Ivy's 12 in 12

I just can't resist getting started on this, though it may totally change before the 1st of the year.

I've decided to try a step challenge, partly because the total number of 78 is reasonable for me, and partly just for the fun of trying something different. It has also occurred to me that by giving some books their own category that I may finally read them rather than moving them from challenge to challenge year after year.

So, at least for now, here is the plan:

1. Major Accomplishment
2. Disasters
3. New Harmony, Indiana
4. Other US History
5. Fantasy
6. British History
7. Ancient World
8. Modern World
9. Around the World
10. British Mystery
11. North American Mystery
12. And On and On

Bonus: A Baker's Dozen of Misfits and Overflows

Month TIOLI
January:
~~ 11/22/63 by Stephen King
~~ A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January #1)
February:
~~ A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow (Monastery Murders #2)
~~ Death of a Butterfly by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #2)
March:
~~ The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon #3)
~~ Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef #3)
~~ Sup with the Devil by Barbara Hamilton (Abigail Adams #3)

1. Major Accomplishment

1.

Reading:
2666 by Roberto Bolano

2. Disasters

1.
2.

3. New Harmony, Indiana

1.
2.
3.

4. Other US History

1. Time and Again by Jack Finney (March, 4 1/2*)
2.
3.
4.

5. Fantasy

1. When the Tripods Came by John Christopher (Tripods prequel) (February, 3*)
2. The Pool of Fire by John Christopher (Tripods #3) (February, 3*)
3. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #1) (February, 3 1/2*)
4.
5.

6. British History

1. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman (February, 4*)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

7. Ancient World

1. The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer (January)
2. From Ritual to Romance by Jessie L. Weston (January)
~~ "Alcibiades" & "Lysander" in Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (February)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Reading:
Hellenica by Xenophon

8. Modern World
20th and 21st centuries

1. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (January, 3 1/2*)
2. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (January, 5*)
3. You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know by Heather Sellers (January, 3 1/2*)
4. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (March, 3 1/2*)
5. Soldier Dogs by Maria Goodavage (March, 4 1/2*)
~~ "A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All" by J.D. Salinger (March)
6.
7.
8.

9. Around the World
History and Mystery in places other than Britain and North America

1. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (January, 4 1/2*)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

10. British Mystery

1. An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd (Bess Crawford #2) (January, 3*)
2. A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd (Bess Crawford #3) (January, 4*)
3. A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow (Monastery #2) (February, 4*)
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

11. North American Mystery

1. A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January #1) (January, 4*)
2. One Coffee With by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #1) (February, 4*)
3. Death of a Butterfly by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #2) (February, 3 1/2*)
4. Death in Blue Folders by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #3) (February, 3 1/2*)
5. The Right Jack by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #4) (March, 4*)
6. Baby Doll Games by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #5) (March, 3*)
7. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Clare Fergusson #1) (March, 4*)
8.
9.
10.
11.

12. And On and On
Series Continuation

1. Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef #3) (March, 3 1/2*)
2. Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef #4) (March, 4*)
3. Sup with the Devil by Barbara Hamilton (Abigail Adams #3) (March, 3 1/2*)
4. Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef #5) (March, 4*)
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Bonus: A Baker's Dozen
Misfits and Overflows

Poetry
~~ "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot (January)
1. Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (March, 5*)

Hi Ivy, glad to see you're back for the category challenge.

I'm envious about the disaster category. I missed that category for this year's challenge but hope to work more of these in, for 12 in 12. Maybe in one of my two nonfiction categories.

I know nothing whatsoever about New Harmony. Will have to check into what that is.

As always, I love the idea of reading mainly mystery and history. I haven't read a Bruce Alexander in ages so I'll be interesting in hearing about his books.

I'm planning to read Charlotte Gray as well, so I'm interested to see what you'll think of it! (Would also be willing to do a tandem read, if you're up for it, but I know it's a bit early to be planning all that!)

I read Charlotte Gray a few years ago after seeing the movie. The woman the character was based on, Nancy Wake, died earlier this month. Reading some of the obits on her makes me want to read the book again.

Neat setup! I know nothing about New Harmony either, but am getting curious now! And I agree 2666 constitutes a Major accomplishment! :)

Found you and starred. I've still got to get my categories posted, but I'm trying to solidify my choices before doing it.

>15 lindapanzo: Thanks, Linda!

As you can see, my disaster category is a small one (at least for now), and I've only so far read a few disaster books. But I've really enjoyed your reviews of them, and I've been fascinated by the ones I've read.

History and mystery almost cover my preferred reading. The odd ones out are classics, contemporary settings in new books, and sci fi and fantasy (which I keep being loaned/given by my son-in-law and another young friend). Children's books have also been an exception, but I find that at the moment I'm not much interested in them, so I've left if off as a category for 2012.

I haven't tried Bruce Alexander yet (at least that I remember), so I'm looking forward to them.

More about New Harmony later...

>16 christina_reads: & 17

Victoria, I think it was you and Alison (RidgewayGirl) who first got me interested in Sebastian Faulks (a couple of years ago). I'm a bit confused about what order the 3 books should be read -- if I understand correctly, the books are related, but not exactly a trilogy, and the chronological order is not the same as the publication order...

Christina, I'd love to do a tandem or group read of Charlotte Gray (and either or both of the others)! My schedule for 2012 is wide open, except for Xenophon, which I assume we will be reading at the very reasonable pace of 1 book per month.

>19 thornton37814: Glad you found me, Lori!

I suspect there will be quite a few changes before the first of the year, but it was fun to remove books from the 11 in 11 that I don't think I'll get to this year and add others that I want to read. The mystery categories are probably the most nebulous, since I know I'll be reading quite a few more yet this year, and I don't have any firm plan for which ones they'll be.

>18 GingerbreadMan: Thanks, Anders!

Your review of 2666 convinced me that I do want to read it, but I must admit that I'm approaching it with a good deal of trepidation...

More about New Harmony later tonight or tomorrow...

I love the New Harmony category! I've lived in Indiana my entire life, but never been to New Harmony. I should probably go one of these days, particularly since Indiana social history is the subfocus of my MA coursework. Did anything in particular spark your interest in New Harmony, or do you just find it interesting in general? (Which, of course, it is.)

Well, my daughter is busy making dinner for us again (chicken wontons and soup) -- I could get used to having a personal chef! -- so I guess I can try to briefly comment on New Harmony.

New Harmony, Indiana, is the site of 2 utopian communities and was a center of intellectual and liberal thought in the 1800s. It was settled and the rather impressive town was built, along with a labyrinth, in 1814 -- in the middle of nowhere -- by the Rappites. They were a utopian sect originating in Germany who believed that the end of the world was imminent; but in the meantime, both to keep his followers busy and to earn money so that they could all go to the Holy Land for the Second Coming, founder George Rapp had them build 3 beautiful and productive communities (2 in Pennsylvania as well as New Harmony). In 1824, when New Harmony was essentially completed, he offered the entire town for sale.

Enter Robert Owen, a Welshman of humble beginnings who had married Caroline Dale, daughter of Scottish mill owner David Dale. A reformer and a dreamer, as well as obviously brilliant and an astute businessman, Robert Owen had already succesfully experimented with communal living for his millworkers. He bought the town, intending to establish a utopian community with the highest ideals and intellects. To this end, he convinced some of the finest minds of the 19th century -- scientists, naturalists, educators -- to go to New Harmony, loaded them on a steamboat ("The Boat of Knowledge"), and sent them down the Ohio River to New Harmony.

Well, the commune only lasted little more than a year, but the intellect stayed. This little town in SW Indiana remained a hotbed of learning and reform, and at various times housed some of the pre-eminent scholars, scientists and reformers of the 19th century.

My interest in New Harmony was sparked by Caroline Dale Snedeker's The Town of the Fearless. She was the great-great-granddaughter of Robert Owen, and her little book is essentially a family history (the kind I'd like to be able to write) of her brilliant ancestors. I've since read quite a lot about New Harmony, more or less in piecemeal fashion. The 3 books I've listed for next year are overviews of the utopian communities: the Lockwood book was published in 1905 and I expect that it will be slow going for me, but I understand that it is the most comprehensive account. The other 2 are newer and much shorter.

>24 casvelyn: Oh, casvelyn, I'd love to visit New Harmony! But as much as I'd like to see the town, I think what fascinates me the most was the concentration of brilliant and free-thinking people who lived there. People who really thought for themselves, tried better ways of doing things, absolutely opposed oppression of any sort, and loved and promoted knowledge. In particular, I'd like to know more about Frances Wright.

Do any of your studies involve the German communities of the late 1800s? My great-grandparents lived in Francesville until the 1890s. My great-grandmother, though born in the US, neither read nor wrote in English. Their children all learned German before they learned English, and wrote to their mother in German. It amazes me that they were so insular for so long.

I have other ancestors who also lived in Indiana in the 1800s, but they were not part of the intellectual community of New Harmony!

> 26 I haven't really focused on the German communities, mostly because any real study of those communities requires a knowledge of German. Unfortunately, I don't know any German. I've focused my studies more on Indiana politics during the Civil War, because state politics at the time were crazy. Essentially the Republican governor Oliver P. Morton shut down the Democrat-controlled state legislature and illegally took out loans in the name of the state to keep the state running financially (he couldn't access the treasury because the legislature hadn't passed a budget before he shut them down). He also arrested newspaper editors who printed pro-Democrat and pro-Confederacy articles. The U. S. Supreme Court case Ex Parte Milligan (which says civilians cannot be tried in military courts) stemmed from Morton's ordering a group of men who were pro-Confederacy arrested and tried by military tribunal, where they were sentenced to be hanged.

My ancestors were in Indiana, but not New Harmony (we're mostly farmers, preachers, and horse thieves, not intellectuals) in the 1800s. My family has lived in the same part of southern Indiana for over 200 years.

Hi Ivy. Mysteries and Histories - what could be better than that! Looking forward to following your reading again next year.

Got you starred Ivy, looks like you're lining up some great books for next year.

>28 DeltaQueen50: Hi, Judy! I think it's the other way round, though: much of my reading follows your reading!

>29 SouthernKiwi: Hi, Ilana! I'm excited about it! Will be watching for your thread...

Fascinating, about New Harmony - makes me want to visit Indiana again!

Never been in Indiana, but now I sure want to know about New Harmony.

Loved your explanation of New Harmony. I found it to be fascinating and something I knew nothing about before reading this thread!

I am going to try and include 2666 in my 2012 reading, even though I did away in the end with my planned 'door stopper' category.

>25 ivyd:-27 Fascinating! One of the things I really like about America is that ancestry is such a big thing with you guys. I guess it comes from living in a young nation - you all seem to know your roots so well.

> 34 I think it also comes from being a nation of immigrants - all of our families came from somewhere else. We haven't been American for hundreds and hundreds of years (well, some of us have, but many haven't), and we hail from many different countries. I can trace my ancestry to 12 different European countries (more if one counts Prussia and Bavaria as differing from Germany, as modern Germany didn't exist when my ancestors lived there).

On a personal level, I find genealogy fascinating as much for the interesting stories from the past than because these people were my ancestors. Some of my best ancestry "finds" include a regicide of Charles I of England who was later assassinated in Switzerland and whose wife was hanged for treason after the Monmouth Rebellion, a Catholic missionary to Native Americans in Oklahoma in the early 1900s, and a horse thief who escaped justice by fleeing from Indiana to Kentucky and never returning home, abandoning his wife and children. I've also found tenuous connections to Charlemagne and two very obscure Medieval Catholic saints, but I need to do a lot more research before I can prove/disprove this.

