Joanne's (coppers) 75 Books in 2011, Ch 1

I still have a couple of books to finish up in December and will post them on my final 2010 thread. I'm looking forward to posting in 2011 and seeing what everyone is reading. Stop by and say hi!

So I don't forget what I just read last month, here are the books I read in Dec 2010:
December
73. The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart*
74. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (audio)
75. The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill*
76. I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron (audio)
77. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
78. The Wee Christmas Cabin of Carn-na-ween by Ruth Sawyer
79. Auggie Wren's Christmas Story by Paul Auster*
80. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson*
81. Silk by Alessandro Baricco



January 2011
1. Search the Dark by Charles Todd
2. The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
3. Stiff by Mary Roach
4. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin*
5. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
6. My Reading Life by Pat Conroy*
7. A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
8. Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill*
9. The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill

February 2011
10. Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama
11. Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

* a favorite!

Oh, here you are, Joanne! Good. *star*

Wow! Thanks for the enthusiastic and speedy welcome Richard! :)

Been waitin' on ya.

Hi Coppers I've starred your thread I see we have some books in common and that you liked Wake of Forgiveness too so I'll be curious if we have anymore comon ground in 2011.

Hi Joanne!

Glad to see you back with us, Joanne!

Hi Joanne! Joining you for 2011...

Hey, Joanne, glad you're here again. I like all my people to be together!

I just saw The Wake of Forgiveness on one of those year-end Best Books list. Maybe in the Kansas City Star? I always knew you had good taste in books.

Welcome back!

Hi there Joanne, well here we go again. Whooppee!

Joanne- Now how did I miss you over here? Welcome to 2011, my friend! Let's have another great reading year!

She's back...........

Hi to RD, Susie, Anne, Stasia, Ellie, Donna, Jim, Bonnie, Mark, and Belva! I love that you all stopped in to say hi. I guess it's time to move over here for the next 12 months. Happy 2011 all!

Here's a recap of my favorite books of 2010 (copied from my 2010 thread, and in the order read):

Fiction -
The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker
The Last Child by John Hart
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
The Meadow by James Galvin
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
The Pure in Heart by Susan Hill
Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves
The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart

Non-Fiction- (and, as it happens, these were all audiobooks)
American On Purpose by Craig Ferguson
The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick
True Compass by Edward M Kennedy

Favorite reread that was even better as an audiobook:
Montana 1948 by Larry Watson (performed by Beau Bridges)

Biggest disappointments -
Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee
Star Island by Carl Hiaasen
Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz

Have a great 2011, Joanne! I hope you reach all of your reading goals for the year!

Thanks Stasia. Happy New Year to you! May 2011 be full of health, happiness and good books!

Thanks!

Hey there Joanne! Great to find your thread!!! Best of luck reading in the New Year!! :)

Got you starred, Joanne! Here's a LINK to my 2011 thread in Club Read if you want to keep chatting.

Happy New Year, Joanne!
--BJ

So.. which cover did you get???

Hi! Found you back.

Happy New Year!

Hi Deb - Glad you found me and same to you!

Hi Bonnie - What a great link - I'll be visiting you there.

Happy New Year to you too, BJ!

Hi Kath - They call it 'Paterson Quote Cover'. I was going mostly for the color which is indigo with a tan interior. I liked some of the pinks but I'm not really a pink person and thought I'd probably get sick of it. The quote is "Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen." The quote is stamped and runs vertically up the cover. Made of "Italian faux leather exterior". LOL! It's more like a book now.

It's 5 degrees F here this morning and not expected to get much warmer. And we actually got a few inches of much needed snow yesterday.

Happy New Year everyone!

Hi Jenn! Brr...keep warm today.

My son and his friends are planning on taking the light rail downtown tonight for the fireworks. I'll be spending the day digging out clothes to try to keep him from frostbite.

Hi, Joanne. Hope you have a Happy New Year. I think we have the same weather you do. Stay warm. At least the sun is out here.

Happy New Year Joanne! Wow, it's cold there! Low 50s here. Crazy, huh?

it is in the fifties here.. good night for First Night shenanigans if you are into those things. I always worry when my kids go out on New Years.. :-/

23 I have a quote cover too.. it says Choose an author as you choose a friend.
( Sir Christopher Wren)

Hi Joanne!
New star for the New Year!

Looking forward to what you pick out for US to read - since almost everything you pick for yourself, I want to read too!

Happy New Year Pat and Mark! Still cold here...

I like your quote better Kath, but I really wanted the indigo blue cover.

Well, no pressure for me then, right Claudia? :)

I have a lot of books started that I've been reading for a long time and I want to finish them up, hopefully very soon. My main book now is Search the Dark but it took a really long time for me to get into it. Probably the season has a lot to do with it. I got a small stack of new books for Christmas that I need to add here as well (and then read, of course).

Back to de-Christmas-ing the house (inside only). Brrr...

Hi Joanne.

I de-Christmased yesterday, and my house looks soooo clean! I love that.

Happy New Year Joanne! Hope you've got a great year of reading in store :)

Happy New Year. It is great to have you back.

Happy new year!!! Looking forward to seeing how much our top picks overlap this year...

I know Jenn, so much less clutter. I can breathe again!

Bonnie, Linda and Suz - Happy New Year to you all, too!

This year I'll be making more of an effort to read off my own shelves and cut down on the book buying. I'm not sure how that'll go, but that's my plan...as soon as I finish these library books...

#34: Linda and I are going to attempt to read off our own shelves too, Joanne. We have challenged each other to buy no more than 10 books this year. I may die from the effort :)

I'm so thrilled that you enjoyed Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It was one of my favourites in last year -and I think I'm recommending to everyone I know! :)

Funny about those Christmas decorations. Once up they are enjoyable.. but take them down and whew! A whole new world filled with space we had forgotten we had :)

Hello, I think we used to meet on the 50 book challenge. Sorry to hear you didn't like Noah's Compass - have you enjoyed all her others? I had that experience myself last year with an Anita Shreve - I've loved them all to date and then suddenly one of them just didn't work for me. I think it's worse than having no expectations at all.

2010 - book accumulation year...
2011 - read them year!

Mee too... gonna read more of the books I have and REALLY DO still want to get to! :)

>34 Copperskye: "I'm not sure how that'll go, but that's my plan..."

Good luck to us all, Stasia! I'm afraid we'll need it.

Hi Deb, I'm looking forward to her next book!

I give it about a week, Kath, for everything here to seem cluttered again.

Hi Susan! Nice to see you. I totally agree about the expectations thing. I think one of the reasons I was so disappointed with Noah's Compass is because Tyler is a favorite author of mine. The first Anita Shreve book I read was Strange Fits of Passion, which I loved along with some other of her earlier books. Her recent offerings have sort of disappointed me.

I like that Claudia! I have so many here that I really want to read but just seem to have forgotten about.

Thanks for the link. *Star*

I am missing seeing you about, is it me? Or are you not here ??

