CBL's 75 and more in 2011

My 11 in 11 Category Challenge categories are broad enough that all of my 2011 reading should fit that challenge. I'll post them here, too, as I go. I'll officially start on January 1. I'm not sure what my first book will be, but possibly something for the Reading Through Time challenge. Maybe Mistress of the Art of Death, a book that's been on my TBR list for far too long.

My sister gave me Mistress of the Art of Death for my birthday 2 weeks ago. It's currently in my TBR bag I've bought with me on holiday. My sister has been reading the series and loved them. I'll be interested to know what you think of it if you decide to read it.

I'll be sure to post here after I've read it. I know I'll be reading it sometime in January. Just not sure if it will be first. I'm still waiting to see what my LT Santa has chosen for me, and I may want to read what Santa brings first!

I really liked Mistress of the Art of Death and liked the next 2 books in the series even more.

I haven't picked up any more books in this series yet since I haven't read the first one, but I do have another book by this author on my TBR shelves: City of Shadows.

Welcome to the group, Carrie!

Welcome! Mistress in the Art of Death has been on the TBR list for a while now, but I've been waiting until I get done with a few series before starting any more. I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.

Thanks for the welcomes! I'm looking forward to the year's reading!

Welcome, Carrie! It looks like we have some reading interests in common, as well as a locale. I am currently reading the second book in the Franklin series, The Serpent's Tale. I loved City of Shadows. I look forward to your comments when you get to them.

Looks like we're practically neighbors! Yes, it does look like we have some common reading interests. If I used my LT collection for my wishlist we'd match on several more items.

Both of my Ariana Franklin books have been on my TBR shelves far too long. I don't know if I'll get to City of Shadows this year. I'm anxious to get started on Mistress of the Art of Death.

Hi Carrie,

I just saw in the TIOLI thread that you're planning on reading Daniel Mendelsohn's The Lost: A search for Six of Six Million this month. I read it last year, and really got a lot out of it. I hope you enjoy it.

I also read Mistress of the Art of Death in 2010 and will be tracking down the 2nd book soon. I have a feeling your thread is going to be bad for my wallet!

Cushla, both of those books have been languishing among my TBRs much longer than I've intended for them to, so I'm glad for a nudge to finally get them read. Both of them sound like books I will love.

LT has been very bad for my wallet since I joined! Fortunately there is a wonderful used book store in my city that gives credit for trade so I can exchange books I've finished for shiny (almost) new ones. My biggest problem is that I'm running out of shelf space!

As of today I'm officially starting my 2011 reading. I finished a book last night. There were a couple more holiday books I had hoped to read before the end of 2010. However, reality kicked in and I realized that, with a houseful of holiday guests, I would not complete another book today. I've started on my first 2011 book, Mistress of the Art of Death. The holiday books will have to wait for next December.

#13: I enjoyed Mistress of the Art of Death, Carrie. I hope you do too!

I have that book prominently placed on my shelf as one to read soon...some day...

I signed up for several of this month's TIOLI challenges. All are books I was already planning to read (except the one I received for Christmas, which I didn't know I was getting).

#1 A book with a 3.80 to 4.20 rating on LT: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
#2 First book in a new series: Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (currently reading)
#3 A book with a duplicate word in the title: The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn
#5 A book I received for Christmas: Dancing with Mr. Darcy compiled by Sarah Waters (currently reading)
#7 A book where the vowels in the title are in alphabetical order: Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce (next up)
#10 A book with a proper noun in the title: The Leper of St. Giles by Ellis Peters
#11 A book ranked below 10,000 in the popularity index: The Troubadour's Song by David Boyle
#15 A book about Hungary: Skylark by Dezso Kosztolanyi

#16: Looks like some great reading there, Carrie, and a good way to start off your reading year!

1. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

This wasn't quite the book I expected to read. It leans more toward the thriller end of the mystery/crime genre than I expected. The sympathetic characters seem to view their world from a modern “enlightened” perspective. Unlike the anti-Semitic Cambridge populace, they are, to varying degrees, tolerant of religious and cultural differences. The main character, a female doctor educated in Salerno, seems like a 21st century woman who values her career above love and marriage. She is described as being opposed to “capital punishment”, a phrase I found jarring in a book set in the 12th century. A few passages (which, unfortunately, I neglected to mark) showed the author's ability to transcend sensationalism, but on the whole, it was more adrenaline-raising rather than thought-provoking.

The aspects of the book that worked well for me are some of the minor characters – the prior, the housekeeper and her young grandson, who provide local color with their speech and their canny approach to life. I also like Franklin's portrayal of Henry II as a self-interested ruler aware of both his power and its limits.

I might have had a more favorable reaction to this book if I hadn't recently read a couple of Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael novels, set earlier in the same century. Peters books pull me into the 12th century and keep me there, which Franklin didn't quite manage to do.

3 stars

good review - saw that one on the bargain table yesterday and wondered about it - but even if I might like the thriller end of mysteries more than you (I'm not sure - since I don't generally read either) I think the out of place modern worldview would probably bother me just as much.

Great review. I hope to read it by the end of this month. Mystery/thriller/crime is the genre I almost never read so I'm wondering how I'll get on with the book. I've never heard of Ellis Peters... off to do a LT search...

I know exactly what you mean about her attitude! I liked it more than you (4 stars) but haven't read the Ellis Peters ones yet. I've been looking on and off but have only found later books in the series and want to start at the start. (And I'm not buying any new books!)

I've only read two of the Cadfael books so far, but I have a feeling that it's a series that could be read out of order more easily than some. I'm not sure that his character is going to change much across the series.

All of the Cadfael books in my library originally belonged to my grandmother, and I've decided to read the ones I already have before I add more to my collection. I started with books 2 & 3, and I plan to read book 5 later this month.

I'm willing to give Franklin another try, but I think I'll read City of Shadows from my TBR stash before looking for the next book in the Mistress of the Art of Death series.

2. Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce
TIOLI Challenge #7

Framed is a wonderfully quirky book about the unexpected effects of famous works of art on a small town in Wales. The book is narrated by Dylan Hughes, the only boy left in Manod so with little hope of a pickup game of soccer. Other Manod residents include the Misses Sellwood, who drive to town every Wednesday with blind Miss Elsa behind the wheel while Miss Edna steers; Daft Tom, a child-like man obsessed with the Ninja Turtles; Terrible Evans, who signals her crush on Dylan by poking him in the eye whenever he's within reach; and Dylan's younger sister, Minnie, whose fascination with crime and criminals may signal trouble ahead.

Cottrell Boyce gets 9-year-old Dylan's voice just right. Dylan's Manod seems like the center of the world, and it's someplace I'd love to visit. Of course, I'll be stopping at the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel for a latte and a Crispy Choc Constable while I'm there. Maybe I'll even kick a soccer ball around with Dylan, if he wouldn't mind playing with a girl.

4 1/2 stars

#23: My local library has that one. Woot! Thanks for the review and recommendation, Carrie.

Framed sounds great! I love well-done books from a child's perspective.

Re: City of Shadows. While I loved the book, the criticisms of Mistress could also apply to CoS. There are some anachronistic elements as well as some unlikely coincidences. Still, Franklin's characters can be unexpectedly funny and I really enjoyed the Anastasia aspect (I'm a not-so-closeted Romanov fan).

Thanks for the warning about City of Shadows. If I'm aware ahead of time that the anachronisms are there they might not bother me quite as much. I've always been fascinated by the Romanovs myself, so I know I'll want to get the book read at some point.

As for Framed, I don't have kids of my own but I've spent quite a bit of time around children that age. It's obvious to me that Cottrell Boyce has, too.

3. Skylark by Dezso Kosztolanyi, finished as part of the readathon

“You wouldn't like it, it tastes like coconut” is what I always tell my diabetic father whenever I indulge in a sugary dessert in his presence. We both know that's not true. However, I know he doesn't want me to give up something I enjoy because he can't enjoy it, too.

The Vajkays don't live like that. For years, Mother and Father Vajkays have denied themselves things they enjoy out of sensitivity for their daughter, Skylark, a spinster of uncertain age. They live with the fiction that they don't enjoy those activities, and they speak disparagingly of those who do. When Skylark goes away for a week's visit with relatives in the country, her parents tentatively rediscover the delights of things they'd given up for years, and they confront some unspoken truths. The ordered lives they lead with Skylark stand out against those of other inhabitants of the town who indulge their passions with abandon.

Nothing of great consequence happens in this short novel. The action is mostly internal. Even the minor characters are interesting. While on the surface this is a lighthearted novel and there are several humorous scenes, the underlying mood is one of melancholy, disappointment, and resignation, with a tinge of apathy. The main weakness of the book is that the author leans a little too much toward “telling” rather than “showing”.

My edition tells me that two of the author's other works are available in English translation. I've now added two more TBRs to my mushrooming list. Recommended warmly, especially to readers of literature in translation.

4 stars

Next up: The Troubadour's Song by David Boyle

#27: I alread have that one in the BlackHole. I wish my local library would get a copy!

I have Mistress in the Art of Death on my TBR shelf too - it's the sort of book I usually like. Framed sounds really good (great review!) and my library has it too. I've put it on hold. You have a great list of books there!

Thanks, Myckyee! Hope you enjoy Framed, and Mistress of the Art of Death when you get around to it! It stayed on my TBR shelves for close to 2 years before I finally got to it.

I haven't had much reading time this week. I've managed to read at least one chapter of Troubadour's Song each day, and I finished three chapters today. If I can get some uninterrupted time this afternoon I might be able to finish it. Non-fiction usually takes me longer to read than fiction.

4. Troubadour's Song by David Boyle
TIOLI #11

In his acknowledgments, the author reveals that this is a book he has always wanted to write. That worked out well for me, because it's a book I've always wanted to read. My interest in Richard the Lion-heart goes back to my early twenties, when I visited a friend in Austria and spent a couple of hours in Dürnstein wandering its streets and climbing around the ruins of the castle where legend says Richard was imprisoned. I also read Ivanhoe around the same time, in which Walter Scott imagines Richard's return to England after the 3rd Crusade.

The author starts with the legend of Blondel's discovery of Richard in his prison in Dürnstein Castle as he sang beside its walls and heard Richard's echoing voice. Boyle presents evidence substantiating that Blondel was a historical person and not merely legendary, and he meshes legend and historical account into probable locations and a time line for Richard's flight through Europe, his capture, and his imprisonment. However, he doesn't present any convincing evidence that Richard and Blondel knew each other, let alone had any sort of friendship. All he offers is speculation about when and where they might have met. Blondel pretty much drops out of the story just over halfway through, when Richard is discovered in prison. The rest of the book describes the political negotiations for Richard's release, the raising of his ransom, Richard's return to England, and the last few years of his life. Blondel wasn't involved in any of that.

The narrative is chronological for the most part; the author only occasionally got ahead of himself in telling Richard's story. The list of characters at the front of the book is nice, but I still had trouble distinguishing among all of the different Henrys mentioned in the book. The maps, genealogical charts, and illustrations added to the text, and I didn't feel like anything was lacking in the helps provided. The author relies heavily on secondary sources, which is appropriate for a popular history for a general audience.

3 stars

#32: I think I will give that one a pass.

5. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
TIOLI #1, book with a 3.80 to 4.20 rating

October, 1909. The all-male Milliron household is getting by a year after losing their wife and mother. A chance newspaper advertisement brings excitement into their lives in the form of a housekeeper from Minneapolis – a housekeeper who “can't cook but doesn't bite.” Typically for a small community, the Milliron's new domestic arrangements spill over into the three brothers' school life. Decades later, the oldest Milliron brother, Paul, recalls the events of this pivotal year in the lives of his family and of their rural Montana school. It's clear that the newcomers will be catalysts for change, but it's not clear whether the changes will be for better or worse.

The Whistling Season will provoke nostalgia in many readers – for family and community, for the carefree days of childhood, for simpler times that exist only in memory. However, this is much more than a sentimental, “feel good” book. Doig is a master story teller – dramatic without being melodramatic, and very witty. No detail is unimportant, yet the details don't weigh the story down. If readers haven't already identified with Paul, they'll be hooked by his description of his part of a shared bedroom: My books already threatened to take over my part of the room and keep on going. Mother's old ones, subscription sets Father had not been able to resist, coverless winnowings from the schoolhouse shelf—whatever cargoes of words I could lay my hands on I gave safe harbor. I think book lovers everywhere will recognize that room! Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

Next up: The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters

Lurker here: I also loved The Whistling Season and think Doig is a wonderful writer. I love his perceptive and subtle way of describing season, and natural environment, as well as his story telling.

Another lurker here....I have Doig's work song on my Nook to read in the next two weeks. Whistling season is also on the TBR list. And you will love Leper of Saint Giles. I read that entire series over 25 years ago (we were living in Japan, and I found the whole set in a bookstore in Singapore for very very cheap). I think it may be time to re-visit them.

I really enjoyed Morrie's character in The Whistling Season, so Work Song is high on my wish list now. I can't wait to read about Morrie's further adventures. I'll keep an eye out for your review.

#34: I reallly need to get to that one! I have already read Work Song and enjoyed it.

6. Dancing with Mr. Darcy, a short story collection compiled by Sarah Waters

Short stories are not one of my favorite genres, but I couldn't resist adding this collection of Jane Austen-inspired stories to my wish list. One of my friends who shares a love for Jane Austen spotted it there and bought it for me for Christmas. I've been dipping into it one story at a time until I ran out of stories.

All of the stories were entered in a Jane Austen short story competition. The panel of judges included well-known novelist Sarah Waters, as well as a descendant of one of Jane Austen's brothers. It must have been difficult to select the winner from the stories included in this collection. There were just three stories that disappointed me, and several that I really liked.

My favorites selections:

Tears Fall on Orkney by Nancy Saunders. I expect this story of unrequited love will linger the longest in my memory. The understated tone hit me just right.

Miss Austen Victorious by Esther Bellamy. A local theatre company rehearses Pride and Prejudice during the Blitz.

Cleverclogs by Hilary Spiers. A young reader experiences her first Jane Austen novel.

One Character in Search of Her Love Story Role by Felicity Cowie. I was hooked from the first sentence: Hannah Peel was dispatched by her author to shadow heroines from Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.

The variety of writing styles in the collection almost guarantee that every Jane Austen fan will find something to his or her liking. Recommended.

3 1/2 stars

Last week I ordered a Sony Pocket eReader, and it arrived today. I've been using an ereader on my PDA for several years with Project Gutenberg text files and Bible software, so the Sony isn't a completely new experience for me. I was looking for something small enough and light enough to carry in my purse, and that would allow me to read the free Google books, ebook downloads from the public library, and e-galleys from NetGalley. The Sony had all of the features I was looking for. It seems intuitive so far, although I haven't had a lot of time to experiment with it yet.

My father bought a Nook color over the weekend. He has also used a PDA for reading ebooks for several years. I haven't spent a lot of time with his Nook, but did play with it a little. It seems sluggish compared to the Sony reader. His learning curve seems to be a lot bigger than mine is with the Sony reader. He's also encountered problems with the touch pad. His fingers are bigger than some of the buttons and keys on the screen, and he hasn't been able to get a stylus to work with it. On the other hand, the Sony comes with a stylus, and it also has push buttons at the bottom of the reader. I like having options other than using my fingers on the touch screen -- no fingerprints all over the screen!

I have the Nookcolor, and it is my first ereader. I have no excuse except to say that I just wanted it. I did buy some filmy covers that go over the screen. It protects against fingerprints and also tones down the glare in bright light. I actually haven't used it much. The Nook and cover combined are heavy!

7. The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters
TIOLI #10 Proper noun in the title

When an older man marries a woman young enough to be his granddaughter, today's cynic assumes she's married him for his money. In Cadfael's England, Huon de Domville, a baron “well past the prime”, is set to marry 18-year-old heiress Iveta de Massard for her wealth and lands. Iveta is in love with one of his squires, and the young lovers haven't given up all hope of finding a way out for Iveta. However, no one was prepared for what happened next.

Peters avoids the faults of some historical fiction authors whose characters seem to have modern world views. I think the difference is that other writers often emphasize attitudes and opinions, while Peters focuses on emotions and character traits like love and hatred, compassion and cruelty, fear and comfort, trust and betrayal. Even though I could see early on where the plot was heading and guessed many of the characters' secrets, there were still some surprises along the way. I haven't read many writers who are able to tell a story so well and resolve the problems so satisfactorily. Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

Next up: The Corpse Wore Tartan by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Congrats on your Hot Review!

Thanks! Ellis Peters seems to be a much-loved author. I'm certainly enjoying her books!

8. The Corpse Wore Tartan by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Members of a Scottish heritage society gather at The Spruces for their annual Burns Night Supper in honor of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns. A winter storm strands both guests and staff in the hotel without electricity, landlines, cell phones, or radio communication with the outside. Then the body of one of the guests is discovered. He had antagonized plenty of his fellow guests since their arrival at the hotel. Liss MacCrimmon and her friends are on their own. Will they be able to identify the guilty party before the weather improves enough to allow the murderer to escape?

