countrylife tries not to get stuck in the time travel portal

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countrylife tries not to get stuck in the time travel portal

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1countrylife
Mar 5, 2011, 8:18 am

Thank you to cbl_tn for the invitation to your group. This looks like a great challenge. I love the idea; I'm surprised its not more populated yet.

Just starting my thread in March, but started with your challenge in February.

Looking around your group, I fell in love with pbadeer's thread outline. But I'm not up to that this year, so will take the easy route and just run up a list of whichever books I happen to read that fit the topics posted here in the group.

2countrylife
Mar 5, 2011, 8:20 am

2011.02Feb

Theme: Love/Marriage

Tying the Knot by Susan May Warren (3.25 stars)

3countrylife
Edited: Apr 1, 2011, 7:50 am

2011.03Mar

Time Period : 1940s

The Snow Goose: A Story of Dunkirk by Paul Gallico (5 stars)
All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot (4 stars) (Memoir mainly set in 1940 with threads of memory runing to the past)

4cbfiske
Apr 14, 2011, 12:32 pm

Just read your review of The Snow Goose: A Story of Dunkirk. I'll have to put it on my To Be Read list. It sounds really good.

5countrylife
May 5, 2011, 5:22 pm

2011.04Apr

Theme : Religion in History

The Trail of Blood by J.M. Carroll (3.0 stars)

6countrylife
Jan 19, 2012, 8:27 am

2011.05May
Time Period : Renaissance
Murder at Midnight by Avi (3.6)

2011.06June
Theme : Regime Change
The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez (3.5)

2011.07July
Time Period : 1960s (None fit)

2011.08August
Theme : Transportation
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (4.5)

2011.09September
Time period : Ancient World (None)

2011.10October
Theme : Horrific / Spooky / Gothic
Tent Number Eight by Gloyd McCoy (horrific) (1 star)
Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (spooky) (3.5)
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (gothic) (4)

2011.11November
Time Period : 1920s
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (4.5)

2011.12December
Theme : Holidays
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley (3)
Angels at Christmas by Debbie Macomber (2.5)

7countrylife
Jan 19, 2012, 8:32 am

2012

2012.01 January
Theme : Number in the Title
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li (2.5)

8countrylife
Edited: Jan 19, 2012, 9:50 am

Note to Self:

I joined for the February 2011 theme. The first theme started June 2010. The Themes/Time Periods I missed out on by joining this group so late:

June, 2010 - 19th Century
July, 2010 - Freedom
.......... One of my reads that month happened to match this group's theme:
.......... Something Remains by Inge Barth-Grözinger (3 stars) - read 7/22/2010
August, 2010 - American Civil War
September, 2010 - Royalty
October, 2010 - 1930s
November, 2010 - Discovery and Exploration
December, 2010 - Viking Era
January, 2011 - Crusades
.......... One of my reads that month happened to match this group's theme:
.......... The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse (3.5 stars) read 1/19/2010

Plus the two months (after I joined the group) where none of my reads matched the theme:

2011.07 July - Time Period : 1960s
2011.09 September - Time period : Ancient World

I think I'll plug in to the wiki my two 2010 reads that happened to match this group's themes for those two months. Then, just for fun, I'm going to try to catch-up the other themes, just in my thread, not the wiki.

9countrylife
Apr 3, 2012, 9:56 am

2012.02 February
Time : Gilded Age
Still Life with Murder by P.B. Ryan - 3.9 stars

2012.03 March
Theme : Disease
Consumption by Kevin Patterson (tuberculosis) - 3.6 stars

10countrylife
May 1, 2012, 11:16 am

Quarter: 2012.Q1 January-March
Pre-history
Started: Promise of the Wolves and The Kin, both abandoned.

