CMBohn's 2013 Reading List

Last year I gave up on the 12-12 challenge, so this year I'm approaching it differently. (It seems like I'm not the only one!) I'm finding it kind of overwhelming, but I want to organize my reads, so I'm going to try doing it here. I'm not going for numbers at all, so I don't care if it's uneven. Instead, I want to focus on some other challenges I've been neglecting.

Themes for this year:

World War II
Off the Shelf
Children's Books
Medicine
Mystery Series
Sherlock Holmes
Early Reviewer
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Christopher Stasheff
Ancient World
Food
Overflow

WORLD WAR II

1. Billy Boyle by James R. Benn, 4 stars
2. Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends by William Guarnere and Edward Heffron, 4 stars
3. An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson, 4 stars
4. Fatal Dive by Peter F. Stevens, 2.25 stars
5. Here is Your War by Ernie Pyle, 5 stars
6. No Better Place to Die by Robert Murphy, 3 stars
7. Women Heroes of World War II by Kathryn J. Atwood, 3.25 stars
8. To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy, 5 stars
9. Berlin Candy Bomber by Gail S. Halvorsen, 2.5 stars
10. We Band of Angels by Elizabeth M. Norman, 4 stars
11. Citizens of London by Lynnne Olson, 4.25 stars
12. A Distant Prayer by Joseph Banks, 3.75 stars

Abandoned:

Lesser Heroes

Maybe: (There's a few!)
Brave Men
Unbroken
Beyond Band of Brothers
The Longest Winter
German Aces Speak
Marcia Gates
Spymistress
Invitation to Valhalla
Shanghai Diary
Between Silk and Cyanide
Becoming Alice
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Mannequin
Treblinka Survivor
In My Hands
The Nazi Officer's Wife
A Lucky Child
German Boy
Bataan The Last Ditch
Pacific Alamo
Pacific Fury
Flags of Our Fathers
The Great Escape
The Fall of Berlin
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Flyboys
Enemy at the Gates
Hiroshima
Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers
Retribution: The Battle for Japan
Ghost Soldiers
Shadows in the Jungle
The Longest Day
Stalingrad
Suite Francaise
Those Who Trespass Against Us
The Road to Rescue

OFF THE SHELF - Books I own, but haven't read

1. Sold Down the River by Barbara Hambly, 5 stars
2. The Rhine Maiden by Erin Evans, 3.25 stars
3. A Voice of Warning by Parley P Pratt, 3 stars
4. The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede, 4.5 stars
5. Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees, 4 stars
6. Bleeding Hearts by Susan Witting Albert, 3.25 stars
7. Aurelia by Anne Osterlund, 1 star
8. Inspector Ghote Caught in the Meshes by HRF Keating, 4 stars
9. Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by HRF Keating, 4 stars
10. Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay, 4 stars

Abandoned:

The Incomplete Enchanter
Water Touching Stone
Father Goriot
The Frozen Deep

Maybe:
A Long Fatal Love Chase
Bad News Man
Life on the Mississippi
Idylls of the King
The Once and Future King
Arthur the King
The Long Divorce
The Last Lecture
The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Rob Roy
A Journal of the Plague Year
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Goddess of Yesterday
Howards End
Mannequin
The Lion and the Unicorn
Tales of New England
The Law and the Lady
The Clever Woman of the Family
The Looking Glass Wars
The Glass Sided Ant's Nest
A Room with a View
Candide
Notes from Underground
I Shall Wear Midnight
Warbreaker
Passage
Common Sense
Rainbow Valley
Mr. Midshipman Easy
Uneasy Money

There are others, but this will certainly do as a start! There's no way I'll get to all these this year, but I'd be delighted to knock of 40 or so. Not sure that will happen, but I can try!

NEW CATEGORY - CHILDREN'S BOOKS

1. Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, 5 stars
2. Henry in Love by Peter McCarty, 4 stars
3. Hug Time by Patrick McDonnell, 5 stars
4. Wag! by Patrick McDonnell, 5 stars
5. The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood, 4 stars
6. The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston, 4 stars
7. Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson, 5 stars
8. Jimmy Coates: Target by Joe Craig, 4 stars
9. The Erie Canal by Peter Spier, 4 stars

MAYBE:

Slaves of Spiegel
George's Marvelous Medicine
Nothing Ever Happens on my Block
Snow-Walker
The Cabinet of Wonders
Everlost
The Magic Thief
Magic by the Lake
The Arrival
The Red Umbrella
Velcome
Jane-Emily
Sophie's Masterpiece
Rotten Island
The Arcade Catastrophe

MEDICINE

1. The Cruelest Miles by Gay and Laney Salisbury, 5 stars
2. Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys, 4.5 stars
3. The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery by Wendy Moore, 4 stars
4. Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story by Robert C. Shaler, 2 stars
5. The Coroner's Journal by Louis Cataldie, 3 stars
6. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, 5 stars

Abandoned:

The Great Mortality
Mobile DNA
The Ghost Map

Maybe:

Scurvy
The Good Doctors
Polio: An American Story
The Ghost Map
Cats Are Not Peas
The Compass of Pleasure
Justinian's Flea
The Poisoner's Handbook
Sybil Exposed
When the Air Hits Your Brain
Vaccinated
Disease: The Story of Disease and Mankind's Continuing Struggle
Blood: An Epic History
Asleep

MYSTERY SERIES

1. A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch, 3.5 stars
2. Most Deadly Hate by Sara Woods, 2.5 stars
3. The Golden Spiders by Rex Stout, 3 stars
4. The Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas, 3.5 stars
5. The Black Hand by Will Thomas, 3.5 stars
6. An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd, 3.25 stars
7. Enter the Corpse by Sara Woods, 3 stars
8. The Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth, 4 stars
9. Frost at Christmas by R D Wingfield, 4 stars
10. Too Many Women by Rex Stout, 3 stars
11. If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout, 3.75 stars
12. The State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy, 3.5 stars
13. The Final Deduction by Rex Stout, 4 stars
14. Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy, 2.5 stars
15. A Right to Die by Rex Stout, 4 stars
16. Mosley by Moonlight by John Greenwood, 4.25 stars
17. Missing Mr. Mosley by John Greenwood, 4.5 stars
18. Back on Murder by J. Mark Bertrand, 4 stars
19. Die Upon a Kiss by Barbara Hambly, 4 stars
20. A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis, 3 stars
21. Guess Who's Coming to Die? by Patricia Sprinkle, 3 stars
22. The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters, 4 stars
23. House Report by Deborah Nicholson, 1.75 stars
24. Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings, 4.25 stars

Abandoned:

My Soul to Keep

Maybe:

Faceless Killers
The Shadow of the Wind
The Little Stranger
Bleeding Heart Square
The Raphael Affair
The Poacher's Son
The Cruel Stars of the Night
A Rule Against Murder
Death in a Strange Country
Strange Brew
Sister Beneath the Sheet
Cavalier of the Apocalypse
Treasure of the Golden Cheetah

And - sneaking another category in here, since I haven't made it to 13 yet -



SHERLOCK HOLMES

1. A Study in Sherlock ed. by Laurie King, 4 stars
2. Sherlock Holmes: the Hidden Years, 3 stars
3. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, 1.5 stars
4. Sherlock Holmes in America 3.5 stars
5. The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 3.25 stars
6. The House of Silk by Antony Horowitz, 4 stars
7. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 3 stars
8. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes by Loren D. Estleman, 2 stars
9. Sherlock Holmes Breath of God by Guy Adams, 4.5 stars

Maybe:

Revenge of the Hound
The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle
The Invention of Murder
Sherlock Holmes
Murder in the Library
A Study in Crimson
The Sign of Fear

EARLY REVIEWERS

1. The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll, 4 stars
2. C.R.I.M.E. Science Book 1 by Sue Perry, 2.5 stars
3. Cornerstone: Souls of the Stones by Kelly Walker, 3.5 stars
4. Bartleby and James Adventures by Michael Coorlim, 4.25 stars
5. A Slave in the White House by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, 4 stars
6. Rules of Murder by Juliana Deering, 3.25 stars

FANTASY

1. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, 5 stars
2. Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, 5 stars
3. Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan, 5 stars!
4. Darke by Angie Sage, 4.25 stars
5. The Hunter's Moon by O R Melling, 3.5 stars
6. Wise Child by Monica Furlong, 4 stars
7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, 3.75 stars
8. Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal, 2.5 stars
9. Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings, 4 stars
10. Magician's Gambit by David Eddings, 3.5 stars
11. Enchanter's End Game by David Eddings, 4 stars
12. Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold, 4.25 stars
13. Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett, 4 stars
14. A Young Man Without Magic by Lawrence Watt-Evans, 3.25 stars
15. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, 5 stars
16. Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride, 5 stars
17. Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon, 2 stars
18. Terrier by Tamora Pierce, 4 stars