Hi Louanne - Good to see you!

Good morning, Kath! I was on a little bit last night but I guess I didn't have anything to add here. I started a books off the shelf thread over in that group - I hope to not fail as badly as last year! I finished a book (alas, from the library) last night so I'll be back later. You're probably off to work already - happy almost Friday! :)

Louise Penny's next book will be out in Sept '11. Yay!

I really need to head back to Three Pines! I've heard that the series gets better with each book.

It does Louanne - Bury Your Dead was great!

Any title on the new Penny book yet, Joanne?

>46 alcottacre: Stasia - "A Trick of the Light"

1. Search the Dark by Charles Todd

The third book in the Ian Rutledge series. I liked this one much better than the second. It seemed tighter somehow, with better rounded characters. Rutledge is a Scotland Yard detective in post WWI England who, as a veteran, suffers from the war in an unusual way. After a woman is murdered, he is sent to Dorset to search for her two missing children. Parts of the story lagged a bit but the last quarter was a real page-turner, and ultimately, it was a good mystery with a great ending. It’s a series that should be read in order to understand the relationship between Rutledge and Hamish, or at least the first book, A Test of Wills, should be read first.

#47: Thanks! I am off to add it to my PBS wish list - if I can.

ETA: Nope, too soon yet. Rats.

>48 Copperskye: how nice to have a series you enjoy and can jump back into!

Joanne- Good review! I have not read Charles Todd yet, although many have here have praised him. Maybe someday?

I added A Test of Wills to my wishlit.
--BJ

Hi from Disney, Joanne!

I was telling a friend a few years ago that I didn't really like reading mysteries. She said "That's cuz you haven't read anything by Charles Todd". So I did - and - I liked them! Made me more open-minded about the genre. :)

Stasia - But it's only 9 months away!

Yes and no Anne. There are like 14 of these. I have a lot of catching up to do! :)

I think you'd like them Mark. There's a great sense of place.

BJ - Oh good!

Give Pluto a hug for me Claudia! I rarely read mysteries until a few years ago. I think it was Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books that got me into the genre. I still tend to apologize for them, as in, "What am I reading? Oh, just a mystery". Gotta stop that!

Along with several other books (what's wrong with me?!), I've started Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and my first Nook book, A Drink Before the War. I'm afraid they might be a little too similar to read at the same time, though.

Joanne- It looks like we are still following each other around. As you know, I really enjoyed Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. I have read A Drink Before the War too. Love Lehane.

Did you get a Nook for Christmas, Joanne? At last night's book club, two members had their e-readers with them. I was trying to remember a quote (from Middlemarch) but could only remember a phrase from it, and before I could blink (almost) they both pulled up the quote for me. So cool! Btw, one was on a Kindle and the other one had the Color Nook.

Mark - We do tend to do that, don't we?! I really liked Moonlight Mile, which was my first Lehane, so I thought I should start the series at the beginning.

I did, Donna, from my hubby (he recently noticed all the books piled up next to the bookcase in our guest room and thought it might help). It's the Nook Color. It takes some getting used to but it is pretty cool!

I am so sunk. I have those Rutledge books on my wishlist. I will have to read them later this year. They sound really good.

Hi Joanne, yay about the new Penny book. I wonder if it'll be offered as an ER like Bury Your Dead? I hadn't read a mystery in about 15-20 years until you convinced me to try the Penny books and now I've got a couple of other sereis sitting on my shelf now. I'm reading (and enjoying) Case Histories right now. Thanks for getting me started on the journey.

Your first book of the year sounds great.

58 - Kath, They're pretty good, but there are quite a few. 13. So if you like them, it's a lot of reading. But that's not a bad thing, right? :)

59 - I was happy to see that too, Bonnie. Speaking of Case Histories, that's the book that got me into reading mysteries again after quite a long time avoiding them. I plan on reading all three Jackson Brodie books again. And the 4th, Started Early, Took My Dog will be out very soon.

60 - It was good, Linda. It's an interesting series.

13? Thirteen? thirteen ??

LOL...I feel your pain.

2. The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler

Ann Fessler’s book chronicles the lives of young, single women who gave up their children for adoption in the 1950s and 60s. That what was allowed to happen to them was still going on in my lifetime is shocking to me. No sex education, no assistance, no rights, no choice. Just a little empathy would have been nice, but there was none of that either. If you’re in your 60s then this is your generation’s history, in your 30s-50s, it’s a horror story of what may have been and for women in their teens and 20s, a cautionary tale about not taking your rights lightly. The women interviewed here are your mothers, sisters, best friends, neighbors and co-workers. Don’t fool yourself into thinking this couldn’t possibly have affected you, you may never know. The secrecy of their situations and the shame they were made to feel may still remain to this day. The callous manner in which they were treated is absolutely appalling. The stories presented here are interspersed with facts and together make for an engaging, heartbreaking read. This is a non-fiction work that, bizarrely enough, reminded me of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale. Their gut-wrenching stories deserve to be told – finally.

I feel funny including this in my 2011 total because I only read the last two chapters this year. I had read most of it about a year ago but then when I put it down I had a hard time picking it up again.

Great review, Joanne, and a thumb from me. I've never heard of this book (although I should stop saying that because it applies to so many books) but it sounds interesting. I'm going to see if my library has it. Thanks for the recommendation.

Hi, Joanne! The Charles Todd series is next up in my series list, so I'll probably be reading A Test of Wills in February. I'm looking forward to it!

Wow. Great review of The Girls Who Went Away. I might add this to my TBR pile - a bit daunting - but important.

I remember adding that one to the BlackHole a couple of years ago when someone else in the group mentioned it. I just checked and my local library still does not have it. *sigh*

Great review, Joanne!

That looks way too tempting :-/

>64 Copperskye:- Added that one to my wishlist thanks for the review!

#64 That's a very powerful review of what looks like a very powerful book, Joanne.

Good Morning all!

Pat - Thanks! It was nothing if not interesting!

Hi Terri - Oh good, I think it's a pretty unusual series and I hope you like it.

Hi Jenn - I think it is important and feel everybody should read it. It would be good for a women's study class. Scary stuff. Stay warm this week!

Stasia - Thanks, I'd send you my copy but it's already spoken for... :(

Hi Kath - Too many books are way too tempting these days!

Hi Susie - I hope you like it when you get to it.

Hi Caty - Thanks!

I'm in that age group where many girls I knew 'went away.' Must get this one- it's at my local library. May be a good read to take with me next month when I go with my Mom to Hilton Head. I suspect it would provoke some good conversation as my mom is not one to back away from controversial topics. Thanks for a good review and for posting it. It definitely should count as a 'completed in 2011.'

>61 Copperskye:: Thank you for the alerts on new books, Joanne. I'm looking forward to the new Jackson Brodie book by Atkinson and the new Louise Penny.

