Better late than never: 75 books for Dejah_Thoris

I've been on LT for almost three weeks now, and since I've already been active in TIOLI, I thought it was time to start my 75 Books Challenge 2011 thread.

I've gotten really lazy about my reading; I read a lot, but mostly mysteries and science fiction and fantasy. I'm also a re-reader.... I use to read a wide range of material and I'm hoping that this Challenge, TIOLI and 11 in 11 wil help nudge me toward a little more variety.

My only rule is that re-reads don't count unless it's been more than ten years. All re-reads count toward TIOLI, though.

May

1. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris TIOLI #13
2. India Black by Carol K. Carr TIOLI #19
3. Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi TIOLI #15
4. Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss TIOLI #8
5. Slugfest: A Dirty Business Mystery by Rosemary Harris TIOLI #12
6. Bottom of the 33: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game by Dan Barry TIOLI #17
7. Dead to Me by Anton Strout TIOLI #20
8. Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick TIOLI #20
9. The Professor's Daughter by Sfar and Guibert TIOLI #8
10. Brick Lane by Monica Ali TIOLI #2
11. Darkship Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt TIOLI #13
12. Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd TIOLI #6
13. Children of a Lesser God by Mark Madoff TIOLI #1
14. My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira TIOLI #4
15. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel TIOLI #3
16. The Circulation of Children: Kinship, Adoption and Morality in Andean Peru by Jessaca B. Leinaweaver TIOLI #10
17. The Drunken Forest by Gerald Durrell TIOLI #14
18. This Our Dark Country: The American Settlers of Liberia by Catherine Reef TIOLI #11
19. Bel-Air Dead by Stuart Woods TIOLI #20
20. Polo in the United States: a History by Horace Laffaye TIOLI #9

June

21. Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance TIOLI #18
22. Mourning Gloria by Susan Wittig Albert TIOLI #7
23. The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte TIOLI #6
24. Opposites Attract by Nora Roberts TIOLI #16
25. Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling by Charles Allen TIOLI #12
26. Hit List by Laruell K. Hamilton TIOLI #
27. La Catastrophe: The Eruption of Mount Pelee, the Worst Volcanic Disaster of the 20th Century by Alwym Scarth TIOLI #2
28. Uncharted Territory by Connie Willia (TIOLI #21)
29. Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey (TIOLI #1, Cat #9)
Donkey-skin by Charles Perrault (TIOLI #21)
30. Hedwig and the Angry Inch text by John Cameron Mitchell, music and lyrics by Stephen Trask (TIOLI #24, Cat #7)
31. Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther (TIOLI #5, Cat #4 )
32. One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland (not counting toward Cat #10, 20/0)
33. Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (TIOLI #18, Cat #9)
34. Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (TIOLI #21)
35. State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy (TIOLI #9)
36. Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich (Cat #9)
37. Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy (TIOLI #9)
38. Heartless by Gail Carriger (Cat #9)
39. This Time Together by Carol Burnett (TIOLI #15)
40. Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch (Cat #8)
41. The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (TIOLI #1, Cat #8)
42. Why I Hate Saturn by Kyle Baker (TIOLI #1)
43. The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (TIOLI #18)
44. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (TIOLI #5, Cat #4)
45. Any Wednesday by Muriel Resnick (TIOLI #19, Cat #7)
46. Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne (TIOLI #18, Cat #8)
47. The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke (TIOLI #3)

July

48. A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Sonnets (TIOLI #1, Cat #6);
eight sonnets from American Poetry: A Miscellany and
“The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver” all by Edna St. Vincent Millay
49. Alien Tango by Geni Koch (TIOLI #1)
50. The Serialist by David Gordon (TIOLI #, Cat #8)
51. Grave Dance by Kalayna Price (TIOLI #15, Cat #9)
52. Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck (Cat #8)
53. Alien in the Family by Gini Koch(Cat #9)
54. A Witch in Time by Madelyn Alt (TIOLI #2)
55. Deader Still by Anton Strout
56. Overbite by Meg Cabot (TIOLI #15, Cat #9)
57. The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross (TIOLI #17, Cat #8)
58. The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants by Jane S. Smith (TIOLI #1, Cat #10, 50/0)
59. Rule 34 by Charles Stross (TIOLI #15, Cat #9)
60. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (TIOLI #7)
Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan (TIOLI #7)
61. Proof by David Auburn (TIOLI #1, Cat #6)
62. I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim eds Ebrahimji and Suratwala (TIOLI #6, Cat #5, also #10, 4/0)
63. Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? True Adventures in Cult Fandom by Allyson Beatrice (TIOLI #1)
64. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (TIOLI #20, Cat #4)
65. The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley
66. The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry (TIOLI #1, Cat #7)
67. Murder on Sisters’ Row by Victoria Thompson (TIOLI #15, Cat #9)
68. The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice (TIOLI #1, Cat #5)
69. The Story of Georgia’s Boundaries: A Meeting of History and Geography by William J. Morton (TIOLI #1, Cat #1, also Cat# 10, 2/0)

August

70. Promised Land by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice (TIOLI #22)
71. The Solid Gold Cadillac - Teichmann and Kaufman (TIOLI #10, Cat #7)
72. The Hydrogen Murder by Camille Minichino (TIOLI #10, Cat #8)
73. Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy (TIOLI #, Cat #9)
74. The Duke of Uranium by John Barnes (TIOLI #10)
75. Cold Vengeance by Preston and Child (TIOLI #22, Cat #9)
76. The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley (TIOLI #10)
77. A Timely Vision by Joyce and Jim Lavene (TIOLI #22)
78. The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey (TIOLI #5, Cat #4)
79. Key of Light by Nora Roberts (TIOLI #18)
80. Cradle of Gold: The Story of Hiram Bingham, a Real-Life Indiana Jones, and the Search for Machu Picchu by Christopher Heaney (TIOLI #10, Cat #2)
81. The Rabbi’s Cat and The Rabbi’s Cat 2 by Joann Sfar (TIOLI #23, Cat #3)
82. Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley (TIOLI #8, Cat #4)
83. A Touch of Gold by Joyce and Jim Lavene (TIOLI #10, Cat #9, also #10 14/1)
84. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (TIOLI #16, Cat #8)

Welcome to the challenge!

I've requested the Harris book at my library but will have to wait - I'm No. 127 on the waiting list!

Touchstones are notoriously touchy!

Welcome!

>2 mamzel: mamzel -- thanks for being the first to post to my thread!

I got lucky and got my hold for Dead Reckoning in right after it was posted to the system; I was the first to get it from our branch. Actually, I got it a day early for some reason, but I didn't complain....

>2 mamzel: drneutron -- thank you for the welcome! It's obviously going to take me a few days to get this all set up, but t's nice to know that somebody noticed my arrival.

Book #1 Dead Reckoning

Who firebombed Merlotte’s? Why are Sookie’s fairy family members really living with her? What is Victor, the Regent of Louisiana, up to? What secret is hidden away in Sookie’s attic? How did Sookie end up with the gift of telepathy, anyway?
In Dead Reckoning, the eleventh installment of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampires / Sookie Stackhouse series, these questions are answered – more or less.

Dead Reckoning will feel very familiar to Sookie fans: sex (although not much), violence, doubts about those who claim to love her. Multiple story lines allow for the appearance of many characters from previous novels, like Hunter, Mr. Cataliades, Alcide, and Bubba. Fans of Harris’ other works will enjoy the return to Bon Temps of Lily and Jack Leeds, denizens of her ‘Shakespeare’ series.

As often happens in long running series, there is so much prior history involved with each character and plot line that a reader new to the series will get very little out of this book. Sookie fans, however, should enjoy it very much.

It’s not the best in the series, but it was still fun to read (I knocked it in one night). I sometimes wish that Sookie could find peace and happiness, but then there wouldn’t be much left for Harris to write about, would there?

Book #2 India Black by Carol K. Carr

This was a fun, romp of a mystery novel, obviously intended as the first in a new series. Set in Victorian London, India Black, a Madam, finds herself tangled in Affairs of State (pun not intended). Her ensuing adventures have a certain screwball comedy air them. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Book #3 Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi

Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi is a scholarly work intended for a lay audience. Timothy R. Pauketat, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign does a nice job of speculating about Cahokia’s sudden explosion of growth around 1050 CE and describing the enormous extent of Cahokia and its environs at its prime.

Pauketat outlines the disturbance and destruction of the site from the early European settlers to the modern day highway construction. Interwoven in this story is the tale of the archaeologists who worked the site, often under frantic conditions to save whatever possible before backhoes cleared the way for progress. It becomes clear that theories about Cahokia and its influence have changed drastically over the decades, leaving the reader to wonder if Pauketat’s theories, much of which is admittedly speculative, will be seen as outmoded in twenty or thirty years as well.

My interest in this book was not consistently held. I was fascinated by the possible connection of Cahokia’s beginnings with a supernova, potential links to Mesoamerica, pre-European maps and a discussion of women’s roles, especially in connection to ritual sacrifice. Some of the chapters linking Cahokia with later North American cultural groups were less interesting to me, although how could anyone not be fascinated by a story with someone named He-who-gets-hit-with-deer-lungs?

For me, the book’s greatest flaw is a dearth of photographs, drawings and maps. The addition of images would have been of tremendous benefit to the account. However, the end notes are sufficient to lead an interested reader to additional sources.

This book is not for everyone. While not a guidebook to the modern Cahokia site, it will surely interest some of its reportedly 300,000 visitors each year. The work will also be enjoyed by anyone with a strong interest in Native North Americans.

Welcome to the group!

I will have to look for India Black. It looks right up my alley. Thanks for the recommendation!

I just peeked at your profile and for someone who has only been here for three weeks, you've been very busy. Must have been cataloging day and night.

At any rate, welcome! I'm a relative newbie, too, having arrived on scene just over a year ago. The initial enthusiasm hasn't worn off.

>8 alcottacre: Thanks for the welcome! I hope you enjoy India Black. I confess I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a Madam as the main character, but it works. Disraeli's appearances are a hoot!

>9 Poquette: Actually, I can't believe I've entered as many books as I have, but there are two factors coming into play here. First, it's baseball season. I'm a pretty devoted watcher, but I'm usually doing something while the game is on and lately, it's been entering ISBNs. Second, I've been meaning to rework how my books are organized, and LT has been very motivating!

Book #4 10591992::Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss

I don't think I can say enough good things about this workl. It's brilliant: my favorite book I've read this year. I'm not a big reader of graphic novels, but I think this beautiful, non-fiction amalgam of biography, science and history could be enjoyed by anyone.

edited in an attempt to get the Touchstone working.....

Book #5 Slugfest: A Dirty Business Mystery by Rosemary Harris

Slugfest is the fourth installment in Rosemary Harris’ Dirty Business / gardening series. Paula, having left Manhattan and her television job for Connecticut and her own landscaping business, is back in town for the fictitious Big Apple Flower Show. While working a vendor’s booth for a friend, Paula meets an array of folks from the old guard gardeners, to the irritating interlopers, from high school students to security guards. There’s even a quirky neighbor and a dubious, married lothario to round things out. Murder and mayhem ensue and a good time is had all – well, almost all.

I have to confess that I tend to forget the plots of previous books in this series, but I always remember that they are fun, quick reading and not fraught. If you’re looking for some lighthearted fun in the Big Apple, Slugfest is for you.

Oh – and the Javits curse bit is a hoot.