Abandoned:

Whiteshadow Series 1

Maybe:

Wither
Splintered
The Way We Fall
Chasing the Prophecy
Wide Awake
The King of Attolia
The Changeling Sea
The Naming
A Time for the Death of a King
Dark Alchemy
The Curse of the Mistwraith
The Gilded Chain

SCIENCE FICTION

1. Feedback by Robison Wells, 5 stars
2. Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein, 5 stars
3. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, 3.5 stars
4. The Warrior Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold, 4 stars
5. Origins: Spinward Fringe by Randolph Lalonde, 4 stars
6. Spinward Fringe: Triton by Randolph Lalonde, 4 stars
7. Spinward Fringe: Frontline by Randolph Lalonde, 4 stars
8. Spinward Fringe: Fracture by Randolph Lalonde, 4 stars
9. Spinward Fringe: Fragments by Randolph Lalonde, 3 stars
10. The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold, 4 stars
11. Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold, 4.25 stars
12. Time Traders by Andre Norton, 3.5 stars

Abandoned:
Enclave

Maybe:
A Fall of Moondust
Pastwatch
Uglies
Never Let Me Go
First Men in the Moon
Partials
Dreamweaver's Dilemma
Falling Free
Weatherman
Inside Out

Another category -

CHRISTOPHER STASHEFF

1. The Warlock in Spite of Himself - 4 stars
2. King Kobold Revived - 4 stars
3. The Warlock Unlocked - 4 stars
4. The Warlock Enraged - 3.5 stars
5. Escape Velocity - 3.5 stars
6. The Warlock Wandering - 4 stars
7. The Warlock is Missing - 4 stars
8. The Warlock's Companion - 3.5 stars
9. Warlock and Son - 2 stars
10. M'Lady Witch - 3.5 stars

ANCIENT WORLD

1. Persian Fire by Tom Holland, 4 stars
2. Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie, 4 stars
3. Shadows in Bronze by Lindsey Davis, 4 stars
4. Aladdin's Lamp by John Freely, 2 stars
5. The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, 4 stars
6. Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray, 4 stars

Maybe:

Chosen: The Lost Diaries
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
The House of Wisdom
Pericles
Antony and Cleopatra
Warriors of God
The River at the Center of the World
The Riddle of the Compass
The Robe
A Brief History of Medieval Warfare
Warriors of Medieval Japan
Byzantium Decline and Fall
Bridge of Birds
Justinian's Flea
Hand of Isis
Archimedes Codex
Roman Blood
Gates of Rome
Under the Eagle
A Voice in the Wind
Hero of Rome
Venus in Copper
Aristotle's Children

FOOD

1. Everyday Pasta by Giada De Laurentiis, 3 stars
2. Circle of Friends Slow Cooker Recipes by Gooseberry Patch, 3 stars
3. Cooking from China's Fujian Province by Jacqueline M. Newman, 1.5 stars
4. A Taste of Haiti by Mirta Yurnet-Thomas, 4 stars
5. Taste of Home: Fast Fixes with Mixes - currently reading

Abandoned:

The Story of Corn

Maybe:

Everyday Italian
Barefoot Contessa
The Naked Chef
New Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Everyday Food
Mexico One Plate at a Time
Daisy Cooks
Seeds of Change
In Defense of Food
Nathaniel's Nutmeg
California Pizza Kitchen
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World

OVERFLOW

1. A Bible Fit for the Restoration by Andrew Skinner, 3 stars
2. The Cuckoo Line Affair by Andrew Garve, 3.5 stars
3. Fires of Faith by Brock Bower, 4.25 stars
4. Secrets (The Michelli Family Series Book 1) by Kristen Heitzmann, 3 stars
5. Murder Takes a Holiday, various authors, 3.5 stars
6. The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey, 4 stars
7. The Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser, 3.25 stars
8. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, 3.5 stars
9. Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden, 4 stars
10. Forget Me Not by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 5 stars
11. Dead Anyway by Chris Knopf, 3 stars
12. What's It All About? by Michael Caine, 3 stars
13. Dick Francis's Bloodline by Felix Francis, 3.5 stars
14. Jude by Kate Morgenroth, 4.25 stars
15. Smokescreen by Dick Francis, 5 stars
16. Dick Francis' Gamble by Felix Francis, 4.5 stars

Shadows in Bronze

Ancient Rome and Greece, 2nd in series

Falco is still working for the emperor and trying to fix his own complicated love life. The conspirators in the first book are still hanging around causing trouble and now a couple of them have turned up dead. Vespasian sends Falco out to track down the rest of them and warn them off. But someone wants Falco out of the way.

I like these books - Falco reminds me of a Roman Archie Goodwin. But they are a little too long, I think. I get distracted and have a hard time taking everything in.

Welcome back! Glad to see you are ignoring the numbers and focusing on the reading you want to do.

Thanks! I think it will take the pressure off and make it fun again.

I see some very interesting books in your lists. I read the whole Gordianus series last year. I hope you'll enjoy roman Blood. I have Unbroken on my list to read this year as well. Here's to another great year of reading!

Many tempting sounding titles in your lists, especially Medicine and Ancient World. Looking forward to reading your thoughts on these.

Just curious, but when would most of you say the Ancient World ends, and Middle Ages begins? I'm not sure how to draw the line there.

Will be following your WW2 theme closely! I loved the movie of The Longest Day and have the book on my "request from the library" list so will be interested to hear what you think about it.

Welcome back!! I've noticed that I stay away from chunksters, especially toward the end of the year, to make the "right" number and that's just useless - no numbers at all is where I might go next time too.

It's good to see you back! You've got some great candidates lined up for the challenge. I'll look forward to your comments on them.

Thanks everyone! I'm glad to be back.

(3) OFF THE SHELF - Books I own, but haven't read
The Last Lecture

Oh, that is a MUST READ. I was coaxed into reading that in 2012, and I'm so glad I did.

(5) MEDICINE

Have you read The Physician by Noah Gordon? It's extremely good!

Fuzzi - 22 - That one is my husband's. I keep meaning to read it, but this year I really will! 23 - I'll take a look at that one, thanks!

I think of the ancient world (in Europe) ending in about 500 A.D.

Hi Cindy, great to see you back. You've got some really interesting possiblities listed, I'm looking forward to see what you choose to read.

A Bible Fit for the Restoration by Andrew Skinner
The Epic Struggle that Brought Us the King James Verson

This one was published in 2011 for the 500th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible. It was written for an LDS audience. It's very short, which I didn't realize when I added it to my list, and reads more like a series of articles for a church magazine than a serious book. It's not bad, but not what I expected. The author interjects a lot of his own thoughts and feelings in here and he seems to assume his audience doesn't know a lot about the subject. For both those reasons, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. 3 stars from me, but someone else might like it more.

Just curious, but when would most of you say the Ancient World ends, and Middle Ages begins?

Sadly, I couldn't answer that if I tried.... I tend to rely on Wikipedia for that..... my historical knowledge - the amount that I retain in my head - is pretty much 17th century forward, and even that is a sketchy guess at best! ;-)

No scholarly reason behind this, my knowledge of history is pretty slim, but I tend to think of the Ancient World as pre 1000AD, and Middle Ages as after.

Changed my mind! I'll just make the category "Ancient and Medieval World."

In my mind, "ancient world" ends in A.D. 476 with the fall of the Roman Empire. But I don't think there's any one definitive answer to this! :)

Lots of great reads here, cmbohn. I particularly noticed The Winter of Her Discontent, as I'm also planning to read it this year. You're aware that it's #2 in the Rosie Winter series, right? (I assume so, but I just wanted to check!)

Yes, I read the first one a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I think that's a good cut off date, BTW. At least for Europe. I"m kind of excited about those books, but I"m pretty focused on the WWII books I brought home from the library first.

An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa by Rick Atkinson

North Africa, 1942-1943

Reading this one, it amazes me that the Allies won! They were such a total mess at the beginning. Most of it was the Americans, at least at the beginning. They had no idea how to fight a mobile war. They barely got in to World War I and then everyone went home and just kind of forgot about fighting. They didn't update their weapons, their tactics, their training, their leadership, their surveillance, nothing. Meanwhile, the Germans were the best army in the world.

