Tutu Ends the Year!!!

Ok....prodded by Richard, and by my own experience loading up here in the wilderness, I surrender and start a final thread. I don't think there will be more than 4 or 5 books to post, but I do want to do a year end wrap up, send (and receive!!) holiday greetings, and generally sit around klatching with all my LT friends during the holidays.

I really don't want to post to a 2011 group (don't see one yet!) until 2011 (or at least the New Year's weekend....so I'm starting up the final thread here.

Previous threads are

1st Qtr 2010
2nd Qtr 2010
3rd Qtr 2010
4th Qtr #1

I'll decide in another week or so whether I'm going to repeat (sigh) the whole list of the 173 books I've already read and posted in earlier threads, or whether I'm just going to recap, give some stats, and opine on the best ones.

Just a note for those who may not have heard: My sister Cheli (a href="http://www.librarything.com/profile/cyderry">cyderry is having some cancer surgery this morning. We are all sure things have been caught in a timely fashion, but are anxiously awaiting the phone call. Tim (mr. cheli) is supposed to call my mom, who will then alert the rest of the family. I will post and let you know as soon as possible how things are going.

I'm planning to leave town tomorrow to attend a funeral of my favorite auntie, so won't be posting on Wednesday. It's too cumbersome on a Blackberry....

So let's kick back, get out the hot chocolate, brandy, mulled cider, syllabub, wassail, or whatever else floats your boat this time of year, and toast that wonderful group known as the 75ers.

Must have tickers!!!!







And here are the final reads of the year:

174. Too Many Murders by Colleen McCullough
175. Columbine by Dave Cullen
176. Eliza's Freedom Road:An Underground Railroad Journal by Jendine Nolen.
177. Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
178. Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser
179. You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
180. Friends in High Places by Donna Leon
181. The Gallery of Regrettable Food by James Lileks
182. 785700::Through a Glass Darkly by Donna Leon
183. 9856954::Christmas Mourning by Margaret Maron
184. 2703512::Here if You Need Me by Kate Braestrup
185. Curse of the Pharoahs by Elizabeth Peters
186. .....placeholder....Maine Mulch Murder

Ooooh, FESTIVE tickers! *grin*

I love the tickers too, Tina!

Nice tickers.

Will be thinking of you as you go to the funeral tomorrow.

I hadn't heard that Cheli was having surgery today: I hope all goes well, and I will keep her in my prayers.

No news yet? Phooey. No doubt that they didn't start on time. Cheli was telling me yesterday that the start time had been pushed back.

Cheli report:

Well, the town crier (AKA Mom) fell asleep and forgot to call me telling me that Cheli is safely out of surgery, the doctor has pronounced her ok, and she is already complaining about the food - they offered beef broth (Cheli:"YUCK") strawberry jello (Cheli hates strawberries- her majesty only eats raspberries) and cranberry juice (Cheli: "It tasted funny - I only really like grape juice.)

Good signs all--she'll be home on bed rest by this time tomorrow, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her posting by early Thursday. I will also post this on her threads.

So glad to hear it, Tina.

The fact that she's grumbling about the food they're serving at the hospital is probably a good sign.

If you talk to her, please tell her that we're thinking about her.

I will pass on your thoughts Linda. Thanks so much for all the support you've given her.

I will be talking with her tomorrow evening, and then will not be able to get over to see her until after the funeral --probably on the weekend. I have a nice batch of cookies all baked so she'll be well taken care of.

#174 Too Many Murders



Author: Colleen McCullough
Format: Simon & Schuster (2009), Hardcover, 371 pages
Characters: Detective Carmine Delmonico, Desdemona Delmonico
Subject: murder and espionage
Setting: small town Connecticut
Series: Carmine Delmonico novels
Genre: Mystery- police procedural
Source: public library

Aptly titled, there were almost too many murders to keep track of in this mystery.  At first I thought I'd never be able to keep all the players straight without a scorecard, but that proved to be an unfounded worry.  Suddenly on April 3rd, twelve people are murdered in the small town of Holloman Connecticut.  Police detective Captain Carmine Delmonico is faced with not only trying to solve each of them, but trying to figure out whether the police are dealing with one murderer or twelve totally unrelated deaths.  Each murder was separate in place, method, and discovery. Some of the victims worked together, but others seemed to have no connection to any of the others.

