Fourpawz2 - Autumn, 2013

Moving on to this new thread for the last three months of the year. It seemed like a good idea at the beginning of the year to divide things by the seasons, but I guess I must accept the fact that I am never going to be the owner of dozens of threads in a year and that I am likely never meant to be more than a two threads per year kind of girl.

Not posting any books this afternoon, I think, even though I have plenty still to do. Feel more like spending my time reading for what's left of this afternoon.

Happy new thread!

Charlotte popping along to keep your new thread company. Have a lovely weekend.

Thank you Bryony! Thank you, Paul!

Hi Charlotte! Happy new thread. I've starred you. I hope you got lots of reading done and had a good weekend.

Thanks, Susan. I did get some reading done. Not as much as I would have liked as I was a little distracted by the football game yesterday (and sorely disappointed as well), but that was ok as I am on vacation until the 15th.

The day today has been by turns, foggy, cloudy, pouring down rain, and blazingly sunny, topped off by strong winds. My electrician was supposed to be coming down to do some major work, but had to turn back when the rain started coming down in sheets. But - he will be here tomorrow and I will finally have my electrical work up to snuff. Yay!

Book No. 51 was Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon. The victim in this one is an American soldier stationed at a US military base close to Venice. I couldn't help wondering, as I was reading, how my fellow Americans would like the idea of having foreign military personnel stationed here on military bases of their own. I think they would not like it very much and I think they would especially not like having the same kinds of arrogant, self-centered characters living in their midst as the ones depicted in this book. Mind you, I am not saying that I think Leon got it wrong; in fact I am afraid she is spot on.

This was a different kind of crime novel. The guilty party is not brought to justice, but there is retribution. It was, I thought, a more Italian/European viewpoint of justice and for that reason very interesting and good.

I am really liking Guido Brunetti now. He is such a well-rounded character. Also, I would love to spend an afternoon in Leon's non-touristy, Venice locations.

Brunetti's wife, Paola, thinks that Jane Eyre (their daughter, Chiara is reading the book for the first time) is "a cunning, self-righteous, little bitch". Not the usual description one gets of this character. Interesting.

Gave this one 3.75 stars

There was one named pet in this book - Orso, a dog who is afflicted with rheumatism who belongs to Ariann, a woman who owns a bar in Venice.

Past Reads - Number 51

2007 – Faerie Tale by Raymond E Feist - liked it but did not love it so the 3.5 stars that I gave it then seems a little over generous now.

2008 – The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll – This one was silly. I could not tell what the hell the author meant it to be and so gave it only 1 star. It stank of sequel - I would have known that there were subsequent books, even if I hadn't previously seen that they existed. Wretched book

2009 – Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence – By contrast with the previous year, book 51 for this year was a 5 star book and a favorite for the year

2010 – The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones was another 5 star book and very funny, but probably only to a person who has read a lot of fantasy books.

2011 – Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger – Really liked this 4.5 star book and look forward to reading it again. People seem to really like Niffenegger or else they hate her. Nothing in between

2012 – I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – Did not love this one as some people do. It was okay - just not amazing so I gave it 3.25 stars. I guess for me the Father character was a terrible pain and clearly someone who should never have been whelped and he was probably the reason I did not love this book.

#6. I enjoyed the Donna Leon book and bought a few more on the strength of it.

Hey Meandeer - how nice to see you here!

Gray and chilly here in New England today. It's a vacation week for me, but the first days of the week were spent with electricians in my basement where they were getting my house into a fit state so that it doesn't have some horrid electrical calamity happen to it. Cost one arm and one leg, but I really did not have a choice. First time anything major has been to it since the 1940's - electrically speaking - when my father built it. Today was taken up with the guy from the gas company who came to change out the gas meter and - as it so happened - fix a gas leak that the electricians noticed on Tuesday. At least that didn't require the outlay of any of my limited funds. Yay.

Book No. 52 was The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly which started out as a bit of classic historical fiction, but turned, not very far into it, into romantic historical fiction. It began in White Chapel with the story of Fiona and Joe - two young people from poor, but honest families, who'd been in love since the time they were children, working toward achieving their mutual dream of opening their own shop one day. And getting married, of course. I thought Donnelly was pushing it by dragging Jack the Ripper into her story; for a while, it seemed to me that she was not doing it for any other reason other than to score shock points . Eventually she did justify it, but I really do think that she could have skipped getting rid of certain individuals by using Jack.

Overall, I thought that the quality of the story deteriorated as it went on. Once Fiona, the heroine, achieved success it seemed to me as if the story turned into lists of luxury goods and endless praise of Fiona's cleverness in business. This confirmed my feeling that rich people are awfully boring.

Am undecided about continuing the series.

Also there was a somewhat important character who made a sudden reappearance that did not please me either. It seemed awfully convenient.

Gave it 3 stars

There were no pets in it.

Past Reads - Number 52

2007 – The Serpent Garden by Judith Merkle Riley I gave this one 5 stars and though I can't recall much of it now, I am sure it deserved every one of those 5 stars, for I love everything of Riley's that I've ever read. Such a shame that she died so young.

2008 – 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff – Read this one because there was so much talk about it on LT and it turns out that I'm likely the only person alive today who does not care for it awfully well. It did awaken a sudden craving for beautiful books in me – the kind with thin, thin paper and floppy leather covers – but that was all. Gave it 2.5 stars

2009 – The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy by Maya Slater – I had fun writing a snarky-ish review of this book for Early Reviewers, but afterward I consigned this one to the "Kingdom of Meh". Dull. Got 3 stars

2010 – Sabriel by Garth Nix – 4* Read this one for the Group Read of the Abhorsen series in this year. As per typical for me, I only completed 2/3 of the series. That said, I liked this book very much and gave it 4 stars.

2011 – A Place of Execution by Val Diarmid – Was liking this mystery quite well, which was still pretty unusual for me at this time, but then Diarmid rolled out The Giant Coincidence toward the end of the book and so my rating had to fall off to 3.5 stars. It was still pretty good over-all

2012 – Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella – a light read that I picked out as the perfect book for the hot and humid weather we were having at the time. Amusing. Gave it 3 stars

Happy new thread Charlotte! Hope you are enjoying your vacation?

Going back to your old thread:

#60 "It also gave me a chance to write a review that I've always liked. I re-read it every now and then in order to have a chuckle over my great wit." Well, after reading that I had to go and check out your review of Mr Darcy Takes a Wife and it made me chuckle too :-) It also made me decide to never, ever read Mr Darcy Takes a Wife.

