lindapanzo's 2011 reading: Part 3

Part 1 of my 2011 reading is located at: http://www.librarything.com/topic/96705

Part 2 of my 2011 reading is located at:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/111033

Here are my 11 categories, tentatively, for the 11 in 11 category challenge for 2011. I'm aiming for 11 books in each category (121 books), with an 11 book bonus (overflow from the other 11 categories) category.

1. Cozy mysteries--read 11 out of 11--category finished
2. Baseball books--read 11 out of 11--category finished
3. Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 9 out of 11
4. General nonfiction--read 11 out of 11--category finished
5. Even more general nonfiction--read 9 out of 11
6. Historical fiction--read 7 out of 11
7. Seasonal books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--read 11 out of 11--category finished
8. Lincoln and the Civil War--read 9 out of 11
9. Next in the series--read 8 out of 11
10. Sports books--read 9 out of 11
11. Authors/series new to me--read 8 out of 11

Category 1: Cozy Mysteries--Read 11 of 11--category finished

1. Bedeviled Eggs by Laura Childs--finished on 1/22/11
2. Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke--finished on 2/24/11
3. The Crafty Teddy by John J. Lamb--finished on 3/7/11
4. Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy--finished on 4/14/11
5. The Clockwork Teddy by John J. Lamb--finished on 4/21/11
6. Laughed Til He Died by Carolyn Hart--finished on 5/5/11
7. Sinister Sprinkles by Jessica Beck--finished on 6/5/11
8. Wicked Witch Murder by Leslie Meier--finished on 6/23/11
9. Dead by Midnight by Carolyn Hart--finished on 8/2/11
10. Scones and Bones by Laura Childs--finished on 8/13/11
11. Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck--finished on 8/18/11

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Threadbare by Monica Ferris
--Sentenced to Death by Lorna Barrett
--May Day by Jess Lourey
--Death at the Alma Mater by G.M. Malliett
--Manna from Hades by Carola Dunn
--Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy
--The Chocolate Castle Clue by JoAnna Carl

Category 2: Baseball Books--Finished 11 of 11--CATEGORY FINISHED

1. Going, Going, Gone! The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuc--finished on 1/10/11
2. Chasing Baseball: Our Obsession with Its History, Numbers, People and Places by Dorothy Seymour Mills--finished on 1/25/11
3. A Woman's Work: Writing Baseball History with Harold Seymour by Dorothy Jane Mills--finished on 2/15/11
4. The Joy of Keeping Score by Paul Dickson--finished on 3/4/11
5. Knuckler by Tim Wakefield--finished on 5/9/11
6. Ernie Banks: Mr Cub and the Summer of '69 by Phil Rogers--finished on 5/21/11
7. Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game by Dan Barry--finished on 5/28/11
8. The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter by Ian O'Connor--finished on 6/29/11
9. The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy--finished on 8/16/11
10. Before the Machine: The Story of the 1961 Pennant-Winning Reds by Mark J. Schmetzer--finished on 8/28/11
11. Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year by Glenn Stout--finished on 9/27/11

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Wrigley Field's Last World Series
--Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend by James S. Hirsch
--The Last Hero: A Life of Hank Aaron by Howard Bryant
--Echoing Green by Joshua Prager
--The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca
--Roger Maris
--Mint Condition
--The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
--Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
--The Greatest Ballpark Ever by Bob McGee
--Baseball: A Literary Anthology
by Nicholas Dawidoff
--Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee by Allan Barra
--Scoring from Second
--Center Field Shot:A History of Baseball on Television by James R. Walker
--My Turn at Bat by Ted Williams
--Pull Up a Chair by Vin Scully
--The Yankee Years by Joe Torre
--Your Brain on Cubs by Dan Gordon
--The Psychology of Baseball by Mike Stadler
--Crazy '08
--Northsiders

Category 3: Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 9 out of 11

1. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (set in England and France)--finished on 3/30/11
2. A Dark and Stormy Night by Jeanne Dams (set in England)--finished on 5/17/11
3. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton (set in Scotland)--finished on 5/29/11
4. Weeping on Wednesday by Ann Purser--finished on 6/14/11
5. English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier--finished on 7/19/11
6. A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch--finished on 8/15/11
7. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie--finished on 8/23/11
8. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny--finished on 9/16/11
9. The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth J. Duncan--finished on 10/1/11
10.
11.

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--The Grave Gourmet by Alexander Campion
--Death of an Addict by M.C. Beaton
--Season of Darkness by Maureen Jennings
--Vices of My Blood by Maureen Jennings
--Murder in the Marais by Cara Black (set in France)
--Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon (Italy)
--The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer (Turkey)
--The Titian Committee by Iain Pears (Italy)
--The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
--The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White (Turkey)
--The Turkish Gambit by Boris Akunin
--Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog by Boris Akunin
--The Snow Empress by Laura Joh Rowland (Japan)
--The Widow Killer (Czech)

Category 4: General Nonfiction--read 11 out of 11--category completed

1. Final Flight: The Mystery of a WW II Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra by Peter Stekel--finished on 1/8/11
2. Orange Is the New Black: My Year in Women's Prison by Piper Kerman--finished on 1/20/11
3. On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery by Robert M. Poole--finished on 2/5/11
4. The Sound of Freedom by Raymond Arsenaut--finished on 2/7/11
5. Millard Fillmore by Robert J. Rayback--finished on 2/27/11
6. The Diary of a West Point Cadet by Preston Pysh--finished on 3/1/11
7. Porcelain and Steel by Donna M. McAleer--finished on 3/4/11
8. Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt--finished on 3/6/11
9. Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides--finished on 3/17/11
10. James Buchanan by Jean H. Baker--finished on 3/27/11
11. American Idol: The Untold Story by Richard Rushfield-finished on 4/23/11

Category 5: Even more general nonfiction--read 9 out of 11

1. This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection by Carol Burnett--finished on 6/2/11
2. The Band that Played On: The Extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down with the Titanic by Steve Turner--finished on 6/15/11
3. The Dead Beat by Marilyn Johnson--finished on 6/25/11
4. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs--finished on 7/4/11
5. Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber--finished on 7/5/11
6. Oldest Chicago by David Anthony Witter
7. Popular Culture and the Enduring Myth of Chicago, 1871-1968 by Lisa Krissoff Boehm
8. The President Is a Sick Man by Matthew Algeo--finished on 7/11/11
9. Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz--finished on 9/19/11
10.
11.

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:

--In Motion: The Experience of Travel by Tony Hiss
--Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit
--A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
--Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
--Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier
--Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
--Blue Highways: A Journey Into America by William Least Heat-Moon
--A Sense of Place by Michael Shapiro
--Coast to Coast: A Journey Across 1950s America by Jan Morris
--Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler
--Great Plains by Ian Frazier
--Brit at the Ballpark: An Englishman's Baseball Tour of All 50 States by Peter Taylor
--Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg
--Hitler's Private Library: The Books That Shaped His Life by Timothy W. Ryback
--Made in America by Claude Fischer
--When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins
--The Light Within: The Extraordinary Friendship of a Doctor and Patient Brought Together by Cancer by Lois M. Ramondetta
--The Great Good Place
--The Narcissism Epidemic
--Seven Pleasures
--Eiffel's Tower by Jill Jonnes
--The Courage of Their Convictions by Peter Irons
--Outliers by Malcoln Gladwell
--Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler
--The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
--The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in its First Age of Terror by Beverly Gage
--Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
--The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose
--Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
--Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre
--The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century by Alan Brinkley
--The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Category 6: Historical Fiction--Read 7 out of 11

1. Murder on St Mark's Place by Victoria Thompson--finished on 1/4/11
2. The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch--finished on 1/27/11
3. A Marked Man by Barbara Hamilton--finished on 2/4/11
4. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear--finished on 2/21/11
5. Anthem for Doomed Youth by Carola Dunn--finished on 7/2/11
6. Winter in June by Kathryn Miller Haines--finished on 7/8/11
7. When Winter Returns by Kathryn Miller Haines--finished on 7/18/11
8.
9.
10.
11.

