Well I finished the 75 challenge and the thread was getting really long, so I'm starting a new thread for the 2nd half of the year. Here's the original thread .

I'm just about finished my first 999 challenge--only 7 more books to go in the first batch, and I'm about 1/4 done on the 2nd one. Those links are

the 1st 999 challenge and
crazy Tutu's 2nd 999 challenge .

I figure I will actually do a second 75 challenge for the second half of the year, so I'm starting the ticker at 18....I've done 93 so far, so the 18 will start on the next 75er. Wish me luck

and PLEASE NO WHOOP DE DOO GRAPHICS/Glitters, etc.

I'm on a satellite for my internet, and we're limited in the amount of download we get every day (they put us into internet jail and shut us down if we go over---BIG bummmer)....

Message edited by its author, Jun 30, 2009, 12:33pm.

You're doing better than I am - I'd also thought I could do 150 this year, but am a little behind the pace at only 73. Hoping for a quiet vacation next month so to get a lot of reading done.

Congratulations on your progress. Keep up the good work.

#19 Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

A well-researched piece of historical fiction. Unless you are cold stone hearted, this work will definitely have an emotional impact. I’m not sure how men will receive it, but most 21st century women will finish the book, take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and send prayers or thoughts to whatever supreme deity is in their lives with thanks that they did not have to live through anything like this.
The story line is fairly straightforward: In 16th century Italy, the bride price (or dowry) for women had gotten so high that families could only afford to marry off one daughter. The rest were consigned to convents –along with whatever endowment the family could give to the abbess to take care of the unfortunate girl for the rest of her life.
Some women welcomed this life—especially if the alternative was to marry some man not to her liking—others were literally dragged (drugged?) into the convents totally against their wills. Sacred Hearts is the story of Isabetta, a young girl who wanted to marry her music teacher, but who was instead dispatched to the convent of Santa Catarina. The Abbess is keen to have her since she reputedly has an angelic voice, and the convent choir’s performances for the towns people and the surrounding countryside bring much needed patronage and money for the Abbey.
Once inside, we meet the stern, uber rule enforcing novice mistress, Umiliana; the wise, crafty, and holy abbess Madonna Chiara; the dispensary mistress Zuana, and several anorexic (in those days they were called holy mystics) ancient dying sisters fasting and waiting to meet Christ.
Isabetta, renamed Serafina, immediately sets the convent on end by such loud screaming her first night that Chiara sends Zuana to calm her down. Zuana herself had come to the convent reluctantly 16 years prior. The daughter of a prominent widowed doctor, who taught her everything he know about medicine and herbs, she was not considered marriage material (no man would want a woman so smart!) and with no large dowry or estate, she was sent to the abbey to live. Seeing much of herself in the young novice, Zuana befriends Serafina, (having to drug her first to calm her down) and convinces the abbess to assign Serafina to work in the herb garden and dispensary with her.
At this point, the plot twists begin. The book is to be published next week, and I urge you to get a copy. This is a superbly written story of young love, betrayal, mistreatment of women, women bonding with other women, and the horrible, horrible treatment of women by the Italian society of the day. While it is the story of the helplessness of women on the one hand, I must point out (with as little spoiler as possible) that it is also the story of the courageousness, talent, and cunning of women who solve problems themselves.
It would make a wonderful book discussion group read.

Got you starred again!

Message edited by its author, Jun 30, 2009, 12:41pm.

Stasia...thanks for the little twinkle star. I'm going to ask everyone not to post this graphic thingies too often. I'm limited on the amount of download I get every 24 hours, and some of the graphics use up quite a bit of my allowance. I put this on the old link, but guess I need it here too:

PLEASE NO WHOOP DE DOO GRAPHICS/Glitters, etc.

I'm on a satellite for my internet, and we're limited in the amount of download we get every day (they put us into internet jail and shut us down if we go over---BIG bummmer)....

Message edited by its author, Jun 30, 2009, 12:32pm.

Oops, sorry, Tina! I will go back and take out the star.

#3 Thanks for a great review, Tina. I immediately went to our library's online catalog to find Sacred Hearts and found that is is listed as "being considered for purchase". I placed a hold on the title, so surely they will go ahead and order the book. (I WISH I had that much influence!) I also added it to my wishlist (loving that new feature) so that I won't forget about it in case the library decides not to get it.

Drat - I SO nearly went to hear Sarah Dunant read from Sacred Hearts this evening but bailed out at the last minute because I was too tired :-( Oh well. There will be audio eventually...

Hi there--just got caught up on your threads--really glad to see you liked King's Tom Gordon because it is one of my favorites from a master. I, too, have issues with the Portuguese Irregular Verbs and it's mostly because I like The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series very much and really enjoyed Dream Angus in the mythology series. Smith can write, but really, I'm not enthralled by the Dr Professor at all.

Loved Don Camillo books as a teen and glad to see them recirculating through the LT lines. On the other hand, I have some of the same issues with Marek Halter's fictional biographies that you do--I keep finding his titular heroines very annoying and way, way too modern.

As for Longitude, I read it, watched the mini-series, and when my brother wanted to go to the Greenwich Maritime Museum (he's a graduate of King's Point academy and has been a merchant maritimer), all I wanted to see was the Harrison clocks. So I dragged the five of my sibs who were on the trek through the exhibits. They are truly amazing to see.

Great job, tutu!!

I'm at 74 myself and, since July 2nd is the start of the second half of the year, I figure like I'm just about on schedule for 150 books.

No whoop-de-doo graphics from me. I'm not sure how to even do those.

#20 All Other Nights by Dara Horn.

I originally picked this up to expand the Historical fiction category on my second 999--- I had a lot of European, and Revolutionary war stories but nothing from this era. It's a time-frame that I haven't spent much time on, and don't seem to have too much interest in. This book didn't really change that attitude (poor I know) much.

Dara Horn has taken the Civil War setting and viewed it fictionally from the perspective of a New York Jew, Jacob Rappaport, who runs away from his family to avoid an arranged marriage and joins the Union army. His Jewish background and language skills land him in the role of a secret agent smuggled into New Orleans to kill his uncle who is involved in a plot to kidnap and/or kill Lincoln. He is so successful at that undertaking (killing the uncle), that he is next assigned to go to Danville Virginia to marry a young lady who is suspected of being the member of another Confederate spy ring.

The story has many plot twists, making it often necessary to go back and see who's working for whom. Several times, there are awfully convenient occurences that seem to pull the fat from the fire just in time. And the reader is constantly questioning Rappaport's motivation since he is constantly questioning it himself. The supporting characters are well drawn, and each has a very specific role in the unfolding of the story.

I can't even say I won't do spoilers. I just finished this, and really will have to go back and re-read a bit because I'm not sure what happened, or how the story ends. There are certainly questions in my mind about the ending, not so much that I didn't like what happened (I'm not sure I did) but that I'm not sure whether the story really ended, or the reader is left hanging. If so, why?

All in all, if you are a civil war fan, you may enjoy this account of the involvement and role of Jewish soldiers and families on both sides of the conflagration. If you're looking for Gone With the Wind, this isn't it, but it's still worth a read.

#21 Executive Privilege by Philip Margolin.

A light weight suspense thriller I listened to on audio while I was driving...even kept my attention while gardening the other day.

It's the standard story: hard working lawyer in Oregon gets lucky, is handed a career building (or busting) case he doesn't want; on the other coast, a female PI (police drop out due to horrible experiences while undercover) discovers evidence that can be matched up with Oregon boy that may in fact lead to the President of US as a serial killer????? OK...at that point I had to suspend belief, but the story was well plotted enough to keep my interest til the somewhat surprising end. Good airport/beach/doctor's waiting room read.

#22 Little Fingers by Filip Florian

This is one of the most confusing books I've ever read. It is also one of the best. My head is still spinning from the extraordinarily long paragraphs (some as long as 10 pages) and I think I understand "what happened' in the end. The story is about a town where a mass grave of bodies is discovered. Various personalities have theories about the who, when, and why of all these bodies, but it isn't until a team of Argentinian soccer players shows up (and they are an entire sub-story) that the story seems to resolve itself.

The characters--their stories and conversations--are the strength of the book. I felt at times that Robin Williams had invaded James Joyce's brain...the stream of conscious, free wheeling, long, long sentences with lots of paragraphs, left me breathless.

There is the young anthropologist Petrus, his slightly nutty Auntie Paulina, her daughter Jo-Jo (she whose anatomy always brought to his mind various ripe fruits); there's the Orthodox monk with the hair that had to be trimmed every 8 hours and the visions of the Holy Mother telling him what to do, who transcribes the Bible on birch bark, and hears confession via hidden letters left in a rose bush; there's the police chief with the missing little finger, the photographer with his camel Alladin, the aforementioned soccer team, and the list goes on.

There is no way to describe the plot. The book is a free fall of ideas about the mystery of the mass grave. It's an easy read if you sit down and stay with it, but it is also a hard read. One well worth undertaking.

Last note: The translator Alistair Ian Blyth did a masterful job.

Message edited by its author, Jul 13, 2009, 11:17pm.

I love your description that "Robin Williams had invaded James Joyce's brain..."
:)

#23 Deadly Nightshade by Cynthia Riggs

Apologies for the cross - post....

A great little mystery with wonderfully motivated and developed characters. Set on Martha's vineyard, the harbor master's assistant's grandma hears someone being murdered. Thus begins a good who-dunnit set against a faint backdrop of visiting POTUS and a island swarming with FEDS; there's an assortment of surly teenagers, a platoon of caricatures of New England fishermen, a retired NYPD cop, a mysterious computer expert, some hard-working stereotypical assertive females, a second murder and whoa - a third??? The grandma, Victoria, the amateur sleuth is old and wise enough to know when to butt in and when to back off. Unlike some of the other amateurs featured in some current mystery series, she's not about to do anything stupid, and still manages to help.

NO SPOILERS....the plot and characters were well enough developed that the audio got me through several hours of rigorous gardening. HOWEVER, as an audio, it has a serious flaw. The book is set in New England - not OLD ENGLAND. With Davina Porter as the narrator, you must disassociate from Martha's Vineyard because her very high class English accent really gets in the way. I really like her narrations...and listen to them whenever I see them, but her voice doesn't work for this setting. It's even worse when she uses various English accents for the dock workers. I doubt seriously if they came from Scotland, or Cornwall, etc. Truly disappointing in an otherwise acceptable book. If you like cozies with a little zip, you'll like this one.

Hi Tina
I'm simply stopping by to say hello and hope that your weather in Maine is delightful this time of year!

#24 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

A delightful easy but deep little book. Very reminiscent of The Little Prince. I fully intend to re-read both of them over the years.

The Alchemist has been reviewed and re-reviewed almost ad nauseum. It's the kind of book I have trouble reviewing other than to say that I enjoyed the thoughtfulness, philosophy and spirituality of it.

It will strike the reader very differently depending on the reader's mood, and openess to fantasy. I enjoyed it yesterday, but might not have liked it so much at another time. I think I will like it again, but will definitely have to be ready to read a fable, dream, believe in dreams, and be open to some magic. I found it delightful. and contrary to my usual habits, I had read reviews prior to reading the book, so I was prepared to be skeptical....but then I liked The Shack too, and many people didn't.

Basically a shepherd boy decides, at the urging of a king, to sell his sheep and seek his destiny, which in this case is a 'treasure' he will find at the Pyramids. His magical journey from the hills of Andalusia to Egypt is spellbinding. It's certainly one worth reading.

#15: That one looks like one I would enjoy. Thanks for the recommendation, Tina.

I read The Alchemis a couple years ago and thought it was a good book, too.

#25 American Lion by Jon Meacham review posted here (msg 80).

#26 Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson
My driving to the pool audio book last week. I love these stories for their food, and their fun, and their narrator, Barbara Rosenblatt. This was another wonderfully fun Goldy Schulz food filled mystery.

This time the story centers around the wedding of Bridezilla Billie, who keeps changing wedding plans, and thinks that the world does not revolve around the sun, rather she is the center of the planetary system. Doesn't everyone add 50 people to the guest list less than 48 hours before the wedding, necessitating not only more food, but an entire change of venue?

Goldy's godfather Jack, her trusty sidekick Julian, her effervescent endlessly rich friend Marla, her previous nemesis/rival Victor and the town's retired Dr (old Doc Finn) all play starring roles. There are hot tubs, smoothie shacks, country clubs and hospitals. Lots of espresso, and a spa in need of a nutrional upgrade.

As usual Davidson treats us to a good plot, quirky characters, delightful settings, interesting dialogue and scrumptious recipes. The only problem with listening to them on audio, is that I end up going to the library to copy the recipes!

#27 The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel This is a five star book that is almost impossible to do justice to in a review. It should be required reading for all bibliophiles. A luscious book about libraries: ancient, modern, imagined, real, paper, stone, virtual, digital, scrolled, rolled, bound, shelved, piled, cataloged, but always there for generations to relish, to wallow in, to dream about and in, to build, to burn, to own, to borrow from, to discover, to remember, to organize or leave alone. There are so many quotes I noted in my notebook, I could almost publish another book. JUST BUY IT, READ IT, It's one you will want to mark up, so a library book won't do. I did a fuller review on Tutu's Two Cents.

Message edited by its author, Jul 22, 2009, 9:48am.

Tina
How can anyone not read your most recent book after that wonderful recommendation. I've added it to my pile.

#20: I am a big fan of the Goldy series (as well as the series narrator, Barbara Rosenblat), so I will definitely have to find that one to read.

I read The Library at Night several years ago (along with Manguel's Into the Looking Glass Wood and A History of Reading both of which I recommend), but I think a reread is in order. Thanks for the nudge, Tina.

#20 Hi, glad to see a glowing review of The Library at Night as have a copy waiting to be read. I also enjoyed dipping into his Dictionary of Imaginary Places but it is just a huge book listing fictions most interesting locations!

I will certainly be adding The Library at Night to my list! Thank you!

I'm adding The Library at Night to my wishlist. I've already got a copy of The History of Reading but have not yet had a chance to read it. So many books....

Lorie--I have History of Reading also, and hope to get to it in the next challenge sometime this lifetime....