McCullough uses some very interesting police investigative techniques that allow the reader to track these crimes and the police who are tasked with finding the answers.  In doing so, we are quickly and aptly able to follow all the separate threads.  It was a tightly woven story that kept me on the edge of my chair, and surprised me several times.  Even the very ending is a surprise.  I will not spoil it any more than that.  And I will definitely be going to look for others in this series.  In fact, according to FictFact there's a new one due out later this month!  I'm off to find it.

#175 Columbine



Author: Dave Cullen
Publisher/Format: e-book Hachette Book Group 1st e-book edition, 441 pages; also audio book (Blackstone Audio) 14 hours
Narrator: Don Leslie
Subject: Killings at Columbine High School
Setting: Jefferson County Colorado, April 1999
Genre: news reporting; non-fiction
Source: both formats were downloaded from public library

Unlike many momentous events that have occurred in the past 20-30 years, I don't specifically remember where I was or what I was doing when the Columbine massacre occurred.  I think I was probably out of the country on a business trip, because I can't believe that I wouldn't have been glued to my TV had the opportunity presented itself to me.

Dave Cullen was one of the original on-site reporters who covered events, and realized that the whole story, the motives, the people, the aftermath, have never been comprehensively put together for the public.  Many of the police reports were withheld, many important witnesses or others involved had never been interviewed or given the opportunity to speak about what they knew or saw.

He culled through literally thousands of pages of interviews, police reports, evidence, photos, autopsy reports, psychologist statements, and follows up with as many of the people involved as would make themselves available to him in order to write this story.  The result is a tour de force: a cohesive, exhaustive, comprehensive and thoughtful examination of what happened, why it happened, how it was reported, and what the aftermath entailed.  He debunks many myths that arose from false or inadequate interpretation of early reports; he spends a good deal of time trying to get into the minds of the two killers and helping us try to understand why they did what they did, and he gives us a much needed factual account of the event that has come to be known simply as "Columbine."

The events of that fateful day shaped in many ways responses to subsequent mass shootings, but the fact that such shootings continue shows that while we may think we have a handle on what happened, we have yet to figure out how to stop it from happening again.

Many thanks to several of my fellow 75ers for recommending this one. It's definitely worth delving into.

#10: That one looks good. Thanks for the recommendation, Tina.

#11: I agree with you about Columbine - definitely worth delving into!

Please pass on my best wishes to Cheli as well :)

Thanks for the news about Cheli, Tina! I hope her recovery goes smoothly. I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt's passing. Safe travels to you.

By the way, there was a really good author chat with Dave Cullen, the author of Columbine here on LT. It should be in the Author Chat group somewhere. Also, he's a semi-regular participant on LT.

Is Too Many Murders a cozy mystery? It looks good but I can't tolerate too much violence/blood. I can handle something a little edgier than cozy, though. Do you think it would work for me?

I don't think I would classify Too Many Murders as a cozy. There was a lot of graphic description of various means of murder and several were not pretty. If you don't do violence and/or blood, this probably wouldn't be a good fit for you. I don't do a lot, and this one was just on the edge for me.

Thanks for the advice. It's a shame, because the plotline intrigues me. But the graphic-ness would not work for me, unfortunately. Oh, well. It's not like I don't have anything else to read...:)

I do need to get to Columbine one of these days--everyone says such good things about it.

I hope Cheli is recovering well.

So far, so good. I itch!

I just found your latest thread, Tina. Wishing Cheli a speeeeedy recovery!

Also wishing Cheli a quick recovery!

Too many Murders sounds like one I might like. Great review!

ETA And our county library has it -- and the first volume in that series, too!

Tina
I'm sorry to be so far behind on the threads and to have missed the news about Cheli's need for surgery. I'm sending prayers to you, to her and your family.

All good wishes,

Glad your sister is doing well. Can commiserate on unpleasant hospital visits. They didn't let me eat or drink while I was there, but I can complain about the bed with a clear conscience. And WHY do they think waking you every two hours to see how you feel is conducive to recovery!

Sorry about your aunt. We have lost so many family members around the holidays. I don't know if people hang on until then, or if the stress is just too much to someone already ill...