POSSIBLES:
--The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard
--Sup with the Devil by Barbara Hamilton
--In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff
--Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
--The Pearl Harbor Murders by Max Allan Collins
--Wings of Fire by Charles Todd
--The Gilded Cage by Troy Soos
--Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen
--A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
--A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
--A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch
--Vices of My Blood by Maureen Jennings
--Rutland Place by Anne Perry
--No Graves as Yet by Anne Perry
--Room with a Clue by Kate Kingsbury
--The Jewel of the North by Peter King
--How to Marry a Murderer by Amanda Matetsky
--Dead March by Ann McMillan
--Murder at Manassas by Michael Killian
--Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander
--Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by Ed Gorman
--Death at Gallow's Green by Robin Paige
--Seneca Falls Inheritance by Miriam Grace Monfredo
--The Burning Bride by Margaret Lawrence
--The Dumb Shall Sing by Stephen Lewis
--A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly
--The Dutchman by Maan Meyers

Category 7: Seasonal Books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--finished 11 of 11--Category finished

1. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming--finished on 1/15/11
2. Off Season: Discovering America on Winter's Shore by Ken McAlpine--finished on 2/12/11
3. Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training by Charles Fountain--finished on 3/22/11
4. Chasing Spring: An American Journey Through a Changing Season by Bruce Stutz--finished on 4/5/11
5. Summer of Shadows: A Murder, a Pennant Race, and the Twilight of the Best Location in the Nation by Jonathan Knight--finished on 4/27/11
6. The Winter of Her Discontent by Kathryn Miller Haines--finished on 6/20/11
7. The Eternal Summer: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Hogan in 1960, Golf's Golden Year by Curt Sampson--finished on 7/22/11
8. One Summer by David Baldacci--finished on 7/28/11
9. Big Spring Autumn by Bonnie Stepenoff--finished on 8/11/11
10. Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet--finished on 8/31/11
11. Winter of the Wolf Moon by Steve Hamilton--finished on 9/8/11

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Shadows of a Down East Summer by Lea Wait
--Summer by Edith Wharton
--Freedom Summer by Bruce Watson
--Martian Summer by Andrew Kessler
--Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews

--Winter World by Bernd Heinrich
--The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
--Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America by Ivan Doig
--Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Spring: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Summer: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Autumn: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
--The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
--The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
--The Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman
--Diamond Gems in Autumn by Warren Goldfein
--Winter Prey by John Sandford
--Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
--The Dead of Winter by Paula Gosling
--Europe's Last Summer by David Fromkin
--Last Lessons of Summer by Margaret Maron
--Winter Study by Nevada Barr
--The Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
--Summer World by Bernd Heinrich
--The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

Category 8: Lincoln and the Civil War--finished 9 of 11

1. Abraham Lincoln by George McGovern--finished on 4/9/11
2. 1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and the War They Failed to See by Bruce Chadwick--finished on 4/13/11
3. The Battle of Gettysburg by Frank Aretas Haskell--finished on 5/7/11
4. The American Civil War: A Military History by John Keegan--finished on 6/9/11
5. Why They Fought: The Real Reason for the Civil War by David Van Drehle--finished on 6/10/11
6. The Siege of Washington by John Lockwood and Charles Lockwood--finished on 8/3/11
7. Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America by Andrew Ferguson--finished on 8/7/11
8. We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends by David Herbert Donald--finished on 8/21/11
9. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin--finished on 9/12/11
10.
11.

LIKELY:
--Reveille in Washington
--Sultana
--General Sherman's Christmas by Stanley Weintraub
--A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald A. White
--Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk
--Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan
--Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief
by James M. McPherson
--For Cause and Comrades by by James M. McPherson
--Lincoln and His Admirals
--The South vs. the South : how anti-Confederate southerners shaped the course of the Civil War
--After the War: The Lives and Images of Major Civil War Figures After the Shooting Stopped by David E. Hardin.
--From Battlefields Rising: How The Civil War Transformed American Literature by Randall Fuller
--This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust
--Mr Lincoln's High Tech War by Thomas B Allen
--State of Jones
--Andersonvilles of the North

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--John Ransom's Andersonville Diary
--Mr. Lincoln's War by Bruce Catton
--Glory Road by Bruce Catton
--A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton
--The Civil War: A Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville (vol 1) by Shelby Foote
--The Civil War: A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian (vol 2) by Shelby Foote
--The Civil War: A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox (vol 3) by Shelby Foote
--All for the Union by Elisha Hunt Rhodes
--Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861 Harold Holzer
--Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon by Philip B. Kunhardt III
--Confederate ordeal : the southern home front
--Reluctant Rebels by Kenneth Noe
--1858
--Year of Meteors by Douglas R. Egerton
--The Confederate States of America: What Might Have Been by Roger L. Ransom

Category 9: Next in the Series--finished 8 out of 11

1. Fiber & Brimstone by Laura Childs--finished on 1/8/11
2. The False Hearted Teddy by John J. Lamb--finished on 2/19/11
3. Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb--finished on 4/19/11
4. The Treacherous Teddy by John J. Lamb--finished on 5/25/11
5. 10th Anniversary by James Patterson--finished on 6/29/11
6. Smokin Seventeen by Janet Evanovich--finished on 7/4/11
7. An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor--finished on 7/30/11
8. Farewell, Miss Zukas by Jo Dereske--finished on 8/8/11
9.
10.
11.

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:

Category 10: Sports Books--finished 9 out of 11

1. The President's Team: The 1963 Army-Navy Game and the Assassination of JFK by Michael Connelly--finished on 1/2/11
2. A Championship Team: The Packers and St Norbert College in the Lombardi Years by Cliff Christl--finished on 1/16/11
3. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami--finished on 1/18/11
4. The Art of a Beautiful Game by Chris Ballard--finished on 2/2/11
5. Playing Ball with the Boys: The Rise of Women in the World of Men's Sports by Betsy M. Ross--finished on 2/25/11
6. The Final Call: Hockey Stories from a Legend in Stripes by Kerry Fraser--finished on 3/18/11
7. Holding Court by Christopher Gorringe--finished on 6/22/11
8. Ron Santo--A Perfect Ten by Pat Hughes--finished on 9/3/11
9. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand--finished on 9/5/11
10.
11.

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--These Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by John Andrew Miller
--Patrick Roy: Winning, Nothing Else Matters by Patrick Roy-own
--Golden Jet by Bobby Hull-own
--Brodeur: Beyond the Crease-own
--Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey-own
--Tough Guy: My Life on the Edge
--A Passion to Win by Lou Nanne
--Searching for Bobby Orr
--Raising Stanley: What It Takes to Claim Hockey's Ultimate Prize by Ross Bernstein
--Eddie Shore and that Old-Time Hockey by C. Michael Hiam
--Barilko: Without a Trace by Kevin Shea
--The Greatest Game: The Montreal Canadiens, the Red Army, and the Night That Saved Hockey
--The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association Paperback
Ed Willes
--The China Wall: The Timeless Legend of Johnny Bower
--'67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire

Category 11: Authors/series new to me--finished 8 of 11

1. Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason--finished on 1/1/11
2. Murder, By the Book by Stephen Budiansky--finished on 1/6/11
3. The Dangerous Edge of Things by Tina Whittle
4. Blowback by Peter May--finished on 6/1/11
5. A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams--finished on 7/15/11
6. Town in a Blueberry Jam by B.B. Haywood--finished on 7/26/11
7. Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston--finished on 8/25/11
8. But Remember Their Names by Hilary Bell Locke--finished on 9/2/11
9.
10.
11.

POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Killer Mousse by Melinda Wells
--The Herring Seller's Apprentice by L.C. Tyler
--River of Darkness by Rennie Airth
--Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
--In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff
--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
--Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein
--The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette by R.T. Raichev
--Second Violin by John Lawton
--The Last Nightingale by Anthony Flacco
--An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson
--A Slice of Murder by Chris Cavender
--Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley
--Billy Boyle by James R. Benn

Hey -- I think I'm first on your new thread!

I really enjoyed Smokin' Seventeen, too. I really don't like anything else Janet Evanovich has written (the Alex Barnaby stuff was ok) but there's something about Stephanie's travails that cracks me up.

BTW, do you prefer Ranger or Morelli?

I like both Ranger and Morelli. Morelli a tiny bit more, say 51-49. I didn't like Dave, the cook, in this one.

I'm the same way about her other books. Love the Stephanie Plum numbered books and the between the number books but not any of her other series or standalones.

I laugh constantly when I'm reading. Every word out of Lula's mouth makes me laugh.

I'll be reading Smokin Seventeen shortly,as it has to go back to the library.

Lol, between Lula and Stephanie's grandmom, they are just too funny! Of course I like bad boy Ranger just a bit more than Morelli.

Hi, Linda! Found the new thread and have you starred. Have a good day!

I've got this one starred, too, though it's not so easy to lose threads on the 11 in 11 as in the 75 Books challenge.

Great progress on the challenge!

Thanks. Not as chatty over here. On 75, you can miss a day and be pages and pages down.

Just realized that 70 of my 75 books this year have fit into 11 in 11. This is something that changes the farther I get into the year.

Howdy, Linda! Gotcha starred as usual, and will hopefully be stuck with my nose in Smokin Seventeen before the weekend is up! Glad you liked it. Don't you wish she released more than one Plum book a year? I know I do!

Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber
(an ER book)

This is an absorbing, minute by minute account of that day 30 years ago, in March of 1981, when President Ronald Reagan was nearly assassinated. I was in college at the time and, prior to reading this book, had only a vague notion of what happened that day. This book superbly filled in the blanks for me. I, and many others apparently, never realized how close Reagan came to dying that day. In fact, if the lead Secret Service agent, who pushed the President into his limo, had not made a quick decision to go to the hospital, Reagan might well have died.

Once started, this book is tough to put down, as the author goes into remarkable detail about what Reagan, the Secret Service agents, the medical staff, would-be-assassin John Hinkley, and others, including the First Lady and Vice President Bush, said, did, and thought that day.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about American history.

You might want to put this review on the Reagan thread for the President's Challenge - sounds like a good one for all.

I requested the Reagan book, but won a different book from that batch. It's already on my wishlist, and I think now that I'll bump it up higher on the list. It sounds like a good one. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news. I was at school for a rehearsal of My Fair Lady. The person who told us the news was known for joking around and at first we didn't take him seriously.