>64 Copperskye:: Excellent review on a book (another one!) I've not heard of. I knew a few girls in high school who went away to visit relatives and came back as different people. Oh, the whispers in the hallways when they passed. I think I had compassion for them, but what on earth do you say to someone in that situation, especially if they were only acquaintances and not in the BFF category? I'll have to think about reading this one as it stirs up those sad memories.

#72: No problem, Joanne. It is not as if I do not have other books to read :)

Hey - Joanne! You have a hot review!

I was in the 8th grade when my sister (7yrs older) gave a child up for adoption. There was so much secrecy and shame involved--I don't even know if she had a girl or a boy--but the weirdest thing was that my sister moved away, (quickly got married and went on to have eight children, btw) and I completely forgot about it for years. I occasionally thought about it after I had my own children, but never felt I could/should bring it up. She died a few years ago, her husband died within the year (both of cancer) and I don't know if her children even know anything about it.

Tina and Donna - Read it.

Stasia - I never would have guessed. :)

Jenn - Yay me, I can use some extra heat around here! BTW, I was going to respond to your lamb comment on the kitchen thread earlier but lost my internet connection. Have you tried Tony's for lamb? They're are Dry Creek.

Bonnie - That is incredibly sad. Similar accounts were included in the book. It will break your heart. You might not want to read it, quite frankly, since you just lost your sister.

And well then, I knew I would speak up if someone else did. This is one of the stories with a different outcome than Bonnie's. In the interest of full disclosure, albeit delayed, I have a 43 year old nephew of whom I knew nothing about until about 18 months ago. I’m still attempting to process this. That’s my excuse for not mentioning him sooner. But long story short, he’s met his mom (my sister), and her husband and his half-sister. I have also met him and had him over to dinner when my sister was visiting last year. He lives not far from me in Denver and is a wonderful guy. See what I mean about secrecy? I was only 8 at the time. Nothing, not a hint, not even from my other sister who is closer to her age and knew. You could still knock me over with a feather when I think about it. It's certainly not my story to tell, but it changes the way I look at my own childhood now. The book made me utterly furious and sad.

ETA - I should also say that real life also can make me utterly furious and sad...

#77 & 78
Amazing stories. Amazing how secrets - well finding them out - changes your whole history isn't it?

I am so grateful for how things have changed. When we adopted our son 12 years ago, his birth mother chose us, met us and we exchanged letters for several years. She sent us a wedding announcement when she got married and told us that the man she was marrying (who had also been adopted as a child) knew about her giving up a child for adoption and was supportive. As we have never made our son's adoption a secret, it has made for some interesting conversations with people, especially children his age. Our 6 year old daughter is currently trying to process what that means.
Interestingly though, when we first let my in laws know that we had decided to adopt, their initial response was "oh, you don't have to do that." That rather startled us. Vestiges of the old way of seeing the whole business of adoption, I suppose. It never occurred to us not to tell him from the beginning - I had a cousin who found out she was adopted when she was about 11. Talk about a mess.
Anyway, while the book will probably stir up some feelings for me, it definitely sounds like it is worth a read.

Yours is a very healthy approach, Jenn. And really the way it should be. Finding out at 11 that you're adopted? That could be so devastating.

I guess your in-laws response is a generational thing. I'm hoping they've come around by now? :)

And, oh yeah, you'll apreciate the stories in this book.

Terrific review Joanne. Very tough subject and it sounds like a difficult but worthwhile read. I knew more than one girl who went away in high school. Thank goodness there's more open dialog on the subject today.

Great review, Joanne. It's amazing how little fingers of the effects of adoption (and secrecy) can reach across time and down through generations and tap you when you least expect it. My mother was adopted. Her mother was a young nurse working in an army camp and fell in love with a soldier. When she told him she was pregnant he suddenly remembered that he already had a wife and kids. When she had my mother, she had to stay at the hospital long enough to work off the cost of the birth. My mother was adopted within the family -- to her mother's much older uncle and his wife. The adoption was kind of a family secret -- my mother even has a fake birth certificate, on which the year of her birth was changed (she was an adult when she found out she wasn't the age she thought she was).

I grew up intensely curious about my biological grandmother, who later married and had other children. While her husband knows about the adoption, her children do not. The only time I've met them was at a milestone family event, and of course, I couldn't say anything. It was very strange. I remember staring at my aunt -- my mother's half-sister (I had never met anyone who looked like my mother before) and keenly feeling the loss of that relationship. I wanted to hold her hand, or go shopping with her, and I was in my 30s! The only person who (privately) acknowledged this relationship and how extraordinary it was to meet after all these years was, ironically, my grandmother's husband. I'll never forget his kindness.

Thank you, Bonnie. Yes, thankfully we've moved forward on the subject. I had to keep reminding myself, as I was reading, that this was the 1960s not the 1860s. I guess I don't want to even think about how an unmarried pregnancy was handled then.

Another very touching adoption story. Thank you, Anne. I wonder how your grandmother was treated at the hospital as she worked off her bill. It's so sad when family members, siblings, brothers and sisters, don't know what is going on and never find out. I liked your description of little fingers tapping when you least expect it. Very appropriate!

That is quite a story Anne... a sad one :( for those involved

Your grandmothers husband sounds like a good man..

Adoption is probably the most generous thing that a person can ever do.. both the birth mom and the adopting family. It surely is not for everyone. I have now seen 3x where it had unhappy endings.. and that has to be devastating. I am always happy to see good strong families, whether they are birth, adopted or just families of the heart.. friends who band together to make a family.

>64 Copperskye: Wonderful review, Joanne, and such an apt comparison to The Handmaid's Tale...it's so hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea of reproductive freedom being *absent* from the world.

Which it still is, I suppose, in most of the world. Why should there *ever* be, anywhere, an *unwanted* child? It's tragic.

>85 richardderus: Thank you, Richard. And I couldn't agree more.

3. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

A really fun read, although I listened to the audio.

Hi Joanne! Just thought I'd pop in and see what you are up to! Oh my - the cover of your last books tis a bit shocking! ;) I'll have to read about it! Your book The Girls Who Went Away looks fascinating! Into my TBR pile and off to read your review!

Joanne- Glad you liked Stiff! That'll be my next Roach!

I enjoy Roach's work immensely....always good to be able to laugh while you're learning. I just saw where I can get Stiff in audio from the library- it will make a great listen for my upcoming vacation.

Hi Deb! Yeah, that toe tag is a little disconcerting, isn't it?! Good book though! Both of them were, just in different ways.

Oh, you'll love it, Mark!

Hi Tina, I love to be able to laugh while I learn something new. Stiff on audio was great except maybe at 7am, with nothing in my stomach but a couple cups of coffee, some parts were a little on the...unsettling side...but all and all, just great! Have fun in HH, I hope the weather is good for you!

My current read, and I can't wait to get back to it, is Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. So far, it is excellent!

Hi, Joanne! You're going great guns, I see, even though I'm late for the party. I just thumbed your review of *Girls/Away*. It's a tough one. I remember that in my high school, they wouldn't even let a married, pregnant teacher continue to work. Seems Victorian now. And I'm moved by the stories of families deprived of the love of close relatives because of shame.