This cozy mystery was a little better than average. While the hotel setting is frequently used by cozy authors, the occasion was unusual. Many of the clues are connected to the Scottish theme. Liss suffers from the frequent tendency of cozy heroines to meddle where they have no business meddling, but she isn't as annoying as many. I do wish that her friend Sherri, a police officer, had a central role in the series instead of being a supporting character. Her character has potential, and, unlike Liss, she actually has a good reason for investigating crime. Recommended, especially for cozy fans with Scottish heritage.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear

I am a fan of the Maisie Dobbs series. I cannot wait to see what you think of A Lesson in Secrets, Carrie.

9. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs has worked with Scotland Yard in the past, and now she has the opportunity to work with British intelligence. Something isn't quite right at a Cambridge college built on pacifist ideals, and Maisie's job is to uncover anything that might be a danger to the country while she works undercover as a philosophy lecturer. No sooner has the term started than a murder is discovered. Meanwhile back in London, Billy works on a case for an old friend of Maisie's.

Maisie's personality is suited for academia. I've read a number of mysteries with academic settings, and most of the time the professor/sleuth seems to do everything but what s/he is paid to do – teach. Maisie's position is a means to an end, yet she takes her teaching responsibilities seriously and fits her investigative work around her class schedule. She seems to enjoy teaching, and I wish there had been more interaction between Maisie and her students in the book.

Maisie's assignment seemed a bit vague to me. Solving the murder was tangential to her assignment, yet she considered her work complete once the murder had been solved (except for finishing out her teaching responsibilities for the term). I'm not sure that espionage brings out the best in Maisie's character. She has always been tactfully forthright, but as a consequence of her intelligence work she finds herself having to lie convincingly on a number of occasions. It will be interesting to see how deeply Maisie can become involved in intelligence work before having a crisis of conscience.

I'm not sure how I feel about this new direction for the series. So far, I prefer Maisie as private investigator rather than spy. However, as the series progresses closer in time to World War II, I have a feeling that national security is going to play a bigger role in Maisie's cases.

This review is based on an advance reader's e-proof provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

#47: I am not sure if I like the direction that the series is taking either, but I will probably continue to follow it. Thanks for the review, Carrie!

10. The Shallows by Nicholas Carr - Finished this one last week but hadn't taken time to review it.

In The Shallows , Nicholas Carr examines the physiological and psychological effects of the Internet within the framework of Marshall McLuhan's theory. Carr maintains that the influence of the Internet is changing the way people think. Carr addresses topics including information vs. knowledge, depth of thought vs. breadth of thought, memory, attention, distraction, IQ, and artificial intelligence and the Turing test. Although the language is often highly technical, the book is accessible to the educated general reader.

One of my favorite passages is Carr's description of ELIZA, a computer program that simulates a Rogerian therapist. Carr describes its programmer's astonishment at the emotional reactions people had to the ELIZA software.

Even his secretary, who had watched him write the code for ELIZA “and surely knew it to be merely a computer program,” was seduced. After a few moments using the software at a terminal in Weizenbaum's office, she asked the professor to leave the room because she was embarrassed by the intimacy of the conversation. “What I had not realized,” said Weizenbaum, “is that extremely short exposures to a relatively simple computer program could induce powerful delusional thinking in quite normal people.”

I remember being amused by ELIZA as an early teen. This was in the early days of personal computers, before software downloads, when you could buy books of BASIC programs and type them into your home computer. I think I typed the code for ELIZA into my father's computer, and I never believed the computer was doing anything other than what it had been told to do. I thought that it said more about the limitations of Rogerian therapy than it did about the humanness of the computer. (I should add that my father's educational background is social psychology and at that time he was teaching college level psychology. Otherwise I wouldn't have known any more about psychology than the average teenager.)

Recommended for readers interested in technology and its effects on society.

4 stars

#49: I already have that one in the BlackHole. I am glad to see you liked it, Carrie!

I truly enjoyed The Shallows - it was one of my best reads for last year. There was a lot to digest, and I recognized myself many times.

Hi There

I'm compiling a list of birthdays of our group members. If you haven't done so already, would you mind stopping by this thread and posting yours.

Thanks.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105833

Adding The Shallows to the wishlist - sounds great!

>51 tututhefirst: Tina - Found and thumbed your review of The Shallows. I agree that it's an important book. We need to be more aware of what we're losing as well as what we're gaining from technology.

11. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
TIOLI #6 Book by/about and African American woman

The Color Purple isn't for the fainthearted reader. If you can tolerate some graphic descriptions of abuse (both sexual and physical), strong language, and sexuality, you'll be rewarded with some poetically beautiful passages.

This is a novel in letters written by sisters Celie and Nettie. Each one's voice is distinct, but Celie's seems the most powerful. Celie had little formal education, and her dialect is more unique than Nettie's grammatically correct style. Both women address issues of racial inequality in the Jim Crow South, conflict and violence between husbands and wives/men and women, and poverty. Additionally, Nettie's missionary venture to Africa prompts her to reflect on the differences between African American and African cultures.

Continuity issues always jump out at me, and this book has several. The time line between Celie's and Nettie's letters just doesn't add up. Events that seemingly span several years in Celie's account happen within weeks or months in Nettie's account. I don't think time was an important concern for Alice Walker, though. No dates are mentioned in the novel, although there are vague references to World War II. The story is more important than the details, and readers will do well to turn off their internal calendars and immerse themselves in the flow of the words.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes

I read the book back after the TV movie came out. I had forgotten the graphic nature of the work over the years, but your review made me remember thinking back at that time that the book used stronger language and was much more explicit than the movie was.

#55: I have never read that one, an oversight I am going to rectify in the near future. Thanks for the heads up about the graphic abuse descriptions.

12. Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes
TIOLI 1, embedded word in the title (swatch)

If the quality of travel writing can be measured by the strength of desire it inspires in a reader for travel to that destination, then Diccon Bewes's Swiss Watching is very good. The book is part travelogue and part introduction to popular culture. The more I read of it, the more eager I became to make a return trip to Switzerland. (In my college years, I spent a couple of days in Switzerland on a camping trip from London to Italy's Adriatic coast.)

Bewes is a UK citizen who now lives in Switzerland. He's been in Switzerland long enough to notice things about Swiss culture and geography that most short-term tourists wouldn't notice. His writing is mostly complimentary, and the occasional criticisms have an air of affectionate amusement rather than arrogant superiority.

The book is heavy on cultural comparisons between Switzerland and the UK. I lived in the UK for several years, so I had no difficulty with the British English and cultural references. Americans with less exposure to British English may be puzzled by references to places/things like Sainsbury's, OBEs and Clapham Junction.

"Extras" include maps hand drawn by the author, an alphabetical list of cantons with demographic, geographic, and cultural statistics, and a recommended reading list helpfully divided between books about Switzerland, books set in Switzerland, and books by Swiss authors available in English translation.

Recommended to readers looking for popular travel writing a step above a basic travel guide. Since Bewes writes as an outsider, readers interested in a deeper study of Swiss culture will want to balance it with books written by cultural insiders.

This review is based on an electronic copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

4 stars

I'm behind on my planned reading for the month. I didn't plan on spending several days in the hospital last week. I had hoped to finish Swiss Watching on Monday. Didn't happen. I read off and on in the hospital, but I was mostly too tired and distracted to read. I spent more time doing logic problems to keep my mind occupied and off of my worries.

I'm feeling much better now. The test results don't explain why I landed in the hospital, but they did rule out the really bad stuff.

#59: Sorry to hear you have been hospitalized, Carrie! I am glad to hear that you are feeling better now though.

Glad you're home now and hope you continue to get better!

13. My Confederate Kinfolk by Thulani Davis
TIOLI #6 Book by/about an African American woman

African American author Thulani Davis explores the family of her white great-grandfather, William Campbell, in My Confederate Kinfolk. Davis states that “this text is not a history nor a genealogy but built from my own great interests: how we define being American, how we deal with race, and human character.” Most of the book focuses on William Campbell and his immediate family – mother, siblings, and niece - during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Campbell family had extensive land holdings and business interests in Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. The Campbells were cotton planters, slave owners, and loyal Confederates. Davis thoroughly researched the Campbell family and discovered some interesting facts and connections to prominent American families like the Polks and the Danforths. However, the writing has a stilted, impersonal feel, and I was never quite comfortable while reading it. I think the author's conflicted feelings about her relationship to this family comes across in her writing. It was difficult for me to maintain an interest in people the author clearly seemed to dislike.

I was curious about the relationship between William Campbell and Davis's African American great-grandmother, a former slave. Was their relationship consensual or coerced? Were they married? I didn't learn the answers to these questions until about three quarters of the way through. What did her grandmother feel and experience as a biracial child in Mississippi and Alabama? Davis's grandmother, Georgia, left an unpublished memoir, and Davis knew her grandmother, yet her grandmother is a peripheral figure in this story. The book has quite a few grammatical errors that should have been caught before publication. I checked more than once to make sure I wasn't reading an uncorrected proof copy. While the author doesn't claim to be a genealogist, she does use the types of records and repositories that genealogists use. However, the bibliographical references, particularly those for census and vital records, are not detailed enough for other researchers to follow her trail.

The book was worth reading just for the first chapter, where Davis reflects on her research, American history (both white and African American), and how her discoveries affected her. I've read a lot about the Civil War, but not much about Reconstruction, and I learned quite a bit about that era from this book. A few months ago, I read a novel about the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas, so the references to that battle in Davis's book captured my attention. Davis read widely as she prepared to write this book, following recommendations from subject experts. I added a few items from her bibliography to my reading list.

Readers with a connection to the Campbell family will find much to interest them in this book, but other readers may struggle to maintain their interest all the way to the end.

2 1/2 stars

Next up: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

#62: Nice review of the book, Carrie. I think I will give that one a pass for now.

I hope you enjoy Balzac more. It was one of my favorites a few years back.

Oh, I really enjoyed Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. I hope you enjoy your read.

14. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie - a gift from SantaThing.

During China's Cultural Revolution, millions of young people were sent from China's cities to the country for “re-education”. Dai Sijie writes of two teen-aged friends sent to a village in a mountainous rural area. The pair come up with various schemes to make life in the country bearable. When they discover a cache of contraband Western literature, they set out on a re-education program of their own, with a beautiful young seamstress from a neighboring village as their student.

The author was himself a re-educated youth, so he writes from personal experience. The story is told in first person by one of the young men. The pair reminded me a little bit of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in their ability to out-wit their elders while maintaining an aura of innocence. The harshness of the conditions these youths faced is conveyed with irony and cynicism. I think it drew more sympathy from me than an angry or self-pitying voice would have done. The book will appeal to readers who like books about books, historical fiction, books by international writers, and books in translation. It would be a great reading choice for a book group.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America by Ellen K. Rothman, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.

#65: I read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl recently, Carrie. I will be interested in seeing what you think of it.

Your choice of books is very interesting. I am enjoying reading your journal, and hope I can keep up with you.

>67 maggie1944: Thanks Karen! I've branched out in my reading over the last couple of years with some of the geographic challenges I'm participating in. I'm enjoying the variety.

Really enjoyed your review of Swiss Watching. No travel books happened to fall into my hands lately, so I'll be missing out on the travel challenge. But I do so enjoy the travels I get vicariously through these kinds of threads!

Carrie...I've had Balzac on my radar screen for awhile now and I think I'm going to have to take a good look--I'm responsible for picking books for our book club, and this one sounds like one that would be a good candidate.

Tina, I think it would be a good choice for a book club read. It should have fairly broad appeal. If there happen to be some in the group who don't care for it, at least it wouldn't involve a big investment of time. It's a short book and could easily be read in a single evening.

15. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

I enjoy reading 19th century memoirs, so I expected to like Harriet Jacobs' memoir of her life in slavery and her eventual escape. I did like it, but not as much as I expected. Jacobs wrote under a pseudonym and changed names of places and people. This decision is understandable since the book was published before slavery was abolished, but it made it feel a bit like fiction to me. While the heavy appeal to readers' emotions is typical of the book's era, 21st century readers have been conditioned by decades of political spin and Madison Avenue advertising to be skeptical of this sort of approach. I have a recent biography of Harriet Jacobs by Jean Fagan Yellin in my TBR stash. Since my interest has been aroused, I hope to work Yellin's biography into next month's reading list. It should have more details and documentation than Jacobs was comfortable putting in her memoir, and I hope it will give me a greater sense of her life and legacy.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: Caveat Emptor by Ruth Downie

72 (cbl_tn): Oh, I didn't know about the biography of Harriet Jacobs. Onto the list...

.16. Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America by Ellen K. Rothman

This history of American courtship spans two centuries, from the revolutionary era to the early 1980s. Three main sections cover the years 1770-1840, 1830-1880, and 1870-1920, with an epilogue covering 1920-1980. Within each chronological section, individual chapters are organized thematically. The chronological overlap between sections reflects the gradual, rather than abrupt, changes in courtship and marriage customs.

The book is based on the author's dissertation. Rothman acknowledges historian David Hackett Fischer's constructive criticism of her dissertation and cites his encouragement as a factor in its transformation into this book. Rothman's sources were diaries and letters, both published and unpublished. Their authors were “members of the white, Protestant middle class living in the settled areas of the North,... the kind of people who produced, and whose descendants preserved, personal documents... They were middle-class youths without the disadvantages of the poor or the advantages of the rich.”

The wedding trip is one example of the changing customs described in the book. In the early period covered in the book, newly married couples spent the days following the wedding visiting family and friends. By the middle part of the 19th century, the visiting had been replaced by a wedding trip in which the newlyweds were accompanied by family and friends. By the latter part of the 19th century, the newlyweds went on a wedding trip, or honeymoon, by themselves.

Few of my ancestors fall within the social and geographical parameters covered in the book. The epilogue covering 1920-1980 is the most relevant for my family's history. Even so, this is a useful volume for my family history/genealogy/U.S. history collection. It's more readable than a lot of academic works, and it should capture and hold the attention of non-academics. Readers of 19th century American literature may find it contains useful background information for the portrayal of courtship and marriage in novels.

4 stars

Still reading: Caveat Emptor by Ruth Downie

Hands and Hearts sounds really interesting - thanks for the review!

Hearts and Hands: A History of Courtship in America sounds very interesting. I find it fascinating how customs change over time and the original meanings behind them. One of the books I'm reading now is Mother Daughter Sister Bride, which about the rituals of womanhood around the world.

>76 Tanglewood:. Sounds interesting, especially the National Geographic photographs.

I've listed 7 books for the March TIOLI challenges:

City named on p. 17
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey (Xanadu)
Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy by Marie Chapian (Zagreb)

Up/Down challenge
The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins
Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger
South Riding by Winifred Holtby

Title word that can be broken down into two or more words
Ratking by Michael Dibdin

Dear Diary
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

Even though a couple of these books are chunksters, I think it's doable for me.

17. Caveat Emptor by Ruth Downie

Recently returned to Londinium from Gaul, Medicus Ruso is in need of work. A helpful colleague, knowing that Ruso has been involved in investigations in the past, arranges for Ruso to be offered an investigative assignment for the procurator. The tax money from the town of Verulamium has disappeared en route to Londinium, along with the tax collector. Ruso and his British wife, Tilla, head for Verulamium, where Ruso quickly senses that all is not as has been represented to him.

While Ruso does investigate some murders and uses his medical knowledge for forensic purposes, the book is more of a political thriller than either a detective story or a forensic procedural. I wasn't familiar with the terminology for various government officials, but it was fairly easy to pick up rank and function from the context. The plot is complex, but there were no loose ends left hanging at the end of the story.

This is the fourth book in a series, but the first one I've read. While there are hints of a back story in Ruso's relationships to some of the characters, I didn't feel like I lacked any information that would shed light on his current investigation. It seems to work as a stand-alone. The book had a special appeal for me because I lived for a while in St. Albans (the modern name for Verulamium), and I've spent time among its Roman ruins and in the Verulamium Museum. I very much enjoyed the mystery and its setting in Roman Britain, and I plan to go back and read the earlier books in the series.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

4 stars

Next up: The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

I really enjoyed the first book in the series, Medicus, but haven't gotten to the others yet. But I keep hearing good things, like your nice review of Caveat Emptor!

I picked up Medicus at a used bookstore last summer, but it hasn't worked its way to the top of my TBRs yet. Maybe I can work it in later in the year.

18. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

In order to save his clients' reputations, country solicitor Robert Blair must prove false a teenage girl's convincing allegation of kidnapping and imprisonment. The drama is perfectly paced, with suspense gradually building toward the climax. Tey leaves just enough doubt to keep readers guessing.

Milford reminds me of St. Mary's Mead. In both villages, observant amateurs notice similarities between the suspects and the locals whose vices and peccadilloes are known to them. Tey's witty and insightful comments about human nature and behavior provoke reflection. Some characteristic passages:

...for all his surface malice and his over-crowded life, {he} found the will and the time to help those who deserved help. In which he differed markedly from the Bishop of Larborough, who preferred the undeserving.

The less he knows about a thing the more strongly he feels about it.

