I was tempted to pick them up because I don't have those ones but its probably better to get them from the library so I read them in order.

>142 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen. I am having a good reading year. Slowly down a bit now due to NaNoWriMo - it takes a fair chunk of time!

I didn't know about the non Rex Stout Nero Wolfe books until I read Julia's thread. So you can thank her for those.

There is a lot of memoir in King's On Writing which should fit with the Nonfiction Narrative theme. Do you already have the book on your shelves?

157. Murder in Focus by Medora Sale

Murder in Focus was the first book in the mystery series about Toronto police inspector John Sanders and his love interest, Harriet Jeffries. Sanders drew the short straw and ended up at a seminar on anti terrorism in Ottawa. Here he stumbles across Harriet, a photographer whose pictures may have captured real life terrorists. Sanders struggles to keep them safe while foiling the terrorist plot. It was a good start to what appears to be an interesting series if I can track down the books. This was the only one at the Vancouver library.

Hi Meg - I love Toews and can't wait to read her new one. What did the book group think?

I read the Medora Sale books years ago and enjoyed them. Are they still in print?

>134 Familyhistorian: I've been seeing that one everywhere. I think I'll try to get to it next year some time.

>146 BLBera: The book group thought it was a departure from Toews usual books, Beth, but I think they liked it although what happened to the women who talked was horrific. Apparently, Toews got the idea from reports of real life event.

The Medora Sale book was published in 1989 and it was the only book that library had. It looks like the books are available on Kobo, I am not sure about Kindle.

>147 The_Hibernator: It's a good one, Rachel. Shows how far a company can go without having a really viable product. What was really bad about this one is that they were in the medical field.

>140 Familyhistorian:, Hi Meg, I am fine but Karen has a cold and has lost her voice poor love, I had a lovely Father and Son day yesterday as we did the Manchester United Stadium and Museum tour and had a meal in the Red café. This was a gift from Rob's work colleagues when he was leaving Simpson Millar in March and I was his plus one.

>150 johnsimpson: I hope that Karen feels better soon, John. That sounds like a wonderful father and son outing. You are lucky to have such a close relationship with all of the members of your family.

My RL book club just sent out the title of the book for our meeting next month and it is Washington Black which I am already reading. It's probably a good thing because ever since I started NaNoWriMo the invitations for social, genealogy, book and history related events have been pouring in almost like they all know I am busy. I am not sure if I am going to be able to keep up! I don't remember being this busy when I was working.

>152 Familyhistorian: I haven't done well with my genealogy writing either. I'm just too busy right now.

>153 thornton37814: That's too bad, Lori. November seems to be especially busy this year but I am barely managing to keep up with the writing.

Keeping up my daily words along with my daily steps is really eating into my days. I am way behind on the threads and way behind on my reviews. Somehow, I always find time for reading.

I am also behind on my words and really should be buckling down today but there are always reasons not to. Last night it was a evening at a former coworker's with lakhsa on the menu and a couple of hearts games. We used to get together for hearts quite often and there would be drinking involved - which made keeping track of what we were supposed to be doing hard. But last night, a lot of us were just drinking water and we still were hopeless keeping track. There was much laughter.

HI Meg!

To answer your question about whether I already had On Writing on my shelves, the answer is yes. I think that I finally have enough books on my shelves marked 'tbr' to not get any more books (except maybe a special book or two for Christmas) until next spring's FoL sale and any new books in series I'm seriously following. My tbr is tagged at 2,055 books. Sigh.

Much laughter is worth many words.

>156 karenmarie: Do you really think you can refrain from buying books for that long, Karen? I have tried and it is a real struggle. One which I lose on a regular basis. I don't keep a separate category for TBRs but I know that most of the books in my own library have not been read. The total is now over 3,000. *sigh*

Laughter really is the best medicine.

There is a lot of planning for 2019 going on in the threads, well at least the few that I have been able to visit. I have started thinking of what I should do for next year. Last year I said I would do fewer challenges in 2018 but ended up with more than ever. But I need to read the books that are in my house and move them along, a tall order because the LT catalogue says I have over 3000 of them. So for 2019 my thought is to only do the challenges that will help me pick from my own shelves. Wish me luck in resisting the other challenges.