Hey, Joanne--HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope it's a good one.

Hello Dear Friend

Today is your birthday. May it be as bright, shiny and special as you are!

Happy Birthday, Joanne! I hope you have a lovely day.

happy birthday! Hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday Joanne!! Hope you have something fun planned.

I have Stiff on my shelf and will read it sometime this year.

Felicem Natalem!! Happy Birthday!!

glitter-graphics.com

Hope it's a good one! :)

ETA: Sorry I ate your cake... it just looked soooo yummy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOANNE!!!
I joined glitter-graphics, picked out a cute birthday gif, and have not the slightest idea how to get the thing here since I can't find any code for it...... So unless somebody takes me in hand, I'll have to ask you to imagine a pile of pretty pink gifts with balloons floating excitedly on each side. *sigh*

Happy Birthday, Joanne!

Happy Birthday, Joanne!

Happy birthday, Joanne! I hope you have a great day!

Happy, Happy Birthday!
--BJ

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to my First LT Friend!! Hope you had a great day!

Happy Birthday, Joanne!!! I picked a good day to get caught up with your thread. I hope you have a great day filled with a fun family celebration. Your online friends will be with you in spirit.

Happy happy birthday, Joanne!

I'm glad you enjoyed Stiff. I read it a few years ago and it's stayed with me for all this while. I loved how she doesn't make the use of cadavers gruesome. It was after I read this book that I made the decision to leave my body to science when I die.

Hope you had a very happy birthday Joanne!

Oh, how sweet! Thank you Pat, Linda, Dee, Mary, Bonnie, Amber, Claudia, Peggy, Terri, Stasia, Anne, BJ, Deborah, Mark, Donna, Caroline, and Louanne for all your good wishes! What a happy surprise to log on and find all these posts.

I’ll share my cake with you anytime Claudia, and Peggy, I am at a loss with those lovely gifs, too.

I had a great birthday (for a Thursday workday). Ate too much though – Mexican with friends at lunchtime, pizza and ice cream cake tonight. I’m ready to pop…

The New Yorkers Book Bench Blog had a link to BibliOZ.com where you can generate a list of NYT bestsellers from the week you were born.

It's kind of interesting, although I don’t think I’ve read any of them.

Fiction 1 DOCTOR ZHIVAGO Boris Pasternak
Fiction 2 LOLITA Vladimir Nabokov
Fiction 3 FROM THE TERRACE John O'Hara
Fiction 4 EXODUS Leon Uris
Fiction 5 THE UGLY AMERICAN William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick
Fiction 6 AROUND THE WORLD WITH AUNTIE MAME Patrick Dennis
Fiction 7 WOMEN AND THOMAS HARROW John P. Marquand
Fiction 8 ANATOMY OF A MURDER Robert Traver
Fiction 9 VICTORINE Frances Parkinson Keyes
Fiction 10 THE KING MUST DIE Mary Renault
Fiction 11 THE BEST OF EVERYTHING Rona Jaffe
Fiction 12 BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S Truman Capote
Fiction 13 MRS. ARRIS GOES TO PARIS Paul Gallico
Fiction 14 THE RAINBOW AND THE ROSE Nevil Shute
Fiction 15 THE MOUNTAIN IS YOUNG Han Suyin
Fiction 16 ANGELIQUE Sergeanne Golon
Non-Fiction 1 ONLY IN AMERICA Harry Lewis Golden
Non-Fiction 2 AKU-AKU Thor Heyerdahl
Non-Fiction 3 WEDEMEYER REPORTS!
General Albert C. Wedemeyer

I'll have to check out that link. It looks like fun. Glad you've had a good birthday!

#110: I am stealing that BibliOz thing! Thanks, Joanne.

Happy Birthday, Joanne! I promise to eat some cake in your honor!

eta: to adjust the size of the cake--don't want to make you fat! ;-)

Pat and Stasia - It is interesting - check it out. But something about my list made me feel OLD! Doctor Zhivago and Lolita - haven't they been around forever???

Hi Bonnie - Thank you! And that cake looks yummy - I'm happy to share!

#114: I already tried it and posted the result on my thread, Joanne.

Happy belated b-day, Joanne!

Hmm, that site doesn't seem to be working. I admit I was very curious about what might have popped up, so I'll try again...

Am off to eat a petit four in your honor. I was going to do it anyway; might as well have a reason... (or an excuse!)

Happy Birthday!

Hope you had a lovely day.

Happy day after your birthday !!!!

Hi Suz, Jenn, and Kath, Thanks so much for the birthday wishes!! We continued the birthday foodfest by stopping at a favorite Chinese restaurant after going to the boat show this afternoon. I really have to stop...

I'm sorry I missed your birthday, Joanne! Glad it was a happy one, and thank you ever so for the wonderful NYT meme! I posted my week's haul in my thread. I was born on a Wednesday (the child full of woe in the old rhyme, ooo thanks Mama you could've picked any day since I was a C-section!), so it took a minute for me to realize that I was in the proper week. ~duh~

Oh now Richard ===don't blame Mom for the wrong day---many hospitals only schedule C-sects on certain days, so she may not have had a choice, unless it was a non-planned one. E.G., I had a choice of a Mon (Dec 31) or Thurs (Jan3) for my son's birth. I chose the tax deduction.

>120 richardderus: I'm glad you liked that Richard, I thought it was interesting, too. BTW, I'm a Tuesday's Child who is hardly "full of grace".

*waves*

I have been craving Chinese for 2 weeks.. maybe it is time to find some :)

Good morning Claudia and Kath!



4. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

If read as a mystery, Crooked Letter might be a disappointment. But if read as a dramatic, suspenseful Southern novel of friendship, youth, race and fear, it was excellent. Two missing girls, twenty years apart, and two boys, one black and one white, and a timeline that shifts easily back and forth, had me on the edge of my seat. The story is achingly sad but ultimately hopeful and the characters very well-drawn. So much so that I would have liked to have had an epilogue to see the story played out a few months or years down the road.

My thanks to HarperCollins for providing an ARC of this wonderful book. I let it sit around too long!

Morning Joanne- Good review! I'm glad you liked it too! I ended up with a copy of Howards End is on the Landing. I must have requested it from the library a couple months ago. I've only read a few pages but it's very good.
BTW- Cloud Atlas is incredible!

Nice review, Joanne!

Chiming in to say that Crooked Letter, Crooked letter is every bit as good as everyone says. I can't wait til we can get enough copies for our reading group to have a go at it.

And yes Mark, Cloud Atlas has finally caught my fancy. I took several people's advice and skipped the 1st chapter, and now I'm enchanted.

Hi Mark and Anne and Tina!

I think Crooked Letter would be a great for a reading group. Lots of good discussion topics.

I took several people's advice and skipped the 1st chapter, and now I'm enchanted.