The criminal is a person who makes the satisfaction of his own immediate personal wants the mainspring of his actions. You can't cure him of his egotism, but you can make the indulgence of it not worth his while. Or almost not worth his while.

Highly recommended for all classic mystery lovers.

5 stars

Next up: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

While browsing in Netflix, I discovered that there is a movie based on the first Mrs. Pollifax book, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. Rosalind Russell plays Mrs. Pollifax. I watched it this afternoon and thought it was pretty good.

19. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

The Stone Diaries is a book I thought I should read for several reasons. It has received multiple honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Its opening pages are filled with a genealogical tree. Part of the book is set in Indiana, a state where I have deep roots. However, I picked it up with a little trepidation. I've been disappointed in the past by books that don't live up to the promises they seemed to offer. This one didn't disappoint. I liked Daisy and most of the other characters in the book, I was drawn to their various life stories, and I continually marveled at the author's craftsmanship and the way she formed the story and characters.

The fictional Daisy was just four years older than one of my grandmothers so I mentally classified her that way. Just when I felt like I was listening to family stories of long ago days when people were different, I came to this passage:

When we think of the past we tend to assume that people were simpler in their functions, and shaped by forces that were primary and irreducible. We take for granted that our forebears were imbued with a deeper purity of purpose than we possess nowadays, and a more singular set of mind, believing, for example, that early scientists pursued their ends with unbroken “dedication” and that artists worked in the flame of some perpetual “inspiration.” But none of this is true. Those who went before us were every bit as wayward and unaccountable and unsteady in their longings as people are today.

The Stone Diaries made me think about the way each person's life is shaped by the family and friends who surround them, by those who have lived and died before, and who in turn shape the lives of those who come after. While it's women's fiction, it's definitely not “chick lit.” It's a great reading choice for Women's History Month.

4 stars

Next up: Of Whom the World was Not Worthy by Marie Chapian

I liked your review of The Stone Diaries. I may have to search that one out. So true how our lives are shaped by those who surround us.

I also have a dvd somewhere of Mrs. Pollifax--Spy, the Rosalind Russell film. I may need to seek out the books for Mystery March. I am a Roz Russell fan, yet I've not watched the Mrs. Pollifax movie yet.

Sandy K

I thought it was a fun movie. It's been a while since I read the book. I don't think they changed the characters or the locations, but there might have been changes to the plot.

Sandy, I hope you enjoy The Stone Diaries if you decide to read it. It seems to me like the sort of book that will touch readers in different ways, and each reader will experience it differently. I think it's well worth reading!

Loved your review of The Stone Diaries. I've just picked it up from the library for the Canadian Fiction challenge and can't wait to dive in.

Thanks! We've got a group read of The Stone Diaries going on this month. The non-spoiler thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/110847 and the spoiler thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/111837

20. Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy by Marie Chapian
TIOLI #1 City name on p. 17 (Zagreb)

This book's title comes from the “great faith chapter” in Hebrews, which starts with these words: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Beginning with Abel, the chapter lists the heroes of the Old Testament and the things their faith enabled them to do. The list ends with the unnamed and countless men and women who were destitute, homeless, tortured, imprisoned, and murdered for their faith, and it testifies of their character that the world was not worthy of them. To this number, author Marie Chapian adds Slovenian Christians who suffered greatly during World War II and the post-war years.

The central figure in Chapian's story is Jozeca , the wife of Baptist evangelist Jakob Kovac (not their real names). Chapian writes of the courtship and marriage of this unlikely couple who, despite the 35-year difference in their ages, were drawn together by their shared faith. Although Jakob often worked in the coal mines, evangelism was his primary calling. He traveled throughout Yugoslavia to preach to groups of Christians, who often met in homes. Jozeca became known as the praying woman, and people in trouble called her to come and pray for them when they had no where else to turn.

The war years were difficult in Slovenia. Some Slovenes sided with the Germans, while others formed partisan groups loosely organized under Tito. Control of villages passed from side to side, often ending with the massacre of entire populations in retaliation for assistance provided to the previous occupiers of the villages. Families were split apart by imprisonment or conscription into partisan military activities. Food and shelter were scarce, and work was difficult to find. Things didn't improve much after the war, as jobs, food, and shelter were still in short supply. Jakob and Jozeca's faith sustained them through their years of suffering.

Jozeca prayed about the great problems she faced, and she never forgot to thank God for answering her prayers. Jozeca's example reminds me to be grateful for the small blessings each day brings. Her story is recommended for readers of Christian biography, particularly those with an interest in Baptist missions.

3 stars

Next up: Ratking by Michael Dibdin

21. Ratking by Michael Dibdin
TIOLI Challenge 9, Break It Down (rat + king)

When a friend of kidnapped businessman calls in some favors to ramp up the seemingly stalled local investigation, Police Commissioner Aurelio Zen is recalled from his banishment to a dead end desk job. The businessman's family has been uncooperative with the local police, and they aren't likely to be more cooperative with an outsider. Zen can't expect much help from the Perugian police, either, who will resent his interference in their territory. Zen seems to be in a no-win situation, yet unlike everyone else involved with the case who are willing to do only what needs to be done to preserve their own reputations, Zen keeps digging for the truth.

If I hadn't known when I started reading that this is the first book in a series, I wouldn't have detected it from the quality of the writing. This is a strong series debut. It has a wonderful sense of place. I've been lucky enough to travel to Italy a couple of times, and Dibdin's descriptions brought back memories of things I had noticed during my travels that I thought I had forgotten. Although the book was first published more than 20 years ago, it doesn't feel too dated, except for a noticeable absence of cell phones.

Zen has to do more than just identify the guilty; he has to outwit those with wealth and political power who try to use their influence to direct the investigation to their own ends. It might have cross-over appeal for readers who enjoy political thrillers.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: A Trail of Ink by Mel Starr, my February ER book

I like your review of The Stone Diaries - I thought that was a great book.

>92 gennyt: Thanks! I can see why Shields won a Pulitzer Prize for it. It's made me want to read more of her work. I think I might try Swann next. My TBR list is so huge that I'm not sure how soon I'll get to it.

22. A Trail of Ink by Mel Starr

When Hugh de Singleton, bailiff of Bampton, learns that his friend John Wyclif's library has been stolen (all 20 books, plus 2 borrowed from someone else), he is given leave to stay in Oxford to search for and recover Wyclif's books. Happily for Hugh, this will give him an opportunity to court Kate Caxton, the woman he hopes to marry. He is dismayed to learn that he has a rival for Kate's affections. Will Hugh solve the mystery of the missing books and win the heart of the woman he loves?

This is the third book in a series featuring Hugh de Singleton, and it was my first exposure to the series. Historical mysteries are my favorite genre, and I'm pleased to have another series to add to those that I follow. While Hugh isn't as quick witted as the protagonists in some series, his companions have complimentary strengths, and they work well together. My one complaint is that this book refers in too much detail to events in the two previous books in the series and gives away spoiler information about their plots and the culprits of the crimes investigated in those books. I'll need to wait a while to read those books and hope that I forget what I learned about them from this book.

While regular readers of Christian fiction will recognize the publisher as a Christian publishing firm, the Christian content is incorporated so naturally into the story that it will not turn off other readers. Recommended for both historical fiction and Christian fiction enthusiasts.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

4 stars

Next up: The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell

23.The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins
TIOLI #4 Up/Down Challenge

Shortly after a whirlwind courtship and marriage, Valeria Woodville discovers that her husband has a secret that threatens their future together. Valeria is determined to get to the truth. Over objections from both her husband's and her own family and friends, Valeria undertakes a task that has defeated men of greater age and experience.

This isn't the best Collins novel I've read, but it will be one of the most memorable, thanks to characters like womanizer Major FitzDavid, the eccentric Miserrimus Dexter, and Dexter's faithful servant Ariel. Some of the issues raised in the novel are still of interest to contemporary readers, including disability issues, gender roles in marriage, and Darwin's evolutionary theory. In some ways, Collins was ahead of his time. If you're new to Wilkie Collins, this isn't the book to start with. First read The Moonstone and The Woman in White, then move on to his lesser-known works like this one.

3 1/2 stars

24. The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell

While noirish mysteries aren't my usual cup of tea, I was tempted by this one because it involved a German prisoner of war camp in small town Oklahoma. Both of my parents grew up in small towns in the Midwest, and both told stories about the prisoner of war camps in their neighborhoods.

I didn't like this book. At first I thought I was just the wrong type of reader to appreciate it. However, I gradually became aware of structural problems that would probably bother even readers who regularly read in this genre.

The story started out all right, but it became more and more unbelievable as it went along. The story doesn't seem to follow a chronological pattern. Time is important at some points in the story, yet references to its passage are missing. Important details that would have made sense of some dialogue were absent, while some irrelevant details were included and even repeated.

The main character, Hook, lost one arm in an accident and has a hook for a prosthesis. His disability disqualified him for military service, so he found work in rural Oklahoma as a special investigator for the railroad. We're told at the beginning of the book that “he was neither trained for nor inclined to law enforcement”, yet at one point in the book he instructs the military officer in charge of the prison camp in the tactics for an operation in response to an emergency.

Another character, Runt, has been physically deformed since birth, and is called Runt because of his very short stature. Both Hook and Runt are aggressively pursued by beautiful women without any awkward interactions regarding either man's disability. Runt's short stature is frequently referred to, yet at the end of a date, he walked his date to her door and she “lifted on her toes and kissed him”.

Not recommended.

1 1/2 stars

Next up: South Riding by Winifred Holtby

25. We Were Europeans by Werner Loval - a long overdue Early Reviewer book.

Holocaust survivor Werner Loval (originally Löbl) recounts his life story beginning with his family's rise to prosperity in Bamberg, Germany, through the rise of Hitler and the destruction of Germany's Jewish community, his escape to England as a young teen, the reunification of his family in Ecuador, their immigration to the U.S., and his eventual decision to immigrate to Israel. His life story is amply illustrated with photographs and reproductions of newspaper articles, certificates, and other documents. He supplements his own memories with excerpts from the World War I diary of one of his uncles, his sister's diaries, and his wife's letters to her parents written during the Six Day War.

The book's size and weight (about 4 pounds), as well as its organization in 1-3 page segments, suit it more for reading in short snatches than for periods of intensive reading. I developed a great respect for the author as the book progressed. He cultivated relationships with family, acquaintances, and colleagues, and used his negotiation skills in diplomatic service, in establishing a private business, in building communities, and in establishing Reform Judaism in Israel. I was especially moved by his stories of reconciliation between post-Hitler Germans and Holocaust survivors and descendants of Holocaust victims.

In the preface, Loval informs his readers that “this book does not claim to be a history or a scientific account of a period or process. Nor should it be seen as a reference book or as a source of political, economic, religious, or geographic data...Therefore, by and large I do not give source notes, nor is there a bibliography.” I regret that he made this decision, because this will limit the potential audience for this book. It is best suited for libraries that collect Holocaust survivors' stories or that have extensive holdings in the history of modern Israel, and for descendants of Bamberg's Jewish community.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

3 1/2 stars

Ok....there are two I don't have to put on my TBR pile. I don't do noir to begin with, and it's helpful to know that #24 is not the one to start with. And my arthritis makes holding big heavy books a real chore, so I think I'll pass on #25 also. But.....thanks for letting us all in on the strengths and weaknesses thereof.

26. South Riding by Winifred Holtby - I finished this one in time to count it for the March TIOLI Up/Down challenge, but it took a few days to collect my thoughts about it.

South Riding is full of characters whose ideals are tested by reality. The worldwide depression of the 1930s did not spare this fictional Yorkshire district. Everyone is feeling its effects -- blue and white collared unemployed and their families, World War I veterans, and even the local gentry. The local council has the authority to provide relief for its citizens – but which ones? Inevitably, relief for one part of the citizenry will come at the expense of the others.

South Riding reminds me of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo in its description of a single government district and the power struggles within it, as well as its use of the omniscient narrator, providing the reader with more insight than any of the characters possesses. It also reminds me of Thackeray's Vanity Fair in that none of its characters are entirely sympathetic.

Holtby's style is a bit too didactic for my tastes. The novel is a vehicle for expressing her social and political philosophy. She uses soliloquy to convey her characters' social and moral philosophy. I generally prefer to discover a character's beliefs through his or her actions rather than his thoughts. However, there is an interesting tension between what some of the characters believe and how they behave. Not all of them have the courage of their convictions. With time, I think I'll remember this novel more for its vividly drawn characters than for any beauty of language.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: Angel with Two Faces by Nicola Upson. Also working my way through The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton and Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope.

Not trying to catch up, Carrie, just checking in. Hopefully I can keep up with you the rest of the year though!

Welcome back Stasia! You've been missed.

#101: Thanks! I have missed being here too.

27. Angel with Two Faces by Nicola Upson

Author Josephine Tey is looking forward to a holiday at the Cornwall estate that is home to her good friend, Scotland Yard Inspector Archie Penrose, and his cousins the Motleys. Josephine hopes to get a good start on her second mystery novel. Things don't work out as planned. An unexplained death and a murder require Archie's professional attention, and Josephine gets drawn into the community's secrets further than either she or Archie intends.

This is the second book in Nicola Upson's series featuring Josephine Tey as a real life crime solver. It's better plotted than the first book. The Cornwall landscape sounds magical, and I'd love to see the places described in the book – especially the Minack Theatre on a cliff overlooking the sea. The book deals with a fair amount of violence, but Upson generally allows the reader to infer the actions that produced the physical effects she describes. Readers are spared a lot of graphic details. The central characters were more comfortable than I am with ethical questions surrounding end of life issues and sexual boundaries. Although the book is set in the spring of 1935, the attitudes of the main characters seem more reflective of the 21st century. Reservations aside, this book was a page-turner, and I look forward to spending more time with Josephine and Archie in the next book in the series.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson.

#103: I have not tried the Upson series yet. One of these days I am sure I will.

I read God's Secretaries several years ago and liked it. I will be interested in seeing what you think of the book. I think it is probably time for me to re-read it.

God's Secretaries has been on my library TBR list for quite a while. The translation of the King James Bible was the topic for my very first research paper when I was in high school. The 400th anniversary of the KJV seems like an appropriate occasion to read it!

Yes, it does!

28. God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson

I wrote my first research paper in high school on the translation of the King James Version of the Bible, and how I wish this book had been around then! Nicolson places the KJV in its political and cultural context. The companies of translators brought together scholars and clergy on both sides of the Puritan divide. Not much is known about some of the translators, and others led less than exemplary lives by modern standards, yet the translation they produced transcends their human failures.

Appendices include a brief history of the 16th century English translations, which the King James translators were directed to consult during the translation process; a list of the translators in each of the six companies with as much biographical information as is known about them; a chronology of the translation juxtaposed with significant events in English history; and a selected bibliography. I hadn't thought about the significant historical events that took place while the translators were doing their work, and that tangentially involved some of the translators – the Gunpowder Plot, the settlement in Jamestown, and the persecution of Separatists in Scrooby that drove them to the Netherlands and eventually to the New World on the Mayflower. The 400th anniversary of the KJV has resulted in the publication of several books on the topic. Although Nicolson's book has been out for a few years, it's a good starting point for readers interested in the history of this influential translation.

4 stars

Next up: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

#107: I am glad to see you liked that one.

#107 Great review - I just went to add it to my wishlist to find that it's already there!

>109 cushlareads: Thanks! Hope you enjoy it when you get around to it.

29. Why God Won't Go Away by Alister McGrath
TIOLI #9 - Title starting with Who, What, Where, When, Why, or How

Theologian Alister McGrath provides a brief introduction to and critique of the New Atheism as represented in recent works by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. A central feature of the New Atheism is its hostility toward religion, and its view that religion is a danger to civilization. McGrath examines three themes of New Atheism: its critique of violence in the name of religion, its view of reason, and its view of science. Finally, he presents reasons to support his belief that the New Atheism will not succeed in its attempt to suppress religion.

This is not an apologetic book. McGrath is not defending Christianity against the claims of New Atheism. Rather, he is critiquing New Atheism based on its own claims. McGrath is one of that class of authors who are able to explain academic topics in everyday language rather than scholarly jargon. My only complaint about this book is that, while he rightly criticizes the New Atheists for frequently ridiculing people of faith rather than presenting substantive arguments against religion, McGrath occasionally takes a sarcastic tone, which in my mind is much the same thing.

This book is a good starting point for Christians who want to learn about the New Atheism. The bibliography provides suggestions for additional reading for those who wish to pursue the topic further.

This review is based on an advanced reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

4 stars

Next up: The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters

I'm a couple of reviews behind and trying to catch up.

30. The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

Father Brown will never be my favorite detective, but I enjoyed getting to know him in this collection of 12 short stories. His physical description reminds me of Hercule Poirot, while his methods remind me just a bit of Sherlock Holmes. If you're the type of reader who enjoys trying to piece together clues to solve the crime before the solution is revealed, the Father Brown stories probably aren't for you. Chesterton doesn't share everything that Father Brown observes until the final summation. Several of the stories have elements of the fantastic, so it might be a good choice for fantasy readers looking for a change.