>31 LauraBrook:-33 It's really interesting to me that since I found out about New Harmony (I read the Snedeker book in 2007), I keep running into references to it and the people who lived there. Among other things: Pullman's Sally Lockhart book The Shadow in the North makes reference to Robert Owen and is based on a similar communal-living experiment; Robert Dale Owen and others were instrumental in the establishment of the Smithsonian; David Dale Owen was the first US Geologist and did the first surveys of much of the mid-West; Thomas Say, William McClure, Frances Wright, Joseph Neef, and the Boat of Knowlege have all popped up in other things I've read.

>33 lkernagh: Lori, 2666 sounds like it might be a good book for a sloooow tandem or group read. Are you interested in doing that?

>34 GingerbreadMan: & 35 casvelyn, that's just what I would have said. For most of us, being American is being an immigrant and/or a composite of many different nationalities. I think part of our identity comes from knowing how we got here, as opposed to being *whatever nationality* because our ancestors lived in a certain place for hundreds of years.

I love the stories, too. My mother and I were a good genealogy team: she liked finding the dates and places and filling in the charts; I like finding out the context and the stories and whatever can be learned of the personalities of the people, and sometimes get more interested in other people's ancestors than my own (e.g., the people of New Harmony). You've got some really interesting ancestors, casvelyn!

I am up for a tandem or group read of 2666 next year. Great idea Ivy!

I have 2666 on my TBR list as well so let me know when and I will probably join in as well.

It's also quite possible to read part for part (there are five of them, and they are very different), for a less steep group read. Looking forward to following it!

>39 GingerbreadMan: Thanks for mentioning that, Anders! I wonder... would it work to do 1 part per month for 5 months? Or are we likely to forget too much in between? It's worked well doing that with Herodotus and Thucydides... seems like a good approach for a difficult book, though I sometimes did need to check back for events I didn't remember.

I might be talked into 2666 as well. I'm scared of it!!!

New Harmony sounds fascinating. Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott's father was involved in a Utopia called the Brook Farm experiment. I read a book on that years ago. You might want to compare them? It fell apart mostly because some people took work more seriously than other people. Surprise!-not.

The Awakening is a beautiful book. I hope you enjoy it.

>41 cammykitty: It fell apart mostly because some people took work more seriously than other people. Surprise!-not.

The usual reason for failure, I think! In Owen's New Harmony, it was further complicated by the definition of "work"; the people who were milking the cows and raising the crops were rather resentful of the "work" of the scientists and educators. The Rappite community was amazingly sucessful for a long time; their downfall was that the world didn't end as expected and that they believed in celibacy, so their numbers were constantly dwindling.

Thanks for the suggestion about Brook Farm. I've heard of it, but haven't read anything about it. There was quite a utopian movement in the early 1800s; the Owens belonged to a society in Britain, which discussed the experiments, and they visited some of them, which they described in their diaries.

I hope you'll join in the group read of 2666! I think most of us are a bit scared...

I'll... probably... join the group read. Very scared of 2666, but that's the best kind of book for a group. Yes, it does seem like they tried a bunch of different things in the 1800s, & ummm, yes I can see how the argument "your work is easier than my work" would eventually come up.

Ivy,
just catching up on threads here and realize that your Histories and Mysteries are probably going to add to my Histories and Mysteries!

It should be fun!

>44 cyderry: A lot of our reading seems to overlap, Cheli. It seems to me that I find far more books from your reviews than you probably get from mine, but maybe I can add a few for you.

Hi Ivy, came to drop a star and was fascinated to read about Harmony. Sounds like a great topic to look into further.

>46 Smiler69: Hi, Ilana, thanks for stopping by! New Harmony, and the people who lived there, has certainly captured my interest.

New Harmony sounds fascinating. Looking forward to following your reads, especially the history:)

Ha! Another 75er. Are you going to participate in both challenges in 2012 or just this one? I set up over here for a change of pace and to possibly pick up some new series and authors to enjoy.

Merry Christmas, Ivy!

You have interesting categories, and some great books planned! History, mystery, and disaster books are all right up my alley!

Oh, my! It's been a long time since I've paid much attention to this thread! Well, that's changing now, as I officially begin this challenge. Still have some organizing to do, and a lot of possibilities that I want to add. I've considered changing some of the categories -- or switching places of some of them -- but I may leave it as is for now. Maybe I'll change some around later, when I see where my reading actually takes me.

At the moment, I'm still working on The Golden Bough, which I started in August and hoped to finish in 2011 -- less than 100 pages to go, though, so I should finish soon -- and I'm midway into The Marriage Plot, with mixed reactions to it. After that, I want to finally get to Sharon Kay Penman; I'm eager to read A Moveable Feast, which I thought I read a long time ago, but now I'm not so sure I did, or maybe I've just forgotten most of it, and then The Paris Wife; and I will get started on Xenophon. I'm also hoping to get ahold of 11/22/63 later this month -- my first Stephen King since I abandoned Pet Sematary midway about 25 years ago. And there will probably be some mysteries in there: A Free Man of Color, perhaps Charles Todd or Margaret Maron's Sigrid Harald series.

>48 calm: Thanks for stopping by, calm! I always enjoy seeing what you're reading.

>49 mamzel: Hi, mamzel! Nice to see you here! I've been hanging out in the category challenges since the 888, but only joined the 75ers last year. I really enjoy both challenges (and the TIOLIs), so I'll be doing both again this year, though keeping up with all the threads is beyond me.

>50 tymfos: Thanks, Terri! Happy New Year! Looking forward to seeing what you read in 2012.

Glad to see you are now transitioned over to the 12 in 12! I found it a bit challenging keeping my 11 in 11 going while getting the 12 and 12 up and running and I was rather negligent in my 12 in 12 in the process. I Need to fine tune that for next year.....

Phew, what an ambitious January! Best of luck, Ivy, and I hope you enjoy Sharon Kay Penman!

>53 lkernagh: Hi, Lori! With Christmas and all, I'm really behind on threads everywhere. I still need to put this challenge in better shape, too!

>54 christina_reads: It seems ambitious to me, too, Christina. I don't think I'll get it all read this month. And I did get ahold of 11/22/63 so I'll probably put that ahead of the Penman, but I am determined to get to her soon.

>55 ivyd: I read 11/22/62 in, well, 11/2011. :) I thought it a very good read. Hope you enjoy reading it, too. (It feels weird to speak of enjoying something with as much tragedy as happens in this kind of book.)

>56 CynWetzel: Perfect timing for this book, CynWetzel! Glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I picked it up last night, and before I knew it, I was 30 pages in. Can't wait to get back to it!

1. The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
Category: Ancient World

So... my first finished book of the year was one that I started last August, and have been working on ever since. And I do mean working... I think I've averaged only about 10 pages per hour in this massive book. Almost every page is so dense with customs, rituals, beliefs -- sometimes 10 or more per page -- that my head was usually spinning after just a couple of pages.

Frazer began his study of ancient beliefs in an attempt to find the origin of the rituals attached to a sacred shrine of Diana in Italy. His research led to the publication of 12 volumes between 1890 and 1915. What I read is a single volume abridgement, made by Frazer in 1922.

Frazer's style is quite readable (far less convoluted than I had expected), and he clearly states his theories and hypotheses, for each of which he presents myriad examples drawn from all ages and all parts of the world. The difficulty for me was the sheer number of these examples, complicated by interesting spellings (Corea, Esquimaux) and references to tribes or countries no longer extant (particularly in Africa). I disliked his numerous references to "savages," "rude ignorants," etc. And I'm not sure that I agree with all of his conclusions, though I do believe that they are all worthy of consideration.

Nevertheless, this book is an amazing compendium of customs, rituals, beliefs, folk tales, legends and mythologies from every part of the world, and it includes many anthropological observations that by now might be lost or difficult to find. The similarity of beliefs and customs, from all over the world, is truly striking.

I'm glad I read this book, and perhaps should have done so long ago, since so many great writers have made use of it. But I'm also glad I've finished it.

Congrats on finishing Book #1 -- and quite a book it was! Sounds like a challenging read, Ivy. I don't have anything quite that weighty planned for the near future.

Thanks, Terri! I don't have anything else that heavy planned, either. Even Xenophon seems like an easy read after that one!

I'm always impressed by people who can stick with a book that long. I find myself abandoning them after a while if I can't move through quickly. Golden Bough sounds very interesting though. Maybe it would work as a coffee table book to browse through on occasion??

Ivy -- I've read bits of The Golden Bough - I'm impressed that you got through the whole thing!

History, mysteries and disasters make up a big part of my 12 in 12 this year, too. I've read the three disater books you're thinking about and I have to say my favorite was Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded followed by The Johnstown Flood. For whatever reason, The Big Burn, while good, didn't work as well for me as the other two.

I'm also hoping to read A Free Man of Color this month and I have to make a pitch for Margaret Maron's Sigrid books - they aren't as polished as her other works, but I like them very much.

Congratulations on finishing your first book - and what a book it is! Very impressive!

I've been curious about The Golden Bough and also been very intimidated by it for quite a long time. Sounds like the intimidation is justified! But, it also sounds like it's a good book to have around and dip into from time to time, just because of the scope of information in it. Good review!

>61 _debbie_: debbie, before I joined LT that was mostly my pattern, too. I'd read a bit of a long non-fiction book, partially satisfy my curiosity, and then put it on the shelf and go back to reading fiction. I have quite a large of collection of those books!

Frazer's information and analyses are interesting in themselves, and could easily be read in disjointed pieces -- most chapters are quite short. I think what you'd lose by doing that is his cohesive theory of the progression of man from magic to religion to science, but that's a theory that isn't very popular today, and it's not necessary to know (or believe) it to enjoy reading about the customs and rituals.

>62 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, the little bits at a time works for me with a difficult book -- even if it takes 5 months (or more)!

I've had Krakatoa on the tbr for a long time, and I'd really like to know more about it, so I'll probably start with it. Several years ago, I enjoyed his A Crack in the Edge of the World, and then immediately got Krakatoa -- to adorn the shelf, I guess!

Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott series is one of my favorites, but I started with those and haven't ever backtracked to the earlier series. It sounds like she may be tying the 2 series together in her newest book Three-Day Town, so I think I'd like to read the Sigrid books first.

>63 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori!

>64 cammykitty: cammykitty, I'd been intimidated, too -- for several decades. It's surprisingly readable -- his style is clear and concise, with occasional very nice imagery, and he briefly reiterates earlier theories and conclusions to keep the reader aware of them. It is, as you say, "the scope of the information" -- for me, information overload -- that makes it difficult.

I had the golden bough on my shelf for a long time and occasionally dipped into I but found it too dense for long stretches, it was cleared out some time ago though showing I'd given up on it so much kudos to you for finishing it

You're right - Margartet Maron does tie the two series together in Three-Day Town. A big chunk of the book (maybe half?) follows Sigrid's portion of the investigation.

Splitting the focus between Sigrid and Deborah doesn't make for the strongest possible story, but I really didn't mind since I kept thinking that the whole thing was a set up for another Sigrid novel - I keep hoping that, anyway.

I hope you enjoy them - the Sigrid mysteries and Three-Day Town.

>66 psutto: too dense for long stretches

Perfect description of The Golden Bough!

>67 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks for the confirmation, Dejah. I thought the previous Deborah Knott book, Christmas Mourning was one of the best, so I'm sorry to hear that Three-Day Town isn't as strong. But I've enjoyed all of them, even if they weren't my favorites, so I'm looking forward to starting the Sigrid books. At this point, it looks like it will be in February or March, though.

2. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, 3 1/2*
Category: Modern World

I finished The Marriage Plot about a week ago, and thought I'd give it a day or two to figure out what to say about it. It didn't help. I'm still not certain what I think.

The story begins on the day of Madeleine's graduation from Brown University in 1982, backtracks to some earlier history and the college years of Madeleine and two of her classmates, and follows them during the year after graduation.