I'd like to read that one too. I don't remember where I was, but it sounds like a great book.

That Reagan assassination attempt book was actually one of my better ER books lately.

I've tried to be pickier about what I ask for.

Winter in June by Kathryn Miller Haines

This third book in the cozy mystery series featuring World War 2-era New York actress Rosie Winter is the best yet. I absolutely loved the story, in which Rosie and her friend, Jayne, head off on a USO tour of the South Pacific. How this worked and what they did was absolutely fascinating to me.

However, the mystery part of the book was only okay for me. I think the author could've gotten things going quicker, though I didn't mind all that much since the nonmystery elements were so interesting.

I'd highly recommend this one to cozy fans, though I think the reader needs to read these in order. I'm more eager than before to read what now appears to be the final book in the series.

SPOILER: I absolutely hated the ending.

I'm just not feeling my Chicago category anymore so I've switched it to a "Mystery series new to me" category. I'll probably be switching some books into this category, freeing up space in other mystery categories.

I'll take a short-term hit (loss of 3) to my 11 in 11 totals but, in the long run, I think I'll enjoy this more.

I need to check out my non-11 in 11 books this year and see if any of them fit, too.

ETA: Or maybe I can squeeze in some of those three finished Chicago books elsewhere. Duh.

Sorry the Chicago category isn't working for you. But I find I'm shifting books wherever I can to free up more room for mysteries, so I can relate.

Feeling you "should" read books because you set up the category is no fun! With 5 mystery categories this year, I finally feel like I have enough spots for mysteries.

One can never have enough categories for mysteries!

Well, I've now got 5 mystery categories and another (seasonal books) where I've managed to squeeze in a few others.

This "mystery series new to me" works well for me, in part, because I've been getting quite a few net galleys from the Poisoned Pen Press for mystery authors I haven't read before.

Suggestions for new mystery series always welcome.

Okay, here's my suggestions if you haven't read them already...

Pink Carnation series
Dublin Murder Squad (In the Woods #1 Tana French)
Anna Travis Mysteries (Above Suspicion #1 Lynda LaPlante)
Meg Langslow Mysteries (Murder with Peacocks)
Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries (Sew Deadly Elizabeth Lynn Casey)
Lynley/Havers Mysteries (A Great Deliverance Elizabeth George)
Seaside Knitters Mysteries (Death by Cashmere)
Supper Club Mysteries (Carbs and Cadavers)
Sister Mary Helen Mysteries (A Novena for Murder)
Bath & Body Mysteries (Scent to Her Grave)

God knows you've added a "few" books to my pile, I certainly hope I can return the "favor".

I did not like the bath & body mysteries by India Ink. In the Woods is on my list for this month. I've read some of the others and haven't read some of them. Some (like Sew Deadly are on my wish list.

A Great Deliverance I'm reading next month. We could do it together along with The Last Boy.

Thanks for your suggestions. I read an Elizabeth George book way back when (I think it was For the Sake of Elena) and did not care for it. Maybe I should give her another try.

I read a book or two from Donna Andrews. A Christmas one, perhaps? I liked it. Six Geese A-Laying. Also read a couple from her Turing Hopper series.

Yesterday, I went to the cozy mystery website and checked out (1) who has new books and (2) is early on in a series. I found a few new ones, which I will report on.

With Miss Zukas ending and me nearly reaching the final Rosie Winter mystery, I got to thinking that I need to start adding some good new cozy series.

ETA: The cozy website is: http://www.cozy-mystery.com/

One such book I just learned of is: Jenn McKinlay's Books Can Be Deceiving, which is the first in the new Library Lover's Mystery Series.

Thanks for the cozy mystery link, Linda. Have you read Jenn McKinlay's Cupcake series?

I'm getting ready to read an Elizabeth George shortly: In the Presence of the Enemy.

She is one author twhere I can't just plow through her books. I need to take my time and concentrate, as I don't think any of them are less than 500 pages, and there is usually a lot going on in them.

The President Is a Sick Man by Matthew Algeo
(net galley for me)--finished by flashlight during the power outage

Matthew Algeo does a masterful job, once again, of taking an obscure event in presidential history and, using a light, breezy style, bringing it to life for the modern reader. As he did earlier with Harry Truman's post-presidential road trip (in Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure), Algeo has done it again, this time, with President Grover Cleveland's secret surgery to remove a cancerous tumor while on board his friend's boat in July of 1893.

It's an absolutely fascinating book, putting the event into the context of the times and drawing parallels to President Grant's cancer a bit earlier. Also of particular interest: how the surgery's secrecy was maintained despite the involvement of six doctors/dentists and several friends onboard. When a reporter exposed the secret surgery, he was vilified, but later exonerated by the truth.

Algeo really makes the 1890s come alive in a book that I'd strongly recommend to any fan of American history books.

Linda, I saw on Mark's thread that your power is back on. YAHOOOOO!!!!!! You must be so relieved! I hope you can get a good nights sleep tonight.

I'm totally ignoring that very interesting-sounding book up there. It doesn't exist.

I had to chuckle when I read that you finished that book by flashlight! LOL :-O

Reminded me of when I was a kid and Mom wanted me to go to sleep but I wanted to finish my book!

It's funny but, with nothing to do but read by flashlight (and sweat), I was really bored. I missed the internet and getting out and about.

Day 3 on my office being closed. No idea when it'll be back up and running.

A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams

I loved this first book in the Books by the Bay series featuring Oyster Bay, NC resident Olivia Limoges who, with her poodle and her book writer group friends help solve this series of murders, each of which was accompanied by a seasonal haiku.

I loved the characters and think this series shows a lot of potential. The book also seem to go more in-depth as to characterization than the typical cozy. The second book in the series, A Deadly Cliche is on my soon to be read list.

That last one sounds good, Linda. Added to my list!

When Winter Returns by Kathryn Miller Haines

This is the fourth (and quite possibly, final) Rosie Winter mystery. Actresses Rosie and her pal, Jayne, are back from their USO tour in the South Pacific. This time, the focus of this cozy is on spies and wartime saboteurs.

I loved the characters, as usual, but this book seemed a bit preachy for me. I wish this series would continue but, for me, this was my least favorite of the whole series.

This last Rosie Winter mystery was book #75 for this challenge. By my count, I have 46 books yet to go to finish the 11 in 11 challenge. This includes 26 mysteries and 21 nonmysteries. I'd better get cracking on the nonmysteries.

(I could move the Rosie Winter mysteries and make it 28/19, if need be.)

Last year, I finished right around Thanksgiving and, if I keep it up, I should do the same this year, too.

You can do it! I'm right there with you, and it would be great to finish by Thanksgiving! Also, the Rosie Winter books sound good; I've added them to my TBR list.

I know it's early but I've just started thinking about next year. 12 in 12?

I'd probably keep most of my topics but tweak them a bit. Change the Civil War to War (I'm eager to read more about WW1, for instance).

I'd like to work a Music topic in there somehow, too.

I've been thinking about next year too.. I think I'm doing "½ dozen in 12" or "20+12 overlaps in 1212Challenge". I just think that 144 is just too many for me, so either 72 or 112. I have too many other activities and I'd rather have too many books than not enough. I've got my categories all set - next year's theme is High School in honor the 40th anniversary of my graduation. It was tough decision between that and baseball but High School won out.

I may hit 144 this year, but it's not a number I'm likely to be able to sustain. I'd rather have less stress and more flexibility in my reading. I'll either do a step challenge or commit to only 6 in each category. Then when I hit that number, I'll do bonus categories similar to the ones I have this year.

Me, too. Graduation is my overflow category for next year....where the sky is limit and takes anything. Remember when we graduated from high school and thought we could do anything!

English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier

I love this long-running cozy series featuring Lucy Stone, a small town reporter in Maine. This one had an interesting premise Lucy and her three friends join a college tour to England. One member of the tour group dies on the plane on the way over. There's a lot of travel narrative.

I loved the travel narrative but, as a mystery, this one wasn't as good as the others in the series. In fact, if you've read some classic mysteries, I bet you figure this one out almost immediately. It's got an interesting twist on one of the most famous mysteries ever but that one is a plot most mystery fans are aware of.

Also, the mystery took a backseat to the travel portions. Fun, but just not that meaty.

SPOILER: One of my mystery pet peeves is present in this book. The ending was not very satisfying when the amateur sleuth solves the case and then won't do anything about the solution. I hate that.

I've read a few of the Lucy Stone mysteries, but not all of them. I think I've read more of the Christmas ones that the regular series.

I've also read a couple of the Lucy Stone Christmas stories and liked them. I keep meaning to backtrack to the beginning of this series, but so far I've haven't gotten to it. Maybe when I catch up on the 5 or 6 or 7 that I've got going right now (besides of course the ones I'm caught up on and eagerly awaiting the next installment)...

The Eternal Summer: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Hogan in 1960, Golf's Golden Year by Curt Sampson

This is an interesting (at times) look at golf's past (Ben Hogan), present (Arnold Palmer), and future (Jack Nicklaus) in 1960. The author puts the PGA tour into context and provides a good mix of tournament play by play with how the golfers got to that point. It was a much different time and Arnie, in particular, really opened the golf world to endorsements.