>158 Familyhistorian: I'm not committing to any challenges this year! If a book or author for a given month is already on my radar, I may join, but resisting the challenges will be the only way to get some of the TBR list and stacks pared down. We'll need to give each other some will power to get through this! I will be allowing a category for new things so I can continue with ARCs, but I'm hoping to moderate a bit there too.

>159 thornton37814: I think that some of the challenges, like the nonfiction challenge, actually help me to read some of my own books so I will keep those. But I think whittling away at the TBR stacks can be done if we stick with it, Lori.

158. The Last Man in Europe by Dennis Glover

I picked up a BB for The Last Man in Europe somewhere on the threads. It was a fictionalized account of George Orwells' life. I didn't know that he had fought in the Spanish Civil War or any of the other details of his own life story until I read this work. What he went through to birth the classic 1984 was harrowing and that background brought me even further respect for Orwell.

159. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

I had to read Educyan's latest book because I am really interested in her writing. She is a local author and has been featured at the Vancouver Writers Festival a couple of times that I have seen her. This year she read from the beginning of Washington Black and I was glad that I would be able to read it soon.

On the surface it was an adventure story with the hero, Washington Black, who begins as a slave, living in many places. He has life altering experiences as he goes along. Below the surface the story was more emotional, about belonging and family and the connections that make us human and can also cause us dispair. It was hard to put down.

Well phew, I just realized that I was looking at "all collections" when I came up with a total of over 3000 books for my personal library. I actually own the more reasonable amount of just over 2500 - so much better. (I wish!)

>162 Familyhistorian: Glad you think it is good. I plan to read that one.

>161 Familyhistorian: I ordered this one from the library a while ago. Unfortunately what arrived was a completely different book of the same name (except without the addition of ‘a novel’ at the end of it).

Nice review. I just finished it as well! I'd love to hear Edugyan talk sometime!

>164 thornton37814: It has a lot of positive buzz on LT, Lori.

>165 SandDune: That's odd, Rhian. Did you read the book that came instead?

Oh, I like that review of Washington Black, Meg. I've got it, and hope to read it soon.

>166 drneutron: Thanks Jim. Edugyan seems to appear at the Vancouver Writers Festival on a regular basis - just saying. She is up for the Giller prize which will be announced November 19 so we may hear more about her and Washington Black next week.

>169 jnwelch: You snuck in there, Joe, when I was looking up info about Esi Edugyan. It is a good one. Well I guess it would have to be as it was considered for the Booker prize and is still up for the Giller.

>158 Familyhistorian: I wish you luck, Meg. I also have 2000+ to read, so actually, after visiting you, I don't feel so bad. But I do want to reduce or at least not increase that number.

>161 Familyhistorian: I loved the novel about Orwell. It might be on my list of favorites.

I liked Washington Black a lot but probably prefer the actual slave narratives.

>158 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Beth. It is an uphill (or TBR stack) climb. This year my library also initiated unlimited holds. Not really helpful with whittling down my own personal library. I actually preferred the Edugyan book to the one about Orwell which started off slow for me.

Hooray for Washington Black, Meg. That one really caught me by surprise. I put Half Blood Blues on my Christmas WL.

>174 msf59: Sounds like Washington Black was a good surprise, Mark. I was expecting a great story going in. Hope you get your Xmas wishes.

Just spotted on Susan's thread that you are NaNo-ing this year -me too :) Hope it's going okay.

>176 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka, good to see you here. My NaNo-ing is going well but it is hard to keep up and I'm retired. How are you doing? I can't imagine writing that much in a day while dealing with work and family. Good luck to you!

Your somewhat enigmatic comments about Women Talking have intrigued me. I haven't yet read anything by Toews but have wanted to give her a try.

The Last Man in Europe sounds good, too, so I'm putting it on the wish list.
And I loved Washington Black.

>153 thornton37814: I had to go back to see what I had written about Women Talking, Ellen. I really didn't want to give the game away, did I? The reader actually knows from the beginning of the book that the incident was actually recurring. What was happening was that the women were being drugged with animal tranquilizers and some of the men in the colony were creeping into their houses and raping them. (Bare in mind this happened in real life.) The book was about the women talking about whether they should leave the colony or stay. Not a typical Toews book, but well done.