Must confess that I didn't like the Colleen McCullough mystery series one little bit. There is an earlier one, On, Off, which is the one I started reading and simply couldn't finish. I keep wondering if this is the same person who wrote The First Man in Rome and the books in that series, which were amazing.

And no, these mysteries are def. not cozies.

I never could get into anything else that McCullough wrote except for Thorn Birds, but I thought enough time had elapsed that I'd give her one more chance. I certainly don't think I could take a steady diet of her, but do intend to check out the next one when it appears. And LOL, for the record, I did not like the ones set in Rome at ALL!!

#176 Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Journey



Author: Jendine Nolen
Publisher/Format: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, e-galley-160 pages
Characters: Eliza, Abbey
Subject: slavery, Underground Railroad
Setting: Virginia, Maryland, New York, Canada
Genre:fictional memoir
Source: Advanced e-galley from Publisher (publication date slated 1-4-11)

This book is specifically written for young adults about ages 9-12.  I wanted to see if it was something my grand-daughter, who is 10, would be interested in and able to read.  It's perfect!  Eliza is an 11 year old slave living in Virginia when she begins her diary. Taught to read by a very enlightened mistress who was losing her sight, she begins the journal as a way of coping with the loss of her mother who had been sold to another plantation.

She gives us a simple but realistic picture of what life was like for young slave women in the period 1855 to 1867. While her mistress is gentle and kind, the master is not, and Eliza lives in constant fear of being ripped away from her remaining friends. The author uses the journal genre to show the process by which the "Friends", led by Harriet Tubman,  were able to lead many escaped slaves on a journey from Virginia north to freedom in Canada via the 'underground railroad.' The process involved many dangerous escapades, much privation, and all too often, the painful lifetime parting from friends and relatives.

Before her mother left, Eliza's mother gave her daughter a picture quilt containing 12 squares.  Each of the first 10 squares contained a 'story' which she told her daughter, and which Eliza repeated many times to reinforce it in her memory and to relate to others.  The final two squares were left blank, so that Eliza could complete them with her own story when she got old enough.  Her mother even left her a piece of blue satin cloth -material to be used to show a 'freedom-blue' sky.  Eliza telling of these stories is interspersed throughout the book, and serve as examples of how slaves coped with their lives. For instance Eliza used the story of the fox and the rooster in a barnyard to help quiet a young boy's fears about a fox getting into a henhouse, and whether he'd be blamed.  Another square shows Moses leading his people away from Pharoah to the promised land, a story often repeated and relished by American slaves.

The story is perfectly written for young adults who can relate to the emotions of the age. It will help them become acquainted with the hardships endured by earlier citizens of this country, and the bravery of many to overcome this institution.

Additional material in the book includes synopses and background of the stories Eliza weaves into the material, and several other suggested readings to help young readers learn more about the era.

#26: Nice review, Tina! I will look for that one once it is readily available.

The past week has been quite stressful...one of my favorite Aunts died, so we had to make an unplanned trip from Maine to Baltimore for her funeral,  a warm loving affair where we got to see dozens of cousins we only ever seem to see at weddings and/or funerals anymore.  After staying with my mom for the first three nights, we then managed to squeeze in early Christmas visits to children and grandchild, a visit to Cheli recovering from surgery, and then tore back to Maine to beat a threatened storm that fizzled out. At least I had done almost all my Christmas baking before I left, so I was able to deliver the cookies in person instead of mailing them. Now we have only to put up the tree, and bake some biscotti and we're ready for Santa.

At least the long drive (11 hours each way) was good for reading time, but after some of the more intense books I'd been reading, I knew that I needed something light and up-lifting. These two were perfect to put me in a warm and fuzzy mood.

#177 Real Murders


Author: Charlaine Harris
Publisher/Format: Berkley Hardcover (2010), Reissue, Hardcover, 304 pages; also audio narrated by Teresa Plummer
Characters: Aurora Teagarden, Robin Crusoe, Arthur Smith
Subject: murder in a small town
Setting: Georgia
Series: Aurora Teagarden Mysteries
Genre: mystery- police procedural
Source: public library

Another mystery in the Aurora Teagarden series...A few weeks ago, I read the 2nd book in this series and was interested enough to want to go look at the beginning of Aurora's amateur career in solving murder mysteries.  In this debut episode, Aurora Teagarden, a librarian by day, belongs to a group of mystery aficionados known as the Real Murder club.  Every month, members meet and take turns analyzing  old mysteries, either real or fictional, looking at victims, murder weapons, who-dunnit, etc.  When actual murders begin occurring in the town, and each murder seems to be a copy-cat of a murder previously happening someplace else, attention turns to the members of the club.  Is one of them purposely acting out murders they've studied?  After an attempt on Aurora (or was her mother the intended victim?) and several other strange 'clues' begin appearing, "Roe" starts to feel she may be the target.