Others, such as Gary Player and Ken Venturi are also covered but the focus is on Hogan and Palmer.

I'm not a golfer but I enjoyed this one.

Town in a Blueberry Jam by B.B. Haywood

I've been trying to read more "first in series" mysteries lately, mainly to replenish me with my fill of mysteries as other series die off/end. This cozy series set in small town Maine has been on my list for awhile.

It did not disappoint. While I had a few quibbles--the sleuth Candy Holliday really stuck her foot into things far more than necessary--it had characters I liked and it seems to have good potential.

I'll be continuing with this series, that's for sure.

I'm looking forward to reading the second one sometime too.

>54 lindapanzo:

I've never even heard of this series -- I'll have to be on the lookout for it.

One Summer by David Baldacci

I enjoyed this gripping, tearjerker, uplifting book about a 30-something Cleveland man dying of an incurable disease who hopes to hang on to Christmas.

How he, his wife, and his three children deal with his illness and their plans for the future (including his wife's promise to take the kids to her childhood beachfront property in the Carolinas) was both emotional and thought-provoking.

Not my usual but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's good to have a good cry while reading, once in awhile.

An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor

I love this series about a pair of doctors in a small northern Ireland village in the early 1960s (and their housekeeper) but this book, which was quite different than the others, is definitely my least favorite in the series so far. This is the fourth book.

All of the other books focus on the two doctors and their patients and life in Ballybucklebo. This one, however, is focused almost entirely on Maureen (Kinky) Kincaid, the housekeeper, during her years as a young farmgirl. There's an overly long and detailed story comprising the first third of the book, about how her older sister lost the love of her life (with plenty of Irish mythology thrown in) and then how Kinky herself fell in love.

I was somewhat bored with this book, but, nonetheless, glad I read it to see how Kinky came to be the housekeeper for the doctors. Looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of the series with the next one.

JULY RECAP

I had another good reading month for 11 in 11 Challenge purposes, reading 13 books in July, all of which counted towards my 11 in 11 challenge. So far, I've read 80 books towards 11 in 11, with 41 left to go to complete the challenge.

My favorite book of the month: Rawhide Down by Del Quentin Wilber
My least favorite book of the month: An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor

I've finished one category already, general nonfiction. One category down and 10 to go.

This month, I changed one of my categories, dropping Chicago and adding "mystery series new to me." (Thus, some of my counts in a category may have actually dropped this month as I reordered my lists a bit.)

Here's where I stand so far:

Cozy mysteries--read 8 out of 11
NONE THIS MONTH

Baseball books--read 8 out of 11
NONE THIS MONTH

Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 5 out of 11
--English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier

General nonfiction--read 11 out of 11--category finished

Even more general nonfiction--read 8 out of 11
--The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
--Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber
--The President Is a Sick Man by Matthew Algeo

Historical fiction--read 7 out of 11
--Anthem for Doomed Youth by Carola Dunn
--Winter in June by Kathryn Miller Haines
--When Winter Returns by Kathryn Miller Haines

Seasonal books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--read 8 out of 11
--The Eternal Summer: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Hogan in 1960, Golf's Golden Year by Curt Sampson
--One Summer by David Baldacci

Lincoln and the Civil War--read 5 out of 11
NONE THIS MONTH

Next in the series--read 7 out of 11
--Smokin Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
--An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor

Sports books--read 7 out of 11
NONE THIS MONTH

Mystery series new to me--read 6 out of 11
--A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams
--Town in a Blueberry Jam by B.B. Haywood

Always subject to change, of course, but, here's what I plan to read the rest of the way. It'll be interesting at year's end to see how many of these I end up reading.

Category 1: Cozy mysteries--Category Finished!!
1. Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck--finished on 8/18/11
2. Dead by Midnight by Carolyn Hart--finished on 8/2/11
3. Scones and Bones by Laura Childs--finished on 8/13/11

Category 2: Baseball books
1. The Last Boy by Jane Leavy--finished on 8/16/11
2. Stan Musial: An American Life
3. Before the Machine--finished on 8/28/11

Category 3: Mysteries set outside the U.S.
1. A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch--finished on 8/15/11
2. No Wind of Blame by Georgette Heyer
3. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
4. Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon
5. The Grave Gourmet by Alexander Campion
6. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie--finished on 8/23/11

Category 4: Already Finished!!!!

Category 5: More nonfiction
1. Sweet Invention
2. Longitude
3. Locomotive to Aeromotive

Category 6:
Historical mysteries
1. A Free Man of Color
2. A Christmas Homecoming by Anne Perry
3. Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
4. The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard

Category 7: Seasonal books
1. Big Spring Autumn by Bonnie Stepenoff--finished on 8/10/11
2. Shadows of a Down East Summer by Lea Wait
3. Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet--finished on 8/31/11

Category 8: Lincoln and the Civil War
1. The Siege of Washington--finished on 8/3/11
2. A Secret Society History of the Civil War by Mark A. Lause
3. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
4. Lincoln on Leadership
5. Land of Lincoln by Andrew Ferguson--finished on 8/7/11
6. We Are Lincoln Men by David Herbert Donald--finished on 8/21/11

Category 9: Next in the series
1. Farewell, Miss Zukas by Jo Dereske--finished on 8/8/11
2. Bodies of Water by J.S. Borthwick
3. Sentenced to Death by Lorna Barrett
4. Town in a Lobster Stew by B.B. Haywood

Category 10: Sports books
1. Fenway Park, 1912
2. Ron Santo
3. Barilko: Without a Trace
4. Seabiscuit

Category 11: Mystery Series New to Me
1. Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston--finished on 8/25/11
2. Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
3. The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth J. Duncan
4. Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker
5. But Remember Their Names by Hilary Bell Locke

A Sheetcake Named Desire by Jacklyn Brady

Linda,

I think a bunch of us are impatiently waiting for Louise Penny's next book. I think it would be fun to do a group read in September. (If I'm remembering the date right, I think the book is due to release Aug. 30.)

Seeing the book on your list reminds me that I've been wanting to start on the Benjamin January series for quite a while.

I would love to do a group read of the new Louise Penny in September. I'll make sure that I get the book first at our library!

I, too, would love to do a group read in September for that one. I wish it had been an ER book. I haven't purchased a Louise Penny book in ages.

I was fortunate enough to snag her last two books through ER. I was disappointed that the new one wasn't in the July batch. Louise Penny is just about my favorite currently active author, but I don't think I've ever purchased one of her books! I've read Lori's, borrowed them from the library, an won a couple from ER.

Dead by Midnight by Carolyn Hart

I love the Annie Laurance Darling Death on Demand cozy mystery series and this latest one (the 21st, can it be?) is no exception. As usual, Hart cleverly plotted this interesting mystery. As usual, I love how mystery bookstore owner, Annie, drops in references to other mysteries--when I read one of these, I almost always add others to my TBR pile.

Well done!! I can't wait for the next one, in the spring.

The Siege of Washington by John Lockwood and Charles Lockwood

I thoroughly enjoyed this look at the worrisome first days of the Civil War in Washington, DC. For 12 days after the fall of Fort Sumter in April of 1865, Washington was virtually undefended. Lincoln put out an urgent call for 75,000 volunteers, soldiers who were needed, in part, to defend the capital.

Treason was in the air as many government employees and others who were southern sympathizers either spied or actively destroyed defenses. The situation looked bleak as Baltimore mobs blocked northern volunteers from travelling through that city by train (they had to travel 1.5 miles between train stations) and, in fact, killed several yankee soldiers and deliberately destroyed tracks to disrupt travel and blockade the city of Washington. Lots of intrigue and worry in what was an essentially undefended city as panic and fear left citizens wondering when the secessionists would attack the city, perhaps ending the Civil War before it started.

This is a terrific book that was very informative to me. I'd never thought about the logistics of those early days and I found this fascinating.

#66 I just finished Team of Rivals, about the Lincoln administration and the call for soldiers to protect Washington at the beginning of the war was mentioned, and it was clear that it was a precarious situation. Not a lot of time was spent examining the details of just how those troops came to be there, but their eventual presence in Washington was the source of much relief, according to TofR. Thanks for the recommendation - on to the wishlist it goes!

#67 I expect to start Team of Rivals soon. I like Doris Kearns Goodwin's books (and loved her in the Ken Burns baseball documentary).

What else has she written? I didn't see the Ken Burns documentary, I can't imagine what role she had in it.

Sandy, Goodwin is a HUGE baseball fan. I just looked and was surprised to find that her only book I've read is Wait Til Next Year, a baseball book. She is always being quoted on various baseball shows/documentaries I've seen.

Besides Team of Rivals, I think she is most noted for her WW2 homefront book, No Ordinary Time. I thought I'd read that but, apparently, have not. I think she was also LBJ's official biographer and has written quite a bit about him, though possibly under her maiden name.

I know that Goodwin has written several books related to the presidents - FDR, JFK, LBJ - so when I get to those eras, I am definitely read her books.