I enjoyed the book. I found the story interesting. I was mostly bored by the shallow "literary" discussions. These discussions, and the numerous allusions and references struck me as ostentatious. I didn't think the frequent changes in point-of-view were handled very well, and the purpose of some (like the short section about Madeleine's father) mystified me. The book wasn't particulary well plotted or tightly constructed. I liked the part about Mitchell's experience in India -- in fact, I liked Mitchell. I found Madeleine's character inconsistent and not totally believable. The information about Portland * was strange and wrong, which made me doubt the accuracy of other matters. There was little originality in the story -- in fact, having recently read Marjorie Morningstar, I would say that it's the same story, with a few twists, set 50 years later, and not nearly as well done.

In summary, it was okay, but lacked the power and originality of Middlesex.

* Portland: Leonard lived in Nob Hill, in a Craftsman house, and attended Cleveland High School. Nob Hill (most often referred to as NW 23rd) is in NW Portland; there are probably a few Craftsman homes in that area, but it's primarily Victorian architecture, and the bulk of the Craftsmans are in NE Portland; Cleveland High School is located in SE Portland. I wonder if he's ever been in Portland...

3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King, 5*
Category: Modern World

Loved it! Will try to get back with some comments later, but Linda (lindapanzo) wrote a great review on her thread.

ETA to add some comments:

I'm not going to try to repeat what Linda said in her excellent review, which I agree with and probably wouldn't express as well as she did, but I did have a couple of additional comments.

I was under the impression that this was going to be an alternate history: what the result would have been if 11/22/63 had happened differently. Instead, it was more about time travel and mostly took place before the assassination. I remember those years 1958-1963. I was 15 when Kennedy was assassinated, so my recollections are from a child/early teen's viewpoint, but it was a familiar world to me -- a good representation of those times -- and highlighted some of the changes in the last 50 years, both good and bad. Involved as we are with today, it's easy to forget how different some things were.

As for Stephen King, I read many of his books in the 1970s and early 1980s, and although horror and supernatural have never been my preferred genres, I liked them. Then I got to Pet Sematary. Somewhere in the middle, I abandoned the book -- not because it was a bad book, but because I was too upset by the story to continue, and I decided that he was just too good at what he did for me to enjoy his books. I haven't read any of his books since then, but I was curious about the concept of this book -- and was assured that the horror aspect was minor (which it is).

It was a 5* book for me, because I couldn't put it down. King is a superb storyteller.

I'd been wondering about The Marriage Plot - I think I'll give it a pass.

Linda did write a great review of 11/22/63 - after reading it (her review) I put the book on hold at the library. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it, too!

#69 I've been thinking about this one. It would fit in my NY Times notable books of 2011 category. Plus, I, too, graduated from college in 1982.

I will avoid The Marriage Plot but happy to see another great review of 11/22/63.... No kevlar required as I have already been hit by that book bullet to the point that I am immune to any further bullets... looking forward to reading it!

Lots of buzz about 11/22/63 and I have a bit of love/hate for King, some of his books/stories I've loved, others I've hated so still in two minds about this one...

Ivy, I am impressed that you and Linda both finished 11/22/63 in such a short period of time. I plan to read more King in the future, I'm not sure why I haven't. I think I've only read Misery which was good and I plan to read The Shining this year.

Dejah, Linda & Lori: I hate to discourage you from reading The Marriage Plot, because I know that it's received some excellent reviews and there are people who really love it, including a good friend of my daughter. I did enjoy it, and the story will likely stay with me longer than many other books. My comments are probably overly negative, since I was partially trying to figure out why I didn't like it more. Perhaps the best I can say is that -- although it's very different -- it had the same feel for me as A Prayer for Owen Meany, another book that many people love, but that I only liked.

Linda, if you decide to read The Marriage Plot, I'll be really interested in your reaction, with you being an exact comtemporary of the characters!

As for 11/22/63, I added a couple of comments in msg 69 above. Although it's long (and probably could have been a bit shorter), and does have thought-provoking aspects, it's also a fast read (especially when you can't put it down and are staying up late reading it). I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

Ivy, I don't usually read the author's acknowledgements but, in this one, I noticed that Stephen King conferred with prominent historian (particularly of the 1960s on) Doris Kearns Goodwin, as to what likely would've happened if JFK had not been assassinated.

Your comments do get to a key point. I thought it would be part time travel and part alternate history. There wasn't much alternate history but I found I really enjoyed it anyway.

>77 lindapanzo: Linda, I'd like to think she/he/they were wrong about what would have happened. The assassination was so devastating, and I think it significantly affected many things that happened later (a point that comes through loud and clear in the book). What would have happened otherwise is an interesting speculation.

I have almost no experience with alternate history, and was sort of looking forward to it -- guess I'll have to try something else for that. But I do like time travel, and obviously really liked this book.

Ivy, I read a great alternate history book last year about JFK and a few other recent American history events (by recent, I mean during our lifetimes) and how things might've changed.

It's: Then Everything Changed by Jeff Greenfield

This was one of my top 10 books from 2011.

Ah, I have that book on one of my wishlists. Probably from your review, but I'd forgotten where I heard about it. I might have to move it up on the list!

I need to check, too, to see whether my library or ILL can get me Alternate Presidents, which I think I may already own, as well as Alternate Kennedys.

Ivy, enjoyed your comments re 11/22/63. I really must read that one!

>82 tymfos: I hope you do read it, Terri! I think you'll really enjoy it.

~~ Introduction & Book 1 of Xenophon's Hellenica

Not as entertaining as Herodotus, and not as detailed or accurate as Thucydides. But on the whole, it's easier reading than either of them. According to the Introduction, Xenophon's work is more memoir than history, and he seems to find the participants and their personalities more interesting than battles. Since he was apparently a close friend of the Spartan king Agesilaus, I'm looking forward to his view of events during that time.

4. You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know by Heather Sellers, 3 1/2*
Category: Modern World

Heather Sellers suffers from the (probably genetic) condition of prosopagnosia, that is, face blindness. People with this condition do not have the normal ability to recognize faces; they see faces clearly, but are unable to remember (cognitively process) the specific characteristics to enable future recognition. Recent studies have found that face blindness is far more prevalent than previously suspected, perhaps affecting as much as 2% of the population in varying degrees.
https://www.faceblind.org/research/

Ms Sellers' prosopagnosia is severe; she fails to recognize her mother, husband, step-children, colleagues she works with everyday. Her book chronicles her lifelong struggles and presents a great deal of interesting and valuable information about face blindness. This aspect of the book would rate 4 1/2 or 5 stars from me.

Unfortunately, her awareness of her condition was severely compromised by a horrendous childhood, with a (probably but unconfirmed) paranoid schizophrenic mother and an alcoholic cross-dressing father. The first half of the book deals with these problems in an incomplete way through a series of poorly integrated flashbacks. Some of the incidents she recounts have bearing on the face blindness, but many do not. Nor is the story of her childhood a complete picture; only difficult portions and horrible incidents are related. There had to have been more: she mentions knowing how to sew, having been a lifeguard in high school; she deliberately left her brother out of the book; she talks about being isolated from classmates, yet she seems to have had a string of boyfriends; she went to college and has a Ph.D; she professes great love for her parents.

I think she attempted too much in this single book. She really has 2 stories to tell: that of face blindness, and that of a difficult childhood. While the face blindness is well covered, the other issues are not.

Wow... nothing like cramming everything in! The condition of prosopagnosia is a new on to me. Not sure if I am ready to pick up this memoir. Good review for a book that appears to be a difficult one to review concisely!

Thanks, Lori. Yes, there was really a lot more that I could have said. I do recommend the book if you're curious about prosopagnosia. I think most of the information she gives is pretty much the same as on the face blindness website, but the personal experiences make it a bit more understandable.

It's a reasonably fast read, and I have to admit that I read the childhood episodes with horrified fascination.

5. A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January #1), 4*
Category: North American Mystery

In the end, I really liked this mystery set in New Orleans in 1833. Although the murder occurred early on, the first half of the book was primarily devoted to establishing a large cast of characters, their relationships and backgrounds, and to describing the setting and the unique New Orleans society. There were some clues sprinkled throughout, but the pace was very slow. And my reading was also very slow, because of the detail and the many characters, and because I had only a vague knowledge of New Orleans society in the early 19th century. I thought it was very interesting, but not at all what I expected.

In the 2nd half of the book, the pace picked up significantly. I thought the mystery was quite good, with a rather delightful twist, and I liked that she wrapped up the loose ends.

I definitely intend to continue this series. I hope that the pacing will be a little better in the subsequent books (I think all her previous book were sci fi/fantasy), but even if they are not, I'd like to know more about New Orleans.

Love seeing another positive review of the first book in Hambly's Benjamin January series!

>84 ivyd:. You're way ahead of me on Xenophon - I'm still on the intro......looks like it'll be interesting , not least because he kept changing sides.

>89 lkernagh: It's always a bonus for me, when I learn something while reading a mystery. In this one, the mystery almost took 2nd place to the history, but that's ok with me because it was really interesting.

>90 auntmarge64: Yes, I am finding it interesting, Marge, and much faster and less dense than Thucydides (also less complete and apparently less accurate). I'm tempted to keep on reading, but for now I've stopped after Book 1. I need to post my comments to the Xenophon thread...

6. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, 4 1/2*
Category: Around the World

Absolutely delightful! A memoir of sorts, A Moveable Feast is a series of vignettes about Hemingway's early years in Paris, just after WW I, when he was married to Hadley. His observations on writing, on books he has read, on Paris, on the people he knew (Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Scott Fitzgerald and others) are wonderful. His writing is, as always, a joy to read.

I'm even more eager than before to read The Paris Wife, about Hadley, but I find that it won't be published in paperback until the end of March. The difference in price will buy me another paperback, so I've pre-ordered it and will wait until then to read it.

Re: learning things via the Hambly series, apparently Hambly learned a lot researching those books, and from feedback she received from readers, too. The afterword of the third book in the series apologizes for a mistake she was told that made in defining "Creole" in the first edition of the first two books in the series -- a definition which she'd taken from a supposedly authoritative source. (When the authoritative sources disagree on information, what's an historical novelist to do?)

Have you read other Hemingway? I loved The Old Man and the Sea but disliked The Sun Also Rises so wonder if I'll like A Moveable Feast.

>93 tymfos: Hmmm. So my uninformed previous impression that "Creole" also included persons of mixed race was correct, after all? Or something else. I guess I will find out before long!

I sometimes think of the advice that was given in every creative writing class I ever took: write about what you know about. I didn't agree with it at the time -- what about imagination? -- and it doesn't seem to be much in vogue today, given the current popularity of historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy, paranormal, etc, for both readers and writers.

>94 Morphidae: Morphy, I read and loved quite a lot of Hemingway in my late teens and early 20s. The Sun Also Rises was my favorite, and I finally re-read it last year. I still love it. Conversely, The Old Man and the Sea is the only one of his books that I didn't like, but I haven't read it since high school, and I might see it differently now.

A Moveable Feast was his last book and is unfinished, and from that standpoint it isn't a "great book." I had the newly released edition, edited by his grandson Sean Hemingway, which included some of the material that he wanted to leave out -- one of the things he talks about is how much he leaves out. Those rejected passages, along with his comments about his writing, were a small snippet of insight into a famous writer's process. And his kind and warm picture of Hadley, his description of the expatriate community in 1920s Paris, his comments about books he'd read, the sketches of other writers and artists of the time, were fascinating.

But Hemingway's style doesn't appeal to everyone. For me, Dickens is torture (though I think his stories are really good). One of my daughters loves Dickens and can do without Hemingway; and the other loves Hemingway, but wouldn't even attempt Dickens.