Book #6 Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and the Longest Game in Baseball by Dan Barry

In Bottom of the 33rd, Dan Barry uses the historic 33 inning long game from 1981 as a framework around which to explore Minor League Baseball. A consummate researcher, Barry seems to miss nothing. He writes of the AAA players in the game, some of whom even non baseball fans will have heard. He shares the stories of the managers, ball boys, umpires, clubhouse guys, fans, journalists, player wives and the stadium itself. If that were not enough, even the beer distributors get in on the story.

And, of course, there’s the game: 32 innings over Saturday, April 18th, and on until 4am, Easter morning, with the final inning two months later. The game may have dragged on, seemingly endless, but the book never does. The heartache of Minor League ball is palpable; the stories are fascinating.

It’s hard to say if this book will resonate with someone who doesn’t at least like baseball, but anyone who’s enjoyed nine innings (or more) should find it a pleasure to read.

Book #7 Dead to Me by Anton Strout

Dead to Me isn’t the best urban fantasy I’ve ever read, but it is far, far from the worst.

Simon is a young guy gifted with psychometry, the ability to learn by touch, things about objects and their owners. Realizing that his activities have crossed over the line to criminal, Simon cleans up his act by joining NYC’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs. Being one of the good guys is working for Simon, but he can’t help but wonder if he’ll ever get the hang of everything, especially the paperwork….

This is an entertaining book; it’s funny. It does occasionally slip over into farce or even parody, but I prefer to read something that errs on the side of humor than excessive doom and gloom. Strout actually makes a Poe/Lenore/Raven joke about bad relationships – what’s not to like?

I’m looking forward to the other books in the series and since my library system doesn’t carry them, I guess I’ll have to break down and buy them.

You have read some very interesting books and written excellent reviews. Dead to Me sounds like something that I woud like.

#13: As a devoted baseball fan, I really need to get hold of that book! Thanks for the recommendation!

>15 chinquapin: Thanks for the nice comments on my reviews! I've never really written reviews before, so the encouragement is welcome.

As for Dead to Me, I really wasn't expecting much from it; urban fantasy with male heroes usually doesn't work for me. It was a nice surprise -- I hope you enjoy it, too.

>16 alcottacre: For all that I'm a big baseball fan, books about the game have never really called to me. I saw Bottom of the 33rd on the library shelf and picked it up on a whim for the TIOLI challenge; I'm glad I did. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Wow -- it's so cool that people want to read things based on my reviews! Thanks!

Book #8 Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick

High school history teacher Jocelyn Shore has wanted to visit Egypt since she and her cousin Kyla became fascinated with Egyptology in their early teens. Finally, they’ve made it to the Pyramids and one of their tour mates lies dead, face down in the desert sand. Was it an accident or did the nosy woman find out something she wasn’t supposed to know?

Death on Tour is an enjoyable debut, winner of the Mystery Writers of America / Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Award. Author Janice Hamrick does an admirable job interweaving descriptions of Egyptian sites and antiquities into the threads of the story without devolving into travelogue. While the clotheshorse cousin Kyla was initially rather annoying, she eventually improves, so stick with it. The mysterious, Alan Stratton provides romantic interest, although the tension is mostly between the cousins.

This is a pleasant first in a new mystery series which shows promise for future installments.

Book #9 The Professor's Daughter by Sfar and Guibert

I enjoyed this rather zany graphic novel romance between the mummy of Imhotep IV and a professor’s daughter. It has a black comedy feel with the characters’ daft disregard for the bodies on the ground, of which there are more than a few. Queen Victoria’s appearance in the story is extremely entertaining. The artwork is lovely, but I think I actually liked best the London Sketches, mainly of Egyptian motifs, which appear after the story ends.

Book #10 Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Brick Lane is not a novel about colonialism per se, but it the situation it portrays arises directly from the colonial rule of Great Britain over what would become the nation of Bangladesh.

Nazeen comes to London in 1985 as an eighteen year old bride, married to her father’s choice of husband. Chanu, her much older groom, has lived in London for many years. When he came to London he believed he would have every opportunity to be a success. Years of mediocrity wear on him and he becomes a disappointed man. It’s hard to tell if Chanu ever really had the potential to succeed even if Great Britain had welcomed Bangladeshis with open arms, which it did not.

Nazeen tries to be a good wife to the man her father chose. Isolated, with few friends and discouraged from learning English, she chafes in her role. Letters from her sister in Dhaka detail the horrors faced by women who diverge from established norm, contrast with Nazeen’s position of relative security. How can Nazaan rail against her benevolent oppressor, who is neither deliberately cruel, nor violent? Brick Lane is her story, the quite, slow tale of the changes that bring her to make choices, for herself and her children.

Brick Lane is a well written book, often engrossing, sometimes beautiful. It touches on many contemporary issues such as the immigrant experience, women’s rights and the perception of Islam with clarity and compassion. While this will never be one of my favorite books, I’m glad I read it.

>18 Dejah_Thoris: Death on Tour sounds interesting, but I either need to find a library copy or a more discounted price copy before I try it. Even the Kindle pricing seems a bit steep for a new series by an author with whom I'm unfamiliar.

>21 thornton37814:

I got Death on Tour from the library -- I think it was a mistake to publish it in hardcover, but it was probably part of the prize.

It's a fun book, but you're right to go with the library or to wait for the paperback and/or lower Kindle price.

I hope you like it whenever you get it.

#18: That looks like one I would enjoy. Thanks for the recommendation!

>23 alcottacre: You're very welcome!

Book #11 Darkship Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I decided to get Darkship Thieves and I’m still not certain how to categorize it, but I’m very glad I read it.

Darkship Thieves was fun, entertaining and surprising; it didn’t go where I expected it to. It most often seems to be labeled Space Opera, and while that’s not a perfect fit, non-military Space Opera is probably close enough. Author Sarah A. Hoyt, who named one of her sons Robert Anson, is obviously a Heinlein fan and his influence is evident in her work (including the occasional political lecture). Her publisher put an excerpt from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Cryoburn in the back of Darkship Thieves, so they apparently think their readers will be similar. Well, I have to say that Hoyt is no Bujold, but her book is worth reading, anyway.

Since part of my pleasure in the book was not having many expectations, I’m not going to say much, except give it a try.

Book #12 Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd

You say the timing is crucial, Superintendent, but I have to say that in the case, I don’t understand the timing at all.

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd is entirely about time: how we experience it, how it flows, what we don’t comprehend about it. It’s a story with what appear to be two timelines. One is the story of Nicholas Dryer, an early 18th century architect charged with designing/rebuilding six London churches and Nicholas Hawksmoor, a Scotland Yard detective of the 1980s charged with solving a series of murders at the same London churches. Switching by chapter between the eras, Ackroyd links the two times with common names, phrases, bits of songs and poems. A compass is lost; a compass is found. A boy’s teachers bear the same or similar names to another boy’s schoolyard tormentors. Soon characters begin to hear snatches of conversation from another time or see shadows of the past or future. Lives and deaths are being acted out with identical plots, hundreds of years apart.

…it seemed to him that the river itself was perpetually turning and spinning: it was going no certain direction, and Hawksmoor felt for a moment that he might fall into its darkness.

Ackroyd might well be describing his vision of time instead of the Thames. In Hawksmoor time turns on itself, meeting itself where it wills.

As it happens, I felt I needed to set aside large blocks of time to read Hawksmoor. This is not a book to pick up and put down, reading in small snippets. The rhythm of the writing, especially in the 18th century chapters, is somewhat demanding and easier, at least for me, read in longer stretches.

I can’t say that I enjoyed Hawksmoor; it would be more truthful to say I admire it. It is very well done and quite engrossing. It’s a novel that would reveal, on further readings, even more depth and nuance, but it is unlikely I’ll ever pick it up again. Still, I’m glad I read it.

Well, rats. My local library does not have either of your last two reads. *sigh*

I thought Darkship Thieves was a fun romp, too. I read it for the Women of Science Fiction challenge on another site. It's the only one of the first four of the year I liked, so I've quit that particular challenge.

I read Ackroyd's The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein last year. It was a pretty good retelling of Mary Shelley's original with his own spin on things. Sounds like I need to try Hawksmoor.

>27 alcottacre: I rely on my local library system for much of what I read, but in this particular case a bought a copy of Darkship Thieves. I'm glad I took a chance on a new to me author.

>28 Morphidae: Actually, Morphidae, you're the reason I found Darkship Thieves in first place. I saw it listed right before Dead Reckoning for a TIOLI Challenge (repeating vowels, I believe). The name caught my attention, it looked interesting and I bought, read and enjoyed it. All thanks to you!

I've been meaning to find your thread to thank you.....

>29 drneutron: I'll probably read more Ackroyd in the future, although I think I admired his work more as I thought about the complexity of it after I finished, than while I was actually reading it.

Thanks for suggesting The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein -- I also have The House of Doctor Dee on my TBR list. I think I'll wait a while, though, before I try another of his books. I'll get to them eventually....

#30: I am on a strict book buying ban this year, but I will see if Darkship Thieves might be available through Paperback Swap.

I'm right here!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/116284

Book #13 208885: Children of a Lesser God by Mark Medoff

I’ve read a lot of plays and have no problem visualizing them staged. Sometimes, though, you’re aware for one reason or another that seeing / hearing it live would make a huge difference; I think Children of a Lesser God is one of those works.

Because one of the two main characters is deaf, and does not speak but signs her lines, a reader of the play reads first her lines (which would be silent) then the lines another speaking aloud what she just signed. Therefore, you read almost all of Sarah’s lines twice, which gets to be distracting.

Also, although the material is incredibly powerful, since it is primarily about Sarah’s unwillingness to attempt communicate verbally, much of the impact of the reality of her silence is lost – or at least muted.
I’ve never seen Children of a Lesser God on stage or film – I think I’ll have to, now.

Book #14 My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

Mary Sutter, an Albany, NY midwife leaves her home to volunteer as a nurse during the U.S. Civil War. One reason she goes is because she wants to be a surgeon; the other reasons I have no intention of giving away in this short review.

My Name is Mary Sutter is a very well researched engrossing novel. Excluding an epilogue, the novel only covers the war through the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam / Sharpsburg in September 1862, but it gives a real sense of the disorganization of the early months of the war. Mary sees the war in small pieces, mainly through the wounded. The bigger picture is explicated through scenes of President Lincoln and his staff.

Mary’s personal story and the war blend together beautifully. The wounds, surgical procedures and occasional battle scenes a graphically described, but Oliveira’s use of them is not gratuitous. The horror of is evident, but the book is not preachy. Give it a shot; it’s excellent.

Side note: Oliveira mentions Louisa May Alcott’s writings about her time as a Civil War nurse as one of her sources. Presumably, she means Hospital Sketches which I’m planning to read soon. I’m looking forward to seeing how Alcott influenced Oliveira.

Book #15 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate had me enthralled and annoyed – often at the same time. Magical realism can be wonderful and Esquivel writing is wonderful when she intertwines love and food. However, I kept being frustrated by the manner in which some characters acted and the choices made by others. Mama Elena was, well, wretched. Pedro, the love of Tita’s life, was selfish, and apparently not very bright. As for Tita herself, she had my sympathy, to a point.

The characters I liked best were Tita’s sister Gertrudis and Dr. John Brown. Gertrudis finds her place in the world, albeit after a false start or two. John is the only person in the story who places what Tita wants ahead of his own desires.

It’s a magical book (and the recipes sound amazing) but it will never be one of my favorites.