If anyone else is already thinking a bit about 2012, I've started a thread at:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/121702

ETA: Oops, my bad. After I started it, I discovered that there was another similar thread farther down. Better to go to:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/121540

Thanks for the link, Linda. I've been wondering whether/when a thread about 2012 was being posted. I've been thinking about what I might want to do.

Thanks for the info about Goodwin. I think I'd be interested in reading something else by her, even though I heard/read something recently about her (I think it was her) that distressed me a little. Something about her referencing something one of her grad students had written without footnoting it. I was in the middle of Team when I learned that, and it tainted the rest of the book for me. Does anyone know if there is any truth to it? Of course, even if true it doesn't mean that she isn't an excellent writer and historian or that the content of her books isn't accurate. Or even that it just wasn't an accidental oversight. Still...

Sandy, I looked into the references and apparently she had some messy handwritten notes related to the Fitzgeralds and Kennedys but there was a corrected version printed later.

Thanks, Cheli. It upsets me when someone so obviously talented tries to take shortcuts - I'm glad to hear that it was just a mistake that should have been caught before publication.

Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America by Andrew Ferguson
4.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this look at the impact/meaning of Lincoln in today's world. How history is viewed (whether a focus on the great man or on the everyday person) and how Lincoln has been treated over the years are just two aspects of this book. Lincoln's treatment in Springfield now and during the author's childhood, as well as his treatment by the Chicago Historical Society now and then is certainly covered.

Some of the most interesting parts are the unexpected ones. Who knew that Lincoln is a business management guru now? You can take a seminar on Lincoln and Leadership, for instance. The author sits in on one of these.

Besides the previously mentioned group of Lincoln haters (with annual conference), there's also a group of Lincoln impersonators, also with annual conference.

I loved this highly entertaining book. Very definitely recommended.

Farewell, Miss Zukas by Jo Dereske

This is the last book in the long-running cozy mystery series featuring librarian/sleuth, Helma Zukas. For 17 years, I've enjoyed these books and, though sorry to see the series end, I was glad to have one last chance to visit with these characters I've grown to love.

While I loved the series, this last book was a bit of a disappointment. The pace seemed slower than usual and lots of things felt unsettled/up in the air.

Big Spring Autumn by Bonnie Stepenoff
(Read for the Missouri Readers group)

It’s rare that my views on a book I’m reading change as drastically as they did with this one. In the beginning, I didn’t like it at all. I thought the author jumped around too much, from her current assignment of spending a season writing a historical look at Big Spring, in southeast Missouri, in the Ozarks, back to her childhood in the hills of Pennsylvania.

The farther I got into this book, however, the more I enjoyed it. I expected it to be a nature book but it wasn’t just that. Yes, it looks at the environment and how we view it. I won’t soon forget the tourists tubing down the river and shocking the conservative locals. However, it’s also a look at the history of the area, going back to the construction of the state park by the Civilian Conservation Corp during the 1930s. There’s also plenty of social commentary, such as on “who owns nature.” Though the author is an academic, her writing is not at all dry.

I expected a nature book but this book wasn’t what I expected. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I expected.

It’s a short book but, in the end, I think I read it the wrong way and didn’t do it justice. There are a lot of Deep Thoughts here but I didn’t give them a chance to percolate. I suspect I may be thinking back to some of the issues raised here, possibly when I least expect it.

Thanks for the great review, Linda. I'm still in the middle of Big Spring Autumn and am definitely not loving it. I hope to finish it up tonight or tomorrow and am looking forward to the discussion beginning on Monday.

#79 Sorry you don't like it, Sandy. I always feel bad about that, after I've suggested it. This one wasn't what I thought. I thought it'd be encounters with nature.

I've changed my mind several times about my rating. No doubt I'll change it again.

Well, I'm only half finished, and I'm not hating it either. I'm hopeful that my opinion will improve as I go along as yours did. Were you the one who suggested this book?

#81 Yes, I was. This was my second suggestion that was chosen. I think everyone liked the Graceanne book pretty well.

76 - great review of Land of Lincoln!

#81 Yes, the Graceanne book prompted lots of discussion. I'm looking forward to the discussion about BSA. I finished reading about an hour ago and still processing my thoughts.

Scones and Bones by Laura Childs

Laura Childs' teashop series is among my favorite cozy series but this 12th installment in the series is not my favorite in the series. This one's got a pirate theme as a murder is committed during a historical society event featuring a pirate skull cup.

She uses her usual formula and, while it was enjoyable enough, it was also pretty predictable. I still like the series, however.

I think I liked the pirate theme better than you did.

Laura Childs just sent me the newest one in the scrapbooking series Skeleton Letters Definitely in September.

I'm way behind on the scrapbooking series. I have a couple in my TBR pile and would have to find the missing ones. Hasn't been a real high priority since I don't like the characters that well.

I'm up to date on the Laura Childs scrapbooking series. I just don't rush right out and get the next one. I ought to get on the waiting list for this one at the library.

A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch

Probably one of my favorite mysteries of the year, in a series that just keeps getting better and better. I hate to give too much away but, in this one, Lenox has a lot of new responsibilities to juggle (ahem). I love how the author continually mixes things up. This is one series that won't get stagnant.

I continue to like the main sleuth as well as the secondary characters, too. I'm very eager to read the next one when it comes out this fall.

Now that the 12 in 12 group is set up, I'm eager to start planning next year's challenge.

>90 lindapanzo: I'm glad you liked A Stranger in Mayfair as much as I did!

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy

A couple of years ago, I read Jane Leavy's bio of Sandy Koufax. At that time, I thought it was one of the best baseball bios I'd read for quite awhile. I was expecting similar great things from her bio of Mickey Mantle but I was greatly disappointed.

One key problem: She chose a number of significant events from Mantle's life and highlighted those. This meant that she jumped around often and sometimes repeated herself. Very confusing.

Another, lesser, problem, for me at least. She focused way too much on his personal life (all the womanizing, drinking, and even the abuse he faced) and far too little on his baseball career.

The authors writes well and her stuff is interesting. I also appreciated how she tried to prove (or disprove) certain stories/events from his life. This seemed to crop up as to illnesses but sometimes other things, too.

If she writes another baseball bio, no doubt I'll read it. However, I sure do hope it's better than this one.

Charles Lenox might be a good one to start my Math Category next year.

Linda, sounds like you were as underwhelmed by Leavy's Mantle bio as I was. I think when I finally rated it, I gave it one of my lowest ratings of the year.

#95 I think so, too, Terri. I was talking to a co-worker this afternoon. Never knew he was a diehard baseball fan who reads widely on baseball. I mentioned just finishing Leavy's Mantle bio and he said it was as bad as her Koufax bio was good. I have to agree.

I'm starting to wonder if I really want o bother but I will. Starting this weekend.

#95/97 What's unfortunate is that Leavy is an excellent writer.

When I give a really low rating, it's because the book was amateurish. In this one, she did her research and, as usual, she writes well. It's flaw was how it was organized and, somewhat, what it focused on.

Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck

I really enjoy this donut shop cozy mystery series. I like the characters and the plots are somewhat interesting (not great, but very good).

In this one, the small town radio DJ rants about Suzanne Hart's donuts as being "poison." She confronts him and, the next morning, he is found dead, with one of her eclairs stuffed into his mouth.

It shouldn't come as a surprise but I always have a craving for donuts when I read these.

I've now finished my second category (of 11).

Cozies!!

Congratulations, Linda! How're things in Illinois?

Because my 12 in 12 challenge includes a war category, the remainder of my Lincoln and the Civil War for the 11 in 11 challenge likely will focus on Lincoln himself, not the Civil War.

I'm reading a book about Lincoln and his friendships right now. I'm also hoping to get to one of the full-scale Lincoln bios, as well as Team of Rivals.

Not sure about the final one. Either Lincoln's Melancholy or else Lincoln on Leadership or perhaps the one about Lincoln and his writings. Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer.

We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends by David Herbert Donald
4 stars

This is an excellent book looking at the relatively few real friends that Lincoln had during his lifetime. Herdon, his law partner, his two secretaries in the White House, and a few others.

It's odd to think that a man of such stature had so few real friends but it was interesting to learn about how these few friendships developed, what kinds of things they talked about, and where the friend was and/or how he heard about Lincoln's death.

I'd highly recommend this one.

Linda, I think you'll really like Team of Rivals when you get to it. The title implies that everyone around him were "rivals" - and to some extent they were. But those men you listed were also mentioned frequently as key members of his core team or larger support network. It really made me realize what a lonely job the President must have - surrounded by dozens of people, but who can really be trusted?

Thanks for the recommendation - We are Lincoln Men is going on the wishlist.

#104 Sandy, one of Lincoln's friends, according to that book was Secretary of State Seward. I thought that the discussion of Seward's friendship was one of the more interesting parts of the book.

After reading about Lincoln's friends, I'm even more eager to get to the Doris Kearns Goodwin book.

There was a lot about Lincoln's relationship with Seward in ToR - Since they were introduced in the beginning as rivals, and not at all as friends, I was slow to understand just how close they became during Lincoln's administration. I'm looking forward to reading more about that friendship.

