tymfos 2011 get-it-off-the-shelf effort

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So I wind up with too many books on the shelf! So I'm going to try to get some of them off the shelf and read them!



I'm going to keep the same goals as last year -- at least two books off my shelf each month. To count, the book must have been mine prior to January 1, 2011. (I will count any LT ER books regardless of date, as they must be read)

I will have a special theme for each month; while not all my reading will reflect the theme, I hope that a significant portion will.

Books can relate to the theme in any imaginable way -- subject, setting, character names. It's enough to match just one word in the theme!

January -- Theme: The Cold, White Snow and Ice of January
1. Nights of Ice: True Stories of Disaster and Survival on Alaska's High Seas by Spike Walker
2. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
3. Mary White by Caryl Ledner
4. White Nights by Ann Cleeves

February -- Theme: Black History Month
5. My Lord, What a Morning by Marian Anderson
6. Fever Season by Barbara Hambly
7. Troubling Biblical Waters: Race, Class, and Family by Cain Hope Felder

March -- Theme: Spring Training / Mystery March
8. The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman
9. Women at Play: the story of women in baseball by Barbara Gregorich
* One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming (qualifies for this challenge due to my mid-year rule change to include all LT ER books.)

April -- Theme: Autism Awareness Month / Support Your Library Month
10. Wolves of Fairmount Park by Dennis Tafoya (started during Mystery March)
11. Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo (ER book)
12. Up High in the Trees by Kiara Brinkman

ETA to add Theme of the Month; ETA again to change rules so that all ER books count toward this challenge. This adds a little extra incentive to get them done promptly; a few times in the past, I've put an ER aside to make my goal on this challenge

I'm also doing the 11 in 11 Challenge:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/121816

and the 75 Challenge:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/124115

May -- Themes: May Murder & Mayhem / Motorsports (in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500)
13. The Baptism of Billy Bean By Roger Alan Skipper
14. Too Easy by Phillip DePoy
15. Easy as One, Two, Three by Phillip DePoy
16. I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey by Izzeldin Abuelaish
17. A.J. by A. J. Foyt
18. Sorrow's Anthem by Michael Koryta
19. The Twisted Thread by Charlotte Bacon

June theme: June Justice, Journeys, and Jazz
20. My Sweetest Victory by Alex Zanardi
21. Judgment Calls by Alafair Burke
22. The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw
23. The Reluctant Detective by Martha Ockley
24. The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate by Leon Jaworski
25. Psalms for Sojourners by James Limburg
26. One More for the Road by Ray Bradbury
27. Missing Justice by Alafair Burke

July theme: Major League Cities
28. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman
29. Flip Flop Fly Ball by Craig Robinson
30. Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David Von Drehle
31. Indian Summer: the forgotten story of Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American in Major League Baseball
32. Cemetery of Angels by Noel Hynd

August theme: Anything Goes
33. Ghosts of Boston Town by Holly Mascott Nadler
34. Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans edited by David Rutledge
35. The Eternal Now by Paul Tillich
36. Nine Ghosts by R. H. Malden
37. The Ship and the Storm by Jim Carrier

September theme: September Series & Sequels
38. Dancing Made Easy by Phillip DePoy
39. Among the Heroes by Jere Longman
40. Charm City by Laura Lippman
41. Trains of Discovery: Railroads and the Legacy of our National Parks, by Alfred Runte (5th ed.)

October
42. The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff
43. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz

November
44. Addiction and Grace by Gerald G. May
45. The Chalk Girl by Carol O'Connell

December
46 Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie (ER book)
47 The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi (ER book)
48 Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple by Tempa Pagel
49 Alan Kulwicki NASCAR Champion Against All Odds, by Fr. Dale Grubba
50 Green For Danger by Christianna Brand

Well, I'm off to a bad start as far as clearing my own shelf; I began the year with two Inter-Library Loan books as a priority to finish. I'm through the non-fiction one now, so I think I'll start another non-fiction off of my own shelf now. Just not sure which one now

Still plenty of time in the month to meet your goal. I've got you starred now!

Hi, Katie! Yes, there's plenty of time . . .

. . . and with all those used book bargains I purchased last year, I have plenty of good books on the shelf that will count toward this challenge when I read them this year!

got this thread starred too! :)

Hello again, kara! Now I just need to find your current thread for this challenge . . .

eta to add . . .help, Kara, I can't find your thread for this challenge!

nope not doing the books off the shelf challenge..... 75 is going to be challenge enough :)

maybe next year.... but I will follow yours and probably add to my wish list :)

Kara, any books I post here, I'll post as part of my 75 thread; the 75 thread will include ALL my reading -- from shelf, libraries, stores, yard sales, loans from neighbors . . . Feel free to just follow my reading there and not here -- one less thread for you to keep up with!

Just popped by to wish you luck on this challenge, hopefully we can all get those books moved along!

well that takes a load off my mind then :) I just didn't want to miss anything LOL

ok then.... this thread is unstarred ;) see you on the 75 thread

12 Hi, Judy, thanks for the good wishes. Here's to a good year of shelf-clearing reading!

75 Challenge Book #4 (Off the Shelf book #1)
Title: Nights of Ice: true stories of disaster and survival on Alaska's High Seas
Author: Spike Walker
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1997
Genre: Collection of related non-fiction shorts
Subject: Shipwrecks and rescues
Setting: Alaska's high seas
Main Characters: assortment of fishermen & Coast Guard rescuers
Series: No
Dates Read: 1/9/11to 1/10/11
Number of pages: 206
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES! Purchased used from Book Barn, Niantic, CT, 2010
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: "Travel Day (cars, planes, boats, & trains)
Alternate category for 11 in 11 challenge:
How does it fit the category? boats!
Theme of the month: The Cold, White Snow and Ice of January
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES Lots of cold, & ice
My Rating: 4 stars!
Notes:

OK, I admit it; I'm hooked on the TV show "Deadliest Catch," and marvel at folks who work in that kind of environment. It's just amazing all the things that can -- and do -- go wrong when you combine boats and commercial fishing gear and wind and waves . . . I love stories of the high seas, fishing lore, and especially stories of maritime disaster and rescue. My, how I admire folks who risk their necks to rescue others in a dangerous environment!

Nights of Ice is is a fine collection of stories about boats and their people in dire trouble -- in cold Alaskan waters, yet -- and the folks who saved (at least some of) their butts. My favorite is "In the path of a miracle." I could hardly put it down! A quick, easy, exciting read!

My son-in-law and grandson are big fans of "Deadliest Catch" and this book sound like a perfect read for my son-in-law. Thanks Terri.

Hey, DQ, just wanted to let you know that, while the setting is familiar to "Deadliest Catch" fans, it isn't about the same folks. Actually, I'm pretty sure one of the Coast Guard pilots in the book has done rescues shown on the show, but otherwise not.

You (or your son-in-law and grandson) might be interested to know that several of the captains from "Deadliest Catch" have written books (with help from professional writers). Time Bandit is named for the boat captained by Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand. I didn't like it much, as the tone of the writing sounded more like a ghost writer's voice, and not at all like I'd expect from Jon especially. Captain Sig Hansen has written North by Northwestern. I haven't read that, but I want to -- Sig is my favorite on the show!

Oh I think Sig Hansen is my grandson's favorite as well. No worries Terri, I knew Nights of Ice wasn't about the show. I think between them they have every book written about that show, I'm thinking this might appeal as it is along the same subject lines and my son-in-law, not a big reader, prefers non-fiction.

Good, just wanted to make sure I was clear about that. Spike Walker, who wrote Nights of Ice, has written several books about commercial fishing in Alaska.

My hubby is a fan of "Deadliest Catch" also and loves books about boat disasters, etc. One of the reasons I follow your thread is to get ideas for him. I got a couple of good ones from last year's thread and hope I get a few more this year, starting with this one. Actually, I'm going to go over to BM and put them on my wishlist.

*oooh - I see he has a bunch of books!*

20 Glad I can help you with book ideas for your hubby! I've already handed this one off to my dh.

re: Deadliest Catch:

Kara (curlysue) sent me this link. Looks like Sig and the Hillstrands won't be on any more. Discovery Channel got stupid greedy and broke up the party by suing the Hillstrands:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20018072-10391698.html

To these TV networks, everyone is just a commodity. I may never watch Discovery channel again.

Theme of the month? Did I miss something?

#23 Sorry, I didn't get the list onto this challenge! I have trouble keeping all these threads straight as to what I've put where.

For this month, it's "The Cold, White Ice & Snow of January"

75 Challenge Book #5 (Off the Shelf Book #2)
Title: In Cold Blood
Author: Truman Capote
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1965
Genre: non-fiction / true crime
Subject: The murder of a family & the criminals who did it
Setting: Rural Kansas
Main Characters: the Clutter family (victims); Perry Smith & Dick Hickock (murderers)
Series: NO
Dates Read: 1-14-11 through 1-16 11
Number of pages:384
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES; paperback exchange many years ago.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: "Foul Play Territory"
How does it fit the category? serious foul play
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Cold, White Snow & Ice of January
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES Word "Cold" in title
My Rating:****
Notes: The book that set the standard in true crime writing

I don't read a lot of "true crime" writing, but this 1965 classic is worth reading. It lingered on my shelf unread for years; perhaps I thought it would sensationalize the crimes, but Capote's unemotional, low-key narrative style is a perfect balance for the emotional nature of the grisly crime which took place on a farm near rural Holcomb, Kansas in November of 1965. Capote is also even-handed in his description of the killers; neither demonizing them nor being overly sympathetic to the circumstances that may have made them what they were.

I had trouble sleeping, and wound up finishing the two books I was reading, one of which fits this challenge. Mary White, by Caryl Ledner, was on my shelf for . . . must be around 30 years, because the markings show that I bought it from a library sale at the community college where I first began my higher education.

A proper listing with full comments will follow when I have more time.

Keep it for 20 more years! Then it'll be an antique. Wow. I'm sure it survived several moves.

#27 Katie, it survived numerous moves . . . but I think I've had it long enough, given the maxed-out state of my bookshelves . . .

Off-the Shelf book #3
75 Challenge Book #7
Title: Mary White
Author: Caryl Ledner
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1977
Genre: other readers have it tagged as non-fiction, biography; but the book itself says "novel based on the life of" -- so I'd call it historical fiction?
Subject: A teen-age girl who wanted to change the world
Setting: Emporia, Kansas, 1921
Main Characters:Mary White; her father, journalist William Allen White; her mother Sallie White
Series: NO
Dates Read: finished 1/19/11
Number of pages:179
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES; from college library sale 30 years ago!
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Utility Players
How does it fit the category? doesn't fit other categories well
Alternate Category: All Stars (a person of some fame)
Theme of the Month: Cold, White Snow & Ice of January
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES "White" in title and as character name
My Rating: three stars (?)
Notes: An ABC made-for-TV production was made of this; not sure which came first, the book or the movie; this printing has photos obviously from the movie.

I'm not sure why I bought this oh so many years ago, or why I kept it with me for so long, or why I read it now except that it had "White" in the title to fit my monthly theme. The college library from which I bought it must have disposed of it at a library sale within 3 or 4 years of its publication!

This book was about the daughter of a famous journalist. She was an idealistic non-conformist who was always drawing the ire of traditionalists around her. She tried to fight for civil rights long before it was a common cause; she idealized Jane Addams, founder of Hull house; she struggled to find the patience to deal with those who did not share her vision.

I think the target audience for this book is probably young adult. It was a decent story, and the writing was OK. I'm very ambivalent about how to rate this; the subject of the book was a pretty amazing young woman, but I felt that her story could have been told more effectively. Some of the writing felt a little, I don't know, the word "trite" comes to mind, but that's not the right word.

75 Challenge Book #8 (Off the Shelf Challenge book #4)
Title: White Nights
Author: Ann Cleeves
Copyright/Year of original publication:2008
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Subject: murder
Setting: Shetland Islands
Main Characters: detective Jimmy Perez
Series: Yes 2nd in Shetland Island series
Dates Read: finished 1/21/11
Number of pages:392
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES via Amazon, 2010
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: On Deck
How does it fit the category? Next in series
Alternate Category: Foul Play Territory
Theme of the Month: Cold, White Snow & Ice of January
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES Word WHITE is in title (but it's set in the totally wrong season!)
My Rating: 3 1/2+
Notes:

If you are looking for mile-a-minute action and constant edge-of-your seat suspense, this isn't the book for you. This is subtler stuff. But if you like a more slowly-unfolding mystery with interesting characters in an unusual setting, you're likely to enjoy this book.

Off the Shelf book #5; 75 Challenge Book #14
Title: My Lord, What a Morning
Author:Marian Anderson
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1956
Genre: autobiography
Subject: the career of a famous singer
Setting: performance halls around the world
Main Characters: Marian Anderson
Series:NO
Dates Read: finished 2/14/11
Number of pages:312
Off the Shelf? (pre-2011): YES, purchased at library sale last year
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: All Stars, MVPs, etc.
How does it fit the category? Author/subject was a famous singer
Alternate Category
Theme of the Month Black History Month
How does it fit? Author/subject was a famous and ground-breaking African American singer
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes:

I really enjoyed this autobiography by the famous contralto who was the first African American singer to be a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company. She is perhaps most famous in the minds of some Americans for her Lincoln Memoiral concert on Easter Sunday of 1939, after the DAR refused to allow a "Negro" to sing in Constitution Hall.