This thread:

#9 "Gray and chilly here in New England today." Grey and chilly here in old England too! I guess that's what we get for taking vacation in October :-)

Absolutely, Heather! But, I must confess, that it is my preferred weather. I'm a winter/autumn person. When the weather starts to warm up I want to crawl into a dark room and hibernate. I'm definitely a New England kind of girl, but have always thought that I could transplant to some grey, really wet, cool corner of the UK quite easily.

Glad you liked that review of Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife. It was a lot of fun.

Hi Charlotte, I found your new digs!

We finally got our first "cool front" of the season this week and it's gross and rainy and muggy out. I'd love a bit of your chilliness!

Wish I could send it to you, Kathy. There's enough here for all to share in the wonderfulness.

Yet another sunny day and downright chilly. The leaves are definitely past peak. although I seem to have a few trees that are stubbornly refusing to change from green to those nice autumn colors that everyone loves.

Finished my course at Coursera. Enjoyed it very much, but am glad that it's over as it took time away from reading.

Book No. 53 was Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold which was kind of a SF/Military type of story. I liked pretty well enough even though the worlds involved were populated exclusively (I think) by humanoids. There was a nice romance between the main characters and I liked that they were not in the first flush of youth. This book was actually one of two in the omnibus edition entitled Cordelia's Honor and I was looking forward to reading the second one - Barrayar - more quickly than I usually manage to get these things done. However, I am not liking Barrayar very much (have been attempting to get it read since the 19th) and have almost decided to to ditch it. SoH gets 4.5 stars from me. Too bad the sequel comes nowhere near that for me.

Past Reads - Number 53

2007 – Buffalo Woman by Dorothy M. Johnson – a short but interesting bit of fiction about an American Indian woman's life that I gave 3.5 stars.

2008 – The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart – an Early Reviewer book that I gave 3.5 stars to at the time. I remember it as being quirky, but enjoyable

2009 – The Sun King by Nancy Mitford got 4.5 stars from me. It was about Louis XIV but a sizable portion of it dealt more with Versailles and its other denizens. Highly recommended

2010 – To School Through the Fields: An Irish Country Childhood by Alice Taylor – Gave 4.5 stars to it and I remember liking it, but think now that I may have been over-generous. Would have to re-read it to be sure.

2011 – Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin – a ‘honking good’ story about vampires in the era of paddlewheel steamboats. I remember that I read almost all of it during a Hurricane in August of that year. Gave it 4 stars

2012 – The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson – A harmless enough children’s book, I suppose, but I found it to be awfully tame and dullish. Gave it 3 stars for trying really hard.

My 54th book for this year was Sharpe's Tiger by Bernard Corwell - a re-read and chronologically the first Sharpe novel, but publishing-wise it came somewhere in the middle of the pack. In this book Cornwell takes the reader back to Sharpe's earlier days - to his time in India when he is young and still pretty inexperienced. Sharpe seems full of such an abundance of raw talent however, that the inexperience never gets in his way. And it is plain that his childhood in the orphanage followed by his life spent in criminal circles made it easier for him to settle into his life as a common soldier in the English army of the 18th century. He does not expect fair treatment from the army, but has enough spirit that he does not turn into a cur.

The historical event that this particular story revolves around involves the Battle of Seringapatam and the defeat of the Tipoo Sultan - one of the Duke of Wellington's early successes, back when he was still just Arthur Wellesley. Obadiah Hakeswill, one of Sharpe's enemies, is heavily involved in this story and Sharpe (naturally) has a big part in the defeat of the Tipoo and the conquest of his stronghold.

Gave this one 4.5 stars - again.

And there were no pets in this story. Tigers are not remotely pet-like.

Past Reads - Number 54

2007 – The Cattle Kings by Lewis Atherton – was about cattle barons of the West. Found this one interesting in some places and pretty dry in others. Gave it 3 stars. Looks as if I'm still the only person on LT to have rated this book. Maybe I'm the only one to have actually read it.

2008 – The Promise of the New South by Edward L. Ayers It could have been dry and deadly, but was not and I gave it 4 stars which, as I don't remember a lot about it, I will stick with. Read it for the Go Review That Book Group, a group that I have not gone near in more years than I care to say. Should go back there and start again.

2009 – Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon – This was my 4th re-read of this book and I stuck with my original 5 star rating. One of my favorite books of Gabaldon's

2010 – A Hero’s Walk by Anita Rau Badami – is about what happens to a family when the daughter marries outside of her culture. I believed everyone in it and gave it 4 stars

2011 – Earthman’s Burden by Paul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson –I started this one toward the end of that hurricane mentioned above -mostly to take my mind off the fact that night was falling and there was no electricity. Short stories about creatures who liked to adapt their society in order to duplicate the Earth literature they have been reading. My favorite one was when they had been reading old style westerns and turned all cowboy-esque. Gave it 3 stars.

2012 – Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton – Gave it 3.5 stars, mostly because of Hamish MacBeth, I did enjoy it even though it wasn’t one of the best of these that I’ve read. The weather was hot and I needed one of ‘those’ books.

A lovely sunny and breezy day. I almost like November as much as I do October. Am assiduously trying to ignore the creeping infestation of Christmas just about everywhere.

Book No. 55 - High Five by Janet Evanovich – In this book Stephanie gets – and loses – two cars between pages 192 and 275. Still have no idea how this girl can get car insurance. There is beginning to be a sameness to these books, but I am still finding them entertaining.

One pet in this book – Rex – who is not, for a change, in danger at any time in this book. I know there are a lot of Stephanie Plum books, so I checked to see how long guinea pigs live. Am thinking that Rex is likely – if he doesn’t get blown up first - to die of old age before the series comes to an end.

Gave this book 3.5 stars – most of it for the entertainment value.

Past Reads - Number 55

2007 – Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman - Did not like it as well as I had hoped to. Gave it only 2.5 stars mostly because I did not trust the history in it and it left me with "the feeling (after finishing it) that I'd spent a few days standing in front of the gossip rags at the supermarket checkout".

2008 – Blitzcat by Robert Westall – a story for older children about WW2 in England and a cat who is trying to get back to her owner, having many adventures over the course of her long journey. Liked it very much. Gave it 4 stars

2009 – The King’s Privateer by Dewey Lambdin – Another first class Alan Lewrie story that I gave 4 stars to.

2010 – Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen - super dramatic and very long. Gave it three stars. I have not sought out the sequel (that I could smell coming a mile away) but I think I would give it a whirl if it came my way.

2011 – HMS Cockerel by Dewey Lambdin – Loved this one, too even though I read it out of order by mistake. Gave it 4.5 stars

2012 – Oral History by Lee Smith a multi-generational story of Appalachia and my second book by Smith. I remember it as being quite good and I gave it 3.75 stars.