Tina
The Library at Night must be a popular book. I'm number 12 on the waiting list at my local library.

It's worth the wait, but I promise you, you'll want to buy it once you get it from the library....

>20: I liked the quote about those unread books waiting patiently for us until "the end of our days." I always said that I am saving the mystery genre for my old age, which is just around the corner. It may actually already be here, but I'm not admitting it!

I am currently reading The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop...a wonderful memoir/history of the bookselling businees. (The touchstone is not cooperating on this one.)

Donna...I'm also currently reading The YellowLighted Bookshop -- the touchstone works if you take the hyphen out and don't put a space between Yellow and Lighted - go figure!

I love the memoir...will probably finish this afternoon...it's delightful.

Hi Tina

I lost you and now I've found you again!

I read The YellowLighted Bookshop last year and agree it really is a delightful book. As I recall I made notes on book shops I'd like to visit--I wonder what I did with the list. We have a house we inherited in Northern California so I could get to some of the ones that are still in business.

Now that we have collections, I think I'll add this one to my "read not owned" list and post my review! Thanks for the trip down "memory lane!"

I loved The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop (read it a few years ago). The Library at Night, which I finished over the weekend, was pretty good. Partly me, though, because I am not all that interested in reading about ancient or medieval libraries.

The parts about more modern libraries were fascinating though.

Yesterday, I finally started the Robertson Davies book, The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading, Writing, and the World of Books. It was put together after his death and consists of speeches, essays, etc about books and reading. Very good so far.

Linda

Waiting to hear your final analysis! Merry Heart is on my list of "possibles" for my Books about Books category this year. I'm letting you vet it for me. :-)

The Merry Heart seems to be one of those books where you really ought to read one or two essays per day and not read it in one or two big gulps. It's my second to last 999 book but I probably should've started it sooner.

I have it sitting on my desk at work and, since most of my reading is Kindle-based now, a lot of people are coming over to see what "book" I am reading that is not on the kindle.

Thanks for the tip, Linda. When I finish my poetry book this month I'll start Merry Heart as my nighttime and "short spurt" reading. I always like to have either a poetry or an essay book close by.

#28 YellowLighted Bookshop Lewis Buzbee.

A light easy read tracing the history of booksellers and their relation/interdependence on publishers. He does a good job of explaining the business model of most of today's American bookstores, and presents a gentle validation for bibliophiles that it's ok not to be able to read every book every written.

Nice synopsis of The YellowLighted Bookshop, Tina. And thanks for letting me in on the touchstone "secret." I will probably finish it today and post my review. I think I am liking it so well because of my experiences working in a bookstore.

#36: I need to find my copy and read that one. Thanks for the reminder!

Stasia

I think you said that last year when I read it. LOL But you really mean it this time, don't you! :-)

I really mean it every time, but at present my library is such a disaster area I am not sure I can find anything in it. One of these days I really must get some shelves - especially with the addition of the 30 boxes of books Kerry brought in!

Stasia...I feel your pain....seems like everytime I get another box unloaded up in the attic, and then catalog and shelve (loose term) it, we (either hubby or I) buy, inherit (another loose term) or receive a matching number. We've decided we could do a wonderful enactment of the loaves and fishes using our books--stock any library you want, and at the end, there'd be even more boxes full of books left to cherish.

I think the above paragraph helps explain why I so enjoyed both Library at Night and Yellowlighted bookshop so much...they both gave me permission to love books, amass books, wallow in books, and not feel guilty if the pile keeps growing instead of declining.

Message edited by its author, Jul 29, 2009, 10:44am.

I wish my boyfriend understood the need to shelve and catalog books. Every time I come home with a new bundle he rolls his eyes and asks if I really need that many books....my answer is always "Of Course!!!!!". Which reminds me, I need to buy a new bookcase this month.

#41: I do not think it would be so bad, Tina, if I actually had some shelves on which to put them. The room has an awkward layout and we just cannot figure out how to get the number of shelves in there that I require. We could probably hire one of those professional designers to figure it out, but I do not have that kind of money, lol.

#29 Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips.

A fun read...my review is on Tutu's Two Cents

Message edited by its author, Jul 29, 2009, 6:05pm.

Trying to add your book blog to my RSS feed... but Google reader seems to be having technical difficulties... *gak*

Just found your thread and I will definately look at your previous one. You've read some great books that I will, no doubt, be adding to my wish list.

#30 Red to Black Alex Dryden.

An ARC I got from Harper Collins. After a rather slow start, it turned into a true page turner. Thanks goodness it was only a galley proof-- after a day at the beach, an airplane trip, and being buried in the lobster festival tote, the book itself was quite the worse for wear. The story was not. My full review is attached to the book and on Tutu's Two Cents.

Tina

I love your site! WOW! It is so eye catching!

Plus, I'm now adding God's Behaving Badly to my ever growing tbr pile.

#31 Dear Fatty Dawn French.

A poignant tell-all written as a series of letters to people who played large roles in her life: her husband Len, her daughter, Jennifer Saunders (Fatty) who was a life long sidekick, her mother, her grandmothers, her brother, a variety of lovers(? - the answer is cagily phrased so one is never sure), and above all her father, who committed suicide when she was in her early teens.

French leaves little to the imagination, but treats us to the inside look at a vulnerable, loving, talented woman.

Her letter to her dad in which she lays out the pain and disbelief at his death, is very touching. The letter describing the Queen Mother's visit to their Air Force quarters when she was only 3, is quintessential French. Her teen-age angst, the joys and throes of raising a teenager, and her obvious love for her husband all come through. There are pages and pages of candid photos, most in color, making it quite a vibrant story.

I don't normally read celebrity memoirs, but I'm a huge fan of DF, and when I had the chance to pick this up, I grabbed it. While it could have done with some editing to tighten things up. The lack of any kind of time line made it difficult to follow at times, but OTOH, it made it easy to read in short, individual 'episodes' as each letter was self-contained.

I'd recommend it for anyone who is a fan, and anyone who wants to know more about british customs in the 1980-2000 timeframe.

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2009, 11:01am.

#32 Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Alan Bradley.

A wonderful cozy mystery featuring an exceptionally precocious 11yr old chemistry whiz , Flavia de Luce, who helps solve a current murder, an old murder originally thought to be a suicide, and the theft of an extremely valuable stamp belonging to King George VI.

A book that will be devoured by all pre-teen girls in the same way we once devoured Nancy Drew, and Trixie Belden. At the same time, if adults can suspend belief in such a level of forensic aptitude in an 11 year old, it is an excellent read for all mystery lovers. It is well plotted, suspenseful, and the characters are well drawn. It's a great little YA mystery and while I'm not sure I could handle any more of Miss da Luce, I know in a few years my granddaughter will.

I love Dawn French--but my library system doesn't have the book! :-( I have put in a request that they purchase it. I've got my fingers crossed. I've requested about 1/2 dozen books over the last five years--one has been purchased and I was able to read it.

I requested Sweetness about 2 months ago and it finally came--I picked it up today. I plan to enjoy it on my vacation next week! I've read good things about this book on LT.

#50: I really want to read that one! Unfortunately, my local library does not have it. One of these days I am going to get my hands on a copy.

tutu, good idea about the Sweetness book. I think my 8-year old niece is not yet confident enough to tackle books she perceives as "grown up books" and this one looks like one. I think that'll change fairly soon and plan to save it for her.

When I showed her Dewey, she said something about "you mean I could read this."

At 8 or 9, I was picking up Erle Stanley Gardner books, the ones with the lurid covers, and getting yelled at by little old ladies in stores for doing so.

#53 That comment about your lurid books and little old ladies reminds me of a story my mother told. When she was young (teenage), she evidently read books that had "adult" content. One day she found a book laying on her mother's nightstand and picked it up to read. Another "adult" book, but she said it wasn't as explicit as the books she normally read. Anyway, her mother must have realized that mom had found the book, so she hid it out of sight. Mom kept reading her books, and Grandma kept hiding hers, and they got along fine. I don't think Grandma ever knew what her daughter was reading. When I was high school/college age, I picked up a couple of Mom's books and put them right back down again! OMG!

Needless to say, there were no banned books, or even books considered "off limits", in our house. I was allowed to read anything I wanted to, and encouraged to do so. My mother is in her 70's now, and still reads. But I don't ask.

I remember the librarian telling me I couldn't read certain books and my mom later marching over to her to tell her I could read anything I wanted to.

She later said that, if she'd known the old ladies were giving me grief over the Perry Mason books, she would've given them "what for," too.

As you say, nothing was ever off limits in terms of reading.

Yay, Mom.

#33 The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu by Micael Stanley.

This is the same review posted on my blog so if you've been there, you can skip this. You're perfectly welcome tho to stop by the blog any time--there's stuff there that's not just books.

Set in Botswana, a setting many of us are now familiar with thanks to Alexander McCall Smith's No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, author(s) Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip co-authored this under the Michael Stanley name. This is the second book in the series, and I'm off to find the first quickly.

Inspector David "Kubu" Benbu is sent to investigate the murders of two people at a bush camp. There are a variety of campers (suspects) and staff (more suspects), including a cook with a live bird attached to his shoulder. There are survivors of rebellions years past, British bird watchers, a pair of sister claiming to be British journalists, cops who are scared to death of crocodiles, bad guys galore, lots of hippos (in fact "kubu" means hippopatamous--the nickname was given to the detective due to his size). Family members help to humanize Kubu and give us an eye into his motivations. I don't like to do spoilers in reviewing mysteries, so no plot review here, but the characters are delightful, the setting is beautifully portrayed, and the plot is definitely one with twists, turns, and clues. When Goodluck is murdered and his fingerprints indicate he has been officially dead for over 30 years........well as you can see, the plot thickens quickly.

The book also contains a glossary of African terms, a map and a drawing of the layout of the camp. I found myself referring to them occasionally, and while I found them helpful, this isn't a book where you're going to have to constantly keep referring to them.

In addition to the mystery, we are treated to a mini-history/politics lesson about Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The culture, customs, and geography of the area are lovingly painted. It's a marvelous read...grab it and sink in.

Tina

I'm adding this book to my tbr pile. Thanks for your excellent review.

Great review, Tina! I will definitely have to get this one, but I will want to read A Carrion Death first. I love mysteries and I'm also looking for books about Africa and by Africans (according to FantisticFiction--this one qualifies on both counts). Thanks for "no spoilers!"

My local library has Carrion Death so I've put it on the list for later this fall, after I catch up on ARC and after I return from my cruise. I have only one more book for my 1st 999 and will read that on the cruise - I decided to read Katherine Vaz' Saudade instead of Madeleine L'Engle's Love Letters because the former appears to have much more to do with Portuguese people, customs, etc.

I definitely intend to read L'Engle, but it will go into the 'leftover from 1st 999" category in #2, or into some iteration of the 101010 (if I decide to do that).

#34 The Terra Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri, an Inspector Maltaban mystery.

This was my latest drive around town audio book. I helped that it was set in Sicily, one of the places we'll be visiting on our cruise in a few weeks. I enjoy Inspector Salvo Maltaban, and his go-it-alone tough guy attitude. He has a lover in Northern Italy, a housekeeper who tries to keep him fed, and his laundry done, a boss who respects him, an assistant who can best be described as a twidget, a gorgeous blonde mechanic as a supporting cast.

In this particular episode, Salvo listens to a deathbed disclosure from a local mafioso telling him where to find a cache of illegal weapons. The capture of this stash, and the subsequent investigation of who else was involved in the chain, runs as a sort of red herring. The true mystery is revealed in a cave within the cave where the weapons were. There Salvo discovers the bodies of 2 young people, naked, lying beside the statue of a Terra Cotta dog, a bowl of coins, and a jug of water. When the pathologist says the bodies have been there at least 50 years, the quest for answers becomes very interesting.

These stories are always enjoying, altho they are not nearly as much fun as Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series. A good quick who-dunit.

>57 - Tina - I'm putting the first Michael Stanley book on my TBR. This sounds like a series that I'll enjoy. Thanks for the rec.

And have a wonderful time on your cruise!

#35: The Rapture by Liz Jensen.

This is going to be on my Best of the Year list. It's five stars with exquisite prose, well drawn characters, a very believable scenario involving both the Rapture and global warming. It had me on the edge of my seat and I don't usually read much in thepsycho thriller genre--I got it as an ARC and kept avoiding it because it looked like it was going to be a Silence of the Lambs sort, but it wasn't. READ IT. Fuller review is on my blog..

#63: I have seen several good reviews of The Rapture, Tina, and am anxiously awaiting the time my local library actually has it!

I thought it was well-written, but it profoundly disturbed me and I felt 'off' for the rest of the day. One of my deep-rooted fears is extreme weather, and after reading this book - as incredibly crafted as it was - I found myself bursting into tears and shaking at the most random moments. I didn't want to go outside, and I felt a foreboding sense of doom... my husband had to force me to pick up a light, humorous book to read to clear my senses and calm me down. Thankfully, it worked.

But like I said - very well written.

I agree...I haven't started another book yet...definitely am looking for either a really quick huggie cozy mystery, or some other kind of feel good. I'm actually spending my audio minutes this week brushing up on Italian lessons. All the ARCs stacked up promise to be heavy reads (not long but dark story lines) and I'm not up for that right now. Should have save the Diane Mott Davidson for now.

I expected to go into the kind of funk Faith describes in #65...that's why I don't usually read this kind of book at all. However, I guess I was so bowled over by the writing that I was saved the total downer.

hmmmmm, I'm sort of intrigued just what kind of book would make you feel that way, so I will see if my library has it. I think I'd rather not buy it. By the way, it's not one of those doomsday series books popular a few years ago, is it?

Carmen--it's not a doomsday book exactly....the subject matter is certainly disturbing. I think many people find the concept of The Rapture (as defined by the Christians who believe in it) disturbing, and many others (even maybe the same people) find the concept of the results of unchecked global warming disturbing. When you combine these with two main characters who have serious mental flaws, you either have the makings of a giant messy unreadable sub B movie script, or you have an incredible heart stopping what if? Jensen has written the latter.