At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
4 stars

I rarely ever re-read books, particularly mysteries, but thought I'd make an exception for one of my favorite Agatha Christie's, featuring Miss Marple in a somewhat peripheral role.

I read this book in 1981 when I was in college and had a different view of the atmosphere. It held up well upon re-reading. The genteel, old-world London hotel plays a key role in the book.

Loved it.

How about Urban Romantics?
http://www.librarything.com/groups/urbanromantics

I have several books that I wouldn't mind re-reading, but I don't want to take time away from reading new ones to do so!

#107 I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I've never read anything by Agatha Christie. My grandma used to read every Christie book she could get her hands on. And everyone here seems to love them as well. I ought to start listening. Is there a bad place to start? Or is it safe to begin with whichever book I find first?

I did not read Agatha Christie mysteries in order. Some people like Miss Marple better; others like Poirot better. I like them both!

At various times, I've liked Poirot better and, at others, Miss Marple. I've not read them in order. I like them both. Not as fond of the others. Ariadne Oliver. The Tuppences.

I think I've read about 60 of them which isn't nearly all of them.

I expect to be trying to figure out which Agatha Christie, Nero Wolfe, and Ngaio Marsh books I haven't read yet and trying to get to these for 12 in 12 next year.

Miss Marple has always been my favorite, but I really like Poirot too. I don't think they need to be read in any order. Someone just starting out might want to begin with one of the more famous (and probably best) ones: perhaps And Then There Were None or Murder on the Orient Express.

Good luck with sorting out the unread books, Linda! I wish I could figure out a way to do that, but I don't really know where to start.

#113 One good thing, Ivy, is that I've been keeping track of my reading for so long that I've got a pretty good idea of which Agatha Christie's I've read.

The problem: Back when I was a teen, I didn't consider reading Agatha Christie's proper reading (more fun than anything) so I didn't jot many of them down.

For someone starting out, the only thing I'd suggest is to avoid the finales for both Marple and Poirot. Don't start with Curtain or Sleeping Murder.

Oops, the others are a few featuring Supt Battle, the Beresfords (Tommy and Tuppence), Parker Pyne, and a few others.

I remember The Murder of Roger Ackroyd had me stunned when the murderer was revealed.

And Then There Were None was pretty scary.

I KNOW I've read And Then There Were None but that's one showing as unread for me.

Either it was before I started keeping track (at age 15) or else in my "Agatha Christie's don't count" phase.

I started keeping a reading diary back in the 1980s and kept it for many years, but then I stopped for some reason. LibraryThing has helped me do it in an electronic format now, but I've got lots of gaps on here of things I read (and in some cases owned before I got rid of a bunch of books in a move in the late 1990s) that I wish I could fill. In some cases, I'll see a book mentioned and say, "Oh, I read that" and be able to add it to the read but not owned category. In other cases, it's probably lost forever.

@ 110 -- It doesn't really matter which Agatha Christie novel you read first. Occasionally one book will refer to the events of a previous book, but in such vague terms that it doesn't spoil the previous book. I do agree with Linda that Curtain and Sleeping Murder aren't the best places to start, but otherwise you should be good.

>116 lindapanzo: I think And Then There Were None was one of the first ones that I read.

Even if I had kept a list from age 15 (and how I wish I had!), it wouldn't help much with Agatha Christie, because I think I'd read most, maybe all, of her books in the local library by then. I started at age 12 and was still reading them at 14, when my English teacher (very nicely) told me that I was mispronouncing "Poirot."

#119 I'm the same way with Erle Stanley Gardner books. As a kid, I loved those and read many of them, despite disapproval from little old ladies at the store when they'd see me pick up ESG books with lurid covers. Heh-heh.

I probably read most of them before age 15 but might add one or two to next year's classic mystery category.

>120 lindapanzo: I read all their Erle Stanley Gardner, too, but the library had plain covers on their editions. I can still picture the exact location of both Christie and Gardner in that library!

The one mentioned the other day -- Why Didn't They Ask Evans? -- doesn't sound familiar to me. I think I'll give it a try (maybe next year).

#121 That one's also called The Boomerang Clue.

Another old favorite was The 4:50 from Paddington also known as What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw

I discovered that I already had And Then There Were None on the wishlist, which is the #1 most popular Agatha Christie title on LT. So I just added the next three on the list - all Poirot books. These 4 will give me a place to start. Thanks for the encouragement!

I really like Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (aka The Boomerang Clue) and The Man in the Brown Suit. However, the latter is not really representative of her work. I also loved Sleeping Murder, but since it is the last Marple, it's probably not a good place to start. N or M? is also one of my favorites. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is brilliant - I love recommending it to people because no one ever solves it before the ending - if you're a "read the ending first" person (like me) - DO NOT do it with this book!

Okay, I admit it: I like all of them. At least, all that I've read.

ETA: And for anyone just beginning to keep track of which Christie's they've read: it's worth your time to look them up here on LT or on Wikipedia and record all variations in title because at least half of her novels have been released under multiple titles and once you've read 30 or 40 of them, it's really hard to remember which titles go with which books and which you've read (or purchased) already.

Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of the books I added today. I rarely even try to figure out the ending, because I'm so bad at it. The others were Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. I've seen both these movies, but it's been so long I know I won't remember the endings.

>125 sjmccreary: I'm bad at solving mysteries as well, but with Roger Ackroyd, it seems as if there are NO hints about the ending, but once you know the ending, you see how carefully Christie planned it the whole time.

Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston

This is the first book in the author's Pet Rescue cozy mystery series. She has another pet-related series, the Pet Sitter series, but I've never read any of those.

After reading this one, I doubt I'll read anymore either in this series or in her other one.

First off, let me say that I love beagles. I owned a beagle and a family member has had several. Having beagles endangered in the first few pages was off-putting to me but I got past it.

The book features amateur sleuth, Lauren Vancouver, who is the head of a private no-kill animal shelter.

The most interesting part involved reading about pet adoptions.

The drawbacks: I didn't like any of the characters. The story took forever to develop. The story also took forever to wind up. This 300-page book could've been 200 pages and I would not have minded one bit.

I didn't hate it but didn't like it much either. Can't recommend it.

Before the Machine: The Story of the 1961 Pennant-Winning Reds by Mark J. Schmetzer
3 stars; Early Reviewers book

Before the famous Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s, the 1961 Cincinnati Reds, known as the Ragamuffin Reds, won the 1961 National League pennant. Despite a workmanlike, at times almost dry, writing style, the author manages to bring that team to life in a somewhat interesting way. This book, however, could've benefitted from more anecdotes and a less rigid adherence to a chronological re-telling of the season.

Except for baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, and perhaps Vada Pinson, the players on the 1961 Reds, such as Gordy Coleman, Gene Freese, Jim O'Toole, and Jim Maloney (the only player to bridge the transition between the Ragamuffin Reds and the Big Red Machine), are not generally well-remembered names today, outside of this area, most likely.

One oddity: During the 1961 season, the National League teams played only 154 games while the American League team played 162 games (which is now the standard).

This book would've greatly benefitted from a listing of Reds players' statistics, or at least a team roster. Including the 1961 season's standings would've helped, too.

I'd recommend this book to a Reds fan and to any baseball fan who likes to read about often forgotten teams/players.

Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet
Early Reviewers

This delightful traditional British cozy mystery is the first in Malliet's new mystery series, featuring Max Tudor, a former MI5 agent turned Anglican priest. It's set in a traditional village of Nether Manslip.

I thoroughly enjoyed the clever plot, the subtle humor, and the standard, though somewhat intriguing, characters and would highly recommend this cozy to anyone who enjoys a traditional cozy. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

Oh, crap. Another mystery series to follow. *sigh* "Thanks" for the review! ;)

August RECAP

I had another good reading month for 11 in 11 Challenge purposes, reading 14 books in August, all of which counted towards my 11 in 11 challenge.

So far this year, I've read 99 books with 94 of them counting towards 11 in 11. This leaves me with 27 books to read to complete the challenge. At this rate, I would expect to finish in early to mid-November.

My favorite book of the month: Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America by Andrew Ferguson though I'd also put the Charles Finch mystery, A Stranger in Mayfair, right up there, too. My least favorite book of the month: The Last Boy by Jane Leavy.

I've finished another category in August, my cozy mystery category already. Two categories down and 9 to go.

Here's where I stand so far:

Cozy mysteries--read 11 out of 11--category finished
--Dead by Midnight by Carolyn Hart
--Scones and Bones by Laura Childs
--Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck

Baseball books--read 10 out of 11
--The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy
--Before the Machine: The Story of the 1961 Pennant-Winning Reds by Mark J. Schmetzer

Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 7 out of 11
--A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch
--At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie

General nonfiction--read 11 out of 11--category finished

Even more general nonfiction--read 8 out of 11

Historical fiction--read 7 out of 11

Seasonal books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--read 10 out of 11
--Big Spring Autumn by Bonnie Stepenoff
--Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet

Lincoln and the Civil War--read 8 out of 11
--The Siege of Washington by John Lockwood and Charles Lockwood
--Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America by Andrew Ferguson
--We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends by David Herbert Donald

Next in the series--read 8 out of 11
--Farewell, Miss Zukas by Jo Dereske

Sports books--read 7 out of 11

Mystery series new to me--read 7 out of 11
--Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston

MY INTENDED READING DURING THE REST OF 11 IN 11

Category 1: Cozy mysteries--Category Finished!!