Charlotte, I remember reading Through A Glass Darkly when I was a teenager and *loving* it. Your mention of it caused me to go right over to Amazon and buy a copy :-) I got a "very good" condition second-hand one for £2.48, including postage, and I think I'll make it a Christmas holiday read.

We are also having a creeping infestation of Christmas and out of my window at the office a couple of days ago I saw a group of people in Santa hats making their way into the tube station. Yikes! The Christmas TV ads from the big shops have started and it can only be a matter of time before I hear "Fairytale of New York" every time I turn on the radio. I don't know whether that's ever played in the US (I suspect not) but it's one of the main indicators of the season here, along with the Pret A Manger Christmas sandwich (turkey, stuffing, crispy breadcrumbs and cranberry sauce).

{Edited because of bad typing}.

We are also having a creeping infestation of Christmas
LOL - that's a very good way of putting it.

#15 Sorry you're not enjoying Barrayar more - I read those books a few years ago and preferred Barrayar to Shards of Honor (although I liked both). Considering a reread for next year.

#16 Ooh, I have Fevre Dream, glad to hear it's honkingly good :-)

I don't like the creeping infestation of Christmas, but I am seriously considering buying mince pies which I love....

Susan, Rhian and Heather - how nice to see you all here.

Susan, I am happy to have reminded you of a favorite read. Hope you enjoy it just as much this time around. Yeah, the way Christmas gets shoved down our throats every year - I wish there were some way to stop all the commercialism, but I don't suppose there is. Only way seems to be to turn off the TV, not listen to the radio or go on the internet and pretty much lock the door against the world in general for two months. They probably wouldn't like that at work if I disappeared for 6 to 8 weeks. Of course we, in the US, are also afflicted with all of that ridiculous Black Friday crap and its intrusion upon the Thanksgiving holiday. Have they managed something as atrocious in your neck of the woods? Minus the Thanksgiving part, of course.

Glad you liked 'creeping infestation', Rhian. I've chuckled a time or two over that myself. (One of my major character flaws - laughing over my own cleverness. Bad Charlotte. Bad! Bad!)

The thing with Barrayar, Heather, is that in this book Cordelia is just gestating and buying clothes and going to parties. It just seems like nothing more that kind of a science fiction Regency so far - so far being 89 pages in. I really liked SoH a lot better. There are more than 200 pages remaining and I don't know that I can force myself to read them feeling as I do.

Book No. 56 – Sharpe’s Company by Bernard Cornwell, which I read in September for September series and sequels (along with Books Number 54 & 55), revolves around the battle of Badajoz (Peninsula War, Napoleonic era) – likely the most famous battle of this Spanish war. This book was as great as I remember it being and I think that it might be the best of the Sharpe novels. There is great soldiering in it, but perhaps the best part for me is Sharpe’s agony. He loses his captaincy in this book and the subsequent blow to his pride and the need to live as some kind of specter while he waits for another captain – any captain – to die so that he can get his rank back, I found particularly well done and interesting. It’s neat reading these books so long after I first read them for I am seeing things I did not see the first time.

No pets of course.

Gave this one 5 stars again.

Past Reads - Number 56

2007 – Manxmouse by Paul Gallico – Gave it only 2 stars. It is a very dated children’s book. A shame because I’ve liked PG before this. For some reason I can remember reading this one while in the dentist’s waiting room.

2008 – The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss – A 4 star, Early Reviewer book that I liked a lot. I checked and it seems as if Liss doesn’t seem to be writing Historical Fiction any more. A shame for he was starting to grow on me.

2009- Before The Knife by Carolyn Slaughter – a memoir about the author’s abusive South African childhood that I polished off in one morning. Gave it 4 stars because I did like it, but others might find it a little too grim.
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2010 – Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – Another memoir and another 4 stars. I found it interesting and I might read it again someday to see how I feel about it currently.

2011 – The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie – the first Miss Marple in my long, long quest to read all of Christie's stuff in order. Gave it 3.75 stars and am waiting impatiently for another MM book to crop up. Better read another of Christie's books before the end of the year, I think.

2012 – The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang – A horrific story of this awful event told wonderfully well. Chang was very passionate about the despicable treatment of the citizens of Nanking by the Japanese prior to WW2 and was criticized severely for that passion. (So severely criticized that in some quarters it is believed that it contributed to her early death.) I liked it a lot and gave it 4 stars. Think it might deserve more.

The day has turned into a sunny one, but I am holed up inside.

Book No. 57 – Masters Without Slaves by James L. Roark – is a 36 year old non-fiction work about plantation owners and how they functioned after the American Civil War – how they continued (or did not continue) to work their land after their slaves were freed. It was not a very long book, but it covered the subject well. Somehow, while I can hardly approve slavery or mourn its loss, I did find it easy to feel sorry for some of these people who chose so poorly and suffered so endlessly for it. Some of them recovered economically, but by the time they did, the tone of life that had existed before the war was gone forever and chasing money had taken over American life. A condition that - sadly - still persists today.

I found it amusing that there were many instances where Tobias and especially Randall Gibson were quoted for their views on the difficulty Southerners had in trying to carry on and recover from the war. I read about these two in The Invisible Line (Book No. 34). The Gibsons, who came from a prominent Louisiana slave-owning family, did not know that they themselves were descended from slaves. Apparently, Roark did not know it either. It was just kind of weird to read those quotes from the Gibsons, knowing what I know now.

Gave this one 3.5 stars

Past Reads - Book 57

2007 – Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell Got a, not surprising, 5 star rating from me. Loved it.

2008 – The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier (one of my favorite authors) was about tapestry weavers in Brussels. 4 stars for it. Liked it a great deal, one primary reason for that being that Chevalier does not try to impose our standards upon any of her book's characters. I hate it when authors try to make us judge people in novels (either literary or Historical Fiction) by current-day standards.

2009 – A Skeleton in God’s Closet by Paul L. Maier – a ‘what if’ book about what might happen if Jesus’ skeleton was unearthed in present day Israel. Gave it 3.5 stars. I found the story surrounding the discovery awfully good for a long while, but the romancey bit was not so awfully good and got in the way of my complete enjoyment of the book.

2010 – The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer – I don’t remember much about this one except for the fact that I was beginning to get the idea, when I read it, that I am not a Regency Fiction person. Gave it 3 lukewarm stars

2011 – The White Rose by Glen Cook – A solid 4 star read. This is the last book in The Chronicles of the Black Company series. It is a very enjoyable Fantasy. No one writes exactly like Cook. Would read this series again.