Marlee Maitlin won her Oscar for a supporting role in the movie version of Children of a Lesser God.

#34: I just read Alcott's Hospital Sketches recently and enjoyed it. I will be interested in seeing what you think of the book when you are done with it.

26: Excellent review of Hawksmoor! I might have enjoyed the book more than you did, and I am considering reading it again (I am still frustrated by the ending--what exactly happened?! 1001 Books says that it was a "spectacular ending"--what??)

Anyway, you've been doing some great reading, and I will definitely be back to see where you are. BTW, I do plan on reading more Lord Peter Wimseys--it's nice to have your recommendation!

Karen O.

I'm glad you read that book about the long minor league ballgame for TIOLI. I'm reading it now (about one-third of the way through) and really enjoying it.

>36 mamzel: Mamzel, I thought she'd won the Oscar for that. It's one of those movies I've just never seen -- the library or Netflix will provide....

> I'm going to try to get Hospital Sketches in this month....

> 38 I'm impressed that you're thinking of trying Hawksmoor again -- I'm not ready to do that! I've been thinking about the ending and I'll post my thoughts on your thread.

>39 lindapanzo: I'm so glad you decided to read Bottom of the 33rd. I'll be interested to hear what another baseball fan thinks about it. I'm sorry I didn't read another baseball book this month for your TIOLI Challenge.

Book #16 The Circulation of Children: Kinship, Adoption and Morality in Andean Peru by Jessaca B. Leinaweaver

If you’ve thought about reading an ethnography or an ‘academic’ anthropology book but hesitated for whatever reason, this may be the book for you.

In The Circulation of Children: Kinship, Adoption and Morality in Andean Peru, Jessaca B. Leinweaver looks at how children in Ayachuco, Peru may be informally placed outside of their nuclear families with members of their extended families. The households into which the children may be placed or loaned may be those of blood relatives or those who are kin via compadrazo (co-parenting, God parenting). Similar types of child circulation are common to indigenous communities throughout the Andes, but in Ayachuco the legacy of violence as the birthplace of the Shining Path movement has increased the role of another option: orphanages.

Historically, there has always someone to take in orphaned children: relatives or compadrazos. During the years of the Shining Path and government reprisals, thousands upon thousands of people were killed and entire villages destroyed. Indigenous populations bore the brunt of the assault. When children were orphaned, sometimes there was no one left able or willing to care for them and the children were placed in institutions. Although the violence in the Ayachuco region has ended, orphanages have become a part of the child circulation system as a temporary care solution. Where there are orphanages, there are non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government bureaucracies and international adoptions. NGOs and the Peruvian government don’t always recognize that a family placing a child with others isn’t necessarily abandonment: in most cases, it’s an attempt to find some better opportunity for the child. The best of intentions, however, do not ensure a positive outcome.

The Circulation of Children is one of the most accessible ethnographies I’ve ever read. In fact, it won the 2010 Margaret Mead Award, jointly sponsored by the Society for Applied Anthropology and American Anthropology Society, which is given to a ‘young’ scholar whose work has a meaningful appeal to non-scholars.

Anyone thinking about an international adoption from Peru should read The Circulation of Children (note that Leinaweaver isn’t anti-adoption, but she is concerned about the lack of assistance that leads to children being available for adoption). Also, anyone who will be living or volunteering in the Andes would have a much greater understanding of rural family structure after reading it. And then, of course, anyone with an interest in anthropology, ethnography, indigenous peoples or Peru would potentially find reading book an illuminating experience.

Book #17 The Drunken Forest by Gerald Durrell

Gerald Durrell’s The Drunken Forest is the story of a specimen collecting trip he and his wife Jacquie took to Argentina and Paraguay in early 1950s on behalf of several zoos in Great Britain. I read it on a whim to meet a TIOLI Challenge and found it to be an unexpected delight.

Durrell possesses not only a true gift for writing (which must run in the family as his brother was author and editor Lawrence Durrell) but also a sincere love of animals. The birds, mammals and reptiles in the book are described with great affection and humor. I think it was the humor that surprised me most; I hadn’t anticipated The Drunken Forest being funny. I thoroughly enjoyed his depictions of the antics of the ‘bichos’ (animals) and the landscapes around him.

Later in his life, Durrell became unhappy with the conditions in which many animals live in zoos (although the zoo he founded bears his name since his death) and he turned efforts toward conservation. When I felt uncomfortable with the methods of capture or other treatment of his acquisitions, I remind myself standards have changed and this is not the book he would have written in later years. This applies, too, to some of the descriptions of individuals he met, particularly non Europeans.

This is a wonderful, charming book. Give it a shot.

#35 - It looks like we felt more or less the same way about the characters in Like Water For Chocolate. It was worth reading, but won't be a favorite of mine either.

The Drunken Forest sounds like one I'd enjoy. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

I really enjoyed My Family and Other Animals by Durrell and look forward to reading other books by him.

#42: I wish my local library had that one because, like Morphy, I very much enjoyed My Family and Other Animals.

>43 antqueen:

I read your review and we do agree on how annoying some of those characters were. I may read it again, though, if I get ambitious enough to try it en espanol....

>44 Morphidae:, 45

I'll have to get My Family and Other Animals -- I can't believe I've never come across this Durrell before. Thanks for the suggestion.

#34 only yesterday I read/listened to Hospital Sketches and found it to be a really interesting and descriptive insight into Alcott's time as an Army Nurse, some of the things she describes could still apply to aspects of modern nursing today.

Read via Internet Archive through a link from Stbalbach's review

It would probably either fit into TIOLI June challenges 21(short works) or maybe even 11(workplace)

Book #18 This Our Dark Country: the American Settlers of Liberia by Catherine Reef

I requested This Our Dark Country: the American Setters of Liberia from another location in our library system not realizing that while some branches had it listed in adult nonfiction, it is clearly a work for young adults. Many YA nonfiction works can be a good introduction to a subject, so I decided to read it anyway. I’m left with mixed feelings as to whether or not it was time well spent.

Liberia was colonized by former slaves and other free blacks, primarily from the United States. The book does a nice job explaining the origins of the plan and the mechanics of movement of individuals and families from the U.S. to the West Coast of Africa. The temporal focus of the work is the 19th century, with the last chapter covering 20th and 21st century issues.

Once I accustomed myself to the near complete lack of complex sentence structure, This Our Dark Country was pleasant and easy to read. I was left wondering, though, is this all our high school students can handle? I was also disturbed by the lack of citation / endnotes used. Citations / endnotes were given only for direct quotes, and at that, they were not marked in the body of the work itself. No sub or superscript numbers were given to even hint to the reader that a corresponding endnote was in the back of the book. Even worse, throughout the work there are instances of statistics or complex ideas that the author must have found either in original sources or the works of others that are not cited. For example, on p. 31 statistics are given about survival rates for newcomers to Liberia, but no source for the information is given. On p. 57 there is a brief discussion about local, traditional child circulation practices and possible native resentment of the fact that the colonizers failed to reciprocate. While I found this to be one of the most interesting issues brought up in the chapter, the lack citation leaves my with little chance to determine where the author read a description of the child circulation practice. There is a bibliography, but without acknowledgement of which work provided which facts its usefulness is greatly reduced.

In an era when plagiarism is endemic in high schools and colleges, it astounds me that anyone would publish a work for students that is such a complete failure in giving credit where credit is due. Because of this problem, I cannot recommend This Our Dark Country to anyone.

>47 kerryth:

I'm really looking forward to Hospital Sketches -- it will probably be June before I get to it.

Your suggestion of the short works challenge is a good one -- it also fits the equal number of letters challenge. I'm not sure where I'll put it....

Thanks for the Internet Archive link. I've already got Hospital Sketches out from the library, but Internet Archive is a great resource.

Thanks, Kerry, for dropping by!

Book #19 Bel-Air Dead by Stuart Woods

Horrors – Arrington is back. If you’ve read many of Stuart Wood’s Stone Barrington novels you’ll know who I’m talking about. Fortunately, this Arrington/Stone reunion isn’t as fraught as some have been.

In fact, I’d have to say that this particular Stone novel has virtually no character development; it’s all action of one sort or another. It’s fast paced, fun and pretty much what Stone fans will expect; it’s popcorn for the mind.

Book #20 Polo in the United States: A History by Horace Laffaye

This book was received as part of LT's Early Reviewer Program.

Horace A. Laffaye’s Polo in the United States: A History is an information dense tribute to the development of polo in the U.S. Divided into four chronological sections with chapters on individual topics such as ‘Polo During the Depression’, ‘Women’s Polo in America’ and ‘American Polo in Art’, Laffaye covers his subject with both depth and breath.

This book is not, however, a successful historical narrative; only the most determined of polo fans will enjoy reading this book straight through. Particularly in the early chapters, the bulk of the information is lists of names and dates. Fortunately, by using a wide range of sources, Laffaye enlivens his chapters with bits of biography, entertaining anecdotes and even the occasional foray into genealogy. Polo in the United States is best dipped into a chapter at a time or used a reference. The extensive bibliography is a tremendous resource, especially when coupled with the chapter ‘The Literature of Polo in the United States’.

I particularly enjoyed the stories about individual polo players, both men and women. I hadn’t realized the importance of the Army in the development of Polo in the U.S. or that the sport was played in so many parts of the country. The final chapter ‘Current Polo Issues in the United States” was very engaging. Anyone with an interest in the development of sport in the U.S. or who is researching or writing about the individuals who may have played polo or the locales in which it was popular, will find this book invaluable.

There are, however, a few points that should be raised. There are errors in the endnotes. For example, in the endnotes for Chapter 1, three notes have been omitted. There are 42 superscript notes in the chapter, but there are only 39 citations in the endnotes (the error appears to begin at note 29). Also, there is a clear typo in note 7 for Chapter 15: 1912 instead of 1812. There are errors in the Index as well. On page 393 there is a listing for ‘Wales, Charles, Prince of’ which gives no page number. Two entries below that, Edward is misspelled ‘Edwaerd’. While these mistakes do not materially detract from the value of work, is seems odd to have such careless errors in an otherwise beautifully presented volume.

I had a similar reaction to Like Water for Chocolate. And The Drunken Forest brings back memories: I read most of Gerald Durrell in my teens, starting with My family and other animals - I loved his descriptions of life as an animal-obsessed child growing up on a Greek island and his comic accounts of the doings of his family.

>52 gennyt:
I picked up a copy of Durrell's Two in the Bush from a fundraising table at the grocery store. I'm really looking forward to reading it! So many folks read him in their teens; I don't know how I missed him before this.

Book #21 Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance

Poor Cassie: she never seems to get any downtime. Hunt the Moon, the fifth installment of Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series, is non-stop action. With her coronation as Pythia scheduled in mere two weeks, Cassie is busier than ever. As if assassination attempts and overly protective Master vampires weren’t enough, she has to deal with something even worse: a public relations rep.

I occasionally wished that the action would slow down long enough for a little more time with the characters, but as always, I loved the book. Part of the reason I’m so crazy about this series is that no matter what, Cassie is upbeat and ever resourceful. Disaster may loom, but Cassie keeps on trying. The overall tone of the series is optimistic; sometimes her adventures are even laugh out loud funny.

If you’re new to the series, don’t start with this one. Begin at the beginning; you won’t regret it.

Book #22 Mourning Gloria by Susan Wittig Albert

I usually enjoy each entry in Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series, but for some reason Mourning Gloria just didn’t do much for me. I can’t pinpoint what was missing; it just didn’t engage my attention.