Quarter: 2012.Q2 April-June
Ancient and Biblical Times
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman - 3 stars

Month: 2012.04 April
Time : Medieval Times
The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease - 4.5 stars

11countrylife
Edited: Jul 7, 2012, 10:01 am

Quarter: 2012.Q2 April-June
Ancient and Biblical Times
Song of the Crow by Layne Maheu - 2.5 stars

Month: 2012.05 May
Theme: Historical Mystery
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - 4.2 stars
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters - 3.9 stars

Month: 2012.06 June
Time: French Revolution
The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner - 3.5 stars

12countrylife
Aug 1, 2012, 3:08 pm

Month: 2012.07 July
Theme: Witchcraft/Magic
The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

13Her_Royal_Orangeness
Aug 1, 2012, 8:45 pm

Did you enjoy The Heretic's Daughter? I read it also and thought it was good but not great.

14countrylife
Oct 11, 2012, 9:10 am

Quarter: 2012.Q3 July-September
Arthurian Britain
Healer by Linda Windsor - 3.2 stars

Month: 2012.08 August
Time: Ancient Rome
Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie - 3.7 stars

Month: 2012.09 September
Theme: Seasons
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell - 3.7
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - 4.7
The Richest Season by Maryann Mcfadden - 3.2

Month: 2012.10 October
Time: 1950s
An Unfinished Season by Ward Just - 3.7

15countrylife
Jan 11, 2013, 10:20 pm

Quarter: 2012.Q4 October-December
Medieval
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman - 3.7 stars

Month: 2012.11 November
Theme: Asia
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker (Burma) - 4.2

Month: 2012.12 December
Time: Victorian Era
A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry - 3

16countrylife
Edited: Mar 31, 2013, 9:34 am

Quarter: 2013.Q1 January-March
Renaissance / 16th century
Jepp, Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh - 4.5 stars

Month: 2013.01 January
Time: Cold War
The Diary by Eileen Goudge - 3.3 stars

Month: 2013.02 February
Theme: Civil Rights
The Help by Kathryn Stockett - 4 stars

Month: 2013.03 March
Time: Tudor Era (1458-1603)
1601 by Mark Twain - 2 stars
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan - 3 stars

17countrylife
Sep 17, 2013, 4:24 pm

Quarter: 2013.Q2 April-June
17th Century
Mariana by Susanna Kearsley - 4 stars
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - 4 stars

Month: 2013.04 April
Theme: Vagabonds
Bandit's Moon by Sid Fleischman - 3 stars

Month: 2013.05 May
Time: 1930s
The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan - 2.8 stars
The Lantern by Deborah Lawrensen

Month: 2013.06 June
Theme: General Science
Relics by Mary Anna Evans - 4 stars
Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill - 4 stars
The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris - 3.5 stars
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley - 3.5 stars
Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman - 3 stars
Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky - 4 stars

18countrylife
Edited: Sep 29, 2013, 1:14 pm

Quarter: 2013.Q3 July-September
18th Century
Shadow Patriots by Lucia St. Clair Robson (3 stars)
Midwife of the Blue Ridge by Christine Blevins (3.2)
Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann (3.4)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (4)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (3)
Flame-Colored Taffeta by Rosemary Sutcliff (3.5)

Month: 2013.07 July
Time: 1770-1790
Shadow Patriots by Lucia St. Clair Robson (3 stars)

Month: 2013.08 August
Theme: Communication
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos - 3.5 stars
Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry - 4.5 stars
The Map of Lost Memories by Kim Fay - 4 stars
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri - 3.5 stars
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick - 4 stars

Month: 2013.09 September
Time: Edwardian
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden - 3.5 stars
The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert - 3.5 stars

19countrylife
Dec 31, 2013, 11:44 am

Quarter: 2013.Q4 October-December
Napoleonic
An Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub (3.2 stars)

Month: 2013.010 October
Theme: Biography / Biographical Historical Fiction
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (4.5 stars)
Night by Elie Wiesel (4.5)
No More Bullies: For Those Who Wound or Are Wounded by Frank Peretti (4)
Dandelions in the Garden by Charlie Courtland (3)

Month: 2013.11 November
Time: WWII
The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler (3.5)
The Seamstress by Sara Tuvel Bernstein (4.3)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (4.5)