By the end of the book, and the end of this campaign, the Americans had learned how to fight a modern war, how to train, how to coordinate between artillery and tanks and infantry, and how to hate. The author makes a big point of that. But the Americans and the British were still wary of each other and the generals were still much too worried about their own glory than about winning the whole war.

I'm glad I read this one - there's LOTS in here. I really didn't know anything about the war in North Africa. I would have liked an index of Who's Who as that got a little confusing at times. But I liked all the maps - that really helped. 4 stars.

And added another category - Food - to include cookbooks and other non-fiction about food. I'll add my list of possibilities later.

I've added An Army at Dawn to my library TBR list. I've been keeping an eye out for books about WWII in North Africa after I realized I know very little about that aspect of the war. I found a couple of other books in the library catalog that I also added to my TBR list: Here Is Your War by Ernie Pyle and The Lost Oasis by Saul Kelly.

I wanted to add an Ernie Pyle book, but they don't have any at my library. Phooey.

Blood Flies Upwards by E X Ferrars

England, 1960s or 1970s

Somewhat slight, but good story. Alison takes a post as cook in the household where her sister worked before she disappeared. Everyone is hiding secrets. 3.5 stars, really

The Cruelest Miles by Gay and Laney Salisbury

Diphtheria epidemic, 1925 Nome, Alaska

This was the perfect book to read in January. It's hard to feel so sorry for yourself about your 10 degree weather when they're dealing with 60 below! Amazing story. I loved reading about the bond between the dogs and the men. I am so thankful I don't live out there! That isolation is not for me. But what a great story. I couldn't put it down. Also made me thankful that we have vaccines and my kids never had to suffer from diphtheria. Highly recommended, especially for a winter read.

Very nice review of An Army at Dawn--it's now the latest addition to my tbr list, though one I think I might just order sooner than later...

The Hunter's Moon by O R Melling
Ireland and Fae

Two cousins go looking for the world of Fae and - they find it.

In some ways I'd like to give this a lot of stars. It kept me reading and I liked it enough to recommend it to my daughter when I finished. But in other ways I'd mark it lower as it seemed a little unsatisfying. I'm not sure why; the characters were varied and interesting. I liked the main character. The plot was good. But nothing was great. I guess I'm saying I've read better. I've certainly read, or started to read, worse, but it definitely wasn't good enough that I want to read the next one in the series. If you really like these teen Faerie books, this one is pretty good, but I don't think I'll read another.

The Cuckoo Line Affair by Andrew Garve

England 1970s

Kindly old Edward Latimer is accused of assaulting a girl on a train. She then withdraws her accusation, but it's too late - his reputation is ruined. Then the girl ends up dead. His sons are determined to clear his name.

I liked this story, but it was a bit dated. Not the plot, just the characterization seemed awfully old-fashioned.

Very similar to The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey. I might have liked that one a bit more.

Darke by Angie Sage

6 in the Septimus Heap series

If you like kid's fantasy books, or you're looking for a good long series to get your kids into, this is a great choice. Magyk is the first one and they're about Septimus Heap and his whole messy family. They feature dragons, a very independent princess, ghosts, message rats, nasty witches, alchemists, wizards, a boggart, necromancers, and lots more. This is #6 and now there's only one more left! I liked that Septimus and his brother Simon seem to be patching things up - hope it lasts - and that his friend Beetle is getting some recognition. But there's one more book left and several loose ends to tie up! Can't wait!

And I added pictures at the top. Currently reading A Study in Sherlock.

A friend of mine recommended the Septimus Heap books and I think I made it through part of the thrid book before I threw it at the wall and refused to ever pick it up again.
We all have different taste I suppose, but I thought it was apallingly badly written. I thought the story deserved better. :/

A Study in Sherlock edited by Laurie R King

Short stories inspired by the Holmes canon

You never know with anthologies, but I really enjoyed this one. There was only one story that I couldn't finish, (the graphic story by Colin Cotterill), but the rest were truly enjoyable.

Some of the authors chose to take a pretty straightforward route, using the established Holmes characters and adding a new story. Others used the regular characters and wrote about Holmes as fiction. But some went in a totally different direction. Of these, I liked the Dana Stabenow story the best. I could see the parallels, with Kate Shugak filling in for Holmes and a young friend/relative as Watson, complete with a blog as homework assignment chronicling their adventure. But it wasn't until I read that this was an retelling of a classic Holmes story in a modern Alaskan setting that I really, really liked it.

I recommend this one for Holmes fans.

Wise Child by Monica Furlong

Early and slightly magical England

Wise Child lives with her ailing grandmother until she passes away. Her father is away at sea and her mother is long gone. Her only choice is to go live with the village witch, Juniper.

It's not what she expected at all. She still has the same chores to do. But somehow living with Juniper is just where she belongs.

4 stars

The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll

I am a fan of Lewis Carroll, but I had never read the entire poem of "The Hunting of the Snark." So I was delighted to receive this new edition of the poem illustrated by Oleg Lipchenko from Library Thing Early Reviewers.

The poem is, of course, typical Carroll nonsense. A bit of math, a bit of natural history, some nice rhythm and crazy characters who have no explainable relationship with one another. The set off on an adventure to find the Snark and bring it in.

Lipchenko's art work is perfect for the story. For just a taste, compare the front cover of the book with the back cover. One can see that the voyage was a rough one! If you are a fan of Carroll's, I think this is a great addition to your library.

Oh, massive book bullet straight to the heart! And no kevlar in sight. I NEED a copy of The Hunting of the Snark asap.
I've been in love with Carroll's writing since childhood but I've never read The Snark.

I read it a long long time ago (in university I think) and I did have a complete works of Carroll that was lugged around for a while, seemed to have misplaced it in one move or another, perhaps i should get another. carroll is in the poets corner but with the jabberwock which I think I prefer to the Snark

I listened to Jabberwocky audiobook which, while a good version, was probably not a good idea. I need to read poetry in order to "get it", I can't just listen - it doesn't stick. Reading AND listening is great though.

This was a really nice edition. It should be available everywhere by now, but I'm sure there are other good ones out there. And I like Jabberwocky best too.

>51 PawsforThought: - well I have previously read it a number of times (and can quote the first few lines verbatim) so hearing it was nice

I am following your Sherlock category with interest. It was one of my categories last year but this year Sherlock will only be included in my Mystery Category and will probably only read 2 or 3 Holmes related books.

Hi Cindy, I like the pictures that you added to your categories.

Thanks, DQ! Welcome, Zozette! I've already read all the actual Holmes books by Doyle, so it's time to branch out.

Fatal Dive: Solving the World War II Mystery of the USS Grunion by Peter F. Stevens

off Alaska 1942

Interesting story, but the writing was so uneven. When he stuck to telling about the submarine, it was great stuff. But he can't do dialogue at all. I would say pass on this one. Disappointed.

The Golden Spiders by Rex Stout

New York City 1950s

Nero Wolfe takes on a client for the sum of - $4.30. It starts with a kid in trouble. He wants nothing to do with the cops, but a private eye is a different story. Wolfe isn't saying yes or no, but the next day, the boy's body turns up in a road after a hit and run. Now the big guy is steamed. The only good clue is a pair of earrings shaped like gold spiders.

Not his best, but certainly not his worst. This would be an OK place to start the series, but the first book is Fer de Lance.

The Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas

London 1885

Thomas Llewellyn and his employer Cyrus Barker are on the trail of a serial rapist and murderer. Or is it more than one? All they know is that young girls are disappearing from the back streets of London, and it's up to them to stop it.

I liked this one a lot. Good solid series. The first is the best, Some Danger Involved.

Thanks for the review of the Hellfire Conspiracy and for reminding me that I need to get back to continuing with this series. So far. I have only read the first two books: Some Danger Involved and To Kingdom Come.

I wasn't that happy with To Kingdom Come. I liked the mystery of the first book feel more than the espionage/politics in the second. This one is more back to the mystery.

Got a bunch to add. I decided to catch up on all my ebooks for Early Reviewers, mostly I think because my library book was boring.

Cornerstone: Souls of the Stones by Kelly Walker

**I received this book free in return for a review. The opinions expressed are my own.**

Set in a rural world with magic. I pictured it as being in the 16 century or so, in land like England, but without the cities.

Emariya is a daughter of privilege, bred to take care of her people. Her mother was killed when she was young, but Emariya will find that she has inherited her mother's magical gifts, as well as those of her father. Her people are on the verge of war and she gets a chance to stop it by marrying a prince from a neighboring land. They have never met, but it turns out that there's a prophecy about the such a union. Powerful, but unnamed forces are trying to manipulate them one way or another.