That said, it was still a well written mystery with enjoyable characters and I’ll be looking forward to the next installment in this long running series.

Book #23 The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte

While preparing a 15th century painting for auction, Julia, an art restorer, discovers a hidden message: who killed the knight? Caught up in solving the historical mystery, Julia finds herself in modern one; someone is murdering people connected with her and the artwork. The question then becomes who and why would someone kill over a 400 year old painting?

Thirty pages into this book I thought I’d struck gold in my TBR mountain. A third of the way through the book I realized that it was going to be good at best. By the time I was two thirds finished, I was ready to quit reading and would have if the book hadn’t been relatively short.

I was captivated by the historical mystery. Unfortunately, it was solved fairly quickly. For a book billed as a novel of suspense, there was little suspense and even fewer thrills to be had. What’s more, Perez-Reverte seemed to be indifferent about some of his characters and actively disliked the rest. He certainly showed no compassion for their foibles and was vicious in some of his descriptions. I wasn’t bothered by the extensive use of chess as the key to the mystery solving, but perhaps I would have been more engaged if I were a more expert player.

I can’t recommend this book; I honestly don’t understand how it came to be a bestseller anywhere.

Book #24 Opposites Attract by Nora Roberts

Opposites Attract is a contemporary romance from 1984 when all Nora Roberts wrote was romances. It has a strong tennis theme; the version I read actually had a tennis terms glossary. Fortunately, I’ve played enough tennis that I didn’t need to refer to it during the match descriptions, but a reader with no knowledge of tennis could skip those sections without any loss to the plot. This is a fun, low key, quick reading romance – fluff.

My suggestion: accept it for what it is and enjoy.

I've read so many different mystery series but, for some reason, have never read any by Susan Wittig Albert. I need to give these a try.

I have not heard of Karen Chance's books. I will have to give them a shot. Thanks for the recommendation of the series.

Book #25 Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling by Charles Allen

In the Preface of Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling author Charles Allen mentions how very obsessive Kipling was about his privacy and the lengths to which he went (demanding letters from old correspondents, burning them and his old notebooks, etc.) to protect it. I felt a qualm about reading on; if he was so determined to protect his personal life, was it somehow disrespectful to read about it? I decided to persevere, and I’m glad I did.

Focusing on Kipling’s life until age thirty-five (when Kim was published), the greatest strength of Allen’s work is the placement of Kipling’s poems, short stories, and eventually books into the context of his life. Allen lays the groundwork of Kipling’s parents’ meeting, his birth and early years in India, his schoolboy days in England and finally his return to India. Allen then is able to correlate Kipling’s progress as a journalist, his family life and his travels with his published works. Fortunately, Allen does not assume a thorough knowledge of Kipling’s works, but describes and quotes from them enough to ensure that the reader understands how they relate to Kipling’s development.

There are fascinating tidbits throughout the book. Kipling’s mother Alice McDonald, was one of four sisters, daughters of a Methodist clergyman. Amazingly, all four sisters married men and/or produced sons who were quite famous in their own fields (I’ll be reading Circle of Sisters about the four sister soon). The descriptions of the summer social whirl in Simla are captivating and I was intrigued to learn that Kipling, a man of few intimate friends, became a close friend to writer H. Rider Haggard.

Having read Kipling Sahib I will go back and reread his works bolstered by a new understanding of their author. Highly recommended.

>58 lindapanzo: The China Bayles series will never be one of my favorites, but I almost always enjoy a visit to Pecan Springs, Texas, the little bit of world Albert has created. If you enjoy the series you'll have plenty to read; Mourning Gloria was the 19th!

>59 alcottacre: The Cassandra Palmer books are one of my favorite urban fantasy series. I find I'm just not willing to read the really dark urban fantasies; Cassie makes me smile. BTW, Touch the Dark is the first.

Hi, Dejah_Thoris! Thanks for the review of the Rudyard Kipling biography. I recently read Kim and enjoyed it; I think this biography looks like a good read! Going to go right now and see if my library has it; if not, ILL!

Karen O.

Hey Karen -- It would be great to hear another person's opinion of the book. I didn't know that much about Kinpling (although I'd read a lot of his work years ago) and I found myself just fascinated; I was particularly surprised to learn how young he was when he started writing.

I hope you're able to get a copy -- and I look forward to your thoughts!

#60: Thanks for the review and recommendation of that one. I will see if my local library has a copy.

>64 alcottacre:

Stasia -- I hope you can get a copy -- and that you enjoy it!

Book #26 Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton

I'm not going to write a full review of Hit List, the 20th book in the Anita Blake series. It has more plot than some, less sex than others. It will make no sense to someone who hasn't read the series, but it should be what most readers will expect.

It's not great literature -- just put your mind in neutral, activate your willing suspension of disbelief and read.

BTW, the cover art is horrible -- so bad, in fact, that I've posted it to the Wiki for the Awful Cover Art Challenge.

Book #27 La Catastrophe: The Eruption of Mount Pelée, the Worst Volcanic Disaster of the 20th Century by Alwyn Scarth

I was fully prepared to like La Catastrophe: The Eruption of Mount Pelée, the Worst Volcanic Disaster of the 20th Century by Alwyn Scarth and I did: just not as much as I hoped. Scarth is a Professor of Geography in Scotland has written several books about volcanoes and volcanic eruptions. In La Catastrophe he looks at the French colony of Martinique immediately before during and after deadly eruption of 1902. Scarth does a nice job discussing the social / racial divide on the island, particular as it pertained to the eruption and its aftermath. Scarth also makes very clear how, at the time, very little was known of the mechanics volcanoes; anyone on Martinique making predictions about the eruption was indulging in ill-informed guesswork. Certainly, the powers that be on the island had no reason to think that the city of Saint-Pierre and 26,000 people would be wiped out in a matter of minutes by a pyroclastic flow on May 8th.

Scarth does a particularly fine job explaining the development of the eruption and the warning signs that no one understood. Unfortunately, much of this information is presented in sidebars. Initially, I like the use of sidebars, but came to find them annoying as they disrupted the flow of the narrative. Much of the information they included could have been integrated into the main text.

Also, Scarth, for undisclosed reasons, chooses to use the French term nuée ardente (incandescent or glowing cloud) in place of the more common pyroclastic flow. Granted, he may have decided to use the French phrase while discussing the Mount Pelée eruption of 1902 because it was the term popularized after the disaster; the preferred modern term pyroclastic flow came into usage later. What I fail to understand, however, is why a professor who works in Great Britain and is writing for the Oxford University Press in English, never once uses the term pyroclastic flow nor explains that it and nuée ardente are one and the same. Why potentially confuse the reader?

In addition, Scarth points out that his conclusions about the actions of the local government throughout the eruption counter those of others who have written on the topic. Certainly, his conclusions seem reasonable, but the lack of footnotes, endnotes or parenthetical citations makes it difficult for the reader to make his or her own evaluation of his sources. There is a bibliography, but it is difficult to connect fact to source.

La Catastrophe is a good, if flawed, overview of the deadliest volcanic disaster of the 20th century.

#65: No such luck, unfortunately.

#67: I am lucky with that one though - the local college library has it.

#60 Kipling Sahib has gone on the wishlist - thanks for the review.

The volcano books sounds good. For most years, in my category challenge, I have a disaster category. This year, I'm taking a vacation from disaster books, though sometimes I can't help myself.

I will add it to my list for when I feel like reading disaster books again.

Found you & starred! Hunt the Moon was a hoot. I can't wait for the next one! I've decided to buy the series, and I'm rereading the first book, which seemed a bit thin on my first reading. I'm enjoying it so much more now that Chance has developed the characters through several volumes.

The Kipling bio does look interesting. Thanks for the review!

Book #28 Uncharted Territory by Connie Willis

I’m a huge Connie Wills fan, but that doesn’t mean that I love everything she writes. One of her books is on my top ten list while another I refused to even finish. Most of her work I like very much. Uncharted Territory I simply liked.

The first third or so was incredibly annoying, but once she hit her stride and stopped the world building/situation setup and focused on the characters, it improved markedly. If you like Willis, it’s worth reading.

>69 souloftherose: Stasia, I'm sorry your library system doesn't have Kipling Sahib -- actually, I'm a little surprised mine did! I hope you enjoy La Catastrophe if you get a chance to read it.

>70 lindapanzo: Linda, I have to admit that I have a fondness for disaster books, too: volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes....

La Catastrophe really is good, even though I got nit picky in the review. Because I've read volcano books before (disaster! disaster!) I'd at least heard of the 1902 eruption (I think in reference to pyroclastic flow) but I had no idea it had been so deadly. I may have to go on a volcano book binge this summer...

>71 Cynara: Thanks for finding my thread, Cynara! I really love the Cassie books -- they're just so much fun! I think I actually own all of the series except the first: Touch the Dark. I'm a rereader and these have become comfort reads for me. Sadly, it'll probably be 2012 before we see another Dorina or Cassie book. Fortunately, Karen Chance does write short stories; I think anther collection she's in is coming out soon.

The Kipling bio was a real surprise -- I enjoyed it far, far more than I thought I would.

#72: I had not heard of that one by Willis before. I will look for it. Thanks for the recommendation!

#72 I've only read two books by Connie Willis (To Say Nothing of the Dog and Doomsday Book) - I'm curious which book of hers made your top ten and which you couldn't finish.

I've got a few others in my TBR pile as well.

#73 I love disaster books of all kinds, the more unusual, the better. Among my recent favorites were books about the ships that collided and then exploded in Halifax harbor and about the avalanche that buried a train in the Pacific Northwest.

When I got together with LTers for our meet-up this spring, they were teasing me about this a bit when I told them about my book (still haven't read it) about the molasses flood. They thought that people could probably just outrun the molasses.

Book #29 Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey (TIOLI #1, Cat #9)
Donkey-skin by Charles Perrault (TIOLI #21)

I hadn’t realized that the new Mercedes Lackey Elemental Masters novel Unnatural Issue was out until I saw it on the New Books shelf at the library. Curious as to what fairy tale she was working with this time, I scanned the inside cover blurb and quickly determined that it was Donkey-skin by Charles Perrault.

The only reason I’m aware of Donkey-skin is because it is also the basis for Robin McKinley’s excellent, if dark, Deerskin. Generally speaking, the story goes like this: King loses beloved wife, goes mad with grief, notices his long ignored daughter is as beautiful as her late mother and decides to marry her. The Princess escapes and eventually finds happiness.

In Unnatural Issue, Richard Whitestone, an Earth Master, loses his wife to childbirth. He becomes unhinged by his grief and shuts himself up in his country house, seeing no one but his housekeeper and solicitor. Over the years, he begins to dabble in evil necromancy and decides to bring his wife back in a suitable body. His daughter Susanne, who he blames, in part, for his wife’s death, has been raised by / as one of the servants. He spies his daughter from a window (apparently for the first time) and notices her striking resemblance to his dead wife. He decides Susanne will be the perfect receptacle for his wife’s recovered soul. And so the story goes.

I was delighted to find that Lord Peter Almsley (Lackey’s homage to Dorothy Sayers and her creation Lord Peter Wimsey) was a major character in this book (Almsley previously appeared in The Serpent’s Shadow). I was having such a good time catching all the Wimsey references (physical descriptions almost verbatim from the Lord Peter books, his brother the Duke, French relatives Delacroix instead of Delagardie, references to opera singers, Basque shepherds, etc.) that it took me a while to notice that I wasn’t as enthralled as I usually am by Lackey’s work. The story picked up by the last third or so the book and parts of it were wonderful. For me this was merely a good entry into the Elemental Master’s series, but far from the best. Any fan of Lackey or the series should definitely read it.