Month: 2013.12 December
Theme: Time
Remembering by Wendell Berry (3.7)
Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies by Lauren Redniss (3.5)
A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy (3.6)

20countrylife
Edited: Apr 3, 2014, 12:05 pm

Month: 2014:01 January
Theme: Starting Over / New Beginnings
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (2 non-humans begin new lives as immigrants in NYC)
Winter Range by Claire Davis (wife regrets past, starts over)
Ira says goodbye by Bernard Waber (boy's friend moves)
How the leopard got his claws by Chinua Achebe (leopard learns to stand up for himself)
Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston (marriage on the rocks, husband and wife start over)
The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian (old couple ignore doctors and children, and have a short new starting over)
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala (family dies in tsunami; author starts life over without them)
Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell (immigrants to Canada start life over, and over)
Think of a Number by Charles Verdon (son's death, couple's long chill, a new beginning)
Hippocrates' Shadow by David H. Newman (advocates starting over the way Hippocrates intended)
The lost art of mixing by Erica Bauermeister (characters and couples all starting over)

Month: 2014:02 February
Time Period: Napoleonic
Thunder from the sea by Jeff Weigel

Month: 2014:03 March
Theme: Education
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (university professor with Aspergers)

Quarter: 2014.Q1 January-March
19th Century Europe (& rest of the world, excluding Northern America)
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (1814 England via time travel)
Thunder from the sea by Jeff Weigel (Napoleonic England)
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (19th century in Jamaica and on the high seas)
Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken (19th century England with orphans and dirty industry)

21countrylife
Edited: Sep 30, 2014, 12:46 pm

Month: 2014:04 April
Time Period: 15th Century
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (3.7 stars)

Month: 2014:05 May
Theme: Art
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear (3.8)
A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (4.3)
Toby’s Room by Pat Barker (3.6)

Month: 2014:06 June
Time Period: Elizabethan
Prophecy by S. J. Parris (3.7)

Quarter: 2014.Q2 April - June
19th Century Northern America
The Sea Captain’s Wife by Beth Powning (1860s New Brunswick) (4.1 stars)
Bountiful Creek by Steven B. Weissman (Civil War Ohio) (2.7 stars)
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (4 stars)

22countrylife
Sep 30, 2014, 12:45 pm

Month: 2014:07 July
Theme: Food/Agriculture
Hunter's Stew and Hangtown Fry: What Pioneer America Ate and Why by Lila Perl
Fred Harvey Houses of the Southwest y Richard Melzer

Month: 2014:08 August
Time Period: WWI
Stella Bain by Anita Shreve
As the Crow Flies by Jeffrey Archer
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller

Month: 2014:03 September
Theme: Historical Series & Sequels
A Question of Honor by Charles Todd (WWI)

Quarter: 2014.Q3 July - September
The Old American West
July:
Hunter's Stew and Hangtown Fry: What Pioneer America Ate and Why by Lila Perl
Fred Harvey Houses of the Southwest y Richard Melzer
August:
Doc by Mary Doria Russell
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
September:
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

23Samantha_kathy
Oct 1, 2014, 11:38 am

You've been quite prolific in the Quarterly Theme Read! And in general this quarter. Go you!

24countrylife
Dec 22, 2014, 10:50 am

Month: 2014:10 October
Time Period: 1970s
The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill - 3.7

Month: 2014:11 November
Theme: Disasters
Blizzard of Glass – Sally M. Walker
A Wedding in December – Anita Shreve
Whiter Than Snow – Sandra Dallas

Month: 2014:12 December
Time Period: Regency
The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer

Quarter: 2014.Q4 October-December
20th century before WWI
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (1906)
Rachel's Secret by Shelley Sanders (1903)
The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson – (1909-10)

25countrylife
Apr 1, 2015, 11:59 am

Month: 2015:01 January
Time Period: BC
Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
In search of a homeland : the story of the Aeneid by Penelope Lively