2012 – Yaxley’s Cat by Robert Westall– This short novel gives one second thoughts about living in a tiny cottage in a tiny English village. A satisfyingly creepy story. 3.75 stars from me.

Book No 58 –Sharpe’s Revenge by Bernard Cornwell – is the book just previous to Waterloo. In this book everyone can see that the war is (they think) over and they are now faced with what life after the war will be like for them – a very frightening thing for these life-long soldiers. For most of them they haven’t known anything else but the life of a soldier. Truly there would at this point be no story, but Cornwell decides to have Sharpe:-

1. Betrayed by his new wife, Jane and the Army
2. Flogged
3. Shot and almost killed
4. Fall in love
5. Break his friendship with Sweet William
6. Chase down the treacherous, murderous Pierre Ducos.

Really, for a time when nothing is really happening – battle-wise – in Europe, Cornwell does manage to fill up the pages very nicely.

No Pets.

Gave this 4 stars – less of a rating, I think, than previously – mostly because there wasn’t much of any actual soldiering going on.

Past Reads - Book 58

2007 – Kemp: The Road to Crecy by Daniel Hall got 3 stars from me and was a charter member of my LT collection entitled 'The Kingdom of Meh'. Don’t remember anything about it such was its meh-ness.

2008 – The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime by Miles Harvey – Gave it 3.5 stars. Liked it quite a bit. It made me want to acquire antique maps.

2009 – Property by Valerie Martin – A novel of slavery in the American South. Gave it 4 stars, but now I would have to re-read in order to see if that rating was merited.

2010 – Lake Magic by Kimberly Fisk – Gave this a generous 2.5 stars. Was lent to me by a friend. Not at all the thing that I usually read – then or now. Full of laughable errors of fact.

2011 – Aristotle’s Children by Richard E. Rubenstein – the story of the re-discovery of Aristotelian thought and its influence on Christianity. Hugely interesting as I recall and I gave it 3.75 stars

2012 – The Secret River by Kate Grenville – A good Historical Fiction story about Australia and its settlement by Europeans. It was a good story - very absorbing and I gave it 4 stars.

Book No. 59 - Those Across The River by Christopher Buehlman Read this one for the October themed books read. This one features werewolves, but not those sexy, romantic werewolves. These ww's are of the scare-the-crap-out-of-you-and-then-rip-your-head-off school. Found it satisfyingly creepy. At the beginning of the Great Depression an almost newly married couple moves from Chicago to a teeny tiny town in rural Georgia where Frank has inherited property from an aunt. He means to write a book about his slave-owning great grandfather. Things go to pot. That's about all I'm saying about the plot. It's too good to talk about any further.

I have no idea what the Depression might have been like in small town Georgia, but I think that CB's version must be close.

There were no pets.

Gave this one 4 stars. Recommended.

Past Reads - Book Number 59

2007 – The Marsh King’s Daughter by Elizabeth Chadwick – Historical Fiction about a girl forced into a nunnery in the time of King John (13th century) Gave it 5 stars, but would have to re-read to know if it really deserves that many.

2008 – Thornyhold by Mary Stewart - A penniless heroine inherits an old house from her old relative. There are witches. Must re-read and not to check the 3.5 star rating I gave it, but because this is one Stewart book I really do want to read again.

2009 – Diary of a Cat by Leigh W. Rutledge – A sweet, quick read lent to me by a friend who was in a reading rut at the time. I think that the cat’s name was Pandemonium (it is never revealed by the cat) and he writes about the goings on, human beings and animals in his little neighborhood, doing quite well with the small amount of material available to him. I gave it 4 stars and - as the book is unavailable to me now - guess that rating will have to stand. I don't think it cured my friend - she's been in pretty much of a reading rut ever since, but I liked it.

2010 – Life of Pi by Yann Martel – I did not have the big ‘ah-hah’ moment that I believe I was supposed to have when reading this book. I liked bits of it – especially for Richard Parker the tiger and the survival story, but I did not suddenly come to believe in God on account of it. Mostly all it did was to reinforce my antipathy toward large bodies of water. Gave it three stars and I think I reserved the right, at the time, to change that rating. Would have to re-read it, but am not sure I can face that challenge.

2011 – The Marrow of Tradition by Charles W. Chesnutt – a pretty much forgotten book by a pretty much forgotten American writer, I think. I gave this 3.5 stars. Thought it was very good, revolving around two white and one black family in the post-civil war south, their problems with one another and a brewing conspiracy in their little town. Mean to read this again and also some of his other works.

2012 – Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly – the first book of a fantasy series that I really liked a lot – to the tune of 4.25 stars. I had kind of forgotten how much I liked this book so I must, must get the next book out of the Basket o’ Series Books and read it asap. Maybe before the end of the year?

Am pleased with self that I have managed to post a number of books today. Still have another 7 to go before I am caught up. I would probably have even more if I could just force myself to read only one book at a time. Have 3 primary books that I am reading, an ER book that is a slog and a whole crap load of others that are dragging at my heels.

And the postman just delivered another one....

True November in New England kind of day - grey and coolish. Am mightily put out that Patriots aren't playing until tomorrow night I HATE night games. They come on too late, I always fall asleep and - let's face it - there is just something all wrong about pro football at night. It is meant to be played in the afternoon on a Sunday or a Saturday if it is being played in December. No arguments will be tolerated on the subject. That is just the way it is. Boy, if I were only charge of scheduling the games I guess I'd show them a thing or two...

Book No. 60 – The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries by Emily Brightwell – The idea of a Victorian-era housekeeper, in concert with the rest of the household staff, undertaking the job – secretly – of helping their Police Inspector employer with his cases is a good one. However, I found this book disappointing, mainly because PI Witherspoon seems like such a total dunce.

Borrowed this book from the library and only did that because I bought two recently written books in this series last July at the big book sale. Might try the second book in the series in the hopes that it gets better, but don’t have high hopes of that.

Gave this one a weak-ish 3 stars.

There are no pets.

Past Reads - Book Number 60

2007 – Tales and Traditions of Scottish Castles by Nigel Tranter – Enjoyed this book which was about just what the title says it's about. Gave it 4 stars and expect to re-read it some day

2008 – The White by Deborah Larsen – Doled out 3 stars for this good, but not great, novelization of the true story of a Pennsylvania girl taken captive by the Shawnee in 1750

2009 – The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West – a WWI soldier can’t remember a thing that happened to him after 1901. Doesn’t remember anyone or anything. This was only 90 pages long, but very good. It stayed with me after I finished reading it and I mean to read it again. Gave it 4 well-deserved stars.