I’d like to make a pitch here for Robin McKinley’s Deerskin. It is extremely well, done, but be warned that there is actual sexual abuse / incest before the Princess escapes and her healing is long and painful. She does heal and eventually finds happiness and her father gets his well-deserved comeuppance. I’ve reread the Deerskin, but I confess there are parts I skip; they’re just too painful to read more than once.

BTW, I’ve added Donkey-skin to TIOLI Challenge #21, short works. It’s available here at Project Gutenberg, if you want to join me in a very short shared read.

I have Unnatural Issue on hold at the library and ready for pickup. Glad it's a good, if not great, Lackey entry. She's so uneven.

>75 souloftherose: You asked, souloftherose, so here it is.

I have to admit I don’t actually have at top ten list – I’ve avoided making one. But I can say that if I did, Doomsday Book would be on it. I know not everyone cares for it, but I love it. I’m fond of To Say Nothing of the Dog because it deals with the same technology as Doomsday Book but with a light touch and great humor – and some romantic screwball comedy. And, of course, there’s the Lord Peter / Harriet Vane theme that runs through it….

The first book of Willis’ I read was the marvelous Water Witch she wrote with Cynthia Felice. It’s light, it’s fun and it’s entertaining. On the other hand, I consider the other Willis / Felice collaboration Light Raid to be unreadable. The other work I didn’t finish was Passage. Many people liked it (it received many nominations) but I did not care for it, to put it mildly.

The second book of hers I read was Lincoln’s Dreams. I think it’s brilliant and I still own a copy, but I’ve never reread it; I found it very disturbing. Maybe with the sesquicentennial of the Civil War it’s time to read it again. Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that.

I’ll resist telling you what I think of everything I've ever read by Connie Willis. I’ve probably already shared more than you really wanted to know!

>76 lindapanzo:

Hey Linda --

It just occurs to me that part of the reason I like Doomsday Book (re #79) so much is because it’s a disaster book – a plague / influenza epidemic book. This is also probably the reason why the only Stephen King book I’ve ever read is The Stand….

Speaking of disasters, the Mets are currently beating my Braves – I mean really, the Mets?

I love the idea of the molasses flood, so I checked my library system and found it – Dark Tide, right? It would fit the equal number of letters challenge for TIOLI, but I don’t know if I can get to it this month.

>78 Morphidae:

I agree; Mercedes Lackey can be uneven; some of her series I don’t even bother with.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Elemental Masters series, but they’re still fun to read. I hope you enjoy Unnatural Issue. Hooray for libraries!

I loved Doomsday Book too as well as Willis' Blackout and All Clear.

> 82

I loved them, too. Six years seemed like such a long wait between Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, but then to wait another 12 for Blackout / All Clear seemed almost interminable!

I think Willis has a marvelous gift for writing about people, regardless of the setting.

What do you think, will there be more time travel novels, or has she effectively closed that curtain?

I do not see how she could top that last duology honestly and I hope she does not try!

I'm so far behind on my reviews, it's pathetic. Here's a start.

Book #30 Hedwig and the Angry Inch text by John Cameron Michael, music and lyrics by Stephen Trask (TIOLI #24, Cat #7)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a cult hit, rock musical that is essentially a monologue by the band's transgendered lead singer Hedwig.

Much has been written about Hedwig and the Angry Inch (although admittedly not on LT) so I’m going to keep it short. It’s a show about acceptance of oneself and acceptance of oneself by others. Change that to loving oneself and being loved by others and it would still fit. The show is painful and poignant and powerful, particularly the songs. I was especially struck by “The Origin of Love,” “Wig in a Box” and “Wicked Little Town.”

If you only read a musical you miss a great deal of what’s going on, so, I read it in conjunction with watching the 2000 film. They did a great job with the movie (not unexpected since John Cameron Mitchell, the writer and star was at the helm) and I recommend it. But don’t skip a copy of the text, or at least of the song lyrics; I wouldn’t have appreciated some of the songs as much if I hadn’t been able to read and reread the words.

Book #31 Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther (TIOLI #5, Cat #4)

Mrs. Miniver is a largely innocuous series of vignettes written for a London newspaper from sometime in 1937 to very early in WWII. Published in book form it was very popular both in Great Britain and in the United States. The tales are primarily of family life and capture an idealized vision of English womanhood. Later in the series, the threat of war appears, for example, in a conversation about accepting evacuees from London or in a sketch about the family collecting their gas masks. There’s also an interesting emphasis that unlike in WWI, it’s important to realize that the fight is against the German government, not the German people. This seems to be a backlash against excessive hatred against all things German at the time of the Great War.

In all truth, the eponymous film has more to offer: a plot and Greer Garson. The screenwriters did a great job turning Mrs. Miniver into a cohesive story that roused support for Britain while the U.S. was still neutral. The screenwriters earned their Academy Award.

A word of warning: there are two instances of what I will call an unfortunate word choice, once in reference to a toy black infant in a crib and the other to a minstrel show. When I came upon the word, particularly for the first time, I found it completely jarring and distasteful and totally at odds with the pleasant story in which it appeared. I did what I usually do when finding inappropriate language or depictions in older works: I looked at in in context, thanked the Universe that things have changed and that such usage is no longer acceptable, and I moved on. If choose to read the book, know it’s coming.

Book #32 One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland

This book was pretty much what I expected it to be: just like her other time travel romances. There were no big surprises and plenty of characters form previous novels. If I’d been in the right mood, I would have enjoyed this no effort required, guaranteed happy ending tale more than I did.

Book #33 Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (TIOLI #18, Cat #9)

The Kate Daniels books are one of my favorite urban fantasy series. Kate has finally settled down with Curran, the Beast Lord – well, she trying, anyway – and is still attempting to keep her parentage a secret. Only, as she finds out, it’s less of a secret than she thought. As usual, there are bad nasties defeat and personal situations to work through – Kate comes through in spades.

Kate’s life isn’t easy, but she’s tough, determined and thoroughly competent. I like that in an urban fantasy heroine and I eagerly await each new entry in this series. I try anything the author duo Ilona Andrews wants to write.

Okay, that's it. I've ordered Magic Bites from the library. There have been too many recommendations for this series.

Dejah!! I've finally discovered your thread. You've been reading some amazing books and no less than 6 have been added to my wishlist. I've got you starred now and will certainly stop by again.

>90 Morphidae:
I’m so glad you’re going to give the Kate Daniel series a try, Morphy. The series isn’t perfect; not all the books are equally good and there are a few places where I skim on rereads. But there’s something about Kate and her world that has really grabbed me – and makes me willing to forgive flaws. I hope you enjoy Magic Bites so much that you read them all. I’ll be looking forward to your review.

>91 Carmenere:
There are so many threads I'm amazed you found me! In the two months or so that I’ve been on LT I’ve been sampling threads and watching the TIOLI Challenges to figure out which other LTers are most likely to be reading interesting stuff / books I’m likely to be interested in. I’d pegged you and Morphy (and a few others) as readers to watch; I’m glad to know my reading is interesting to you, too.

I’m still incredibly far behind on my reviews – and on keeping up with other people’s threads. Not to mention the fact that I’m still scrambling to finish some June TIOLI Challenges. I’m planning to get caught up so I can have a fresh start in July….

I've placed a star so I can find my way back here, you're reading a lot of great books and I am sure my regular visting will add even more books to my bulging wish list. I've already taken note of Unnatural Issue and Mrs. Miniver!

Thank you for visitng and your kind words, DeltaQueen! I already have your thread starred and you have contributed to my wish list, too.

Mrs. Miniver is a hoot -- so very English. Unnatural Issue really isn't Lackey's best, but watching for all the LPW references made it fun for me, anyway.

Book #34 Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (TIOLI #21)

I had hoped to read Hospital Sketches for a TIOLI Challenge in May, but I wasn’t able to fit it in. Happily, it counts for a June Challenge, too.

Hospital Sketches is the result of Louisa May Alcott’s short stint as a Civil War nurse in Washington, D.C. It is both entertaining and poignant; it’s very understandable why it was popular. The version I read had an Introduction fully half the length of Alcott’s writings, which I didn’t mind because it was useful for placing the work in Alcott’s life and in comparison to other similar contemporary accounts.

Robin Oliveira mentions Hospital Sketches in the Forward of her very good My Name is Mary Sutter. Any reader who enjoyed one should certainly give the other a try.

Book #35 State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy (TIOLI #9)

People have been telling me to give Julie Hyzy’s State of the Onion a try for quite a while now. Well, I finally did and I can’t help but wonder what took me so long.

Ollie Paras works in the White House kitchen and has hopes of becoming the Executive Chef. After inadvertently foiling a White House intruder, Ollie becomes embroiled in preventing terrorist plots, putting her life and her chances at promotion in jeopardy. Tom, the Secret Service agent she’s secretly dating, doesn’t approve of her involvement – big surprise.

This series opener was a lot of fun and a nice twist on the traditional cozy murder mystery. I liked it so much that I’ve already read the second in the series – I just haven’t caught up with my reviews, yet.

Book #36 Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich (Cat #9)

I’m not going to write much about Smokin’ Seventeen because, frankly, you either like the over the top goofiness of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books or you don’t. It’s life as usual for Stephanie: stalkers (including the guy her Mother wants for a son-in-law), indecision over Morelli and Ranger and another car destroyed. Ranger fans will be pleased by his presence is this chapter of Steph’s life, although I admit I’m not at all sure where Evanovich is going to go with it.

I was reading Smokin’ Seventeen while I was on a 45 minute phone call with my cable/internet service company: about 35 minutes of that was spent on hold. Stephanie’s antics made me forget the Muzak and probably kept me from biting the service representative and his supervisor’s heads off (figuratively speaking). Anything that can me smile while I was that annoyed is worth reading.

Book #37 Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy (TIOLI #9)

Hail to the Chef, the second of Julie Hyzy’s Ollie Paras White House Chef mysteries, was as good as the first. It seems that Ollie has an eye for incendiary devices, and amazing pyrotechnics result. I was a little surprised that there wasn’t more development of some of the secondary characters, but sometimes series take a long time before everyone is fully fleshed out. I have to say, though, that I can’t help but feel the Secret Service Agent Tom won’t be Ollie’s boyfriend for long. Not only was he present only rarely in book two, he spends most of the time he’s around (in both books) complaining about Ollie’s activities and stressing that their relationship must be kept secret. We’ll see how long he lasts….

Book #38 Heartless by Gail Carriger (Cat #9)

I do like the Alexia Tarabotti / Parasol Protectorate books, although I didn’t think that Changeless or Blameless held up to debut, Soulless. The fourth installment, Heartless, however, slips easily into place as my second favorite in the series.

Once again, Alexia’s in danger. Actually, the Hives want to kill Alexia and Lord Maccon’s child, but as Alexia is eight months pregnant, at the moment they’re a package deal. In addition to staving off threats to her person, she most also prevent a possible assassination attempt on the Queen, puzzle out the reappearance of octopi in London, and generally solve problems for assorted friends and relations. Mayhem ensues.

If you liked the other books in the series, you certainly should enjoy this one.

Book #39 This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection by Carol Burnett (TIOLI #15)

This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection by Carol Burnett was wonderful. The series of vignettes, most only a few pages long, are funny and touching; some actually had me laughing out loud. I particularly enjoyed the stories about the years the Carol Burnett Show was on the air and her early success in New York City.