In addition to  the murder aspect, Roe finds herself juggling two different romantic interests in the person of author/professor Robin Crusoe and detective Arthur Smith, who also happens to belong to the Real Murders group.  The surprising climax was one that pre-disposes the reader to look for more.  There are  nine altogether, so I know there are more fun adventures that I can reach for when I want a good mystery, with little violence, some interesting but fairly innocent romance, and a feel-good ending.

I was very pleased to have this one in audio, because there is so little daylight these days, that I didn't lose any reading time after it got dark!

#178 Stealing Lumby


Another great cozy read I indulged in this week is the 2nd of Gail Fraser's terrific Lumby series:
Author: Gail Fraser
Publisher/Format: NAL Trade (2007), Paperback, 329 pages
Characters: Pam and Mark Walker, monks of the St Cross Abbey, Dana Porter, Charlotte Ross
Subject: life in small town USA
Setting: town of Lumby, Northwest US
Series: Lumby
Genre: fiction
Source: personal copy

The saga continues. In this particular volume, the story centers around a stolen painting, a stolen barn (trust me! the barn disappeared overnight), a midnight bovine Iditarod, and a hostile takeover bid for the monk's rum sauce company.  Got your attention yet?
I continue to be enthralled with the characters of this delightful town.  The setting, the people, the quirky characteristics of the inhabitants (human, bovine, equine, feline, plastic, etal), are reminiscent of a combination of the town ofThree Pines in Louise Penny's books (without the murders), the old TV series Northwest Exposure, and the solid feel-good humanity of the Mitford series.  You know a trip to Lumby will be time well spent.  A few hours of life in this town can lower anyone's blood pressure, put a smile on your face, and calm any stress from too much shopping, too many cookies, unmailed cards, and icy roads.  If you haven't tried this series, please give yourself a gift and try them.  I've yet to find anyone who doesn't want to go to Lumby.

I already look forward to more time in Lumby in 2011. Now I'll have to add the Autora Teagarden series!

#179 You Know When the Men are Gone



Author: Siobhan Fallon
Format: Advanced galley from  Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam , 225 pages
Subject: Military life during deployments
Setting: primarily Ft Hood Texas
Genre: Short stories
Source: Publisher via LibraryThing Early Review program

This book struck close to home.  As a military wife, I spent 29 years watching my husband go off to sea, waiting endlessly for letters or phone calls and for the day the ship would return to port.  So I could relate very personally to Fallon's stories about military life during our country's current war on terrorism.

At the time my spouse was on active duty, we did not have women serving in combat, so my relations with deployed spouses were single sex. Now the military family group is more diverse, although the spouses featured in this volume are mainly female.

Fallon writes exquisitely of the loneliness experienced by those left behind, and by those who serve.  Those at home are afforded the 'luxury' of going home to family to wait out the deployment, they have a never-ending series of outings, potluck suppers, craft classes, and in some cases, civilian employment to fill the days.  The present day military has gone to great lengths to provide support groups, Family Readiness groups, and mentors for new spouses.  Still, nights are harder, and all too often may be filled with mind-numbing substances to escort a lonely soul to the next dawn.

Those who are serving can be just as lonely, and often have fewer outlets to assuage the loneliness.  The soldiers on watch, on patrol, the sailor looking out to sea at night, the airman with her eyes glued to an instrument panel, cannot go home to family to wait it out.  They often cannot escape annoying company mates, or obnoxious buddies. Their minds must blank out loved ones for hours on end and learn to cope with the buddies who may ultimately be in a position to save their lives.

The short story format used in this book is an exceptional one  to show the many facets of family trauma being experienced now and the future effects of PTSD incidents we will be looking at for years to come.  Her stores are believable, melancholy, tightly plotted, and offer us characters that could inhabit any military base in America today.   They also could have inhabited any military base in the last century.  Not much has changed in the past 50 years at least.