I enjoyed this book, but I did skip ahead now and then. There was a lot of interior monologue and description that cut up the action too much. I'm glad that by the end of the book, the reader has learned who exactly is behind all this. I felt the ending was too abrupt. I will probably still read the next book in the series.

C.R.I.M.E. Science Beginning by Sue Perry

**I received this free in return for a review from Library Thing. The opinions expressed are my own.**

A leading vulcanologist is killed in an eruption, but his wife is convinced it was murder. Was she right? A group of scientists who run a sort of detective agency agree to find out what happened. This one is set in the 90s and it shows, but it doesn't really hurt the story.

What did make it less enjoyable for me was that I didn't really connect with the main character. The author gives her a back story, but it doesn't explain why she does this kind of work. She's a linguist or something. How does that translate into a private eye?

And there's a lot of jargon in here that put me off the story. It reminded me a little of the show Bones, but without a lay character to ask them to explain what the heck they were talking about and why they were doing what they were doing.

Don't know if I'll read more or not, but I am curious to see how the author brought them into the present day.

Also finished one recommended by MrsLee:

Here Is Your War by Ernie Pyle

North Africa, 1942-1943

Pyle is an amazing writer who really has an affinity with his subject. He'll write about generals, but his real link is with the Air Force fighter crews and the infantry. He makes you feel like you are there. You get the whole picture of war - the boredom, the sacrifice, the anger, the cold, the absolute fear and frustration.

Absolutely 5 stars.

And the disappointing library book:

Aladdin's Lamp: How Greek Science Came to Europe through the Islamic World by John Freely

Here's what I expected:

A bit about how the Greeks and the Islamic world exchanged ideas, how the Greeks influenced Islamic thought, how their culture changed as a result. Then a bit about how Europe adopted these ideas and how it benefited the European world.

What I got:

Name and date and discovery. Next scientist: name, date, discovery. Next scientist: name, date, discovery. No sense of cohesion or theme or conclusion. Just a glossary almost of name, date, discovery.

I read for 200+ pages and decided I just couldn't face anymore.

I'm glad to see you liked Here Is Your War so well. It's on my library wish list. I'll see if I can bump it up!

Spinward Fringe 6: Fragments

So I'm 5 books into the sci-fi series. Yes, there are lots of editing problems and typos and other annoying things. But I'm really digging the story and the characters and I can't wait to see what happens next. I mean, it's brought me to tears, more than once! And then I get here. And it all kind of, well, fizzles. Characters start acting inconsistently, the plot goes off the rails, and he just can't kill anyone off, not really. So I got 2/3 way through and ask myself if it's worth continuing. Then I looked it up online and find out.

SPOILERS!!!!

That in the next book, the two main characters, the ones the ENTIRE SERIES has been based around, DON'T WIND UP TOGETHER. After chasing him across the universe, both of them being cloned/reincarnated/reborn, she decides, nope, I'm going with this other guy.

What?!
So I finished this one and decided to end it there. Now I can write the next book in my head and have it end however I want. So yes, Ayan and Jake end up together, Alice the good AI defeats the evil AI, the other folks pair off appropriately, they all get their awesome starship back, and the bad guys get eaten by alien pond scum. So there.

Finished a free download, The Rhine Maiden last night. It was fun, light, full of supernatural beings like werewolves and vampires and naga, and it was free.

Tried to read one of my dad's old - and I mean old, the pages are all yellowed and loose - paperback fantasies, The Incomplete Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp. I couldn't do it. Maybe at the time (first written in the 40s, then redone in a longer form and released in the 50s) it made perfect sense, but I couldn't make it to the 3rd chapter. Couldn't follow the story, didn't get the language, just totally lost.

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

Nurse Bess Crawford accompanies a patient home from the front during WWI to become entangled in a murder. I like the character and the setting, but I found it a little improbable. Still, I'll definitely read more when they come out.

And another one I gave up on, My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due. It sounded promising, but got too explicit for my taste about 2 chapters in. Just not for me.

It seemed like all of the characteristics I liked about Bess Crawford in the first book were missing in the second book. I picked up the third one with reservations and was relieved to find that Bess was more like her original self than the Bess of the second book.

I liked her well enough in the second one, but I didn't really feel she had enough of an incentive to go to all the trouble to solve the crime. Why not leave it to the police? I got it towards the end, but in the beginning, I just didn't buy her compulsion to spend her leave on working on some murder.

Yeah, I had the same problem with it. She didn't have a good reason to investigate the crime and it made her seem nosy and interfering to me.

Got a bunch to catch up on. I finished A Voice of Warning by Parley P Pratt on the Kindle. I've been working on that for a year. His autobiography is much easier to read, but this one was a bit of a chore. So I've now finished three in that category - Off the Shelf. I'm working on No Better Place to Die on the Kindle now. It's number 6 for WWII. It's mostly a memoir, but also a history, about the 82nd airborne assault during D-Day and beyond. It's good, but rather too technical for me. However, it's full of pictures, which I'm really enjoying. I think I just don't have the right brain to get the details right.

NOTHING yet on category 3, Reading Through Time. I'm not sure why I can't seem to get that right. Nothing sounds appealing. I might need to drop that category, but I really want to give it a good try. This month's theme is Civil Rights and March's theme is the Tudor era. Maybe I'll do a Shakespeare play for March.

Nothing new for the Medicine category, but I'm listening to a Nero Wolfe mystery for the mystery series category. It's Too Many Women. I like the narration, but the story is nothing special and the recording is terrible. But it's also quite old, just like my car, so there's nothing I can do about that!

I looked through The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes by Vincent Starrett at the library. At first, I was pleased to find it. But it was written in the 30s and it's so out of date. Also I had a problem with the whole tone of the book. I like Sherlock Holmes. He's a great character. But I don't take any of it seriously. It's just meant to be fun. So these books or writers or fans who are so obsessed with the whole oeuvre and try to argue this point or that about exactly what each inconsistency means, I have no patience for that. I decided not to check out the book and I don't recommend it. I only added it to my challenge to help keep track of it and so I could comment on it.

The Collected Bartleby and James Adventures by Michael Coorlim

late Victorian England

Fancy a bit of steampunk? I've got a recommendation for you! I got these stories free for review, including the first story, And They Called Her Spider. Automatons, reanimated corpses, flying ships, all best traditions of the genre right here. It's supposed to be for children, and they would enjoy it for sure, but I think that's mostly because it includes some great illustrations. I really loved these.

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal

Belgium 1813 or so?

SPOILERS!

A sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey. Glamourists Jane and Vincent, newly married, travel to Belgium for a honeymoon. Napoleon has been captured, the continent is safe, and Vincent wants to look up some old friends. Then Napoleon gets free.

I liked the first one so much better. This one definitely kept my interest, but there were so many problems with the plot. Why on earth would you take your honeymoon in such a dangerous spot? Why would you put your sweetheart in such a risk? And then there was the pregnancy angle. That didn't make a lot of sense to me either. Not really recommended.

The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
#4 in Barrayar series, #2 about Young Miles

Miles has drawn his first post (not counting his time as Admiral Naismith, which the Barrayar army doesn't) - Chief Meteorologist out in some horrible arctic post. It doesn't go well. They try something else, assigning him to Intelligence. Maybe that will go better? Maybe not. Very fun book, but definitely don't read this before you read The Warrior's Apprentice.

Honor Bound by Brenda Novak

Got this one as a free download. Historical romance set around the time of the French Revolution/Napoleon's rise. Rather farfetched plot and unconvincing characters. But maybe that's just me.

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

Roman Britain

Marcus Flavius Aquila is the son of a soldier, a soldier who disappeared along with his eagle in Britain several years ago. Now Marcus is heading back, with his own legion and his own Eagle. He wants to find out what happened to his father.

That part started off really well. I was totally into it. But it doesn't last long, and then the story hit a bit of a slump. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue reading or not. I'm glad I did. Marcus finds his army career cut short, and after a boring bit, that's where the story really gets interesting. Marcus, and his slave/friend Esca, go off in search of the lost eagle.

I never read this one growing up, but apparently it's been around for a long time and lots of people love her books. I don't know if I'll read more, but I did enjoy this one. 4 stars

>79 cmbohn: I read one of the books from that series when we did the Viking era in the Reading Through Time group. I really liked it and I have good intentions of reading more books in the series. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede
Frontier magical America
3rd in Frontier Magic series

An alternate version of American where the West remains unexplored and no one has ever made it as far as the Rocky Mountains and lived to tell about it. Where steam dragons and medusa lizards can kill the unwary and magic is as widespread as technology.