> 85 I suffer from mild face blindness. I've always dreaded mingling, since I tend to introduce myself to people several times. And if I meet people, even people I know rather well, in an unusual context, it can take me a good while to place them. I was well in my twenties before I realised I wasn't just overly self-centered, but that there was such a thing as face blindness.

Wonder if the definition of a creole person is like a creole language? A creole language I think is when a person learns pidgin as their first language I.e. Pidgin becomes a proper language learnt from birth

So I guess that would mean a baby born from two half-breeds?

>96 GingerbreadMan: Very interesting, Anders! Apparently it's only recently that it's been recognized as a genetic condition (previously believed to be the result of stroke or head injury), and that they've discovered how many people are affected. Your experience seems to be typical: people have no idea that their ability to recognize faces is different than everyone else's, and others -- not knowing about the condition -- never consider it as a possibility.

There's a lady, the grandmother of a good friend of my daughter, that I've met many, many times over the years. Several times I've complained to my family that she never remembered who I was -- but since learning about face blindness, I suspect that's what it is. And if it really does affect 2% of people, that translates to 1 child in every 2 classrooms -- how many children are suffering from social problems because of it?

>97 psutto: I don't know! I tried to look it up, and now I'm more confused than ever! I think... not sure... Louisiana Creole has a special meaning...

Wikipedia does say its meant different things in different places and different times....

7. From Ritual to Romance by Jessie L. Weston
Category: Ancient World

I'd love to believe "That once there was a spot / For one brief shining moment / That was known as Camelot!"

About 15 years ago, I got interested in the origin of the Arthurian legends and how they had changed over the centuries. I read quite a few of the earliest sources and references to Arthur, other early sources that didn't mention him, various versions of the story up to the present, and some of the attempts to identify Arthur. There may very well have been a 5th century British warrior who successfully fought against the Saxons (most likely Ambrosius Aurelianus). But my personal conclusion was that the legend itself was far older than the 5th or 6th century, and that it had been adapted for the Saxon invasion and overlaid with Christian motifs.

So it turns out that, back in 1922, Jessie Weston thought the same thing. This little book is her argument that the Grail quest is an ancient vegetation ritual told in story form. She goes into a lot of detail about elements and symbols found in the story, how they relate to the Adonis/Attis/Osiris rituals, which versions were probably earliest, and how the story changed and was adapted to its later form as a romance.

I thought the book was interesting and that she made a good case for her theory. Her focus was the Grail story, so she didn't deal with Arthurian legends except as they related to it, though she wrote about other aspects and legends in other articles. Parts of the book were quite clear, but other passages contained some of the most complex and convoluted sentences that I have ever seen.

8. An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd (Bess Crawford #2), 3*
Category: British Mystery

I didn't like this book nearly as well as I did the first book in the series. The mystery wasn't very well plotted (and I thought was pretty obvious), and Bess seemed rather impulsive and juvenile in both her thoughts and actions.

101 did you read The Mabinogion when researching? There are a lot of similarities and some people think Arthur was based on an earlier Celtic tale

Hi Ivy: I enjoyed the first Bess Crawford mystery. Sorry to hear that the second one isn't as good.

I didn't like Bess in the 2nd book. I went ahead and tried the 3rd and was pleased that it was more like the first book than the second.

>103 psutto: psutto, yes. The Welsh triads and the Irish legends are also interesting. Many of them are not about Arthur -- or at least he is not called by that name, but then the question arises as to whether "Arthur" was a name or a nickname (meaning "bear") or some other appellation. The Arthur of the early stories in The Mabinogion and other Welsh sources is quite different than the Arthur of the later romances.

Jessie Weston's focus was on the Grail legend, so she didn't analyze the origins of the Arthurian legends, though she gave considerable attention to the (earlier) Welsh grail story where Gawain (rather than Percival or Galahad) was the hero.

The thing that puzzles me about her analysis is that the Grail quest seems to be a late addition to the Arthurian legends. If, as she argues, it is based on a very ancient ritual, it seems that there should be traces of it in earlier Celtic legends, whether or not they are "Arthurian."

I thought it was based on the cauldron Of rebirth?

>104 lindapanzo: & 105

It was okay, Linda, and maybe you'll like it more than Carrie and I did.

But I really liked the first book, and I liked Bess. In the 2nd book, Bess seemed to be unjustifiably obsessed with the mystery, stubbornly poking her nose into other people's affairs. And their reactions to her (both of friendliness and the things they told her) just didn't ring true.

I'm about 3/4 done with the 3rd book, A Bitter Truth, and liking it very much. As Carrie has commented, Bess seems to be back to herself -- sensible, circumspect and caring. I have to wonder if the 2nd book was thrown together to meet a deadline. Or -- since this is a mother/son writing team -- a different person was primarily responsible for it.

>107 psutto: Jessie Weston rejects the cauldron as the basis of the Grail story. She spends some time discussing it, but sees it as a separate story, which has infiltrated the later romances, but was not originally a part of the story or the ritual.

I may need to re-read some of these legends to see how much I agree -- or disagree -- with her.

Half of my categories could include mysteries but I feel like I'm not reading many this year.

I've gotten down in my Civil War book about Lincoln's assassination so I started the next donut shop cozy mystery to take a mental break from the extremely detailed Civil War book.

>108 ivyd: since this is a mother/son writing team -- a different person was primarily responsible for it.

I hadn't thought of that explanation. I really hope they're not alternating primary responsibility. If they are, "bad Bess" might reappear in book 4.

#111 That could be the reason.

I remember meeting Charles Todd, the man, at a mystery conference. Later, it came out that he was actually collaborating with his mother on these. Outrage, in some circles.

>110 lindapanzo: Linda, I haven't felt as inclined as usual toward mysteries this month, either. I think it's probably a combination of the many mysteries I read at the end of last year and the idea delving into something deeper for the new year.

The donut shop series is one that I want to try.

>111 cbl_tn: & 112 If they are, "bad Bess" might reappear in book 4.

That occurred to me, too! I think I read somewhere that they have refused to discuss how they divide responsibilities.

9. A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd (Bess Crawford #3), 4*
Category: British Mystery

WW I nurse Bess Crawford returns from France on Christmas leave, to find a dishevelled and distraught young woman huddled in the entry of her London flat. In the ensuing days and months, Bess finds herself enmeshed in murder, and in the tragedies and secrets of the young woman's family.

I very much liked this 3rd book in the Bess Crawford series. After really enjoying the first book, I was disappointed by Bess's obsessive, stubborn pushiness and the weakness of the plot in the 2nd book. This book, however, is a return to the strengths of the 1st book and I will continue to read this series.

~~ "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot
Category: A Baker's Dozen

Now that I've read The Golden Bough and From Ritual to Romance, the books that Eliot claims were the inspiration for "The Waste Land," you'd think I would understand the poem, at least a little more. I don't.

I think his use of language is beautiful; his imagery is wonderful; portions are amusing or poignant. But understand it? No.

Ivy, just popping in to say hi! because I can't keep up with my reading let alone threads while I'm working and going to doctors.
Hope you are enjoying your reads.

Cheli

Hi, Ivy!

95 Hmmm. So my uninformed previous impression that "Creole" also included persons of mixed race was correct, after all?

That would appear to be the case, at least in New Orleans of the Jacksonian era in which these books are set, according to Hambly's note at the end of Graveyard Dust.

Hey Ivy --

I also enjoy the Bess Crawford novels -- I don't seem to have been as disappointed in book two as you were, but I definitely agree that A Bitter Truth was quite good.

I read The Waste Land several years ago and I have to say that while I was glad I'd read, my understanding was a little lacking....

>116 cyderry: Hi, Cheli! I can't keep up with the threads either. Hope you're feeling better!

>117 tymfos: Very interesting, Terri. I just got the 2nd book Fever Season, and I'm tentatively planning to read it in February.

>118 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, I didn't dislike the 2nd book, and probably over-emphasized what I considered its flaws because I was disappointed. It didn't stop me from moving right on to the third book. Have you read their other series?

I wonder if anyone really understands "The Waste Land." The first time I read it was in college, and I'd be willing to bet that the professor didn't understand it either, since I don't recall gaining much insight from his lectures. I might look for one of those online lectures sometime when I'm in the mood...

>119 ivyd: Yes, Have read the other series, and am waiting rather impatiently for The Confession from the library. I have to say that I sometimes find the Ian Rutledge series a little uneven, too, but I'm willing to read whatever they publish.

I'm not particularly motivated to study The Waste Land further -- important it may be, but there is other poetry I like better!

>120 Dejah_Thoris: I think I may try Charles Todd's other series. Probably not right away, though -- too many other series that I'm behind on and/or already have some of the books.

At the moment, I don't feel much inclination for further study of "The Waste Land," either. Ironically, though, I love reading it. Rather unusual for me, since generally if I don't understand something, I don't like it.

January Recap

This year I seem to be behind, not only reading threads, but also posting.

January was a good reading month for me; I finished 9 books of my 91 book goal, and liked everything I read. My favorite book was 11/22/63, a marvellous story and an interesting look at mid-20th century America.

1. Major Accomplishment (0/1)

2. Disasters (0/2)

3. New Harmony, Indiana (0/3)

4. Other US History (0/4)

5. Fantasy (0/5)

6. British History (0/6)

7. Ancient World (2/7)
~~ The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
~~ From Ritual to Romance by Jessie L. Weston
~~ Introduction & Book 1 of Hellenica, by Xenophon

8. Modern World (4/8)
~~ The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
~~ 11/22/63 by Stephen King
~~ You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know by Heather Sellers
~~ A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

9. Around the World (0/9)

10. British Mystery (2/10)
~~ An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd
~~ A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd

11. North American Mystery (1/11)
~~ A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly

12. And On and On (0/12)

13. A Baker's Dozen (0/13)
~~ "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot

> 121

Hey Ivy --

While I like the Ian Rutledge series, I have to admit that it's darker than the Bess Crawford series -- it's sometimes quite disturbing. I think I may ultimately prefer the Bess Crawford series once there are a few more entries.

You read great books in January -- I hope February is as good a month for reading!

>123 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks, Dejah! I'll be looking for the next Bess Crawford book, and I have the Ian Rutledge books on my list, but they're not at the top.

10. When the Tripods Came by John Christopher (Tripods prequel), 3*
Category: Fantasy

A few months ago, I read the first 2 books in The Tripods trilogy, and I thought they were quite good YA sci fi. It took me a while to get ahold of the prequel and the 3rd book, and then even longer to get back to the series.

This book was written 20 years after the triology, as an answer to questions about how the Tripods were able to gain control of the world. The trilogy is set a long time (centuries?) after the apocalypse; the prequel is set in present day.

Some questions are answered, it's an okay book, and it's very short. I had been warned that the prequel was inferior to the trilogy, and I have to agree.

Ivy, just dropping in to let you know that I'm reading my January ER book and the main character has just spent a couple of nights at Glastonbury Abbey. He's given a tour of the Abbey that includes the graves of Arthur & Guinevere and the Glastonbury Thorn, and he climbs the tor, where the chapel at the top is under construction. The book is set in 1366. Unhallowed Ground by Mel Starr.

>126 cbl_tn: Just read your review, Carrie, and I'm adding this series to my ever-growing wishlist! I'll be eager to get to the part about Glastonbury, but I think I want to start at the beginning of the series.

I wish I had started at the beginning of the series. I snagged Early Reviewer copies of books 3 & 4. I read book 3 thinking I could go back and pick up 1 & 2 later. I didn't know it would include spoilers for the first two books. In most of the other series books I read, the spoilers are usually related to the main character's personal life (engagement, marriage, pregnancy, etc.). These books include details about the crimes and the guilty parties from the earlier books, and the crimes have an ongoing effect that ties into the current investigation, much like the Louise Penny books.

125 I have never read the books but I used love the BBC series, sadly it only covered the 1st two books so I really should check out the books and take a nostalgia trip.