I agree, it might not be a book I would have bought for my personal library, but I'm glad I had the chance to read it, and have recommended buying for our small library where I work. It is the kind of book that many of our readers will love.

o.k. thanks for the clarification Tina. I'll be looking for it.

Abandoned book: Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey.

Abandon ship! That's exactly what I did after the first disc of this horrible book. I enjoy satire, I really do. I get it. I don't mind some sex and violence in my books, (or my listens) but this "hero" (and I almost choke as I write that word) Serge A. Storms, is a vicious, stupid, anti-social excuse for a character. This book is nothing but some post-adolescent fantasy about being nasty to people in every way you can think of, and frankly, my real world is nasty enough without inviting Serge and his more than mildly demented friends in. Think of it as The Three Stooges meet Freddy Kroeger. I'm reasonable picky about what food I eat, so I shouldn't expect my mind to digest garbage either. I gave it 1/2 star 'cuz that's as low as I can go.

Let me take a wild guess, you didn't like it.

To use the vernacular of the day "You betcha."

#70 I read one of the earlier Dorsey books featuring the Serge character and didn't like it. Like you, I totally got that it was dark humor, and I am not such a prude that I won't tolerate sex or violence in a good book. But I just didn't see the point. It wasn't funny, and the sex and violence seemed totally gratuitious. Plus, I seem to remember that there was a fair amount of drug use involved, which I really don't have much tolerance for even in fiction (none at all in real life). I never tried him again, but every once in a while, I've had a niggling little voice suggesting that one book wasn't really a fair trial. Thanks for setting that little voice straight for me!

# 72 tina & #73 sjm

See--LT returns the favor. A weed that you can avoid!

Tina, thank you for doing your public duty and warning us against this book. :-)

#74 :-) You've proven your point!

#70: Ack! Not touching that one. Thanks for the warning!

Ditto what Stasia said.

#36 In Defense of Food Michael Pollan.

I love to eat, and have the shape to prove it. I grew up with an Italian grandma (dad's side of the family) who had to feed 8 sons on a very limited budget, and an Irish mother who couldn't cook anything very exciting (she never learned how). When I was 8, my father parked me in a Brownie troop with instructions to the leader that I was to earn the cook badge as early as possible. From age 10, I did most of the family cooking. Next to reading, food is still one of my top three hobbies.

So I am often very tentative about anybody telling me what I should or should not eat, and how to grow, purchase, and prepare food. I love to watch cooking shows, I own, and peruse often, 100's of cook books. This book held my attention, made a lot of sense in several areas, and really got me thinking.

It offers an excellent explanation of how the field of 'nutritionism' and marketing forces in the US have changed the diet (and-- the author posits--the health) of the western world, specifically the US.

"Nutritionists pay far more attention to the chemistry of food than to the sociology or ecology of eating."
and....
"Gas stations have become processed corn stations: ethanol outside for your car and high fructose corn syrup inside for you."

Pollan gives easy to understand explanations, somewhat supported by experts, although I'm not quite ready to totally buy something because "scientists commonly report", or 'are heavily leaning toward', etc. The author does point out that all of these theories about what is healthy or not is cyclical, and heavily dependent on the science of the moment.

He makes a cogent agument for returning to the days of grandma, before we started tinkering with foods and making claims for health by eating this or that. He is especially believable in the campaign against engineered foods (or food products as he is quick to emphasize.)

The book features several "food statements" AKA rules that make quite a bit of sense drawn up to help people return to eating the diet he claims human beings are biologically designed to eat. Among them:

Eat well grown food from well-known sources.
Have a glass of wine with dinner.
Do all your eating at a table.
Try not to eat alone.
Cook your own food and plant a garden.

Finally he admits that while he doesn't pray before meals, the practice of saying a blessing helps insure that we don't eat thoughtlessly. He finds a statement offered by Wendall Barry to be a perfect meal starter:

"Eating with the fullest pleasure--pleasure that is--that does not depend on ignorance is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we experience and celebrate our dependence and our gratitude for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we can not comprehend."

I learned a lot reading this and would recommend it to anyone interested in sorting through the current maze of food/eating gospels.

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 11:07pm.

78: tututhefirst,

I'm curious, are there Thoreau quotes in this book?

A lady librarian recommended to me A Place of My Own, in which Pollan recounts his experience building a cabin from the ground up. It's an enjoyable read.

Pollan seems to be following Thoreau's footsteps, building his own cabin in the woods and planting his own garden.

BOT....that one sounds absolutely fascinating....I really am going to have to look that up. One of our biggest disappointments here in Maine is the un--success we've been having with a veggie garden...mostly due to weather, and the fact that we don't seem to have cleared enough trees from our lot to get enough sun.

We always had a garden when we lived in Virginia, and my husband grew up in the lush farmlands of the central valley of California, so we keep trying...I did join a CSA this year, and feel good about that, but there is still nothing like going out the back door and plucking some fresh basil and a couple of ripe tomatoes for dinner. Maybe Pollan will have some insight on growing in Maine.

Excellent review, Tina. This is one we probably all should read--it sounds like it has a lot of common sense!

#78: I read that one recently and really enjoyed it too, Tina. I am currently reading a couple of books Pollan mentioned and in conjunction with his book, they make an interesting trio. I recommend that you give the others a try if you have not already read them: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.

Stasia, I have the Kingsolver book on the TBR pile for my 2nd 999 food category, but was not familiary with the Campbell book. I definitely will check it out. You haven't led me wrong yet.

Yes, it is an excellent review and deserving of Hot Review status (achieved and listed on today's home page.) Congratulations!

Thanks for the note....I had the hot reviews turned off on my home page so I would have missed it!

#83: Tina, I have not finished either of them yet, but to the point I am in both texts, they are very good. Both of them are mentioned in Pollan's book.

#37 Manana, Manana by Peter Kerr.

I listened to the audio of this book while packing for our upcoming trip (packing takes two hands) and was instantly transported to the land of manana. (wish I could figure out how to get the tilde over that n!). Any way...we are making a stop there on our cruise. Hubbie has been there (he brought back some beautiful pearls over 40 years ago!), but I haven't. We are both looking forward to this being one of the more leisurely stops on our trip.

In addition to enjoying the travel reading, I found the story a fascinating follow-on to my reading last week of Pollan's In Defense of Food, where Pollan advocates as much as possible going back to old ways of growing, farming, etc. Peter Kerr's story of a couple from Scotland who purchase a rundown orange orchard on Mallorca, and uproot themselves and two teenage sons is amusing, and at the same time, rather inspiring.

I admire someone who has the courage in mid-life to decide to give up a big riding deisel tractor, and revert to plowing behind a push-tractor. The advise from the local tree pruners, and donkey dung collectors, while probably excellent horticulturally, is related in Kerr's normal hilarious, tongue-in-cheek style.

There are the usual stories that one finds in any book about ex-pats living in a foreign land- the language gaffes, the strange foods, the different customs, dealings with police etc. I got a good flavor of the Mediterranean.

Now I'm off to sample the real thing.

#38 Primal Obsession by Susan Vaughan.

This is a good stay up all night to finish it book. Up front I must admit that I have met Susan Vaughan....she is a local author who taught at the same school where my husband taught. Then I must also say that I'd never read any of her other books. When she found out I reviewed blogs, she offered a copy of this for our library and I offered a review. I don't read a lot of romance, and I'm just starting to be able to read 'thrillers', so I'm not quite in my element.

Primal Obsession is a well-done combination of both those genres. There is a delightfully spunky, intelligent herione, Annie; there is the 'hero' Sam: a has-been Boston Red Sox player, no longer able to play due to injuries and who is now a Maine wilderness guide; there is "The Hunter"- a bad bad dude if there ever was one, and there is a beautiful setting - the Maine wilderness, which can make any book a delight to read. Ms. Vaughan writes as if she has definitely been there and makes the reader feel and hear and smell every tree limb, lake shore, campground and pine tree Sam and Annie see.

Vaughan manages to artfully weave several stories at once:

* There's Annie's tale: she's a newspaper reporter who first made the connections between the killer's various victims, who is now receiving threats from him; at the same time, she is mourning a friend who was a victim of the serial killer and has actually gone on this wilderness expedition to fulfill a promise to her dead friend to spread her ashes in the woods.
* The pshycho thriller story-- a very nasty serial killer stalking his prey (Annie) and the law enforcement types trying to find him before he kills again; one of the lawmen is Annie's brother who thinks that 'parking' her on a Maine wilderness adventure will keep her safely out of the Hunter's reach.
* Sam's attempt to stop drinking to drown his sorrows at not playing baseball anymore and prove to himself and his family that he can be a successful wilderness guide; as things start to happen on the adventure, he finds himself tested - can he truly live up to his and everyone else's expectations?
* Sam and Annie's almost stereotypical romance: Girl meets Boy, boy meets and immediately likes girl, girl rebuffs boy and refuses to acknowledge the attraction; boy and girl suddenly are faced with the physical threat to girl from the killer and boy must save girl.

The writing grips the reader from the beginning, and the book becomes a good old-fashioned page-turner. Ms. Vaughan has done an excellent job of taking what could have been a garden variety romance or a standard ho-hum thriller and combined the two into an exciting, vibrant, well-plotted story with well-drawn (if unsurprising) main characters, and enough plot twists and other characters to hold the reader's interest to the end. Even while changing point of view often (something I normally find distracting in a book) she manages to hold our attention and keep the story moving forward. I only wish the romance had been less cliched. I could already figure out exactly what was going to happen, and when this kiss would lead to that, or what Sam was going to run through his mind while watching her in a wet tee-shirt, etc. Probably the reason I don't read too many straight romances. The suspense action saves the book. It's real, it's thrilling, and it goes right to the end.

I'd strongly recommend you try this one if romance and/or thrillers are for you, and especially if you love the Maine woods. You won't be disappointed.

#87/88: I am adding both to Planet TBR.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

#39 Saudade by Katherine Vaz.

Finished this one on cruise and it was a wonderful way to end my first official 999 challenge! The last book in my “Things Portuguese” category. I inherited this book from my husband’s aunt who lived in a Portuguese community in the central valley of California before moving to the Bay area. It’s an incredible work, and almost defies a good review because reading it is a visceral rather than cerebral experience. Just like “saudade".
The Author opens the book thus:
Saudade (Sow-Dahd’) A Portuguese word considered untranslatable. One definition: Yearning so intense for those who are missing, or for vanished times or places, that their absence is the most profound presence in one’s life. A state of being, rather than merely a sentiment.

Katherine Vaz is a verbal artist. This story of saudade is not easy to read, but the word painting of this experience is so profound that one finishes the book with the same deep sigh of plentitude that causes us to push back from a nine-course meal, pat our stomachs and say “I’m full.”

Full is definitely what the reader is reading this story. The words, the colors, the people, the experiences that are splashed across the pages, and burned into the psyche have one gasping at times. This prose is the closest to poetry one can get without it being poetry. It's positively magical.

The main character Clara Cruz is born in the Azores and at birth and in early childhood does not seem capable of speech. The reader is left to puzzle out whether the inability to verbalize is physical or something akin to autism. Vaz constructs a cast of village mentors, including her parents, who help young Clara learn to communicate. At first this ‘talk’ is done with sugar, grains of it constructed into figures, drawn in lines on tables (much like drawing in sand?). Later some sign language is woven in.

The songs her parents croon to her, making sure she can feel the vibrations of sound, become woven with their insistence that she be exposed to as much color, sound, light, and touch as is possible. These are not child psychologists or speech therapists; these are simple peasants living out their lives in a village full of every sensory experience known, with centuries of tradition, folk tales, and superstition to enhance their stories. They make sure their child's journey through life is as full of experience as possible.

When her mother inherits a vineyard in California, Clara’s parents plan to move there. Her father, a fisherman from birth, is somewhat reluctant to leave the only way of life he has ever known, but he finally promises to make just one last voyage and then they will go. Unfortunately, it is his last voyage, and the ‘saudade’ that overcomes her mother eventually leads to her dying from longing.

It is difficult to review this book without spoilers, but I’m going to try to avoid telling too much of what happens after this. Clara does go to California, where she is raised by other members of the Portuguese community in Lodi, and where she has to deal with a double-dealing priest who tries to cheat her out of her inheritance. In plotting her revenge against him, she discovers inner strengths, and new ways of coping, but also endures unbearable tradgedy, adding to her saudade.

She enrolls in the local schools in Lodi, and becomes more communicative, but her extreme sensitivity to touch, colors, and others’ perceptions is the basis for an incredible sensual journey from adolescence to adulthood. She meets Dr. Helio Soares, the local dentist, who eventually becomes her lover, and who is someone who is as sensually acute and astute as she is. Vaz’ ability to weave word pictures, to relate folk tales from both the Azorean and California Portuguese communities, and her intense use of imagery is the basis for an incredible portrait of a young woman’s coming of age, and eventual accommodation to adulthood. At times, the fantasies approach Alice’s slide down the rabbit hole, but all are finally believable.

The introduction throughout of heteronyms (not the grammatical words that are spelled alike with different meanings, but the literary device of imaginary characters created by a poet, or dreamer) was a new experience for me. I had to stop and look up how the word was intended, but once understood, as the latter, it provides incredible depth to the characters.

At one point, Helio is shown different heteronyms for Clara in his saudade. One is an 18 year old cook’s assistant named Xica, living in sixteenth century Sintra Portugal. As Xica bastes roasting meat, she chants this poem:

Wall-splashing ping of unction extreme
Ooze of sardine, halibut, bream.
Blubber-fried roe, peppers well oiled,
Jelly from hoofs, eel’s gut uncoiled.
Bacon-From-Heaven—an almond cake---
Sausage with kid roast, lard-basted hake….

Xica further states “love renders us a banquet of drippings, salves, saturates, banquet of creams. I once loved a dear man fatly.”

At one point, Vaz states that the characters: “Together with the starfish, they would live in a bastion that is defined by cleave—a grand but unsettling word that is at once its own opposition:
To pierce, sever, divide by a blow.
To cling, adhere, ever to hold fast.