Eff (short for Francine) is all grown up now and getting itchy feet. After two explorations out past the Great Barrier Spell, she is bored just staying at home and working at the college. Lucky for her that things are about to change.

I loved the way we got a look at these different magical systems and how they work together. I got a little tired of all the dreams that Eff has, but I liked the expedition and the love story. I would have liked a little more romance though! You call that a proposal?

@ 81 -- I didn't realize that there was a third book in the Frontier Magic series! So far I've only read Thirteenth Child, but I definitely do want to read the rest of the books at some point. Better get moving!

I'm not sure when it came out, but I got it for Christmas. Very fun.

Queen of Sorcery
Magician's Gambit, both by David Eddings

This is from the Belgariad, which starts with Pawn of Prophecy. I liked them all better than the first one, in that the main character Garion has started to grow up and come into his powers. The second one was the best. But in the 3rd book we're stuck with a new female character, destined to become 'The Queen of the World' and she's the worst little spoiled princess I've ever encountered. If I have to read about her 'winsome' smile again, I swear I'm going to hurl! I'm hoping she gets eaten by a dragon. I'm still planning on reading the next book, because I like the rest of the characters. Maybe this girl will either improve or die a long and painful death. Either way, it's good.

Enter the Corpse by Sara Woods
A continuation of the story in #10, Enter Certain Murderers.

Hubert Denning is being released from prison. He wants to move in with his godson, Roger Ferrell, despite trying to murder him a few years ago. And Roger finds himself agreeing. Maybe the old man has changed, right? Not so much. Roger and his wife Meg Hamilton come home to find a dead man in their house. The police are suspicious. Enter Roger's good friend, barrister Antony Maitland. Antony helped clear Roger's name once, and he'll do it again if he has to.

I really wanted to like this book. I used to be such a fan of this series. Yes, it's totally dated. This one was written in the 70s. But now I find that there are so many things here that bug me. Antony's Uncle Nicholas is at the top of that list! And a few little catch phrases that Woods uses to describe certain characters is another major annoyance too. I'm only rating it 3 stars, but I hope I'll enjoy it more at some point.

Cooking from China's Fujian Province by Jacqueline M. Newman, 2 stars

This started out as a very interesting read, but I agree with other reviewers that the ingredients are going to be very difficult to find. I did enjoy some of the cultural references. But about the actual recipes - they are quite offbeat. And I'm never, ever, ever going to cook anything with jellyfish. Or sea cucumber. Or shark's fin. The first two are disgusting, and the second one is cruel.

I wonder if it would be possible to find substitute ingredients by doing a bit of digging online? I agree with your notes on those ingredients, but I also remember an odd brave moment where I tried raw jellyfish at a favorite sushi place (even though I really don't eat raw anything--I just love the vegetables tempura and seaweed salads!)...and discovered that raw jellyfish has essentially the same taste and consistency as seaweed. Vastly different prices and colors and sources, of course, but maybe a hint toward some of the recipes being useful?

I think I'll just pass. I wouldn't mind trying some new ingredients, but maybe a simpler cookbook. This one wanted to make things completely from scratch, but there has to be a good Chinese cookbook that's more suited for busy cooks without a lot of time.

Ah--that's another matter entirely! Well, sorry it didn't work out regardless :(

Frost at Christmas by R D Wingfield
Also using for Random Category Challenge

Frost is a crude, loud, and a slob. His superiors can't stand him. His colleagues love him, because despite the outer shell, he's a good cop. He sees things. And now he's stuck with a new partner, who happens to be the chief constable's nephew, and they're hunting for a missing child. This is the first in the series, and if you're mainly a cozy reader, this is NOT for you. It's not explicit, exactly, but it's totally different in feel. Lots of sexual innuendos and like I said, fairly crude. Somehow, though, I enjoyed this one. The characters are complicated and there's some substance to the story. May or may not read further in the series, but this was worth reading. 3.5 stars

Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings

Well, no one has eaten that annoying princess yet, but she does show a few signs of growing up, so maybe it will OK. Kind of tired of her being called "a tiny little girl" when she's 16. Unless she's a dwarf or a midget, she's probably not that tiny anymore. She's just short. And yes, they called her "winsome" again. It's a good thing this author is dead, or I'd be writing him a letter.

That aside, I did enjoy this book and I'm deep into the final book now. Side note - where'd the title come from? I was expecting some cool magical castle or something, but there's nothing like that. Just more about Garion (now called Belgarion) and the upcoming battle between Good and Evil. If it sounds intriguing, don't start here, but with #1, Pawn of Prophecy.

Enchanter's End Game by David Eddings

Good conclusion to a fun series. I really enjoyed this. The love story was a little disappointing, but I liked the way Polgara's story ended. The big battle was also well written.

Where is everyone, BTW? Am I too boring?

Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert

China Bayles gets drawn into investigating the suicide of a college student. The girl was involved with a very popular football coach. China comes to suspect that it wasn't suicide at all.

I found the story a little predictable, but I did still like the setting and the characters. 3.25 stars

Water Touching Stone by Eliot Pattison

Tibet/China, 21st century

I really enjoyed the first one in this series, The Skull Mantra. But I couldn't finish this one. I enjoyed the setting and the characters, but the subject was too hard to take. It's about a 'demon,' a serial killer who mutilates and then murders children. There are other plotlines, but they are rather grim as well.

Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees

Still trying to gather my thoughts on this one. It belongs to my dad, his old paperback. Written in 1926, before LOTR. It reminds me very much of Stardust by Neil Gaiman, at least the part in the town of Wall.

-93 - Lurking?

I read the Eddings Belgariad books in my teens and enjoyed them at the time - not sure I'd enjoy them now though from what I remember of them

lud in the mist has been on my WL for ages so good to see someone else giving it a go, & comparing to Gaiman moves it up the list :-)

>94 cmbohn: I need to try the China Bayles series at some point. I probably won't start with that one, though!

>95 cmbohn: Have you tried Eliot Pattison's colonial American mysteries? The first one is on my library TBR list but I haven't managed to fit it in yet.

@ 93 -- I don't think you're boring! It's just taking me a really long time to catch up with threads...the group has been very chatty since the beginning of the year, so it's hard to read and comment on every thread that I'd like to. I would venture to guess that several other LTers have a similar problem.

Still here, still reading :) I tend to speed-read though so sometimes commenting falls by the wayside!

97 - I understand that Gaiman wrote the introduction to the latest edition too.

98 - Carrie, I read the first one and liked it.

Thanks for checking in, everyone! I feel much better now. :)

I lurk along as well. I don't usually have much to say, but I do enjoy reading your thoughts. Your reading of the Belgariad series is tempting me read it again. It was one of my favourite series when I was in my teens and early twenties. I used to reread it yearly, but it's been ages since the last reread.

Hi Cindy, I wasn't even lurking the last week or so, but mostly lying flat on my back feeling very much under the weather. I spent a week mostly sleeping and reading, but am feeling better now and just about caught up with everyone.

I am glad you enjoyed Frost as I love that series, even though it is very repetitious, basically if you've read the first book you have a good idea of what the rest of the books will be like. I found myself reading one a year, picking them up when I needed a funny, slightly dark read.

I've put in an order for Frost at Christmas - with that title, am I the only one who thinks it should be a cozy?! :)

It does sounds like a cozy, but it's definitely not. DQ, glad you are feeling better.

Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold

Miles and his cousin Ivan visit a nearby planet as diplomatic representatives to a state funeral. But it doesn't quite work out the way it was supposed to. (Surprise, surprise.) Miles gets drawn into a political mess, they are nearly arrested several times, and there's a murder. Lots of fun and I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

Sherlock Holmes in America, various authors

lots of short stories

For the most part, I enjoyed this collection. There were a few clunkers, but it was good. Almost all the authors had Sherlock meeting some American figure - Doc Holliday, Teddy Roosevelt, Davy Crockett. One story left Sherlock out of the story altogether and wrote about Harry Houdini. I didn't really enjoy that one. And some of the 'mysteries' were much too easy. I did like the one that featured a young actor touring the US who really only wanted to focus on disappearing into the part and learning disguise.

It also included two essays on the Holmes canon which I didn't bother to read. I like to enjoy Holmes, as a character, and I don't want scholarly analysis.

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

I didn't realize that this was the second in a trilogy, but I read it anyway. Ista is a woman about my age, widowed, now orphaned, whose daughter has married and left home. Now she is left in her childhood home, still treated like a child as a result of a mental breakdown she suffered years earlier. Her only company is a houseful of retainers who treat her like a willful, unstable girl. She has almost given up the idea of freedom when she meets a group of pilgrims. This gives her the idea to go on a pilgrimage of her own, mostly to get away. But on her journey, she finds herself caught up in war and religious complications.