Month: 2015:02 February
Theme: General Religion
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (In the time of Jesus)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Christian parable)
Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen (religious freedom)
Brideshead Revisited by EVELYN WAUGH (Catholicism)

Month: 2015:03 March
Time Period: 1-1000AD
Viking Longship by Mick Manning

Quarter: 2015.Q1 January - March
WWI
Bright's Passage by Josh Ritter (February)
The Great War: Stories Inspired by Items from the First World War by Various Authors (March)

26countrylife
Jul 5, 2015, 9:01 am

Month: 2015:04 April
Theme: Crime/Mystery
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham
Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire
The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Month: 2015:05 May
Time Period: 1300-1500
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (14th century)

Month: 2015:06 June
Theme: Culture/Arts
Missed out!

Quarter: 2015.Q2 April - June
BETWEEN THE WARS
Al Capone Does My Shirts (1935) by Gennifer Choldenko (April)
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear (June)
Ghost of the Ozarks by Brooks Blevins (June)
An Incomplete Revenge (1930s) by Jacqueline Winspear (April)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1935) by Harper Lee (April)
Wise Children (1920s) by Angela Carter (April)

27countrylife
Oct 2, 2015, 11:23 am

Month: 2015:07 July
Time Period: 1600s:
Bride of New France, Suzanne Desrochers (1663-1673)

Month: 2015:08 August
Theme: Ireland
Faithful Place by Tana French (set in Dublin)
Something Special by lIris Murdoch (author born in Ireland, Dublin setting)

Month: 2015:09 September
Time Period: 1800-1850
Longbourn by Jo Baker (1810s)

Quarter: 2015.Q3 July - September
WWII
The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø

28countrylife
Dec 30, 2015, 11:47 am

Month: 2015:10 October
Theme: Science and Technology
The Anatomy of Deception, Lawrence Goldstone (1889 forensics)
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (WWII radio)

Month: 2015:11 November
Time Period: 20th century
Flora, Gail Godwin (1945)
The 39 Steps by John Buchan (1910s)
Restless by William Boyd (1930s-40s)
The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick (1910s)
Cold Comfort, Charles Todd (1910s)
Wings of Fire, Charles Todd (1920s)
The Tilted World by Tom Franklin (1927)
I Kiss Your Hands Many Times by Marianne Szegedy-Maszák (1930s – 1950s)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (1950s)
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez (1960-1961)

Month: 2015:12 December
Theme: Civil Rights and Equality
Hiding Places by Erin M. Healy (civil rights – Japanese Americans during WWII) - 12/1/15
We are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg (civil rights & equality - black rights, handicapped rights) - 12/7/15
The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende (civil rights – Japanese Americans during WWII) - 12/17/15
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (human rights for muslim women) - 12/20/15
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (human rights for autists) - 12/23/15

Quarter: 2015.Q4 October - December
1946 to Present
Child 44, Tom Rob Smith (1950s Russia) (Oct.)
I Kiss Your Hands Many Times by Marianne Szegedy-Maszák (1930s – 1950s Hungary) (Nov.)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (1950s Italy) (Nov.)
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez (1960-1961 Dominican Republic) (Nov.)
We are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg (time and theme: 1960s AND civil rights & equality) (black rights, handicapped rights) (Dec.)
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1970s on - human rights for muslim women) (Dec.)

29countrylife
Mar 17, 2016, 11:03 am

Quarter: 2016.Q1 January – March
Pre-History
The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel (Jan.)
The Valley of Horses, Jean M. Auel (Feb.)
The Mammoth Hunters, Jean M. Auel (Mar.)