11. The Pool of Fire by John Christopher (Tripods Trilogy #3), 3*
Category: Fantasy

This third book in John Christopher's Tripods Trilogy was a rather predictable conclusion to his YA apocalyptic/dystopian trilogy. Perhaps it's just been too long since I read the first 2 books (about 6 months ago), which I really enjoyed. But this book seemed to lack the detail and page-turning adventure aspects of the previous books; it was, instead, mostly brief narratives of various actions taken by the rebel group over a period of years. And regarding the number of years: protagonist Will was just turning 14 at the beginning of the trilogy; a rough estimate of the sequence would make him at least into his early 20s by the time time of the conclusion. Yet, he still has the voice and thoughts of a mid-teen -- and acts like one, too. One would expect that his missions and experiences would have caused some maturation.

And one further comment, regarding the entire series: girls and women appear rarely in the series, and when they do, they are depicted as weak or in subservient roles.

>129 clfisha: I didn't know that BBC had done a series on the Tripods. I can see how it would have been a great show, and may see if I can locate it. As you can see from my comments on Book #3, it's rather understandable to me that they would have stopped after the first 2 books. I think that to continue with the same excitement as the earlier books would have taken some major script writing, although the 3rd book, with more detail added, could probably cover several more seasons of a tv show!

I'm sorry to have to break it to you Christopher fans but he just died. Here is his obit in the Guardian.

>132 mamzel: Oh, that's sad! I'm glad he had a good long life, though.

Thanks for the info & link, mamzel.

>128 cbl_tn: These books include details about the crimes and the guilty parties from the earlier books, and the crimes have an ongoing effect that ties into the current investigation, much like the Louise Penny books.

Do you think this is a new trend? It seems to me that I've found this in several books I've read recently -- including the 2nd Monastery Murder by Donna Fletcher Crow (which I've finished and will review soon), although it is oblique enough that a new reader might not recognize or remember it as a spoiler.

Sorry to hear about Christopher. He had a long writing career! I remember reading The Pool of Fire when I was a teen. Don't remember much of it, but I do have an image of the cover in my mind. & I remember I loved his books, even though, as you mentioned ivy d, strong female characters wasn't his thing.

I don't know if it's a trend or not. I've occasionally run across it in other series. In Unhallowed Ground, one of the possible motives for the murder arises from events in one of the earlier books. The author explains enough to make the motive understandable to readers who haven't read the earlier book, but to do that he had to include plot spoilers for the earlier book.

132 that is sad, made me realise though I have The Death of Grass on my TBR!

I've had a busy couple of weeks and I'm dreadfully behind on reading threads and posting. I have done some reading, though, so in the interests of getting caught up, I'll just briefly comment.

~~ "Alcibiades" and "Lysander" in Plutarch's Lives, Vol I
~~ Books 2 & 3 of Hellenica by Xenophon
Category: Ancient World

I'm finding Xenophon pretty easy reading, and also pretty interesting, since he is interested in the people involved. As a history, it lacks the detail and attention to accuracy of Thucydides.

Several years ago, I struggled through Plutarch's Lives (took me more than a year), so I thought I would read a couple of the pertinent ones for some additional depth, since Plutarch drew his Lives from many sources. Having read Thucydides and part of Xenophon certainly made the events more understandable, and I enjoy the details of the personal lives and his analyses of the character of these people. I will probably read a couple more of them as I continue with Xenophon.

12. A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow (Monastery Murders #2), 4*
Category: British Mystery

I liked this book, and will come back with more comments, since it is an ER book.

Review finally added in Message #164

13. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #1), 3 1/2*
Category: Fantasy

I enjoyed The Eyre Affair, my first Jasper Fforde. Bookworld is fascinating, the alternate history is clever, the books mentioned and literary references are fun. However, I thought it was rather like a cartoon: no real investment or involvement with the characters; if one gets damaged or smashed to bits, it's maybe funny and certainly nothing to be upset about; lots of crazy situations and Pow, Bang, Crash action; lots of eccentric people and storylines popping in and out of the narrative.

Since everyone always says that the book is about Thursday saving Jane Eyre, I was rather surprised that this is such a small part of the book. There's some foreshadowing, but the Eyre Affair doesn't really start until after page 250 of a 375 page-book!

I was impressed with Mr Fforde's excellent handling of the literature he mentions and the "Who wrote Shakespeare?" controvery. He gives enough information, in a non-condescending way, that the book can be enjoyed even if one isn't familiar with the books and theories, but at the same time it isn't boring or insulting to someone who knows something about them.

14. One Coffee With by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #1), 4*
Category: North American Mystery

When a professor in the art department of Vanderlyn College is murdered, the case is assigned to NYPD detective Sigrid Harald.

I discovered Margaret Maron several years ago through the Deborah Knott series, which already had about a dozen books when I started. As much as I enjoyed them, I never backtracked to her earlier Sigrid Harald series, thinking that they were probably not as accomplished, most likely a bit dated, and that a police procedural didn't interest me very much.

However:

One Coffee With is extremely polished for a first novel, and very well plotted and characterized, with a mystery that kept me guessing until the end -- when I realized that all the clues really had been given along the way.

Published in 1982, it is a bit dated: no cell phones or computers or DNA, and especially the prejudice directed at a woman breaking into a traditionally-male profession. But since the plot didn't turn on technology, it didn't matter much that these advances hadn't happened yet. And, based on personal experience, I thought she did an excellent job of representing situations and comments that a woman in such a position was sure to encounter in the 1970s and early 1980s. Much of it would not be tolerated today -- and that's a good thing -- but I enjoyed reading about how it was by someone who knew; most young women today -- including my daughters -- find it difficult to comprehend how much attitudes have changed in the last 30 years.

And, although Sigrid is a police detective, it's actually more cozy than police procedural. She has a distinct, fully-realized character, but she reminds me a bit of Eve Dallas or of Kate Beckett in television's Castle. I liked her very much, and can't wait to find out what happens in the somewhat unusual backstory. In fact, I've already started the next book.

#139 Glad to hear that you enjoyed it, Ivy. I will have to start that series, too.

>140 lindapanzo: I think I'm especially excited about it because, although I didn't expect to dislike it, I liked it so much more than I'd expected.

Lots of times, where I really, really love one series, I'm disappointed with the author's other series. I love the main Carolyn Hart Annie Laurance Darling series but not her Henrie O series, for instance. I love M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series but I'm not that fond of the Agatha Raisin books.

I've had that happen, too. And that reminds me that I need to get back to the Death on Demand series. I was really enjoying it, and have quite a few more to read, but seem to have gotten sidetracked. I wonder if I already have the next couple of them, will have to check. My book buget for the next couple of months got blown to bits getting ahold of the Sigrid Harald books (all but one); they're out of print, but available on Kindle and Nook -- I actually considered buying a Kindle for them, but ended up going to Alibris.

I like the Deborah Knott series very much, but there's something special about Sigrid. I'm always delighted to find someone else who likes her, too! I've reread the series several times, and am very pleased that she's such a big part of Three-Day Town - especially since it seems to me to be set up for another Sigrid book or two. I wonder if the older books will end up back in print?

Linda - I feel the same way about M.C. Beaton's two series - I've very fond of Hamish, but I don't even read Agatha. In fact, I'm on hold for the new Hamish right now...

One Coffee is going on the wishlist. I really enjoyed the bootlegger's daughter series, and in the late 90s worked in a company that still thought that women exaggerated accusations of sexual harrassment and the best way to deal with that was to discretely move the harrasser to a different position without a demotion. I'm glad the kids are naive now about what it was like, but I fear it can all happen again.

I've got a few of the Deborah Knott books on my TBR pile and am hoping to get to at least the first one this year as it will fit into one of my categories. I'd like to say it's good to know her first series is good too, but then I'd have to go look at them for my nook and I swore I'd be better this year at not adding to the pile and so far I'm failing.

Hi Ivy: I have One Coffee With on my list also. I want to get back to the Deborah Knott series also.

The second Deborah Knott Southern Discomfort seems to be missing from the library and it's not available on Nook as yet. I may have to read what I have....

>144 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, I'm halfway into Death of a Butterfly and am still finding Sigrid delightful. Some of the earlier Deborah Knott books are out of print, too. I find it very odd that earlier books in a series are out of print when the series is still ongoing. I wonder if they're just planning to make them available in e-format rather than reprinting.

>145 cammykitty: Katie, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I think that one of the things that is different now is that young men have mothers, aunts, sisters -- and many of the older men have wives and daughters -- who have pursued professional careers; that was rarely the case back in the 70s and 80s. Sexual harassment is not gone, but at least there's more awareness.

>146 dudes22: Betty, the Deborah Knott series is one of my favorites, and Bootlegger's Daughter is a good one. Good luck with the tbrs -- I'm failing miserably on mine!

>147 lsh63: Lisa, I'll be interested in what you think of One Coffee With! They seem to be working back from the end of the series in making the Deborah Knott books available on Nook, but starting at the beginning of the Sigrid Harald books (the first 6 of 8 now available). The mysteries are pretty much independent, but each book does add to the story of Deborah and her brothers. I don't think it would cause too much confusion, though perhaps some minor spoilers, to skip a book or read them out of order.

15. Death of a Butterfly by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #2), 3 1/2*
Category: North American Mystery

In the second Sigrid Harald book, a young mother has been murdered in her kitchen.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but didn't like it quite as much as the first one, probably because 1) the very minor subplot on butterflies wasn't as interesting to me as the workings of the college art department in book #1; 2) very little was added to the backstory; and 3) I was somewhat dissatisfied with the ending (though the strands and clues were nicely tied up). Nevertheless, the book was very well written and plotted -- once again, she had me quessing until the end, and my best guess wasn't the right solution. And Sigrid is wonderful, with her professional competence coupled with social uncertainties and a flawed self-image (and my compliments to Margaret Maron for presenting that dichotomy with such skill!).

I had intended to read only the first 2 books right now, and then move on to something else, but I find I haven't had quite enough of Sigrid yet, so I've already started the next one. Someone on another thread thought that book 3 was the weakest in the series, but so far (only about 30 pages) I'm finding the situation very interesting.

16. Death in Blue Folders by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #3), 3 1/2*
Category: North American Mystery

The 3rd book in the Sigrid Harald series centers around the murder of a lawyer found dead in his office amidst the scattered contents of his "special" cases, which are kept in blue folders.

This book seems to be pretty generally considered the weakest of the series, and it is dated by technological advances in the past 25 years. There were a few questions that remained unanswered, and I guessed (deduced?) most of the solution. I still liked it.

After 3 Sigrid Harald books in a week, I'm now ready to return to King John, Llewellyn the Great and Princess Joan in Here Be Dragons. I was enjoying it very much and I like Ms Penman's characterizations. But, even though it's fiction, I know enough about that period of history that there were few surprises; it's very long; and it reads more like history than fiction. I needed a break for some lighter books, which has now been accomplished.

I just picked up One Coffee With for my Kindle, which I believe is the first one (the book, not my Kindle).

Back in 1995, I read one of the (at the time) later Sigrid Harald books, Fugitive Colors. I think it was nominated for an award to be given at a mystery conference I was attending or maybe our mystery book club was reading it. Usually, I wouldn't start late in the series like that.

>151 lindapanzo: Yes, One Coffee With is the first book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I believe Fugitive Colors is the last (8th) Sigrid Harald book, which was published pretty near the same time as Bootlegger's Daughter. Apparently, she then abandoned Sigrid -- until the newest book Three-Day Town. I'm definitely planning to continue the Sigrid books, but probably not for at least a few weeks.

I sometimes read a later book in a series. If I really like it, I'm always sorry I didn't start at the beginning, but on the other hand, sometimes I decide that I don't want to read the series.