I'm not sure all of this made perfect sense. I couldn't really get the bad guys figured out. But Lady Ista was a great character, and those she traveled with. I really enjoyed this one.

The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey

I really like Peter Lovesey. You just never know what to expect with him - aside from a good story, that is. He's done it again with this one. A mild-mannered dentist is pulled between his overbearing wealthy wife and a romantic young woman. The first part takes place in London, but it all plays out on board a cruise ship heading for New York. If you haven't tried a book by Lovesey, this is a good place to start. It's not part of a series, and it's very well done.

A Taste of Haiti by Mirta Yurnet-Thomas

Some great sounding recipes in here. I really want to try a bunch of them. I was interested that the same techniques are used over and over. Several recipes call for ingredients that might be tricky to find, but not all of them, and it was much easier to follow the directions in here. I liked that there was a glossary of ingredients in the beginning, in case you know of a food by a different name. I also liked that there were plenty of basic recipes in here - baked plantains, boiled plantains, plantain fritters - so you could try getting used to an ingredient before adding it to a more complicated preparation. I got this one free from Amazon and I'm planning to keep it.

Murder Takes a Holiday, various authors
short stories

Stories from some great authors in here, none from the 90s or more recently than that. I got this one at the library and it was a good collection. Stories by Julian Symons, HRF Keating, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Barnard, Anna Clarke, Michael Gilbert. All authors (except Doyle, of course) who are mostly out of print now.

Women Heroes of World War II by Kathryn J. Atwood

Very enjoyable and lots of good info, but written for juvenile readers. I didn't realize this because it was shelved with the adult books instead. Also exclusively about American or European women.

Mobile DNA: Finding Treasure in Junk by Haig H Kazazian

I got this as a free download from Amazon, but I had to give up. The author assumes you already know a lot about the subject and I was totally lost in no time at all. Not recommended for your average reader.

Murder Takes a Holiday sounds very interesting! Unfortunately my library does not have it. It may turn up at a secondhand sale or bookstore though. Fingers crossed.

You've reminded me that I've been meaning to read something by Peter Lovesey. I think I've even got a couple of his books in my TBR stash. The False Inspector Dew sounds great and it's available as a downloadable ebook from the public library. It's now on my library wishlist.

Woo hoo! Got TWO this time!

Make that THREE, Cindy. I have also been meaning to try something by Peter Lovesey and The False Inspector Dew has caught my attention as well.

Hi Cindy, stopping by and seeing that I have missed a fair bit of reading between visits!

About ready to start a new topic. How do I do that?

The automatic continuation feature doesn't show up until you reach 200 posts. Otherwise I think the only option is to start a new thread and post the new link in the old thread.

OK. I guess I'll just keep it going! I don't mind either way.

To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy
North Africa, Italy, Normandy

Audie Murphy was a poor farm boy from a little dirt town in Texas. His mom died when he was young and his dad took off. He scrambled a living until war broke out and he wanted to sign up. Too skinny to be a Marine, too short for a paratrooper, he finally got taken on in the infantry. They shipped him off to North Africa, but by then, most of the fighting was over. So he didn't get in on the war until Italy, but he made up for lost time once he was there. He was wounded several times, but kept running off from the hospital to rejoin his unit. Murphy wound up the most decorated soldier of WWII, ending up as a lieutenant and receiving both the French Legion of Honor and the US Medal of Honor.

This is a raw book, not necessarily full of profanity exactly, but lots of talk about VD (and that's not V-Day, either), chasing women, killing, and getting drunk. It also feels very real. The copy I read has a rather lurid cover, but I'm glad I didn't let that put me off. I couldn't help but feel like I was right in the middle of the fighting. This is going to be another top read of the year. Highly recommended.

If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout
NYC, 60s or 70s

Nero Wolfe's latest client is a big millionaire investor, what we'd call a venture capitalist today. He's convinced his daughter-in-law is stealing inside info and sharing it with his rivals. He calls her a snake, and he wants Wolfe and Archie Goodwin to get rid of her. Archie moves into the millionaire's penthouse disguised as the new secretary to get the dirt on her. But he hasn't turned up anything when the former secretary turns up murdered. Wolfe needs to find out what happened, and soon.

This was not my favorite one in the series, but I liked it better than Too Many Women. 3.75 stars

Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert
Texas

China Bayles is working on her busy little herb store when a friends asks her to use her sleuthing skills and investigate some allegations against the high school's new football coach. Meanwhile, her mother hands her a bombshell in the form of some old letters belonging to her dad. China's personal life is about to get more complicated.

I wasn't exactly surprised by the twists in this one, but I like the characters and the setting well enough to enjoy it despite it being a little too predictable. Hints of more complications to come in the next book. This isn't a series that I feel driven to search for, but when I come across one of the books, I do enjoy them. I liked this one well enough to add the next one to my list at the library though. 3.5 stars

The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett - 'Go for the Throat!'

The Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth

Henry in Love by Peter McCarty

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Two very sweet picture books. I love McCarty's book Hondo and Fabian, but this one is not quite as charming. Little Pea is a very cute story about a young veggie who won't eat his candy. Both recommended for young children.

Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys

Great book. The last chapter was a little dry, but the rest of it was so worth reading. Fascinating stuff.

The Warlock in Spite of Himself

King Kobold Revived

The Warlock Unlocked

The Warlock Enraged

Escape Velocity

All good fun. Rod Gallowglass is from another planet and goes adventuring on a quiet primitive planet far away from everyone. His robot Fess accompanies him. Rod quickly gets sucked into politics, falls in love, starts a family, and becomes the Lord High Wizard. One of the only series I can think of where magic is a family affair, with the kids going on adventures with the parents. I like that; I think it's fun. But I can imagine that other readers would find them a little too precocious. Anxiously looking for the rest of the series.

The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Ken Greenwald and others

Based on some original radio broadcasts from the 1940s, then redone as short stories.

Plus: Loved the story of the first meeting of Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes. All the stories are loosely based on ones from the Holmes canon. For instance, the first story is about the daughter of Irene Adler.

Minus: I don't think they always got Holmes quite right. He's a little too friendly, a little too quick to laugh. He's brilliant enough, and Watson seems pretty accurate. But Holmes is a little too approachable.

State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy

I heard about this cozy mystery series here on LT and decided to give it a try. Ollie is the assistant chef at the White House, and one day on her way in to work, she spots a man trying to get in. He gets past all the Secret Service agents before Ollie whops him with a frying pan. In the head.

Like that, Ollie is drawn into political intrigue and assassination attempts. She becomes the target of a professional hit man. And her Fed boyfriend is not too happy with her right now. Plus she still has state dinners to cook for.

I found this pretty farfetched, but it was entertaining. Ollie is a bit dense when it comes to reading people, but we'll see how it goes. I want to read another in the series before I really make up my mind.

The Final Deduction by Rex Stout

Nero Wolfe takes on a new client. Anthea Vail's husband has been kidnapped. Jimmy is a Broadway star, but he's retired now. He drives out to his country house and goes missing. She wants Wolfe on call in case she needs him. But Jimmy turns up the next day, no worse for wear. Wolfe deduces soon enough that it was an inside job. Days later, two people are dead, and the ransom money is still missing. Wolfe has half a million reasons to solve this one before the police do.

The Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser

Very cozy book about an Eastern couple who decide to open an inn in an abandoned monastery. The locals aren't sure they want 'foreigners' around. The Walkers are discovering what anyone who has ever tackled a remodeling or building job can tell you - it takes twice as long and costs twice as much as you planned on. And there's a little love story as well.

Awfully sweet and much too good to be true. It was a nice read, but I don't know that I want to read another in the series. I'm most interested in what happens when the inn gets up and running, whether it lives up to their expectations, but I ought to know better - of course it does!

Just made a category swap and added a category, to come up to 13.

New Category - Christopher Stasheff

Category Swap - Dropped Reading Through Time for Children's Books

Wow, you've been doing a lot of reading! I have both State of the Onion and The Lumby Lines in my TBR stash but haven't managed to read them yet despite my good intentions.

Both of them were rated higher by other LTers. I don't like cozies as much as I used to, so perhaps they weren't really my genre, but sometime I do enjoy what my library calls a "gentle read." What I most object to in a cozy mystery is that a total amateur can get involved with crime after crime and manage to solve them all before the police do. Might be a fun book, but it's totally unbelievable and it gets to be so farfetched as to drive me crazy. But so far, I liked both series.