One weakness (and I saw that Katie mentioned it on another thread) was the lack of dates. Occasionally she would mention the year something happened, but it was difficult to really know when in time certain things were happening. That is a small quibble. I found her writing easy to read, and I enjoyed her writing "voice" almost as much as the recordings I've heard of her singing voice. In light of her great talent, I appreciated her humility -- I mean humility in the healthy sense that she could see her own limitations as well as her significant talents, not the unhealthy kind of humility of feeling inferior to anyone.

It was sad to see the prejudice she had to face, but good to see that she did not give up and managed to achieve a great measure of success.

Nice review! I'm not terribly far into it, but even before I started reading it, I loved her for her humility. She was an amazing person, and I cried when she died. Did I say that already?

The way she talks about prejudice too is so understated, as though she's decided it is below her dignity to be bitter about it. I loved her description of the train that was mixed black and white because another train had broken down. She mentioned one white women was holding a black baby to help out the mother, and blacks were talking to whites and "the world did not crumble."

The way she talks about prejudice too is so understated, as though she's decided it is below her dignity to be bitter about it.

Exactly! Thanks, that states perfectly what I was sensing in her writing about matters of race and prejudice. She didn't ignore it, she didn't gloss over it or excuse it, but she didn't dwell on it too much even though it was always there. "Understated quality."

Of course, at the time she was writing she probably couldn't have been too outspoken on the issue without a lot of fallout. There were a number of people who felt she was not aggressive enough in confronting racism. She was quite honest in stating that she wasn't by nature a confrontational person. She did, however, obviously sense that she was somewhat an ambassador for "her people" and I think she probably helped to eradicate (or at least lessen) some white people's prejudices as she came in contact with them.

My hunch is she only ranted when she was with people really close to her. My copy of the autobiography states that it was originally serialized in a ladies magazine, which explains the lack of dates. It also wouldn't be the best forum for discussing racism, although it's a great, subtle way to make "friends" and reach out.

I'm adding My Lord What a Morning to the tbr pile.
Congratulations on getting five books off the shelf.

#34 Hi, Linda! (waves)

I stayed up late to finish this book:

"Off the Shelf" book #6
(75 Challenge Book #17)
Title: Fever Season
Author: Barbara Hambly
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1998
Genre: Historical fiction / mystery
Subject: Musician/surgeon Benjamin January deals with a yellow fever epidemic, prejudice, a runaway slave who needs help, and the disappearances of free men and women of color from the city.
Setting: New Orleans, 1833-34
Main Characters: Benjamin January, Hannibal Sefton, Rose Vitrac (fictional characters); Marie Laveau and Delphine Lalaurie (real historical people)
Series: Benjamin January, book 2
Dates Read: finished 2/22/11
Number of pages: 395
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, used bookstore I visited on vacation last summer
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: "On Deck"
How does it fit the category? Next book in series
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Black History Month
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes. Benjamin January is "a free man of color" dealing with prejudice and injustice in 1830's New Orleans.
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes:

I was eager to read this second book in the Benjamin January series, and it did not disappoint; indeed, I found myself drawn into the story more quickly than by the previous book, A Free Man of Color. Hambly has done her homework and is skilled at bringing her setting to life; you can almost feel the heat and humidity, smell the stench of death in the yellow fever hospitals, experience the sting of prejudice and injustice. The mystery itself is sophisticated and thoroughly linked to the historical setting and some real people who lived in New Orleans at that time.

I've been a Barbara Hambly fan for awhile. This one sounds good.

Fever Season sounds good. She had a story in the voodoo collection I just finished Mojo: Conjure Stories. I'd never read her before. Now I'm curious to read more.

#36, 37 Hi, Mary and Katie!

I posted this on my thread in another group where I discussed this book and a Civil War memoir (which doesn't count toward this challenge). I'm going to post it to see what folks here might have to say:

It's interesting reading the Hambly books and another book I'm reading, Army Life in a Black Regiment, in light of the current controversy over racial language in books, including current efforts to "update" (make "politically correct") the language in books by Mark Twain or others. Legislation has been introduced to rename Negro Mountain and Polish Mountain in Maryland due to racial/ethnic sensitivities. (Why would Polish Mountain be offensive to anyone, I wonder?)

To be historically accurate to the era, Hambly's dialog (and her POV character's thought processes) use the terminology of the era. She talks about it in an author's foreword. No offense is intended -- indeed, her books make the reader feel keenly the injustice of racism. They intruduce the reader to the complex and strictly stratified social world of that time and place.

Army Life in a Black Regiment, written by the white commanding officer, is a product of its time -- including language usage and a rather paternalistic (though respectful) attitude toward the author's troops. I just don't see how people today can get a clear picture of what life was like back then if we edit out those aspects that don't meet current sensitivities. And what is the saying -- if we forget our history, we're doomed to repeat it?

There is also the matter of how we present speech dialect. I had a choir director who felt it demeaning and offensive to sing spirituals with any trace of dialect. Personally, to me that seems to suggest a Euro-American arrogance that our "proper English" speech is superior to the dialect in which the songs were originally sung. While visiting South Carolina, I was introduced to the Gullah language -- which apparently has influenced "standard" English, as well as some southern African American dialect. Why should Gullah be considered less legitimate than English? It's all very confusing to me.

My desire is to respect all, and offend none, but to be honest about where we all have been so that the more sordid aspects of the past may not be repeated.

Good comments, and it's a touchy issue. First, as for dialect, most people who try it don't write it well and it makes it difficult for many readers. I work with kids that are having trouble enough with language, so from an artistic standpoint, I'd say don't touch dialect unless it is critical to your characterization and you can do it well. There are some compromise things that can be done, indicating emphasis or sentence structure etc. The underlying issue, respect, depends on the writer/singer/etc. Dialect can certainly be used in a disrespectful, mocking manner, and to be honest, that's what I see more often than not.

As for dialect in singing/acting, that's another story altogether. I listen to a lot of modern Irish music (and traditional too) and it bugs the crap out of me to no end when I can tell I'm listening to a Minnesota boy faking it. I'd rather have them drop the accent than do it badly. That said, I've read poetry written by African-American poets that falls flat until I think of the way one of my African-American friends would stretch out certain words, clip off others, accentuate this and soften that. One of my friends doesn't like reading Nalo Hopkins but is certain that if she could hear it in the way someone from Jamaica would read it, it would be a different thing altogether.

As for renaming mountains and changing mascots, I'm all for getting rid of The Tomahawk Chop, but I've got Polish people in my extended family and they use the word "Polish." I'm assuming the Polish Mountains are truly mountains rather than valleys as in some dumb Polish joke. As for Negro, that term is out of use now, but in My Lord What a Morning, that was the term Marian Anderson used to refer to her race. Some people are reacting to "black" as though it is an insult now, but when I was a kid that was the proper term replacing "negro." If we want to update Twain and mountain names, we'll be doing it constantly.

Having just gone through a one day crash course on the Civil Rights Movement with a bunch of middle schoolers, I think there is some value in the words being used in their proper historic context. The video we showed had some appalling language scrawled on signs. These kids didn't live through that time period, and I don't think they had any inkling of how bad it was. A few properly chosen offensive words in a book or video can tell them a lot. Overdone though, the words lose their meaning.

At the same time, I had a review on Manhunt flagged because I picked a quote with choice wording that showed exactly what kind of jerk John Wilkes Booth was. I'm sorry it offended, but it was meant to. Booth was offensive. I'd like to think I used the quote properly, and not to fill the world with a little more of the toxicity that was in the air around the time of Lincoln's assassination.

So, the long and the short of it is still respect. If the words can be used in a context that ultimately is respectful, I think they are meaningful rather than hurtful. If they're just the insult of the day, it's time to think again.

#39 I'd say "right on" to all your comments, Katie.

I'd say the authors of both my books had respect. And it's interesting -- in the book about the black army regiment, there is a whole chapter about "Negro Spirituals." Even in that era, he made some of the same points you did about dialect -- he noted that when it's overdone, it becomes convoluted and difficult to follow. He used a bit of restraint in transcribing the songs he heard from his men. And in analyzing them, he compared them (favorably) to the Scottish folk music with which he was familiar.

Off the Shelf book # 7
75 Challenge Book #18
Title: Troubling Biblical Waters: Race, Class, and Family
Author:Cain Hope Felder
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1989
Genre: non-fiction, biblical studies
Subject: "the significance of the Bible for Blacks and the importance of Blacks in the Bible"
Setting: n/a
Main Characters: n/a
Series: Bishop Henry McNeal Turner Studies in North American Black Religion, Volume 3
Dates Read: finished 2/22/11
Number of pages: 177 plus notes and index
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES. Purchased at ELCA Global Mission Event held at Howard University in the early 1990's.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: "Team Chaplain"
How does it fit the category? Bible commentary
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Black History Month
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes. It deals with the history of Black people in the Bible and in utilizing the Bible down through history
My Rating: unsure
Notes:

This is not a book for the general reader; it is designed for those with a background in historical-critical Biblical exegesis and at least a passing familiarity with Biblical languages.

According to the introduction, this book grew out of articles and papers Dr. Felder originally wrote for various audiences and occasions and subsequently expanded or revised. He looks at the oft-ignored Black African people found in the Bible; he studies the themes of race, class, and family as found in the Bible, looking beyond the dominant culture's reading of the text and toward how the texts speak to people in the Black church today.

These are scholarly articles; as is often the case, they are not particularly engaging reading at times. I found some much more interesting than others. Felder notes a number of interpretations and conclusions with which other scholars may take issue.

The final chapter relating to the Church and the nuclear threat is in some respects outdated; since the fall of the old Soviet Union, today's threats are different from those in the 1980's. (No longer do two "superpowers" hold all the nuclear arms.)

Dr. Felder is Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Howard University.

#40 And some Scottish folk music is pretty thick with dialect! I listen to Tannahill Weavers and they've actually included a glossary with some of their albums. I read your review of The Black Army Regiment memoir. It sounded really interesting.

42 some Scottish folk music is pretty thick with dialect!

Indeed! I sang a few pieces when I was studying voice, and my teacher had to do some "translating" so I fully understood some of the phrases! That seems to be true of folk music from many cultures. I think it's one of the things that make folk music interesting.

I agree!

Keep up the good work (or reading)!

Terri, just want to chime in on #38. I agree that books should be true to their historical context, whether they were written in a certain time or about a certain time. How can we learn from history if what we are learning has been whitewashed? Well-written dialect may take some extra time to understand, but maybe that is extra time that SHOULD be taken with a book. I listened to Their Eyes Were Watching God on audio book, read by Ruby Dee, and she did a fabulous job on the dialect. And as a black woman, she didn't seem offended by it; in fact, she caressed the language. Probably one of the best audio books I ever listened to.

I'm reading Zora Neale Hurston's Seraph on the Suwanee and in the introduction, they quote her on the dialect. She felt that the Southern dialect was in a sense very Shakespearean and that the white Southerners and black Southerners spoke very much the same. Seraph has mostly white characters, and she uses dialect in it too. It's, for me, pretty easy to read, but I wouldn't give it to a kid and expect them to understand it. They wouldn't get the content either though. It's written for someone with some life experience behind them.

Hi, Katie, Cheli, and Terri! Thanks for stopping by!

I think that the different ways people speak or have in the past spoken adds beauty to the world. I love to hear different dialects, accents, coloquialisms, etc. To me the issue is whether the dialect is being used simply as part of the historical context, or whether it's being used deliberately to create a caricature and put people down.

You can usually tell by the context which one is the case.

I am down sick with the flu, or something resembling it. I rarely take off work sick, but this time I did. Lots of tea and book time for me today.

Feel better soon, tymfos! Having the flu really sucks.

Take care of yourself and feel better soon!

hope you're better soon...

>48 tymfos: - I just wanted to add to the discussion about dialect, language, etc - I read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins while I was on vacation and I think part of the reason this book is still being discovered and read, even though it was written in 1860, is the prose style of the book. It shows how differently (and much more formal) language was then.

Yes, get better! Dudes> Interesting comment. It is almost as though we now have to reinvent what beautiful prose is. Collins, I'm sure, is beautiful, but if you tried to write that way today about a modern plat/setting, you'd get shot down for sounding pretentious, or perhaps people might compliement you for using a writing style that contrasted with your subject matter.

Thanks for the well-wishes, staffordcastle, Judy, dudes 22, Katie! I went back to work for a short work day today. Doing much better!

51 It shows how differently (and much more formal) language was then.

52 you tried to write that way today about a modern plat/setting, you'd get shot down for sounding pretentious

Interesting point! Reminds me of something I remember Michael Shaara wrote in the introduction to The Killer Angels. Here, in "to the Reader," as he talks about how he has dealt with the sometimes conflicting historical record of his topic, the battle of Gettysburg:

I have not knowingly violated the action. I have changed some of the language. It was a naive and sentimental time, and men spoke in windy phrases. I thought it necessary to update some of the words so that the religiosity and naivete of the time, which were genuine, would not seem too quaint to the modern ear. I hope I will be forgiven that.

Hmm, I love that book dearly. I guess I tolerate tampering with historically accurate language more than I realized.

Off the Shelf book #8;
75 Challenge Book #24
Title: The Wine of Angels
Author: Phil Rickman
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1998
Genre: mystery/fiction/horror
Subject: new woman priest in village confronts local conflict, mystery, old secrets, and inexplicable events.
Setting: Ledwardine, Herefordshire, England (20th century)
Main Characters: Rev. Merrily Watkins & Jane Watkins (daughter);
Series: Yes; Merrily Watkins #1
Dates Read: 3-9-11 through 3-10-11
Number of pages: 631
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES via Amazon last year.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Leadoff
How does it fit the category? first in series
Alternate Category: foul play territory or phantom players
Theme of the Month: Mystery March
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, Mystery
My Rating: 3.8 stars
Notes:

Something's rotten in Ledwardine. Trouble is fermenting in the ancient village in Herefordshire's cider-making country. And it only takes a few rotten apples to spoil the whole bunch. OK, apples figure prominently in this story, particuarly the ancient apple orchard just outside the churchyard -- the "first unhallowed ground," as it was known, where suicides were likely to be buried in times past.