Highly recommended.

Book #40 Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch (Cat #8)

First and foremost, Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch was tremendous fun to read. On her way home from jury duty, the unfortunately named Katherine ‘Kitty’ Katt comes across a ‘monster’ killing people left and right. Armed only with her Mont Blanc pen, Kitty kills the aggressor and immediately finds her recruited by gorgeous men in Armani suits from a secret government organization. The gorgeous men (and as she finds out later, women) are aliens who are protecting the people of Earth from, well, other aliens.

It’s not great literature, but this chick lit / science fiction / sexy romance is very entertaining. It’s also very flawed. For example, Kitty, a marketing manager, occasionally shows flashes brilliance at risk assessment and data synthesis / analysis, while the rest of the time she’s only moderately bright. The command structure for the alien group is rather odd; willing suspension of disbelief is stretched to its limits repeatedly. Nevertheless, I’m willing to forgive a lot for a fun book.

I’m a little concerned, though, that what is tolerable in a single book might become untenable over multiple books. As I write this, the third in the series has recently been published. I guess I’ll just have to give the next book a try.

Oooh! Heartless is out! I'm glad you enjoyed it; that gives me hope.

Glad to hear that you liked the Carol Burnett book.

98: Dejah, I just read the first in the Ollie Paras series, and didn't like her boyfriend, Tom, at all. I thought he would be history by the end of the book (if I had written the book, he would have been)! Thanks for posting a review of the second book, because I'd really like to read it to see if the series improves.

Karen O.

Thanks for the review of State of the Onion etc - I'd not come across that series, but it sounds fun (and having watched my way a couple of times through 'The West Wing' I would enjoy seeing the White House depicted from a different angle!

I am currently reading the third book in the Carriger series. I really look forward to book #4. Glad to see that you enjoyed it.

Wow -- I was out of town for 10+ days with limited time to be online and I am so behind -- on everyone's threads as well as my own!

gennyt -- The White House Chef series is fun mainly because it's different. I hope you enjoy it.

Stasia -- The Gail Carriger books seem to divide folks, but I'm glad that you like them as I do!

#107: Oh, yeah. I have had good fun with the series.

I said that I was going to do it before, but now I really am -- I'm going to get caught up, even if it means only writing only a few sentences per book.

Book #41 The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (TIOLI #1, Cat #8)

This was a good British mystery, starring archaeologist Ruth Galloway. I was put off by the constant harping on weight issues and famliy pressures early in the book, but the end result was very satisfactory. The developments in Ruth's personal life have the potential to be very interesting, indeed.

Book #42 Why I Hate Saturn by Kyle Baker (TIOLI #1)

This was the first graphic novel I ever read, given to me as a gift in the early 1990s. I haven't read it in many, many years and it was kind of fun to revisit it and the clothes and nightlife of the late '80s - early '90s. I think I may appreciate it more now, having lived in NYC, than I did then. Fun.

Book #43 The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (TIOLI #18)

This follow up to The Crossing Places was good, but not quite as good as I hoped it would be. The mystery felt a little thin -- but still interesting. A new character was introduced, who I hope will show up in further outings, but I'm not sure which way the author is going to go with Ruth's love life....

Book #44 The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (TIOLI #5, Cat #4)

I hard to believe that I'd never read The Thin Man before. I throughly enjoyed it, although I have to admit that Nick and Nora's dialog in my head sounded remarkably like William Powell and Myrna Loy....

Book #45 Any Wednesday by Muriel Resnick (TIOLI #19, Cat #7)

Any Wednesday is a dated romantic comedy that had a very successful Broadway run starting in 1964. The premise is simple -- a women turning thrity has been in a long term relationship with a rich and powerful married man. The relationship has been conducted almost entirely on Wednesdays. What happens when a strange man and the wife show up at the woman's appartment, which is on the company books as a tax deduction?

It's a very slight comedy, but cute. For all that it's more than forty years old, there were a elements that still rang true.

Book #46 Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne (TIOLI #18, Cat #8)

This book was a disapointment. Tha main chatacter, Sophie Lawson, is a dithering idiot. I kept hoping that she'd get a grip and develop some personal strength, but she never did. Some of the ideas in the book were good, but derserved a better presentation -- and heroine. I seriously doubt I'll read the next in the series.

Book #47 The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke (TIOLI #3)

This is a beautical, lyrical, powerful, sexual and depressing book.

There have been some great reviews of The Polished Hoe written, so I'll keep my comments limited. This book made me think of a jigsaw puzzle: as you read, you're given puzzle pieces in random order, by different narrators. You have to pay close attention to put the pieces where they belong. You never get all the pieces, but you have enough that you know what the picture is, long before the story ends.

Book #48 A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Sonnets; (TIOLI #1, Cat #6)
eight sonnets from American Poetry: A Miscellany and
“The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver” all by Edna St. Vincent Millay

First Fig
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--
It gives a lovely light!

Edna St. Vincent Millay won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for three works / poems: A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Sonnets, which was later republished under a slightly different title); eight sonnets published in American Poetry: A Miscellany and “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver.”

I love her work. Her love poems often have a snarky edge -- they're maevelous. She also has no fear of works that seem to contradict each other in the same collection.

Grown-Up
Was it for this I uttered prayers,
And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,
That now, domestic as a plate,
I should retire at half-past eight?

She also writes of sorrow and loss, with great power. "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" is a beautiful almost fairytale like story of hunger and desperation. I understand it's been made into a children's book -- frankly, I can't imagine why anyone thought that was a good idea -- spoiler-- the mother dies, sacrificing herself for warm clothes for her child.

I must confess, though, that while I admire her very powerful works on darker topics, I prefer the snarky and the humorous. She is, btw, most famous for her sonnets.

from American Poetry: A Miscellany

VII
Oh, oh, you will be sorry for that word!
Give back my book and take my kiss instead.
Was it my enemy or my friend I heard?–
"What a big book for such a little head!"
Come, I will show you now my newest hat,
And you may watch me purse my mouth and prink.
Oh, I shall love you still and all of that.
I never again shall tell you what I think.

I shall be sweet and crafty, soft and sly;
You will not catch me reading any more;
I shall be called a wife to pattern by;
And some day when you knock and push the door,
Some sane day, not too bright and not too stormy,
I shall be gone, and you may whistle for me.

Book #49 Alien Tango by Gini Koch (TIOLI #1)

Alien Tango is more goofy fun from Gini Koch. Sex, romance, old boyfriends, new aliens -- and a lot of willing suspension of disbelief. It's entertaining, not brilliant.

I'm not certain why I find this series acceptable and something like Under Wraps not. I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'll keep reading the series.

Book #50 The Serialist by David Gordon (TIOLI #, Cat #8)

I was looking for a book to read for the Edgar July TIOLI Challenge and The Serialist jumped out at me. I recently read a review from some one here on LT (can't remember by whom at the moment -- edit -- it was DeltaQueen50) and decided to give it a shot.

I loved it. It's not for everyone -- it's not a cozy and it is, after all, about a serial killer. But it's also about a writer and reflects a tremendous love for genre fiction. By working passages from protagonist Harry Bloch's varied work, there's science fiction, vampires and (very) soft porn. I am certain that other LTers will find passages that speak to them, as they spoke to me as an avid, possibly obessesive, reader. On top of that, it's funny.

I'm not taking the time to write the review this book deserves -- give it a try, anyway. I doubt you'll regret it.

Hi Dejah, you may have read about The Serialist on my thread. It's a hard book to describe isn't it? I loved it as well, thought it was very original and funny.

You're right -- it was your thread. Thank you so much for pointing me to it. It was so unexpected -- and very to describe. I was very impressed by it and am looking forward to reading whatever David Gordon writes next.

I really wish my local library had the Elly Griffiths books. They look to be right up my alley.

Sounds like Edna St. Vincent Millay needs to be on my new poetry shelf to keep Caroline Kennedy's book company.

I'll also check my library for the Griffiths books. For mood, English mysteries are the best and one including archaeologists, well that's just my cup of tea.

BTW: I've just reserved The Crossing Places from my library. Just hope I can fit it in my reading schedule sometime soon.

>122 alcottacre:

It's an interesting series -- the next one comes out this fall, I believe. I hope your library picks up the series soon!

>123 Carmenere:
I saw that you'd read She Walks in Beauty for TIOLI #1, and while that title poem of Byron's isn't a favorite of mine, I've reserved the book from the library. Hopefully I'll get it read this month for a shared read with you.

Give Edna St. Vincent Millay a shot -- I really like her work. Oh, I admit not everything of her speaks to me, but so much of it does. I look forward to hearing what you think.

Book #51 Grave Dance by Kaylana Price (TIOLI #15, Cat #9)

Grave Dance is the second entrant in the Alex Craft urban fantasy series by Kalayna Price. Alex has a way with the dead; she’s a freelance necromancer. In the previous book, Grave Witch, Alex found out she’s part Fae and the Fae courts may be more interested in her than she might wish. Throw in some murder, the Fae Investigation Bureau and two interested male parties (a Fae assassin and a soul collector Alex calls ‘Death’) and you have a fairly interesting story.

The series isn’t great, but it shows promise.

Book #52 Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck (Cat #8)

I was disappointed by Glazed Murder the first Donut Shop Mystery by Jessica Beck. I can’t pinpoint why this cozy didn’t hold my attention, but I found myself not particularly caring what happened to the characters or what the solution to the mystery was. It wasn’t badly written; I just didn’t like it.

Book #53 Aliens in the Family by Gini Koch (Cat #9, also Cat #10, 38/0)

I wouldn’t have read this third book in Gini Koch’s Alien series so soon if I hadn’t been traveling. I was in the bookstore and wanted something really light and Aliens in the Family fit the bill.

Kitty is planning her wedding to Jeff, but his extended family is causing problems. It turns out Jeff is a possible heir to the throne of the planet from the aliens on Earth have been exiled. Kitty is apparently going to be vetted and in the process the couple is caught up in a play for the throne.

It was goofy, fun and entertaining, but it was not good urban fantasy; it’s more chick lit with an intergalactic flair. There appear to be several more to be published in the series, and I’ll probably read them when I’m in the right mood.

Book #54 A Witch in Time by Madelyn Alt (TIOLI #2)

A Witch in Time, the sixth installment of the Bewitching Mysteries series is pretty much like those that have come before it. I keep thinking that this series will evolve, that there will be more involved mysteries and/or that author Madelyn Alt will expand on the ‘Bewitching’ or paranormal elements she established early on, but somehow things never seem to change. At least main character Maggie has moved on from policeman Tom to the much more interesting Marcus Quinn. I honestly don’t know if I’ll be reading any more of this series.

Book #55 Deader Still by Anton Strout

As Deader Still opens, our hero Simon Canderous is about be tested in an Oubliette, the last step in being confirmed as a full fledge agent for the NYC Department of Extraordinary Affairs. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the Oubliette is rented and things don’t go quite as planned.

I’ve really enjoyed the first two books in this series. They’re darkly funny and Simon is appealing, if a little young. There are two more Simon books already out and I’m looking forward to getting them.

You have been busy! I have not heard of the Anton Strout books. I will have to see if my local library has them.

Sorry to hear you didn't like the donut shop mystery. I love those.

Sometimes, there are books/mystery series I should love but somehow, just don't.