What I most object to in a cozy mystery is that a total amateur can get involved with crime after crime and manage to solve them all before the police do.

Yes, that is a problem with cozies. Now that I think about it, though, the unsolved murders in my area are usually those that aren't the result of a domestic dispute or drug activity. The kinds of cases the police aren't as successful in solving are the ones you typically find an amateur sleuth tackling in cozies.

A Study in Revenge by Kieran Shields

I didn't realize when I got this one that it's the second in the series. It sounds like I really should have read the first one first too. Deputy Archie Lean from Portland, Maine is looking into the murder of a thief. The man was shot and buried. But now his body has been found somewhere in town, on fire. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to send a message. Is it the occult? The criminal underground? His accomplice? But whoever it was, the murder is mixed up with a missing artifact that's causing a lot of trouble.

I enjoyed this one, but I would definitely read the previous book first.

A Right to Die by Rex Stout

1960s NYC

Wolfe gets pulled into a murder investigation in payment of a debt incurred over 20 years ago. This one embroils him in a Civil Rights organization and a biracial marriage. Because of the setting, there are some strong racial terms in this one.

Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy

This one was fun, but I don't think I can keep on with this series. There's only so many times I can buy the "Chef Outsmarts the Secret Service" premise, and this is it.

Mosley by Moonlight
Missing Mr. Mosley by John Greenwood

Detective Inspector Mosley works in the quiet countryside. His superiors complain that he has his own way of getting things done. He never seems to consult them about anything, he never seems to do anything, and yet, it stays peaceful. A nice cozy, humorous series that was just what I needed. Sadly, there are only these two at my library, so it looks like that's all I'm going to read. These were set in the 1980s, but the feel is even more oldfashioned than that.

The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery by Wendy Moore, 4 stars

18th Century England

Gripping but gruesome story of the man who fathered modern surgery, John Hunter. I'm not squeamish when it comes to accounts of surgery, but the detailed discussion of vivisection was too much for me. I skipped that part. Hunter was a fascinating man, and a medical pioneer. He really fought the whole idea of humors of the body and tried to find a medical cause for illness. He thought of surgery as a last resort and saved lives. But animal rights was not even a concept then, so be prepared.

A Young Man Without Magic by Lawrence Watt-Evans

This one got rather bad reviews, but I have to say that I enjoyed it. Politics, sorcery, road trip. 3.25 stars

Swan by Katherine Hole

Free romance novel download from Amazon. Think Ugly Duckling, but with a movie star. 3 stars

The Time Traders by Andre Norton

Got as a free download from Kindle. Some great stuff here, and some that doesn't work. Ross Murdock is a delinquent who gets one last chance to avoid hard time - Operation Retrograde. He's not told anything else, but it turns out that it's an experiment in time travel, and the US is facing up against the Russians. The book is really two shorter stories in one, the second one about what happens on the second time travel mission. This one is told from the perspective of Travis Fox, an Apache rancher who has to be let into the secret when he finds them preparing for their next mission out in the desert. Both stories were fun, but over the top. 3.5 stars

The House of Silk by Antony Horowitz

Solid Sherlock Holmes pastiche, one of the best so far this year.

The Inspector Mosley mysteries sound interesting. My public library only has two of them, too - a different two than the ones you read.

Wish we could swap!

Yes! We'll have to find one more person who has access to the other two books in the series to do a 3-way swap!

Incorrigible Children: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood
Victorian England, mostly London

Reads like a cross between Lemony Snicket and Jane Eyre. Very fun series. You need to read the first one first, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling. These would be great for reading aloud or for a quiet snicker to yourself. Our intrepid governess, Miss Penelope Lumley, is enjoying working with her three charges, Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia. Some children behave as though they were raised by wolves. These children actually were. This time they travel to London and Penelope makes a friend. They mystery around the children deepens. Great fun.

Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden

A bit of the Hades/Persephone myth, a bit Beauty and the Beast. Enjoyable clean romance, set in Regency England. There are two more in this series, but this is the first. I read the second one already, Courting Miss Lancaster and that one was very good also.

The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

I had never even heard of this classic series until this year. I'm not sure how I overlooked it, as I'm sure I would have really enjoyed this when I was young. Tolly is the most optimistic, energetic orphan I've come across in literature. He jumps right in to his new home and doesn't waste any time feeling sorry for himself. Very sweet book.

Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride

Sequel to Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. (Great titles both, BTW). Sam, short for Samhain, is dealing with his new responsibilities as a necromancer, member of the council, and boyfriend to a superhot werewolf chick. Unfortunately, things don't slow down for long. Someone is after his sister, there's unrest at his new house, and then there's an unexplained death. Great sequel. I love this series! 5 stars

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

We read this one for book group. While it was helpful, and certainly led to a good discussion, it was also too simplistic and repetitive. I would have liked more about how to interact with different love languages, what it looks likes in children or teens, and fewer stories of "Our marriage was on the rocks, but we found out about this stuff, and now life is bliss!" He's written 5 or 6 books, and I really think he could have done it all in one. Worth skimming for the concepts, but I'm glad I didn't buy it.

Aurelia by Anne Osterlund

Such a total disappointment. Really, I was seduced by the beautiful cover. The characters are flat and the plot was predictable. I realize this is the first in a series, but was a dumb ending. It resolved absolutely nothing.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Wonderful, captivating book with a great love story. I'm so glad I read this one! I wasn't sure I would like it, but it was enthralling.

Back on Murder by J. Mark Bertrand

Roland March is a homicide detective in Houston, Texas. His career is practically dead. His marriage is tense at its best. He's lost almost all his friends. But he gets one last chance to work a gang homicide. He turns up an important clue - there's someone missing from the scene, probably female. At the same time, a missing girl is attracting a lot of attention city wide. Is it the same girl? This is the first in the series, and I enjoyed it. I got it as a free download and I'm looking forward to the next book.

You got me with the last one. The Kindle version is still free so I downloaded it for my iPad.

Hi Cindy, I am long over due for a visit to your thread and I discover that you have been busy reading, and an interesting mix of books at that!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Good to see you, Lori! Same to you!

Die Upon a Kiss by Barbara Hambly
New Orleans 1834

Benjamin January is working hard during the Carnival season. A new opera company has opened and he is in the orchestra. One night during rehearsals he stops an assault on the opera director and is himself wounded. This is only the beginning of an especially bloody and violent season. As usual, I enjoyed this one, especially the setting. But I have to wonder how long January will stay in the rigidly stratified society of antebellum New Orleans. Lots of politics in this one too - it got a little confusing. When that happens, I skip the whys and concentrate on the who and how. Some neat twists. Not the best in the series, but enjoyable all the same.

Ooh, so glad you loved Daughter of the Forest! I've read that one and Son of the Shadows, but I really need to keep going with that series! Seeking Persephone sounds interesting too...I'll have to check it out.

I have Son of the Shadows on my list at the library.

The Berlin Candy Bomber by by Gail S. Halvorsen

A personal account of the Berlin airlift by a fellow Utahn and Latter-day Saint. Great story, but not well written. Too many details. But when I got the more thorough account, The Candy Bombers, it was huge and overwhelming. May still go back for the that one.

Inspector Ghote Caught in the Meshes by HRF Keating

Good solid police story tangled up with espionage. Inspector Ghote has to figure out who would want to assassinate a tourist and nuclear protestor.

Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story by Robert C. Shaler

I had been looking forward to this story for a long time, but it was not what I had hoped for at all. Overwhelming with technical details, names of scientists, etc etc etc. Even details of meetings he had attended. Really? Get to the people, the victims you were able to identify, the families who were changed because of that knowledge. There was some of that, but just not enough. Absolutely not recommended.

A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis, 3 stars
Vienna, 1903

A Jewish police detective and his friend, a Jewish psychotherapist, work on a solving the murder of a well-known psychic. Sigmund Freud makes an appearance. Good setting, but the mystery didn't capture me and I didn't connect with the main characters for some reason. A little predictable, perhaps, but good.

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by various authors

Some great authors in here and some very good stories. I liked the one about Mrs. Hudson by Laurie King.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes by Loren D. Estleman

This one, on the other hand, was a dud. All Estleman did was take the RL Stevenson story and insert Holmes and Watson. Anyone could have done that. There was no new spark added, no creativity. I understand he has written other mashups, but I won't bother.

->166 cmbohn:
I've somehow ended up with a copy of the 4th book in the Liebermann series and was going to go back and start at the beginning like I normally do with any series. Maybe for this one I'll just try the one I have and see if I like the characters.