This kind of mind-blowing prose puts this work on the edge of fantasy, and one can’t help but wonder how much her Portuguese heritage influenced all this imagery. It is a feast for the reading mind from a writer who deserves more attention.

Message edited by its author, Sep 7, 2009, 7:44pm.

Excellent review, Tutu. Thank you!

#90: Looks wonderful, Tina!

ditto what tiffin and Stasaia said

>90 Saudade (Sow-Dahd’) A Portuguese word considered untranslatable. One definition: Yearning so intense for those who are missing, or for vanished times or places, that their absence is the most profound presence in one’s life. A state of being, rather than merely a sentiment.

OK, this is slightly off-topic but: as a child, I had to learn a piece for piano for one of my exams entitled 'Saudade on Catherine Shakespeare Lane'. I loved it - it's a wonderfully eccentric, dreamy piece of modern music with lots of fives- and sevens-against-threes - but it makes about 200% more sense now I read your definition.

For that alone it would have gone on my list but then you go and do a great review too. Thank you :)

#40 Murder on K street by Margaret Truman.

Another good solid mystery by one of my favorite mystery writers. Having lived in the DC area for over 15 years, I enjoy these stories. While the premise may be a tad farfetched, I listened to pompous politicians on the evening news for enough years to know that it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Senator Lyle Simmon's wife is found murdered inside their Georgetown home. The senator, who is about to run for president, seems more concerned with his image than in finding the killer. His two children, a wimpy son who is president of a lobbying firm, and his politically active (on the opposite side of her father) daughter, are devastated.

Add a best friend who was in the love with the wife, some questionably legal doings by the lobbying firm, throw in another murder, and it makes for a good who-dunnit. Nothing extravagant, but it was a good easy read while I was on cruise.

#41 Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

This work continues the story of the women involved in Jacob's first novel:The Friday Night Knitting Club. I was prepared to be disappointed, but was not. Many sequels fall flat, but this one, while perhaps spending a bit too long reviewing who all the characters were and what happened to them in FNBC, carries forward with their lives and presents us with a growing up Dakota, a more mature Darci, and definitely fleshes out the personalities of Katherine, and Anita, who had been strong, but not center stage before.

If you haven't read the first one, this will still stand on its own, but reading them in order gives a much richer experience.

#42 The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny.

Louise Penny has done it again. This latest story of a murder investigation set in the village of Three Pines outside of Quebec continues our acquaintance with the inhabitants of these small town, and with the crack homicide investigating team of the Surete Quebec, led by the urbane Chief Inspector Gamache. New characters are added, and old ones we've met in previous books in this series come under suspicion when an old man is found dead in the village bistro. No one will admit to knowing who he was or how he came to be there.

Penny's stories are not the run of the mill mysteries. They include elements of fantasy, psychology, history, art, poetry, and politics. Like previous ones in this series, this one is incredibly plotted, with several suspects, and a richly developed cast of characters (including the resident lunatic poet who dresses her pet duck in different outfits everyday). Gamache and his team must not only identify the deceased, but determine the motivation that led to his murder. The quest takes him from Quebec all the way to the northernmost islands off British Columbia. Thru that trek, we are treated to the history of early inhabitants of the island.

This is one of her best, and there's no way to explain the plot without doing spoilers. If you enjoyed her earlier Gamache mysteries, you won't be disappointed in this one. If you've not read Penny before, starting here is as good as it gets.

#96: I have not read either of the Jacobs' books, but I will look for them.

#97: I have read the first 3 in the series. I am looking forward to the next couple, too. Glad to know I have some good reading ahead of me. Thanks for the review, Tina.

Abandoned book: No Mad by Sam Moffie

I got this book from the author -he had seen my blog and wanted some reviews to promote it. So...upfront....I didn't finish this book; after 60+ pages, I felt it was going nowhere, and I got tired of the moanings, fantasies and self-centered musings of an adolescent masquerading as an adult male.

The premise appears to be that said male finds his wife in bed with his brother, so he takes his belongings and his dog and sets off to a) find himself? b) abandon his previous life? c) see the world ? and/or d) wallow in sex whereever he finds it?? I sure couldn't see where he was going, and it just wasn't interesting enough to make me want to continue.

Glad to hear you enjoyed The Brutal Telling, Tina. When I get home, I have to pull that one off the shelf and get to it.

>99: Sounds like something not to try.

I've gotten a number of solicitations recently, as well. I guess authors are waking up to the number of eyes that see things on LT. Of course, if they don't write a good story, that might not be such a good thing...

TAD....maybe our honest reviews will help make better writers out of them??

I know for a fact that publishing houses are not doing as much editing as they used to....they are depending on the author and agent to take care of that, so authors must either pay some third party to edit, or find a helpful friend who is qualified to do it for free!!

So the self-published will continue to depend on readers who blog or post on sites like LT to provide honest constructive feed-back.

#43 The Private Patient by P.D. James and
#44 South of Broad by Pat Conroy.

Two big books (both length and grandeur) which deserve great reviews which I just don't have the energy to do at the moment. I will post them when I get there, but I will say that

#43: I wish P.D. James could live forever and continue her marvelously detailed character studies cum mysteries. They are superb, this latest one is every bit as good as her earlier ones (I've read 19 of them). The hints are sprinkled throughtout this latest one however, that this may be the last of the Adam Dalgliesh series. While sad, one of the best things I can say about James' books is that they are even better the second and third times you read them.

#44 Pat Conroy has not published a novel in 14 years, but South of Broad was absolutely worth the wait. I finished it at 2AM this morning and was so blown away, that I had to sit completely still for almost 1/2 hour before I could get out of my chair and go to bed. This one is going onto my Best of the Year list. If you've never read Conroy, you're in for a treat. If you've read his others, you'll find this one every bit as well written, brilliantly charactered, and gripping as his others.

Message edited by its author, Sep 20, 2009, 4:23pm.

#103: I bought South of Broad recently, so I am bumping it up on the stack next to my bed, lol.

I am a big fan of P.D. James, too. Ironically, I got hooked on her books through the PBS Mystery series. Ironic since I watch next to no TV these days.

Just popping in to say hi. You have read some great books this year. Will keep checking to see what you read next.

Stasia....I am surprised, not that you actually used to watch TV, but that we missed that series!! We are big fans in this household of PBS Mystery series--we must have been overseas when these were done---I'll have to check out Netflix to see if they're available. Sometimes a good flick (and for us that's usually a BBC TV re-run) is very soothing at the end of a long cold day.

Thanks for the heads up.

The review for South of Broad is posted now in the book, and at Tutu's Two Cents

Put it on your Christmas list...

Message edited by its author, Sep 22, 2009, 12:23am.

I must get back to reading P.D. James. I think I've read the first three books on the recommendation of a friend who "specializes" in reading mysteries. She assured me that they get better as the series goes on.

Ah, Pat Conroy. One of our nation's underappreciated treasures in my opinion. I have South of Broad sitting out in plain view, and I just feel happy every time I walk by it because I know I am in for a real treat. Guess I'm working on delayed gratification -- along with keeping up with library books that have been on reserve and are finally coming in all at once.

Hi and congratulations on your hot review for South of Broad listed on today's LT home page!

#45: The Paperwhite Narcissus by Cynthia Riggs.

Another in the charming Martha's Vineyard Mystery series, starring one of my favorite amateur sleuths: 92 year old Victoria Trumbull of Martha's Vineyard. She has the chief of police driving her around after they took her driver's license away, she still mounts steps like a 10 year old, climbs ladder, catches fish, and has that imperious school marm voice that can bring 60 year old men to their knees.

When she is fired from her long term job writing a news (gossip?) column for the Island Observer, she threatens to sue the editor Colley Jamison for age discrimination. A series of ugly murders gets in the way of her legal action however, and she ends up boosting the circulation of the competing island newsletter in the process of tracking down clues and solving all the murders the local and state police can't.

A perfectly delightful cozy with a strong flavor of New england and the Vineyard. The author gives us a good picture of the diverse sections of the island and the people who live there year round.

I listened to this one on audio, and my only complaint is having a British voice do the narrating. It seems very out of place. Davina Porter is one of my favorite narrators for audio books, but the voice just isn't right for Martha's Vineyard.

#110: I recently read the first book in that series. I am looking forward to reading more of them.

As far as Davina Porter goes, I love her narration of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, with one exception - the voice of Brianna, the American daughter. I think perhaps Porter is just not good at American accents.

Stasia...haven't heard from you in awhile...thanks for stopping by. I have the Outlander on my list, and think it will be one of the first books I tackle in 2010...I've gotten so caught up in doing reviews for my blog, that getting to some of the 'older' books has slipped.

I think you may be right about Davina Porter--I've listened to a lot of her stuff, and can't recall ever hearing an American accent. But then for comments on American accents, see my review of Voice of the Violin coming soon. ARRGH...........

#46 A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny.

While this is an Inspector Armand Gamache mystery, it is not set in Three Pines. It is however, every bit as tightly plotted, exquisitely written, and spell-binding as her others.

Gamache takes his beautiful wife Reine Marie to the idyllic rustic Manoir Bellechasse to celebrate their wedding anniversary (it is where they spent the first night of their honeymoon). While he's there another family has taken over the rest of the lodge, and it soon becomes apparent that these people do not like each other very much. They are there to commemorate their deceased father by unveiling and dedicating a statue to him.

As one would expect, there is a murder on site, and Gamache (along with his second in command, Jean-Guy Beaumont) goes about the ugly task of interviewing this most unhappy group of visitors and staff to solve the mystery. They are an intriguing group: the chef who looks familiar to Jean Guy, and Reine Marie, the aloof maitre d', the surly summer hire, the shy and nervous gardener, the sons of the deceased (one a total snob, the other --well---), the widow of the deceased (who has re-married) and her husband, the daughter of the deceased and her child (we must question whether a child named "Bean" is male or female--I won't tell) and the proprietess who owns and runs the shop.

Add in the ex-son-in-law (sitting in a Vancouver jail for investment fraud) and Gamache's struggles with his memories of his deceased father and this book becomes one with layer upon layer of complexity. It is frankly magnificent.

Although this is not set in Three Pines, Penny manages to involve the villagers (Peter is the son of the deceased pater who is being memorialized) and she evokes the quiet, beautiful wilderness that is the hallmark of the other books in the series.

I think Louise Penny is going to be this generation's Agatha Christie. She is that good. I love her characters, I love her settings, and she is masterful at developing plot lines. If you haven't read any of her books, take it from TUTU...you must.

Message edited by its author, Sep 26, 2009, 1:05pm.

I fear I've missed some good stuff in my 'absence' but I'm glad to be here with you again and looking forward to sharing the rest of your year :)

ETA I will read Penny as soon as I'm able -- thx :)

Message edited by its author, Sep 26, 2009, 8:49pm.

Have missed seeing you...hope it's going ok...I think of you whenever I do my weekly piano exercises. LOL

LOL I think of you guys as I don't play... oops.

#113: I agree with you about Penny. I just read that one this past week as well and think the series just continues to get better.

Happy Sunday to you Tina. I imagine the end of September fall weather in Maine is simply lovely.

What wonderful reviews you write!
I'm on the hunt for a Louise Penny mystery and Pollen's In Defense of Food

#47 The New Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie ed. by Julian Symons.

Ok...I'll confess. I've never read an Agatha Christie mystery.

We inherited this book, and when I discovered it on a shelf several weeks ago, I was delighted because I thought it was an anthology of her works, or at least a sampling, and would be a great introduction to this famous writer.

WRONG! Julian Symonds has edited this mishmash of items about Agatha Christie, including everything from reviews to articles, to publicity shots; it does not however contain any of her writings. The small (think about 8) font makes it difficult to read at night, and its large and heavy size makes it (in spite of what the title proclaims ) a "not for bathtubs" book. As an armchair companion it works, but it's much more a reference, browsing book than one to read cover-to-cover. And again, I confess, I did not, could not, can not, and will not, am I sounding like a Dr. Seuss book? read it all. I slogged through quite a bit of it, enough to realize that she is a highly regarded writer, and obviously worthy of the accolades compiled here.

If you're a Christie fan, you might like it. If like me, you've still got to cut your teeth, I suspect this is not the place to start. It did induce me to read one of her stories to find out what all the excitement is really about.

I would have found that book 'hard-going', and I've read many Christie books - I'm impressed that you attempted it.

Did you read one of her short stories?

Whenever you are ready to read your first Christie novel, I'm sure many people here would be willing to recommend a good place to start (we are good at that, aren't we??? ;)

#48 The Saint and the Fasting Girl by Anna Richenda

Anna Richenda sent me this richly worded story of a group of women living in England during the time of the early Reformation. She asked if I would be interested in reviewing it, and I agreed to read. I had recently finished Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth so I was familiar with the period and thought it sounded really fascinating.

This book has great descriptive text. Through her writing, we are transported to a time and setting of awful stenches, steaming piles of mud and manure, bone-numbing cold, gruesome starvation, teeth-chattering rains, blood and sweat and urine soaked straw mattresses, fleas, spiders and other bugs, and every other physical hardship that can be dreamt of.
As the story progresses, there are action scenes worthy of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart – lots of blood, gore, pounding hooves, waving swords and pikes and bishop’s staffs; children, horses, pigs, oxen and pregnant women being beaten, whipped, dragged away, burned and hanged; and lots of trauma (as in chopping off) of various body parts.

The chapters are well defined and divided into easy-to-read-in-one session pieces, but with chapter titles that seem, with a few exceptions, to have nothing to do with the text that follows.

I have done other reading (albeit fiction) set in this period, and have spent time literally traipsing through the area of England she talks about, so I from my limited perspective, I’d say that her historical settings are accurate portrayals of the times and places.