2010 – The Girl with Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson – 4 stars. Really liked it, though I think I gave up trying to figure the mystery out – it was hurting my brain.

2011 – The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse by John R. Erickson – 4.5 stars. My first Audible.com book. I've never actually bought a physical Hank the Cowdog book- I've only ever listened to the author read them. He does them perfectly. I especially love the little songs that Hank and his buddies (and the vultures and the coyotes) sing. And Hank. You've got to love Hank. Must pop over to Audible and buy another one

2012 – The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson – gave this one 4.75 stars so apparently I must have liked it a good deal. Think I would have to re-read it in order to check on whether I was just ‘in the moment’ when I rated it. I see by what I wrote last year that I meant to re-read. Maybe next year.

#24 in this book Cordelia is just gestating and buying clothes and going to parties I haven't read Barrayar for a while so perhaps I've blanked those bits? I think more happens but if you're not enjoying it I can't say keep going...

#31 "I did not suddenly come to believe in God on account of it." Oh, this made me laugh! I read Life of Pi before LT and really enjoyed it but had no idea there was supposedly a religious angle to it.

#33 I'm hoping to read The Return of the Soldier next year and I may bump The Gargoyle closer to the top of the TBR pile based on your rating. Even if that's a just 'in the moment' rating, it's a pretty good one!

Charlotte, Through a Glass Darkly arrived yesterday from the UK Amazon. And yet, spookily, it was the Australia/NZ edition (with their prices on the back, and not the US/UK/Canada prices). It was the very same edition that I used to have, with a distinctive cover involving a gilded mirror frame. Now I'm very keen to read it, but I'm going to save it for the Christmas break.

Masters Without Slaves looks interesting, but sadly doesn't exist in the London library system. It sounds like it would fit well with "History of the Slave South", which is the Coursera course that starts in January.

Grey and coolish New England days, I like the sound of that being bereft of normal seasons here other than the monsoon that seems intent on washing over us literally. The hard standing outside the office has been under water for so long the suburb kids have turned it into an impromptu swimming pool.

#34 - maybe my estimation of what Barrayar is about is influenced by my only being at page 89, Heather. Maybe it picks up from where I am. It was my belief, at the time that I was reading LoP, that readers of it were impressed by its spiritual-ness. Didn't happen for me, but I really did not expect or want that to happen. I guess I just have a problem with the whole magical realism school.

#35 - How lovely that your copy of TaGD is just like your favorite old copy, Susan. Enjoy! That's a shame about not being able to get hold of MWS. I thought it was very informative dealing as it did with an area of post-civil war Southern society that I'd not come across before.

#36 - 'hard standing' que? What's hard standing, Paul?

*sigh* Was going to post my next book now, but I just got called in to work. Back later to finish, but who knows when that will be.

A parking lot, I'm guessing?

Just popping in for a "Hey Charlotte!" :)

Could be.

Hey, Kathy!

Hey Charlotte! I only have one library book left for the weekend. What should I do? At least it's about pirates, I suppose.

You'll have to read it. But slowly. Savor it. When's your n next library book available?

I have a couple "in transit", but that could mean anything. Once I had something in transit for a whole year, it never arrived and the reservation expired. Eventually I tracked it down and it was terrible, so I am now careful what I wish for. Maybe I will have to borrow an ebook, or explore the Kindle, but I'm a little bit frightened of how much stuff is on there...

I hope you're having a good New England day - here is it now dark and I am off to the supermarket. Rush hour always seems to take them by surprise, but I'm hoping they will have some milk left.

As a matter of fact, I am, Susan. It's grey and rainy and the homeless cats at work have been drinking from the puddles in the parking lot. Just an hour and 20 minutes left before what is supposed to be the end of the day. I plan to get a decent amount of reading done this weekend. Hoping for nasty weather; nasty weather is my favorite for reading. The Weather Channel seems to think that it's going to be partly sunny tomorrow and snowy on Sunday. I'll try to be satisfied with the snow.

Hope you are successful with the market. I tried to do an end-run around the Thanksgiving rush by going last night, but I knew, even when I was still there, that I would have to go back. Will need more milk in order to make the Lemon Bars my aunt requested for dessert and I am sure that by next week there will be even more necessaries to pick up. Absolutely don't want to go back there after Monday, though. People get nuts over T'giving.

Charlotte, wishing one of my faves a Happy Thanksgiving, even though as an exiled Brit I don't qualify to celebrate.

By the way "hard-standing" refers to pavement (sidewalk), road and parking area - basically a concreted space.

Belated happy thanksgiving wishes Charlotte!

Thanks, Heather and Paul. I'll take good wishes whenever and wherever I can get them.

Never would have guessed in a ga-zillion years, Paul, that that was the meaning of hard-standing. Somehow I thought that it was a massive typo.

A sunny, coolish day today. It was a furlough day for me and while I did not get a whole lot of things done, neither did I just veg out. Made Willie's next nail appointment and was offered the opportunity to bring him in today, but turned that down. Already had December 18th set in my head as a good day for dragging him over to the vet's, and could not make the sudden adjustment. Not a spur of the moment kind of person, I guess.

Book No. 61 – The Gentlewomen by Laura Talbot. World War II in the English countryside at a deteriorating Stately Home. The book revolves around Miss Roona Bolby, gentlewoman-governess and her missing Indian bracelets, her obsession with her connection (through her sister Sita) with the Atherton-Broadleigh family and her insistence on her old-school treatment of the Rushford girls who are in her care. For much of the book nothing happens, but everything is building toward an accidental death. After the tragedy Miss Bolby goes on being Miss Bolby, oblivious to the fact that everyone blames her for what happened. She is a gentlewoman with connections and is blameless.

There are named pets in this one – a Pekinese named Chang-Kai-Shek, cats named Eleanor and Coushka and Crowhurst, a pony. There are poodles too, but I don’t’ think they have names.

Gave this one 4.75 stars. Very good book.

Past Reads - Number 61

2007 – Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay – Gave this one 3.5 stars even though I have it down in my journal as being ‘plodding and ponderous’. Hmmm. Guess it’s a sure thing that I should have given it a lower rating

2008 – The Little Bugler by William P. Styple – Gave this one 2.5 stars. Described it as 'cloying' at the time. The author was clearly writing down to what he considered the level of a child. It is the true story of Gustav Schurmann, drummer boy in a NY Regiment in the American Civil War. Not a book I would care to revisit.

2009 – Iron Works on the Saugus by E.N. Hartley – An informative little book if one is interested in the almost died a-borning 17th century New England iron industry and dry as dust. It got 3 stars from me. I wanted to know about this subject, but don’t think that many people would be interested in it.