160. The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva

I put The Unlikely Spy on hold and had to wait for months until it was ready. Now I have to get it back to the library because other people are waiting for it. Amazing for a book that was originally published in 1995. Maybe it is because the Gabriel Allon series is so popular.

The Unlikely Spy is not one of that series. It is a WWII spy novel with many points of view in England and in Germany but the main hero, Alfred Vickary, a university professor seconded to MI5 for the war, could be nothing but British. It was his task to find a German spy who was planted deep undercover and had been activated to find out the Allies' plans for the invasion of France. It was full of plots, subplots and double crosses as befits a Silva novel, but had the WWII setting I so enjoy.

So the stew is in the Crockpot and I am off to the library to take The Unlikely Spy back. There are a couple of more holds waiting for me to pick up, of course. No wonder I am having problems getting to my challenge reads and own tomes this year.

Hi Meg

I've been MIA, and now that I am retired, I will have more time to visit threads. Your topper is so very beautiful. And, congratulations on reading so many great books.

>73 Familyhistorian: I have a copy of I Let You Go. I simply need to find where I placed it after I acquired it. The main task of my retirement is to put books in some sort of order so that I can readily find them. Any suggestions?

All good wishes to you!

Hi Meg. I heard on CBC radio's The Sunday Edition this morning, that host Michael Enright will be airing a full interview with Esi Edugyan next week (I have been mispronouncing her last name in my head all this time. Apparently, the *g* is pronounced as a *j*).

Also, I was downtown this afternoon and *happened* to stop into BMV (bookstore). I saw a title that I think you might be interested in, if you haven't already got it. It's called The Cowkeeper's Wish - A Geneological Journey by Tracy Kasaboski & Kristen den Hartog. There isn't a touchstone, maybe because it's new. Anyhow, I just thought I'd mention it. It looks like something I'd enjoy, too.

>182 Whisper1: Hi Linda, welcome to the world of the newly retired! I thought I would have more time to visit the threads after I retired too, but it seems it is not the case. Thanks re the topper, I live in a beautiful part of the world.

As for keeping books sorted, I have my nonfiction sorted into categories so that I can easily find particular books, my fiction is another story and I very rarely know where a work of fiction that I own is found except recently, I have been putting series in order on my shelves.

>183 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, is that how you pronounce her name? I didn't think the "g" was pronounced with a "j" sound and don't remember the moderators doing so but then I was pretty tired at that point in the day. Thank for the heads up about the interview. I will have to see if it shows up later online because I don't own a radio except for the one in my car.

I haven't heard about The Cowkeeper's Wish. It looks interesting and my library has it. I am now second on the hold list for it. Funny how you just happened to stop by BMV. There is a new Indigo bookstore in downtown Vancouver and I just happened to stop by it on my way home from the library (the fact that it was about 8 blocks out of my way is neither here nor there.) I might have brought one or two books home. Were you just browsing or did some books go home with you?

Happy Sunday, Meg. I hope you had a good weekend. I had a good day of reading. I started Virgil Wander and it immediately shows much promise. This has been a terrific year for new releases.

>185 Familyhistorian: - Well, I had no idea about the pronunciation, either. It could have just been Michael Enright mispronouncing but I guess we'll find out. And yes, I can easily send you the link once it's posted. In fact, here is the link now, just check next week.

Wait! I just went to get the link and it seems the interview was today! Maybe it happened when I was in the shower and I missed it. Ok, now we can both listen to it, lol:

Interview with Esi Edugyan

Well, yes, you and I are on the same page re bookstores (pun intended). I did come home with 2 books. And another 2 from the Little Free Library a couple of blocks down the street. Just saying. ;-)

Hi Meg, we will have to cheer each other on regarding only entering challenges where we already have the books on our TBR. My TBR count as of today is 1,823 - including books, kindles and audios, so I should have a book for any challenge that comes along. So far the Cat Challenges for next year are sounding quite helpful with a TBRCat and a SeriesCat.

>187 jessibud2: - By the way, it was a great interview. And tonight the Giller Prize will be announced, with Rick Mercer hosting!

The Giller Prize

I haven't actually read any of the 5 books but I am rooting for Edugyan! ;-)

>186 msf59: The weekend was good, Mark. It was sunny and dry if a bit cool for our standards but then we are weather wimps. I haven't been getting much reading in lately because of NaNoWriMo but still have to work on my library holds. Challenges are suffering though. I visited your thread and you already got me with Virgil Wander so you didn't get me with a BB on my own thread. Enjoy your work week. I hope you feet stay dry!