All that said, I need to preface the rest of this review with the caveat that I don’t like fantasy, or paranormal activity in my reading, so I really had a hard time with a lot of this. While I regret to say that I couldn’t figure out the point of this book, that doesn't mean that others won't. It's not my bag, but it should be looked at and available to others who will read and enjoy it. Here are some of my issues:

* First of all, the main character Georgia? Jane? has (had?) many lives (incarnations?) with different names, and has (had?) been killed many times but keeps coming back to be the bearer of the relic of St. Iselda. This rebirth issue made it difficult for me to get an accurate picture in my mind of what this woman looked like…something I find necessary if I’m to read a story about a main character.
* The next character "Lo" is said to be the "Chooser" but I never figured out what she was to choose.
* I never figured out what St Iselda is supposed to do (other than restore these women to power? – power over what? Men?)or when she's supposed to do it or why these women are following (worshipping?) her. Shades of Christ coming to save the world, but then again not.
* The ‘followers’ of the saint (they keep emphasizing “we’re not nuns”) go through quite a bit of persecution on the part of both the Roman and Protestant Catholics, who see any woman as a threat, nuns as whores, and treat women as chattel but why this is any different than treatment of any other group of religious at the time is not really clear.
* I know that during medieval times there was quite an emphasis on appealing to saints for protection, and relics were big big big, but never once in this book did I hear a prayer being sent heavenward to any deity…only female saints.(Right there....that'll get it on the Banned Book list! )
* Every chapter builds to a new battle with some MAN or other, and often involved some struggle to find the relic (which kept getting stolen but without the men realizing what they had?).For the first 150 pages or so, this constant distress and see-sawing held my interest; after that, I began to find myself saying ‘Oh no, not again….when is this ever going to end?’ It went on for a full 300+ pages. And maybe that’s the point? Was her point that for women, this never ended?

For me, all the aforementioned descriptive text provided way TOO MUCH descriptive INFORMATION with too little real plot or denouement. Ok …it smelled bad…it was cold…nobody took a bath…ok…I get it, but I didn’t like having to get it over and over again. And I didn't like wondering where it was going and never finding out.

If her point was to demonstrate that woman were treated poorly in Merry Olde England, she’s done that in spades. In fact, seven no trump.

If the point was to portray the customs and lifestyle of this particular cult of woman, she did that too…sorta…but I found I had to stop in the middle of the book, go to the web page listed in the acknowledgments and read about Anchorites and their practices for any of this to make sense. And this pointer was buried at the end of the book in acknowledgments---not in the front, where the reader could have used it.

Then there’s this whole issue of being reborn. I saw resonances with the tribal memories we saw in “Clan of the Cave Bear” but this was quite different…this was a reincarnation theme that had the main character coming back ….and back…and back…and bringing memories with her and dragging, and I mean drrrrrr….aaaa…..ggg…….ing this Saint into everything. Often, these revived memories appeared to have been drug induced or the result of sleep deprivation, so I found myself not accepting their validity.

As I said, I never could figure out who the Saint was (other than the owner of the blood in the relic) or what she had done to merit such devotion, or what on earth power she had that was going to turn the whole world into one dominated by women where men weren’t needed.
And I never did figure out which of these ladies was ‘the fasting girl’ – I think there was more than one, but….?

Did I mention that I don’t normally read in the paranormal genre, nor do I read or enjoy fantasy. This book, though billed as historical fiction, reads much more like fantasy. There were times when I half expected Wonder Woman to rise from the bubbling stream of muck! Or a unicorn to come bounding out of the woods to rescue the princess or girl or nun or whatever she was! I probably wasn’t the right person to review this. I think this book would have been helped immensely by putting some background material at the beginning. If I hadn’t gone and delved into her reference on the Internet, I’d never have finished it.

So....If you’ve never heard of Anchorites (and that term was NEVER mentioned in the book itself—I had to discover it on the internet), if you’ve no experience of religious women living in community (I was educated by nuns from 1st grade through college and I still have trouble understanding it), and if you’ve never read anything else about this period, this is probably not the book to start with.

On the other hand.... If you’re well versed in Reformation England history and its religious battles, and enjoy adding to your knowledge of the period, if you like some fantasy mixed in your fiction, you may find this to be a welcome addition to your library. It would in fact, make a great Reading Group discussion book for those who like this genre.

Message edited by its author, Sep 28, 2009, 1:55pm.

#49 Tunnel Vision by Sara Paretsky

Reminiscent of Kinsey Milhone in Sue Grafton's alphabet series, V.I (Vic) Warshawski, private detective let's her enthusiasm for a cause get her into hot water. This is the first of these books I have read, but I suspect it follows the previous pattern. It's a good read, not a great one, but does give the reader a sense of adventure on the one hand, and frustration on the other, as Vic continually ignores advice from her boyfriend (a cop), her older gentlmen neighbor, licensed social workers, attorneys and journalists to do her own thing.

In the end, the missing are rescued, the bad guys end up in jail, and the murders get solved....those aren't spoilers, they're the general theme of all such cookie cutter mysteries with "wonder woman" leading ladies.

I like your phrase "womder woman" leading ladies. It has a ring to it.

Happy Saturday to you Tina.

Hi Tina!

We are having a relaxing 3 day weekend and so I'm surfacing briefly until we plunge back into Monday--busy time of year for me. And having a retired hubby is keeping me even busier! I've been lurking but Haven't had time or energy to post much lately.

I loved your review of the V.I. Warshawski book. I've been toying with the idea of starting that series (like I need another series in my like!) and it sounds like you've saved me from wasting my time.

Years ago I got about halfway through the alphabet with Kinsey Milhone and finally decided I was having trouble telling the books apart. I remember that one of the early ones (I think it was "B") was pretty good and one about 3 before I quit was good--the rest were "time passers" and I don't don't have that much time for reading now!

I do enjoy your thread!

Hey lady -- I'm shocked, really, that you haven't read Christie. Not that's it's sooo marvelous (although I enjoy her stuff more often than not). I'm just astounded that you managed it... I can't remember the times I've been somewhere and the only reading material available was Christie...

#50 Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini

An ER book from the July list

This is a "clear your calendar and prepare to stay up all night" thriller. Although Martini plants numerous clues, and the reader thinks he knows what's happening, the plot twists are numerous, and aggregate into an incredible story featuring the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war, Homeland Security, the Columbian and Mexican drug cartels, a beautiful model from Costa Rica, Guantanamo bay detainees, missing nuclear weapons, and a bunch of lawyers in San Diego California trying to prosecute or defend the beautiful model when she is accused of killing a local coin dealer (who turns out to be a retired CIA operative).

Anyone else trying to tie all that together would have left us in a sinking morass of confusion. Martini pulls it into a breath-taking fast-paced, very scary (because it's so believable) story with an acceptable resolution.

I've read several others in the Paul Madriani series. I think this is definitely the best. I'll certainly be looking for the rest.

#127 Tina, this book looks great - do I have to read all the earlier books in the series before this one makes sense?

No I think they stand alone, which is one of things I like...It's been over a year since I read the last one (and I haven't been reading them in order---just whatever is available) and I didn't need anything from a previous episode to follow this one. It was a good old fashioned heart pounder.

Tina

That sounds like an author I need to check out. Especially if i don't have to read them in order!

#51 Moth ( Lew Griffin Mysteries) by James Sallis

This was another pleasant surprise. I was looking for new to me authors and detective series in the audio book download list from the library. This is book #2, and it was available so I gave it a try.

I like this character, and enjoyed this book. There's not much plot though, Lew Griffin, big tough teddybear ex detective turned college English lit prof, takes the reader along on the ride as he looks for the daughter of his ex-wife, and several other missing persons. All unofficial of course.

The man has a tendency to "land in mud", followed by hospitals,and is nursed back to health by a series of motherly nurses and ex girlfriends.

The best thing about this one was the audio. I enjoyed the excellent reading which took me back to time spent in New Orleans. The accents are authentic and rich.

A great rainy afternoon listen. Not great literature, but good characters and soothing story telling to portray an essentially human and humane character. I'm going to look for some others in the series.

#129 Wonderful news! I've added Guardian of Lies to the wishlist!

#52 Absolute Certainty by Rose Connors

A weekly audio, I listened to this last night when I had a hard time sleeping (seasonal allergies) and while I was up in the attic cataloging some more books --got another box done.

This was a knockout. The main character, Marty Nickerson is an assistant DA in Barnstable Cty, Massachusetts-- Cape Cod. A series of particularly heinous murders of young males has her doubting the validity of the first conviction, since the murders continue while the first 'murderer' sits in jail. Did they convict the wrong person? Is the 2nd person arrested the real criminal? Something is fishy, and when she voices her doubts, she is promptly put down by her bosses.

Her relationships with her bosses-particularly chain-smoking Geraldine Shilling who aspires to become the first female DA in the county; with the "kid" - the young new attorney in the DA's office; and with the public defender Harry Madigan, who works with her to discover whether they've got the right guy, are well drawn.

The plot develops steadily, with each chapter racheting up the suspense as more evidence (is it admissable?) piles up. When Marty continues to question her superiors, the action really picks up. The story is so tightly written, that I did not guess the identity of the murderer until Connors tells us.

As an audio, it was as easy to follow as text. There are now four more Marty Nickerson mysteries in this well-written series, and you can bet I'll be looking for them either in print or in audio.

Tina
Guardian of Lies sounds great. I'm adding it to the pile.

#133: That one sounds right up my alley. I will look for that series. Thanks for the recommendation, Tina.

Absolute Certainty has been added to my Wish List. I may have to spend next year reading only mystery series. I've added so many this year to the ones I already have (and haven't been keeping up with because I didn't make a 999 category for them) I won't have time for anything else! And I thought LT was helping me get away from being a mystery junkie! :-D

BTW That was a very nice review.

Carolyn, I'm almost tempted to do a mystery series challenge....I love them, and like you, I joined these other challenges to try to expand my view, but I could easily do a 2010 just on mysteries- new ones, series, women PIs, crime, thrillers, cozies....hmmm this is sounding fun...

Anyway, like said (maybe on another thread) I'm pretty certain that I'm going to stay on the 75 in a year (although I'll probably finish that 3x) and then at the end, I'll categorize if I feel there's some reason to.

I'm getting about 1-2 ARCs a week, and with those and all the hints I get from LTers, I have more than enough to keep me happyily reading thru 2010....and that's what it's all about...happy happy happy.

Finally, with my blog, I find I get to bloviate without necessarily tying it to an LT challenge.

Off to read True Compass the kennedy memoir I got from the publisher as an ARC, and to finish my last ER book for reviews---both excellent.

I started reading the Ted Kennedy memoir but I find that it's something I sit and read for a bit and then turn back to, every so often.

It is very good.

I'm finishing a Frank Lloyd Wright biography and then will probably turn to something else for awhile. I don't like to read two biographies in a row.

I hear ya on reading two birographies in a row...they all seem so big, and I too tend to read them in pieces.. unlike books with a plot, you can put them down, pick them up and again, and not be lost.

The FLW bio isn't that long--it just seems endless. Don't get me wrong--it's interesting, but it just seems longer than it is. I am reading it on my Kindle so I had no idea how many pages til I looked that up (only 251 pgs).

Kennedy has a good writing style so i don't mind it so much.

I've been hoping to read the bio of Peanuts cartoonist, Charles Schulz, which is also long.

#53 Rizzo's War by Steve Martini my last ER book left to review - i'll post in a wee bit.

#54 Inventing a Nation by Gore Vidal

If you've read any biographies of the 1st three presidents, this book will actually be boring, unless you are a great fan of Gore Vidal's snarky 'insights.' I didn't learn anything new, and found myself constantly asking "What's the point?"

A quick read for those who want only an overview of these three founders, and who don't mind editorial comments mixed in with their 'history.'

#55 A Christmas Secret by Anne Perry.

I know it's a bit early for Christmas, but I had been reading a lot of heavy thrilller, chiller, heavy psycho stuff and wanted something really light and fluffy. I had read this several years ago and remembered it as being vey soothing. I listened to it this week while baking, making jelly, and trying out my new video game. Really gave me a mental boost.

It's very uplifting...story of a country vicar and his wife in a little teeny village in the snow with the fireplace and the dog and a murder they figure out so all can live happily ever after.

If you need a quick pick me up, brew some cinnamon tea, throw a log in the fire, put the cat in your lap, and settle back for a couple hours. It was only 4 audio discs, so figure about a 2 1/2 hour read ---unless you're Stasia and then figure you can whip through it during the seventh inning stretch. LOL.

I like these Anne Perry Christmas novellas. I read the new one every year. It's getting cool enough to start reading these seasonal books, that's for sure.

142: I've been known to sing Christmas carols in the middle of July (hey, they're so addictive!) so I'm not one to judge :)

I have not read that one by Perry yet. I just discovered the Christmas books by her last year, and so have only read one. I will add that one to Planet TBR.

I have no idea how you got the idea that I can read that quickly! Not that I do not appreciate the compliment :)

Wow...thanks guys....I didn't realize she was doing a whole series of Christmas books...I'll have to go hunting. It's getting to be that time of year anyway when I'm just about full of murder and mayhem and wanting to sit back and decompress a little. In fact, I just spent a 1/2 hour browsing thru a Christmas cookie cookbook --a real cookbook. Lots of good ideas, but I'll just dream for awhile. It's easier on the hips.

Tina, I just checked fantastic fiction and was surprised to learn that A Christmas Promise, due out later this month, is the 7th in her Christmas series.

I manage to read a lot of authors' lesser-known series and the Christmas one is the first Anne Perry series I'd read. I love Christmas mysteries.

Thanks Linda...our library has the whole batch in audio, so I'll pick them off a couple at a time, and rip them so I can have them to listen to as we get closer to Christmas. I'll also keep my eyes open for Christmas Promise. I just got a really interesting ARC called Secrets of a Christmas Box--so I could put a Christmas category in my 2nd 999 and finish up in a hurry at this rate!. I really want to read A Christmas Carol too--never quite finished it last year for my 2008 challenge

#148: Tina, there is a wonderful audio version of A Christmas Carol recorded by the late Frank Muller and available from Recorded Books (if your local library does not have it). My family listens to it every year at Christmas.

#56 Devil's Claw by J.A. Jance.

I thought I had read most of the Joanna Brady series by J.A.Jance, but found out I'm missing several in my repertoire. So this one popped up on the library's download list as available, and I'm glad I grabbed it. It's a great mystery read--well plotted, friendly characters, good setting, w/o being onerously ponderous.