Hmm, that might work...I tried to read Cloud Atlas a few years ago but didn't get very far. I'll try it again sometime, especially since so many whose opinion I trust love it.

5. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Written in 1982 and a runner-up for the Whitbread, War Horse is the story of a young British boy and his horse, separated when the horse is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France early on in WWI. It is a universal story of war and suffering told through the eyes of a horse as he experiences it on the front. It is a unique, elegantly told, anti-war story. A YA book that adults will enjoy, too. The first person narration reminded me of old favorites of mine, Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe.

Apparently it was made into a very successful stage production and a Spielberg film will be released next Dec.

#125/130: Both of those are already in the BlackHole, so I can dodge those BBs. Glad to see you enjoyed them, Joanne!

And I meant to add, I'll be looking for this horse again since he graced the cover of two very good recent reads! :)

A familiar face:

War Horse looks wonderful! I'll have to look for it. Thanks for the review, Joanne.

Hi Stasia and Anne!

It would make a good read aloud for probably age 10 and up, Anne.

Glad you found them enjoyable. Beautiful covers.

Never heard of War Horse but it sounds good. That's interesting about the same picture being used for two different books. Now I'm going to be looking for it elsewhere.

I hope that beautiful horse is receiving royalties for the use of his picture! You have very good observation skills, Joanne.

Michael Morpurgo is one of my favourite children's authors, although this isn't one that I've read. I'm glad you enjoyed War Horse.

Hi Kath, I can't resist a pretty face. :)

Hi Pat, I hadn't heard of it either, or the author, until I ran across it on a NYer book blog. Apparently he's pretty popular and I can see why.

Hi Donna, I love book covers... I wonder about the royalty thing but I kind of doubt it.

Hi Ygraine, I hadn't heard of Morpurgo until I came across this book but I noticed he's prolific and popular. I recommend War Horse. The stills from the play look great (the horses were large puppets) and I'm curious now about the movie.

Do you have a favorite of his that you'd recommend?

I meant to add the books that I'm currently reading.

On the Nook, A Drink Before the War, the first Kenzie and Gennaro book. I keep forgetting that it's borrowed from the library and it's due back in a week. I don't know how that works exactly though. I guess I'll find out.

I meandering happily through Susan Hill's Howards End is on the Landing.

I've switched from reading My Reading Life to listening to it on audio. Not that I didn't like reading it, more that other books kept elbowing it aside (the lot of books I own). Pat Conroy reads it and I'm enjoying it very much.

6. My Reading Life by Pat Conroy

Lots of people who are way more eloquent than me have sung the praises of this lovely little book, a love letter and a thank you to the books and people that have shaped Conroy’s life. I had read most of my copy when I saw the library had the audio, read by Pat Conroy himself. I started again from disc one and was so sorry to have it end.

If you’ve already read the book and enjoyed it, I highly recommend experiencing it again on audio.

That's an interesting idea, Joanne--to read a book and then listen to it on audio. I've never listened to any audio books partly because I'm afraid my mind will wander and I'll miss things that won't be easy to get back to. But if I've already read a book, and want to re-read it, it might be fun to try the audio.

Hmmmm. I just passed up that book recently. Looks like I may have erred!

You've ben doing some terrific reading Joanne. I guess I need to read the Conroy book at some point. And you make Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter sound very good, very good ;-)

Joanne- I have a new copy of My Reading Life. I am hoping to fit it in at some point. Everyone seems to love it. I'm well over halfway through Howards End and it's been good.

Pat - I've done that several times with books I've really liked. My mind tends to wander when I listen to fiction so sometimes it hard for me to follow a storyline. But if I've already read the book, I don't miss anything. Of course, I have to really like the book... This book was perfect for me on audio and I love hearing an author read/tell his own story.

Anne - I think you'd like it. I've only read a couple of Conroy's books and I wouldn't necessarily call myself a big fan and I loved it. I'm a bigger fan now.

Bonnie - I was surprised by how much I liked Crooked Letter. I think you'd love it too.

Mark - I'm basically reading two books about reading - the Conroy book and the Hill book. But they are very different in style. You'll love this one too!

Hi. I hope you're home and cozy. I had to go out tonight and it was NASTY.

Great review of War Horse. It sounds intriguing. I am also adding My Reading Life, but audio, because I happen to trust your audio-book-sense (Ralph Cosham) Ahem.

Hi Jenn,

Oh brrr! I'm glad I was able to come home from work and put on my jammies! We've gotten pretty spoiled with our weather.

War Horse was surprisingly good.

Pat Conroy is no Ralph Coshan (*sigh*) but that's ok, I love listening to an author read his own work.

Glad to see that you enjoyed My Reading Life too, Joanne!

My Reading Life, I have to get to that one soon..

I started My Reading Life and I agree that it's really good...I just need to finish it!

I'll have to My Reading Life added it to my wishlist and Crooked letter sounds like a good one too!

Good morning Stasia, Kath, Angela, and Susie. Thanks for stopping by. I'm a bigger fan of Pat Conroy now that I've read My Reading Life. He's someone I'd love to meet and I don't feel that way about every writer.

I noticed this week that Crooked Letter was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel. I haven't read any of the other nominees.

>153 Copperskye:-One of the other nominees is The Poacher's Son by, Paul Dioron I highly recommend it!

Luis Alberto Urrea, Charles deLint, Mary Doria Russell, are all writers I would like to meet..

and also .. for fun.. Mari SanGiovanni and Jenny Gardiner

That is too funny about those covers! I will always pick up a book to look at in the store if there's a horse on the cover - I guess I'm not the only one!

Susie - The Poacher's Son does look good and my library has it. Thanks!!

Kath, Too bad you can't just call them up and invite them over. Wouldn't that be fun sometimes?

PBP - I know, right! I read about War Horse on The Book Bench blog and ordered it up from the library. It wasn't until I picked it up off the hold shelf and saw it that I did a double take. Horse is the same, background is different. BTW, you'd love War Horse.

7. A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

I loved Moonlight Mile and wanted to start the series from the beginning. I like Lehane's writing style and the two main characters so I'm looking forward to catching up with the rest.

I have been seeing Lehane's name everywhere, so I decided to add this book to my wishlist, just in case.
--BJ

8. Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill

Author Susan Hill went looking for a book and, after considering the half-forgotten books on her shelves, decided to read only from her own collection for one year. She shares her musings and ramblings and remembrances and her Final Forty list of "desert island books", her opinions on ereaders and classics. She's met a lot of authors including Ian Fleming and Roald Dahl, and her impromptu poetry reading with Edith Sitwell was laugh out loud funny. She ponders her books with love and affection and personalities. This is a charming book for book lovers. I placed a lot of sticky arrows to mark passages I particularily liked but my favorite quote is this one that I added to my Books Off the Shelf thread:

“There is no reason why most of the books I own but have never actually read should be more or less in one place. They just are. Maybe they quietly gravitated into the sitting room one by one, to sob and huddle together for warmth.” - Susan Hill, Howards End is on the Landing

#160 -- loved this book. It would have been on my best of 2010, except that I read it around Xmas 2009!! (My Xmas prez to myself...)