Month: 2016:01 January
Women in Command
Nefertiti, Michelle Moran (14th century Egyptian ruler)
The Accidental Empress, Allison Pataki (19th century Austria/Hungarian empress)

Month: 2016:02 February
Author as a Main Character
Arthur and George, Julian Barnes (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Month: 2016:03 March
Discoveries and Innovations
Dead Wake, Erik Larson (diesel electric propulsion for submarines)
Thunderstruck, Erik Larson (wireless telegraphy)

30countrylife
Jul 25, 2016, 10:02 pm

Quarter: 2016.Q2 April – June
Ancient / Biblical
Sarai, Jill Eileen Smith (Biblical) (April)
The Girl from Ithaca, Cherry Gregory (Ancient Greece) (April)
Eagle in the Snow, Wallace Breem (Ancient Roman Gaul) (June)
Pearl in the Sand, Tessa Afshar (Biblical-Rahab) (June)

Month: 2016:04 April
Women & War
The Girl from Ithaca, Cherry Gregory (Odysseus’s sister with him at Troy)

Month: 2016:05 May
Labor / Unions / Working Class
The Daring Ladies of Lowell, Kate Alcott (textile mills)
This House of Sky, Ivan Doig (ranch work)

Month: 2016:06 June
Realistic School Fiction/Nonfiction
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson

31countrylife
Edited: Sep 28, 2016, 9:26 pm

Month: 2016:07 July
Weather-Related Natural Disasters
Southern Cross the Dog, Bill Cheng (1927 Mississippi flood)
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck (1930s dust bowl)

Month: 2016:08 August
Journeys
A Room with a View, E.M. Forster (touring Italy)
Above All Things, Tanis Rideout (journeying from England to Himalayas & up Mt. Everest)
Whistling Past the Graveyard, Susan Crandall (9 y.o.’s running away from home journey from MS to TN)
The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, Gerald Morris (knight on a quest)

Month: 2016:09 September
Water
Paddle to the Sea, Holling C. Holling

Quarter: 2016.Q3 July – September
Arthurian Britain
The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady, Gerald Morris (July)
The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, Gerald Morris (August)
Parsifal’s Page, Gerald Morris (September)

32countrylife
Jan 1, 2017, 10:09 am

Month: 2016:10 October
Historical Mysteries
Grave Goods, Ariana Franklin (Arthurian mystery)
Slash and Burn, Colin Cotterill (1970s downed helicopter pilot in Laos)

Month: 2016:11 November
Presidents/Vice Presidents/Elections
Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure, Matthew Algeo

Month: 2016:12 December
Regency or Victorian Eras
A Christmas Beginning, Anne Perry (Victorian)

Quarter: 2016.Q4 October - December
Medieval Europe / Middle Ages (includes the Vikings
Grave Goods, Ariana Franklin (12th century England) (October)
Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon (10th century Azerbaijan) (October)
A Murderous Procession, Ariana Franklin (1178 England, Sicily) (November)
Sanctuary Sparrow, Ellis Peters (1140 England) (November)
The Lion of Flanders, Hendrik Conscience (1302 Belgium) (December)
Siege Winter, Ariana Franklin (12th century England) (December)

33countrylife
May 7, 2018, 4:58 pm

Month: 2017:01 January
First encounters
Roanoke by Angela Elwell Hunt
White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, Paul Clayton

Month: 2017:02 February
Storico Italia
Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant. The Borgia family – the pope and his children – portrayed a bit more generously than usual.

Month: 2017:03 March
Meeting Madness
I chose William the Silent as the person I'd like to have met. I read William, by the Grace of God by Marjorie Bowen, the 2nd part of her work of historical fiction which began with Prince and Heretic. The first part was better written, though I'm glad to have read them both.

Quarter: 2017.Q1 January – March
The 16th Century
Late 1400s-early 1500s - Italy : Blood and Beauty, Sarah Dunant - 4 stars
1520s-30s - England : Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel - 4.5 stars
1540s, 1571 Netherlands : Lysbeth: A Tale of the Dutch, H. Rider Haggard - 4.5 stars
1550s-1570s - Netherlands : Prince and Heretic, Marjorie Bowen - 5 stars
1570s-1584 - Netherlands : William, by the Grace of God, Marjorie Bowen - 3.5 stars
1585-1590 - North Carolina : Roanoke, Angela Elwell Hunt - 3.5 stars
1585-1590 - North Carolina : White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke - Paul Clayton - 3.5 stars