In this episode, Joanna is eagerly anticipating her wedding in a few weeks, although not eager about meeting her fiance's parents. In the meantime, she's trying to solve a murder, locate a missing teenage who happens to be the daughter of the murder victim, deal with the unexpected death of her beloved next-door neighbor, and keep her feet on the ground, and her mother off her back.

I was a bit confused about the ending at first, I really had to sit down and almost draw myself a diagram to see how the pieces fit so nicely together. Jance's explanation may have wrapped it all up a bit too neatly, and left me saying 'Huh?' When I finally understood what had happened and why, it made sense, but I think the resolution of the main crime (the murder) case could have been a bit more carefully explained as far as who all the players were and how they were involved.

Won't keep me from reading the rest of the series tho.

Tina
Happy New England Fall to you! You are reading some great books!

#57 Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

This is one of those books that just jumbles your emotions, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who values good writing and deep characters --you don't have to like them, or like what happens, but what a story!

Having never read any of Lisa See's books, I wasn't sure what to expect. I finished this one earlier this week, but had to let it settle before I could decide how I felt about it.

Normally I try to describe the characters, the setting, enough of the plot to interest to spark an interest and then comment on how I liked (or didnt like the book).

The characters: May and Pearl are sisters born in Shanghai and raised by parents who are much more liberal and open-minded about the role of women than their ancestors. Although their mother suffers from having had her feet bound as an infant, the girls did not, and are able to wear high heels, work as models, go to nightclubs and generally enjoy the good life. However, their father turns out to have gambled the family's money away, and to pay off his debts to the Chinese mafia, he arranges marriages for his daughters, something their mother had promised would never happen.

The setting: We are treated to a very realistic description of Shanghai (I've seen it described as the Paris of the Orient) in the 1930's. Then once the Japanese invade China, we see the Chinese countryside, the brutal treatment of the Chinese by the Japanses, and then are transported to Angel's Island off the coast of California, where the sisters are incarcerated for almost a year waiting to be believed that they are in fact married to Chinese who are American citizens. The Angel's Island scenes are reminscent to me of Ellis Island, and while they can be depressing, they are enobling in the scenes of women taking care of each other.

After their release from Angel's Island, the sisters settle with their husbands' family (they married brothers) in the Chinatown section of Los Angeles.

From here the book is devoted to a description of the Chinese immigrants who live in America and who are divided into the group who longs to return to 'the old country' and those who want to assimilate into American life and wants their children to have a better life (AKA The american Dream). As the anti=communist campaign in American heats up in the 1950's we see the results of secrets kept, lies told, papers lost, and dreams shattered. The constant conflict between the old and the new, the wish to honor one's past and one's ancestors and still belong to the present makes this a compelling story.

I really enjoyed this book, I learned a lot about many subjects where I knew very little, and I developed an appreciation for the trials of all immigrants- legal and illegal. I wish the ending had been different, (can't say anymore without a spoiler) but I was left with the thought that there may be room for a sequel. That way one could see the ending as the precursor to a new beginning and that's what immigration and settlement in a new country is all about.

#58 A Novena for Murder by Sr. Carol Anne O'Marie

A sweet and sassy cozy written by a nun featuring a 70 year old nun as the amateur sleuth. Sent against her wishes to her alma mater to "retire,' Sr. Mary Helen finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, helping a former student who is now a San Francisco police detective find out the who and why.

I went to a school exactly like Mt. St Francis (mine was Mt St Agnes) and our dear Auntie whom you've heard me speak of so fondly lived right where this is set, so I could really relate to this. Besides, some of the main suspects (and the victim) were Portuguese, so this was a no-brainer for me to pick up and read. It's not Nobel Prize lit, but it's fun. A nice afternoon's read--perfect for the fog and rain of the San Francisco setting.

I read that mystery a few years ago and loved it. And I also love San Francisco. As I recall I found a couple more with Sr. Carol Anne O'Marie that I also enjoyed.

#59 True Compass:A Memoir by Edward M. Kennedy

I have always been a fan of the entire Kennedy clan, so it is hard for me to be objective when 'reviewing' this book. It is well written with typical Kennedy lyric prose; it is well-organized into sections that are somewhat different from a typical lineal time-line autobiography; it contains dozens of photographs that are not the standards we're used to seeing; and most important, it gives us an insight into a man who may be the least known of the famous family.

When I say least known, I don't mean not famous or well-known, but more private in terms of sharing his thoughts and inner motivations. The influence of his father, and his older brothers is beautifully explained, as well as his love of sailing and the sea (hence the title.)

We are treated to stories about his relations with his parents, all his siblings and their spouses, his children and grandchildren, both his wives, his dozens of nieces and nephews, and his close friends. In these, his introspection shines, as he opens the door to his feelings and emotions which have often been tucked away from private view.

His respect for the Senate, and his pride in having served there for so long and so well are quite evident, and provide us with some of the most eloquent prose in the book, although here the book could have done with a bit of editing down...there was lots of detailed information about meetings, and phone calls and bargains struck that probably could have been pared a bit.

His love for his family is especially evident, in the chapter where he speaks of being buffeted by the deaths of his mother at age 104, his nephew Michael in a skiing accident, Jackie Onnasis, and his nephew John Kennedy Jr in a plane crash -- all within five years. As the surviving patriarch, he is called upon to eulogize all of them, a feat that requires him to keep his own grief somewhat tucked in.

In the end of this he quotes his father in a letter Joe Kennedy Sr wrote to a grieving friend on the loss of his son:

"There are no words to dispel your feelings at this time, and there is no time that will ever dispel them...I cannot share your grief, because no one could share mine. When one of your children goes out of your life, you think of what he might have done with a few more years, and you wonder what you are going to do with the rest of yours. Then one day, because there is a world to be lived in, you find yourself a part of it again, trying to accomplish something--something that he did not have time enough to do. And, perhaps, that is the reason for it all. I hope so."

Ted Kennedy continues: "I wish that life were simpler. I wish that loved ones didn't have to die too young. I wish that tragedy never haunted a single soul. But to wish all that is to ask for an end to our humanity. God, family, and country sustain us all."

His indomitable spirit, inherited from parents, and nourished by his experiences in this incredible family, have left us all enriched. His memoir provides us with the inspiration to continue his work.

Message edited by its author, Oct 17, 2009, 8:12pm.

#155 Great review, Tina. There aren't any reviews posted on LT for this book yet - I hope you'll put yours up.

hope this stops the italics!

Sorry all==italics were my problems.....and I have posted the review on LT - AGAIN. I also post them there first and then come over the the threads and expand a bit, but I was in a hurry to get to church, so i think must have exited w/o saving. So thanks for the catch. now...I just have to post on the 999 thread and my blog and I'll be done for the night.

I got a new ARC today, which hadn't been in the queue but it is a YA book I want to check out for grandgirl and our town library, so I'm going to settle in and read Spellbinderby Helen Springer which looks really good....

Thanks to all for stopping by.

#60 : I DID IT!! I finally...........read an Agatha Christie!!

I happened on The Mysterious Affair at Styles at the local library last week---in audio. Yesterday and today, while it rained and the wind blew and the football games raged on the tellie, I listened to this delightful story whiere Hercule Poirot and his sidekick Hastings are introduced to the world.

Everybody know them and there's no need for a review. I'll just say I enjoyed it tremendously, and will definitely be making it a life challenge to read all of hers..

Message edited by its author, Oct 18, 2009, 11:17pm.

#61 The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo.

This is an absolutely sweet delightful beautiful children's book. I got it to give my granddaughter for her birthday at the end of the month, but I am going to have a hard time parting with it.

This is what I posted on my blog:

" Tutu" is hawaiian for 'grandmother' and although this Tutu doesn't usually review children's books, this one is super special. Toni Buzzeo, the author, is a fellow Maine librarian, author of many gorgeous children's books, and when this one came into our town library last week, Tutu could not resist buying one to give to our grand-daughter for her upcoming birthday. Buzzeo has a long list of wonderful children's books to her credit, and I urge you to take a look on her webpage, if for no other reason than to dispel the stereotype of the uptight, rigid librarian of mythology.

Besides the beautiful prose, the illustrations by Mary GrandPre (she of Harry Potter cover fame) which are done in oils, are breathtaking.

The story, one of quiet beauty, portrays the intense loneliness of the life of a small girl living alone with her parents on an island off the coast of Maine where the lighthouse helped protect ships at sea. A violent storm washes ashore a seachest with a special treasure inside. This gorgeous book is spellbinding for the 4-8 age group, and inspiring for adults. The illustrations are absolutely spectacular.

If you are looking for a special gift for a special child, this is it. If you don't have a special child in your life, then treat the child in yourself and wallow in this book for awhile. It's a stunner.

Message edited by its author, Oct 18, 2009, 11:17pm.

Several good books for me to add to the recently rechristened BlackHole TBR. Thanks for your reviews and recommendations, Tina. Your thread is definitely unsafe for me!

Fun about the Christie. Poirot and Miss Marple are my favorites.
The Sea Chest sounds lovely.

#62 Chocolate: A Love Story: 65 Chocolate Dessert Recipes from Max Brenner's Private Collection

I got this as an ARC. I don't dislike chocolate, but I confess that I am by no means a chocoholic, so I thought this might spur me to dive more into this delicious (and good for you) ingredient.

This is a cookbook....there is very little text except for the recipes themselves. It comes appropriately blurbed on the back cover by Paula Dean and John Travolta and Kelly Preston. There are some interesting but pretty normal recipes...

For instance, my husband always had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for his birthday, a habit we've kinda gotten out of these past years. Now I have the recipe for "my lost childhood chocolate birthday cake sprinkled with shiny colorful candy tears" (lower case is from the author!), and it looks like something I might be able to concoct although I've never tried to make chocolate ganache....

Then there are the more esoteric concoctions--I myself could go for the 'therapeutic chocolate pot pie with a rich filling of soul-refreshing strawberries'.......at least it comes with a picture to tempt me.

And herein lies my big problem with this book: While the recipes have lots of yummy ingredients, clearly written and come with 3-4 lines of 'teaser text', the pictures are IMHO AWFUL. I am not an art deco person, and when I pick up a cookbook, I want to see a picture of what this is supposed to look like when I'm finished mixing all these ingredients together. I don't want to see something that looks like a 1st grader made from torn construction paper. The illustrations are done by Yonotan Factor, and they are not pushing any buttons for me.

But there's chocolate rice pudding, meaningless sweet spaghetti, and bad-boy chocolate pizza. And then there's 'military porridge' with the following introduction:

"My love, three years have passed since I last saw you. So many things are changing around me and the war seems endless. Only this late afternoon ritual, standing in the long line of soldiers in front of the huge aluminum saucepans covered with steam leaves me with the feeling that after all there are some things that never change in life. Still waiting for your letter."

This is on a page opposite a very tacky art deco sillouette of helmets atop rifles, with a tank and a missile in the background. Ok...what pray tell does that have to do with food? The recipe appears to be a semolina bowl of grits/polenta type gruel, topped with sugar, water, heavy cream, cooked together to make a toffee sauce, and sprinkled with milk choc chips...I guess we have to be there.

In spite of its avant garde-ness, it's a fun book. If you don't mind the illustrations, and you love chocolate, this is the book for you.

#63 Death is a Cabaret by Deborah Morgan.

This was quite a nice little surprise. I chose this as my audio read to balance the heavier pschycological and fantasy reads I am doing: A Circle of Souls, Spellbinder, and even The Christmas Cookie Club are all pretty meaty for me.

Anyway this delightful little cozy tells the story of an auction of the Empress Josephine's tea cabaret. I had no idea until I read this that a 'cabaret' is a tea set...and what a specimen this one was.

Our antique dealer Jeff Talbott, a 'retired' FBI agent, finds himself on Mackinaw Island in Michigan at a weekend auction when his rival 'picker' and then the auctioneer are found dead.

The supporting cast includes a rich couple who love to dress up, a trio of loony ladies from the South, a stuffy hotel staff, and the local police department who are all too happy to have a 'fed' solve the murders for them.....they haven't had one in almost 50 years!

It was a fun audio, well plotted, and a little deeper than I expected. I'm going to look for more in the series.

#64 Spellbinder by Helen Springer.

MOVE OVER HARRY POTTER!!! Belladonna Johnson is here! This delightful book (an ARC) arrived yesterday, and it looked so fascinating that I moved it to the top of the queue, and bumped a couple others I'm reading to the side. I finished this in a day. It's billed for 9-12 yr olds, YA LIT, but this is going to be enjoyed by all ages from about 9 up (I'd be more inclined to say 10 or 11 but....)

Belladonna sees ghosts...she sees her parents, who died in an accident 2 years ago, but who still live at home with her and take care of her, although officially, she lives with her grandma who is still alive and who also sees ghosts.

Things are going just fine, until her parents disappear to the Land of the Dead (THE OTHER SIDE) and she sets out to find them, and to prevent other dire and drastic occurences from happening. She is accompanied in this adventure by another ghost Elsie, who 'died' tripping over a tennis net 100 years ago when she won her match, and by Steve--the school's bad boy who turns out to be very handy at breaking and entering and slaying hounds, and all those other things a spare manchild can be useful for.

This is a delightful book. I don't read a lot of fantasy, but this one had me turning the pages as fast as I could gallop along to find out what happened next. There are beasties, and baddies, and wicked Queens, and spells, and elixirs, and magic rulers. Everything one needs for a good old fashioned ghostie fantasy. It it due to be published this month, and I suspect it will become a runaway big seller.

Finally, I noticed,happily, that the ending left plenty of room for further adventures. I hope so. Belladonna is a real winner.

Hey, if you're comparing it to Harry Potter I'm in!

#164/165: Adding both of those to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendations, Tina.

#65 A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi

All I can say is Wow! Anyone who knows me can tell you that I don't normally read scary stories, stories about child murders, and I normally shun anything that is about the "paranormal." So why am I reading so many of them lately? A Circle of Souls was sent to my by the author Dr. Preetham Grandhi back in July and I'm ashamed that I haven't gotten to it sooner. It's a winner!

I've finished it, and I'm not quaking in my boots, and I don't think I'm going to have nightmares. While the subject matter is unpleasant, the writing is so crisp, clear and centered on the good guys that it quickly becomes a real page turner.