Hi BJ, If you saw the movie, Gone Baby, Gone, it was based on one of the books in this series.

A wonderful Xmas gift for yourself, Suz! She doesn't help with my own tbr list, though.

I have GOT to read that.. How is it that I didn't realize it was by Susan Hill????
See what a great job I am doing ignoring blue text? :P

Joanne- Good reviews! I NEED to read more Lehane in the New Year. I have The Given Day & Moonlight Mile waiting in the wings.
I should finish Howards End soon. I have an audio to recommend: I started The Tiger and it's been excellent. Have a nice Sunday.

Oh Joanne you have made me very anxious to get to Howards End Is on the Landing. I don't own it and I just blew through a couple of gift cards from B&N (before they go out of business) so I'll check my public library.

What a great quote!

Great review Joanne. I've got to move that book up higher in the pile.

I just added Howard's End is on the Landing, so I'll tag you as another LT-er who recommends it. :-) Great title, by the way, and totally fits with how I've arranged my books.

Great review, Joanne! I'll look for that one, though I, too, and trying to read more of my own books.

Hi Joanne! Finally found you in the mix! Interesting looking book by Susan Hill! I read several of her mysteries. Just finished Motorcycles and Sweetgrass - touchstones don't work -and LOVED it - wrote a review . A Great piece of CanLit. Just starting on Jar City- an Icelandic thriller. I see you've already read 8 books - while I am just starting my err - 6 or 7th! Amazing how you do it all! Oh Howard's End is on the Landing looks fascinating!

I've got Howard's End in on the Landing on hold at the library but I'm thinking I may want to buy it.

I also need to try something by Dennis Lehane.

I'm way behind on threads, I hope you don't mind that I simply move forward with this message.

I'm so glad you liked Pat Conroy's My Reading Life.

Now adding Howards End to my wishlist too!

I merely glanced at your review at first because I'm afraid of reading Susan Hill's fiction I had Susan Hill confused with Shirley Jackson (her name also starts with S and there's "hill" in The Haunting of Hill House...I know, it sounds lame to me too). Then I saw what the book was and had to take a second look. That cover is brilliant - at first I thought it was a picture of the spine on your bookshelf! Adding it to the evergrowing TBR list. :)

Hi Kath - I had heard of Howards End is on the Landing and thought it sounded interesting before I had ever read any of Susan Hill's fiction. The name didn't connect with me right away either.

Hi Mark - The Tiger has been getting a lot of good press but I'm afraid I would root for the tiger.

Hi Bonnie, PBP, Jenn, Bonnie and Anne - I think you'd all like this one.

Hi Deb - Nice review of Motorcycles and Sweetgrass. I'll keep it in mind and hopefully my library here will get it sometime soon-ish. I'll be interested in how you like Jar City. I haven't read any of those yet.

Hi Pat - I think you'd like Lehane. I checked the Hill book out of the library and may buy it sometime if I can find a cheap copy.

Hi Linda - I have to do that too. Wasn't My Reading Life wonderful!? I can still hear his voice. The audio was great.

Hi Susie - :)

Hi Mary - LOL. Sounds perfectly plausible to me. I thought the cover was very interesting, too! I love well done covers. And actually, Susan Hill has a couple of stand alone gothic ghost stories that were much creepier than Hill House but don;t let that put you off this one or even her mystery series.

Just waving as I head through the threads, Joanne :)

I am going to re-read the Lehane series this year too.

I've been wanting to read Howard's End is on the Landing for a long time now! I may have to break down and buy it really soon...nice review...

Well, it isn't available as an ebook.. so not sure if I will be able to library it ...
( I know my library visiting leaves much to be desired.) The more I see of Howard's thoug, the more I want to read it.

Hi Stasia - Nice to see you back!

Hi Angela - I hope you like it!

Hi Kath - I had been looking for the Serrailler series on ebook but now that I've read Hill's opinion on the subject, I don't expect to see them in that format for awhile.

Speaking of Hill, I'm really enjoying her The Vows of Silence.

Hi Joanne!! Just stopping to see what you've been up to. I've finally finished Middlemarch and started another long one, Under the Dome. Am I crazy or what? :-} Hope you're having a good week!! Happy Reading!!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Tammy, and congrats on finishing Middlemarch. I've never read it but I know it's quite an accomplishment. Poor Under the Dome, it sits unread on my shelf. This year though! I'll be interested in your opinion when you get it done.

Hi Joanne!

Where have I been? Lurking and sobbing... you have been reading a bunch of good books. I want to read them all! I'm starting to feel like I will always be behind the curve - but hey, there will be a smile on my face!!!! :D

hmm ...Can't say that I blame any author that is anti ebook..

Hey Claudia - Lurking and sobbing?! Now that's not good - no more lurking and no more sobbing. :) And you sure aren't behind any curve - but I just love it when sometimes our reading arcs meet and we're reading the same book.

I've decided to stop feeling pressured to read everything I see that I think I'll like (and I usually do) and just enjoy what I want to read when I want to read it.

I don't blame her either, Kath, and she also runs a small press co.

"I've decided to stop feeling pressured to read everything I see that I think I'll like (and I usually do) and just enjoy what I want to read when I want to read it."

So Joanne, HOW (specifically) did you manage this resolution? Will you give me lessons?
Ah, me... my own worse enemy! lol
Have a good day! :)

Hi, Joanne! Just stopping by to mark your thread. *waves* I'll be back when I have more time to read all the posts.

>185 Copperskye:: I've decided to stop feeling pressured to read everything I see that I think I'll like (and I usually do) and just enjoy what I want to read when I want to read it.

That, my friend is the secret of the joyful reader. I was torn between being "Overbooked" or having "Joy of Reading" for this year's thread title. I don't necessarily have to 'love' what I'm reading, but if I don't feel some kind of looming reward in the realm of pleasure or learning something, I'm not gonna read it!

>187 Storeetllr: Hi Mary - Welcome! Come back soon!

>186 -Cee-:, 188 Hi Claudia and Donna, **sadly shakes her head** I really don't know how to do that and that's the problem. It's oddly stressful. *sigh*

9. The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill (the same Susan Hill as the above book)

The fourth book in the Simon Serrailler series. Another excellent mystery but emotionally exhausting. Hill lets her readers get totally involved in the lives of her characters and then just...well, I wouldn't want to spoil it. A real page-turner; the last 100 or so pages just flew by.

Warning - the most recent LT review on the book page (July 6, 2010, one sentence) has a HUGE plot spoiler. Avoid!!

>185 Copperskye:: I've decided to stop feeling pressured to read everything I see that I think I'll like (and I usually do) and just enjoy what I want to read when I want to read it.