The stories are particularly powerful in that Fallon does not try to politicize her stories at all.  She speaks to the lives of the characters as they are without commenting on the whys of military deployments.  Military families learn early on that questioning why is counter-productive to getting through the night.  By including stories about the deployed servicemembers as well as their families left behind, we are given a fascinating glimpse of both sides of the family dynamics involved.

This is a book that can be appreciated by anyone who ever served in the military as well as those who have not but want to learn more about that very honorable and distinct way of life. Fallon's prose is strong, clear, and superb, making this a book that is readable, compelling and sure to be talked about both in and outside the military.

I read this for the Early Review program....one of the best I've gotten from them.

I'm glad to see you liked You Know When the Men Are Gone. I also got it from the ER program, but I have one other book I am finishing up before I start this one. I have no real connections to the military or even a spouse who has to leave for long periods of time, so it will be interesting to see if I like it as much as you did.

Wandering through and waving hello.

Some good reads there, Tina. Hope the stressful period is now all over and done with.

I've been looking at the Lumby books, but so far have been deterred by the negative reviews mentioning banal writing & characterization. *dithering* Maybe will check out Paperbackswap.

#28: Glad you are back safe and sound, Tina.

I downloaded the first Aurora Teagarden book to my Nook a while back. I guess I need to get it read!

Real Murders is on my list (already got it) for 2011. Getting ready to start the last Lumby book just have a few others to read.

Thanks for the visit but Tim's been stealing my cookies!

Well...let's see if I can get this from my Blackberry to here...Just to let everyone know that Cheli is fine, she is healing, and she is reading while being watched over by Dr. Bear.

She looks pretty happy. What's she reading?

Happy Cheli! Yay!

TINA!!! OMG I totally made a hash of things!!! I have not your snail mail, so I couldn't send you the card I have with your name already on it, and I lost your thread for a week, and now that I've remembered what a slug I've been I can't get the card to you except for New Year's AND you absolutely **must** read Island of Demons by Nigel Barley because it's just flat beautiful and so now send me your snail mail on my profile so I can get this card out and stop feeling like a sea cucumber that's been squooshed.

#180 Friends in High Places by Donna Leon

Not going to do a formal review....to much christmas going on, and besides--it's another thoughtful, well-articulated essay on morality as lived out by my favorite detective, Commissario Guido Brunetti. In this one, he's battling corruption, trying to decide if there's a murder, and eating more wonderful Italian food. A great audio listen while making and baking Italian anisette cookies.

Tina

I hope you have a wonderful Maine holiday. Congratulations on reading 180 books. That is quite an accomplishment.

Have a wonderful Christmas, Tina!

Merry Christmas, Tina.

Merry Christmas, Tina! Maine's a great place to be for the holiday season. Hope the new year brings health and happiness to you and yours.

Merry Happy Christmas -- have a wonderful time!

Merry Christmas, Tina!!

Thanks for posting the photo of Cheli--glad to see she's on the mend.

Merry Christmas, Tina! And may your 2011 be blessed and filled with more great books!

Photo from the Knox County Village Soup

Just in case you didn't notice, Tutu lives in the mid-coast area of Maine, near this gorgeous tree in the lobster capital of Maine (and we like to think the world!).  Almost every one of my neighbors has a pile of lobster traps in the front yard, strings of buoys hang in the trees, and lobster trucks pass us on the main road every day.

So as the last frantic package wrapping, carol singing, cookie baking, and firewood piling get finished, Mr. Tutu (aka Bob) and I head off to sing joyously at two Christmas Eve masses - (our 'parish' now consists of 7 different churches).

We will be praying for blessings on each and every friend and family member. You are all such a wonderful groups of friends that I wish I could go and past this on every one of your threads..

Merry Christmas!

Your post makes me homesick! At least our tree has moose, snowshoes, pine tree, and other Maine ornaments. No snow though. :(

Happy holidays!

Happy Christmas, Tina!

Merry Christmas, Tina. Hope you enjoy the books. I loved doing Mark's Christmas Book Swap!

Happy St. Stephen's Day! Or Boxing Day! Whichever you prefer, Tina, may it be a happy, happy (if snowy) occasion.