2010 – Lirael by Garth Nix – Gave it 4.5 stars. Liked it even better than the first book in the series. Really must read the 3rd book.

2011 – Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George – Way too long. This woman has a problem with the way she writes. She needs to be restrained and not allowed to churn out such massive books when less would do ever so much better. Gave it 3 stars and it is in my give-away-to-the-library bag. Hoping to unload it in the new year.

2012 – Mrs. Astor Regrets by Meryl Gordon – Depressing. Too much yakking about clothes and society doins’. I saw this past summer that Brooke Astor’s son, Tony, has been released from jail because it was deemed a hideous drain on the finances of the state of New York for them to keep him in prison when he is so sick. Kind of had to agree with that thinking; he is a wealthy man and ought to pay for his own medical care instead of making the unfortunate taxpayers foot that bill. The book was written competently, but I only gave it 3 stars and likely would not read it again.

Sunny but cold today in southern New England. Have begun my somewhat truncated December vacation as well as a vicious cold. I know where I got the cold - from my friend's son. Probably should not have gone to my friend's house last Tuesday, but it was 'The Walking Dead' day and I had to go. Well worth it. Am trying not to think about the two month hiatus. By way of compensating I bought Season Two on dvd which amazon has currently run out of. Hopefully they will get a new supply soon.

Book No. 62 – Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan – which I borrowed from the library. As so often happens with library books, this one was very good and I wish that I had bought it instead. It was an interesting book about the historical Jesus. Aslan was successfully able (I thought) to track down and translate enough minutiae to make his case that the historical Jesus was very, very different from the Biblical one. He was a man executed for sedition by the Romans and condemned for blasphemy by the Jews. He was a Zealot.

I was also very interested in R.A.’s writing about Paul and James and his history of the Jewish Revolution under the rule of the Romans. Filled in a part of history that I don’t know enough about.

Gave this one 4.9 stars. Well worth the read and one of my favorite books of the year.

Past Reads - Number 62

2007 – The Good Men: A Novel of Heresy by Charmaine Craig – this one got my ‘best book of the year’ vote in 2007. It was a novel of the Cathar heresy and I really liked it a lot. Must re-read soon. Gave it 5 stars

2008 – Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow – a book that annoyed me. I hate the failure to use quotation marks in a book. For some reason I can’t seem to shake the feeling that everything that I clearly know is being said is only being thought. If it’s a really good book, I am better at transcending this irritant, but if it is only an ok book as this one was, the lack of qm steps to the forefront, annoying me and therefore garnering only 3 stars as this one did. Would not re-read it and am inclined to think that I should drop a half a star off my rating.

2009 – Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer – One of my earlier attempts to read a Regency novel that did not turn out well. Too predictable and just not interesting to me. Gave it 3 stars – which I expect today, would be over-generous.

2010 – Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon – a gothic mystery from 1862. Gave this one 3.25 stars. It was alright. A trifle unbelievable, but older books usually get a pass from me when they are a little lacking in believability. What Braddon did do to merit a reduction in rating was annoy me by constantly referring to her hero as Robert Audley. Never just Robert or Audley, but Robert Audley, Robert Audley, Robert Audley – over and over again. Guess she must have really liked the name she chose for her hero. Can’t imagine that I would ever read this one again.

2011 – Bootlegger’s Daughter by Margaret Maron – a nice first book in a North Carolina based mystery series that I mean to continue (I have some of the books, but not book number two yet – must hunt that puppy down soon). Gave it 3.25 stars and I would re-read it – especially if I continue liking the series.

2012 – Foundation by Isaac Asimov – Did not care for this Audible book much, mainly because, 1) there were so many characters over such a stretch of years that I hardly got to know any of them before they disappeared for good and 2) it seemed very dated to me – lots of talk of atomic power and atom blasters. Only gave this classic 3 stars and don’t expect to ever read it in any form again.

A grey day with a light coating of snow on the ground and light rain. I am SO glad that I don't have to go to work today. I do have to go outside to take the squirrels and birds their food and to take in the garbage barrel, but don't want to.

Book No. 63 – The Last Werewolf – by Glen Duncan – another book read for October themed reads month. It is the memoir of the last-living werewolf (duh!) on earth – the 201 year-old Jake Marlowe. He is being hunted down by a group whose only purpose is to hunt down werewolves and kill them. the lead hunter – Grainer - is out for revenge as Jake was the one who killed his father.

Jake is tired of living. He’s resigned to dying. He has lived without love for many, many years and he’s just sick of life.

Things happen – can’t tell you what.

I was pleased that GD did not choose to make this book all sexy-romanc-y, though there is plenty of sex. It’s just that I am tired of the Twilight/True Blood type of werewolf.

Looking forward to the sequel (which I know is not liked as well by some people).

Gave it 4 stars

No Pets.

Past Reads - Book Number 63

2007 – The Coming of the Horseclans by Robert Adams – telepathic cats and horses were about the only thing that I found interesting in this fantasy book – and that was interesting for ‘only about ten seconds’. This is a charter member of my The Bad, The Vile and The Worst collection and I gave it only ½ star. Ghastly! Never to be opened again by me.

2008 – Dime Novel Desperadoes: the Notorious Maxwell Brothers by John Hallwas was an Early Reviewer book that I gave 3 stars to. I’d never heard of these two criminal brothers before reading this book, which was interesting. Not amazing but a solid book, just the same.

2009 – Holly River Secret by Ann Durell – a children’s book for which I wrote my favorite snarky review ever! I would never get rid of this 2 star book for that reason alone. So, so bad. I am one of only two people on LT who own this book and I own a copy only because I bought it inadvertently when I was trying to find a book from my childhood that I remembered fondly – a true children’s book for a change –and someone thought this might be it. It wasn’t. Nevertheless, it is now almost as memorable to me.

2010 – Kabul in Winter by Ann Jones – a non-fiction book about Afghanistan that I gave 4.5 stars to. It focuses on the greed and corruption and just plain incompetence of the various aid programs intended, supposedly to help this unfortunate country. The stats were already 4 years out of date when I read it, but it still made an impression on me. Want to read it again.

2011 – The Green Branch by Edith Pargeter which was the second book in The Heaven Tree trilogy – straight up Historical Fiction about 13th century England. Gave this one 4 stars. Loved this trilogy and certainly mean to read these books again.

2012 – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – I did not rate this children’s classic, because I felt by this time last year that I was too old to judge books from this category fairly. But I did pretty much go off on a rant concerning a giant factual error made by Alcott in this bppk that I thought must have been caused by the author’s sheer laziness or – worse – a feeling that historical accuracy was not necessary because this was a book for girls. Don’t know which it was and don’t care. Either way I was disgusted. And sickened by the overwhelming cloying sweetness of this book. Bleech and double-bleech!