The Rev. Merrily Watkins is about to be installed as the Priest-In-Charge of the congregation at Ledwardine. But she finds herself mired in all kinds of conflict: with her teenage daughter, and her odd behavior; with various locals pressuring her from both sides in the controversy over a proposed play by a gay playwright about a local 16th-century priest accused of witchcraft; with a lecherous parishioner who has a fetish for women in priestly vestments. She also finds herself at a sort of crossroads where Christian faith and pagan beliefs may intersect, as she works cautiously with a local (who has been labeled a modern witch by some) to understand odd events.

This last issue really struck me, as Merrily begins to question why the institutional Church seems to have abandoned, or at least downplayed, its belief in the supernatural -- except for "the old guy in the sky, Himself." She calls her advisor at theological college for advice about paranormal activity in her vicarage (a subject which her education did not cover) who, while acknowledging the Medieval church's work in the paranormal sphere, responds with the question ". . . do these phenomena really fit inside our field of operation" these days? She seems to question: at a time when so many people are fascinated by the paranormal, why has the mainline Church left the subject of angels and demons largely to pagan/New Age religions?

The Wine of Angels is a long book (631 pages). The tale develops slowly -- odd to say when somebody's dead by the end of the prologue, but apart from that, the author spends a lot of time setting the scene, introducing the characters, and creating atmosphere before much real action takes place. This is a complex tale with interwoven plot lines, some of which only connect together at the end. There are elements of the supernatural, and elements of human evil -- and it's hard to tell how much of which is in play until the very end.

And it was the end which left me a little disappointed. Some of the connections didn't quite fit for me -- how did Rev. Merrily get from "here" to "there" in figuring out a centuries-old mystery? Some of it seemed a little implausible (and I'm not talking about the supernatural elements -- I'm willing to "suspend disbelief" for those when reading this genre.) Perhaps my American sensibilities are less attuned to what might happen in a small village in the English countryside.

One thing that did ring true, at least in some respects, was the conflict between old residents of Ledwardine and the "newcomers" who think they know what's best for the town. That seems to be a universal issue in small communities, whatever side of the Big Pond you live on.

This is a long book, maybe a little too long. But it held my attention and I kept wanting to read on. I can't remember the last time I read a 600+ page book so quickly.

Nice review of The Wine of Angels. I'm not eager to jump into a long book right now, but the blend/contrast of Christian with pagan/supernatural sounds interesting, and it sounds like it was well done. So here's the million dollar question. Are you going to read the next book in the series?

#55 I think I will eventually, as I'm curious where the series will go. Descriptions I've read for later installments in the series indicate that Merrily winds up being a diocesan exorcist at some point in the series.

exorcist? So it starts creeping into horror. Interesting.

#53> Very interesting post and point. In my view, a writer of historic fiction must always walk a line between recreating the times he/she is writing about accurately and providing a satisfying experience for his/her readers. If a writer presents a book that stays 100% faithful to the speaking style of an era but in doing so creates a book that few in the present day can enjoy reading, what has been gained?

#58 Exactly rocketjk. If someone stays 100% faithful but doesn't capture readers, the original source material would be more valuable.

I think a lot of time travel books, especially YA ones, try to approach the issue of recreating an accurate experience but doing so in a way a modern reader can relate to by sending a modern person back in time. That way they can contrast our times with the past, and have an excuse for the protagonist noticing that the odd concoction of oils didn't make a very good shampoo, etc.

#57 I'd say the first book was already creeping into horror, though a subtle form.

#58, 59 Of course, writing something that people want to read is kind of important! ;)

I thought I was getting over being sick, but I seem to have suffered a setback.

Oh! Get well!

re: 38-40--I concur with both of you. Katie, I remember as a voracious reader when I was a child, I really disliked books with a lot of dialect. For one thing, I wasn't experienced enough in life to have any good sense of what the dialect sounded like when spoken by real people. I still do not care to read books with a lot of dialect or foreign phrases. They slow me down and don't add my appreciation of the book. On the other hand, as a frequent listener of audio books, I have loved listening to readers read the dialect and even foreign phrases in books. When listening, those authentic touches definitely help put me in the time and place of the book. I've run out of hands, but on the other hand, I am trying to listen to Uncle Tom's Cabin. I feel assaulted every time the reader says the n-word. I'd like to read this culturally important book, but the language IS making it more difficult for me to do so. At the least, I'm glad we're finally at a place where we think about such things!

61 Thanks, Katie!

62 At the least, I'm glad we're finally at a place where we think about such things!

Amen!

62# Amen from me too.

I work in a school, and we were doing a read-aloud with a bunch of 8th graders and the n-word showed up. The boy reading stopped and said, "do I have to read that?" That's progress.

That is progress!

Off-theShelf book #9 (75 Challenge Book #27)
Title: Women at Play: the story of women in baseball
Author: Barbara Gregorich
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1993
Genre: non-fiction / sports history / women's studies
Subject: women who have played baseball at different levels through the years
Setting: Baseball diamonds throughout the U.S.
Main Characters:
Series: NO
Dates Read: finished 3/21/11
Number of pages: 208 plus notes and index
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. Cannot remember where purchased.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Play Ball!
How does it fit the category? baseball history
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Spring Training
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES -- baseball book
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes:

This book was a real eye-opener! I had no idea that so many women had played baseball -- not softball, but the real thing -- for over a century. I had heard of Amanda Clement, who umpired semi-pro ball in South Dakota beginning in 1904, because our library has a children's book about her. But I knew little about most of the women featured in this book, and their teams, and their league.

Author Barbara Gregorich does a fine job of introducing the reader to baseball's women pioneers. The book is divided into sections corresponding to the different eras of women's baseball. In each section, there are chapters about individual players (and umpires) of note, and about women's teams.

From the "Bloomer teams" of the early 20th century, to the women of the AAGBL (featured in the movie "A League of Her Own"), the books shows us that countless women have played baseball with skill and dedication, the best of them demonstrating ability comparable to male pro baseball players.

Of course, Gregorich reminds us, playing baseball is one thing; having access to playing in the Major Leagues -- or MLB minors -- is another thing. For many years Major League Baseball kept African-Americans out of baseball with a "gentlemen's agreement" that was never put into writing. But as of the time this book was written, there was actually a written piece of the baseball regulations PROHIBITING the hiring of women as players, even in the minor leagues. Of course, I remember the battle to allow girls into Little League, and read some articles about women fighting to umpire in the major leagues. But this book spells out the many levels the fight has taken over the years -- Little League, high school, and college levels -- and gives us a glimpse of the overt hostility so many of the powers-that-be and rank-and-file players in the "national pastime" have expressed toward women in their game.

Gregorich also lets us know about those sympathetic to the women atheletes' cause -- people like Henry Aaron, the great slugger who insisted that women could and would, someday, play in the big leagues; former Atlanta Braves executive Bob Hope (not the comedian) who tried to organize a minor league franchise of women players (blocked by the higher-ups); and others who have championed the cause of women with genuine baseball talent and skills.

I would like to read an "update" as to how women have fared in the almost 20 years since this book was written. I daresay author Barbara Gregorich, who clearly hoped that women would be in the majors by now, must be disappointed in whatever progress women have made.

A thought-provoking book.

75 Challenge Book #33; Off-the-Shelf challenge book #10
Title: The Wolves of Fairmount Park
Author: Dennis Tafoya
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2010
Genre: crime fiction
Subject: a drive-by shooting; it's background and its aftermath
Setting: Philadelphia
Main Characters: Orlando Donovan, Brendan Donovan, Danny Martinez, George Parkman, Sr.
Series: NO
Dates Read: finished 4/4/11
Number of pages: 336
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES purchased last summer at the Book Barn
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: "Foul Play Territory"
How does it fit the category? crime fiction
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: This is a leftover started during Mystery March.
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How?
My Rating: 3.4 stars
Notes: This author has real potential.

Welcome to the mean streets of Philadelphia -- the City of Brotherly Love hardly seems to live up to its name as the book opens with the killing of two teens -- "good boys" -- in a drive-by shooting in front of a drug house. The aura of gritty violence only intensifies in the aftermath of the shooting.

Why were the boys there? Why were they shot? We see the search for answers by the fathers of the boys -- Brendan Donovan, a Philadelphia cop, and George Parkman, Sr., a successful businessman; Brendan's estranged brother Orlando, a hard-core junkie; and Daniel Martinez, the detective assinged to the case. We also meet a memorable cast of hard-core criminals. This is a "hard-boiled," violent story not for the faint of heart.

Author Dennis Tafoya does for Philadelphia what Dennis Lehane does for Boston in his Kenzie/Gennaro novels as he shows us the seamy underside of the city through the worst and even the best parts of the city. The atmosphere is gritty, intense. Where Tafoya falls short is in the story itself. It didn't pull me along like a Lehane novel. But it was a good effort. This writer has real talent for creating atmosphere, bringing a reader into the scene, and drawing interesting, complex characters. As I understand it, this is only his second novel. I won't hesitate to read future efforts.

Guardedly recommended -- especially for folks who know or are interested in Philadelphia, or for those who enjoy more character-focused (rather than plot-driven) fiction.

Oh, a while back (when I read Nights of Ice) there was discussion here about Deadliest Catch and whether some of the cast would be back? Info my husband has read indicates that somehow things were settled and we'll be seeing all the regulars. (Except dear Captain Phil, may he rest in peace.) I'm trusting his sources, having not investigated the matter further myself.

Thanks for the update on The Deadliest Catch - I'll have to pass it along to my son-in-law and grandson who, I think I mentioned before, love that show. They are going on an Alaskan Cruise this May and one of the tours they are going on is a day trip on a crabbing boat and then a meet and meal with some of the cast of the show. They are really excited about that!

Wow! What a nifty tour!

75 Challenge Book #34; Off the Shelf challenge book #11
Title: Pray for Silence
Author: Linda Castillo
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2010
Genre: mystery fiction
Subject: a mass murder in Amish country
Setting: rural Ohio
Main Characters: Chief Kate Burkholder, State Agent John Tomasetti
Series: Kate Burkholder #2
Dates Read: finished 4-5-11
Number of pages: 304
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES LT early reviewers -- before the close of 2010.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: On Deck
How does it fit the category? next in series
Alternate Category: Foul Play Territory
Theme of the Month:
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? NO. Early Reviewer books exempt from monthly categories
My Rating: 3 stars (barely)
Notes: This is a RE-READ.

I had loved the first book in this series, Sworn to Silence, so much, I got impatient when my ER copy of Pray for Silence was slow in coming. I downloaded the audio from my local library, and really did NOT enjoy it at all. After taking some time, I read the hard-copy version with much lower expectations and I guess it met them. My review is on the book's main page:

http://www.librarything.com/work/9562607

Challenge Book #35 Off the Shelf book #12
Title: Up High in the Trees
Author: Kiara Brinkman
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2007
Subject: a special young boy in a family in crisis
Setting: the family home & the family summer home
Main Characters: Sebastian "Sebby" Lane, Stephen Lane ("Dad"), Cass Lane, Leo Lane
Series: NO
Dates Read: finished 4-10-11
Number of pages: 326
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. Gift 2010
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Unsure. May have to go into utility category
How does it fit the category?
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Autism Awareness Month
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Narrator has some Autism Spectrum characteristics
My Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Notes:

Many thanks to Linda for this unusual book about an unusual boy. This story's narrator is young Sebby Lane, who is trying to make sense of life in his crisis-striken family. A number of reviewers / blurbers describe Sebby as autistic. The book itself never labels him thus. He does clearly have some characteristics of the Autism Spectrum, though he also expresses some thoughts that would be very uncharacteristic of someone on the spectrum. Of course, it's a spectrum -- nobody has all the possible traits.

I found myself drawn into Sebby's story through his eyes which see the world in a unique way. This is a quick read. While the book weighs in at over 300 pages, many of the pages are not full. Sebby tells his story in bits and pieces, so there is a lot of "white space" on many of the pages. Sebby's voice takes some getting used to, but by the end of the book I felt like I knew him -- and he seemed one of the most "normal" people in the book. Some aspects of the family situation seemed a little implausible at times, but the story worked.

A thought-provoking story.

I work with kids on the spectrum, so I'm interested. And like you say, none of the kids on the spectrum have all the same traits. They're sooooo individualistic, and there are so many false stereotypes, like kids with ASD don't lie. Hah! They do, but they tend to be bad at it.

there are so many false stereotypes, like kids with ASD don't lie. Hah! They do, but they tend to be bad at it.

I found that out with my son. We're really having a hard time with him now about telling the truth . . . but he really is not a good liar.

It's kind of a catch 22. You don't want kids to lie EVER but it is a social skill. & if they don't learn to lie, they don't learn to tell when someone is lying to them very well either. Good luck!

Yes, he takes just about everything anyone says to him at face value, quite literally, as absolute truth. There are some exceptions -- he knows about stranger danger and such -- but if a friend tells him something, he has very few filters regarding the truthfulness of the statement.

Yup. That's exactly what I'd expect. Eventually, he'll get better at it, but it's hard because the other kids are ahead of him. I deliberately say outrageous things sometime to push kids into saying "for real?" My favorite is that there are cat flaps built into the Great Wall of China every three miles.