34countrylife
Edited: May 7, 2018, 5:06 pm

Month: 2017:04 April
It's A Family Affair
The Bones of Paradise - about a ranching family in the sand hills of Nebraska. 4 stars.
Beneath a Marble Sky - the building of the Taj Mahal and the Mughal Dynasty. 3.5 stars.
Heart Earth, Ivan Doig – memoir of his family’s time in Montana
Outlander - shallow muck of time travel into ancestors of Scotland, with supposedly a historical fiction story, but instead, it's just soft porn and stupid in every way. 2 stars.
The Queen’s Vow, C.W. Gortner – family of Queen Isabella of Castille. 3.5 stars

Month: 2017:05 May
Oh What a State of Affairs!
The Country of the Pointed Firs - Sarah Orne Jewett (Maine)
O Pioneers! - Willa Cather (Nebraska)
The Wailing Wind - Tony Hillerman (New Mexico)
Also:
The Lewis Man - Peter May (Scotland, Hebrides)
The Snowman - Jo Nesbo (Norway)

Month: 2017:06 June
Fight For Your Rights
An Army of Judiths by C.J. Underwood, a historical novel based on the events in Haarlem in 1572 when Kenau Hassalaar gathered and trained hundreds of women to do their part during the siege of Haarlem to help defeat the Spanish. The Siege of Haarlem in the 1570s was part of the Eighty Years War and the Dutch Revolt. This was an interesting book looking into the daily life and preparations that might have gone into this endeavor. But it lacked the backstory of why every citizen in Haarlem was ready to fight - the Spanish Inquisition that had already murdered so many in their country. Also, there were too many (though small) punctuation and omitted word errors, which bothered me. A story worth telling, though I wish the author had found a better editor. In the end - 4 stars.

Quarter: 2017.Q2 April - June
17th Century
Prince of Orange trilogy (William III), Netherlands:
I Will Maintain, Marjorie Bowen
Defender of the Faith, Marjorie Bowen
God and the King, Marjorie Bowen

Beneath a Marble Sky, John Shors (Building of the Taj Mahal)
The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton (1686 Amsterdam)
The Golden Tulip, Rosalind Laker (intrigues leading up to war in Holland)

35countrylife
Edited: May 7, 2018, 5:02 pm

Month: 2017:07 July
Viva La Revolución!
Celia Garth, Gwen Bristow (American Revolution)

Month: 2017:08 August
Art
Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History - Robert M. Edsel

Month: 2017:09 September
Historically Significant Event
Amelia's War, Ann Rinaldi (The Ransom of Hagerstown, MD - civil war)
The Black Tulip, Alexandre père Dumas - (Tulipomania 1670s)
The Way to London, Alix Rickloff (WWII)
Wenjack, Joseph Boyden (Canadian residential schools for native children)
The Women in the Castle, Jessica Shattuck (WWII)

Quarter: 2017.Q3 July – September
18th Century
Celia Garth, Gwen Bristow (historical fiction / American Revolution)
Demelza, Winston Graham (historical fiction / family saga, 1780s Cornwall)
Ross Poldark, Winston Graham (historical fiction / family saga, 1780s Cornwall)

36countrylife
Edited: May 7, 2018, 5:03 pm

Month: 2017:10 October
Gothic Reads
Jamaica Inn, Daphne du Maurier

Month: 2017:11 November
Noir or Darkness
I read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, which I chose to fit both the monthly theme of Noir and the quarterly time period of Napoleonic. The reader was fantastic! Still, I thought the thing would never end. A slog of SFF, which I thought I should read because I keep hearing it talked of on LT. There. Done.