I misspoke earlier. Sometimes I read a later book in a series if it's, say, a Christmas mystery. Usually, though, if I read a later book it's either due to a book discussion group or a mystery conference.

There are some series, such as the Nevada Barr, where I'll pick out an interesting-sounding one and don't even attempt to read them all or read them in order.

I'm pretty sure I've read a Nevada Barr or 2, but wasn't impressed enough to want to collect them all.

Back in the 80s and early 90s when my girls were young, I very often read whatever happened to be on the rack at the grocery store. I didn't have time to get into Portland to Powell's all that often; Barnes & Noble wasn't here yet; couldn't order off the internet; the one local bookstore had a very limited stock, though they did special order a few books for me; the local library had what I considered a strange assortment of books. Not an ideal way of choosing books, but I did discover some very good series that way!

It used to be much harder to even know what the order of a series was. I picked up Detecting Women and Detecting Men both by Willetta Heising. These were a godsend.

Nowadays, there are plenty of sources, such as fantasticfiction or even LT itself.

And you used to be able to tell (most of the time) by the way they were listed in the front of a book. Usually oldest at the top, newest at the bottom. No more - my husband grabbed a book somewhere and decided to have me bookmooch some of the series for him. We had a big discussion on whether or not the first book listed was the first book. I had to go to fantasticfiction to prove that they weren't in the order listed.

Speaking of which - do either of you know of a site similar to fantasticfiction where you can see new books for non-fiction. One of my favortie things to do at the beginning of the month is to go to FF and see all the books that are being published that month. I'd like to do the same for non-fiction. Not that it will help my wishlist go down.

>155 lindapanzo: I agree, Linda. I don't now remember which ones, but I know that several times I was surprised to find that I'd begun in the middle of a series. That hasn't happened -- inadvertently, anyway -- since I've been on LT and found all the great book sites.

>156 dudes22: I've noticed that, too, Betty. I think it sometimes happens when an author switches publishers, or when the paperbacks are reprinted. I've seen series books listed alphabetically, which isn't very helpful -- unless it's Sue Grafton!

And no, I don't know of a non-fiction site. Sounds like a good idea for someone, though!

I skip around in series, but to be honest, I usually never intend to read an entire series when it comes to mysteries. Fantasy or science fiction, I'm more careful. I like Nevada Barr, but haven't read a ton. I like her settings - usually national parks.

I really enjoy Nevada Barr's settings too. I really need to get back to her series.

>158 cammykitty: Some of the series -- particularly the cozies -- have a backstory that keeps moving along, and that I've become as interested in as the mysteries. But there are others where the presence of the same dectective/sleuth is the biggest connecting factor. I know I've read P.D. James and Anne Perry books out of order, and it hasn't bothered me.

>159 cyderry: Hi, Cheli! Thanks for dropping by!

>160 thornton37814: It's been quite a while since I read any Nevada Barr. Maybe I'll get back to them at some point, but at the moment I have so many series going, and new ones I want to try, that she's not at the top of my list.

Really.... I have been visiting - more of a quick fly-by visit - but thought I would put the brakes on this trip and stop for a quick "Hello"!

Hi, Lori! Glad you stopped by!

12. A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow (Monastery Murders #2), 4*
Category: British Mystery

When you put off doing something you need to do, it just keeps getting harder to get to it, and book reviews are no exception. When I finished this book, I was busy and I also wanted to think what to say. There are a lot of reasons that I shouldn't have liked it, but I did; I liked it more while I was reading it than after I finished; and it's not a book for everyone, even cozy mystery fans.

In this second book of Donna Fletcher Crow's Monstery Murders series, Felicity has inexplicably decided that she wants to become a nun, but her investigation of convents is hampered by thefts of Russian icons, and murder soon follows.

Felicity is still a shallow, silly, flightly young woman with little self-perception or depth of religious understanding. I don't usually have much patience with women like that, but despite myself, I like her.

I didn't think the mystery was particularly well done, and didn't think the resolution was very satisfying. I had the feeling that it was secondary to the historical and religious information.

But I loved Ms Crow's imagined scenarios about anchorite Julian of Norwich, the information about Margery Kempe, the descriptions of Anglican convents in the present day, the visit to Temple Church. The material about the Knights Templar, Knights of Malta, and Knights Hospitallers was also interesting, but not discussed fully enough that I understand their inter-connection any more than I did before.

I recommend this book (and series) only to those who like cozy mysteries and are also interested in British religious history. Ms Crow is extremely knowledgable about Christianity in Britain and her presentation is interesting and accessible.

I don't think I've ever heard of her. Sounds like it might be one to look for.

Can't remember: Did you see the Mystery March thread on the 75ers?

I think I marked it a bit lower than you did, Ivy, because of the problems, but I did enjoy it. I enjoy church history, but I did think she got a bit bogged down with the history and neglected the mystery at times. If you really enjoy the medieval church history elements, you might enjoy her books Glastonbury (England) and The Fields of Bannockburn (Scotland). I haven't read the Ireland one called The Banks of the Boyne, but I'm sure it is worthwhile as well. I read the earlier two before and after an Association of Christian Librarians conference at which she was the keynote speaker. A few years later, I was playing some sort of trivia game and was amazed at how many questions about Scotland that I answered correctly because I had read that book!

>165 lindapanzo: One of the reasons I found it hard to write a review of the book is that I'm not at all certain who might like the series and who wouldn't, and as Lori says, it does have problems. I think I found the historical subject matter of the first book, A Very Private Grave, more interesting than this medieval one; it dealt in part with the schism between the Celtic Christian Church and the Roman Catholic Church in the early years of Christianity.

Yes, I'm getting prepared for Mystery March. I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday to buy 2 gift books, Nine Stories and maybe 1 mystery for myself. I came home with those, plus 3 more gift books, and -- for myself -- 2 more mysteries, the first 2 39 Clues books, a historical fiction about St Margaret of Scotland and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. There's a good reason that I don't go there very often!

>166 thornton37814: I did think she got a bit bogged down with the history and neglected the mystery at times.

I agree, Lori. I was so interested in the history that I didn't mind, but I don't think that everyone would see it that way.

I read Glastonbury last year, and liked it very much. After I finished, I was going to order the other two books but found that they were out of print. One of these days, I'll track down copies.

What fun to hear her speak! She's incredibly knowledgable. I really wish, though, that she would include bibliographies or notes about her sources. I know she has studied sources that I've never heard of and I'd like to know about them; and on the flip side, I think she sometimes makes things up or puts her own spin on it, and I'd like to know that too.

Hey Ivy - I just finished writing my review of A Darkly Hidden Truth and came by to read your which I had skipped. It looks as though you, Lori and I saw many of the same problems - mainly that the mystery suffered while the church history flourished! I actually enjoyed the history a great deal, which salvaged the book for me. I think many cozy mystery readers might be dismayed by the weak plot on this one, though.

I see you like Felicity more than I did -- I found her really annoying. Perhaps that's because I haven't read A Very Private Grave. I'm tempted to try it, though, now that I know from you what the history in it is about! BTw, I agree that a bibliography would have been really nice. I did appreciate the glossary.

Congratulations on your book haul -- Mystery March will be fun!

>168 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, just read your great review of this book. I hate to disappoint you about Felicity, but I found her more annoying in the first book than in this one, and didn't decide that I liked her until about halfway through the 2nd book. I'm sure her ignorance is an excuse for the historical explanations, but it still doesn't seem to me that she has to be quite so childish and shallow. Who decides to become a nun on a whim?!!? I found myself wondering whether she is a spoof on amateur sleuths -- maybe it was after I had that thought that I began liking her.

>168 Dejah_Thoris:-169

I know what you mean -- gee, I've wanted to be a nun for a whole two weeks! It was a bit much, although I was very interested in Anglican Orders she visited. She definitely got less annoying the second half of the book, though. Maybe she'll be more, umm, capable / competent / adult in the next book?

I'm tempted to read the first book just to figure out how she was even accepted into a theological college or made an Ordinand!

>170 Dejah_Thoris: Maybe she'll be more, umm, capable / competent / adult in the next book?

I'm hopeful, Dejah. I thought the parts about her mother showed a bit of emotional growth.

I'm tempted to read the first book just to figure out how she was even accepted into a theological college or made an Ordinand!

You won't really get that answered in the first book. But I did think that the mystery was better than in the 2nd book, and that Antony's spiritual struggle was well done, in addition to liking the history. I liked the book enough that I intended to read the 2nd book, whether or not I won it.

I didn't know about the earlier Maron series. Onto the list goes One Coffee With!

>172 tymfos: I think you'll enjoy it, Terri! I'm planning to read the next 2 in the series this month.

17. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman, 4*
Category: British History

I really liked Here Be Dragons, about Princess Joanna, illegitimate daughter of King John of England and wife of Llewellyn the Great of Wales. Her characterizations were well done and interesting, especially of King John, who is presented more kindly than usual. Her research is excellent, and she took few liberties with known facts. Given the time, and that this book is about a woman, there are a lot of gaps (and quite a few discrepancies) in the historical record, but I thought she did a nice job of filling in the blanks. Her ideas were not always the same as my imaginings, but hers were nonetheless well thought out, cohesive and interesting.

Why not 5*? Two reasons:

1. Purely personal, because I already knew quite a bit about Joan's story. I wasn't captivated -- through 700 pages -- by learning about her. She is a fascinating historical personage, and I can easily see the book being far more compelling for someone who doesn't know about her.

2. The book is very well written. However, Ms Penman repeatedly uses a stylistic device which I found incredibly irritating and disruptive: she strings sentences together without a conjunction -- sometimes as many as 5 or 6 times per page. Had it been characteristic of a particular speaker, it might have been okay, but everyone uses it, including the narrator.

Nevertheless, I have every intention of reading more of Ms Penman's historical novels. First, though, I'm going to backtrack a few years and read Elizabeth Chadwick's The Greatest Knight, about William Marshal.

February Recap

Finishing Here Be Dragons just under the wire (9 pm last night), I completed 8 books in February, keeping me on schedule for finishing the challenge.

Favorite book: One Coffee With by Margaret Maron

Least favorite book: The Pool of Fire by John Christopher (which was an okay conclusion to the trilogy, but not nearly as good as the first 2 books)

1. Major Accomplishment (0/1)

2. Disasters (0/2)

3. New Harmony, Indiana (0/3)

4. Other US History (0/4)

5. Fantasy (3/5)
~~ When the Tripods Came by John Christopher
~~ The Pool of Fire by John Christopher
~~ The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

6. British History (1/6)
~~ Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman

7. Ancient World (2/7)
~~ "Alcibiades" & "Lysander" in Plutarch's Lives, Vol I
~~ Books 2 & 3 of Hellenica, by Xenophon

8. Modern World (4/8)

9. Around the World (0/9)

10. British Mystery (3/10)
~~ A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow

11. North American Mystery (4/11)
~~ One Coffee With by Margaret Maron
~~ Death of a Butterfly by Margaret Maron
~~ Death in Blue Folders by Margaret Maron

12. And On and On (0/12)

13. A Baker's Dozen (0/13)

18. The Right Jack by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #4), 4*
Category: North American Mystery

I just can't get enough of Sigrid Harald! I loved this installment, my favorite since the first one.

The Right Jack involves a cribbage tournament and aging Vietnam War protesters (aged 35-45 in 1987, when this book takes place). Since I graduated college in 1970, this was familiar territory for me, and her comments and depiction of events were astute and accurate. Plus, it was a great mystery!

Hi Ivy: I'm glad that you are enjoying the Sigrid Harald series. From your reviews, I think I will enjoy them also! I hope to start One Coffee With very soon.

I know I've said it before, but I'm so happy to have found someone else who thinks that Sigrid is great!

BTW, I'm planning to read Aristophanes' Lysistrata this month if you'd like to join me. I've got it posted in Challenge #13 and I thought it might fit into your Ancient World category.