I'm with you Joanne. I decided that I want to do more of just looking at my shelves and saying, "Hmmm, what do I want to read now??" That's resulted in all the great books I've read so far this year. Now, granted, these books were probably mostly recommended by someone here on LT at some point in time but still, I feel freer and less stressed.

Hi Bonnie - That's really what I'm going to try to do, the key word being try. I have sooo many great books that are languishing unread only because they are on my shelves and that's not right (poor things). And one of them is Every man Dies Alone which I know you just read and loved.

The library is still an issue (and that's where my next book is waiting for pick-up).

I'm just trying to catch up threads. You have done some wonderful reading so far, Joanne. I totally agree with you on Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter -- I loved it. I just gave a thumb to your review of The Girls who Went Away -- really makes me want to read it. The Lehane series is already at the tippy-top of my wishlist -- hoping hubby got the HINTS about what I want for my birthday!

And thanks for the warning about the spoiler on the one Susan Hill review!

#185, 186, 188 Absolutely! (Though easier said than done . . .)

Ignoring the Susan Hill books...

Hi! *wave*

#190: You remind me that I still have the first book in that series still waiting on my nightstand. One of these days, I will actually get it read!

The Vows of Silence sounds good. I have read the others. Susan Hill can write!

195- Ditto what Stasia said...:)

Hi Terri! Thanks so much for stopping by and saying hi. Good luck with those birthday hints - I hope they work! My husband gave up and started giving me gift cards for my favorite book stores. He's my enabler. I went over to your profile and saw your beautiful pictures. Wow - you've got some talent!

Hi Jenn - *waves back* But why ignore the Susan Hill books??? Actually, if you thnk Louise Penny is tough on her characters...

Hi Stasia and Angela - I let the first sit on the shelf for a long time too... Then I had to wonder why.

Hi Kath - I was going to wait a while before I read the last one but it's on the library shelf and I may just read it sooner rather than later. Why let a good read go!

>160 Copperskye:: I should do what Susan Hill did. I have so many books sitting around unread...

#198 Thanks for the kind words about my photography, Joanne!

#195, 197 Ditto what Stasia and Angela said!

ETA Just stopped by your profile -- you have some very nice pictures, too!

Hi Joanne! You've been on a Susan Hill roll lately! I've only ever read The Woman in Black, but you're encouraging me to seek out more. Have a great week!

>199 TadAD: - I think a lot of us here suffer with the same problemgood fortune. We're all ready to be housebound.

>200 tymfos: You too?? The first book in an excellent series just lanquishing on the shelf? tsk, tsk. :0) And thanks!

>201 AMQS: - Hi Anne, I have been on a roll and enjoying every minute. If you don't want to get into a series, Hill's The Man in the Picture is another good creepy stand-alone. I think it was you who encouraged me to try The Woman in Black. Stay warm this week - it's going to be a cold couple of days.

Hi there Joanne! Just popped in to say hi and belated Happy Birthday! My birthday was on the 20 - it's rough getting old early in the year! ;) Just finished my 7th book for the year - a fun biography - William and Kate; A Royal Romance. Lot's of fun! Then it's back to the trenches of Silence of the Grave which I am actually enjoying, but it is a bit of a bleak read. Enjoy Susan Hill! I did enjoy Jar City3.8 stars , but it was a little bleak! but Silence of the Grave seems to be fleshing out the characters a bit more. Sorry touchstones are not working.

Thanks Deb and belated birthday wishes to you too! And I couldn't agree more about the early in the year and growing old...

I really need to get to Jar City.

Hi Joanne. I am ignoring them because I can't get sucked into a new mystery series right now. I just can't. I have to resolve my issues with Three Pines and le inspector first.

Hi Joanne! Really? Nobody has talked to you since yesterday? Do you have a new thread somewhere?

Stay warm!

Yes Jenn, pathetic and sad and lonely, I know...*sigh* :)

You'll be ready for a new mystery series soon since you're almost caught up in Three Pines.

Stay warm and safe yourself! My boys are home tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be driving in to work, but I did bring my laptop home from work just in case.

Bummer! I don't think we're expected to get much snow, but I'm sure the roads will be treacherous anyway. Stay safe, and good thinking to bring your laptop just in case!

Hi Joanne!
Happy February!
Have a comfy, safe and warm day! :)

Good morning Claudia! How did it get to be February already??

Chilly all over it seems, -12 here, wind chill -32, light snow, but we're much better off than a lot of the country. My husband just went out for more sunflower seeds for the birds and I'm off to get dressed to head out to work. Stay warm and have a great day!

How did it get to be February already??

I'm thinking the same thing. Time just seems to fly by!

Agreed.. time is speeding by! sheesh!

>211 tymfos:, 212 - And of course Feb is the shortest month...



10. Of Thee I Sing, A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama

A charming picture book. The illustrations by Loran Long are beautiful, the text is simple. The Americans highlighted are an interesting, eclectic cross-section of historical figures, who in their own way and with varied talents, had an influence on, and helped to shape, America. They include, among others, Georgia O'Keefe, Albert Einstein, Billie Holiday, Sitting Bull, Helen Keller, Cesar Chavez and George Washington.

No matter your political leaning, I can't imagine anyone not finding it to be delightful.

eta: I read this on my NookColor, borrowed from the library. Even in this format, the illustrations were beautiful.

Sounds like a good read! Stay warm!
--BJ

Good thing you have a hubby who will enable. The new bf has informed me he refuses to play that role to someone reading hundreds of books a year -- he may not last long!

I'm waiting anxiously for the new Susan Hill to be published in the UK & make its way to my front door...

Of Thee I Sing sounds really special. I'll be checking it out.

Happy February (already?)!

Hi BJ - It actually got into the double digits today! Hope you're all dug out.

Hi Suz - Yeah, that doesn't sound very promising... Did you order A Kind Man? (I mean the Hill book, not a real man, although that'd be nice)... :0)

Hi Mary - It really was very sweet and I liked that it wasn't just the typical role models who were highlighted.

I'm currently immersed in Alice Hoffman's new book, The Red Garden. Love it!

Hi Joanne, I've stayed away from Alice Hoffman after a couple of reads that definitely weren't for me. I'd like to give her another go, though, so I'm anxious to hear what you think of this one.

Hi Anne, I hated her most recent, The Story Sisters - couldn't finish it. This one I love.

Hi Joanne! Just popping by to check in on one of my fellow mystery readers!! While I enjoyed Jar City by by Arnaldur Indriðason , I went on to Silence of the Grave and enjoyed it so much more. The books are psychological mysteries and I really enjoyed the character development in the second book , and the insight into domestic abuse. In fact - I enjoyed it so much, I am now reading the 3rd book in the series Voices.One day I'll go back to Henning Mankell and the rest of his Kurt Wallender myseries, or try my newJo Nesbo book,
Redbreast. At any rate I am really enjoying my trip to Scandavia!! :)

The Red Garden is one I got from Vine.. I really liked it.