The first story, “The Blue Cross”, is my favorite, and it's a great introduction to the subsequent stories. The most memorable passage in the story explains why Father Brown makes such a good detective. When the cornered culprit expresses surprise that Father Brown knows so much about crime and criminals, Father Brown replies: Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?

3 stars

Another catch-up review:

31. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
TIOLI #6, Alex Award winner (2004)

The unnatural death of a neighbor's dog is a crime in the mind of autistic teen Christopher Boone. Since no one else seems to be doing anything to identify the dog's killer, Christopher launches his own investigation. His search is important enough to Christopher that he forces himself to do things outside of his comfort zone. Christopher's account of his discoveries is detailed, but he is unaware of the implications that will become clear to readers.

I identified with Christopher as he negotiated the London transportation system on his own. I remember my own experience as an inexperienced solo traveler in London, and how carefully I watched those around me to copy their behavior. I was rooting for Christopher as he faced and overcame what were great challenges for him.

This book has a lot in common with Mari Strachan's The Earth Hums in B Flat. I think most readers who liked one will like the other.

4 stars

I liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time a lot better than The Earth Hums in B Flat.

32. The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters

When the father of the bridegroom is assaulted and robbed during the wedding festivities, suspicion is cast on the young minstrel who provided the entertainment at the wedding banquet. He reaches the monastery just ahead of his pursuers and is granted 40 days of sanctuary. That's plenty of time for Cadfael and sheriff's deputy Hugh Beringar to get to the truth of the matter. There are plenty of other suspects, including the nosy neighbor and even the bridegroom himself.

I always learn a lot about life in medieval England from the Cadfael books. This one focuses on domestic life, and the management of a middle class household. I even learned a new word. The young man who found sanctuary at the monastery was a jongleur. Ellis Peters excels in all areas of mystery writing – plot, characters, and setting. Her books have become “go-to” reads for me when I want to escape with a good book.

4 stars

33. Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson

In London for a charity gala at her social club, author Josephine Tey uses the opportunity to conduct research for her current book, a novel about the events surrounding a real crime and the execution of the two women convicted for it. Several women associated with the Cowdray Club have first-hand knowledge of the 30-year-old events. The murder of a young woman during the preparations for the charity gala could be connected to the long-ago events. Josephine's research is useful to her good friend, Inspector Archie Penrose, who is brought in to investigate the murder.

I had already read the first two books in the series and, while I didn't like them as well as any of Tey's mysteries, I thought the series had great potential. This book fell short of my expectations. While Josephine freely shares important background information with Archie, she is not involved in the solution of the present day crime. Archie is unwilling to share details of the investigation with her because he doesn't want his suspicions to affect her behavior toward the suspects. Josephine shows little interest in the investigation, anyway. She is more absorbed in her own concerns.

Archie identifies the murderer with no basis other than a gut feeling. There is no physical evidence pointing to a guilty party, and Archie's suspect seemingly has an alibi. Upson tries to distract readers from the inherent problems in this situation by revealing the murder's identity to the reader immediately before Archie leaps to his conclusion.

In the first two novels in the series, there seemed to be a mutual attraction between Josephine and Archie. The ghost of Josephine's first love – Archie's best friend – stood between them. In this novel Upson brings back a character from the first book and has Josephine contemplating a lesbian affair. The relationship seems out of place in this book. There is no connection with either the historic or present day crime, and these passages don't advance the plot in any way that I can see. This part of the book includes spoilers for the first book in the series.

In at least three instances, Josephine is rebuked by people associated with the historic crime for presuming to base a novel on real people whose lives and motives she didn't understand and who would therefore be misrepresented in her novel. Since the real Josephine Tey did not publish such a novel, the implication is that the fictional Josephine took this criticism to heart and did not publish the book. I found this ironic, as Upson has done the same thing with Tey's life. I wish she had made the same choice as the fictional Josephine.

Edited to add: This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

2 stars

34. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

If you think church politics is a dull topic, you'll think again after reading Barchester Towers. The death of a bishop and the appointment of his replacement throws the cathedral town of Barchester into turmoil. Its clerics take sides and jockey for position. High church clerics are pitted against those with evangelical leanings. The bishop's authority is up for grabs as his personal chaplain and his wife battle for the position of puppeteer to the bishop/puppet. The chaplain, Mr. Slope, is every bit as smarmy and odious as Dickens' Uriah Heep.

I love the way that Trollope uses names to represent character. Mr. and Mrs. Quiverful are the parents of 14 children. Mrs. Lookaloft thinks of herself more highly than she ought. Trollope also excels at descriptions of character, as in these passages describing the bishop's wife:

It is not my intention to breathe a word against the character of Mrs. Proudie, but still I cannot think that with all her virtues she adds much to her husband's happiness. The truth is that in matters domestic she rules supreme over her titular lord, and rules with a rod of iron. Nor is this all. Things domestic Dr. Proudie might have abandoned to her, if not voluntarily, yet willingly. But Mrs. Proudie is not satisfied with such home dominion, and stretches her power over all his movements, and will not even abstain from things spiritual. In fact, the bishop is hen-pecked.

In truth, Mrs. Proudie was all but invincible; had she married Petruchio, it may be doubted whether that arch wife-tamer would have been able to keep her legs out of those garments which are presumed by men to be peculiarly unfitted for feminine use.

Barchester Towers picks up where The Warden left off. It isn't absolutely necessary to read The Warden first, but it would be helpful to do so.

5 stars

Next up: Among the Departed by Vicki Delany

35. Among the Departed by Vicki Delany

When Constable Molly Smith accompanies her Mountie boyfriend on a search for a missing child, they find something unexpected: parts of a human skeleton. Are these the remains of a man missing for 15 years, who was presumed by all to have deserted his wife and children? As Molly and her partner dig into the cold case, they have to determine, not only the skeleton's identity, but also if the death was natural, accidental, suicide, or murder. As an added twist, Molly and the missing man's daughter were childhood friends, and then-13-year-old Molly was one of the last people to see him before he disappeared.

I like the blend of cozy and police procedural elements in this book, and it will appeal to many fans of both genres. While the investigation is a bit slow to develop, its pace seems suited to the nature of an investigation that requires reading lots of reports, interviewing and re-interviewing witnesses, and looking for inconsistencies among them.

I spotted a couple of errors that were significant enough to distract me from the story and send my mind off on tangents. In order to identify the remains, the investigators were going to match mitochondrial DNA from the bones with the missing man's son's DNA. However, mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to child, so it's unlikely that the son's mitochondrial DNA would match his father's. Genealogy is a popular hobby, and readers familiar with the genealogical uses of DNA will spot this error. Also, Molly encounters a woman with memory problems late one night. She recognizes the woman, and takes her to the home she shares with her daughter's family. The woman's age is given as 89, and her daughter is described as “young” and has four children under the age of 5. It would be more believable if the younger woman was her granddaughter rather than her daughter.

It was fun to spot a character in the book reading a historical Klondike mystery, since I've read and enjoyed the first book in the author's mystery series set in Yukon Territory during the late 19th century gold rush. Since I'm a historical mystery fan, I think the Klondike books will always be my favorite by this author. However, I'll want to read more books in this series, too.

3 stars

Edited to add: This review is based on an advance e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

36. The Wooden Overcoat by Pamela Branch

In most mysteries, when an amateur is confronted with a dead body, he or she spends the rest of the novel looking for clues to identify the culprit. Not in this mystery! Miscommunication, suspicion, and false assumptions lead to absurdity as two couples who share a house try to hide the bodies of the strangers who are making a habit of dying on their premises. The corpses have something in common. They were members of the Asterisk Club next door, with a membership roll filled with wrongly-acquitted murderers. The story is as much farce as it is mystery, and it's full of black humor. It's the sort of book you don't want to put down once the action starts. It's the perfect book for an afternoon or evening escape.

4 1/2 stars

Thanks to my Secret Santa for choosing this as one of my SantaThing books!

Next up: Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

I'd never heard of The Wooden Overcoat, but it sounds like something I'd like.

I'm a little behind in threads, but I've added The Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible to my read-sooner-rather-than-later list. Looks just like my cup of tea (or, glass of cranberry-grape juice--mmm!) Thanks for the recommendation!

Karen O.

37. The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
TIOLI Challenge 19 - Read a book set in London, England

Readers of all ages can enjoy this heart-warming juvenile mystery. An autistic boy and his sister form a new bond as they team up to search for their missing cousin, who disappeared while riding the London Eye. Each sibling contributes unique strengths to the search. Ted notices patterns and remembers details. His sister, Kat, is sensitive to non-verbal cues and helps Ted understand the psychological aspects of the problem. Issues addressed include parent/child relationships, sibling relationships involving both children and adults, autism, ethnic differences/racial attitudes, divorce, and relocation. The author uses Ted's interest in meteorology to weave facts about weather throughout the book in a way that enhances the story without seeming forced. I listened to the audio version while cooking and cleaning, and it kept me looking for more tasks to do so I didn't have to stop the recording. Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

I've read a couple of books by Dowd including Bog Child. I'll look for this one. It sounds really good!

38. Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
TIOLI #3 Book by a Chicana author in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

To write is to ask questions. It doesn't matter if the answers are true or puro cuento.

Sandra Cisneros explores themes of identity, family, memory, perception, nationality, ethnicity, immigration, and gender issues through the eyes of Celaya Reyes (“Lala”), a young Mexican American girl growing up in the post-World War II era. Lala's father was born in Mexico. Lala and her brother were born in the U.S., but spend their summers with her father's parents in Mexico City. No matter where she is – Mexico, Chicago, or San Antonio - Lala is conscious of her status as an outsider. She doesn't even have a place at home. In Chicago, she sleeps on a recliner in the living room, while in Mexico, she sleeps in her parents' room. When her father tells people he has seven “hijos”, Lala hears him claiming seven “sons”. She knows she is her father's favorite child, yet she still feels like daughters don't count in his worldview.

There are layers of story within the novel. Even the names of characters and places tell a story. Self-absorbed Narciso and his lonely wife Soledad make their home on Destiny Street. Narciso and Soledad are distant cousins and share the name Reyes (“King”). Lala's father, a Reyes, marries a Reyna (“Queen”).

In the middle portion of the book, Lala tells her grandmother's story. She interprets Mexican history through experiences in the lives of members of her family. In some ways, it reminds me of what Rushdie does with the history of India and Pakistan in Midnight's Children.

Cisneros uses endnotes as a device in many of the chapters, and some of the notes are quite lengthy. I don't think the format would easily translate into an e-book, and that probably explains why it doesn't seem to be available in that format.

Caramelo is a book to savor, and one I won't soon forget.

4 1/2 stars

Next up: Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

39.Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
TiOLI #13 Title with repeated vowel (e)

Agnes Grey, which was published the same year as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, isn't nearly as dramatic as either of her sisters' most famous works. It's a story of a basically good, but naive, young woman. As the youngest child in a loving family, she was pampered by her mother and older sister. She asserts some independence by seeking work as a governess in order to contribute to the family finances. Nothing in her background has prepared her for the situations in which she finds herself. She seems surprised when the families she works for treat her as less than a social equal. The household servants seem to be beneath her notice, and are hardly even mentioned in the novel. Good works provide her with her primary social contacts. In her limited free time, she visits the sick and elderly members of the community, and it is through these visits that she makes an acquaintance who will change her life.

Agnes Grey is more overtly religious than either Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, with its frequent references to the Bible and to Christian virtues. Its seems to instruct as much as it entertains. While Agnes doesn't have the passion of a Jane Eyre or the tragedy of a Catherine Earnshaw, she is a gentle soul who deserves a happy ending.

3 stars

Next up: The Body in the Gazebo by Katherine Hall Page

40. The Body in the Gazebo by Katherine Hall Page
TIOLI #13: Book with a repeated vowel in the title (o)

The Faith Fairchild mystery series is one of my favorite cozy series. I haven't been disappointed by any of the books I've read so far, and this one is no exception. While Faith's friend and neighbor, Pix, is away meeting her son's future in-laws, Faith keeps an eye on Pix's elderly mother, Ursula. This suits Ursula just fine, since someone is stirring up a long-buried secret from Ursula's past and Faith is just the person to help her lay it to rest. On the home front, irregularities have surfaced in a church account to which Faith's minister husband has sole access. Faith has had plenty of sleuthing practice by this point, and she puts the skills she's developed to good use to prove her husband's innocence.

One of the things I enjoy about this series are its frequent mentions of books, reading, and libraries. One of my favorite historians, David Hackett Fischer, makes an appearance in this one. I'll leave it to curious readers to discover the occasion!

I'm so familiar with the series and characters that it's hard for me to imagine how a first-time reader would perceive this book. I think it could be read as a stand-alone, but I think that readers who are already familiar with the characters may enjoy this one more than first-time readers. This is one book where Faith doesn't have a corpse to deal with. The body was dead and buried long before Faith was born. On the other hand, she does quite a bit of sharp sleuthing to solve the mystery with the church finances. This sort of irregularity unfortunately happens too often in real life, which makes the plot all the more believable.

***Spoiler***
I have just one minor complaint. One of the sub-plots involved Faith's assistant, Niki, and a secret she was keeping from her husband. Niki finally worked up the courage to tell him her secret, but we didn't get to hear his reaction. I kept hoping that there would be a scene that would tell me how things worked out between them, and I was disappointed when the book ended without one.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

4 stars

Next up: The Queen's Gambit by Diane Stuckart

Friday the 13th was a good day for me. I went with a group from church to see our local minor league team play. (Our team is a AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.) We had light rain on the drive to the ball park, but the rain stopped as soon as we arrived. The team scored 4 runs in the 7th inning for a come from behind win. Best of all, I won a T-shirt in a drawing!

#111: I am once again behind on threads, Carrie, but would like to thank you for your recommendation of the McGrath book. I have not read any of his books previously, but I am going to correct that. Thanks!

#128: Any night at any ballpark is a good one! Congrats on winning the T-shirt too!

It was my first McGrath book. I should probably read some of his others, too!

Hey all! Just looking for readers and followers for my writing blog, if you're interested. Check it out, see what you think. You might find something useful.

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

> 123 I have had Bog Child on my wishlist for a long while. The London Eye Mystery also sounds like winner, especially with the inclusion of a character with Autism.

I've fallen behind in reading threads this week. My father, who lives with me, has some chronic health problems. He broke his foot and has been in a cast since Monday. He has some major mobility issues, and we had to very quickly make some adaptations at home so that he could get around, and even have a place to sleep. I've still had some time to read this week, but not enough time to keep up with group threads.

In the midst of the week's chaos, I did manage to finish a book:

41. The Queen's Gambit by Diane Stuckart
TIOLI #18 TBR from before Jan. 2011

When the Duke of Milan's cousin dies during a human chess game, the Duke charges his court engineer, Leonardo da Vinci, with investigating the crime. Leonardo is assisted by his apprentice, Dino, who discovered the body. Dino is thrilled with the opportunity to spend significant time with the master, but is also apprehensive that increased attention from Leonardo might expose a closely held secret.

This is an entertaining novel, but it's not one that will linger in my memory. The author has avoided anachronisms that mar other authors' attempts at recreating a historical era, yet the sense of place and time isn't particularly strong. The investigation lacks focus and seems to stall in places. Leonardo never seems comfortable with his detective persona. Leonardo's apprentices are some of the strongest characters in the book, and I enjoyed the dynamics of their relationships. Dino's character is well developed, and Dino's secret is the most interesting aspect of the book for me, and it's enough of a hook to entice me to read the next book in the series.

3 stars

Next up: Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger

Sorry to hear about your father's health and mobility issues, Carrie. I hope that things get worked out and he recovers from the broken foot soon.

I hope your dad mends quickly.

Thanks for the good wishes! My father is diabetic so that complicates things a bit. While this appears to be a simple break, it's at a spot that doesn't get good blood supply from either direction and is hard place to heal even for non-diabetics. We're hoping the cast helps it heal, but he may end up needing surgery.

Please keep us posted as to how he is doing!

I've finished a few books this week, but I've fallen behind on reviews. I'm hoping to catch up this evening.

42. Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

Dumb Witness is vintage Christie. The deceased is an elderly woman whose family is attentive to her not from affection but because of the wealth she controls. Her nieces and nephew all have financial needs that would be greatly eased by their hoped-for inheritance. Her paid companion is overworked and under-appreciated, and might welcome the release from drudgery that would occur with her employer's death. The unusual twist in this case is that Hercule Poirot receives a letter from the woman requesting his services, but the letter arrives several weeks after her apparently natural death. Did one of her relatives or household staff do something to hurry her much-anticipated death? Poirot is on the case.

I had read the book before, and this time I listened to the audio version read by Hugh Fraser, who plays Hastings on the British television series. I liked the book when I first read it, and liked it even more hearing Fraser's interpretation. Hastings is the book's first-person narrator, so it seemed right to hear Fraser's voice speaking the words. His pace is perfect, as are the character voices. Especially the dog, Bob, who plays an important role in the book. If you're a mystery fan who loves dogs, this is one to listen to rather than read.