>187 jessibud2: >189 jessibud2: Ha, too funny that you missed the actual interview after posting about it, Shelley. Sounds like something I would do. I didn't realize the Giller was tonight. I'll have to tune in, I think I can listen and write at the same time. I have read two of the nominated books: French Exit and Washington Black and I prefer Washington Black. I don't have high hopes, though because when I checked the link you posted I saw that last year's prize went to Bellevue Square which was not one of my favourite reads.

I thought you might have brought something home from the bookstore. Two bought and two LFL sounds similar to what I came home with yesterday which was two bought and two library holds. My strategy was to pick up the library holds first so that I won't be as likely to buy as many books in the bookstore but I did get a magazine as well. (I have an issue with unread magazines too.)

>188 DeltaQueen50: You would think with all those books that there is something to cover any challenge, Judy, but I find that I have some categories extremely well covered and some not at all. I think that my TBR out weighs yours. LOL I don't count anything on my Kobo as it languishes - there are very very few books on it because I don't read e-books and I don't do audio because that would go in one ear and out the other, my preferences are visual and tactile, not always easy to come by.

I enjoyed doing the MysteryCat this year. Do they have something similar each year or will something like the SeriesCat take its place? Good luck whittling down your TBR. I think I will need a cheering section to make a dent in mine.

Meg, are the Giller Awards on tv at 8 pm your time or did they just finish there, as they did here? I won't tell you the outcome, if you are planning to watch. But just don't go to my thread.....;-)

>192 Familyhistorian: I know there has been a MysteryKIT some years when it didn't make the cut for the CAT. I have not been following how the SeriesCAT is taking shape since I'm not officially participating in any of the challenges next year.

Hi, Meg. Good luck on your reading resolutions. Somehow mine never seem to hold up...

>193 jessibud2: I just happened to tune into CBC at 8:00 - right after Jeopardy, Shelley. I had no idea that the Gillers were on until I changed channels. I was very happy with the outcome.

>194 thornton37814: I had to look at the category challenge to figure out what a KIT was, Lori. I am still not sure but will see what materializes. Anything that gets me to read my own books is good, I think.

>195 ronincats: I'm not very good with reading resolutions either, Roni. Last year I planned not to do any challenges and ended up with more than ever for 2018. That has to change if I want to get rid of some of my book stacks.

161. The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman

I enjoy mysteries and often find myself reading a good cozy as an escape from more weighty tomes. The Clairvoyant Countess seemed like a series of vinettes centred around psychic Madame Karitska and Detective-Lieutenant Pruden who gradually overcomes his scepticism about her abilities. It was good but not quite as fun at the Mrs. Pollifax series which is also by the same author.

We are in the midst of a rainy stretch now but a couple of days ago I took some shots of the Christmas lights going up at Lafarge Lake. There are so many of them it takes weeks to put them up.

Hi Meg, the Cat Challenges have evolved over the years but we do vote for the Cats every year so new ones usually appear. The Random Cat is the exception, having been voted in every year. We usually have three Cats but this year the voting was tied so we have four Cats - The Random, the Series, The TBR and the Calendar. Each Cat is then broken down into monthly themes with each month having a different host. All this has pretty much been done so now is the time I sort through them and see which ones I have books for - and so far, I will be a very regular participant.

Those Christmas Lakes at Lefarge Lake look like they are building an enchanted garden.

>201 DeltaQueen50: The Category challenges do sound interesting, Judy, but I am trying to end up with less challenges. It's good that you can use them to read the books on your own shelves. I think I will do better with less challenges and more reading by impulse.

Every year the City of Coquitlam puts up lights at Lafarge Lake that go around the whole lake. there is a path that you can walk all the way around it and it is like a wonderland. They change it up a bit every year. City Hall is across the intersection from Lafarge.

Hi Meg!

>157 Familyhistorian: I’m not sure I can refrain from buying books, but I’m going to seriously question my motives before buying anything. I’ve expanded to every shelf in the house that I can legitimately call ‘mine’, love having books single stacked, and frankly shouldn’t be spending as much as I do on books. We’ll see. A book came Wednesday - Becoming by Michelle Obama. Last new book until I need a book for next year's RL book club. Maybe. Possibly.