Okay, so maybe I will like the donut book if Linda likes it. Fortunately I don't have to decide right away. I'm putting off that trip to McKays to purchase used books until I get through a few more that are in the house at the moment. I won't feel quite so guilty then!

117: I've always loved that St Vincent Millay poem--("Was it my enemy or my friend I heard?" makes me shiver!)--I'm adding A Few Figs From Thistles to my hurry-up-and-read-it list. Thanks for the recommendation!

I seem to be making up alternative names for the "TBR" list today--so far I have a "read-it-fairly-soon" (RIFS) and, now, "hurry-up-and-read-it" (HUARI). Simple pleasures for simple minds!

Karen O.

>131 lindapanzo:

Linda -- who knows why it didn't click for me? Sometimes I'll go back and like a book or series when I give it a second shot. Knowing me, I'll probably try the second Donut book in a few months.

>132 thornton37814:

I'll look forward to your thoughts on Glazed Murder when you get around to it. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood -- I was traveling and very tired....

>133 klobrien2:

Karen -- I hope you enjoy A Few Figs From Thistles -- it's quite short, but excellent.

As for your simple pleasures for simple minds, well, I'm easily amused. I love RIFS and HUARI -- I'll have to add them to my repertoire.

BTW, Huari is a Province, town and pre-Colombian culture in Peru. Just some information from the easily amused....

Book #56 Overbite by Meg Cabot (TIOLI #15, Cat #9 also could be #10, 50/0)

Meg Cabot’s books for adults are chick lit / romance. No matter how many vampires, vampire hunters or psychics she adds, she’s still not writing urban fantasy.

Overbite, the follow up to last year’s Insatiable, was about as good as its predecessor, which means not very. Meena, having broken off things with Lucien, son of Dracula, Prince of Darkness, is working for the Palatine Guard (a Vatican supported vampire hunting organization). She’s supposedly using her psychic talent (the ability to sense when someone is/will be in mortal peril) to help keep her coworkers alive. In Insatiable, Meena’s ability has been the bane of her existence and was an important component of the book. In Overbite, except as an excuse for setting up the first scene, her ability barely rates a mention.

I can’t help but wonder if someone (agent, publisher, etc.) said “Oh – you should write something paranormal or with vampires” and Cabot went along with it. Frankly, it just doesn’t feel comfortable; this isn’t her kind of world building. I would have rather read one of her light and humorous chick lit novels.

If you like Meg Cabot’s work, but don’t read much urban fantasy or only vampire books categorized as romances, you’ll probably like Overbite. If you like Cabot but are an urban fantasy fan, you’ll probably find it weak. Don’t like Cabot? Definitely don’t read it.

Book #57 The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross (TIOLI #17, Cat #8)

When I first picked up The Girl in the Steel Corset I saw that it was steampunk and completely missed that it was YA (it’s published by Harlequin Teen). I don’t read much YA, but since it was YA month and it fit a TIOLI Challenge, I thought I’d read it anyway.

It was ok. The plot and steampunk world / devices didn’t strike me as particularly original. I also felt some of the YA elements were pushed a little hard. There’s young woman who feels as though she has two personalities, one ‘good’ and the other that engages in dangerous behavior beyond her control. She also is has two potential love interests, one nice guy and a bad boy type. slight spoiler It turns out her personality has been split ala Jekyll and Hyde and the halves need to be rejoined. It bothered me that the idea wasn’t followed through completely. Her ‘bad side’ should have caused her much bigger problems by this point in her life and she would have engaged in much riskier behaviors. The concept was, well, seriously derivative, but also just not that well executed.

There is also a young man who hates parts of his body because they were changed to machine to save his life and a young woman whose talents were previously ignored in favor of her male relatives – you get the idea. All these individuals, plus a young American cowboy type (apparently his flaw is that he’s American?) have been gathered together under the auspices of a golden boy orphaned, wealthy Duke to create a nascent crime fighting team. Woohoo.

As I said, I don’t read much YA. A teenager probably would have enjoyed it more.

#136: I am reading the prequel to that book now. It was a free download for my Nook. I figure if I do not like it, there is no point in wasting my time on The Girl in the Steel Corset.

> 137

Hey Stasia -- What did you the of prequel to The Girl in the Steel Corset?

Once again I'm really, really behind on my reviews -- I'll see how many short reviews I can finish tonight.

Book #58 The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants by Jane S. Smith (TIOLI #1, Cat #10, 50/0)

Several years ago I looked for a book about Luther Burbank’s life and works. All I could find in my library system was a not very interesting short work. Happily, I recently stumbled across The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants and it was exactly what I’d been looking for.

While not particularly well known now, Burbank was as well known in his time as Edison and Ford with whom he was friends. Without a post-secondary education or a scientific understanding of genetics, Burbank developed hundreds or even thousands of hybrid plants. He was critical to the promotion of California as a new Eden and wrote a hugely popular book on the rearing of children – even though he was himself childless.

I would recommend this excellent book to any gardener or person interested in early 20th century popular culture. Actually, I’d pretty much recommend it to anyone.

Book #59 Rule 34 by Charles Stross (TIOLI #15, Cat #9)

I generally like Charles Stross’ work. I think his Bob Howard / Laundry series is great and I really enjoyed Halting State, the book to which Rule 34 is a sequel. Unfortunately, Rule 34 did nothing for me.

In relatively near future Edinburgh, a spammer is found dead in what appears at first glance to be a revolting household accident. It’s quickly apparent that spammers around the world are being knocked off in similarly gruesome circumstances. In all honesty, I didn’t care who was killing them or why. I’ll continue to look forward to the next Charles Stross release, but I would have been perfectly happy to have not read Rule 34.

Book #60 Sarah, Plain and Tall and
Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan (TIOLI #7)

Sarah, Plain and Tall and its sequel Skylark, both by Patricia MacLachlan, are both charming. In Sarah, Plain and Tall, Anna narrates the time in her life when Sarah comes from Maine to join Anna, her little brother Caleb and her widowed father Jacob on their farm in the prairie. Will Sarah overcome her homesickness and become Anna and Caleb’s new Mother?

Sarah does stay and in Skylark the family faces the misery of drought. When the situation becomes dire, Sarah takes the children back east to Maine. They begin to fear that they’ll never be able to return to their home or see their father again.

These books are charming. I wish they’d been around when I was little kid.

Book #61 Proof by David Auburn (TIOLI #1, Cat #6)

David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Proof is amazing. Catherine has put her life on hold for years while caring for her mathematician father, who is brilliant, but severely mentally ill. His recent death has left her haunted and confused about her future. But when Catherine produces a notebook with an original work of mathematical genius, how can she prove to her doubting sister and one of her father’s old gran students that the work is hers?

I’m kicking myself that I didn’t see Proof on Broadway. Read it.

I love the cover on that Garden of Invention book.

It's striking, isn't it? Too bad there wasn't a wonderful cover art TIOLI Challenge this month -- I'd have entered it.

In this particular instance, it would be safe to judge the book by its cover.

Book #62 I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim eds Ebrahimji and Suratwala (TIOLI #6, Cat #5, also #10, 4/0)

I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim was an interesting collection of brief (4-5 pages) essays by self-identified Muslim-American women. Some essays were fascinating, while others bordered on the banal. It was definitely worth reading, but I wish that there had been more variety in the women represented; the collection leaned heavily toward journalists, lawyers and political activists under 40 – many under 30. Are there no Muslim-American women in their 50s or 60s or with only a high school education? Or who choose a very conservative interpretation of Islam? I would suggest reading this only if you have a particular interest in Muslim-American women’s issues.

Book #63 Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? True Adventures in Cult Fandom by Allyson Beatrice (TIOLI #1)

I fully expected to like this book, but I have to admit I was disappointed. I hoped Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? True Adventures in Cult Fandom by Allyson Beatrice would be an entertaining overview of the world of fandom, but it turned out to be the very personal fan experience of a single individual. There were funny moments in some the chapter length stories and the final two were very good, but overall, I was underwhelmed.

Stopping by to see what you've been reading, Dejah and although some look enticing I'm going to take a pass from adding any to the TTT. Sometimes I feel like I want to finish every book I own and then read only current fiction and NF but when the buying fever bites I can't resist the oldies but goodies.

Thanks for stopping by. There are so many books to read, it's hard to pick and choose. And then, of course, I can't resist rereading old favorites....

Book #64 O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (TIOLI #20, Cat #4)

Much has been written of O Pioneers!, so I’ll simply add that I enjoyed the depiction of the development of the farmland and the story of a strong woman very much. SPOILER The only things that bothered me were the idea that Frank was in any way justified for his murderous assault or that Marie, by being too beautiful and too full of life was somehow the cause of constant disaster around her. Otherwise, it was excellent.

Book #65 The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

Another LTer (chinquapin) wrote that The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley was reminiscent of the works of Mary Stewart and Barbara Michaels and I couldn’t agree more. It had classic elements – an archaeological dig, a psychic, ghostly horses, a millionaire and a handsome archaeologist. If it was a little light on the suspense, well, it was still fun. Enjoy!

#138: I have not finished it yet. I have been wrapped up in TIOLI books :)

#150: I wish I could get my hands on a copy of that one. I enjoy both Mary Stewart and Barbara Michaels books, so it looks like a natural for me. Unfortunately my local library does not have a copy.

>149 Dejah_Thoris: O Pioneers is a great book, but I agree with your assessment of Frank and Marie.

>150 Dejah_Thoris: The Shadowy Horses was a fun discovery for me also, and I totally agree with your review of it.

66. The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry (TIOLI #1, Cat #7)

The Lady’s Not For Burning is play in verse and a comedy on an unlikely subject: a woman accused of witchcraft and a weary soldier who has decided to end it all, preferably by being hanged.

It doesn’t sound funny, but it is. Very witty and sometimes farcical, the work still manages to get across some serious themes mixed with the humor. The Lady’s Not For Burning would definitely be better on stage than on the page; it would be great fun for the actors to perform.

It will probably be most appreciated by those accustomed to reading plays, particularly those in verse.

67. Murder on Sisters’ Row by Vitoria Thompson (TIOLI #15, Cat #9)

This is another solid entry in Thompson’s Gaslight Mystery series. Mrs. Brandt’s profession as a midwife ensures that the mysteries are almost always about sex, and Murder on Sisters’ Row is no exception. As always, the depictions of New York City’s underbelly are fascinating.

I can’t help but wonder if Thompson hasn’t decided what to do with the relationship between Mrs. Brandt and Detective Malloy. This plot certainly did nothing to move them forward.

68. The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice (TIOLI #1, Cat #5)

The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels is a wonderful, wonderful book. There have been a number of excellent reviews written of this book, so I’ll be brief. Very intelligent and conveniently wealthy twin sisters from Scotland defy convention and academia to discover and translate long forgotten Biblical texts in the Sinai. Their lives are quite an adventure and they deserve not to be forgotten. Very inspiring.

69. The Story of Georgia’s Boundaries: A Meeting of History and Geography by William J. Morton (TIOLI #1, Cat #1, also Cat# 10, 2/0)

This short but excellent book brings together a wealth of information on the changing boundaries of the state of Georgia. Morton assumes no prior knowledge so some of the early chapters covering the colonial period may be very familiar to many readers.

Many boundary issues have been settled by the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, and Morton does not hesitate to quote extensively: perhaps too much. Modern disputes are covered thoroughly and anyone looking for explanations for recent disputes with South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee would be well served to turn to this book.