#76 Cat flaps! LOL!

75 Challenge Book #44; Off the Shelf Book #13
Title: The Baptism of Billy Bean
Author: Roger Alan Skipper
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2009
Genre: country noir
Subject: a murder; life in Appalachia
Setting: West Virginia and Western Maryland
Main Characters: Lane Hollar, Toby Hollar, NoBob Thrasher, Sheriff Dick Trappel, Nickel Ballew
Series: No -- at least, not yet. I wish he'd write a sequel, though. I'd buy it.
Dates Read: finished 5/3/11
Number of pages: 361
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. From Amazon, purchased last year
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Foul Play Territory
How does it fit the category?
Theme of the Month: May Murder & Mayhem
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? There's a murder and some mayhem
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes: Local/regional author and setting (familiar nearby portions of West Virginia and Western Maryland)

This book was recommended by a library patron who was familiar with the author, who lives in nearby Western Maryland. My enjoyment of the story was enhanced by familiar terrain, as he described some familiar places, including a few roads I drive on a somewhat regular basis.

That said, I feel the story stands on its own merits. Lane Hollar, a curmudgeonly Vietnam War vet, is fishing with his grandson when something happens on the "reservoy" (reservoir) near their fishing spot. A man, Billy Bean, winds up dead. Was it murder, as Lane suspects?

Skipper skillfully evokes the changing world of Appalachia, and creates multi-dimensional characters who fit the story and setting. Relationships are complex. Motives are cloudy. The book has a hard edge, but does not contain an excess of graphic violence. There is humor, love, anger, and suspense.

Skipper does dispense with some conventions of punctuation, specifically quotation marks. (I've encountered this before, in some work by Cormac McCarthy, for instance.) It requires some thought on the reader's part to discern who is actually saying what. Sometimes it's not altogether clear what is spoken and what is internal dialog. Sometimes, I think that vagueness is intentional.

That vagueness extends to the ending, where one major loose end is left somewhat untidy. It left me wanting to know more about what is going on in the mind of one character -- but, then, life is full of unanswered questions like that.

The Baptism of Billy Bean is more than a mystery/suspense tale. It's a slice of Appalachian life. I plan to read more books by this author.

75 Challenge Book #46; Off-The Shelf book #14
Title: Too Easy
Author: Phillip DePoy
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1998
Genre: Mystery Fiction
Subject: dead banker, missing wife and two missing good ol' boys who were with man when he died
Setting: Various cities in Georgia, USA (including Atlanta, Savannah, and Tybee Island)
Main Characters: Flap Tucker, Dalliance Oglethorpe
Series: Flap Tucker #2
Dates Read: 5-4-2011
Number of pages: 189
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. Purchased from Amazon last year.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: On Deck
How does it fit the category? next book in series
Alternate Category: Foul Play Territory
Theme of the Month: May Murder & Mayhem
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes. Murder & Mayhem abound!
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes:

Reading Phillip DePoy's Too Easy in one day was just too easy! I'm a fan of Southern fiction anyway, but DePoy is special -- a real original. I love his quirky, offbeat characters; his off-the-wall plotting; and his oddball humor and clever use of literary allusions. He always manages to work in some folklore, often in the oddest of ways. And this one was set partly in my favorite city -- Savannah, GA -- and nearby Tybee Island, which is special to me.

This time Atlanta-based PI Flap Tucker's best friend, Dally, sends him searching for a mysterious woman and two good ol' boys who disappeared in the wake of a nasty banker's untimely death. The belief is that they are hiding out near Savannah, on Tybee Island. While searching, another body turns up along the way.

Yes, parts were a bit implausible, but that was OK. It was a rollicking fun read with some food for thought along the way, a nice break from the darker mysteries I've been reading lately. And I didn't figure out how the banker really died until DePoy was ready for the characters to let me in on the secret.

The copy I read was in a Mystery Guild volume, Easy Does It, containing the first two Flap Tucker mysteries. It's good to pair them because near the start of this second story comes a rather strong "spoiler" for the first book. (In his second series, about Fever Devilin, he became much more subtle about working in material from earlier books.) Now this volume can come off the shelf! It will probably go to the public library -- mysteries are very popular with many of our patrons.

75 Challenge Book #47; Off The Shelf Challenge book #15
Title: Easy as One, Two, Three
Author: Phillip DePoy
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1999
Genre: mystery detective fiction
Subject: search for a missing child
Setting: rural Georgia
Main Characters: Flap Tucker, Dally Oglethorpe
Series: Flap Tucker #3
Dates Read: 5-6-11 through 5-7-11
Number of pages: 277
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. Amazon, last year
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: On Deck
How does it fit the category? Next in series
Alternate Category: Foul Play Terrritory
Theme of the Month: May Murder & Mayhem
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? I imagine there's enough mayhem to count.
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes:

Another enjoyable entry in DePoy's Flap Tucker series. These are light, but not too; amidst the wry humor, off-beat characters, and quirky storylines, there is always some food for thought. In this one, a little girl goes missing in same mountain area where legend says that the ghost of another lost little girl still roams. Flap ruffles some feathers trying to find the girl. This story features more memorable supporting characters.

I went to the AAUW book sale in State College today, and added eleven books to my shelves!

whatyaget whatyaget whatyaget?

Book sale finds:

Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum
Murder at Ebbets Field by Troy Soos (beautiful hard cover copy for $2)
Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett
My Lobotomy by Howard Dully
American Gospel by John Meacham
Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen
Last Flag Down by John Baldwin
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Hardly Knew Her: Stories by Laura Lippman

Looks good! My Lobotomy??? Let me know if it's recommended. & I'm not sure if I mean the book, or lobotomies in general.

I may not get to it for a while, but my overall impression from a quick look is that the book looks promising -- but ice-pick lobotomies are bad medicine.

It's written by a guy whose parents talked a doctor into doing a lobotomy on the kid when he was twelve. Can you imagine??

OMG!!! 12? For just being crazy? headaches? Meningitis? I'm thinking of the Inca skulls they've found where there's a huge hole in the front, and then signs of the bone growing over. I'd hate to be a kid on the playground with a bit of skull missing.

Hey, I got My Lobotomy at a book sale a while back, too! I'm hoping to get to it soon, as I read The Lobotomist, about the guy who popularized the procedure in America, not that long ago, and I'll be interested to see what it looks like from the other side, so to speak. I definitely recommend The Lobotomist, by the way. What a bizarre and disturbing, yet fascinating topic.

#85 Yes, 12, Katy! Why? Just skimming, it sounds like his parents (father and stepmother) were the ones who were crazy to begin with -- or at least highly abusive. His stepmother would punish him for eating a banana when he was hungry.

No hole in the skull, though. They went in through the eye socket with an ice pick in those days (1960). (Ugh!) Not a good thing.

#86 I think I have The Lobotomist on my wishlist. Disturbing topic, indeed!

ETA to add No, I didn't have it on the list. It's there now.

I feel compelled to quote Tom Waits at this point:

"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

Rocketjk! Yes, this conversation would not be complete without that quote. In through the eye socket??? I think I'd rather have an Inca-style lobotomy, as long as they promised not to sacrifice me to their gods afterwords. & I know kids who think being given the choice of a banana or some carrots when they are hungry is cruelty. Most parents would be happy to see the banana eaten. Yikes!

I think what the Incas did was trepanning, which bizarrely is still practiced sometimes today. It's mostly just drilling a hole in the skull, and it actually does a lot less damage than lobotomy, which is pretty much deliberately inflicted brain damage.

(Should it bother me that I know this stuff?)

#88 Definitely needed that quote

#89 I get the impression this woman could have been the model for Cinderella's wicked stepmother.

#90 (Should it bother me that I know this stuff?)
Not at all! We each have our own collection of odd little facts that are useful (or not) from time to time. Now I've learned something interesting about the Incas! :)

OK, I was supposed to be doing other things, but once I started this book it was hard to let it go. I kept picking it up . . . stayed up a bit late . . . took it to lunch . . . very compelling.

75 Challenge Book #50; Off-The-Shelf book #16:
Title: I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey
Author: Izzeldin Abuelaish
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2011
Genre: memoir
Subject: Peacemaking in the midst of war, occupation, and personal loss
Setting: The Gaza Strip and Israel
Main Characters: Dr. Abuelaish, his family, and colleagues
Dates Read: finished 5/18/11
Number of pages: 237
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES. LT ER book January 2011. I've lately decided that ER books always count, regardless of when they were won, as they are "gift" books and must be read as a priority.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: "Pregame"
How does it fit the category? Early Reviewer book (though my review is late)
Alternate Category: Doctor, Lawyer . . .
Theme of the Month: N/A -- ER books exempt
My Rating: 4 1/2 stars
Notes:

This is an amazing book by an amazing man. I need to think a bit before I write my review, as this is a "real" review for LT ER program.

I read I Shall Not Hate about a month ago, I pretty much read it in one go - hard to put down. Such a sad story, yet ultimately hopeful as well.

93 Yes, Judy, my thoughts exactly!

My comments on I Shall Not Hate:

Once I began reading this book, I found it difficult to put down. This is a remarkable book by and about a remarkable man. Dr. Abuelaish has overcome great obstacles, growing up with grinding poverty and oppression in Gaza, and achieved great things. The everyday indiginities he has endured to pursue his education and profession are immense, and his patience in the face of it all is remarkable. Most remarkable is his willingness to forgive even the most grievous of wrongs; his ability to see the good and bad on both sides of a deep divide; his determination to meet each person he encounters as an individual without pre-judging, and his drive to look forward toward the future, rather than lingering helplessly in the grip of past wrongs.

I learned a lot from this book about life in Gaza, and about what it means to be a peacemaker in a world filled with too much violence and hate. I hope that someday his dream of peace and reconcilliation between Palestinians and Jews will be fulfilled. An excellent book!

I just checked, and I Shall Not Hate was in the January 2011 batch, not from last year. But I've decided that I'm going to count ALL ER books as off the shelf from now on. After all, they are "gift" books, not something I went out and bought; and they need to be "priority" reads. This will be a little extra incentive to get them done and get the reviews in on time.

I think there's only one other ER book I read this year that I received this year. It's too hard to go back and add it -- I could put it in the lists easily enough, but fitting in a review at the proper spot would be tricky. Maybe I'll put it in the list with an asterisk?

Sounds like a plan. And yes, they do trump all other books, except new books written by friends that need reviews.

96 Good point!

Challenge Book #55; Off the Shelf Book #17
Title: A.J.: The life of America's Greatest Race Champion by A.J. Foyt (no touchstone -- even tried forced touchstone with the book's LT work number, but no luck. GRRR!)
Author: A.J. Foyt with William Neely
Copyright/Year of original publication:1983
Genre: memoir
Subject: life of one of America's greatest race-car drivers
Setting: Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other race tracks around the world
Dates Read: 5/25/11 through 5/26/11
Number of pages: 249 plus photo pages and stat pages
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES. Purcahsed used, somewhere, a year or so ago
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Cars, Planes, Boats, and Trains
How does it fit the category? Race Cars
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Motorsports
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, obviously
My Rating: 3 stars
Notes:

A. J. Foyt is most definitely an American Original. This book was written many years ago, when "Super Tex" was still an active driver. It is frequently entertaining, occasionally maddening, and rarely boring -- at least for a reader who likes auto racing. Foyt is and has always been a character, and has never lacked for ego. But he's earned the right to boast. He was the first man to achieve four Indy 500 wins, and won races in a wide variety of motorsports series and disciplines. It's reasonable to say that he may be the greatest all-around, multi-discipline race car driver of all time (though, personally, I'm parial to Mario Andretti for that title).

The book takes us from his working-class roots in Houston to victory lane in places like Indy, Daytona, and Le Mans, and deals with conflicts between and within race teams, sanctioning bodies, and tire companies. Foyt also shares glimpses and opinions of other drivers around him when he was in his prime -- some of whom, he will admit, were decent drivers but many of whom he didn't feel belonged on the race track.

Especially interesting are his comments about the role of sanctioning bodies -- especially in light of what subsequently happened in American open-wheel racing.

Challenge Book #56; Off the Shelf book #18
Title: Sorrow's Anthem
Author: Michael Koryta
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2006
Genre: mystery fiction
Subject: PI investigates murder and arson
Setting: Cleveland
Main Characters: Lincoln Perry.
Series: Lincoln Perry, PI
Dates Read: finished 5/29/11
Number of pages: 309
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased used last summer (Book Barn, I think)
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: On Deck
How does it fit the category? Next in Series
Alternate Category: Foul Play territory or Fireballers . . .
Theme of the Month: May Murder & Mayhem
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES; plenty of both
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes:

I think I've found a new favorite author. This is the third book I've read by Michael Koryta (the second in this series featuring Lincoln Perry, and I believe it was his second novel overall) and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. The characters are multi-faceted and believable, the plots are complex without becoming too convoluted, the endings are surprising but don't pop out of thin air, and they do keep me turning pages.

I don't want to explain the plot here, because it's hard to do without spoilers. But it involves arson, murder, loyalty and perceived disloyalty among friends. It's a winner.

Challenge Book #57 ; Off The Shelf book #19
Title: The Twisted Thread
Author: Charlotte Bacon
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2011
Genre: literary thriller
Subject: death at an exclusive boarding school
Setting: "Armitage Academy", an exclusive prep school in Massachusetts
Main Characters: Madeline Christopher
Dates Read: Finished 5/30/11
Number of pages: 374
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: LT ER book, so it counts regardless of when issued
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Pregame
How does it fit the category? Early Reviewer copy
Alternate Category: foul play territory
Theme of the Month: May Murder & Mayhem
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? In a subtle way, I guess so.
My Rating: 3 stars
Notes:

This book was slow to pull me in, but indeed it did eventually grab me. It's a subtle kind of mystery/thriller which explores the dark places in the lives and relationships of people at an prestigious academy. In some ways, it was very good. It kept my attention, and the author created enough threads to make me wonder, and keep me reading to see how it all fit together.