Three thousand. You’ve definitely got me beat. You and I are about in the same predicament though – if we read our average from only our tbrs, we have many, many years of books just hanging out at the house. Your subsequent post that puts your tbr at only 2500 is duly noted, and of course you've still got me beat.

>158 Familyhistorian: I keep a separate thread on the ROOT group, my ROOT goal being a subset of my overall goal. It helps me at least be conscious that I should be reading from my shelves (Read Our Own Tomes). That’s the only challenge I plan on participating in for any given year. I occasionally dip into the AAC, this year I dipped into the BAC. PopSugar, TIOLI, __Cat and other challenges don’t interest me. I start twitching if I have to read a book.

>173 Familyhistorian: I rarely get books from the library. This year it’s two, which is two more than probably the last ten years. Reservoir 13 for RL book club and Educated by Tara Westover.

>184 Familyhistorian: Have you ever considered putting a location tag on your books? That way you wouldn’t have to keep them sorted or grouped and you’d be able to find a book when you need or want it. I use a system of room, shelf, row. An example would be S24 – Sunroom, 2nd bookcase, 4th row down. I love seeing books all mixed up by fiction, nonfiction, or reference, but I realize that might make lots of people crazy. It's always my first tag. Just a thought.

>188 DeltaQueen50: I have been toying around with the idea of adding all my unread Kindle books (not so many, perhaps 150 tops). Now I only add it to LT if I’ve read it.

>198 Familyhistorian: You could make the title of your threads for next year something like FamilyHistorian Reads From Her Shelves or FamilyHistorian Whittles Down the Stacks so as to always keep your tbr in mind.

The Christmas lights at LaFarge look beautiful.

>203 karenmarie: From the postings about your shelving system I thought we might be on a par with owned books, Karen. At least you still have shelf space, I have a few stacks that I need to whittle down.

The ROOTs group is good for helping to get my own books read, maybe I should up my goal for next year. I also find the Reading Through Time challenges help as so many of my books are historical. The nonfiction challenge thread is a great help as well, as so much of my collection is nonfiction (that history thing again.) I tried the PopSugar and Bookriot challenges this year but didn't do well. Anything to try and get my own books read and out of the house.

Its hard to be twitchy with required reading when you are a member of a RL book club, isn't it? Fortunately our book for December is Washington Black which I was already reading when the pick was announced.

My nonfiction is all nicely sorted and shelved. I have that system down pat. It is just the fiction that I have to hunt for which is ok because there are only limited places to look and besides, those books should be read and out of here soon (ha). I don't really want to make them all official like they are going to stay or anything.

Good idea about the thread titles. I'll have to think on that. My major problem is library books especially when I read the Guardian Reviews on Charlotte's thread (I usually have the website for the library up at the same time so I can put those BBs on hold. I think I have been getting a little trigger happy with my hold finger lately.)

They do a great job putting up the lights at Lafarge but really need the weather to cooperate for people to flock to see them - probably why they are up for so long during the season.

>200 Familyhistorian: I love those lights, Meg.

>205 BLBera: Thanks Beth, those are just a few. There are lights all around the lake, which is a large circle as it used to be a rock quarry.

Well, I made it to 40,000 words last night but it has been a struggle through a busy weekend. No words in yet today and I am heading out in a few minutes for an author event to see Eve Lazarus who is talking about her new book Murder by Milkshake. I have been following her work ever since I interviewed her as part of my class work for the writing program that I was in.

Happy Sunday, Meg. I hope you are having a nice weekend. We have our first big snowstorm arriving tonight. Nooooooooooooo!

Work will NOT be fun tomorrow. Boo!

In the process of slowly catching up, Meg.

Made it just in time to hope that you have had a splendid weekend.

>208 msf59: I hope you make out ok with the snow, Mark. We are due for rain, strong winds and high tides. Sounds like we should all hunker down and not venture out, doesn't it. But I have to go out in it to. Be brave, this too shall pass.

>209 PaulCranswick: Just in time for the weekend, Paul. It is mostly over and I was already home after an author event when you sent your greetings. I had a great time so I guess your hopes came to pass. I hope your weekend was a good one as well and that you planned trip will go off without a hitch.