#181 The Gallery of Regrettable Food




Author: James Lileks
Publisher/Format: Clarkson Potter (2001)Hardcover, 192 pages 
Subject: Advertising in cookbooks
Genre: humor, cookbook critiques
Source: public library

I saw this in the Best of the Year thread and really want to thank Jennifer(mstrust) for putting it on my radar. It's an absolute hoot! I think we should have a 75 cookoff next year and each of us make one of these awful dishes as a salute to the women who taught us how to cook/eat.

I laughed so hard, my sides hurt! This is an absolutely SNL-like expose of all that 'interesting' food those of us growing up during the Ozzie and Harriet days experienced in our youth. It is actually difficult to describe or review because it's really the pictures that make the book.  The author has an absolutely smart-ass take on the descriptions, ingredients, and attitudes that can be found tucked into all those food pamphlets our mothers, grandmothers and aunties collected after 'the war.'  I actually have several of these in my personal 'collection' --they were the building blocks of a cookbook collection for the proper 1960's bride.

Lileks' book makes for great weekend browsing although I'd never want to cook anything I saw in there.  And with the exception of the jello items, I don't think my mom ever cooked any of them either.

My personal favorites include Balls on Picks from the booklet "500 Snacks - Bright Ideas for Entertaining"; the chapter about Aunt Jenny explaining the miracle of a product called "Spry" (I think something like Crisco?); and the pictures and comments on "Victory Meat Extenders" - a pamphlet published during WWII featuring "Creamed Brains on Toast", "Tongue Rolls Florentine" and "Ham Shanks and Cabbabe" (described by Lileks as "Pig Ass with the Bones Still in It. Or, perhaps Chunker Cheeks"

The very best is a picture of some sort of pie type casserole from the Good Housekeeping Casserole Book called Monday Pie. Lileks comments:

"The recipe calls for lamb, gravy, and MSG. What an excellent start to the week eh? Fried Strips of albino flesh cunningly blended with Scottish terrier testicles. "

 Hmmm....I was looking for a recipe to use that leftover lamb from our Christmas dinner.  I wonder............

Great review, Tina. I certainly remember some of those jello concoctions my mother made in the 60s for her ladies lunches. They still make me cringe.

Hope you're enjoying the blizzard!

#54: The local library has that one 'in processing,' but I have it on hold already.

>54 tututhefirst:: I have that one on the list, I can't wait to read it! Haha.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Tina. I really enjoyed reading your remarks concerning Maine at Christmastime. Lobster traps and buoys sound so charming.

My mom is almost finished with the Mitford series and I believe I'll start her on the Lumby series next. A thousand thank you's

Lynda- so glad Mom enjoyed the Mitford series. I have the latest Fr. Tim book sitting right next to me and have decided it will be my cross-over book --start it on Dec 31st and take it into the New Year. I want to go out with a good one, and start off 2011 with a great feeling, and I know that one won't disappoint.

I've got several books to finish up here in the next few days. My NOOK got delayed due to the storm....my daughter wanted to physically present it to me, so she was supposed to bring it with her when she came to Maine from DC for the holiday visit. They were supposed to leave and drive yesterday, but the storm changed their plans. She is now sending it to me priority mail, so it should arrive at my post office later this week--by which time my plow man should have arrived and we will be able to get back on the road. Our main roads are already cleared, although I understand that the wind is still blowing snow back on them, but our driveway and road are going to need some serious plowing and sanding..

Meantime, I'm going to try to finish

Curse of the Pharoahs
Through a Glass Darkly
Here if you Need me
Christmas Mourning
and Maine Mulch Murders
Three of them are at least 1/2 done, and the other two, the Braestrup memoir, and the murder mystery are short.

So I'll keep working on my 2011 TBR list, keep an eye on year ending posts here in the 75ers, and continue to wish you all warm hearts, warm houses, happy reading.

Tina, while I think James Lileks's politics are vile, I think his regrettable food website is a laugh riot! my mother used to look at the food at Navy wives' luncheons and shudder. She'd come home and give withering assessments of the stuff, which would make everyone laugh until they hurt.