As a genealogist, I think this work will serve as an excellent reference, especially when researching disputed locales. However, if you expect, as I did, a discussion of the Georgia Land Lottery system, you will be disappointed as it’s mentioned only in passing. The lands distributed in the lotteries were already within the boundaries of Georgia; they were just owned by Native Americans. As these lands were purchased, they became open to settlement to others, but the boundaries of the State were not altered.

70. Promised Land by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice (TIOLI #22)

Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice wrote, to the best of my knowledge, three books together. The first two are the entertaining Water Witch which I love and the wretched Light Raid which I’ve never been able to finish; Promised Land falls somewhere in between the two, a little closer to Light Raid than Water Witch.

I almost gave up on this book. Delanna is returning to the relatively recently settled agricultural planet Keramos on which she was born to settle her mother’s estate. Delanna’s mother, who hated Keramos, set Delanna off planet to school after Delanna’s father’s death when she was five. Years of letters belittling everyone and everything on Keramos have hardly prepared Delanna to like anything on the planet and her behavior is, frankly, miserable.

Fortunately, Delanna’s incredibly annoying behavior improves after the first third or so of the book, at which point it settles into a standard pioneering planet romance. It’s not completely terrible (after all, I finished it) but it’s not very good, either. I suggest you skip this one and read Water Witch instead.

Dejah, Linda Woodward Geiger did an excellent presentation on Georgia's land lotteries at this year's NGS conference. It was session F-357, and jamb-inc.com has the CDs available for purchase.

The Sisters of Sinai sounds very interesting, Dejah. This one, I will add to the wishlist.

#156: I have had that book in hte BlackHole for a while now. I really wish my local library would get a copy!

>159 thornton37814: Thanks for the suggestion, but I actually already have a GA Land Lottery lecture on cd from FGS last year -- the speaker's name is escaping me, at the moment. It's not that I really needed more info on the lotteries, I'm just always willing to learn more.

>160 Carmenere: - 161

The Sisters of Sinai really is a great book -- I by no means did it justice in my brief blurb. I highly recommend it. BTW, I belive that I first read about it on souloftherose's thread -- credit where it's due!

Book #71 The Solid Gold Cadillac - Teichmann and Kaufman (TIOLI #10, Cat #7)

The play The Solid Gold Cadillac is a self-proclaimed Cinderella story in which a slightly over the hill actress takes down the greedy leaders of a corrupt corporation – and it’s a comedy. This light and fun bit of fluff and romance had a successful run on Broadway in the early 1950s and was made into a film in 1956, with Judy Holliday as a much younger heroine. If you like old movies, you’ll probably enjoy reading this very dated but highly entertaining play.

Book #72 The Hydrogen Murder by Camille Minichino (TIOLI #10, Cat #8)

The Hydrogen Murder is the first of Camille Minichino’s Periodic Table Mysteries. Gloria Lamerino, a physicist who’s taken early retirement from a California university, has moved back to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts. She’s renting an apartment over the family business of her best friend’s husband: a funeral home. To keep herself busy, she’s signed up as a consultant with the Revere P.D. She’s particularly qualified to work on the second case that comes her way because she knows the victim: a young physicist working on the potentially lucrative creation of superconductive metallic Hydrogen.

This book was ok. I could have done without the funeral home tour and the heroine’s repeated comments about her weight. Gloria also seems to have had a difficult relationship with her late mother that still has a detrimental effect. The mystery wasn’t bad, but not particularly strong; I did enjoy the physics.

This was an interesting enough first novel that I’m willing to give the next a try.

Book #73 Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy (TIOLI #, Cat #9)

I enjoyed the first to White House Chef mysteries, but something about the third, Eggsecutive Orders repelled me. I skimmed and read the end and didn’t count it a read book. I was a little dubious as I began the fourth installment, Buffalo West Wing, but my fears were groundless; I liked it very much.

There’s a new First Family in the White House and Ollie’s job may be at risk. Following security protocol, Ollie refuses to give the First Kids a batch of Buffalo Wings of unknown origin; the First Lady is not impressed. Furthermore, they family decides to bring in their personal chef to handle the family meals, and he really, really wants Ollie’s job. On top of that, there’s a threat to the First Family, and Ollie, as always, has her eyes open.

Happily, Ollie is no longer dating Tom, which opens up new opportunities for her personal life. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens to Ollie next.

Book #74 The Duke of Uranium by John Barnes (TIOLI #10)

When his girlfriend is abducted from a low gravity night club right before his eyes, what is any 18 year old male to do? Rescue her, right? Well, for Jak Jinnaka, it’s not quite that simple. It turns out that Sesh, his girlfriend, is actually Her Upmost Grace the Princess Shyf, heir to the throne of Greenworld, one of many independent nations on the gigantic, orbiting space installation known as the Hive. Her abduction turns out to be political and Jak’s Uncle Sib is a leader of an illegal social engineering organization that has a vested interest in Sesh’s return. But this isn’t going to be a swashbuckling, daring rescue but rather a trade of information for the Princess. At least that’s the plan.

I loved this book. John Barnes’ work is often likened to that of Robert Heinlein and I noted a number of similarities in The Duke of Uranium. For me, there were flashes of Starship Troopers, Citizen of the Galaxy and even a tiny bit of Double Star. There is also a lot of science in Barnes’ science fiction, which was also true of Heinlein. I don’t mean say his work is derivative; it’s not. I simply see connections that I enjoy.

The next two books in the trilogy are on their way to me, and I can’t wait to read them.

Book #75 Cold Vengeance by Preston and Child (TIOLI #22, Cat #9)

Agent Pendergast is at it again. The mystery of his wife, Helen’s death, is driving him to search for answers. But it turns out that there is a great deal about Helen that he never knew….

What can I say? Cold Vengeance was very much like the other recent books in the series face paced, full of action and conspiracies. Characters from previous books show up on schedule; I was particularly pleased that Corrie (first introduced in Still Life with Crows) makes an appearance. Do I think it was a great book? No -- but it was fun.

#166: My local library has that trilogy so I will give it a try.




Congratulations on hitting 75!

Congratulations on reaching 75!

Congratulations! I'm glad #75 was a fun book for you.

Congrats!

Speaking of which (Better late than never), after seeing your comments around the group, I've finally made my way to your thread! I agree with you, I adore Water Witch. I did make it all the way through Light Raid and bogged down in Promised Land, although it is still on my shelves, but neither clearly is as enchanting as WW. I picked up Darkship Thieves recently and look forward to reading it soon. Really. Along with the other priorities in my tbr pile. Soon.

And congratulations on reaching the 75 book mark!

Thank you, everybody, for the 75th book congratulations. Looking over the books I've read, I see alot of new authors and unusual nonfiction that I don't think I would have come across without suggestions from folks on LT. I have to say, I am very, very happy with my LT experience so far!

>172 ronincats:

Welcome, ronincats! I'm impressed that you got through Light Raid -- it's been years since I last picked it up, and can't say I'm particularly motivated to try again. Isn't it odd that the Willis / Felice combination produce one great book and two duds? I think the best part of Water Witch is the humor, which I found completely lacking in the other two.

I hope you like Darkship Thieves -- whenever you get around to it. Come back and visit anytime!

Book #76 The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley (TIOLI #10)

I’m always a little uncomfortable commenting on YA books – I’m never certain if I’m holding them to an unreasonable standard. The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley is no exception.

Seven year old Molly is placed in service as a scullery maid at her kingdom’s castle. As the years go by and her attention to detail is noticed, she’s promoted to polishing silver. It’s then that she realizes she has an affinity to a particular, important, silver bowl; it talks to her. Thereby hangs the tale.

Molly’s connection to the bowl and the resolution of the problems related to the bowl are rather clever, but I never felt any particular connection of my own to Molly or her best friend Tobias. It was a nice enough story, but not riveting or enthralling. Was it a middling sort of book or was I expecting too much? I still don’t know.

Book #77 A Timely Vision by Joyce and Jim Lavene (TIOLI #22)

A while back, a friend told me I should read A Timely Vision, the first Missing Pieces Mystery by Joyce and Jim Lavene. She was right; it’s charming.

Duck, North Carolina is a beach town, which means it’s busy in the summer, quiet in the winter. Duck’s Mayor is Dae O’Donnell, who also a junk / thrift / secondhand / antiques shop named Missing Pieces. This is pretty much perfect for Dae as she has the gift of psychometry: not only does she know when she’s acquired something ‘special,’ when she touches someone who’s thinking about a lost object, she knows where to find it. When Miss Mildred asks her to find her Mother’s watch which she loaned to her sister Miss Lizzie, Dae has no idea how much trouble she’s in for.

I enjoyed this mystery. It may have run a little long for the plot, but that can probably be attributed to scene setting for future installments. In fact, I have the next book, A Touch of Gold sitting on this month’s TBR shelf, and I’m looking forward to finding out what happens to Dae next.

Congrats on reaching book #75.

My copy of the ER book, Wicked Autumn arrived today, too.

#176: Adding that one to the BlackHole. It looks right up my alley. Thanks for the recommendation!

Very behind but going way back to #79 - thank you - I've got Lincoln's Dreams and Passage in the TBR pile so I will see what I think.

#110 I bought a copy of The Crossing Places recently so I'm glad you liked it.

#149 I read My Antonia this month which was my first book by Willa Cather and really enjoyed her depiction of life in the Mid-West. I'm on the lookout for more books by her now.

#156 Really glad you enjoyed Sisters of Sinai :-)

#162 And I first heard about it from Monica (justjoey4) - just to make sure the credit is properly passed on!

#167 Adding my congratulations on reading 75 books this year!

Thanks again for the congratulations!

Book #78 The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey (TIOLI #5, Cat #4) shared read

I’m a huge fan of Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, but for some reason I never sought out her other mysteries. Finally, I have read her first Alan Grant novel, The Man in the Queue.

It’s a reasonably good mystery, reminiscent of many of its era (it was originally published in 1929). At times it felt a little forced, but there were many moments in which there were flashes of the brilliance I see in The Daughter of Time; I was particularly struck by Grant’s final assessment of who was really the guilty party.
I would recommend The Man in the Queue to anyone who enjoys early to mid-20th century British mysteries.

Book #79 Key of Light by Nora Roberts (TIOLI #18)

Key of Light is the first book in a paranormal romance trilogy by Nora Roberts. With Nora Roberts you can expect a fairly consistent standard of readability and while this particular book didn’t grab me, it was still pretty good. The Celtic Gods theme didn’t appeal to me; it’s never been one of my favorite mythologies. I also felt that the heroine of this book was less interesting than the women who will take center stage in the other two books.

I think I'll skip that trilogy by Nora Roberts. I liked some of her earlier stuff, but I haven't read anything by her in years. I'm not very fond of paranormal genres.

For me, she's at her best writing the Eve Dallas books as J.D. Robb. As for her romances, I have to say paranormal is not her strength. She's written at least one other paranormal trilogy (at least I think it was three books) that was edgier -- almost low key horror. I know everyone is jumping on the paranormal bandwagon, but I think she's better served with Dallas and straight romance.

#181 I'm hoping to read The Man in the Queue this month too. I also have The Daughter of Time although I haven't read it yet - in fact the only Tey I have read is The Franchise Affair which some friends recommended to me years ago.

Belatedly saying that I'm glad you enjoyed Sisters of Sinai too - I also read it in August, having heard about it from justjoey (Monica) and then Heather also. My best read of the month, I think, and I got to hear the author give a talk about it at a festival also!