My main complaint is that the author was less than subtle in dealing with the issues of snobbery and elitism. She SHOWED the perils and evils of elitism quite effectively, but was not content with that; she hammered the point home with heavy-handed TELLING through her characters' speeches and inner dialogues. It got a bit tiring. "Show, don't tell," is a writer's mantra Bacon needs to take to heart. But to her credit, she showed that some "elite" characters may be more multi-dimensional than others would expect.

This was a decent literary mystery that unfolded with enough surprises to keep me guessing just about to the end.

Challenge Book #59; Off the Shelf book #20
Title: My Sweetest Victory
Author: Alex Zanardi
Copyright/Year of original publication:
Genre: memoir
Subject: racing career and recovery from terrible accident
Dates Read: finished 6/1/11
Number of pages: 365 plus chronology and indix
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. Purchased used last year
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Cars, trains . . .
How does it fit the category? Racing cars
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: left over from last month's Motorsports theme
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES
My Rating: 3 stars
Notes:

This is the story of Alex Zanardi, who nearly died in a racing accident which took both of his legs above the knees -- and recovered to race again in a race car with modified controls. Parts of this book were amazing. And then, for me, parts of it dragged. I'm a race fan and interested in Zanardi's career, but I really didn't want a blow-by-blow description of every race he ran during his championship seasons. And his ego showed through a bit. But, then, I think one needs pretty powerful self-esteem to accomplish the comeback that he did from such a serious accident. Some of the images were powerful -- the priest using motor oil spilled from his wrecked car to give him last rites; the fact that he lost so much blood, there were only two pints left in his system when he got to the hospital. His humor is sometimes delightful, as when he reports commenting to someone that he left his legs back in Berlin. I learned a lot about prosthetics (extremely difficult to fit and use when both legs are lost, and especially above the knees) and about the kind of drive it takes to thrive after such a terrible accident. I just wish the book were edited a bit more stringently.

Challenge Book #61; Off-the-Shelf book #21
Title: Judgment Calls (no touchstone for this one, either????)
Author: Alafair Burke
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2003
Genre: legal/crime mystery/thriller
Subject: prosecution of an alleged rapist
Setting: Portlande, Oregon
Main Characters: Samantha Kincaid
Series: Samantha Kincaid Mysteries #1
Dates Read: finished 6/9/11
Number of pages: 335 plus acknowledgments and excerpt from next book in series
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Doctor, Lawyer . . .
How does it fit the category? main character is assistant prosecutor
Alternate Category: foul play territory; leadoff
Theme of the Month: Justice, Journeys & Jazz
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? YES, deals with prosecution
My Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Notes:

This was a pretty good little legal/crime thriller, especially since I think it was Alafair Burke's first novel. She knows her stuff, having worked in the Portland DA's office and as a law professor. It wasn't a "can't put it down" read for me, but I did keep picking it up, and toward the end I was eager to keep going. I suppose there are little things I could quibble about, but there was a lot that was good. I must warn, the descriptions of the crime were quite disturbing.

75 Challenge Book # 63, Off-The Shelf book #22
Title: The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey
Author: Linda Greenlaw
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1999
Genre: memoir
Subject: swordfishing
Setting: the Grand Banks
Main Characters: Captain Greenlaw, Charlie, Carl, Ringo, Kenny, Peter, owner Bob Brown
Dates Read: finished 6/15/11
Number of pages:261
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased 2010 at Pages and Light
Category for 11 in 11 challenge:Cars, trains, boats & planes
How does it fit the category? boat
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Justice, Journeys, Jazz
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, journey
My Rating:4 stars
Notes:

Linda Greenlaw is no ordinary fisherman. For one things, she's a woman -- rather unusual in the business, especially as captain of a longline swordboat. Also, she has a degree in English and government from Colby College, so she's unusually articulate. For many years, she was also one of the most successful swordboat captains in the US fleet. And she captained the Hannah Boden, sister ship of the ill-fated Andrea Gail which was lost in The Perfect Storm as described by Sebastian Junger. She credits Junger for inspiring her and for sparking the popular interest in swordboats which made her book possible and her name recognizable. Of course, now she's featured in the TV series Swords, but this book was written long before that.

This is mainly a description of a particular swordfishing trip. It is interrupted with small chapters called "Mug up"s which generally tell old stories that relate to issues that came up on the fishing trip. She describes all the good and bad things about the trip, her crew, her boat owner, other captains, and herself. I'm making it sound boring, probably, but it is not. Some of the technical discussion of fishing was a bit more detailed than I could follow, but the bulk of the narrative was fascinating, and I enjoyed it immensely.

I gave this book to my husband to read and he enjoyed it also. He has in the past caught swordfish when there were actually some off the coast while sport-fishing which is very different from long-line. He got up at 4 this am to go off and fish in the bay for a few hours. Maybe he'll bring back supper.

May have to put the Alafair Burke on my wishlist. I like legal thrillers.

That's interesting. I hope you had a nice fish dinner! Thanks for stopping by!

Off-the Shelf Book #23; 75Challenge Book #67
Title: The Reluctant Detective
Author: Martha Ockley
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2010
Genre: Christian mystery fiction
Subject: An Anglican priest who is an ex-detective witnesses the murder of a priest during the Eucharist; whodunit?
Setting: Little Worthy, England
Main Characters: Rev, Faith Morgan, Detective Inspector Ben Shorter
Series: Faith Morgan mysteries #1
Dates Read: finished 6/22/11
Number of pages: 224
Off the Shelf (pre-2011 or ER)? Source?: Yes, ER book
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Pre-game
How does it fit the category? ER book
Alternate Category: Foul Play territory; Leadoff; Team Chaplain
Theme of the Month: June Justice, Journeys, and Jazz
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? well, they're trying to bring a killer to justice
My Rating: 3 stars
Notes:

My early reaction to this book was not very positive. It initially felt written to formula; some characters felt quite shallow and stereotyped. However, the book got much better as it went along, as the characters became more fully fleshed out. It eventually turned into a fairly decent mystery novel. . . well, crime novel, since I didn't feel that the mystery was too deep. The author gave too many clues as to whodunit to suit me. However, it took quite a while to see the how the "big picture" fit together.

The religious aspects of the novel fit into the plot pretty naturally, being as the protagonist is a priest and the whole drama centers mainly around a church and its people. It didn't feel too "preachy," avoiding a flaw I've found in much of the Christian fiction I've read. This was a decent debut of a series. I'm not eager to see the next installment, but I might consider reading it when it comes out.

My original goal was 2 books per month, for a total of 24 books. I'm not quite halfway through the year, and the next book I read will be #24. Actually, this last one was the 24th, since I adjusted the rules to include ER books and one ER I had already read at that point (One Was a Soldier) wound up not being numbered in my count.

I'm also just 1 book away from my goal. I'll probably increase it since my TBR pile is approaching 900. I'd realy like to get some of the older books gone. Trying to sync this group with my 11 in 11 and some newer reads that sound interesting may slow me down here.

Bravo!

107 Hi! Kudos for being close to your goal, too. I'll definitely keep going. I've met the total goal for the year, but still plan to at least meet/exceed the 2 per month goal for the rest of the year. And I know what you mean about keeping the different challenges (and just what sounds interesting!) in sync!

108 Thanks!

Off-The-Shelf book #24; 75 Challenge Book #68
Title: The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate
Author: Leon Jaworski
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1976
Genre: Non-fiction
Subject: Jaworski's role as the Watergate Special Prosecutor, and the downfall of Pres. Richard Nixon
Dates Read: finished 6-24-11
Number of pages: 279 plus appendices and index
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, had this forever
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Doctor, Lawyer . . .
How does it fit the category? Special Prosecutor -- lawyer
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Judicial June
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, obviously
My Rating: 2.95 stars
Notes:

As a youth, I remember watching the proceedings of the Senate Select Committee investigating Watergate whenever I had a chance, and having my Mom tape record the hearings so I could hear what happened when I was in school-- and even during a hospital stay I had at that time. The whole business fascinated me, and I long ago read John Dean's Blind Ambition, Woodward & Bernstein's All the President's Men, and a few other books on the topic. I had never read this one, though it arrived on my bookshelf years ago.

I'm probably being a bit hard on this book, giving it less than 3 stars. Parts of it were brilliant -- most of it was quite good. My main quibble was the wholesale inclusion of long legal briefs, decisions, and memos within the text, disrupting the narrative flow. Certainly these documents were important, but I think it would have been more effective to summarize and footnote them in the narrative text and place the full texts of the documents in an appendix. As it was, he wound up summarizing them anyway to explain them for non-lawyer readers, creating redundancy.

I did learn things from this book. Jaworski provided the behind-the-scenes explanation of several developments which puzzled me. It was also helpful to hear that, even if Ford hadn't pardoned Nixon, it is likely that any conviction achieved against him would have wound up overturned because of the pretrial publicity. (Interestingly, one of the precedents for that was the Sam Shepherd murder case, which I read about recently in another book.) Publicity regarding Nixon's role in Watergate was unprecedented, including the televised Senate Select Committee hearings and televised impeachment proceeding. An extremely long delay would have been required before prosecution to try to counteract the adverse publicity, and even then an impartial jury would come from where? Mars? (My way of putting it, not his.)

Jaworski comes across as an honorable man who did his best to uphold the law in a very difficult chapter of our nation's history. In the very last chapter, Jaworski more or less took off his legal objectivity and reacted, in retrospect, to the whole scandal in a more personal way. I found this quite powerful.

Off-the-Shelf book #25; 75 Challenge Book #69
Title: Psalms for Sojourners
Author: James Limburg
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2nd edition copyright 2002 (not sure date of first edition)
Genre: Bible study / devotional
Subject: The Psalms on one's journey through life
Dates Read: finished 6/28/11
Number of pages: 128
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. Amazon
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Team Chaplain
How does it fit the category? Bible study
Theme of the Month: June Journeys . . .
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, sojourn concept
My Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Notes:

I bought the first edition of this book years ago, read it several times, and used it as the basis for a Bible Study on the Psalms. My own old copy was falling apart, so I decided it was time to buy the revised edition, and now I've gotten around to reading the new edition. There aren't a lot of changes, other than expanded information on material for further study.

This is a short, basic study of the Psalms, focusing on how the Psalms accompany us on the journey of life. It identifies the basic types of Psalms and what ones fall into which categories, and meditates on their role in the life of the believer. I find it quite helpful both for personal devotional use and for teaching about the basic types of Psalms. It is not a full-fledged commentary on the Psalms by any means; it is more of an introductory work on the topic.

It should be noted that this book looks at the Psalms from a Christian point of view.

Off-The-Shelf book #26; 75 Challenge Book #70
Title: One More for the Road
Author: Ray Bradbury
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2002
Genre: short stories
Dates Read: finished 6/29/11
Number of pages: 350
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, have had it for years
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: undecided
How does it fit the category?
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: June Journeys
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Title -- for the road
My Rating: 3 stars
Notes:

I normally love Ray Bradbury's writing, and I feel funny only giving this book 3 stars. But this collection of stories just didn't grab me. Some were great, and the writing quality was excellent in all, but I just didn't enjoy a lot of the stories very much.

You've gotta love that cover, though . . .

What I did really enjoy was Bradbury's Afterword -- which made me understand and appreciate a few of the stories a little more, and which revealed some of how his mind works in crafting tales. I also enjoyed the tiny excerpts from several of his novels that were included at the end of the book. For me, several of them were short trips down memory lane. I might actually like to read some of those books again.

I'm conflicted with Bradbury myself. Fahrenheit 451 is one of my all time favorite books, but on the whole, I find him too pessimistic, and it's not like I'm on optimist!

Off-The-Shelf book #27; 75 Challenge Book #71
Title: Missing Justice
Author: Alafair Burke
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2004
Genre: mystery/suspense fiction
Subject: the case of an administrative judge who goes missing
Setting: Portland, Oregon
Main Characters: Deputy D.A. Samantha Kincaid
Series: Samantha Kincaid #2
Dates Read: finished 6/30/11
Number of pages: 354
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, bought used last year
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Doctor, Lawyer
How does it fit the category? District Atty. is main character
Alternate Category: Foul Play Territory; Next in Series
Theme of the Month: June Justice
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, obviously
My Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Notes:

This was a pretty good mystery. In this second book of the series, Samantha Kincaid has been promoted to prosecutor for Major Crimes Unit, and her first case deals with a judge who goes missing. There are lots of twists and turns. I didn't see the end coming at all.

Book off the Shelf #28
Title: Baltimore Blues
Author: Laura Lippman
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1997
Genre: mystery fiction
Subject: former reporter investigates murder of prominent attorney
Setting: Baltimore
Main Characters: Tess Monaghan
Series: Tess Monaghan #1
Dates Read: finished 7/20/11
Number of pages: 290
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, gift from LT friend
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Leadoff
How does it fit the category? first in series
Alternate Category: foul play territory
Theme of the Month: Big League Cities
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes; set in Baltimore, home of the Orioles and Ravens
My Rating: 3.75 stars
Notes:

Thanks to Stasia (alcottacre) for providing this book. I had read some of the later installments in this series, but missed the beginning. I worried that the first book might not measure up (first-in-series books are often weak), but this didn't disappoint. After a slightly slow start, it drew me in. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Lippman's wry sense of humor; reading it in a waiting room setting, I had to stifle giggles a few times. The story kept me guessing right to the end. Later books in the series are even stronger, but this was a very good read.