I read Of Thee I Sing last week... My sister gave it to me for Christmas, and I forgot about it until I was putting some other books away. I liked it :}

eta touchstone fix

Hi Deb! I have yet to read any of those three authors - yet. :) I did see the Wallander series with Kenneth Branagh on PBS not too long ago which was excellent. Did you catch any of them? I am thoroughly enjoying Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro series. I just finished the second in the series. I'll read #3 soon.

Hey Kath, Sadly, I left The Red Garden in my office last week so I couldn't read it over the weekend. Something for me to look forward to on Monday - I'm guessing I'll be having lunch at my desk. I really like it.

Hi Joanne, you're gettng to be a mystery afficionado I see. My next one up is Kate Atkinson's One Good Turn.

Hi Joanne. I didn't realize PBS was showing a Kurt Wallander series. I'll have to see if I can find it on Netflix. I liked the first book, Faceless Killers, but haven't gotten any further in the series.

Pat- Try to find Dogs of Riga, the 2nd Wallander. It's very good. I only watched the Faceless Killers on PBS. The other episodes are out of order and are based on books in the series that I have not yet read.

#224: Pat, the Wallander series is available through Netflix. Kerry and I have been watching it.

Thanks for the recommendation for Dogs of Riga, Mark. And Stasia, thanks for letting me know the series is on Netflix. I love watching series.

Have fun reading One Good Turn, Bonnie. I credit Kate Atkinson for getting me back into the mystery genre.

I thought the Wallander series was great on PBS (just not enough of them) but since I watched them not too long ago, I need to wait a bit before I can start reading the books.

Hi Joanne... Starting to feel like a lurker, so I'm sending a big wave!

11. Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

Darkness all right. Dark and brutal. But the characters are irrisistible, as is the writing. There's just enough levity to keep the whole thing from being too unbearably dark. I've got the next one in the series waiting for me on the Nook - mine for the next 21 days. I'm finding this series to be addictive, I just hope I don't overdo it and burn out on them.

Hi Claudia! I was kind of wondering where you've been...

Thanks for the wave! Feel free to delurk more often!

the Wallander series has KENNETH BRANAGH. 'nuff said!

Yup, I've preordered the next Susan Hill/Simon Seraillier novel. She isn't losing her touch at all in these books, which is wonderful!

I haven't read any of the Wallander books, Suz, but I thought Kenneth Branagh played him well! ;)

Yay for the new Serailler book!!

Hey - hope you're in for the night. I came home just as the storm started. It's a doozy.

Hi Jenn - It came in with a whoosh. I'll bet visibility was awful. Glad you made it home safely. Tomorrow morning is going to be a bear. I love the snow but more so on the weekends.

Yeah. I still have that cosmic question out there - snow day for the kids but not the grown ups???

snow. sigh. careful everyone.

No snow day for us. Just a 2 hour delay.

No snow day or delay for us. Brrrrr, it's cold out there!

Today is the day they should have closed the schools, not the two days last week. It was almost as cold plus 8" of snow! I was supposed to have an after-prom meeting at the school tonight but they cancelled it, too cold.

Crunch, crunch in the cold but it should be 50 by the weekend (boo, mud)!

True. It's very mysterious to me how they decide. Roads this morning were easily as bad or worse than last week.

We need to find a happy medium here. I vote for 40.

>218 AMQS:: I'm another one waiting for the verdict on The Red Garden. I liked Hoffman's first few books then they started going downhill for some reason.

>230 Copperskye:: Good for you reading the Lehane books. I think I'll just pick up with his new ones. My friend Nancy618 is on a roll to read the older ones, too. I'll have to point her towards your thread.

More snow for us, too. School is canceled today. I agree with you about snow on the week ends, Joanne. I don't have to get out today, but I'll have to schlop through it to get to my class tomorrow. The worst thing is, though, that my monthly canasta game for tomorrow afternoon will probably be canceled. Eight of us get together and have lunch, cards, and mindless chatter for four hours. Dang, I hate to miss it!

cold here... about half the districts delayed today...brrrrrrrrr

back up to message #190...I've added Vows of Silence to my tbr pile for 2011.

Hugs to you! I hope you are warm tonight.

Hi, Joanne! Let's see.... I am a devotee of both Lehane and Hill in the mystery department. And it's supposed to snow here sometime after midnight! They predict an inch or two, which would ordinarily be enough to have me staying up to watch. However, we've already had two snows with 5"-7" this winter - extraordinary! My enthusiasm is waning if I can't watch it come down. On the other hand, the highs tomorrow will be in the 50's so it should melt right away. Good enough.

Hi, Joanne!
I was wanting some advice about my dog. We have been having really cold temps for Oklahoma. Last night it was -12F. I would not let her out this morning until it warmed up to 8F. What temperature is it safe for a golden to go outside for a little while? I was concerned for her paws and ears. (She is about 6.) I know you get a lot more cold weather than we do. Thanks!
--BJ

Jenn - It'll be in the 60s in a few days!

Donna - I finished The Red Garden and loved it. I'm jealous hearing about your monthly canasta game! It sounds like a lot of fun.

Kath - Hopefully the warm weather we're expecting will spread to your neck of the woods soon!

Linda - I loved The Vows of Silence and hope you do too. Have you read the earlier ones?

Peggy - I'm ripping through Lehane and Hill. Both writers are pretty addictive. If I was on the east coast this year I'm sure I would have zero enthusiasm for more snow!

#230 I just ordered the first of that Lehane series through Amazon. I can see that it's one that I'll probably get hooked on!

>247 Copperskye:: The Red Garden is in the dream book. So glad you loved it; it sounds great. I just read another good review on BookPage this morning.

My card game wasn't canceled yesterday after all. We had a smaller group which meant we were able to play Hand and Foot, a variation of canasta that involves more cards and more fun imo. If we run out of book talk on our next meet-up, we can always play cards. As if there's any chance of running out of book chat!!!

Awaiting the review of The Red Garden. . .

Hi, Joanne ~ Haven't had a lot of time to be online the past couple of weeks (apartment hunting and now moving) but just had to comment on your review of Lehane's Darkness, Take My Hand. I read A Drink Before the War last year and loved it but somehow forgot to get the next in the series. Darkness is now on my list to pick up after we are finished with The Move. Maybe it will help get me out of my current reading slump...

Speaking of weather, it's supposed to be in the upper 70s/lower 80s here today. One of the few perks of living in Los Angeles. :) Hope your 60s come to stay!

Terri - My work here is done. ;) I hope you like it. I'll be waiting to hear!

Donna - I think you'll like The Red Garden. We used to play canasta when I was young but I have no idea how to play it now. My family were big card players.

Stasia - I'm working on it, such as it is...

Mary - I hope your move goes/went well! How are your new digs? It'll definitely help with a reading slump!

We had a typical Colorado winter day today. We walked in 6 inches of snow in shirt sleeves carrying a water bottle. Could've used some sunscreen. It's supposed to be almost 70 by Wednesday. :0)

New thread time!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/110002