Charlotte, how long do you have for your vacation? I hope you managed to rescue the garbage barrel.

Why does Holly River Secret seem to be calling to me so I can see if it really is that mad? It might be because one of my top reads of the year was a book I only downloaded because another LTer gave it such a terrible review.

I thought I would pop out, mid-afternoon, to the Post Office, on the basis that lunchtime was their busy time and no-one would be there at 3.30. Ha! Half of Canary Wharf was in there. Very fortunately no-one noticed I was missing and I have now sent the cards that needed sending overseas.

Garbage barrel rescued and vermin successfully fed - and a quanity of freezing water slid down my neck in the process.

I don't know if you will be able to find Holly River Secret as it is quite old - a book from the 1950s. But if you do, read it. I thought it was just awful - in a great sort of way. Like one of those movies that is so bad its good. (Primary among the later in my memory is an awful John Travolta movie in which he plays a space alien. So bad it was laughable.)

Oh, I hate crowded post offices. My local is terrible that way - there always seems to be a long, long line of people with parcels that they are mailing to exotic locations and at least one oldster who is line for one - count it - one stamp. Why this is true at this particular PO, I am not sure. The one near work isn't like that. I hate standing in long post office lines, so I get my stamps from the office postage machine and reimburse the firm.

Thought of you when listening to Minnesota Public Radio this morning. The temperature they were expecting today was some kind of crazy thing like 13 below zero!

Book No. 64- Blood Crazy by Simon Clark – the last book that I read for the October themed reads – was a zombie-esque tale taking place in the north of England. Don’t think that this is a full-on zombie story as there was no plague involved and only people 20 and over are afflicted. Their affliction takes the form of an obsession with killing one's own children, or – if they have no children – any handy young person. They will even follow their kids over months and hundreds of miles to get the job done. Was totally skeezed out by the idea of the Zombie Living Bridge - an enormous structure made up out of thousands of zombies who joined together in order to span a broad, deep river with new zombies taking up the places of the ones who are swept away by the water and/or the weight of other zombies upon them. *shudder*

There is a hint of Lord of the Flies to this story which focuses on a young man called Nick and his experiences among different groups of under-twentys who band together in hopes of defending themselves against the murderous onslaught of the adults.

I had trouble getting into the Carl Jung collective unconscious/personal unconscious twist that SC came up with that is supposed to explain everything - i.e. why the adults have gone all zombie-crackers on the young portion of humanity.

It was satisfyingly horrifying. There were some loose ends, but over all it was a page-turner.

As for pets - there was a puppy. Don’t like to think about it.

Gave this one 4 stars

Past Reads - Book Number 64

2007 – Redwall by Brian Jacques – the first in the series that I gave 5 stars to. I was very enthused about this series at the time and meant to read them all. Have since run smack dab up against one of the Redwall books that I have yet to finish. Don’t know if it is the fault of that particular book or a case of mis-placed enthusiasm for the series over-all. I expect that this book in particular was at least a 4 star book, but not a 5.

2008 – The Widow’s War by Sally Gunning – a book I absolutely loved – in fact it was a favorite for the year and it might even have been the favorite for the year. It just read perfectly true for me.

2009 – Cat Love Letters: Collected Correspondence of Cats in Love by Leigh W. Rutledge – a book of love letters and other correspondence between cats. It was pleasant enough. Had a hint of the coffee table book about it. Gave it three stars which I think was about right.

2010 – Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively – one of those books where the main character is just dreadful, but the book is really great. Gave it 4.5 stars.

2011 – The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly – a book I got in the SantaThing Christmas book swap a year or two before 2011. Apparently I liked it at the time to the tune of 4 stars, but today, I do not remember much about it. Probably should re-read in order to re-assess.

2012 – A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny – that I loved and credited with putting paid, forever, to my long-standing aversion to mystery books. Am sorry to say that I still have not read the next book in the series even though it is in the Basket o’ Series Books that is sitting just around the corner from my reading spot. Must rectify that pronto. Gave this book 4.5 stars – every one of them well-deserved.

Had better stop noting books that I must read or re-read – at this rate I could just spend next year on those alone and not have time for anything else.

Hi Charlotte! What was the error in Little Women that got you so riled up? That story is not one of my favorites either, and I'm curious about your reasons.

Hope your Monday is being a funday!

Hey Kathy! Thanks for your good wishes re: my Monday. It wasn't exactly a funday - too much coughing and nose blowing! Willie is annoyed that I am disturbing his rest.

As for my Little Women problem, the issue was this: - At the beginning of the book the reader is told that the reason for Father's absence from the March family is that he is away with the Union Army. OK - that was fine. But - when dear little Amy pens her will, she dates it "this 20th day of Nov. Anni Domino, 1861" . Huh?!! The war did not begin until April 12, 1861 - so how the hell was Father away at war with the Union Army the previous Christmas? And the part that particularly pissed me off was that, for Alcott, this was not history. She lived through the war - in fact she was involved in the bloody war nursing in a Washington D.C. hospital! As I said - at best it was carelessness. At worst a dreadful attitude of who cares? It's only a book for girls. They are too stupid to know or care.

Phew! Sorry to get all wound up again. That kind of thing annoys me. Probably all out of proportion.

Book No. 65 – A Test of Wills – by Charles Todd – about a post-WW1 Scotland Yard detective with a really bad case of PTSD from the war that he is trying to conceal from his superiors at Scotland Yard. He is haunted by the ghost of Hamish, a soldier who had been under his command whose voice is almost always in his head. For some reason at the beginning of the book I thought that Hamish was going to be a helpful kind of ghost, but no. Rutledge (the detective) must try to carry on his work with Hamish always trying to undermine him.

The murder of Charles Harris and its investigation was not all that interesting to me. I found it frustrating because Rutledge was getting nowhere for most of the book. And I found – again- that it is important in a mystery to really pay close attention to that character who seems to serve no purpose in the story.

Only gave this one 3.25 stars, but I do believe that I will read the next book in the series.

There were no pets.

Past Reads - Book Number 65

2007 – Middlemarch by George Eliot – a book that, though it took me some time to read it, surprised me with its humor and its wonderful density. Gave it 4.5 stars

2008 – The Known World – by Edward P. Jones – annoyed me. The story hopped around too much. I gave it 3.5 stars, though, so I guess that I wasn’t irritated that much by it.. Am disinclined to re-read it in order to find out.