Category 2: Baseball books--Category Finished!!
1. Fenway Park, 1912 (net galley)--finished on 9/27/11

Category 3: Mysteries set outside the U.S.--3 to go
1. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
2. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny--finished on 9/16/11
3. Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon
4. The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth J. Duncan

Category 4: General Nonfiction--Already Finished!!!!

Category 5: More nonfiction--2 to go
1. Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert by Michael Krondl (net galley)
2. Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz--finished on 9/19/11
3. In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton

Category 6:
Historical mysteries--4 to go
1. Rutland Place by Anne Perry
2. A Christmas Homecoming by Anne Perry
3. Crimson Snow by Jeanne Dams
4. Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker (net galley)

Category 7: Seasonal books--Category finished!!
1. Winter of the Wolf Moon by Steve Hamilton--finished on 9/8/11

Category 8: Lincoln and the Civil War--2 to go
1. Lincoln's Melancholy
2. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin--finished on 9/12/11
3. Confederates in the Attic

Category 9: Next in the series--3 to go
1. New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb
2. An Irish Country Courtship by Patrick Taylor
3. We All Fall Down by Michael Harvey

Category 10: Sports books--2 to go
1. Stan Musial: An American Life (ER)
2. Ron Santo--A Perfect Ten by Pat Hughes--finished on 9/3/11
3. Barilko: Without a Trace
4. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand--finished on 9/5/11

Category 11: Mystery Series New to Me--3 to go
1. Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
2. Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay
3. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
4. But Remember Their Names by Hilary Bell Locke (net galley)--finished on 9/2/11

You're doing wonderfully well on the challenge, Linda!

I keep meaning to get to A Free Man of Color, which I've had sitting here for months and months.

Congrats on your great progress, Linda! Though I do fear your 11th category, "mystery series new to me" - my TBR heap is deep enough as it is!

Thanks, Ivy and Laura.

Another goal for the rest of the year is to get to all those Net Galleys and ER books that have piled up.

I ought to take a vacation from requesting them but I still do go ahead and keep adding to them. (This is why I've got a separate category for these in 2012.)

#129 Normally I'm not tempted by cozy's, but this one sounds interesting. Going to keep my eyes open for it to come in at the library.

But Remember Their Names by Hillary Bell Locke
(net galley)

I rarely read legal thrillers but I thoroughly enjoyed this debut mystery featuring attorney Cynthia (Jake) Jakubek, who is currently working at a small law firm in Pittsburgh while she waits for her high-powered, large firm job in New York City to start. This book has an interesting cast of characters and a plot full of twists and turns.

A dead body is found in a Revolutionary War diorama at an American History museum in Pittsburgh and Jake's firm is representing the victim's daughter. The infamous Gardner art heist figures into this terrific mystery.

The title is based on a quotation by Robert Kennedy: Forgive your enemies but remember their names.

I'm really looking forward to reading more books from this author. Highly recommended!!

Ron Santo--A Perfect Ten by Pat Hughes

I'm just back from the Cubs game, where I read this during the rain delay and then finished it, teams pouring down my face, on the bus, with fellow Cub fans looking knowingly at me and the book.

It's a loving tribute, from family, friends, teammates, and colleagues, to my all-time favorite baseball player, Chicago Cubs great, Ron Santo, who passed away last December due to complications from diabetes and bladder cancer.

It's full of heartfelt tributes and may not be the best written but it'll certainly be among the most memorable books of the year for me.

>137 lindapanzo: I don't often read legal thrillers, either, but the museum & art angles appeal to me. It's going on the wish list!

#137 I love legal thrillers, I'm definitely adding this book to my wishlist!

#137 - I zipped over to BM and put it on my wishlist so I wouldn't lose track of it.

#138- "teams pouring down my face" - an interesting mental picture :) Not many books provoke that kind of response. Sometimes a book doesn't always have to be of the highest literary content to affect us.

It's very good but more of an amateur sleuth who happens to be a lawyer.

I am of Polish descent but, even for me, it was hard to keep the sleuth's Slavic name straight. I'm glad they call her Jake. At one point, she's at Thanksgiving dinner and they call her Cindy and I thought, "who's Cindy?"

#141 Absolutely. On the way to the game, the older man who sat down with me saw what I was reading and we talked about Ron Santo. I showed him all the great pictures in the book. I said I might get teary and he understood that.

Around here, Ron Santo was like everyone's favorite uncle. He certainly reminded me a lot of my Uncle Henry who passed away 9 years ago.

The memories were of varying quality, in terms of writing, but almost all were heartfelt.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed this look at 1930s horse racing legend, Seabiscuit. I don't know much about horses and horse racing (though I've gone to the track maybe 6 or 8 times) but learned quite a bit about both in this informative book that focused on the horse, his owner, his trainer, and his primary jockey.

Unlike most well-known race horses who race at age 3 in the big races, the Biscuit raced until he was 7 and was a beacon of hope and incredible popularity during a bleak period in American history. In 1938, there were more news stories, based on inches written, than on FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini.

Loved, loved, loved it and I give it 5 stars. One of my favorites this year.

Wow! You're making me want to read Seabiscuit, something I was always neutral about before - thanks for a persuasive review! Hope you had a nice weekend, Linda. How were the games?

#144 Hi Laura. The games, all 3 of them, were fun though, on Monday, it was freezing cold. Probably not more than 60 with a 30 mph wind. I had a hoodie but couldn't find my gloves.

We got showered with "gifts" on Monday. They gave me passes to the PGA tournament (gave them to a friend at work for her husband), Blackhawks schedules, and then, our row was the lucky pizza row. We thought we'd get actual pizza but it was a coupon for a free frozen pizza.

Seabiscuit is one that I just pulled off the shelf and stuck in a "if I have nothing left to read, I might read it" pile. I am now thinking that perhaps it needs to go back on the shelf.

Checking in here after a SUPER long absence, and I find lots to add to my TBR list! Too many comments to keep them straight, so I'll just say that I'm glad to see what you've been reading!

#146 I knew next to nothing about Seabiscuit before reading the book but really liked it.

I think there's a new movie, soon to be out, about War Admiral, Seabiscuit's arch-rival. I might have to go see that one.

#147 Welcome back. I've been reading a lot of great books, though my focus, especially lately, has been on reading Team of Rivals. I'm about halfway through that one now.

Winter of the Wolf Moon by Steve Hamilton

I've been on a reading roll lately. Every book better than the last, or so it seems.

This second entry in Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight series was no exception. Not at all cozy, not my typical type of mystery, but enjoyable to me just the same.

Besides murder, drug dealing, and kidnapping, the Michigan U.P.'s bitterly cold and snowy winter weather plays a key role in this one.

Loved it.

I've finished my third category!! Seasonal Books. This one was a pleasant surprise and let me fit in all sorts of books.

Congratulations, Linda! I see that you have quite a few mysteries left, too. I was surprised when I evaluated my challenge that I had so many slots left for mysteries; usually I'm putting mysteries into the overflow category by this time of the year.

I'm absolutely loving Seabiscuit! I thought I'd read a chapter or two and then go back to Beloved, which had arrived and I'd started the day before, but I can't put Seabiscuit down!

#151 Ivy, glad to hear that you are enjoying Seabiscuit, too.

Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't realized that I have so many mysteries left.

Of my 23 remaining books needed to finish 11 in 11, 14 are mysteries, two are baseball books, and 7 are "other" (which includes the extremely long, but still excellent, Doris Kearns Goodwin book)

Smiling at your repeated references to the length of Team of Rivals. I felt exactly the same way, but was never tempted to give up. It was just too good.

#153 I just had my regular, every other week chat with my boss. She asked what I was reading and I told her about this book, how good it is but how it's taken me a month and I'm just past halfway.

She commented that she's never known me to take more than a week to read something but she knows this is a good one.

For me, what's annoying is that I just read several shorter books on several of these topics. I wish I had read this one first and then read the one about the intervening time between the election and when Lincoln took office, for instance.

Another series.... have a heart!

**just because she can read all these books so fast, what about us slow readers? She's so nice but couldn't she be more considerate and read some lousy books?**

****SIGH****

#155 Cheli, I read that Mickey Mantle book. That one wasn't so good.

I watched a 9/11 Remembered tonight. Hard to concentrate enough to read when you're all teary.

I watched it too....you're right.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
5 stars+

This look at Lincoln and his political rivals--Seward, Chase, and Stanton--is simply amazing. Using his political talents, Lincoln, as this book so ably shows, brought his rivals into his cabinet during the Civil War and brought out the best in them to help win the war.

The last time I felt such awe for a book of nonfiction was when I finished David McCullough's masterpiece, John Adams. Goodwin really made the Civil War era come to life for me.

For me, it started out slowly as the author introduced the rivals but, once it got going, it was unstoppable.

Highly, highly recommended!!

I couldn't agree more! This is definitely a book that should be read by anyone who wants to see what a great leader Lincoln was. He didn't have to be the best at everything, he just made sure that he brought the best out in others and would make use of their talents.