The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters

The most recent in the Vicky Bliss series by Peters, the only series of hers that I like. This one was fun. Someone steals the mummy of King Tut and Vicky's lover is a suspect. They travel to Egypt to solve the crime. Loved Schmidt in this one.

A Slave in the White House by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor
Madison White House, including War of 1812

I got this free in exchange for a review from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program.

I think you can tell a lot about a person based on how they treat others when they think no one is watching. Based on that assumption, I have to respect James Madison for trying to do a good job. Ultimately, he fell short. But he had those giant blind spots typical of men from his background.

Paul Jennings was the slave of James and Dolley Madison. The father of the Constitution talked a lot about liberty, but in the end, he didn't free his slaves. Dolley was worse. She promised, but she wound up selling many of her slaves to pay off debts.

I really liked this look at what the White House was like back in the Madison era and how Washington has grown.

We Band of Angels by Elizabeth M. Norman

Great story of the American nurses trapped on Bataan during WWII. They joined the Army or Navy thinking nursing in the Pacific would be nothing but fun in the sun. Then Pearl Harbor happened and things changed overnight.

Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart

Here's what I learned:

It's probably not a brown recluse spider bite.

I'm never ever going to the Amazon. Ever.

I'm also never going to Japan. That's partly because of sushi, Godzilla, and radiation, but the radiation is going to make Godzilla and those Asian Giant Hornets even bigger.

No matter how bad my day is, thanks to disgusting insects, someone is having a worse day.

I'm even more thankful for clean water.

Not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

Not as much fun as I was hoping. I guess I thought it would be funnier. There were certainly funny aspects, but it was definitely not a comic take on the fairy tale. I liked that each princess had to face her curse and overcome it.

I requested A Slave in the White House but got a different book. It's one I think I'd like to read at some point. We Band of Angels is already on my wishlist.

Hi Cindy, I loved We Band of Angels when I read it last year. I appreciated reading about an area of WW II that I had previously known very little of.

I think I will avoid Wicked Bugs, just reading your thoughts on it had me feeling itchy and squirmy.

I just added Bugs to my school library's wishlist. Teens love icky stuff.

177 - It would be perfect for teens.

176 - One of the main reasons I wanted to read it is because my grandpa was in the 1st Cavalry and was one of the soldiers who liberated Santo Tomas. I wanted to read about what he experienced.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson

Lovely illustrations in this one. The story is pretty simple, but children will enjoy it. The animals are just charming.

Reflections at this point:

I'm almost losing interest in the challenge already. This is not good. I still love reading, but at about a book a day, it's a lot of work to write up a review and post it here, in the Green Dragon, on GR, etc. That's why the reviews keep getting shorter. Plus I'm already a little burned out on some of the categories. Anyone else having this problem? I'm considering ending these categories at the end of April and starting May with 13 all new categories. Possibly that's cheating, but since I'm not exactly doing this for a grade, I'm not too worried about that aspect.

I'm having trouble with a couple of my categories. There are books I want to read for them, but I'm also trying to fit books into other challenges like the CATs and Reading Through Time. I've been able to find books I want to read that fit into one of my categories, but some of them are getting full and others have been neglected. I think I'm going to let some of the categories overflow and stop when I reach 7 in all 13 categories. It will be interesting to see how many I end up reading in some of them.

Well, since part of the objective of the challenge is to have fun with your reading, I'd say rearrange all you want!! :) I know a few people have made mini-reviews for a while when they hit a slump - after a while, the desire to write something longer seems to come back. And, if it doesn't, oh well - it's enjoying your reading that counts, right?! We just want you around to hand out bullets (and take some too...). :)

Yes, do whatever you want/have to do to keep the challenge fun! As long as you are enjoying your reading, that's the main thing :)

Thanks, everyone! I am happy with the progress I've made, I just want to keep things challenging so I don't get stale.

I'm having surgery on Tuesday on my sinuses and I'm thinking I'll be in bed reading quite a bit for a couple of days. I'm looking forward to that aspect, but not super excited about the recovery. Still, I think it will be worth it in the end. I probably won't be on here much for a few days though. We'll see how it goes.

The Warlock Wandering by Christopher Stasheff, 4 stars
Gramarye and others spots in space

Warlock Roderick Gallowglass and his wife and witch Gwendylon need to go out on a date. Having 4 talented children cramps you a bit at home. It's supposed to be a romantic ride through to a magical pool in the woods, but when they get there, they get caught in a time vortex and wind up on another planet and can't get home. At least they are together, but it's not going to be so easy to get home.

I'm glad I read this one after Escape Velocity, as you meet up with many of the same characters and worlds. I would suggest if you are reading this series, to save that one to read before or after this. It is a prequel, but it makes more sense to read it around the same time as this one. Otherwise it will just confuse you.

Jimmy Coates: Target by Joe Craig
futuristic London and France

Intense 2nd book in this trilogy. Great for boys. I liked the idea, even if it's over the top and not very believable. As adventure and futuristic sci-fi stuff, it's a great ride. My son really liked it too. Jimmy finds out in the first one that he's actually a robot being trained as an assassin. This one has him hiding out and trying to rescue some captured friends, finds London on the verge of political collapse, and has him facing off against a dangerous counterpart.

The Erie Canal by Peter Spier

Based on the folk song, this has illustrations of a man and his mule, which pulls his barge along the Erie Canal and all the sights they see. I love this illustrator and I enjoyed this book.

>187 cmbohn: I loved that song when we learned it in elementary school music! I'll have to see if I can find a copy somewhere.

It must be so hard to feel you have to keep up your threads in different groups and different sites. Maybe you could just lurk on one or two and just concentrate on keeping up one of your threads. Don't make it a chore - keep it enjoyable!

Thanks, I'll work on it!

The Warlock is Missing by Christopher Stasheff

The High Wizard and his wife are missing, sucked into a time vortex. They left their children with a sitter, not just any sitter, but Robin Goodfellow more often known as Puck. They wind up meeting a unicorn and having all kinds of adventures while their parents are gone. Fun story.

Thinking about new categories. Not really sure what I want to do.

LDS Authors
Africa
Nature
Biography
Historical Mystery
Love and Romance
Off the Shelf II
Police
Science
Fantasy II
Making Stuff
New York
Princesses

Looks like interesting enough categories to me. Keeping my fingers Xed that the surgery and recovery are both as much of a breeze as they can be!

Thanks! I'll be glad when it's over!

good luck for the surgery, am making a note of the bugs book....

Yes, Cindy, good luck with the surgery.

Dropping by to add my good luck wishes for your surgery, Cindy.

Feeling yucky today, about what I expected. Not so much pain as exhausted and and yucky.

Citizens of London by Lynne Olson

The story of Americans living in London during WWII . I'm not up to a very thorough review, but I highly recommend this one. Great insight into how Churchill and Roosevelt really worked together, why Stalin got away with so much, and what it was like to live during the Blitz.

Warlock's Companion
Warlock and Son
M'Lady Witch

all by Christopher Stasheff

The first one was fun, but Warlock and Son was a total waste. Magnus Gallowglass is all grown up and wanting to be independent from his powerful parents. OK, fine, but he decides the best way is to run off and go on a stupid quest and then fall for every hottie he sees. He keeps making the same mistake and winds up sailing off into space with his parents blessing to start a new series. Oh, and some religion and politics that don't really fit into the story. Dumb all around.

Mostly recovered from my sinus surgery. Still a lot more tired than I was before and having occasional headaches, but I'm getting better.

Here's the total of books I managed to read while recovering!

124. A Distant Prayer - WWII airman captured in Germany and his POW experiences
125. Terrier - Tortall book, young girl becomes City Guard
126. Sherlock Holmes Breath of God - wasn't sure when I started it, but my favorite Holmes book this year
127. Except the Dying - Victorian mystery set in Toronto, first in series, very good
128. Dick Francis's Gamble - lots of fun
129. Trust Your Eyes - two brothers get drawn into a political scandal, thriller
130. Coroner's Journal - good in parts
131. Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg - police drama set in small Indian town
132. Rules of Murder - ER book billed as Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie, but there's some religion in there too.
133. House Report - dumb MC pretty much ruined it
134. Citizens of London - absolutely great
135. M'Lady Witch - fantasy romance, pretty good
136. Warlock and Son - very disappointing
137. Smokescreen - reread, good book

So as you can see, lying around, OK, sitting around, propped up in bed, did not affect my reading. Nothing else to do, right? Read and sleep. But now I'm getting back to normal.

Ready for a new thread!