4 1/2 stars

43. Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger

A combination church dedication and confirmation ought to be a happy occasion, but the celebration comes to a sudden end with the death of one of the officiants. Lottie Albright discovers the body in a locked room, and, since she is undersheriff of one of the four small western Kansas counties where the building is strategically located, she sets in motion the usual proceedings for an unattended death. The church's location soon becomes a problem. Since the building straddled county lines, it isn't clear who has jurisdiction to investigate the death, and the unlikeable sheriff of a neighboring county challenges Lottie for control of the investigation.

This is the second book in a series featuring Lottie Albright, and it's one I've had my eye on since I first heard about the first book. Lottie is a historian who works at the county historical society, and these mysteries have a genealogical aspect. Genealogy is one of my hobbies, and I'm always on the lookout for books with a genealogy angle. I liked some aspects of the book, but it has some major flaws.

Lottie's husband and twin sister start a joint project that causes problems when they learn that they have no legal standing to do what they're attempting to do. I realized at once that they shouldn't have been doing what they were doing, and I found it hard to believe that professional people (a veterinarian and a mental health professional) would be ignorant of basic civics.

Lottie describes herself as a lapsed Episcopalian. However, she was one of the leaders in the fund-raising project for the new building, and she volunteered for a lay position in the church. (I'm not Episcopalian and I've already forgotten the term used in the book, but it involves preparing the physical environment for the service and cleaning up afterward, following prescribed customs.) Title research uncovered problems with the title for the land on which the church is built, yet the church committee ignored the problems and built anyway.

Part of the outcome was predictable, and part of it was unbelievable. The international conspiracy was too much for me to swallow. I think it would have been better to leave out the international thread and concentrate on the personalities and relationships of the characters/suspects.

I'm glad I had an opportunity to try this series, and if it continues I'll be willing to try a later book in the series. I think there are elements in the book that, if developed further, could turn it into a successful cozy series. One way to make that happen would be to cut down on the number of action threads and spend more time on character development.

This review is based on an advance electronic copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

2 stars

I realize my description of the book's problems is vague, but I can't be more specific without revealing too much of the plot.

44. Gutenberg: How One Man Remade the World with Words by John Man

This book's title is a little misleading, since there isn't enough known of Gutenberg's life to fill an entire book. In addition to biographical information about Gutenberg, the book also deals with both church and secular politics, including sketches of a couple of other prominent men of the era. Nicholas of Cusa was about the same age as Gutenberg, and the author speculates about how the two men might have crossed paths, and the influence Nicholas might have had on the selection of material for printing. I was more familiar with Martin Luther's story, and how printing technology facilitated the spread of the Protestant Reformation.

This is a solid non-academic overview of the early era of printing. The bibliography demonstrates the author's familiarity with scholarly works on this topic. I've read a few of the titles in the list, and I struggled to stay awake through some of them. Staying awake shouldn't be a problem for this book's readers. The author includes plenty of facts, but the facts never get in the way of the story. This book provides a good introduction to the early print era, and I suspect many readers will be inspired to look for additional reading material about some of the people and events mentioned in its pages.

4 stars

#140: I wish my local library had that one. It sounds interesting. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Carrie!

I hope your father's getting better. I'm adding your Gutenberg book to my library wishlist - it sounds good.

Another really good book on the same topic is The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. It's written by a scholar of the early print era. It's an abridgment of a longer work for non-specialists, and her writing style is a lot more engaging than many academics are able to manage.

My father has been a model patient. He's getting around the house with his walker much better than I imagined he would. The biggest problem at the moment is that he's getting stir-crazy. He's not planning to leave the house until his next doctor's appointment, and that's almost 2 weeks away.

I know when I had mono and could not leave my apartment except for doctor's appointments, stir crazy did not even begin to cover it after a while. Of course, I slept a whole lot too. I hope your dad can find something to keep himself occupied!

45. Digging to America by Anne Tyler

A chance meeting at an airport arrival gate leads to a cross-cultural friendship between two adoptive families. One family is typically American, and the other is Iranian American. Both families have adopted Korean babies who arrive on the same flight. Each year the Donaldsons and Yazdans celebrate their daughters' adoptions with an elaborate Arrival Party. Each year's party is viewed from the perspective of a different family member.

This was my first Anne Tyler novel. I didn't know what to expect when I started the book, and it was a pleasant discovery for me. I identified with most of the characters. Like the Yazdans, I've lived in a culture as an outsider. Like Maryam, I found it was easier to become friends with other cultural outsiders, even when we didn't share the same cultural background. Like the Donaldsons, I've helplessly watched the decline of a parent and grandparents caused by cancer. As a child, I was part of a welcoming party for an adopted cousin. I know several families who have adopted internationally and/or inter-racially. Reading this book reminded me of those relationships and experiences and how they have enriched my life.

Although I liked this book very much, I'm not sure it's one I'll read again. I think a lot of its impact came from the gradual revelations of character as the book progressed, as well as a few surprises along the way. I don't think a re-reading would have the same effect since I would know what's coming. Even though I won't be re-reading this one, I will be adding more of Tyler's work to my TBR list.

4 stars

46. The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

I couldn't wait to read this book after hearing the author's aunt describe it and talk about how the author's reunion with her foster sister came about. Journalist Helene Cooper spent her childhood in Liberia. As a descendant of the African American founders of Liberia, Helene was part of the privileged class. Her parents drove luxury cars, her mother wore designer clothes, Helene and her sister went to a private school, and the family owned multiple homes as well as rental properties. When the family moved into the house at Sugar Beach, Helene had her own room for the first time, but she was scared to sleep there by herself. Her parents decided to foster a girl from one of the Liberian tribes, who would become a companion for Helene and her younger sister, Marlene. Helene's idyllic childhood ended with the 1980 military coup that overthrew the government. The Coopers were able to leave the country and make a new home in the U.S., but they had to leave Eunice behind.

Helene attended high school and college in the U.S., then became a newspaper journalist, working her way through the ranks until she became a foreign correspondent. Meanwhile, conditions in Liberia continued to deteriorate, and most of its infrastructure was destroyed. Helene's parents and sister, Marlene, each returned to Liberia at a time of relative stability, but Helene stayed in the U.S. Helene was seriously injured while covering the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and this experience led to her decision to return to Liberia to find her foster sister, Eunice, after a 23-year separation.

I wasn't prepared for the effect this book would have on me. After their hurried exit from Liberia, Helene, Marlene, and their mother lived in Knoxville for a year. Helene and Marlene attended local schools. I was a student in a different local high school at the same time. I couldn't help wondering if our paths had crossed at a public place like the mall or a movie theater. It distressed me that I was oblivious to the situation in Liberia at the time, and that I didn't know that there were people in my community who were affected by it. How had I missed this? I finally realized that my ignorance wasn't from not paying attention to national and international news. This was the middle of the Iranian hostage crisis, and it dominated the nightly news. I'm glad that this gap in my knowledge of world events has finally been closed, but I'm sorry that it took so long for me to learn about this.

This is a well-written and well-paced memoir. It's an important story, and I wish that the book had features to match. Better quality photographs and an index would have added to the cost of production, but I think the book suffers from their absence.

4 stars

Next up: Blood of the Prodigal by P. L. Gaus

>45 cbl_tn: hey Carrie, how long since you've read The Accidental Tourist? it's my favorite Anne Tyler...love how she always creates such genuine characters -- Jenny

Finally catching up on some threads, and I'm glad to find another fan of Trollope here - I agree that Barchester Towers is a really good read. Have you read any of his other than the Barchester ones? I have not, but am hoping to start the Palliser novels soon-ish.

And that Gutenberg book is one that i think I own and started reading. Certainly I do have one on a similar subject with Gutenberg in the title, but it was a few years back that I started it, and it's somewhere in the un-catalogued parts of my library so I'll have to go and look to see what it was, and get back to reading it if it is the same one you are recommending.

>149 GCPLreader: Jenny, this was my first Anne Tyler novel, but it won't be my last. I've seen The Accidental Tourist on television at some point, but I haven't read the book. Maybe I should make it the next one I read of her books, although I'm interested in both Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and Saint Maybe.

>150 gennyt: Genny, I've read the first two of the Barchester novels, and one of the Pallisers. Can You Forgive Her? was my first experience with Trollope more than 20 years ago. I'll want to re-read it before I read any of the others in that series.

I know how easy it is to get behind on threads. I kept up OK in January, but I was sick for a week in February and I still haven't managed to catch up! I'm keeping up with my starred threads, but I'm sure I'm missing others with similar reading interests to mine.

For the June TIOLI challenges I'm going to attempt:

#1 Read a low book: Blood of the Prodigal by P. L. Gaus
Circle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini
#2 Foreign language title: Vendetta by Michael Dibdin
#4 Book set in my locale: Knoxville, Tennessee: A Mountain City in the New South by William Bruce Wheeler
#5 Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (audio version)
#6 New-to-me author with 2+ books on my TBR list: Death of an Effendi by Michael Pearce (audio version)
#9 Book about food: Death by Deep Dish Pie by Sharon Short
The Secret Ingredient Murders by Nancy Pickard
#12 Non-fiction book: Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution by Mark Puls
#16 Book about tennis: Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks
#18 Book with equal number of letters in title main words: The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri (audio version)

47. Blood of the Prodigal by P. L. Gaus
TIOLI #1 - Low book (from bottom shelf)

When a 10-year-old Amish boy disappears, his grandfather, the bishop of their Old Order Amish community, doesn't contact the police. Instead, he turns to Pastor Cal Troyer, the only English person who has the community's trust. Troyer has to leave in a few days to attend a conference, so he calls in his long-time friend, college professor Michael Branden. With help from his wife, as well as whatever information he can get from the local sheriff (also a long-time friend) without breaking his promise to the Bishop, Branden sets out to find the boy. First, he must find the boy's father, who had been shunned by the Bishop a decade ago.

I often feel like books are longer than they need to be, but I had the opposite reaction to this book. I felt like important details were missing. It's the first book in a series, but it seems like a middle book. I felt like I was missing information about some of the characters that had been revealed in earlier books that I hadn't read. I never understood why the professor, a specialist in Civil War history, was acting as a private investigator. The book mentions that he's conducted about a dozen earlier investigations, but never explains why. Most of the action takes place in June. Does he spend the summer between semesters working as a P.I.? Cal Troyer's character doesn't seem necessary. He is around for the first few chapters, leaves for a conference, and shows up again at the end after the tension has been resolved. Why not have the Bishop go directly to the professor for help instead of using a middle man? It also seems like parts of conversations are missing. One of the characters will have an “aha” moment, and start to tell another character something, but they don't include the reader in their conversation.

This appears to be the author's first mystery novel, so the shortcomings I noted may be less of a problem in later books in the series. To his credit, the author successfully disguised a clue that gave away the culprit. I usually can spot those clues, but not this time!

I'm always on the lookout for mysteries set in unusual locations, so I find a series set in Holmes County, Ohio's, Amish community appealing. I've got the next two books in my TBR stash. I'll be curious to see if the books improve as the series progresses.

Next up: Vendetta by Michael Dibdin

#148: I went to add The house at Sugar Beach to the BlackHole only to discover it was already there. I need to get to it, I guess!

#154: I think I will wait to see your verdict on the other couple of books that you have in the series before I give it a look.

Stasia, The House at Sugar Beach is a surprisingly quick read for a 350 page book. You seem to be a fast reader, and I think you'd get through it in no time. If you ever listen to audio books, you might want to try it that way. Several reviewers mention that they listened to the audio version read by the author and they comment on how well she reads and how fascinating it was to hear Liberian English. Conversations between Liberians are written in that country's English dialect.

I checked, but my local library does not have the audio version of the book only the printed form so I will have to make do with that.

Since I'll be at an out of town conference when my 3rd Thingaversary rolls around on the 13th, I did my celebrating early. I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. In honor of my Thingaversary, I bought One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America by Edmund Morgan, Military Bounty Land 1776-1855 by Christine Rose. For my bonus book, I bought a collectible copy of Leafy Rivers by Jessamyn West , since the 13th is also my late mother's birthday and her family tree has Indiana and Ohio roots.

Happy Thingaversary!!! Great way to celebrate!!

Happy Thingaversary!! I too will be celebrating my 3rd Thingaversary later this month. Boy, the time has flown by.

Love the books you bought for your Thingaversary, Carrie! A happy one to you!

48. Vendetta by Michael Dibdin

Multiple vendettas play out in this crime novel that at times is more action thriller than police procedural. Aurelio Zen is caught up in events triggered by the death of a billionaire at his remote Sardinian compound. The fast-paced action somewhat masks a plot that relies a little too much on coincidence.

Zen has to contend with the politics of Italy's power structure as well as with the crimes he is assigned to investigate. Zen always seems to be reacting to events, rather than in control of them. He gets credit not so much for solving crimes as for successfully picking his way through a minefield. The book has a bit of a retro feel since it was written before cell phones came into widespread use.

3 stars

Next up: The Dutchman by Maan Meyers

we almost share a Thingaversary =D (Mine's the 15th... though I think that's somewhat not entirely correct if you consider that I think I created and deleted another account before then... (Just went and checked - apparently I never deleted it (amazingly I remembered the password), and it's Thingaversary is June 28, 2006 so a whole two years earlier! Now I have to figure out which one should really count!) Either way June is clearly my Thingaversary month (I wonder why ;) lol!)

>163 YoungGeekyLibrarian: Surely it couldn't be because you met LibraryThing Tim at a conference in June in Boston?? LOL

#164 oddly enough I am wearing the conference t-shirt at the moment... Maybe it should be considered my Thingaversary shirt?

Yes, I blame that conference! I think there were several new memberships that month.

I was already a member when the conference came around, but I definitely became more active after it.

I think I created the new account because I knew it would be mostly librarians I'd be friending for a while =D instead of my old username I used more in undergrad... And I hadn't put too much in the old one anyway up to that point... (though it took me til last Christmas to get this one even mostly updated!)

49. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce is on the case again when she finds a near-dead gypsy on the family property. The gypsy had been attacked and left for dead. Then another body shows up on the estate. In the course of her investigation, Flavia makes a new friend. Her habit of withholding evidence in order to test it in her chemistry lab once again gets her into trouble with the local police.

I didn't like this one quite as much as the second book in the series. There were a few too many plot threads. One aspect of the mystery was too similar to circumstances surrounding the mystery in the previous book. I experienced a bit of déjà vu.

I read these books as much for the pleasure of spending time with Flavia as for the crime-solving, and Flavia was her delightful self. I listened to an audio download from the public library and I really enjoyed Jayne Entwistle's performance. Her portrayal of Flavia had me convinced that she really is an 11-year-old girl. I enjoyed listening to this one so much that I've decided to listen to rather than read any future books in this series.

3 1/2 stars

Next up on audio: The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

I cannot wait to see what you think of The Shape of Water, Carrie. I have only had it hanging around my house 2 years or so waiting for me to get to it.

154: Hmm, I'd be interested in Blood of the Prodigal despite its flaws, for the Amish aspect (I'm in Lancaster PA).

> 169 I have the first Flavia book checked out of the library right now. I am looking forward to it.

>171 qebo: I'm a little familiar with some of the Amish communities in Indiana, so that's one reason I found the series so interesting. I would occasionally see buggies at the mall and other places around Kokomo. At least once, one of my relatives drove an Amish family to Florida. Their particular group of Amish were allowed to ride in cars but they weren't allowed to drive them.

>172 profilerSR: I hope you enjoy meeting Flavia! She's a character readers seem to either love or hate.

50. The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
TIOLI #18 - Main title words have the same number of letters

A dead politician is discovered in his car in a place he shouldn't be. Did he die of natural causes, or was he murdered? There are enough questions about the circumstances of the death that Inspector Montalbano keeps the investigation open, despite pressure to close it quickly.

Montalbano seems to maintain an ethical standard in an environment with an international reputation for corruption. More than once Montalbano is in a situation where others might give in to temptation and he resists it. Since I just finished reading one of Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen books, I couldn't help comparing Montalbano to Zen. Montalbano is more self-assured and positive than is Zen. If I were a crime victim, I'd prefer to have Montalbano working the case.

I listened to this one on audio, and it took me a while to warm up to it. The last two audio books I listened to had exceptional readers, and this one was just average. I might have liked the book a little more if I had read it rather than listened to it.

3 1/2 stars

Next up on audio: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

I read The Shape of Water a couple of years back, liked it enough to start buying the rest, and have finally just read book 2 - The Terracotta Dog. I like the gritty Sicilian setting and nasty corruption - a bit like Donna Leon's Venetian books only harsher. I liked the 2nd a bit more than the first one (4 stars v s 3 1/2) and am looking forward to the rest!

And I have 2 Aurelio Zen books here - Dead Lagoon and maybe Vendetta... so I haven't read your review except to see that you liked it. Will bump mine up the pile a bit.

Congratulations on hitting 50 books for the year, Carrie!