Off-the-Shelf book #29
Title: Flip Flop Fly Ball
Author: Craig Robinson
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2011
Genre: Sports -- "an infographic baseball adventure"
Subject: odd baseball statistics and trivia
Dates Read: finished 7/20/11
Number of pages:154
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes; LT Early Reviewer Book
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Pregame
How does it fit the category? Early Reviewer book
Alternate Category: Play Ball
Theme of the Month: Big League Cities
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes. Baseball
My Rating: to be determined
Notes:

I need to do a real review of this one eventually, as it's an LT ER book. But, for now, let's just say it's the weirdest book I've ever reviewed. These are not your garden variety baseball stats and trivia. And most of the book consists of graphics, with some text between sections. The subjects of Johnson's attention range from logical, through whimsical and off-beat, to totally bizarre. I started out kind of liking it, but somewhere along the line a lot of it got a bit too weird. And some of the diagrams are really difficult to follow, especially with middle-aged eyes that don't see teeny-tiny print in poorly contrasting colors very well. And, in the text portions, I got tired of the author telling me how he sneaked cigarettes in non-smoking areas.

>115 tymfos: You've reminded me that I liked her first book and have a couple more on the shelf. I just checked and I do have book 2 so I may have to move it higher on the stack and see if I can fit it into one of my 11 in 11 categories.

I have the second one here, too, Betty. I think I may wait and do it in September, for "September Series & Sequels." Or maybe I'll get to it sooner . . .

Challenge Book #3B
Title: Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
Author: David Von Drehle
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2003
Genre: non-fiction / history
Subject: the deadly 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in New York City
Setting: early 20th century New York, Lower East Side
Dates Read: started 7/21/11; finished 7/22/11
Number of pages: 268 plus appendix (list of fire victims), notes, sources, index
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes. Purchased used
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Fireballers, rainouts, steals & errors
How does it fit the category? Fire
Theme of the Month: Big League Citues
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, New York City setting
My Rating: 3.8 stars
Notes:

This is the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. Fire of March, 1911, which killed 146 workers. It was the deadliest workplace disaster in New York City history until Sept 11, 2011, when the massive loss of life in the World Trade Center dwarfed the Triangle's death toll. It was also a catalyst for groundbreaking regulations dealing with working conditions and workplace safety.

Author Von Drehle pieces together the details of the terrible fire clearly, and the reader gets a clear sense of the horror of the swift, deadly blaze. But every disaster, indeed every story, has a context -- and Von Drehle excels in explaining how this tragedy fit into the larger context of early 20th century New York. Immigration, the rise of unions, and the politics of Tammany Hall are all part of that context, and receive careful attention.

A fascinating story about a dreadful tragedy at a pivotal time in our nation's history.

Ah, you're adding to my wishlist again. That one sounds tragic, but fascinating.

Yes, Katie, tragic but fascinating it is!

Thanks for stopping by!

Off-The-Shelf book #31
Title: Indian Summer: the Forgotten Story of Louis Sockalexis, the First Native American in Major League Baseball
Author: Brian McDonald
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2003
Genre: non-fiction sports biography
Subject: The subtitle says it all
Setting: Cleveland, OH and other baseball cities
Dates Read: finished 7/26/11
Number of pages: 244
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased last year at Ollie's
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Play Ball!
How does it fit the category? baseball bio
Alternate Category: All-Stars
Theme of the Month: Major League Cities
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, about Major League Baseball
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes:

On the surface, it sounds like something you'd see in the news today: an incredibly gifted and intelligent athlete is unable to handle success, lives life too much in the fast lane, and destroys himself and his career through substance abuse. Only this story takes place at the end of the 19th century, the drug in question is alcohol, and the athlete in question is the first Native American to play in Major League Baseball. (Actually, as the author of this book admits, another ball player is officially acknowledged as the first Native American major league player. However, that player did not acknowledge his racial identity, attempting to "pass" for white -- in an ethnic version of "don't ask, don't tell," I guess.)

Louis Francis Sockalexis was a full-blooded member of the Penobscot tribe in Maine and was openly, unabashedly a Native American -- or, as the language of the day would say, an Indian. Indeed, there are those who feel that the naming of the current Cleveland baseball team was done with him and his playing days in mind, as the current American League franchise was named at a time when he was very much within memory of those who had seen him play.

He excelled at sports in an early age, was offered a scholarship at Holy Cross in Worcester, MA to play baseball there, and eventually was offered a contract with the major league ball club in Cleveland. (Note: this was a National League club which went out of business, not the current American League franchise.) For a brief, glorious time he was one of the best of the best in the game: a power hitter with blazing speed running the bases and a phenomenal throwing arm. But his success, and the fast life to which it led, sowed the seeds of his rapid and tragic downfall.

Brian McDonald tackles the story with insight and compassion. There were some quirks in the writing that originally annoyed me -- the tendency to refer to Sockalexis as "The Indian" being the main one. However, I think his point was that, for so many of the whites around Sockalexis, that's how they viewed him -- as "The Indian." McDonald coveys a sense of the isolation he must have felt in a "white man's world" that so thoroughly misunderstood his people and subjected him to intense prejudice. McDonald helps us understand that context with information about how Native Americans were being treated, including misguided attempts to "help the Indians" by destroying their culture.

In the end, I found this to be an informative and moving story.

Off-The-Shelf book #32
Title: Cemetery of Angels
Author: Noel Hynd
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1995
Genre: horror
Subject: a threatened woman, a creepy old house, missing kids, and an empty grave
Setting: Los Angeles and (early on) Connecticut
Main Characters: Rebecca and Bill Moore; Detective Edmund Van Allen, LAPD
Series: NO
Dates Read: finished 7/30/11 (2 a.m.)
Number of pages: 355
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes; sent by kind LTer before start of the year
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Phantom Players
How does it fit the category? ghosts!
Alternate Category: Foul Play Territory
Theme of the Month: Big League Cities
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Set in LA, home of the Dodgers, Clippers, etc.
My Rating: not sure
Notes:

OK, this was a creepy one, folks. And it got a little far out there. And, before it was done, it strayed into some territory that made me distinctly uncomfortable.

And I could hardly put it down. Stayed up into the wee hours of the morning finishing it. I had to know how it turned out.

It starts with Rebecca running from a mysterious assailant near her home in Connecticut. Then she and her husband move to LA, into a creepy old house full of mysterious noises and smells and odd occurrences. The kids get an "imaginary playmate," then suddenly vanish.

Meanwhile, there is seriously odd crap going on in the adjacent cemetery.

Then it starts to get weird.

I'm not sure how to rate this. The actual writing is not stellar -- occasional odd/grammatically improper word choices and punctuation, some paragraphs where the lead sentence has little to do with the rest of the paragraph. Once, someone knocked on the door, thought about a bunch of stuff, and then walked up to the front door. (?) It's definitely not a literary masterpiece. But the STORY is a real page-turner.

Off-The-Shelf book #33
Title: Ghosts of Boston Town
Author: Holly Mascott Nadler
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2002
Genre: regional folklore / true ghost stories
Subject: alleged hauntings in the Boston area
Setting: Boston and environs
Dates Read: Finished early 8/2/11
Number of pages: 175
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes; purchased some time ago
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Phantom players
How does it fit the category? ghosts
Theme of the Month: holdover from last month's Big League Cities
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, Boston is home of the Red Sox and Celtics
My Rating: 2.7 stars
Notes:

OK, this was a decent but not exceptional book of "true" ghost stories. It didn't particularly scare me. I always enjoy the history that emerges about the locale in such stories. This book was a little lighter on history than many I've read. IMO, there didn't seem to be a lot of historical documentation regarding the background of many of the stories. There was no list of sources consulted or footnotes. In at least one case, the author admitted that the legendary background story of the "haunting" could not be documented -- there were no newspaper or other sources indicating that certain alleged untimely deaths ever happened. The most historically "rooted" hauntings were also the most familiar stories -- such as Salem and the aftermath of the witch trials. I did enjoy the story of the incident which supposedly inspired E.A. Poe to write The Cask of the Amontillado.

124 That's a bummer. I'm thinking the "true" ones seem tame now compared to the ones that are completely fabricated. After all if it's too way out, who is going to believe them. Animal Ghosts which I just read had the same problem. The scariest were stories of people who saw horse drawn hearses, which is an image straight out of folklore.

125 I see your point, Katie!

Off-the-shelf book #34
Title: Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans
Author: David Rutledge, editor
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2006
Genre: Non-fiction Anthology
Subject: New Orleans culture and Hurricane Katrina
Setting: New Orleans
Dates Read: finished 8/4/11
Number of pages: 156 plus acknowledgments
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased used prior to 2011
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Fireballers, Rainouts, Steals & Errors
How does it fit the category? rain -- hurricane
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Anything Goes
My Rating: not sure yet
Notes:

This is a very small but handsome book. The content varies in style and quality. It contains articles written by New Orleans writers displaced by Katrina; it also contains excerpts from older publications about New Orleans, some interesting artwork, and even a few recipes.

Off-the-shelf book #35
Title: The Eternal Now
Author: Paul Tillich
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1963 (sermons dated from 1956-1962)
Genre: sermon collection
Dates Read: finished 8/6/11
Number of pages: 185
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, had this for ages.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Team Chaplain
How does it fit the category? sermons
Theme of the Month: Anything goes
My Rating: not sure
Notes:

Tillich was famous for, among other things, recasting the Christian faith in the language of the day. That day being the late 1950s/early 1960s, many of these sermons seem "dated." The 60's existentialism and the heavily male-dominated language are not terribly helpful for the reader today, IMHO. However, within a few of these sermons lurk gems of wisdom that were quite worth thinking about. His thoughts on the command, "You Shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" were especially helpful.

He acknowledges the difficulty of speaking about God in the modern world:
Everyone at one time or another finds himself in a situation where he must decide whether he shall use or avoid the name of God, whether he shall talk with personal involvement about religious matters, either for or against them.

And then there's this point, which acknowledges a subtle but popular use of God's name in vain:
There is a form of misuse of the name of God that offends those who hear it with a sensitive ear, just because it did not worry those who misused it without sensitivity. I speak now of a public use of the name of God which has little to do with God, but much to do with human purpose -- good or bad. Those of us who are grasped by the mystery present in the name of God are often stung when this name is used in governmental and political speeches, in opening prayers for conferences and dinners, in secular and religious advertisements, and in international war propaganda. Bringing his line of thought about using God's name in vain into the present day, I would add circumstances where it is claimed that God is using a disaster or disease to "punish ______s" or when it's used in sentences such as "God hates ______s "(fill in the blanks with any groups of people of which the speaker doesn't approve).

I was slow to get through this book. This was partly because the sermons with which I didn't resonate were a slog to get through; and because the ones in which I found some gem of wisdom took some time to fully think through. It's such a mixed bag, I've had a hard time giving it a rating. I'll probably go with a sort of middle-of-the-road 3 stars.

Off-the-Shelf Book #36
Title: Nine Ghosts
Author: R. H. Malden
Copyright/Year of original publication: not listed; curiously, only the date of the reprint is given on this edition.
Genre: short stories/ horror
Setting: Most are set in England, late 19th through early 20th century
Dates Read: finished 8/8/11
Number of pages: 109
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, Christmas present 2010
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Phantom players
How does it fit the category? ghosts and other spookies
Theme of the Month: Anything Goes
My Rating: 3.75 stars
Notes:

This little horror collection is a gem. R. H. Malden was an Englishman who wrote rather in the style of M.R. James. These stories have a lot of atmosphere, and an understated, subtle creepiness that I enjoyed. They are not scare-the-socks-off-you, in-your-face scary. But they were creepy enough to be a poor choice for an insomniac to read in the wee dark hours. Indeed, they were eerie enough that, when I finished, I put the book out of the room, in the hall -- then found myself not wanting to look out toward the hall! (Silly of me, yes.) I especially liked that a lot of these stories were set in and around old English churches and churchyards/graveyards, and/or involved clergy. Several of Malden's other books would indicate that old churches were a special interest/expertise of his, and his descriptions of the fascinating old buildings and the atmosphere thus invoked really added to my enjoyment of the book. Recommended for anyone who enjoys old-fashioned ghost/horror stories.

Off-the-Shelf Challenge Book #37
Title: The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Fantome
Author: Jim Carrier
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2001
Genre: non-fiction/ weather-maritime disaster
Subject: Hurricane Mitch and an ill-fated ship
Setting: the Gulf of Honduras
Dates Read: finished 8/15/11
Number of pages: 263 plus map
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Travel Day
How does it fit the category? Boats
Alternate Category: Fireballers, Rainouts...
Theme of the Month: Anything Goes
My Rating: 3.7 stars
Notes:

This was a fascinating book about an unconventional cruise ship and a hurricane which refused to follow the computer models used to predict hurricane development and path.

The Fantome was a floating party under sail. Well, it really depended more upon its engines for propulsion, but the sails looked good. It began life as the Duke of Westminster's elegant schooner for cruising the French Riviera. It was owned for a time by Aristotle Onassis, though he apparently never used it. It wound up as part of the Windjammer Barefoot Cruises fleet, owned by Mike Burke -- an operator who did things his own way.

A storm which began as 1998's Tropical Wave 46 eventually became tropical storm Mitch -- and then, with unexpected swiftness and ferocity, Hurricane Mitch, at the time the 4th most powerful Atlantic storm on record, one of those rare monsters known as a Category 5 hurricane. And Mitch was an exceptionally unpredictable storm.