She came back from one particular horror a pale shade of green, and (unprecedentedly) kicked off her shoes and stretched out on the LIVING ROOM SOFA!! Big stuff! Mama doing the Verboten! We clustered around, wondering when the world would end, and mama said, "If any one of you *ever* in this life makes a lemon gelatine mold with Miracle Whip, horseradish, and lobster stirred into it, I will disown you."

We promised faithfully. I am proud to say I have kept that promise for forty-six years and see no end to it in sight.

Richard....My recollections of Navy wives' luncheons is somewhat more palatable---it wasn't the food that got me, but the inordinate amount of time that was expected to be spent on 'the theme' - decorations, centerpieces, nametags, placecards, etc etc etc. "Bless us and save us said Mrs. O'Davus"

Thanks for the lead to the website....it's definitely fun.

And thank you thank you thank you for fulfilling your promise to yo mama.

I had to check out the page for the Maine Mulch Murder. What a great title! You'll have to let me know if the author gets the Maine part right. :)

Tina
The Gallery of Regrettable Food is now on the tbr pile. Thumbs up from me for your great review.

#182 Through a Glass darkly



Author: Donna Leon
Publisher/Format: Audio Partners Publishing Corp -audio; 272 pg equivalent
Characters: Guido Brunetti, Inspector Vianello, Signorina Elletra
Subject: ecological ethics, murder
Setting: Venice
Series: Commissario Brunetti mysteries
Genre: police procedural detective mystery
Source: public library


A truly different story for Guido Brunetti. This one is almost more concerned with illegal dumping of dangerous chemicals by the glass making factories in Murano than with solving the murder of the night watchman at the factory. Brunetti, the urbane sophisticate with a professed (and almost disdainful) ignorance of any and all scientific or modern technological information, must get up to speed on glass-making and hazardous waste disposal. While giving the reader short courses on these subjects, Leon also has Brunetti exploring Dante's Inferno for clues. The juxtaposition of the old with the new, in a centuries old setting, makes for a very different story than previous ones in the series. Brunetti has always had more of a social conscience than others of his profession, though he seems to take his time acknowledging that. Less food, less banter with Paola, but definitely another well-done episode in a series that continues to delight me.

I'm gradually working my way through this delightful series--this is #15 of 19, so you'll be seeing a few more during the new year. I somehow got out of order and need to read 10,11,12 and 19, but that is one of the delights of this series in that the individual books can be read in any order without the reader feeling disoriented.

edited to correct atrocious grammar!

I have got to get cracking on the Donna Leon books. I've read only the first one.

#183 Christmas Mourning


Author: Margaret Maron
Publisher/Format:Grand Central Publishing (2010), Hardcover, 304 pages Characters: Deborah Knott, Dwight Bryant and a zillion kissing cousins
Subject: teenage drivers, drugs, booze, homicide
Setting: fictional - Colleton County North Carolina
Series: Deborah Knott Mysteries
Genre: law enforcement/crime solving
Source: review copy from Hachette Book Group

 This one arrived just before Christmas, and since it belongs to one of my favorite series, it had the word Christmas in the title, and I had recently finished another Deborah Knott book, I dove right in.  Like the previous ones in the series, the reader is immediately returned to a family of  epic proportions and Maron's inclusion of a family tree in the beginning of the volume is an enormous help in getting each character in place quickly.

This one involves a popular cheerleader who is killed while driving home one evening.  Controversy swirls when her father refuses to believe the coroner's report showing alcohol in her system.  Shortly after this accident, two young men who had frequent flyer status with the local law enforcement establishment are found murdered.  Is there a connection between these two happenings?  Deborah and her husband Dwight (the local sheriff) sacrifice a planned for romantic evening celebrating their first wedding anniversary to investigate leads about what really happened. 

A well written, well plotted, enjoyable read.  While it is set during the Christmas time period, it is not necessarily a holiday story and can be enjoyed at any time of  the year.  I'm looking forward to reading the others of the series I haven't yet gotten to.  Stay tuned in 2011.

Hi, Tina. Great reviews. The Brunetti series sounds good but 19 books in the series so far sounds daunting to say the least. Do you need to at least read the first one first?