Cushla, based on the little I've read in both series, I think I like the Montalbano series a bit better than the Aurelio Zen series. enjoy the setting in both, though. I'm planning to read the 3rd Aurelio Zen book in the next month, before it airs on PBS Mystery.

Thanks, Stasia! I have a goal of 99 books for the year. So far, so good!

#179: Good luck with your goal! You have made a terrific start on it!

My dad had his 3-week check-up today. It was about what I expected. Not much healing, but the foot isn't any worse. He has a cast for another 3 weeks, and if all goes well he'll graduate to a boot. Unfortunately, surgery is still a possibility. While he was out of the house he wanted to get his hair cut, so we stopped at the barber shop on the way home.

I only managed to read a couple of chapters in my current book while we were out. There was too much going on in the exam room, with technicians and doctors in and out, having the old cast cut off, having the new cast put on, etc. However, Lori (thornton37814) went with us to help me get him in and out of the car, and she was able to read most of a book in the waiting room. Things went a lot more smoothly than last time since we had another person with us.

Next time I'll need to remember to bring his other shoe and sock in case he needs it. I didn't think about it until we were already at the doctor's office a good 35-40 minutes from home. I was pretty sure he'd be leaving with another cast, but I wasn't certain of it.

glad to hear that at least it wasn't any worse!

And I did get a free iced coffee and supper out of the deal! Not bad!

51. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
TIOLI #5 Basis for a film nominated for best adapted screenplay Oscar

This is the ultimate travel tale. It's full of adventure and suspense spiced with humor and romance. It's lighthearted fun, yet it touches on social issues of its era such as the status and treatment of women in India and opium use in China.

It's interesting that, while there are lots of characters in the book, there is only one female. Her character is less developed than the male characters, and she has a mostly passive role in the action. I don't read many adventure novels, and I haven't read any of Verne's other books, so perhaps this is typical of the genre.

This story lends itself well to reading aloud or listening to on audio. I listened to an audio version on a road trip and it made the time pass quickly.

4 stars

Next up on audio: Death of an Effendi by Michael Pearce

#181: I hope all does go well with your dad and he can get to the boot stage.

I'm behind on posting as a result of my recent trip. In an attempt to catch up:

52. The Dutchman by Maan Meyers

I liked this historical mystery for the atmosphere rather than the mystery. Its setting is 1664 New Amsterdam. The Dutch colonists expect an English invasion at any moment. Pieter Tonneman, the schout (sheriff), has more than the invasion to worry about. He suspects that several recent deaths weren't accidental, and that they might be connected to a conspiracy with the English.

The descriptions of sights, smells, and activities drew me into the world of the Dutch colony, and the detailed map worked well to orient me to the streets of New Amsterdam as they existed in the 1660s. Fictional characters seemed just as real as historical figures like Pieter Stuyvesant and John Winthrop. The characters reflect New Amsterdam's cosmopolitan nature; in addition to the Dutch and English, there are Jews, Native Americans, Portuguese, and Germans. The emphasis on the Jewish community reminded me of David Liss's books. Racqel, the Jewish woman whose father taught her about medicines and healing, reminded me just a bit of Adelia in Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death series.

The identity of two of the three conspirators is revealed to the reader as soon as they are introduced. Although there is an attempt to shield the identity of the third conspirator from the reader, I think even infrequent mystery readers will quickly figure out which character it is. Even though the mystery was somewhat disappointing, I liked the characters and setting well enough to seek out more books in the series. I've already ordered a mystery anthology that includes a short story featuring some of the same characters.

3 1/2 stars

53. Miss New India by Bharati Mukherjee

In some ways, this book is an extended illustration of Thomas Friedman's flat world. Its main character, Anjali/Angie, is a young girl from a provincial Indian city who dreams of making it big in a Bangalore call center. She hopes that her aptitude for English will land her a position as a customer service agent for one of the many American firms that outsource these jobs to India.

I was fascinated by the setting, but not by the characters. I didn't see in Anjali/Angie what the other characters see in her. All of her concerns beyond the basic food/shelter/safety seem superficial. She shows little evidence of an interesting inner life. She seems self-absorbed, aloof, and amoral. She's supposed to be her mentor's most promising student, yet she appears pretty average to me. She does seem to have above average luck, though. Somehow, among the millions of people in India, she keeps meeting people with wealth and influence who are willing to spend it on her behalf. One character explains to her that she is a mirror, and others see themselves in her. The more I think about this, the creepier it gets. I can imagine Anjali/Angie using this quality to manipulate people in the future. She's not a person I would trust.

Readers who have read other books by the author will recognize some familiar characters. Tara Chatterjee doesn't appear in this book, but some of her relatives do, and they mention her several times. I'd like to try at least the first of the Tara Chatterjee books. I think I might identify more with a character closer to my age.

This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

3 stars

Currently reading: Knoxville: This Obscure Prismatic City by Jack Neely and The Secret Ingredient Murders by Nancy Pickard

Borrowed from Donna's thread:

Favorite childhood book? My grandmother's Grimms' Fairy Tales and Andersen's Fairy Tales. Both books were always on the bookshelves in her living room. I always looked forward to reading stories from each of them whenever we visited. I'd sit on a little stool in her living room and read happily. I now own both books and the stool. They're sentimental treasures.

What are you reading right now? I'm just starting Playing the Moldovans at Tennis for one of this month's TIOLI challenges.

Bad book habit? Buying way too many. It will take years to read the TBRs I own, plus I keep adding more to my wish list.

Do you have an e-reader? Yes – a Sony Pocket Reader.

Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once? Only one fiction at a time, but I often have more than one non-fiction going simultaneously.

Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? I don't blog. However, my habits have changed since I started reviewing everything I read on LibraryThing.

Least favorite book you read this year (so far)? The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell.

Favorite book you’ve read this year? A toss-up between The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey and Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope.

How often do you read out of your comfort zone? More than I used to, thanks to the LT group challenges.

What is your reading comfort zone? Mysteries, especially those by Golden Age authors.

Can you read on the bus? Yes, but not in a car.

Favorite place to read? In my living room.

is your policy on book lending? I'm a frequent lender, and I have several friends I routinely share books with.

Do you ever dog-ear books? No.

Do you ever write in the margins of your books? Not often, and only in books I use for research or study.

What is your favorite language to read in? English.

What makes you love a book? Memorable characters and settings.

What will inspire you to recommend a book? I'll recommend books I've liked to people I know well who have similar reading tastes.

Favorite genre? Cozy and/or historical mysteries.

Genre you rarely read (but wish you did)? Non-fiction. I read about 1 non-fiction for every 3 fiction. My average rating for non-fiction is higher than my average for fiction. I suppose I'm more careful when I select non-fiction to pick books on high-interest topics.

Favorite biography? Agatha Christie's An Autobiography. It's one of my all-time favorite reads.

Have you ever read a self-help book? If I have, it was a long time ago.

Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)? We Were Europeans by Holocaust survivor Werner Loval.

Favorite reading snack? Hot tea with milk.

How often do you agree with critics about a book? About half the time.

How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? If reviews are to be useful, they must be honest. If I'm aware the author or publisher will be reading my review, I try to mention at least one thing I liked about the book even when my overall review is negative. If a book is well written but just doesn't suit my taste, I try to mention other types of readers who might be a better audience for the book.

If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose? Spanish.

Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? Reading through the Bible in a year. It's a very intimidating prospect on January 1! I've managed it 3 times, I think.

Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin? Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon. Her Mitford series was my mother's favorite. Shepherds Abiding is the first book in the series published after my mother's death so she never got to read it or the last book in the series.

Favorite Poet? John Donne.

Favorite fictional character? Anne Shirley

Favorite fictional villain? The Master Criminal in Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series.

Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation? Audiobooks, travel guidebooks, cozy mysteries, ebooks.

The longest I’ve gone without reading. I don't think there's a day that goes by that I don't read something, even if it's just a magazine or newspaper article.

Name a book that you could/would not finish. The House of the Seven Gables. I've tried at least twice and just can't get into it.

What distracts you easily when you’re reading? I have a hard time reading when I'm worried. When that happens, I turn to logic problems or cross-stitching.

Favorite film adaptation of a novel? The Enchanted April

Most disappointing film adaptation? The Pelican Brief

The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time? I usually spend under $50. Maybe $100 or so when Christmas shopping?

How often do you skim a book before reading it? I sometimes skim non-fiction.

Do you like to keep your books organized? I like to organize non-fiction by topic. Fiction goes on shelves that fit the size of the book.

Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them? I'd prefer to keep everything I've ever read. Since I don't have unlimited bookshelf space, I often donate books I've read to my library or trade them for “new” used books at a local used bookstore.

Are there any books you’ve been avoiding? The Julia Spencer-Fleming series. The idea of a priest falling in love with a married man troubles me.

Name a book that made you angry. The 2011 revision of the New International Bible. After I bought a copy for my new e-reader, I discovered that, in an attempt at gender neutrality, the translators use plural pronouns to represent singular subjects. I can't read it without wanting to correct the grammar.

A book you didn’t expect to like but did? Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

A book that you expected to like but didn’t? The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King

Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? Anything by Agatha Christie.

Still catching up on reviews.

54. Death of an Effendi by Michael Pearce

When a Russian financier is killed during a hunting party in the Delta, Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt (chief of the secret police) must sort through motives both political and personal to find the shooter. I listened to this one on audio while driving, and I think that was a mistake. The combination of Russian and Egyptian names, and my unfamiliarity with the structure of Egyptian society and government in the Edwardian era made it difficult for me to follow in that format. The easiest plot thread to follow, involving Owen's romance with a headstrong Egyptian woman, was also the most annoying. His girlfriend is extremely jealous, and I found her frequent tantrums tiresome. I'll try another one from this series in print before I give up on it. I think it would be a good idea to start at the beginning of the series, too.

3 stars

55.O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
TIOLI 14 Book with an exclamation mark in the title

O Pioneers! is a love story with a twist. While Alexandra Bergson has great affection for her household and neighbors, the love of her life is the Nebraska prairie farmland settled by her Swedish immigrant family. Alexandra's spirit is as expansive as the land, while her two oldest brothers are small-minded and unimaginative. Alexandra finds kindred spirits in her youngest brother, Emil, her neighbor, Carl Linstrum, and her neighbor, Bohemian Marie Shabata. Cather's writing has a timelessness that conveys the enthusiasm of youth, and the both the hope and risk of homesteading. I listened to this one on audio, and I thought it enhanced my experience of the book. The reader's precise, unrushed delivery perfectly matched Alexandra's personality. Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

Next up on audio: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

56. The Secret Ingredient Murders by Nancy Pickard
TIOLI #9 Book about food

A short trip to Rhode Island to visit family becomes and extended visit for rancher Genia Potter. Her late husband's friend, Stanley Parker, convinces her to stay and help him compile a Rhode Island cookbook. Each recipe included in the cookbook must contain a secret ingredient. Genia is to host a dinner party at her rented home, with a guest list provided by Stanley. Each guest will supply a recipe for the cookbook. One by one the guests arrive, but Stanley never does. Finally, word arrives that Stanley's body has been discovered.

The mystery part of this cozy doesn't break any new ground. Although Pickard does a decent job of casting suspicion on several characters, I managed to correctly identify the murderer and the motive. The fun for me was the setting, and the descriptions of uniquely Rhode Island foods. I was interested enough in the food culture of Rhode Island (a state I've never visited) to add a Rhode Island cookbook to my wish list.

I also enjoyed Pickard's writing style. I enjoy cozies, but I don't often find them quote-worthy. This one is. Here are a couple of my favorite passages:

Over time...Jason had come to know the plants in the spacious greenhouse and the garden as individuals with distinct needs, appearances, and even personalities. And he reacted to them like that. Not that he would ever in a million years admit this, but he liked to spend time with the pansies, for instance, who were sophisticated and elegant, and he didn't like the petunias, who were brassy and thought entirely too much of themselves.

This passage expresses the way I feel about the cookbooks I inherited from my grandmother:

No antique cookbook worth hundreds of dollars could possibly have meant as much to her as this one. Genia couldn't count the number of times she had sat across from Stanley in the past few months, watching him scribble in this book, listening to his strong opinions about food and people and life. And it wasn't merely a cookbook, she saw as she opened it, it was also a diary of the recipes he served and to whom he served them. She found odd bits of paper stuck in it—a postcard here, a grocery receipt there, all wedged between pages...Stanley's bold, penciled notations were everywhere. They were scribbled in margins, in between recipes, written on divider pages, and in the index...He commented on ingredients, added his own inventions, listed who came for lunch.

My grandmother's cookbooks look just like this! One of the pleasures of having them is reading the notes in the margins and on scraps of paper about the occasions when my grandmother used the recipes.

Warmly recommended.

4 stars

57. Knoxville: This Obscure Prismatic City by Jack Neely
TIOLI #4 Book set in my locale

Jack Neely writes a local history column for an alternative weekly paper in Knoxville. I always look forward to his columns. He writes like a storyteller about obscure events or facts in Knoxville's history. It's sort of like Paul Harvey's “The Rest of the Story” on a local scale, although the stories often involve people who made a name for themselves well beyond Knoxville. The stories in this collection feature a 19th century doctor who experimented with resurrecting the dead, a popular 19th century author who died in town under mysterious circumstances, the story of New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs, who got his start in the business at a Knoxville paper, a story about Hollywood director Clarence Brown, a story about WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle's visit to Knoxville, Hank Williams, Sr.'s last night in a Knoxville hotel, and a connection between poet Ezra Pound and protestors against the desegregation of a high school in a neighboring county.

Although there isn't anything in this book to indicate it, I think it may be a compilation of previously published material, probably from his Metro Pulse articles. I was already familiar with some of the stories, so I had either read them in the Metro Pulse or heard Neely tell them in one of his talks at a local library association meeting. Neely is a regular visitor in local libraries, particularly the historical collections, so I know how carefully he researches each story. Newspaper articles typically don't include source citations, but I wish that citations had been added to compilations like this so that others can find them years from now when Neely isn't around to ask about them.

4 stars

Next up: Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks

I've added book # 57 to my wishlist. I'd like to read it sometime.

I love Jack Neely's columns in the Metropulse. I often pick up a copy just to read his column. However, it's online now, and I have the feeds delivered to my blog reader. I still like the print copies sometimes though!

I also have the Metro Pulse RSS feed delivered to my blog reader. Here's the link: http://www.metropulse.com/ Jack Neely's column is called Secret History.

58. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
TIOLI #21 A short work

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow still has the power to connect readers with memories of the Revolutionary War era that lingered into the 19th century. Reduced to its essential elements, it's the story of a classic love triangle. Which suitor will the lovely Katrina Von Tussell choose – brawny bad boy Brom Bones or nerdy schoolmaster Ichabod Crane? It's what Washington Irving does with the story that makes it so much fun. His descriptions of Ichabod Crane's appearance*, the school room, food, Sleepy Hollow, and, of course, the Headless Horseman are so detailed that you can easily conjure up mental images. The undertone of sarcasm lets you know just how seriously to take the story. Other than some jarring racial stereotypes, the story holds up well almost 200 years later.

*Speaking of Ichabod Crane's appearance, I wonder if Cooper might have borrowed from Irving in creating David Gamut's character in The Last of the Mohicans?

4 stars

Next up on audio: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane

I spent several hours at the doctor's office with my father this afternoon. The good news is that I got a lot of reading done while we waited. The bad news is that he has another 4 weeks in a cast. Only two more weeks without any weight on his foot, though.

59. Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks
TIOLI #16 - Book about tennis

It started out as a bar bet. Tony Hawks, and his buddy, Arthur, were watching a football/soccer match between England and Moldova. Somehow, by the end of the game, Hawks had bet that he could beat all 11 of the Moldovan football players at tennis.

The rest of the book is the story of Hawks' quest to win the bet. He had lots of obstacles to overcome, starting with getting a visa to visit Moldova. Since Moldova issues visas only to people who have been invited by a citizen, Hawks had to find a citizen to extend an invitation to him. He would cross one hurdle only to find another one in his path. He spent most of his time in Moldova trying to make contact with team officials and/or the players themselves. At the time of his visit, Moldova had been an independent nation for only half a dozen years, and there were deficiencies in its infrastructure. No task, even a phone call, was simple. The Moldovan acquaintances he accumulated during his visit were pessimistic that he would succeed in his quest, yet they went to great lengths to help him.

This would have been a dull book if it had been nothing more than a description of 11 tennis matches. However, much of the book is filled with Hawks' experiences with his translator and his host family. He spent most of his time in Moldova with at least one of these five people, and it's through their conversations and shared experiences that he (and we) glimpse what life is like for the average Moldovan. Hawks' skills as a comedian are well suited for observing a different culture. Hawks finds humor in situations, but not at the expense of others.

I don't have any more desire to visit Moldova after reading this book than I did before I read it, but I do have an appreciation for the Moldovan people, and I hope that their economic condition has improved in the decade since Hawks' visit.