The ship and the storm would encounter one another in the Gulf of Honduras, among the Bay Islands which rarely see powerful hurricanes. The ship would take evasive action -- but was there anywhere to run?

This book vividly evokes how the good-time atmosphere of the Fantome was replaced by a battle for survival; how hurricane forecasters struggled to make sense of what computer models said about Hurricane Mitch, compared to the storm's actual behavior; and the misery of residents of the Bay Islands and coastal Honduras as they were assaulted by a storm that was supposed to go somewhere else.

I thought the phrasing was sometimes a bit awkward, but for the most part this was a compelling, thorough, and evenhanded look at a real tragedy. I wish there had been footnotes, but the source of information was often indicated within (or could be inferred from) the text. There was no bibliography; the book appears to have been largely based upon interviews, the subjects of which are noted in the Acknowledgments.

Off-the Shelf book #38; 75 Challenge Book #20 B
Title: Dancing Made Easy
Author: Phillip DePoy
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1999
Genre: mystery (hard to categorize beyond that)
Subject: murder
Setting: Atlanta, GA
Main Characters: Flap Tucker, Dally Oglethorpe
Series: Flap Tucker #4
Dates Read: 8-30-11 through 9-1-11
Number of pages:292
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased from Amazon last year
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Foul Play Territory
How does it fit the category? murder
Alternate Category: On Deck
Theme of the Month: September Series & Sequels
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, series
My Rating: 3.9 stars
Notes:

Phillip DePoy is one of my favorite authors. I love the quirky characters, wry humor, literary allusions, and arcane knowledge that fill the pages of so many of his books. Who else would build a murder mystery using an art show, a Billie Holiday song, the CDC, and the death of Gerard de Nerval (translator of Faust) as elements?

When the body of a woman is found strung up on a lamp post, and the police initially call it a "suicide," P.I. Flap Tucker -- still mourning the death of his friend Jamie -- is on the case. Actually, he's on the case for Jamie's murder, too, since the police probably have the wrong man in custody. The case gets more bizarre as another body shows up.

This was a quick, easy read -- the murders ar a bit grim, but presented without too much grisly detail. Ultimately, the plot got a little convoluted -- it took a mini info dump at the end to tie up loose ends -- and one police detective's behavior didn't quite make sense, but I'm not going to quibble over it too much. These are not books to take too seriously -- Flap can be flip, and that's fine. If you'd like an offbeat and entertaining mystery, Southern style, give this series a try.

I almost forgot to post this book on this thread:

Off-the-Shelf book #39; 75 Challenge Book #24 B
Title: Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and CVrew Who Fought Back
Author: Jere Longman
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2002
Genre: non-fiction / history
Subject: The "fourth plane" hijacked on 9/11 and the passengers who refused to let it be used as a weapon
Setting: The skies over NJ and PA; a field in Shanksville, PA
Main Characters: all those aboard the plane
Dates Read: 9/10/11 through 9/12/11
Number of pages: 273 plus sources and index
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased at Abraxis Books, Daytona Beach, FL in January of 2010.
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Cars, trains, boats & planes
How does it fit the category? plane
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? No, read to commemorate 9/11
My Rating: 3.4 stars
Notes:

This book tells the story of United Flight 93, the one hijacked plane which did not reach the destination its hijackers intended on 9/11. All indications are that the passengers and crew rose up against the hijackers, causing the plane to crash into an abandoned strip mine in Shanksville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

This book is hard to rate. The subject matter and content are great. I'm not sure about how the writing was carried out. Admittedly, it's hard to write a book about 40 people and their loved ones. And the Longman really tried to help the reader see what was happening from the point of view of the various participants, rather than just spouting facts about them. Longman is to be commended for helping us to get to know (at least a little) each of the folks on Flight 93 and many of their loved ones. It's an inspiring story.

But there were a number of places where I had to go back and re-read for clarity, and clarity was, even then, not always forthcoming. There were some odd punctuation and word choices. Because the author incorporated so many points of view, the book jumped all over the place time-wise.

The section about the hijackers' preparation for their horrific deed was worded quite awkwardly. (He based the discussion on surviving documents which the terrorists would have used.) Perhaps he felt uncomfortable writing about the hijackers, but the writing felt really awkward in that section. For that matter, description (based on standard airline procedures) of the flight crew's preparation was a bit awkward, too. Perhaps those early chapter showed, more than other sections, that this was a journalist relatively new to book writing. The back of the book included at least a paragraph for each chapter regarding sources, so I feel Longman could have let the narrative flow a little more smoothly in the main text and used the "sources" pages to more fully explain the sources of his info. I felt that the writing improved, for the most part, as the book went along.

All in all, it was a highly ambitious and worthwhile writing project, carried off moderately well.

Off-The-Shelf book #40; 75 Challenge Book #28 B
Title: Charm City
Author: Laura Lippman
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1997
Genre: mystery fiction/ PI
Subject: A newspaper story in print that wasn't supposed to be; a vicious attack on Tess's uncle; a mysterious greyhound
Setting: Baltimore, MD, USA
Main Characters: Tess Monaghan, Crow, the editorial staff of the Beacon Light
Series: Tess Monaghan #2
Dates Read: finished 9/23/11
Number of pages: 291
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, gift from a friend on LT
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: All Stars, MVPs and other Award Winners
How does it fit the category? Edgar Award winner
Alternate Category: Foul Play Territory
Theme of the Month: September Series & Sequels
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, #2 in series
My Rating: 3.7 stars
Notes:

This was a pretty good mystery -- really two mysteries, as the two threads in the story are fairly distinct. A politically-charged news story that was supposedly "killed" by the Beacon Light newspaper editors is resurrected by a computer hacker, and hits the news stands. Havoc ensues. Tess Monaghan, former reporter and fledgling PI, is called in to investigate. At the same time, Tess's uncle has been savagely beaten; his one request before losing consciousness is for Tess to take care of his new greyhound. But someone else seems to have a mysterious interest in the animal. The story is quite clever, and nothing is quite as it seems.

My main complaint in this story is that I figured out one of the main bad guys too early. But I never figured out quite how he fit into the mess until it was revealed.

Hmmm... too much interest in a greyhound is an intriguing premise, for me anyway.

Katie, I have to warn you, when you find out what's really going on about the greyhounds, it's not good.

I did enjoy reading how Tess (who was never an animal lover) got to know and eventually love the dog. And the story shared lots of interesting info about greyhounds that I never knew.

>134 tymfos:. Now I really will have to read it this year instead of next.

135 I hope you enjoy it, Betty!

Off-the-Shelf book #41; Challenge Book #30 B
Title: Trains of Discovery:Railroads and the Legacy of Our National Parks (Fifth Edition)
Author: Alfred Runte
Copyright/Year of original publication: this revised & expanded edition 2011
Genre: non-fiction
Subject: The role of the railroads in the development of the National Parks; railroad's possible role in continued preservation
Setting: All across America
Dates Read: finished 9/26/11
Number of pages: 150 plus sources and index
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, LT Early Reviewer book, ERs always count as off the shelf
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Pregame
How does it fit the category? ER book
Alternate Category: "Away Game/ Travel Day"
Theme of the Month: NA to ER books
My Rating: 4 stars
Notes: Many beautiful color illustrations

In Trains of Discovery, Alfred Runte brings to life both the public and behind-the-scene role that America's railroads played in developing our National Park system. Who knew that the railroad barons were among the early preservationists? Runte makes a convincing argument that this was a case of enlightened self-interest -- the railroaders wanted beautiful SCENERY for their passengers to view out the windows of their trains, not an ocean of billboards. The lure of marvelous scenery was used to promote travel on their railroads -- but all that promotion also popularized the establishment of the National Parks which have, in turn, preserved some of the most stunning landscapes in our nation.

Runte also comments on the present and possible future role of railroads in preservation, protecting vulnerable parks from the crowding, emissions, and acres of parking lots that accompany ever-increasing motor-vehicle traffic.

The book contains plentiful and beautiful illustrations, many in color, including period railroad posters, post-cards, dining car menus, and magazine ads, as well as paintings and photographs of some of America's most scenic spots.

Runte's earlier volumes had focused on the Western US, where the railroads had the most interest and influence in the development of the parks. But this volume includes information about sites in the East, too -- particulary in Pennsylvania (of great interest to me!) and New England.

At around 150 pages with many pages of illustrations, this was a quick read. But I'm sure I'll look back over it again and again to enjoy the wonderful illustrations.

I didn't think it would be a good thing with the grayhounds. Perhaps that should slow me down though. After all, what happens with the dogs is why I hate the book Disgrace even though it is brilliant.

I'm starting to think about next year's challenges. I've well exceeded my goals for this one for two consecutive years. I think I should raise the bar next year. Depending on how I end up this year, I may raise my minimum-per-month to 3 or 4 -- and aim for a total of 55 or 60, meaning that most months will require more than the minimum.

Almost halfway through the month, and FINALLY, an off-the-shelf book in October:

Off-the-shelf book #42: 75 Challenge Book #39B
Title: The Harrowing
Author: Alexandra Sokoloff
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2006
Genre: horror
Subject: college kids conjure up ancient evil
Setting: Mendenhall residence hall at "Baird College"
Main Characters: Robin, Patrick, Lisa, Martin, Cain
Series: NO
Dates Read: finished 10/12/11
Number of pages: around 240
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased at Book Barn
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Phantom players
How does it fit the category? supernatural
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Halloween Horrors
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, spooky
My Rating: 2.9 stars
Notes:

I've read books by Sokoloff before, so I had high hopes for this one. But this was her debut novel, and I don't think it quite measures up to some of her later efforts. Or maybe it's just my mood, or a matter of comparison -- the fact that I just read an especially masterful piece of horror by Stephen King

The initial elements of The Harrowing are somewhat time-worn but promising. Five students alone together in a huge, creepy dorm over Thanksgiving break. Big storm. Power failure. Candles. Ouija board. The atmosphere is well drawn: Sokoloff, a screenwriter, sets the scene vividly. There are definitely some chills in this creepy book. And I found it interesting how Sokoloff draws upon ancient Jewish mysticism, coupled with Freudian and Jungian psychology, for inspiration -- some fresh angles are explored. But I can't say it all quite works for me. The potential for subtle, sophisticated horror (inherent in the mysticism and the psychological angles) is eventually swamped by more sensational elements as the story moves toward its climax. In the final two chapters and epilogue Sokoloff attempts to draw it back to subtlety, but fails miserably (IMO), with the epilogue coming across like a carbon copy of so many other horror story epilogues, names changed to protect the innocent.

Off-the-shelf book #43; 75 Challenge Book #41 B
Title: Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War
Author: Tony Horwitz
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2011
Genre: non-fiction / history
Subject: Life of John Brown, culminating in his raid on Harper's Ferry and subsequent trial and execution
Setting: pre-Civil War US
Dates Read: finished 10/30/11
Number of pages: 290 plus notes, etc.
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes; LT ER book (they count as off-the shelf)
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Pregame
How does it fit the category? ER book
Theme of the Month: Halloween Horrors
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? n/a (ER book) (Though Brown was convicted on Halloween, 1859!)
My rating: 4.3 stars
Notes: : LT ER book, bound uncorrected proofs

I received a free Early Reviewer copy (bound uncorrected proofs) of Midnight Rising through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, and my review will be based on that copy. I need more time before I write my proper review.

But this was a very good book. Horwitz's account is detailed but not overwhelmingly so. The character of the enigmatic man, John Brown, comes alive through excerpts of his own writing and that of contemporaries who knew him. We learn basics of his upbringing and gain insights into his views and actions through Bleeding Kansas and beyond, as he plans his assault on Harper's Ferry.

But it was the final analysis which bumped my rating above the 4 star mark. Horwitz looks carefully at the the motivations for and results of the raid in a way that brought the significance of the events to life for me in a way that they hadn't been previously.

full review here:

http://www.librarything.com/work/11353614/reviews/77847592

Midnight Rising Looks good. I remember requesting that one too, but I guess it wasn't my turn.

Katie, who knows how they decide who gets what book when? I've been really lucky with the ER program.

ETA to add I was lucky again this past month -- I was awarded Carol O'Connell's new novel in the Mallory series, The Chalk Girl. One of my favorite series -- and one of the few series that I'm actually current with -- no catching up needed before I read it!

I get books most of the time, so I'm not complaining. It is a bit confusing/surprising sometimes.

I think it's a nice feature on LT!

I did finally finish a book I've been nibbling at for several months. It's one I read for a class years ago, but the tribulations of a couple of friends made me pull it out again for insight.

Off-the-Shelf Challenge Book #44; 75 Challenge Book #45 B
Title: Addiction and Grace
Author: Gerald G. May, M.D.
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1988
Genre: non-fiction / religious
Subject: spirituality and addiction
Dates Read: finished 11/14/11
Number of pages: 181 plus notes, index
Off the Shelf? (pre-2011): Yes, had since a class I took in the early 1990's
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Team Chaplain
How does it fit the category? faith-based
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Yes, helps fill in a blank in my 11/11 challenge
My Rating:3.7 stars
Notes:

This book looks at addiction of all kinds from a spiritual standpoint -- the heavy-duty chemical addictions and even the less dramatic and recognizable attachments which can sometimes take over our lives. It deals mainly from a Christian worldview, but does recognize the theme of detachment as prominent in eastern religions. I was very impressed with it when I read it for class, maybe a little less so now, but there are some very good insights.