#184 Here if You Need Me


Author: Kate Braestrup
Publisher/Format:Little, Brown and Company (2007),Paperback, 211 pages; also audio read by the author
Subject: grief, Maine Game warden service, dealing with death
Setting: Maine - various locations
Genre: memoir
Source: my own shelves- paperback; audio from the library

Kate Braestrup, one of the first chaplains ever appointed to the Maine Warden Service, only became a chaplain after her husband, a Maine state trooper, was killed in a freak auto accident.  It had been his intention to become a Unitarian Universalist chaplain when he retired from active police work, so following his dream, she enrolled in Bangor Theological Seminary, and was eventually ordained to the ministry.

Her exquisitely written memoir entwines a portrait of widowhood with the story of the Maine Warden service and presents the reader with a hopeful, vibrant, and uplifting story.  Using altered names and locations, she relates stories of searches for missing persons-both young and old; rescues and recoveries of those trapped below the ice or lost in the vast Maine wilderness; and heart-wrenching scenes of notify next-of-kin about deaths.  Throughout, she weaves stories of helping her four young children progress to young adulthood.  The story of learning that her son could play drums, and hearing him in the band at school, was such a delight--any mother who has ever raised a teenager through the band phase of life will be able to relate easily.

Her explanations and stories about the Maine warden service are exceptionally informative.  Many people don't realize that Maine game wardens have law enforcement duties in addition to tending to Maine's gorgeous wildlife and scenery.  The image of this petite woman with her clerical collar and keflar vest under her LL Bean jacket brought a giant smile.

She offers her insights not only from the perspective of  "chaplain" but from that of wife, mother, friend, and member of the law enforcement community.  It is not a long book, but it is one to be re-read and savored.  It brings hope with the tears, soothing with anxiety....just what one would expect from a chaplain.

>69 tututhefirst: Another thumbs-up from me for that heartfelt review! I am declaring a complete and eternal moratorium on sniffle books, though, so I will do without reading it.

I have #5, #6, #7, #8 for Inspector Brunetti scheduled for next year. I loved to do more but other series wave and say -" don't forget me!"

#69: I enjoyed that one very much when I read it. I am glad you did as well, Tina!

I have got to get to the Donna Leon books too. I have only read the first one.

Still finishing up 2010

#185 Curse of the Pharoahs

This is the second one of the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. While the first one was utterly charming, and this one was so-so fun, I do not see myself seeking out too many more of this series. If they appear for free on my nook, (or the library download) or they pop up for $.59 in the book sale, then maybe, but there are far more palatable heroines in far too many series to even think about trying to read all 22 of Amelia's supercilious uppity attitude. I've never been a big Egyptology fan so these aren't pulling me the way the Brunetti, Hamish McBeth, or even Aunt Dimity series do.

Actually, I was struck by the similarity of the characters and the speech patterns with some of Alexander McCall Smith's works, and can see why people who dislike them are so inclined. In fact, this child spawned by Emerson and Peabody (baby prodigy Ramses) is far less charming than AMCS's Bertie.

Oh well....just one more 1/2 book to finish this afternoon- Maine Mulch Murder that I can finish up while my new NOOK---which finally arrived from the sainted daughter---achieves its blissful state of FULL CHARGE.

Back before midnite to wrap up the year.!

TA DA!!!!

#186 The Maine Mulch Murder

No formal review, but if you want to see what life is really like in my town, this book will show it. The author actually lives about 3 towns up the road, and we are one of the towns on 'the peninsula'. I could picture every little dirt road, the small town with the mailboat, the post office, and the chatty but taciturn people who live there.

The story about the murder is a bit convoluted, but it was a fun story. Our town, like the town in the story only has a constable for law enforcement and I had no trouble seeing our gruff lawman filling the role played by Dort in this story.

Quick recap: lonely divorcee finds dead body in a pile of sawdust, sets out with the constable (an old boyfriend) to help the county mounties figure out who he is and why he was killed. Like any good Maine story it has a small town doc, a batch of people who are intricately related to one another, a couple of big dogs, and a bunch of pick up trucks.

A great way to end the reading year. Now it's off to watch a couple episodes of "George and Gracie" on PBS, sip some bubbly, play with my NOOK, and wish you all a wonderful 2011.

In the words of the famous Dandy Don, "Turn out the lights, the party's over"

This thread is officially closed. All future posts will be on my 2011 thread.

Happy New Year, Tina! I am looking forward to more of your wonderful reviews in 2011!