4 stars

60. Circle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini
TIOLI #1 - Read a "low" book (from a bottom shelf)

Elm Creek Quilts has openings for two new teachers since two of its founders will soon be leaving for other pursuits. Who will join their Circle of Quilters? Five candidates have been selected to interview for the positions. Readers meet each of them in turn as Chiaverini tells the stories of their lives and how they became quilters. I liked some of the candidates better than others, and I could sympathize with the Elm Creek Quilters as they weighed the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate and made their final selections.

One fun aspect of the book is that each interviewee encounters one of the others at the interview, and readers get to experience the encounters from each participant's perspective. Chiaverini used a multiple perspective technique in The Master Quilter and I didn't care for it in that book. It worked for me this time, probably because the encounters were brief and thus the book didn't involve a lot of repetition.

Readers new to the series shouldn't start with this one. The Elm Creek Quilters make only short appearances without much introduction in each of the first five sections, so readers will need some familiarity with their personalities and the group dynamics from earlier books in the series.

The book ended with some unresolved situations, and I expect the stories will continue in subsequent books in the series. If I keep reading the series in publication order, it looks like I've got a couple more books to read before getting to the continuation of events from this book. Do I skip ahead to the next book chronologically, or do I stick with publication order? I've got a decision to make!

4 stars

Next up: Death by Deep Dish Pie by Sharon Short

61. Death by Deep Dish Pie by Sharon Short

The Breitenstraters are big fish in the small pond of Paradise, Ohio. Their pie company is the town's largest employer. Older brother Alan runs the family business, while eccentric younger brother Cletus heads up a fireworks company on the outskirts of town. One brother plans a big announcement that will affect the town's future, while the other brother plans an announcement that will change the way the town looks at its past. Local laundromat owner and stain expert Josie Toadfern gets swept into the events. Will she be able to put things right in time to salvage the town's Fourth of July celebrations?

This is an enjoyable cozy for someone who likes local and family history. The heroine is likeable and she doesn't have annoying habits like so many other cozy heroines do. She's kind, smart, and funny, and she's tolerant of the eccentricities of her family and neighbors. I wouldn't mind spending more time in Paradise, and I'll be on the lookout for more of the books in this series.

3 1/2 stars

Next up: Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution by Mark Puls

My dad is still in a cast, but he's improved enough to venture out occasionally. He's still supposed to stay off of his foot for another week so I'm doing my best to limit his activity. The weather was great yesterday so I took him for a drive & out to eat at a place where we could park right in front of the door and that has tables just inside the door. Not much walking involved. We were in the car for about an hour. I played my current audiobook on the car stereo and my dad really enjoyed it even though he hadn't heard the first part of the book. When we got home he wanted me to show him how to check out and download audiobooks from the library. He never reads fiction, but likes to listen to fiction on audio. I helped him download The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, so we'll see how that goes.

I can't wait to see how he likes Flavia! You'll have to keep us posted.

I'm so glad your dad is improving, albeit slowly. I just received the audio of Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie from my library, too. Tell him one of your LT friends will be listening along with him! (I've been so far behind on reading threads, but just finished up this one, and as always, enjoyed your reviews!)

I'm glad your dad is improving. How fun that you prompted an interest in audio books. I hope he enjoys Flavia and her hijinks.

72. Death Cloud by Andy Lane
(This is the audiobook my father really got into in the car the other day!)

It's the school holidays, and 14-year-old Sherlock Holmes will have lots to write about in a “what I did during my holiday” essay. With Sherlock's father away in military service and his mother in poor health, Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, arranges for Sherlock to spend the holiday with relatives. Sherlock soon makes a friend of a local boy, Matty, who witnessed something odd at the scene of a sudden death. Sherlock later stumbles upon other strange happenings. Guided by his tutor, Amyus Crowe, and supported by Matty and Crowe's daughter, Virginia, Sherlock works to solve a mystery that endangers the whole community, and maybe the whole nation.

The Sherlock Holmes of this story doesn't resemble the teenager I imagine Conan Doyle's Sherlock would have been. He's portrayed as a typical teenager with above average intelligence. Conan Doyle's Sherlock is anything but typical. The story involves more adventure than detection, since Sherlock is only beginning to develop skills of observation and reason under Crowe's tutelage. The author includes some educational material in the story, but in a way that serves the plot without being too obtrusive. Middle grade teachers could use it as supplementary reading for units on science or problem solving. However, the adventure itself is enough of an attraction for most readers.

3 1/2 stars

Next up on audio: Blackwork by Monica Ferris - I don't think my dad will find this one as interesting as young Sherlock Holmes!

Catching up on reviews of the 3 books I finished in the last couple of days.

63. Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution by Mark Puls

After reading Jeff Shaara's The Glorious Cause and David McCullough's 1776, I had developed an affection for Henry Knox. I hadn't known much about him before I read those two books, even though my home town is named after him. I wanted to read more about Knox, and I was glad to find this biography in the library.

Knox was an amazing man. Before the American Revolution, he was a Boston bookseller. His profession allowed him to read widely about military art and science. Knox's reading prepared him to oversee heavy artillery for Washington's Continental Army, even with no prior military experience. Against expectations, Knox was able to move artillery across country from Fort Ticonderoga to the outskirts of Boston, helping to force the British to evacuate the city. It was Knox who orchestrated the Christmas crossing of the Delaware River, leading to a key victory for the Continental Army. When Washington returned to private life at the end of the Revolutionary War, he turned command of the army over to Knox. Knox served as war secretary in the government formed under the Articles of Confederation, and held the same position in George Washington's administration in the new United States government.

Knox advocated the establishment of a military academy. His dream eventually became reality at West Point. Knox's plan influenced military training programs well into the 20th century. Puls writes of Knox:

He did not view himself exclusively as a military leader but as a builder of the republic, willing to play the role of architect in creating institutional pillars of American society. He was not content to borrow foreign patterns in formulating the design for the U.S. military; rather he looked at the problem from the vantage point of a statesman and political theorist. For Knox, the American military needed to embody distinctly American ideals.

Puls contrasts Knox's national perspective as a Federalist with the regional interests of many in Congress. Knox, Washington, and other military leaders were often frustrated during the War by politicians in Congress whose chief worry was the cost of the proposals and whose chief aim was to satisfy the demands of their constituents rather than to do what was best for the national interest. The same arguments are still going on in Washington today.

Although this biography covers Knox's entire life, Knox's contributions to the Revolutionary War take up the most page space. Puls was a little vague about some of the details of Knox's personal life. Knox and his wife, Lucy, didn't have many children who survived past childhood. Puls would mention a child's death, but a few pages later he would mention an event that occurred when that child was living. It was hard to tell when the author was back-tracking and when the “resurrection” was due to a later child having the same name as a deceased sibling. A chronology of significant events in Knox's life, both public and personal, would have helped.

Recommended for readers with an interest in the American Revolution and in U.S. military history.

4 stars

64. Blackwork by Monica Ferris (audio version)

It's nearly Halloween, and Betsy Devonshire, owner of Excelsior's Crewel World, is serving on a committee organizing a Halloween parade. Recovering alcoholic Ryan McMurphy, who will drive an antique fire engine in the parade, attends a committee meeting at a microbrewery owned by a Wicca practitioner. Ryan falls of the wagon and his drunken behavior creates problems with a number of people. A few days later, Ryan is found dead in Shelley Donohue's craft room, where Shelley and her live-in boyfriend had allowed him to stay after Ryan's wife kicked him out of their home. Local gossip soon blames microbrewery owner Leona for Ryan's sudden death, claiming that Leona, a Wicca practitioner, cast a spell on him. Betsy wants to help her friend, Shelley, as well as defend Leona from unfounded accusations, so she sets out to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ryan's death.

I learned more about Wicca than I wanted to know in this book, and I wasn't all that interested in the descriptions of the microbrewery, either, since I don't drink alcoholic beverages. The Halloween theme was fun, and I particularly enjoyed the description of the poetry party thrown by Godwin's new friend, Rafael. I also liked learning about blackwork, a type of embroidery I wasn't familiar with before I was introduced to it in this book. Ferris continues to come up with new ideas for this long-running series. The method for the murder is one of the more creative ones in the series, and I think this will end up as one of the more memorable books from the series.

Recommended for most cozy fans.

3 1/2 stars

Next up on audio: The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

65. West of Rehoboth by Alexs D. Pate
TIOLI #12: Book with a direction in the title

12-year-old Edward and his mother and sister always spend their summers in West Rehoboth, Delaware. Angela has no trouble finding work as a waitress in the neighboring white resort town, and rural Delaware is a safer environment for the children than their North Philadelphia neighborhood. Edward is particularly looking forward to the summer of 1962. He is obsessed with his Uncle Rufus, who lives in an outbuilding behind his Aunt Edna's house, and who the adults refuse to discuss other than to warn the children to avoid him. Edward, an avid mystery reader, senses a mystery, and it's one he's determined to solve.

This is one of those books where the premise is more interesting than the book turns out to be. The writing is uneven and sometimes repetitive. The story has a strong beginning in the description of life in the Massey's North Philadelphia neighborhood and of the trip to Delaware. It gets weaker as Edward narrows his focus to his Uncle Rufus.

I think the author was trying to use Rufus's life as an illustration of one possible path for 12-year-old Edward's life. Life is a series of choices, and a sequence of seemingly insignificant and isolated choices can determine a person's fate. Edward senses that he is at a turning point in his life:

Everybody was constantly trying to calculate his movement into the pit of despair that the neighborhood could be or his ascension to a life of education and success. Toward safety or danger? Which way are you leaning, little black man? His mother. His friends. His father. He was measured every day.

Edward's father drives the family from Philadelphia to Delaware. Edward doesn't understand why he and his sister can never talk his father into stopping along the highway on the 4-hour journey.

But Edward didn't know that his father had grown up in the segregated South. Had never felt welcomed on the highway... Edward's father kept his stopping to a minimum. He knew anything could happen if he wandered into the wrong joint at the wrong time. Entire black families had been broken up or destroyed by such heroic acts as pulling over for a soda pop or a cone of ice cream in the old South. And Delaware, for all practical purposes, was as “Southern” as a city boy could get without going to Mississippi.

I think Edward sensed that Rufus was one of the unlucky ones who “wandered into the wrong joint and the wrong time”, and he needed to know Rufus's story in order to understand himself.

3 stars

Next up: Cabal by Michael Dibdin

It's amazing how much difference that prescription strength medication for arthritis has made in my dad's mobility. He's been on the medication for about 10 days. He's able to do things for himself that I've had to do for him (like put on his shoes), and things that used to be difficult are easier (like lifting the leg with the cast into the car, which I had to help him do until he started on the medication).

He's still trying to listen to The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, but he keeps falling asleep while he's listening and he has to go back and replay big chunks of the book. I'm not sure if he'll be able to finish it. I told him that the author is a man about his age, so he's looked up articles about the author and how he came to write the series. He's more interested in the book now that he knows some of the background information.

Glad to hear that the arthritis medicine is helping with your dad's mobility, Carrie. I hope it continues to do so!

Today is the day my dad gets to start putting weight on his foot - still in the cast, though. When I got up this morning, he was standing in the kitchen making coffee. No pain in his foot! I hope that means the foot is finally healing.

That is very good news!

And now he's been out driving. (His left foot is in a cast, so his right foot is free for the accelerator and brakes.) I guess I can't complain too much since he drove himself to the doctor's office to pick up the results of his lab work. He kept getting an error message when he tried to retrieve the results online.

Modern medicine is wonderful, isn't it! I had the same problem as your dad with an audio book; finally finished Three Day Road on audio, after continually falling asleep to it. Can finally begin my audio Sweetness now. Hope that one keeps me more awake!

PS: And what a great review of the Knox book!

I have the same problem with audios, they make me fall asleep. I finally gave up on one of my reads and ordered a hard copy from the library.

I have the opposite problem. I listen to audio books while I work around the house so no possibility of falling asleep there! However, I'll often fall asleep when I'm reading a regular book, especially if I try to read while lying down.

I can only listen to audiobooks in the car. If I try to listen at home, I either get distracted and forget to listen, or I fall asleep. But there's something about being the car (driving or as a passenger) that really concentrates my attention in a way that lets me really absorb an audiobook. Fortunately I have a 20-minute commute to and from work each day, so that lets me get through a book in a week or so.

I only have about a 3 minute commute, but I've discovered that I spend quite a lot of time in the car anyway. It's a 20-25 minute round trip from home to the closest grocery stores, pharmacies, Wal-mart, etc. I've started listening to audio books on these short trips and discovered that I get through books pretty quickly that way.

My problem with audiobooks is that I tend to get so wrapped up in the story that I ignore everything else going on :) I love to listen to them though - no falling asleep for me.

Once again I'm behind on reviews. I finished some books during the week but didn't have time to review them. Now to catch up...

66. Cabal by Michael Dibdin
TIOLI #1, 1-word title

A man falls to his death from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. Is it suicide or murder? For appearance's sake, the Vatican calls on Italian authorities to undertake a parallel investigation. Aurelio Zen's initially perfunctory investigation takes a surprising turn when it appears that a mysterious Cabal may have been behind the death.

This book was better than the last book in the series, and I'm glad I stuck with it. Dibdin surprised me with this one. Just when it seemed like it was going to be a typical conspiracy novel, he threw in an interesting twist. Zen didn't do anything in this book to make me like him any better. He'll never be among my favorite fictional detectives. However, the settings in various parts of Italy and the irony in the series provide enough motivation for me to continue with the series.

3 1/2 stars

67. The Great Fire by Jim Murphy
TIOLI #22, Newbery honor book (1996)

One dark night when we were all in bed
Old lady Leary lit a lantern in the shed
And when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said
There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight.

Before I read this book, that sums up about all I “knew” about the 1871 fire that destroyed most of Chicago. I found out that the little I knew was wrong. The fire did start on the O'Leary's property, but a reporter added the bit about the cow and the lantern to add some color to his story.

Murphy pieces together eyewitness accounts to tell the story of the fire, beginning with the initial alarm raised when someone noticed the flames in the O'Leary's barn. He describes several things that went wrong in the process of reporting and responding to the fire. He tells about the chaos during the fire, as people fled to what they thought was a safe place, only to have the flames catch up to them and force them to flee again. Families became separated in the crowds, and it must have been terrifying for them, not knowing if their loved ones were safe or if they would ever be able to find them again. Murphy also describes the rebuilding that took place following the fire, and the problem faced by the poorer residents of the city, who couldn't afford fire-proof building material like brick and granite.

The book is targeted for middle grade readers, but it's written in a way that readers of any age can enjoy. It would be a good choice for readers looking for a brief, non-scholarly account of Chicago's Great Fire.

4 1/2 stars

Next up on audio: Sherlock Holmes Theatre

68. White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones
TIOLI #7 America, the Beautiful challenge ("sky")

Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active was born in a remote town to an Inupiaq mother, but was raised in Anchorage by adoptive parents. Ironically, he ends up posted to Chukchi, the town of his birth and where his birth mother still lives. He's doing everything he can to earn a promotion out of there. He's not sure whether his current case will help or hurt his chances for promotion. When two Inupiat men die within hours of each other, apparent suicides, Active's gut tells him there's something wrong. He soon learns that the men had something in common, and that's enough to trigger a murder investigation.

I found a lot to like in this series debut. I like mysteries with unusual settings, and northern Alaska qualifies as unusual. Nathan has a lot of potential as the central character of a crime series. He has a lot of confidence in his professional skills and training, but he has some insecurities in his personal life. He lives in a tension between two cultures – the Inupiat culture of his birth mother and the white majority culture of his adoptive family. He' feels a bit like an outsider in both cultures. He's also resisting his attraction to a native co-worker, since he has ambitions beyond the confines of Chukchi. I'll be looking for more books in this series to see how his life and his career develop.

4 stars

Next up: Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley (my June ER book)

Nice reviews, Carrie! I will have to look for White Sky, Black Ice. It looks interesting.

I hope you can find a copy, Stasia.

Unfortunately, none of my local libraries has it. Oh well. I will just have to search further afield - after the book buying ban is over!

I took my dad out for breakfast this morning (actually, he bought & I drove), then met some friends at the American Quilter's Society show at the convention center in town. I'm not a quilter, but I like to look at them after someone else has done all of the hard work! I think my favorite part of the show is the section of challenge quilts. I liked the Elvis challenge the best. All of the quilts in the display had to illustrate one of Elvis's songs and had to have a heart somewhere in the quilt. The hearts weren't always obvious, and it was fun trying to spot the heart in each of the quilts.

I worked in a trip to the library, too. I didn't come home with any books, but I did pick up a DVD that my father wants to watch that isn't available through Netflix. It has two versions of The Prisoner of Zenda on it. I think we're going to watch the 1952 version with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr.

Hi! Just catching up; I was waaaaay behind! Glad to see that your father is doing better.

A review way back in May especially caught my eye: The London Eye Mystery. Sounds like one I'd enjoy. Actually, a lot of the books you've read may look interesting.

#226: Sounds like you had a good day, Carrie! I hope you and your father enjoy The Prisoner of Zenda. I have not seen the 1952 version myself.