>207 Familyhistorian: 40,000 words! Tipping my hat to you Meg.

>212 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. Still 10,000 more to go though. i'm hoping not to falter at the end but the temptation is there.

162. Lamarck's Revenge: How Epigentics is Revolutionizing our Understanding of Evolution's Past and Present by Peter Ward

I have been hearing about an alternative theory about how genes are influenced by environment and events, and that the alterations caused are passed down through at least several generations. I didn't realize that epigentics was actually an alternative theory of evolution from the theory of natural selection which came from Darwin. The alternative theory came from Lamarck and current thinking, at least according to the author, is that both scientists were right even though Lamarck was over shadowed and denigrated by those who followed Darwin.

It was an interesting if weighty read that also looked into the future evolution of humans, a scary prospect.

>213 Familyhistorian: I've been following another friend's progress this month. He lives with his parents and tries to make a go of writing. His family moved from the neighborhood next to mine to the Detroit area this month. (His father's job moved to Michigan some time ago so this is presumably where they will live until his father retires. The company still has a plant in our town, but his father is management, and all the management jobs moved to the Detroit area--a consolidation of efforts.) He's had to spend a lot of time writing in corners of the hotel's lobby to find quiet space for writing. He's generally getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 words written each day. He's authored several books--mostly fantasy genre, I think. His mom is close to my age, and I really like her. He's signed a couple of books on with midrange publishers, I believe. He keeps hoping to break into the genre in a big way. He's still young, so it could happen.

>214 Familyhistorian: Oh, that one looks interesting!!

>213 Familyhistorian: Go, 10,0000, go!!

>215 thornton37814: I am surprised with what people put up with while they are meeting the challenge, Lori. Hopefully your friend is able to have his writing career take off. How's your own writing coming along for your November writing challenge?

>216 Berly: It was an interesting book, Kim. I think there have been a few written about epigentics lately. It's a subject that fascinates me as a genealogist. I have researched some families where alcoholism comes down the generations (not my direct ancestors, they seem to be more about supplying the alcohol.) I wonder if the trait for alcoholism was turned on in the genes due to a trauma a few generations back.

Thanks for the encouragement. I don't have much on for this week so I am hoping to make my goal.

>217 Familyhistorian: I realized early on I couldn't keep it up with all the client work on my plate. I had good intentions, but I gave up.

>219 thornton37814: I think that you made the right call if you had clients waiting for results, Lori.

>169 jnwelch: I'm currently reading Washington Black and loving it. I'm about half-way through and need to finish it before this weekend, as it's part of a postal bookclub. I feel the need to mail my book on time! Unfortunately, I'm so distracted lately!

My daughter and I chose yesterday of all days to go Christmas shopping, the wind and the rain made driving really difficult and I was happy that I was only the passenger. Waking up this moring to blue sky, sunshine and a mild temperature was a lovely surprise, I thought we were going to get more of that stormy weather.

>221 The_Hibernator: I can understanding the distraction, Rachel. I hope you get Washington Black finished in time, it's a good one.

>222 DeltaQueen50: Not a good day to go shopping, except for the Cyber Monday sales. I hope you brought lots home, Judy. I was out walking around in it as I had a doctor's appointment. The pharmacy was in the mall and I had to kill an hour waiting for a prescription so there may have been a little retail therapy in there as well. I didn't want to hang out there for longer, though. It was quite busy.

>220 Familyhistorian: It was more a case of client work exploding all of a sudden!

>225 thornton37814: Well, that doesn't sound bad, Lori, unless it is too much of a good thing.

>226 Familyhistorian: No. I gave them all realistic expectations. One was a rush job for a returning client, but it wasn't difficult.

>227 thornton37814: Sounds like you have it all covered, Lori. Too bad it happened in November so you couldn't meet your writing goal but there is always next year.

>184 Familyhistorian: With a little luck, I was able to find I Let You Go. Surely, this is a sign to read it soon. I have twelve books home from the library. As soon as I finish some of them, Ill start on that one!

>229 Whisper1: It's a good one, Linda. I hope you enjoy it.

I hate going shopping this time of year. I'm going to see how much online buying I can do.

>231 BLBera: That sounds like a good plan, Beth. Unfortunately, it's probably not a good idea here because of the postal strike which they say is causing delays in parcels being delivered although mine seem to be coming through fine.