This debut book is extremely well-written, has a tightly woven plot, and well-developed characters. Beginning with seemingly separate stories: a brutally murdered young girl and another young girl with hellacious nightmares, the author moves us inexhorably toward the meeting of these two separate stories and blends them believably into one. In the beginning, there are no clues to the murder, and no reason (either physical or mental) for the nightmares, but they are related, and the pychiatrist treating the young nightmare victim intuits their relationship from drawings made by his patient. As he searches for the meaning of her drawings, and recognizes the locale in the pictures, he anguishes over how to help his patient and whether he should share his intuitions with the special FBI agent who has been called in to help local police investigate the case.

This is not a normal murder mystery suspense thriller. The characters are the strong point in this story: even the bad guys are well developed, with sound background and motivation presented to pull the reader in. There is a large dose of the paranormal entwined with Indian cultural traditions, and Jamaican/West African folklore. There are several side issues and players building enough doubt in the reader's mind to make it interesting and challenging to figure out 'whodunit.'

It was written in short chapters that encouraged the reader to read 'just one more' before putting the book down, and in the end, to just continue reading to the climax. Let's hope that Preetham Grandhi has more such well-written tales up his sleeve.

A note: I find it fascinating that two of the best books I've read this year are debut crime stories written by doctors...the other was "Wife of the Gods" by Dr. Kwei Quartey. We may not be able to read their prescriptions, but their books are great.

Just found out this book A Circle of Souls won the prize for best General Fiction in the USA Book News "National Best Books 2009" Awards. Here's the link.

#66 The Brass Verdict Michael Connelly

A great audio...I'm becoming a big fan of Michael Connelly. This is the first Harry Bosch I've 'read' and I'm definitely going to be looking for the earlier ones. This is a wonderful courtroom drama, combined with a police procedural that features crooked lawyers, arrogant defendants, recovering drug addicts, and a dynamite ending.

I love Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Glad to see you are enjoying it as well.

#67 The Christmas Cookie Club by Anne Pearlman.

This one has good recipes, great little non-fiction essays on the history of various ingredients, like flour, butter, almonds, chocolate, vanilla, etc, loosely tied together by the stories of the 12 women who form the Christmas cookie club. They meet the first Monday of December to exchange cookies and catch up for the year.

Their stories are wooden, formulaic, and re-hash many of today's "women's" issues (sex, divorce, pregnancy, widowhood, money, sullen teenagers, aging parents, etc etc) with nothing much new to say about them. The author could have done a much better job of building some character into these women. They all seem like wax figures from a museum who spit out their stories when someone winds them up and it's their turn.

I enjoyed the food parts, but could have easily skipped the soap opera.

#171: I think I am skipping that one. I hope your next read is better for your, Tina!

#68 Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves.

This was originally slotted to be a group read by our Read Around Maine group, but that group seems to have dissolved. I decided to read it when I needed something less cerebral than some of the other books on my list. It was actually a delightful little mystery, set in small town Maine, capturing the flavor of the town, the culture of those living by the sea and making their living from the sea. Jacobia Triptee lives in a falling down Victorian house which she is remodeling, has an ex-husband who is the proverbial jerk, and a teenage son trying to adjust to living in a small town after having lived in a big city.

When the dead body shows up in the pantry, and her friend confesses to the murder, Jake sets out to prove her friend innocent. There are several suspects, and the plot is convoluted enough to make it really interesting. This was the first in the "Home Repair is Homicide Series" and I'll definitely look for more.

#173: I have read all the books in that series and enjoyed them. They are just comfy reads for me. I hope you get to read more of them, Tina.

#69 The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel

This was quite an interesting read following on the heels of The Christmas Cookie Club. The Recipe Club is a Mercedes compared to Pearlman's Chevy. Recipe Club is a fabulous read. It's a novel about friendship, a cookbook, and a history of the relationship of two women from the time they are in their pre-teens through their mid-twenties; then again after a 20+ year hiatus following "a disagreement", and to the present when they reunite.

The recipes are numerous and diverse, cleverly woven into the story of Lilly and Val, and their parents. The girls form a Recipe Club, correspond via mail, and help each other throughout their lives, up to the time when Val graduates from college. They are as different as night and day. Neither set of parents would ever be nominated for parents of the year, and the girls help each other relate to parents by seeing them through the other's eyes.

The book is written not just in the letters, but also as emails (when the relationship takes up again in 2000) and also has a section written in normal fiction format.

It is an elegant, thoughtful, delicious book. You have to love the two characters, although you also want to smack them. You have to wonder how two people who are so different in so many ways, can stay such good friends. And then you wonder as you work your way through the book, what caused the estrangement.

The ending of the book was quite surprising to me, but I think I should have seen it coming. It's a well-written, well=planned book that will be enjoyed by women of all ages.

The characters have so much more depth than Pearlman's women, while dealing with many of the same real life issues. It's amazing to read them back to back and compare. There truly is no comparison. If you have to read only one, pick The Recipe Club. You won't be disappointed.

That's good that you could read those two books together. The contrast must have been a lot easier to identify and describe with both so fresh in your mind. Have you tried recipes from both books? Were the recipes better in The Recipe Club as well?

The Recipes in the Cookie Club were all cookies....and most of them appeared to be pretty standard recipes (and not necessarily what I'd consider Festive Christmas cookies). There is one recipe that I've done before (I don't have the book with me at the moment) that involves making cookies cut into stars of different sizes, then stacking them and drizzling with frosting --- it makes a tree, and it's easy and elegant.

Now the recipes in the Recipe Club book look great...they are well presented, and cover everything from appetizers, to drinks to entrees and desserts. I haven't tried any yet, cause I'm on the road, but when I get back, I'm going to spend a few minutes to identify a couple to try. I almost feel guilty reviewing a recipe book w/o commenting on the recipes, but wanted to put the book review up while my memory was fresh.

#70 The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.

Normally, I don't have a great interest in witches, witchcraft, or even the Salem history about them. But this book is so well written that it really has whetted my interest to find out more. While not exclusively historical fiction, it is fictional and does have as its central theme witchcraft and the question of whether it was responsible for the events that occurred in Salem Massachusetts in the late 1600's.

Connie Goodwin, a PhD candidate at Harvard, is trying to define the topic she will develop for her dissertation. As summer opens, her mother, living in the Southwest, phones to ask Connie to please spend the summer cleaning out her dead grandmother's vacant but furnished house in Marblehead. While there, Connie discovers that the house has no electricity, no phone, a mountain of grime encrusted furniture, a collection of filthy bottles, and a jungle-like yard, completely hiding the house from the road. Urged on by an academic advisor whose motives become more suspect as the story unfolds, she begins her dissertation research at the same time she moves to the house.

The principle discovery on her grandmother's shelves is a Bible and key. Inside the key, there is a tiny curled piece of paper with the name Deliverance Dane. Connie's search for information about "Livvy" Dane leads her to various libraries, archives, auction houses, as she becomes more and more anxious to find Dane's missing 'receipt' book. In the process, she meets Sam the steeple climber who is an old house restoration expert.

Howe skillfully weaves the story of Deliverance and her decendants -- and the story of her book-- with the present day story of Connie and her immediate antecedants -- and the story of her search for the book. We are lead inexorably to a climax where evil, romance, reconciliation, and historical conformation all meet. It was powerful, emminently readable, and exciting.

Howe gives us a short but interesting list of sources to get us started on our own quest to find out more.

Message edited by its author, Nov 7, 2009, 5:15pm.

Tina

It is interesting that I am visiting your thread after returning home from the library where I obtained a copy of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. I love visiting Salem, MA and the enviorns there. Years ago I went to Salem during Halloween season! What a riot! It was an experience I will long remember! The streets were crowed. There were booths throughout the commons with people advertising to read palms. There were people walking around in witches costumes.

I have Wolf Hall next up because I cannot renew that one, but after that your book #70 is next.

Thanks, as always, for the excellent review!

I imagine this time of year is pretty where you live, but cold...

opps..I forgot to mention that I gave your wonderful review a thumbs up.

Linda....thanks for stopping by....I think Maine probably is pretty right now, but we are actually in Florida attending a big ships reunion week (you can read about it on Tutu's Two Cents. We head back later this week, and I'm hoping we get snowed in so we'll have an excuse to relax and do nothing.... Enjoy Howe's book...it's a winner, and thanks for giving me the thumb. LOL

Deliverance Dane makes 2 books on the Salem Witch Trials to read in my recent perusal of the threads (the other being The Heretic's Daughter). I really must get reading!

Yes, Stasia, you really must get reading. Heaven knows, as all of your friends here on the 75 challenge group, that you do not read enough books. 500 in one year simply isnt enough. You really must stop sleeping those 1-2 hours a night to make up for your slack.

(of, course I'm kidding.)!!!!

#184: I wasn't!

#71 Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon by Nancy Atherton.

I can't say why I like these books...the premises that a diary can 'talk' by writing magic words, grown women talk to stuffed bunny rabbits, and life is this idyllic in a small village in the Cottswolds would normally having me gagging. But I love them. They are kind, quiet, sweet, soothing, fun, and well-written. In this one, Lori, the heroine, imagines intrigue, gets it all wrong, but manages to have Aunt Dimity (the diary) console her in her angst while her husband solves the mystery. The setting of an elaborate Renaissance faire lends an air of festiveness that makes it quite a fun read.

This sounds like a fun book. Hang in there Tina...You are very near completion of the 75 challenge goal!

#186: I like the Aunt Dimity books, too. I have not read that one yet, so I will have to track it down!

Stasia....that is a new one as I found out to my regret when I tried to renew it (library book) online from Florida only to be told that 'new books' were only eligible for one renew. I had to throw myself on the mercy of the library staff (a neighboring town) to get an extension. It was worth it.

Thank goodness for merciful librarians!

#190 I don't remember ever encountering a librarian who couldn't be won over eventually by pleading for just a few more days. Some of the librarians in our local branch will even advise people to just keep their book past the due date and finish it if it can't be renewed because there's a waiting list for it. At only 5 cents a day, the fines are no deterrent.

I've known our library's Director of Circulation since I was a little girl. I had an overdue book once, about 20 years ago, and the good-natured kidding and shame I received from our old friend made me never have another overdue book.

#72: Angels: a pop-up book Andrea Palladio
ok.....the touchstone only works when you use the Andrea Palladio title--trust me, it's the correct book, just weird title on the touchstone!

Some people display trains at Christmas, some people build villages, some have hundreds of Santas and elves. I do Angels. My late blessed mother-in-law got me started by giving us a set of seven ceramic angels of various sizes and colors and shapes for our first Christmas together. No matter where we lived as we traveled around the world, those angels came out of their box and we knew it was home, and it was Christmas. In the meantime, I've been collecting angels to add to the scene (they are placed around our creche) from Japan, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Italy, England, Scotland, you name it.

When this ARC arrived today my first thought was that it would make a splendid Christmas gift for our grand-daughter, who also collects angels, but that thought lasted two nanoseconds--only until I opened the first page. THIS BOOK IS MINE. It is absolutely breathtaking in concept. I had no choice but to drop everything I was doing and sit down and wallow in its beauty. The research and descriptions are splendid---they really enhance the exquisite.

Arranged in three sections: "Messengers", "A Hierarchy of Angels", and "Secular Angels," it has something for everyone. Whether you believe angels are a spiritual reality serving in the celestial family of the deity, or you think they are simply decorative adornments to art works, this book will appeal to you.

The pop-up format adds considerably to its enjoyment bringing a third dimension to the reader's experience. In addition to gigantic and detailed two page pop-ups, (they can be seen from either side of the book-front and back) there are tiny side "books" (about 3x4) on the sides with additional pictures and text supplementing the visual sensation. It certainly is not a book to be handed to a young toddler, but a youngster who can sit with a parent, or grandparent, or aunt or uncle and respect a book will be as enchanted as the adult doing the reading. I'll just give you a peek...then you can go get yours and enjoy. Fischer's artwork is masterful and can only be believed by seeing it in person. This picture will whet your appetite, but it does not do it justice. Here's The Archangel Michael.




.

Message edited by its author, Nov 18, 2009, 8:47pm.

WOW! Your description is lovely! Since it is an ARC, I'm wondering if/when it will be ready for general publication. I'm now scurring off to do a google search.

Oh I think it's available now....I actually won it in a blog contest.

#193: That is so cool! I must find a copy.

#73: Malice Prepense by Kate Wilhelm

I enjoy courtroom dramas--I think even more than basic detective who-dun-its. Barbara Holloway, the defense attorney in Wilhelm's wonderful series, is really beginning to hit her stride in this episode (it's the third in the series) as she builds a defense for the accused, the father of a severely retarded child, and whose wife had an affair with the murdered congressman.

There is a marvelous cast of characters, a polyester clad investigator, a bubbly young attorney helping Barbara, Frank Holloway- Barbara's widowed father- the senior semi-retired partner in the firm, and a wonderful cook and gardener.

To make it all really interesting, the case is being presided over by a judge who has a real prejudice against the defense, and who keeps restricting Barbara's ability to present information she feels is important.

Finally there's a love interest--the mine inspector whom she hired to get some more detail on what the deceased congressman might have been investigating. It's a dynamite story, twists, turns, ups, downs. I thought I had it solved twice, and was wrong both times. This series is a great one, and I hope that the next ones continue to be as good as the earlier ones.

Tina
Is this the book?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...

If so, I want to purchase it for a friend and want to order it soon. Thanks!

Yes Linda ---that's the one! And for everyone --the Amazon media in the center of the page really shows it off better than I did.

#197 Tina, this series looks really good, so I've added the first book to the wishlist. I don't like reading them back-to-back, but I do enjoy courtroom dramas every once in a while.

I really love getting tips from all of you, but I also really get a kick out of turning people on to books and series I enjoy. Sandy...you will love Barbara Hollaway!

#201 Now I'm really looking forward to it!

Tina
Thanks for your prompt response. I've ordered this book from Amazon. Thanks for helping me in choosing a special present for a special person for Christmas!

Happy New England Thanksgiving to you and your family.