>227 tymfos: Terri, I started The London Eye Mystery in April for autism month but didn't finish it before the end of the month. I was browsing Overdrive for something to listen to while I worked around the house and the autism aspect of the story caught my eye. I'm really glad I listened to it, and it's one I might want to read or listen to again.

>228 alcottacre: Stasia, my dad really liked The Prisoner of Zenda. We did end up watching the 1952 version. I didn't like it quite as well as he did, but I've read the book. The movie just doesn't provide the same experience. There wasn't enough Deborah Kerr. We may watch the 1937 version before returning the DVD to the library and see how it stacks up against the other version.

#229: The 1937 version, which I have seen, is summed up for me in 2 words: Ronald Colman :) I could listen to that man talk for hours.

My dad preferred the 1952 version of The Prisoner of Zenda because it was in color. I would have liked to be able to mix & match the cast. I liked Ronald Colman better than Stewart Granger in the lead role, and I thought Deborah Kerr was the better Flavia.

Speaking of Flavia, my dad is making good progress now on Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. He's made it all the way through chapter 13. I've caught him listening to it several times in the last few days. I was listening to Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet in the car yesterday when I took him to a doctor's appointment and shopping and he liked what he heard of it. That could end up being his next audiobook.

I took my dad to an appointment with our family doctor today and he told us he's getting ready to go to Northern Ireland. I told him about Patrick Taylor's Irish Country series, starting with An Irish Country Doctor, and he was interested enough to write down the details. I'll try to remember to ask him on my next visit if he read it and how he liked it.

I'm glad your dad is liking Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Please let us know what he thinks of that Flavia! She's something else.

I think he'll review it when he's finished so I'll be sure to post a link to his review here.

#231: I agree with you about mixing and matching the cast of the two Prisoner of Zenda films. Too bad we cannot actually do it!

My dad finished listening to The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie this morning and he loved it. I think he's planning to listen to the 2nd and 3rd books in the series. His review is here.

69. The Sherlock Holmes Theatre

This audio recording consists of the two plays written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that feature Sherlock Holmes. The Napoleon of Crime was co-written by actor William Gillette, who starred as Holmes in its stage productions. Holmes matches wits with the evil Moriarty, who hopes to take advantage of Holmes's current case to get the best of Holmes. I enjoyed the drama, especial Martin Jarvis's portrayal of Holmes, but I thought its story line was a little out of character. Holmes actually develops a romantic interest in a woman involved with the case. Could this be William Gillette's influence? Maybe he thought audiences wanted to see him as a romantic hero.

The second play is an adaptation of the short story The Speckled Band. This is probably my least favorite Holmes story for a reason I can't reveal without spoiling it for readers unfamiliar with the story. Doyle seems to have added material that wasn't in the short story to get to the right length for a stage production. When Dr. Watson goes to Sherlock's home to consult him about the problem faced by the young lady at the center of the story, he has to wait while Holmes sees a whole string of clients. Although this scene is entertaining, it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the story, and I thought it seemed out of place. The cast did a wonderful job with their voice characterizations.

The third drama is a modern satire of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Yuri Rasovsky. It's supposed to be a comedy, but I didn't think it was very funny. I think listeners can safely skip it.

3 1/2 stars

Currently listening to: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

#235: Nice review by your dad, Carrie!

Thanks! I thought so, too!

Just got back from the Borders going-out-of-business sale. I bought a book on local history that I think had already been deeply discounted before the sale. My dad found a couple of magic books. There wasn't a discount sign on that set of shelving, so I'm not sure they were discounted at all. (They weren't expensive books to begin with.) I didn't spend a lot of time looking at anything else. Mysteries were only discounted 10% and history 20%. Not enough to persuade me to spend money on them. They're competing locally not just with Amazon, but with a very good, and very popular, used bookstore that gives trade credit.

I have seen the same story on several threads about Borders, Carrie. I guess right now they are not discounting down as much as everyone had anticipated.

I'm sure one of those other threads was Lori's. My dad and I met her for supper and we shopped at Borders together. I would have left without buying anything at all if Lori hadn't called the local history book to my attention.

Yes. Unfortunately I already had a copy of my own which I'd purchased at full price at East Tennessee Historical Society.

I also saw the same complaint on Lynda's thread. I guess it is the same other places too.

As usual this summer, I'm behind on reviews. I hope to catch up this evening, starting with this one:

70. Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley

A park ranger in the Kalahari region of Botswana dies from a head wound. When evidence points to murder, the police arrest the only people known to be in the area at the time of his death – three Bushmen. Are they guilty, or have they been framed? Is the local detective assigned to the case blind to evidence that points to anyone else because of his prejudice against the Bushmen? Detective “Kubu” Bengu hopes not, but fears that this might be the case. He persuades his supervisor that it would be a good PR move to send him to the murder site to see if evidence would support other interpretations of the crime. Kubu's business trip causes problems at home, as his wife is still adjusting to the care of the couple's first child, 3-month-old Tumi.

While the issue of racism/ethnic tension is familiar, the setting is different. In order to solve the crime, the investigators must learn about the culture of the Bushmen, and the pressure on that culture to adapt to laws and governance of the majority culture in Botswana. Are these pressures intense enough to drive one or more of the Bushmen to murder?

I liked the characters and the setting. Kubu and his colleagues come across as skilled officers, with the same sorts of interpersonal conflicts and bureaucratic red tape that seem to exist in any fairly large workplace. Kubu is a sympathetic protagonist, with his love for his wife and daughter, his loyalty to his friends, his enjoyment of good food and wine, and his love for opera. I've developed a favorable impression of Botswana through Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and this book has reinforced that impression. It's a country I think I'd enjoy visiting someday. I doubt I'll ever make it that far, but at least now I have another series of books that will take me on a virtual journey.

This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

4 stars

71. Under the Dragon's Tail by Maureen Jennings
TIOLI #12 Direction in the title (under)

Toronto police detective, William Murdoch, is called to investigate the sudden death of a woman with a shady past. Her two young foster sons claim to have seen and heard nothing during the night she died. Do they know more than they're revealing? The dead woman's deaf and mute daughter flees as soon as she spots the police. Was it from guilt or fear? Murdoch's investigation leads him to the wife of a prominent judge. What is her connection to the dead woman, and to a dance hall singer of questionable reputation?

This is the second book in a series set in Victorian Toronto. I liked the detective well enough in the first book to try another one in the series, but I don't think I'll be continuing with the series. Jennings overdoes it with the crude language, not-so-subtle innuendos, and descriptions of squalor. Murdoch's investigation didn't seem to be going anywhere, and the sudden conclusion of the case didn't seem to have much to do with Murdoch's work. I'm not sure who the target audience is for this series. A lot of cozy readers will be put off by the crude language and stomach-turning descriptions of corpses, surroundings, and personal hygiene of various characters. It seems to be below average as a police procedural, too. Not recommended.

An overly-generous 2 1/2 stars

72. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
TIOLI #20 Book picked from recommendations from the library of the person below me

The discovery during the 1986 renovation of Seattle's Panama Hotel of the stored belongings of many Japanese families triggers bittersweet memories for recent widower Henry Lee. He remembers the hotel when it was part of Seattle's vibrant Japanese American community. Henry was 12 years old in 1942, when Japanese Americans were rounded up and incarcerated during the U.S. war with Japan. Henry's friendship with and growing love for his Japanese American classmate, Keiko,were a source of conflict within Henry's Chinese American family. A couple of caring adults, including an African American jazz musician, provided support for Henry as he made some difficult choices. In the present (1986), Henry has as much difficulty communicating with his son, Marty, as he had communicating with his own father.

I listened to the audio version of the book. At first, the narrator's voice seemed a little dull, but the reader soon captivated me with his vocal characterizations. I could see Henry, Marty, and Henry's musician-friend, Sheldon, from their vocal characteristics. I grieved for Henry and Keiko – for the innocence lost to the war, for the racism they were confronted with as their growing independence took them outside the confines of their ethnic neighborhoods, and most of all for the separation that I knew was inevitable.

My father listened to several big chunks of the book while we were in the car, and it brought back memories for him. (He was in elementary school during World War II.) I was glad for the opportunity I had to hear some of his memories from the war years. The novel will appeal to many readers of all ages. It would be a great book to read and discuss with a parent or grandparent with memories of World War II. Highly recommended.

5 stars

Next up on audio: St. Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters

73. Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Dang Thuy Tram
TIOLI #2 Title ends with my middle initial (E)

Dang Thuy Tram was a North Vietnamese doctor during the Vietnamese war. She kept diaries during the war. Thuy was killed in the conflict, and her diary was discovered by someone serving in American military intelligence. According to protocol, he should have destroyed the diary after determining that it had no intelligence value, but instead he kept it. 30 years later, a copy of the diary was returned to Thuy's mother in Vietnam, where it was published. It was also translated into English for publication in the U.S.

The diary wasn't what I expected to read. That's no fault of the author's. She didn't keep the diary for my benefit, but for her own. I had hoped it would contain more about her medical work and the conditions and challenges she faced. However, the emphasis of her diary entries is mainly personal. She has a lot to say about her relationships, mostly with young men she granted the status of younger brothers. In the earlier entries, she talks about her frustration that she had not yet been accepted as a Communist Party member. She is bothered by perceived criticism and jealousy. She is also troubled by a rift in her romance with a man she refers to as “M.”

Although she was 25 when she began this diary in 1968, Thuy came across to me as somewhat naive. I'm not sure her feelings for at least one of the young men she called “brother” were as platonic as she tried to convince herself they were. I'm not sure her younger brothers' feelings for her were as platonic as she thought they were, either. I think this could have been cause for the jealousy and criticism she experienced.

I think I would have gleaned more from this book if I knew more about the Vietnam War before I read it. The extensive footnotes helped some, but not enough. I was a child during the war, and I've never wanted to revisit the memories I have of the television news reels of the combat, the images of flag-draped coffins returning to the U.S., and images of angry protestors. One of my uncles served in Vietnam, and I remember praying for his safety every night at bedtime. It was a little startling to read of Thuy's hatred of the enemy/Americans. I know there are U.S. veterans who felt that way about the North Vietnamese, but they're not among my family and close friends.

I think this book is best suited for readers with prior knowledge of the causes of the war and the military operations. This review is based on an advance reading copy loaned to me by a friend.

3 stars

Next up: Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping Charts & Winning Grammys by David Foster; still working on One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Great reviews, Carrie! I'm glad your dad enjoyed Flavia. I also enjoyed his review, very well done.

Thanks! I think I'm getting my dad hooked on audio books. I helped him download one of the mysteries based on the TV series Monk. He loves the show, and I thought he'd probably enjoy the books. The funny thing is that he would never sit down and read fiction, but he enjoys having it read to him!

My dad graduated from a cast to a boot today. The doctor didn't see a lot of evidence of healing, though. My biggest concern now is with his compression socks, which he has to wear to prevent leg ulcers. I could hurt his foot trying to put on the sock. He says the boot feels pretty tight, and he spends a good part of the day sitting with his legs elevated. We're going to try going without the compression sock on that foot and see if he gets enough pressure from the boot. I'll have to keep a careful eye on his leg tissue for the beginnings of a problem.

I was really interested in one of the segments of History Detectives this evening. They were researching a carved wooden cane that originated in one of the Japanese internment camps in World War II. It was a timely episode for me since I had finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet within the last few days.

#244: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Carrie.

#250: I hope leaving the compression sock works out OK.

I've probably over-committed myself for August's TIOLI challenges. For now, these are the books I've added to the wiki. Subject to change, of course!

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (#8)
A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George (#8)
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley (#8)
Miss Buncle, Married by D.E. Stevenson (#11)
Trophy Hunt by C.J. Box (#11)
The Excursion Train by Edward Marston (#12)
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (#16)
Harriet Jacobs: A Life by Jean Fagan Yellin (#17)
The Fish Can Sing by Halldor Laxness (#18)
Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson by Tricia Tunstall (#18)
Sleep While I Sing by L.R. Wright (#18)

Unusually, several of these would work for multiple challenges. Trophy Hunt would also fit in the Western challenge. The Fish Can Sing would fit in the words of equal syllables challenge, as would Note by Note (if I exclude the subtitle). Sleep While I Sing would fit the most - a word that sounds the same as a letter of the alphabet ("I"), an author who uses the 1st two initials and last name, and words with an equal number of syllables. I haven't checked all of the authors' birthdays, so one or two might fit the August birthday challenge.

ETA: And I just added one more for challenge 16 - Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic

Nice list, Carrie. I have read a few of those, but not the majority. I look forward to your thoughts on them, especially the Laxness book. I have only read one of his, Iceland's Bell.

This will be my first Laxness. Independent People is on my TBR list for the library. I've also heard good things about Salka Valka.

I have had Independent People in the BlackHole for a while now. Unfortunately for me, the only book of Laxness' that my local library has is the only book of his I have read.

74. Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping Charts & Winning Grammys by David Foster

It won't come as a surprise to my fellow avid readers that I'm compelled to read CD liner notes. It didn't take me long to notice that, on my favorite CDs, the same name kept popping up in various capacities – producer, composer/songwriter, arranger, keyboards, and occasionally vocals. Before long, I was buying everything I saw that had David Foster's name on it.

Most people will be very familiar with David Foster's work even if they don't recognize his name. He's worked with an impressive list of stars, including Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Josh Groban, Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole, Olivia Newton-John, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Madonna, Sonny and Cher, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Katharine McPhee, Luciano Pavarotti, Chicago, and Earth, Wind & Fire. His Grammy wins include “After the Love Has Gone (1979 – Earth, Wind & Fire), “Hard Habit to Break” (1984 – Chicago), “Somewhere” (1986 – Barbra Streisand), “Unforgettable” (1991 – Natalie Cole), “I Will Always Love You” (1993 – Whitney Houston), and “When I Fall in Love” (twice!:1993 – Celine Dion & Clive Griffin; 1996 – Natalie Cole & Nat King Cole).

My favorite works by my favorite artists all seem to have been touched by David Foster. He has a gift for bringing out the best in the artists he works with. It didn't surprise me to read this passage:

When someone hires me as a producer, it is my job to push him or her toward greatness. I'm not saying that I make them great, but I often manage to coax an extra five or ten percent out of them—by guiding, encouraging, persisting—that makes them reach for greatness. My goal is to get more out of artists than anybody else they've ever worked with in their lives.

Foster does his share of boasting in the book, but he's earned the right to do it. If he didn't believe that he's one of the best at what he does, he would have no business doing it.

If you like celebrity gossip, there's plenty in this book. For the most part, it's flattering. Foster doesn't try to make himself look good at other people's expense. When he talks about disagreements, both professional and personal, he accepts his own share of blame. The only person who seems to be consistently spoken of negatively is his third wife, Linda Thompson. Their relationship began as an extramarital affair, and even though they eventually married, Foster never seems to have resolved his feelings of guilt for the effect it had on his daughters from his previous marriages.

Foster's main focus is his development as a musician. He talks about the many people who influenced him, including his father, his music teachers, his fellow musicians, and the people who gave him his early breaks. He comes across as someone who is grateful for the opportunities he's had, who worked hard to make the most of them, and who expresses his gratitude through charitable work.

My favorite story in the book is about how Foster passed on “My Heart Will Go On”. He writes:

To this day I don't relate to that song. I think James Horner is a brilliant composer, but that song just didn't do it for me. I remember trying to talk René Celine Dion's manager & husband out of doing it. “You shouldn't do that song! It's really not that good!” But he didn't listen to me, and he advised Celine to record it...I sure went wrong big on that one. But I dislike the song to this day, and the funny thing is I never stop hearing about it.

The song went on to become Celine's biggest hit. To me, though, this is just one more piece of evidence of David Foster's impeccable taste. I absolutely agree with him. I've never liked the song, either. My favorite Celine Dion hit is “Because You Loved Me”, and it was produced by David Foster.

I don't read a lot of celebrity biographies, so I don't know how this one compares to others in the genre. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a must-read for other long-time fans like me.

3 1/2 stars

75. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

In reading this novel, I discovered that magical realism isn't for me. I was tempted to abandon it at several points (but I'm glad I didn't). It was like reading a dream – a dream that never ends. I might have enjoyed the journey more if it had been a shorter one. Today, though, I feel like I've been reading it for 100 years.

I'm sure I missed most of the symbolism. I had such a hard time keeping all of the José Arcadios, Aurelianos, Remedioses, and Amarantas straight that I didn't have enough energy left to think about the deeper meaning of the story. The family tree at the front of the book helped a little, but not a lot.

I'd like to find an essay (nothing longer) that would help me unpack what I've read. I'm not going to avoid magical realism completely. I read Midnight's Children a year ago and liked it much better than I liked this book. I do think that this is a genre that I want to read sparingly, though.

2 1/2 stars

Congrats on reaching 75!

I've started a new thread for my next 75 (or less, given it took 7 months to hit my first 75!) You'll find me here.

Great book for #75. Congrats!

Congratulations on reaching the 75 book goal!

Thanks! I'm surprised I reached it so early in the year. It's probably due to all the audiobooks I've been listening to lately.

Audiobooks have really increased the number of books I've read this year, too.