>177 lsh63: I hope you'll like them as much as I do, Lisa!

To a great extent, these books could take place today... but then there are little things that take you back 25 years ago: a police officer having to find a phone to call the precinct; identification without DNA; mention of the Soviet Union... and of course in this book, the age of the former protesters. But I'm enjoying the look back at a time that I remember, and Ms Maron does it so well that it's no more jarring than, for instance, reading a mystery written and set in the 1930s or 1950s.

>178 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, I'm a big fan of Sigrid. I like her at least as well as Deborah Knott, who I like tremendously.

Aristophanes... I haven't read a Greek play since I was in college (that's before 1970!) and I hadn't really planned to. But it would tie in nicely with the group reads of Greek histories, and it would certainly be good to read it with someone else. I might even have a copy hanging around somewhere. No promises, but I'll think about it, and thanks for asking!

Margaret Maron wrote at the beginning of one of the Deborah Knott books that she doesn't worry about the whole realistic timeline bit -- every book is written set in the now. Happily, that lets her bring Sigrid and Deborah together in Three-Day Town, but it's odd for Sigrid to suddenly have internet access!

>181 Dejah_Thoris: I don't recall seeing that comment (though I might have, since I've read all but the most recent Deborah Knott book), but I did figure it out. After I'd read a few of them, I tried to put together a timeline of Deborah and her parents and brothers -- thought I had it, and then discovered in subsequent books that it wouldn't work, since the books take place a few months, or even weeks, after the last one, though a year or more passes in real time between books. Once I stopped worrying about it, I found that it didn't bother me.

Dejah, did you read Bloody Kin? Does Sigrid appear in it? I picked up on Kate appearing in one of these Sigrid books, and that Sigrid is the cousin of Kate's husband, but I don't remember Sigrid being in that book.

No - I'm sure I'd remember if Sigrid had appeared in any of Maron's other books, but the connection does get made - extended family, cousins, etc. And as far as I know, I've read all of Maron's books. Of course, they've been spread out over many years, so I suppose I could be forgetting something....

In the most recent Deborah Knott, I think there's a mention of Sigrid. I need to get started with the Sigrid books.

183 & 184 Dejah, I didn't think that Sigrid showed up in Bloody Kin, and I don't remember whether she was mentioned in it, though I do vaguely recall some discussion of Kate & her husband's New York connections.

Linda, Sigrid is mentioned in Christmas Mourning and her grandmother Mrs Lattimore does appear in it. According to Dejah (and as can be deduced from Christmas Mourning), both Deborah and Sigrid are featured in Three-Day Town, which is what prompted me to read the Sigrid books before reading it. I'm guessing that you'll really enjoy Sigrid!

19. Baby Doll Games by Margaret Maron (Sigrid Harald #5), 3*
Category: North American Mystery

This is my first diappointment in the Sigrid series, mostly because of the subject matter. I always have difficulty with books which deal with child abuse, and the ending of this book left me feeling unhappy and slightly sick. That's not what I'm looking for when I read mysteries, though I give Ms Maron credit for her ability to evoke the emotional response.

On a more objective level, I didn't think the main mystery was as tightly constructed as in the previous books: part of the solution I guessed early on, and didn't know why Sigrid couldn't see it; and the other part seemed to come pretty much out of the blue. There is also a 2nd mystery in this book, which has little connection to the first, except that it explains and relates to the title. I don't recall this structure in any other of Ms Maron's books.

I did like the developments in Sigrid's life, and -- despite my earlier comments -- I mostly enjoyed it while I was reading it. In the Deborah Knott series, there were some books I really liked, some I liked, and others that were just okay; the same seems to be true of the Sigrid books.

20. Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 5*
Category: A Baker's Dozen

I've read some Tennyson, and perhaps even excerpts of the Idylls (it's hard to be an English major without at least encountering Tennyson), but it was a long time ago, and I'd never read the entire 12-part epic poem about King Arthur and his knights.

It's joyous and exuberant, teeming with beautiful language, gorgeous imagery, wonderful similes and metaphors; and it's surprisingly easy to read. I think what impressed -- and delighted -- me the most was the depth of character. This may be my favorite rendition of the King Arthur stories.

21. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, 3 1/2*
Category: Modern World

Dan Brown has a knack for weaving historical secrets, symbols, rumors and mysteries into a mostly cohesive conspiracy theory; and for pacing his story of "discovery" with almost constant action and revelation. His writing syle is only adequate, and his characterizations are poor, but the fast pace and mix of fact and possible(?) explanations keep me turning the pages.

This 3rd book featuring symbologist Robert Langdon (of The Da Vinci Code fame) has Robert uncovering secrets of the Masons and of Washington, DC. I'm not sure where the line between fact and fantasy is to be drawn on these topics -- and I don't really care enough to look it up -- but I was fascinated and fully entertained by the book. Until the last 50 pages, which struck me as corny and so totally beyond belief (and good storytelling) that it reduced my rating from 4* to 3 1/2*.

Ivy, you are making me want to go back and re-read that Tennyson work. It's been awhile for me.

I think I was pretty over Dan Brown when I read this book. I found it...
Run, run, run, lecture, run, run, run, lecture, repeat ad nauseum.
And I agree, those last 50 pages were totally unnecessary.

Interestingly, there was a program on TV yesterday (NatGeo, maybe) about the Masons.

>189 thornton37814: Lori, I loved it and I'll definitely visit it again. What I'd really like, though, is to hear it read. There must be audio versions available; I need to investigate...

>190 mamzel: I think I was pretty over Dan Brown when I read this book.

Me, too. Which is undoubtedly why it sat here for about 2 years before I got around to reading it.

I'll have to look for that program.

22. Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef #3), 3 1/2*
Category: And On and On

This episode in the life of White House Chef Olivia Paras begins just before the annual Easter Egg Roll. Very appropriate for right now!

I'm really enjoying this cozy mystery series, though I do wish that the mysteries were a bit more developed, and that there was more solving of the mysteries, rather than the solution just happening.

If I recall correctly, Eggsecutive Orders is my favorite in the series so far. I hope you enjoy it!

Have you read her other series, the Manor House Mysteries? I read the first a while back, but it didn't do much for me. I'd be interested in knowing what someone else thought of them. Maybe I was grumpy that day....

>194 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, I'm sorry to hear that you weren't impressed with the Manor House book. My edition of Eggsecutive Orders had an excerpt from the first one in the back. Based on those few pages, I thought I might want to try the series -- after I get caught up on this one.

Funny thing about Buffalo West Wing, the next book in the White House Chef series:

I was positive I had it, a hardback remainder copy. I remember it sitting in the living room, with the previous book, just before I decorated for Christmas, and thinking that the different sizes weren't going to look very good in the bookcase. I had added both books to my November list of possibles (a list that only includes books I already have or know I have access to), and had removed Buffalo West Wing from my wishlist.

But I couldn't find it. I searched high (top of the bookshelves) and low (under the couch) and everywhere in between. I reviewed all my orders from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble back to May, and it wasn't listed. But I had been to the bookstore, too, and I knew one visit was in November when I went to pick out a nursery rhyme book for my granddaughter's 1st birthday. So I looked up the book, thinking that if I knew what the cover looked like I might find it misshelved somewhere.

And found out that it has never been published in hardcover!

Old age? Too many books? I wonder which books were sitting there... I really don't think that my memory of them was fantasy... though the books obviously weren't the ones I thought they were...

Hi Ivy: Guess what I did yesterday, I bought a book for my Nook that I had read in 2008, borrowed from the library! I did not check LT before I made my purchase, because I was so sure that I hadn't read it.

I can't tell everyone that I do these things, and I have to laugh at myself, life's too short not to!

I do really enjoy the White House series though, I'm trying to pace myself with them.

>197 lsh63: I've done that, too, Lisa! Most recently with one of the J.D. Robb books, not recognizing the title -- or the hints from the blurb! -- and thinking it was the new one. It's especially bad with mysteries, since I tend to forget the mystery almost immediately... until I try to read it again and about 50 pages into it, suddenly remember the whole thing.

Laughter is the best response!

I do this a whole lot less often now that I'm on LT. I used to buy duplicates etc fairly often.

I do it a lot on Bookmooch because I'm too lazy to check LT when a book shows up and I'm afraid someone else will mooch it first.

Going back to Sharon Kay Penman, have you read Sunne in Splendour? It's my favorite of hers so far.

23. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, 4*
Category: North American Mystery

Interesting relationship between the unmarried Episcopal priest and the married police chief. A good mystery that kept me up far too late. Nice small town setting. I'll definitely be continuing with this series.

>199 lindapanzo: Linda, LT has made a big difference for me, too -- in many ways, but knowing where I am in a series is a big one for me.

>200 dudes22: Betty, even checking my LT library isn't infallible for me, since it's mostly only the books I've read since joining. I've never participated in Bookmooch. I hate to give up my books.

>201 japaul22: japaul, Here Be Dragons was my first Sharon Kay Penman, but it won't be the last! I think The Sunne in Splendor is about Richard III? Based on what she did with King John, I think her view of Richard III might be really interesting. I'm also really interested in how she approaches Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I haven't decided whether or not to continue with the Welsh trilogy before trying the others.

I don't have a choice - if I don't get rid of them, there's no room for more. I created a "TBR' category just so I could figure out if I had the book or not. Plus it helps me find books for my categories without rooting through everything.

#202 I liked that first Julia Spencer-Fleming book last year and hope to continue with this series. I haven't yet. So many series.

One series I've been lax with is the Maisie Dobbs series. I need to get back to that one.

@ 203 -- Ivy, you should definitely continue with the Welsh trilogy! They are my favorite SKP books so far. Although I must admit, I'm quite enjoying her take on the Plantagenets as well.

I just read the 2nd Julia Spencer-Fleming while I was away on vacation and it was as good as the first.

>204 dudes22: I don't have a choice - if I don't get rid of them, there's no room for more.

My "choice" to have boxes of books in the garage is not really a very good one. A couple of years ago, I got 2 large new bookcases, which got the stacks of books off the floor and even a couple of boxes back into the house. Now they're pretty much filled... I probably should consider Bookmooch!

>205 lindapanzo: Linda, I have far too many series that are started but not caught up. A sort of unofficial goal for this year was to catch up on series I had started before starting new ones, but I seem to have failed at that. The Maisie Dobbs series was one that really caught my interest and I whipped through all (except the most recent) without burning out on them.

>206 christina_reads: Okay, Christina. You've convinced me. I'll continue with the Welsh books before starting the Plantagenets. I guess I was thinking that the Welsh saga was not as interesting after Llewellyn and Joanna, but maybe because I don't know as much about it, so in that respect it will be more interesting. Plus, I'm eager to get to Eleanor of Aquitaine -- in my opinion one of the most fascinating women in history. But before any of them, I want to backtrack slightly (in time) to Elizabeth Chadwick's The Greatest Knight -- have you read it?

>207 dudes22: Good to know, Betty. I think this is a series that I'll be continuing with soon.

@ 208 -- Ivy, haven't read The Greatest Knight yet, but it's on my bookshelf! I did read another book by Elizabeth Chadwick, Lords of the White Castle, and really liked it, so I have high hopes! Didn't mean to sway you unduly on the Penman, either. You really can't go wrong with her, no matter which book you pick, so maybe you should just read whichever one interests you the most. :)

>209 christina_reads: I appreciate your comments about the Welsh trilogy, Christina! I hadn't decided which Penman I wanted to read next, and I'm glad to know that you enjoyed all 3 books.

I'd hoped to at least get started on The Greatest Knight this month, but I've been immersed in Mystery March instead. Maybe in April...