So glad you enjoyed Team of Rivals - I liked it even better than John Adams. I liked that the book allowed me to glimpse the not-so-admirable traits that the Lincoln detractors would have been throwing out. Although I have to say that his weaknesses only made him seem merely human after all. I wish we could get someone in the White House now with the same character as Lincoln had.

Pretty amazing. Team of Rivals and Seabiscuit are probably my two favorite books of the year and now I'm starting A Trick of the Light, the new Louise Penny mystery.

Wow..what a trio! I'm trying to hold out on A Trick of the Light. I want to use it in my Math class next year, LOL

Team of Rivals has been on my "list" for ages. I really should get hold of it and read it. I think the county library has it.

Team of Rivals is really a great book - the multi-bio format allows a sense of the personalities involved at the time

If you still have time for it, I;ll put in a good word for Lincoln's Melancholy -- its an interesting psychological study of Lincoln, and looks at how events in his personal life may have affected his public life. Hard to diagnose from beyond the grave and all, but still an interesting analysis and thesis.

#164 I was doing some cleaning and came upon a copy of Lincoln's Melancholy. I didn't realize that I own it so I probably will read it soon.

I loved Team of Rivals. When she got to Lincoln's death, it made me cry! It was just amazing. Yes, it's big, but so worth it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Book #100 in my 11 in 11 Challenge for 2011

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
4.8 stars

I've been on a real reading roll lately, with seemingly every book better than the one before. The latest Three Pines mystery is no exception.

Louise Penny has written another mystery masterpiece, this one focusing on artists and the art scene in Quebec. Dealing with hope and forgiveness are constant themes throughout this book. As usual, it was important for the reader to be aware of events/characters in earlier books.

Don't misunderstand, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, which is probably my favorite mystery of the year. Compared to the previous two books in the series, however, I never connected as much emotionally to this one.

Outstanding, highly recommended, a home run etc but just a teeny bit less satisfying to me than the previous two books.

What a great #100!

Congrats on book 100, Linda!. I just finished #100, too.

I read Lincoln's Melancholy a while back, and found it very interesting.

Hi Cheli and Terri: The probably at this point is that, with only 21 books to go, non-11 in 11 books start to look more appealing. Maybe not yet but more so when there's only 5 to 10 books left to go.

This has been a slow reading month for me, in terms of quantity. Definitely not in terms of quality, which has been outstanding.

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz

For a long time, I've been a frequent customer (and admirer) of Starbucks. I've always enjoyed reading about the company. They do a lot of innovative things, such as health insurance for part-time partners, for instance.

I read an earlier book by ceo (SBUX doesn't capitalize titles) Howard Schultz and found it fascinating. Pour Your Heart into It. This one is, as well.

A few years ago, SBUX was in a tailspin after many years of booming growth. Things were so bad that founder (and then chairman) Howard Schultz was forced to take back the company and return as ceo.

This is the fascinating story of how he turned the company around. My only gripe: Too much repetition, at times.

Overall, I loved it though.

I've read only 7 books towards my 11 in 11 so far this month. Two more possible, I'm guessing. Fenway 1912 to finish my baseball category and a first in the series, Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay.

It's been a month of quality over quantity, I'd say.

I'm not going to get to all of the books I wanted to this month, but I do think I have a chance of finishing off my TIOLI reads. What's probably going to be delayed are the other challenge books that I couldn't fit into this month's TIOLI. I'm awaiting a couple to arrive via ILL. I have not had a chance to visit the used bookstore to try to obtain a copy of the book I want to read for Delaware in the 50 states challenge so I may have to add it to my October list. I should still be able to finish before the end of the year.

Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year by Glenn Stout

This book does a great job of capturing the feel of Fenway Park, while focusing on its origins and how it has changed over the years.

After initially discussing the building of the ballpark itself (it opened in April of 1912, days after the sinking of the Titanic), the author spends much of his time focusing on the ballpark and Red Sox team during that first season at Fenway, a year in which the team played in the World Series.

The amount of detail provided on that first season is incredible, possibly even too much. The best parts of all were those that addressed how the team changed its style of play to accommodate the new ballpark.

I also enjoyed reading about some of the most notable ballplayers during the early 20th century. Red Sox players like Smoky Joe Wood, Harry Hooper, and Tris Speaker and also opponents such as Ty Cobb and Christy Matthewson. Also of interest were the Royal Rooters, fanatical Red Sox fans whose behavior sometimes unnerved the opponents.

The author does a terrific job at including interesting details about baseball of that era. For example, boys would wander the park selling limited concessions items. There were no concession stands until Wrigley Field two years later.

I never realized how great a role gambling played in the game during this pre-Black Sox era.

An absolutely fascinating book that any baseball fan should enjoy. Recommended.

Four categories down, seven categories to go.

September RECAP

In terms of quality, September was an outstanding reading month. In terms of quantity, one of my lowest. Overall, I think quality trumps quantity.

So far this year, I've read 107 books with 102 of them counting towards 11 in 11. This leaves me with 19 books to read to complete the challenge. At this rate, I would expect to finish in early to mid-November.

My favorite books of the month: A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny and Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

My least favorite book of the month: But Remember Their Names by Hilary Bell Locke, which was actually pretty good.

I've finished another two categories in September, my baseball books category and my seasonal books category. Four categories down and seven to go.

Here's where I stand so far:

Cozy mysteries--read 11 out of 11--category finished

Baseball books--read 11 out of 11--category finished
--Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year by Glenn Stout

Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 8 out of 11
--A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

General nonfiction--read 11 out of 11--category finished

Even more general nonfiction--read 9 out of 11
--Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz

Historical fiction--read 7 out of 11

Seasonal books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--read 11 out of 11--category completed
--Winter of the Wolf Moon by Steve Hamilton

Lincoln and the Civil War--read 9 out of 11
--Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Next in the series--read 8 out of 11

Sports books--read 9 out of 11
--Ron Santo--A Perfect Ten by Pat Hughes--
--Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

Mystery series new to me--read 8 out of 11
--But Remember Their Names by Hilary Bell Locke

MY INTENDED READING DURING THE REST OF 11 IN 11

Category 1: Cozy mysteries--Category Finished!!

Category 2: Baseball books--Category Finished!!

Category 3: Mysteries set outside the U.S.--2 to go
1. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
2. Vices of My Blood by Maureen Jennings
3. The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth J. Duncan--finished on 10/1/11

Category 4: General Nonfiction--Already Finished!!!!

Category 5: More nonfiction--2 to go
1. Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert by Michael Krondl (net galley)
2. My Two Polish Grandfathers by Witold Rybczynski

Category 6:
Historical mysteries--4 to go
1. Rutland Place by Anne Perry
2. A Christmas Homecoming by Anne Perry
3. The Gilded Cage by Troy Soos
4. Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker (net galley)

Category 7: Seasonal books--Category finished!!

Category 8: Lincoln and the Civil War--2 to go
1. Lincoln's Melancholy
2. Starving the South

Category 9: Next in the series--3 to go
1. New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb
2. A Brush with Death by Elizabeth J. Duncan
3. Latte Trouble by Cleo Coyle

Category 10: Sports books--2 to go
1. Stan Musial: An American Life (ER)
2. Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton by Jeff Pearlman

Category 11: Authors/series New to Me--3 to go
1. Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
2. At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
3. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

I'm really glad you like Team of Rivals.
Great list of books left for the remainder of the year. I'll have to do that in my quarterly recap.

FMI - did you mean you finished 2 categories in September?

#178 Yes, Cheli, thanks for pointing that out.

I keep changing my mind on the next in series and the nonfiction ones but the others are pretty likely.

The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth J. Duncan

I really enjoyed this first in the series traditional village mystery set in a small North Wales town.

The amateur sleuth, Penny Brannigan, owns the town's manicure shop and a bride disappears on the morning of her wedding, shortly after her appointment at Penny's shop.

The book's got a good plot, characters I really liked, and offers tremendous potential for future books.

For people who like cozies, I'd highly recommend this one.

>180 lindapanzo: That series has been on my radar for a while. I really must find time to fit it in!

#181 I'd like to read the next one fairly soon. The third one is a Christmas mystery and, as usual, I'd like to read a bunch of those at the holidays.

You really are on a roll! I have to admit that I've lost my motivation entirely for recording and finishing my challenge. Just too much going on this year. I'm still reading, but I haven't kept up with my thread and my books aren't fitting into my remaining categories. Maybe this month will be better. I'm still enjoying seeing what everyone else is reading though. You guys give me great ideas.

#183 Glad to see you come by, even though you're not recording/finishing 11 in 11/

Always plenty of ideas, particularly mystery-related, here.

I need to decide which Christmas books I will read this year. I have several on a TBR list or in my stash. I guess I'll just have to prioritize (and include a few of those new for this season).

#185 I'm planning to start my 12 in 12 on 12/12 so I'll probably be reading a few Christmas cozies.

It'd be great if I could finish 11 in 11 by mid-November and give myself a month to read whatever.

Part 4 of my 2011 11 in 11 thread is now up and running at:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/124585

Here's hoping you'll join me over there, as I close out this year's challenge.