Month: 2017:12 December
Fractured Fairy Tales
The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth. (4*)

Quarter: 2017.Q4 October - December
Napoleonic Era
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Wild Girl, Kate Forsyth

37countrylife
Edited: Jun 28, 2018, 6:24 pm

Quarter: 2018.Q1 January – March
19th Century Europe and Rest of World (excluding North America)
Mrs. Osmond, (19th century Europe, esp. Italy) John Banville (January)
On the Night of the Seventh Moon (1859 Germany), Victoria Holt (February)
Remarkable Creatures (1820s England), Tracy Chevalier (February)
The Secret Garden (19th century England), Frances Hodgson Burnett (March)
Tom Brown’s School Days (1850s Rugby), Thomas Hughes (March)
Hedda Gabler (1890s Norway), Henrik Ibsen (March)

Month: 2018:01 January
Cold
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Frozen Tracks, Åke Edwardson
Through the Evil Days, Julia Spencer-Fleming
The Winter Guest, Pam Jenoff

Month: 2018:02 February
Going Hollywood!
A Touch of Stardust, Kate Alcott

Month: 2018:03 March
Something Sporty
King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian, Marguerite Henry (horse racing)
Tom Brown’s School Days, Thomas Hughes (field sports, esp. Rugby)

38countrylife
Jun 28, 2018, 6:22 pm

Quarter: 2018.Q2 April - June
19th c N. America (includes Civil War; excluding Old West)
Boston Jane, Jennifer L. Holm (19th century Washington)
The Children's Blizzard, David Laskin (1888 Great Plains)
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1860s North Carolina)
Destiny of the Republic, Candice Millard (1880s Washington DC)
Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway, Kirkpatrick Hill (19th century Alaska)
The Night Birds, Thomas Maltman (1862 Minnesota)
Run Away Home, Patricia Mckissack (1880s Alabama)
The Silk Train Murder, Sharon Rowse (1899 Vancouver, British Columbia)
To the Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey (1885 Alaska)

Month: 2018:04 April
Clash of Cultures
Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway, Kirkpatrick Hill (missionaries vs Indians)
The Night Birds, Thomas Maltman (Sioux Uprising vs white settlers)
Run Away Home, Patricia Mckissack (Apaches vs whites vs blacks)
A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape from North Korea, Eunsun Kim (political persecution vs refugees)

Month: 2018:05 May
Southeast Asia
Miss Burma, Charmaine Craig (Myanmar/Burma)
The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (Vietnam)

Month: 2018:06 June
Digging Up the Past
The Crossing Places, Elly Griffiths
The Janus Stone, Elly Griffiths
Red Bones, Ann Cleeves
Turtle in Paradise, Jennifer L. Holmes

39countrylife
Sep 28, 2018, 7:54 pm

Quarter: 2018.Q3 July - September
The Old West)
Bad News for Outlaws, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (Oklahoma Territory)
East of Eden, John Steinbeck (California)
The Last Woman Standing, Thelma Adams (Tombstone, Arizona)

Month: 2018:07 July
Nautical
Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea, Frank Delaney (Atlantic Ocean)
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, Peter Høeg (Arctic Ocean)

Month: 2018:08 August
Europe Between the Wars
A Star for Mrs. Blake, April Smith (1930s)
In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson (1930s)
A Fearsome Doubt, Charles Todd (1920s)
Journey to Munich, Jacqueline Winspear (1938)
The Perfume Collector, Kathleen Tessaro (1920s + 1950s)

Month: 2018:09 September
Let's Have a Drink!
The Guards, Ken Bruen (alcoholism)
The Vintner's Daughter, Kristen Harnisch (wineries)
Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley (bar/drinking)

40countrylife
Dec 30, 2018, 3:02 pm

Quarter: 2018.Q4 October - December
20th Century, Before WWI
The Riddle of the Sands, Erskin Childers (1903)
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton (1910s)
In the Shadow of Gotham, Stefanie Pintoff (1904-1905)
Snow Hall, Elizabeth Gill (1907)
The Great Impersonation, E. Phillips Oppenheim (1913)

Month: 2018:10 October
Farm
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton

Month: 2018:11 November
Science
Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary, Gail Jarrow
An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears

Month: 2018:12 December
Music
Empire of Sin, Gary Krist (jazz, New Orleans)
Symphony for the City of the Dead, M.T. Anderson (classical, Leningrad)
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles (classical, Moscow)