#74 The Gods of Newport by John Jakes.

John Jakes is a touted master of American historical fiction, but I've enjoyed some of his other works more. This one feels like he's trying too hard. He presents stories of various communities and cultures in North America, mixing real and fictitious persons and relying on well done research to set scenes of authentic lifestyles, if not real people.

Jakes tells the story of a self-made wealthy man, Sam Driver, and his daughter Jenny as they try to break into the very structured and snobby summer society of Newport Rhode Island. The summer set is 'ruled' by grande dames such as the famous Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Vanderbuilt, and others who kowtow to Mrs. A's rules about what is proper, what is forbidden, who is acceptable and who is not.

By introducing a love interest from the wrong class, Prince Molloy, an Irishman who works at the tennis Casino, and who falls for Jenny, we are exposed to life at all levels of society.

As Jenny and Sam try to ingratiate themselves with this group, Prince tries to win Jenny. There are many scenes of violence, back-stabbing, cheating, bribing, whoring, sailing, horse racing, and other instances of life in the late 1800's that paint a clear picture of what Newport was like both for the very rich, and those whose life was to serve the very rich.

NO spoilers, but there is a rather corny ending that will disappoint some, and be enchanting for others. All in all it was a pleasant read. Having lived several years in Newport, (my first apartment was actually on Bellevue Ave!) I found the descriptions of the town and the opulent 'cottages' a wonderful stroll down memory lane.

which works of Jakes's have you enjoyed more and would recommend, Tina?

Message edited by its author, Nov 23, 2009, 2:03pm.

Tina

I've visited New Port, RI many times. I envy the fact that you lived there..on Bellevue Avenue..WOW!

I'm adding The Gods of Newport to the list!

Thanks!

And, Happy Thanksgiving to you!

#205, GUG, I loved his first books the American Centenial Series, and the Kent Family Chronicles. The North and South trilogy was also pretty good, more again for the settings and the story than for the people in them. I've read California Gold, and Charleston, but I don't remember that they had a great impact on me. Jakes is one of those writers who seems to have started out of the gate with a good deal of steam, but who is now just cranking them out.

Message edited by its author, Nov 23, 2009, 3:58pm.

Well.............I've finished my 2nd 75 in 2009!!! WHOO HOOO....

#75 Shepherds Abiding - a reread by Jan Karon
and
#76 an Anne Perry Christmas book Silent Nights touchstone not working for the double book

In the Perry book, each 'novella' features one of her secondary characters from her William Monk and Charlotte Pitt series.

The first, A Christmas Beginning, features Superintendant Runcorn from Perry's William Monk series. We see Runcorn arriving on a bleak island off the coast of Wales to spend his Christmas holiday. There he discovers the secret love of his life whom he met working a case in London, and further discovers a dead body in the Church yard shortly after his arrival. In very UN-Runcorn fashion, he treads delicately with the local constable as he helps solve the murder. There was a completely unexpected ending (in the very last sentence of the story) that really blew me away. I enjoyed getting to know Runcorn better--I've been a fan of the Monk series for years, and feel I know him better now that this case is finished. It will be interesting to see if Perry takes these personality developments further in future books in the Monk series.

The second story, A Christmas Grace was a real stretch. It has Emily Radley (sister of Charlotte Pitt- another of Anne Perry's series) spending her Christmas in very rural Ireland, nursing her dying aunt from whom the entire family has been estranged for years. I found this story awkward, with the characters very cardboard, and the plot really contrived. I had to force myself to finish it because frankly, it just wasn't very interesting...

I like Anne Perry's works, but the Christmas stories (I've read 3 now) seem to be quickies thrown together without a lot of thought. I'll try one more next year, but after that, we'll see............

Message edited by its author, Nov 25, 2009, 11:47pm.

In honor of completing my 2nd 75 challenge, and since I have only 5 more books (2 of them already more than 1/2 done) to finish my 2nd 999 challenge, well, I'm unplugging from blogging and reviewing for about a week...(at least the weekend) and I'm settling down to a thankfully reading weekend. I'll be finishing up the food and Christmas categories....sounds perfect for a T-day weekend.

We all have so much to be greatful for...especially living in a country where we can read whatever we want and say what we want about it, without fear. Hope everyone has a great turkey day.

Message edited by its author, Nov 25, 2009, 11:58pm.

# 77 Roux Morgue (Mary Ryan Pastry Chef Mysteries) by Claire M. Johnson

Here (msg 141) is what I had to say about this totally forgetable book. Not worth repeating here.

Message edited by its author, Nov 26, 2009, 10:29am.

Congratulations on your second 75! Enjoy your Thankfully Reading Weekend (I may just do the same!)!

Whoa. You are amazing. 150 was my secret goal for this year, and I'm not going to make it... so much admiration.

Congrats again!

#78 Alice, let's eat by Calvin Trillin

A fun little book about the eating adventures of a true gastronome, and his wife Alice who believes life should be strictly limited to three meals a day. Trillin takes us on a series of trips to France, Montreal, Omaha, Kansas City (his hometown), among others. His attempts to gather food for a dinner in his New York home has him flying in tamales from New Mexico, barbeque from Kansas City, etouffee from New Orleans, crabs from Baltimore and other such delectables.

Reading this the day after the Thanksgiving Day feast was perfect. I could read it and not feel that I HAD to track down some of these feasts. Otherwise, I'd have been on google looking up home delivery!

For all who enjoy food, and humorous writing, this is a treat by New Yorker staff writter Calvin Trillin. Bon Appetit!

I've always enjoyed Trillin's books and columns, but when I discovered the food books he wrote, I think I read 5 of them right in a row! I love to read his writings on food.

#79 The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne

I picked this up last year, but never got around to reading it. Several LTers have indicated it was a good read, and I second the motion. It is a gentle, loving, easy to read, tear-jerker. A wonderful story to read with youngsters, and remind us all what Christmas is really about. A great way to kick off the Christmas season on a gentle reading weekend.

Thanks for the great comments about The Paper Bag Christmas. I've added it to the tbr pile.

I hope your thanksgiving was a great day!

I am adding both the Trillin and Milne books to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendations, Tina!

#80: Toast by Nigel Slater audio narrated by the author.

Subtitled The story of a boy's hunger, this is the story of a young boy whose mother was (to put it gently) not the greatest cook in the world. As he describes the horrors of the food she made, he manages to highlight the relationship of food to love in our lives.

While he has always been interested in food and cooking, his father did not allow him in the kitchen, so when his mother dies and father must take over the provision of meals, life becomes even more dire. After dad hires (and later marries) a cook/housekeeper, the food gets better, but life somehow does not. In fact, the family is uprooted and moved halfway across England to establish a more uppity lifestyle to please the 'new mum.'

Later when he gets old enough to get a job at a pub, and then a posh hotel, he realizes his calling in food prep. His father's death brings everything to a boil, severs the link with bridezilla, and provides Nigel with the impetus to go to cooking school and take up his true vocation.

I 'read' this one as an audio while preparing our Thanksgiving meal. The author does a marvelous job narrating his own story. I loved hearing the British terms for foods --had to go look up a few--and laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes in a few places. It really brings out the role food (and in Britain the role of TOAST) in our lives, and how our relationships with food providers are formed so early in life. An enjoyable read--it's as much a coming of age bio as a food event-- even if you're not a foodie.

Another great book goes on the huge tbr pile. Toast sounds delightful.

#81 Secrets of a Christmas Box by steven Hornby.

Lots of people has gushed about this book, but I found it to be a soupy sweet story focusing on talking Christmas ornaments. A bit over the top for adults, but it's designed to be read one chapter a night, starting on Dec 1st through Christmas Eve. I personally think there are far better Christmas tales to share with children. I just couldn't help thinking that it would make a great 1/2 cartoon TV special for the holiday season.

Message edited by its author, Nov 28, 2009, 8:13pm.

I agree with Linda - Toast does sound delightful. Into the BlackHole it goes!

#82 Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.

It was hard not to pick up this quick little masterpiece while I was sitting at the library circulation desk (no business) on CYBER monday---everybody was using the computers to shop, not check out books. BUT, three different people said I had to read this one and they were right....

It's a hilarious uproarious story set in the Carolinas, time indeterminate. When the town bullies, who've never been to Church, or Sunday School, and who know nothing about the Christmas Story, decide to take over the annual Sunday school church pageant, the story of Jesus is presented in quite a different format. A quick read, but one that is quite profound in its message.

Message edited by its author, Dec 4, 2009, 9:14am.

Tina
I read this book years ago. You post reminds me that I should read it again. Thanks!

#224: I do not think I have ever read that one! I will have to hunt for it to read before Christmas. Thanks for the recommendation, Tina.

>224, 5, & 6: I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to my kids when they were growing up. I still have our worn copy and still enjoy the story as an adult. Guess I'll have to pass it on to the grandkids -- someday.

#227 Donna, keep you old worn copy and buy the grandkids a shiny new one of their own!

#83 No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

A well written story concentrating on the years FDR was in the White House and giving us an intimate and detailed look at not only Franklin and Eleanor themselves, but their children, their friends, and the 'significant others' in their respective lives. It's not a long book--it's only 6 hours on audio. Read by Ed Herrman who plays FDR so well in films and on TV, and with an intro by Goodwin herself, it is well worth reading or listening to.

>224 - Just chiming in on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! I love that one. My older brother's teacher read it to him in fifth grade, and it quickly became a family favorite. I read it to my kids for the first time last year. Now, whenever my kids see an angel, they say, "Hey, Unto you a child is born!" Glad you liked it!

I picked up The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at the library tonight - I am setting aside the 500-page tomes I am in the middle of in favor of it, lol.

You're inspiring me to bring out all the Christmas books. Just because I don't have any children at home to read them to, doesn't mean I can't sit down and read a few of them to myself.

My parents read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to us many, many times when we were growing up... good memories of that one :)

#84 Excursion to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri

Another in the Inspector Montalbano series. The irrascible detective hasn't improved his social skills one bit, but the other members of his team are learning to live with him, and interpret his moods. In this one, they are looking for the killer of a playboy, and tracking down a missing elderly couple who were last seen on a bus trip to Tindari. While at first the cases don't seem to be related, as clues emerge, and with the 'help' of one of the local maffiosi, our crew of brilliant detectives discover that they all lived in the same apt building.

No spoilers....this is an enjoyable series, and I think getting better with each one. Recommended.

#85 Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons

Boy oh Boy have I been missing out! I had never read Kaye Gibbons until this week. One of our library patrons thrust this at me and suggested (rather strongly) that I MUST read this.

The New York Times Book Review quoted on the back cover says "Haunting and Beautiful....an evocative and gracious novel."

It is truly stunning. Gibbons gives us the story of three generations of women living together in semi-rural North Carolina. The time line goes from just before the Great Depression until the middle of WWII. There are three women: Charlie Kate - the grandmother and 'healing woman'; Sophia -her stubborn daughter who reluctantly assists her mother, and Margaret, the shy, book-loving granddaughter who adores Charlie Kate and tries to learn as much as she can from her. Each brings a unique persona to the whole. Their lives are intertwined, but each very different. The respect and love they have for each other sometimes erupts into 'differences,' but together they are able to muddle through abandonment by husbands, malpractice on the part of doctors, storms, ignorance, and the war.

Margaret could so easily have been scarred by all of the tragedies she witnesses both in her grandmother's patients,and in the romantic relationships of her grandparents and parents. Instead, she emerges unscarred and ready to carry on the legacy of this unusual, loving family.

I'm certainly going to check out Kaye Gibbons' other books. This was such an extraordinary read. If her others are half as well written as this, with characters that have even half the charm, they will still be well worth reading.

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! (Remember that guy on Welcome Back, Kotter?) Read Ellen Foster! It's one of my absolute favorite books. You've got to be careful about some of her books though. You can really hear her Bipolarness (is that a word?) coming out in some. One is way too depressing--everybody dies--and another is too manic (the sequel to Ellen Foster).

edited to add a word.

Message edited by its author, Dec 4, 2009, 1:46pm.

#236 Horshak? I remember him.

Bonniebooks, did I hear something about you and a "ten best" list? Where is that?

>237: Haven't you and Tina done that yet? I would love to add your top ten books to my list. It's what I'm going to use for my reading list in 2010. Try here: bonniebook's Best of Your Best, 2009

Bonnie...I'm still working on my ten best.....I'm working to try to get that one up by the end of next week....It will probably be more like my top 12-15...I read so many great ones, it's being very hard to pick. For instance, although I finished all my challenges, I know I'm probably going to put Charms for an Easy Life on the list....so I'm having to take a hard look at what I liked and why.

I have so many TBRs and suggestions from everyone else that i'm almost paralyzed trying to decide on how to go about attacking them for next year. And as soon as I use words like that I have to tell myself to STOP ---reading is supposed to be fun. It's not a contest....So stand by...I'll have my 'best of' list up soon, and I promise to post it on your thread also.

It will also be on my blog http://www.tutus2cents.blogspot.com

Message edited by its author, Dec 4, 2009, 11:49pm.

#235: My local library has that one, so I am checking it out this week. Looks like a great read. Thanks for the recommendation, Tina!

#86 About Face by Donna Leon.

It seems it has been the week for Italian crime stories. Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series, set in Venice is one of my favorites. In this one, Brunetti must deal with corruption in the Carabinieri, his parents-in-law, a once gorgeous model with a seriously deformed face who quotes Cicero at dinner parties, toxic waste, garbage, and of course a murder. These stories never fail to delight me...and David Colacci's narration and ability to inflect just enough Italian into the English is perfect with sugar cookies and eggnog.

#241 Tina, this is a great series, isn't it? You're much farther along than I am. I've got #3, Dressed for Death ready to go as my next audio book - also read by David Colacci. I think I had the first 2 in print, and am looking forward to this one being on audio since you said he is such a good reader.

Speaking of Italian crime stories, today I received my latest Early reviewer book, Sicilian Tragedee. A re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, this one is set in 21st century Sicily and tells the story of one mobster who has fallen in love with the daughter of a rival mobster. The cover blurbs promise that it is more comedy than tragedy - I'm looking forward to it.