May argues that all human beings suffer from addictions of one kind or another (who, me? like to books maybe?) and that true liberation from attachments/compulsions (as opposed to merely substituting other addictions) comes only by the grace of God (thought some who experience this may not recognize the source of the gift). At least, I think that's a fair summary of what he says.

@112: Yay, One More for the Road! My Bradbury-fan cousin gave me that for Christmas one year (along with From the Dust Returned). I love that cover too. Thanks for reminding me about it -- should liberate it from my parents' place for a future reread! :)

Also, if I owned a car, I would definitely want a bumper sticker similar to message 1 ;)

146 Hello, rabbitprincess! That wasn't the best Bradbury I've ever read, but he has such a way with words and his writing is always so original.

One of these days, I'm going to go back and re-read his Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Apart from Something Wicked This Way Comes, the one I really want to reread is From the Dust Returned -- I remember really liking that one. I also want to track down a collection with "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed", a short story I first read in French.

I'd like to read that one too; I once visited a bookshop named after it!

Off-the-Shelf Challenge Book #45; 75 Challenge Book #50B
Title: The Chalk Girl
Author: Carol O'Connell
Copyright/Year of original publication: ER -- release scheduled for January 2012
Genre: mystery fiction / police procedural
Subject: grisly murder with a history
Setting: New York, NY
Main Characters: Mallory, Riker, Charles Butler, and "Coco"
Series: Mallory mysteries
Dates Read: 11/27/11 through 11/29/11
Number of pages: 373 (in bound uncorrected proofs)
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Counts as off the shelf -- LT Early Reviewer book
Category for 11 in 11 challenge: Pregame
How does it fit the category? ER copy
Theme of the Month: Fill in the blanks
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? needed to finish 11/11 challenge
My Rating: 4.3 stars
Notes: comments based on ER copy -- bound uncorrected proofs

Oh, what a treat to get wrapped up in a good mystery that's almost impossible to put down. Carol O'Connell has done it again, revealing even more facets of her amazing Mallory character while spinning a delicious, complex mystery that spans a decade and a half of pure evil. A brutal series of crimes in Central Park are more than a modern-day whodunit; they carry echoes of the past and whispers of conspiracy. Where will the evidence lead Mallory and her partner Riker?

The story begins with an almost surreal (and icky) scene of swarming rats. (Rats -- both the animal and human types of vermin -- are a theme throughout this disturbing but compulsively readable mystery.) There is the bewildering image of it raining rats and blood, and mysterious quotations -- from a journal, maybe? -- at the head of each chapter. O'Connel begins bringing it all together just as the reader is wondering what it can possibly all be about. Then there is the charming and compelling character of young Coco, a child with Williams syndrome. I knew little about Williams going into this book, and meeting Coco was an education in itself.

In many ways this book is about ongoing relationships -- those that nurture, those that are strained, and those that are patently toxic. The investigation reveals a web of deceit that stretches back over fifteen years in time, to the highest levels of New York's power structures, and involves a vast cast of characters linked by greed, self-preservation, power, money, and fear. Where will it all end? Who will pay, and how? Mallory is something of a law unto herself, defining and attending to justice (as she sees it) via any route her calculating mind can envision -- and her mind is nothing if not creative -- but can she avoid all the landmines in her path?

This was one roller-coaster ride on the dark side of life in New York.

Off-the-Shelf book #46; 75 Challenge Book #51 B
Title: Catherine the Great : Portrait of a Woman
Author: Robert K. Massie
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2011
Genre: non-fiction / biography
Subject: Russian empress Catherine II
Setting: 18th century Russia
Dates Read: finished 12/1/11
Number of pages: 579 plus bibliography, notes & index
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Counts as off the shelf; LT ER book
Category for 11 in 11 or 12 in 12 challenge: pregame
How does it fit the category? early reviewers copy
Theme of the Month: is leftover from November's "fill in the gaps" category
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? finishes gap in pregame category
My Rating: 3.7 stars
Notes:

I enjoyed this book, and appreciated the scope and scholarship of it. However, I really didn't like the structure. In particular, I didn't like the last section, which consisted of more-or-less topical chapters, outside the chronological flow of the rest of the narrative. I'll have more to say when I post my formal review. It's quite possible that my longstanding love for Massie's book Nicholas and Alexandra led me to expect too much.

As far as personal reactions to the book, I started out really liking and admiring Catherine (especially compared to all the bozos who surrounded her in the years before she took the throne). In the end, the admiration dwindled somewhat. I think I had an especially difficult time stomaching what she did to Poland. (My husband's mother's family is Polish.)

Challenge Book #56 B
Title: The Whisperer (Early Reviewer edition -- uncorrected proofs)
Author: Donato Carrisi
Copyright/Year of original publication: to be released in US in 2012
Genre: thriller / police procedural
Subject: the abduction and murder of children
Setting: There is no real indication in the text regarding where this book is set other than names and references to the weather.
Main Characters: Officer Mila Vasquez, criminologist Dr. Goran Gavila, Special Agent Sarah Rosa, Special Agent Klaus Boris, Chief Inspector Roche, Special Agent Stern
Dates Read: finished 12/15/11
Number of pages: 422
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: ER book, counts as off shelf
Category for 11 in 11 or 12 in 12 challenge: Magical Mystery Tour
How does it fit the category? Mystery
Alternate Category: What's Goin' On
Theme of the Month: Holiday dinners & other December disasters
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? NO
My Rating: 3.2
Notes: Started strong, but deteriorated about 3/4 of the way through, becoming too implausible for my taste.

OK, I finished my latest ER book. I seem to recall it being described, somewhere, as creating "a sensation" in Europe. Well, it was sensational -- and I don't necessarily mean that in a positive way.

It deals with child abductions and murders, and revolves around the team assembled to try and solve the crimes. Mila is an emotionally damaged officer who is brought in because she's an expert at finding missing children. Dr. Gavila is a criminologist with some odd methods. The whole squad is an odd bunch of not particularly likable characters. They eventually move into "the studio," an old "safe house" once used for witness protection, as their base for solving the crime.

A lot of it was very good and suspenseful. It kept me turning pages with lots of plot twists. But at the end, it got too convoluted, and the final turns of plot made the whole thing totally implausible in my mind. And it really did fall into what I felt was almost crass sensationalism.

How to explain my reasons for feeling this way, without spoilers, is a major problem to which I have no answer.

One thing I can say is that -- at least as it stands in the proofs I read -- there is NO sense of place, such as I have enjoyed in so many other books imported from Europe. Geographical names are not used, there are a lot of references similar to "the next town" or "the village where she lives," etc. The story is obviously set in a climate that receives snow in February. Certain terminology gives clues -- calling fuel "petrol," for instance. You could argue that it's meant to give the feeling that "this could be happening anywhere." Or perhaps the lack of a sense of place is meant to echo the sterile, "away from the world" atmosphere of "the studio" which the investigative team uses as their base of investigations. But, then, I really didn't get the point of them moving into "the studio" either.

Thanks for your review of Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. It's on my "to read" list and found your critique valuable. Cool "Early Review" book.

We've started a new Group for 2012.
here

153 Thanks for stopping by, Mandy! It's definitely a worthwhile book! I felt really lucky to get it as an ER!

154 Thanks for the link, Cheli!!! I'll be over soon to start a thread. :)

Hey, if I finish three books off the shelf, I'll have 50. I think two of the books I'm reading now count.

(off to check the acquisition date on my current non-fiction reads . . .)

ETA to add Drat! I acquired the one book too late for it to count.
(Maybe I should finish it after New Year's Day for next year's challenge.)

Sounds good to me! I have my doubts that I'll finish either of the books I'm reading before the 31st. One's an ER book anyway so doesn't count unless I don't finish it until next year. Besides, I'm excited to get started on next year.

On the plus side, I read more off my shelves this year than last. But also added more than I read, so not so good.

I added more than I read off the shelf, too, Betty. I added over 70 books -- not counting the dozens I downloaded to my e-reader, mostly free from Project Gutenberg. I had no idea I'd gotten that many this year until I counted today.

I made a rule exception to always count ER books as off-the-shelf, regardless of when they were acquired. Why? Because I was delaying books for which I owed reviews in order to meet my off-the-shelf goal. So I decided to count them regardless so that I wouldn't do that -- but for next year, I'm raising the monthly off-the-shelf quota by one book to compensate.

Only 70? Such restraint. I think I'm between 250 and 300 new this year including ebooks. I like to use this thread to concentrate on those prior to the current year so that I don't get sidetracked by the "new and shiny". I use the 12 in12 to count all the books I read and this year have a category where I can specifically put ERs I might receive. Technically you're right and they're all off my shelf so I'm probably not fooling anybody. My real goal next year is to reduce the number that come in.

Betty, if I count the ebooks, I may be over 250, too. I've downloaded all kinds of stuff from public domain e-book sites (plus a few purchases). I'm sure I probably won't read half of it -- but it's there if I'm in the mood for it. At least those don't take up space on my shelves, like real books, and I'm not near running out of electronic storage space yet.

There may be more new hard-copy books than I counted, because I'm finding them by sorting my "books at home" category by the "date acquired" field. I caught a few where I forgot to fill the "date acquired" field, and there are probably more. (I can't go by the catalog entry date, because that is often just the date I put the book on my wishlist!) Actually, I know there were more. Some of the books I acquired this year have already been read and recycled out of the house -- those won't show up in the search I used. The 70 are just ones that are still here -- both read and unread.

Off-the-Shelf challenge book #48; 75 Challenge Book #58B
Title: Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple
Author: Tempa Pagel
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2007
Genre: cozy mystery
Subject: 200-year-old skeleton found in church steeple; newer body found in church entryway
Setting: West Newburyport, Massachusetts
Main Characters: Andy Gammon
Series: Andy Gammon #1
Dates Read: finished 12/26/11
Number of pages:297
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: YES, purchased 2010 in Watertown, NY
Category for 11 in 11 or 12 in 12 challenge: What's goin' on
How does it fit the category? Mystery
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: Holiday Dinners and other December Disasters
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Sort of. Historical part of mystery revolves around a disasterous fire in 1811.
My Rating: 3.23 stars
Notes:

This is a decent cozy mystery. My main complaint is how neatly the author wraps up the historical componenet of the mystery. This was obviously intended as the first in a series, bearing the notation, "An Andy Gammon Mystery," but the LT series feature shows no others in the series -- or even by this author. I'll have to investigate further. I would try another to see how the characters develop.

Off-the-Shelf challenge book #49; 75 Challenge Book #59 B
Title: Alan Kulwicki NASCAR Champion Against All Odds
Author: Fr. Dale Grubba
Copyright/Year of original publication: 2009
Genre: sports biography
Subject: the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup champion (series that is now Sprint Cup)
Dates Read: finished 12/27/11
Number of pages: 469 plus appendix & notes
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, purchased 2010 from Amazon.com
Category for 11 in 11 or 12 in 12 challenge: Winner Takes it All
How does it fit the category? about a champion
Alternate Category:
Theme of the Month: December disasters
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Sort of -- Kulwicki died in a plane crash only months after winning the championship
My Rating:2.74
Notes:

In November, Tony Stewart became the first owner-driver to win the top NASCAR championship since Alan Kulwicki did it in 1992. So I decided it was time to read this book about the last owner-driver champion.

The author, Father Dale Grubba, knew Kulwicki and actually participated in his funeral. He did a reasonable job of portraying both strengths and faults, but his affection and admiration did come through.

In my opinion, the book was too long and contained almost excruciating detail regarding Kulwicki's early career. It could have used some stringent editing of the main text, allowing the reader desiring more detail to refer to the very complete appendix of Kulwicki's race stats.

The book generally lacked error in grammar and syntax. However, there were a number of places where I found the writing confusing; where backtracking or repetition muddled the narrative.
I also found it awkward that the writer referred to himself in the third person when describing his role in Kulwicki's funeral.

Most of all, I detested the amount of speculation as to Kulwicki's thoughts, especially during the final moment of his life on a doomed airplane, when none of us can really know what he was thinking. Just the facts, Father, please. The nature and timing of Kulwicki's death -- in a plane crash just months after winning the championship -- are sad enough without embellishment.

BOOK NUMBER 50 FOR THIS CHALLENGE! :) 75 Challenge Book #60 B; Off-the-shelf challenge book #50!
Title: Green For Danger
Author: Christianna Brand
Copyright/Year of original publication: 1944
Genre: mystery fiction
Subject: murder at a WWII English military hospital
Setting: Heronsford, Kent, England
Main Characters: Inspector Cockrill, Postman Higgins, Sister Bates, Jane Woods, Gervase Eden, Esther Sanson, Dr. Barnes, Surgeon Moon, Freddi Linley
Series: Inspector Cockrill
Dates Read: finished 12/28/11
Number of pages: 254
Off the Shelf (pre-2011)? Source?: Yes, 2010 from some used book store
Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Doctor, Doctor
How does it fit the category? set in hospital
Alternate Category: Magical Mystery Tour or What's Goin' On?
Theme of the Month: Holiday Dinners and other December disasters
Does it fit the Theme of the Month? How? Sort of. War air raids causing buildings to collapse on people are a sort of disaster, aren't they?
My Rating: 3.6 stars
Notes:

This is a pretty good mystery set in a WWII British military hospital. The characters are introduced very cleverly via the postman delivering letters to the hospital from each of them; the author delves into the situation of each as they post their letters. (We shall encounter the postman again later in the story!)

We soon have a murder mystery with a limited number of suspects, all of whom are living and working together at the hospital. The puzzle is quite complex, and gives us an interesting slice of life in a WWII military hospital. The reader should be prepared for attitudes consistent with that time period.