I've recently joined Bookmooch with the idea of swapping books I no longer want with books I do want - not entirely sure its been much of a success to be honest, I have sent about 6 books for every one I've received so far so its been good at getting books I don't want out of the house but I've definitely spend more money on postage than I've received in kind

>211 psutto: Yes, I can see that could be a problem. And there's also the hassle of having to prepare the books for mailing and take them to the post office. Not major, but still one more thing that needs to be done.

Maybe the books in the garage isn't such a bad idea after all...

24. Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef #4), 4*
Category: And On and On

I really liked this book, with the changes in the White House and in Ollie's personal situation. There's an oddity to it, for a cozy, which I can't mention without spoilers, but I think I liked that twist. Once again, though, I really wish the mystery had been tied up better at the end.

I moved A Moveable Feast from my Modern World category to my Around the World category. Although I designated Modern World as 20th and 21st centuries, I think I really intended it to be post WW II -- in other words, during my lifetime. I wasn't totally happy with 1920s Paris as Modern World. Plus that category is filling up fast, while Around the World has so far been neglected.

212 luckily the local post office is about 5 minutes walk away, unluckily I'm rarely available for its opening times

Ivy, besides starting Time and Again, probably this weekend, I think I may start Sup with the Devil, the newest Abigail Adams mystery first.

Hi, Linda! I should finish my non-fiction ER book and Part 1 of 2666 tonight or (probably) tomorrow. I was considering Sup with the Devil or Affairs of Steak next, before or after Time and Again, depending on when we're starting. I think Sandy said she was planning to start next week, so maybe I'll read the Barbara Hamilton first. As well as expecting to enjoy it, I'd certainly like to stop entering and removing it from TIOLIs month after month!

I'm with you, Ivy. There's an element of "this time I really mean it."

I love these Abigail Adams books but I have to be in the right mood for them.

>218 lindapanzo: I love these Abigail Adams books but I have to be in the right mood for them.

I agree, Linda. I'm not usually a fan of historical people (or other people's literary characters) being put into improbable situations, but this series is an exception.

I did finish the other 2 last night, so I'm planning to start Sup with the Devil tonight.

25. Soldier Dogs by Maria Goodavage, 4 1/2*
Category: Modern World

If you've ever wondered about Military Working Dogs, this is a book for you. In a clear, conversational style, Maria Goodavage draws you into her exploration of how military dogs are selected, how they're trained, what they do, what kind of care they're given, and what happens to them when their working days are over.

A dog lover herself, Ms Goodavage addresses concerns and questions, including the philosophical/ethical ones of deploying dogs in war. She manages to incorporate an amazing number of facts, both big and little (such as why bloodhounds with their superior noses are not used), interspersed with stories of handlers and dogs. She explains terminology and rationale for military decisions, making the information easily accessible to non-military readers.

The stories of these hero dogs and their hero handlers are interesting and touching, and some of them are difficult and very sad. Although from time to time Ms Goodavage mentions dogs who have served in previous wars, most of the stories were obtained from very recent interviews, so the focus is on Iraq and especially Afghanistan. Photographs are a wonderful addition to the book.

As well as providing a great deal of information in a very readable format, and answering many questions, this book is a lovely tribute to those brave dogs and their human handlers who have saved so many lives, sometimes at the expense of their own.

====

On a personal level, one of the miscellaneous facts that I found most interesting is that there is now an operation (routinely performed on the military dogs) which can prevent the bloat/twisted stomach syndrome that afflicts so many large dogs. After having lost my 8-year-old Newfoundland to that syndrome (a long time ago: Good Friday of 1980), I would absolutely have the operation performed if I ever had another very large dog (although I most probably will not, since the care level required by my cats is more in keeping with my current lifestyle).

~~ Part 1 of 2666 by Roberto Bolano
Category: Major Accomplishment

I'm fascinated by the original writing style and the incredible number of layers to this book, which is, at the same time, an interesting story of 4 academics who are experts on a German author (at least Part 1 is about them -- I understand that the story will change in the subsequent parts). It's also difficult reading, and slow, but I think it will be worth it.

I'm going to put the bulk of my comments and impressions on the group read thread, and they will contain spoilers.

It seems that there are a few books about dogs in the military out. I recently received one from ER called Dogs of War that opened with a description of the attack on BenLaden's compound where a dog was used. Shaw spent quite a bit of time talking about how these dogs are now healed and retrained and attempted to be placed with a family after they have finished their service.

>222 mamzel: The Dogs of War sounds very similar to Soldier Dogs, with respect to the information it provided. Based on your review, I seem to have liked the format and style of Soldier Dogs better than you liked the other book. The use of the military dog Cairo in the raid on Bin Laden's compound obviously generated a lot of interest (including mine) in this little-known department of the military.

26. Sup with the Devil by Barbara Hamilton (Abigail Adams #3), 3 1/2*
Category: And On and On

I really enjoy these mysteries featuring Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, set just before the beginning of the American Revolution. This episode involved some strange events at Harvard University, and I greatly enjoyed the picture of Harvard 200+ years ago; I would, in fact, have liked even more detail about it. The mystery was quite good, but I was slightly disappointed that the loose ends weren't tied up better at the end.

Using an historical figure as an amateur sleuth in fictional situations is a tricky thing to do, and one that I usually don't care for. This series is an exception for me, and I'm not entirely sure why: partly because, as far as I know anyway, Ms Hamilton (Barbara Hambly) does such an excellent job with her historical settings; partly because Abigail's character (if not the situations) seems to be in line with what I know about Abigail Adams; partly because by using a real person, the interactions with other historical people seems natural rather than contrived.

I keep meaning to try Barbara Hambly's mysteries - thanks for reminding me again!

I'm back from my weekend away (I didn't even take my Kindle) and will probably start reading again this evening.

Still sore and, with all that, not sleeping well, so I'm sore and tired. It's tough to concentrate on reading, right now.

I should finish one today myself. I've been working my way through it for a few days, but with all that I had going on over the weekend, I didn't make much progress. Now that I'm home, I've got a project to complete before the end of the month, but I am still allowing time to read as breaks from the other project.

I have far too many series that are started but not caught up.

Me, too! I'm behind in almost all of them, and I keep starting new ones.

Ivy, I'm only halfway through Sup with the Devil. As you know, I love the Abigail Adams series. I also love academic mysteries.

However, for some reason, this one is not doing much for me. I enjoy reading about Harvard during that time period but the mystery itself seems slow, or something. I will continue to plow through.

>225 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, I hope you'll enjoy them. I've liked all 3 of the Abigail Adams books, and the first Benjamin January book (and intend to continue). Her settings are so well done that I suspect her sci fi books might be interesting as well.

>226 lindapanzo: & 229 Linda, I'm glad to see from your threads that you're feeling better now. Sup with the Devil is my least favorite of the Abigail Adams books, but I still enjoyed it. If I recall correctly, the mystery picks up a bit in the 2nd half, but the details about Harvard diminish.

>227 thornton37814: Lori, which book are you reading? Hope your project has been successfully completed now!

>228 tymfos: Terri, I'm trying to convince myself to 1) read the books I already have and 2) catch up on at least one series before starting another new one. We'll see how well that works...

The project got done. I had some editing to do for a database, and it had to be sent to the next editors by the first of the month. The book was Sustaining the Cherokee Family. I did get it finished and was able to fit in one more fiction book (Cinnamon Roll Murder) before the end of the month.

Of course, now that April is here, I'm distracted by the release of the 1940 census. I have a feeling that this won't be a good reading month.

Whew, maybe if you don't have a good reading month, my account at FictFact won't keep growing. The TBR is one thing but the number of series is now getting to be unmanageable on a series managing site, go figure!

Did you catch Maria Goodavage's (Soldier Dogs) appearance on The Daily Show with John Stewart?

>233 mamzel: I didn't, mamzel, but just watched it online. As I expected, her conversational style is very much the same as her writing style. Thanks for mentioning this interview!

>231 thornton37814: Lori, I'm now 2 books behind on the Joanne Fluke series. However, I did catch up on both the White House Chef & Abigail Adams series in March, and only started 1 new series.

I don't think the 1940 census will hold any surprises for me. But your comment reminds me that I've been meaning to check on a set of great-grandparents in the 1930 census, since I don't know where they were living in 1930. Just a couple of weeks ago, my aunt told me a rather sweet story about her grandmother, who died when she was 7: her overriding memory of her was taking a daily walk with her to the Catholic Church, about 10 blocks away.

>232 cyderry: Cheli, I signed up at FactFict, but found it more cumbersome (and overwhelming) than my own system on Excel, aided by my LT library. Plus, I kept forgetting to add books, so it was never up to date. I may go back, though, to try to figure out where I was in several series that I was reading before LT.

A quick update on the last books of March:

27. Time and Again by Jack Finney, 4 1/2*
Category: US History

What a great book! I loved the detail about New York City, in both 1970 and 1882, though I've only been to NYC a couple of times. I was enjoying the descriptions in the first half, but the story really picked up in the second half and I had a hard time putting it down. This is a time travel story -- and a good one -- but because of the historical detail, and because it's inspired me to finally read Rutherfurd's New York (probably later this month), I decided to put it in the history category.

28. Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef #5), 4*
Category: And On and On

I think this series just keeps getting better. I like that she has a lot of movement in the political situation and backstory, that there is development in recurring characters, and that each mystery is rather different (no stock plot line). I'll be watching for the next one.

~~ "A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All" by J.D. Salinger
Category: Modern World

I was trying to find the Kinsella connection with Salinger in preparation to reading Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, which features Salinger as a character, has a protagonist named Ray Kinsella, and another character named Richard Kinsella. Richard Kinsella is a minor character in The Catcher in the Rye and Ray Kinsella is the protagonist in this short story, published in Madmoiselle magazine in 1947. (I wonder what that issue of the magazine sells for today!)

As most of the commentators agree, this is not one of Salinger's best stories. It was nevertheless rather delightful to read a Salinger story that I have not read before. Since the story is still under copyright, and I have some serious doubts about the legaility of the online text, I won't give a link to my source; I'll just say that I happened onto the text by googling the name of the story.

March Recap

March was a good reading month for me: 11 books, mostly mysteries. I really can't choose a favorite -- I really, really liked several of them. My least favorite was The Lost Symbol; I guess it was okay, and certainly kept me turning pages, but I'm not at all sure that I'll read future books by Dan Brown.

1. Major Accomplishment (0/1)
~~ Part 1 of 2666 by Roberto Bolano

2. Disasters (0/2)

3. New Harmony, Indiana (0/3)

4. Other US History (1/4)
~~ Time and Again by Jack Finney

5. Fantasy (3/5)

6. British History (1/6)

7. Ancient World (2/7)

8. Modern World (5/8)
~~ The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
~~ Soldier Dogs by Maria Goodavage
~~ "A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All" by J.D. Salinger

9. Around the World (1/9)

10. British Mystery (3/10)

11. North American Mystery (7/11)
~~ The Right Jack by Margaret Maron
~~ Baby Doll Games by Margaret Maron
~~ In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

12. And On and On (4/12)
~~ Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy
~~ Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy
~~ Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy
~~ Sup with the Devil by Barbara Hamilton

13. A Baker's Dozen (1/13)
~~ Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Great books last month...I agree with you about The Lost Symbol it wasn't my favorite either.

Ivy - there really wasn't much for me to learn in the 1940 census either. It was just fun to find folks. We did, however, have some fun checking the enumeration district where our college is located today. I wrote up a blog post about it here: http://familyhistorian.blogspot.com/2012/04/jefferson-city-tennessee-in-1940.htm...

>237 cyderry: Hi, Cheli! Yes, it's a good reading month when I can't choose favorites from among 10 books!

>238 thornton37814: Loved your blog, Lori! It was really interesting, even though I don't know anything about the area you were researching.

I've now moved on to Part 2 for the 2nd Quarter of 2012. I love the continuation feature!