2009 – The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie – loved this book about the American West in the time of the Mountain Men. Gave it 4.5 stars

2010 – Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland – a book made up of separate stories revolving around a single Vermeer painting that I did not like much at first. Then I got to the story entitled “Morningshine” and things improved. Loved the descriptions of Vermeer and how he painted and how he felt while painting. The back half of the book was good enough that I was able to give it a 3 star rating overall..

2011 – The Mousewife by Rumer Godden – a nice children’s story about a mouse mother and housewife and her attempts to save a bird living in the same house where she does. Nice book intended for small children that I gave 3.5 stars to.

2012 – Kipling’s Choice by Geert Spillibean – Heartbreaking story of Rudyard Kipling’s son and his role and death in WWI. Gave it 3.75 stars

Ohh, I see. It's been quite a while since I've read it-- could her error have been calling it the Union Army? Does it ever actually say he was fighting in the Civil War? Either way, it is careless at best. When I catch something like that it bugs me but thankfully I dont catch them often. My husband the history prof is hard to watch a movie with or recommend a book to, since he catches everything! :D

Tell Willie to be a good boy and keep you warm. Sorry about the sniffles.

Sunny but cold here today. Not that I care, being imprisoned in the house with this stinking cold. I was supposed to go in tomorrow because the other post-closer is going on a trip with some friends, but my office manager texted me not to come in. That's kind of nice. I don't know what brand of germ this is, but it came with eye goop. Eye goop! I've never had eye goop before. Not pleasant. May even buy myself some cough syrup. I usually only do that when death is imminent.

Book No. 66 – Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell – a different kind mystery. There are several characters functioning as detectives in this one – a Cambridge Don and a small group of young London barristers. Most of these detectives never leave England, working to solve a murder that has taken place in Venice that revolves around their fellow barrister, Julia, who is there on an “Art Lovers’ vacation. It was clever and witty. I loved the line that ended up this way – “…since her late husband took refuge (from his wife) in mortality.” I thought it was hilarious and I laughed like a loon.

One other thing – as I was reading, I could not help but think of Commissario Guido Brunetti from the Donna Leon books. Somehow I wanted him to pop in and take a turn at solving the mystery. Of course that would have made it a completely different book, but it being set in Venice and all, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that he must be going to show up at any second.

Gave this book 4.25 stars and bought the next book in the series.

No pets in this one.

Past Reads - Book Number 66

2007 – The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons – not literature, but very emotional and an awfully good read. Gave it 4.5 stars and have since re-read it. The siege of Leningrad being a major feature of this book it made me want to hoard food.

2008 – Time of the Twins – by Margaret Weis – a not good fantasy – book one, apparently, of a series that did absolutely nothing for me. It was the twins, mostly, who let me down. And the author who doesn’t seem able to write a good book. Gave it 2.5 stars. Needs to be snaked down off of whatever bookshelf I’ve put it on and sent on its merry way.

2009 –Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton – gave this one 4 stars. It might be interesting, once I’ve purchased and read all of these books, to line them all up and read them all again in one giant orgy of Hamish MacBeth-yness. I’d be interest in seeing what I think of them then.

2010 – Lord John and the Hand of the Devils by Diana Gabaldon – which was actually 3 novellas. Of all of the Lord John books this is the only one I’ve really liked. It’s kind of weird that, for the most part, though I love the Lord John character, I’ve not loved the Lord John books. Gave it 4 stars.

2011 – Life Mask by Emma Donoghue – an initially slow moving book revolving around Horace Walpole and his buddies, that grew on me as I went on. This woman does a really nice job with her books. Gave this one 4 stars and I intend to re-read it some day.

2012 – Burning Marguerite – by Elizabeth Inness-Brown – was one of my favorite reads last year. Gave it 4.75 stars. Super good book.

Just finished re-reading my first thread (which is the kind of aimless time wasting I can be guilty of when not feeling up to snuff) and discovered that I have not been up to date with my book postings since the end of January. A new low!!! To the good I only have 4 more books to post and then I will be up to date . Thank you ferocious rhinitis bug!

Ugh! Sorry to hear you're under the weather, Charlotte. Drink lots of fluids and rest. I hope you shake this cold soon.

Charlotte, eye goop sounds awful! Poor you. I think the cough syrup sounds like a good idea. When I'm ill my strict rules about painkillers go out of the window and I am allowed endless sugary drinks too. And by that I mean things like Snapple, or the best American drink EVER, the Arnold Palmer.

Sorry to hear you're ill, cousin.

Sorry to hear about the cold, Charlotte. I hope it goes away soon!

Thanks for all your good wishes - Caro, Susan, Cousin Paws and Stasia. Have been drinking water. I tried tea yesterday - everyone swears by it, of course - but once again it was just kind of meh for me. Am telling myself that I feel incrementally better today. Self is not totally convinced, but the jury is still out. Will see how Self feels along about seven PM or so - that is the point at which over the course of the past week I feel most wretched. By about ten I stagger off to bed and then I'm out like a light. Am not one of those people who has trouble sleeping through a cold (or, for that matter, sleeping soundly through the night during the most vile of summer heatwaves). One tiny blessing.

Stasia - I am guessing that you are done with this semester's classes, yes? Hope you're enjoying your down time.

Yes, Susan, that eye goop is just awful. And the fact that I've had to de-crust every morning upon waking the last three days is foul. (Gosh, I hope you aren't eating as you read this. I'm one of those people born without a conversational filter when it comes to disgusting word images.) I am pretty paranoid about painkillers at all times. I'm just hoping when I go to the store tomorrow in hopes of obtaining some sort of cough syrup that I can find something that does not scare the bejesus out of me when I read the small print. Of course, if the aforementioned eye goop is still a factor, maybe I won't be able to read the warnings at all and will have to take a leap of faith. We shall see. I'm thinking that Arnold Palmer is some kind of iced tea - am I remembering that right? Oddly, I have no objection to iced tea - with lemon or peach, please. And Snapple is my preferred brand.

Have been reading Red Mars this week. It's awfully good and am trying to keep myself from ordering Green Mars until after the first of the year. Will probably cave.

Book No. 67 – Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling – the first book in her Luck in the Shadows fantasy series. I thought that it had the overall feel of a spy novel, which did not bore me. I found it interesting that Flewelling has, for one of her two heroic characters, a gay spymaster. You don’t usually see fantasy novels going in that direction – at least not the ones I’ve read before now. There’s plenty of conspiracy and magic, an interesting wizard and a young man from the boonies who is learning to be a spy. I liked it pretty well – enough to give it 3.5 stars – but I think it was just a teeny bit too long; my interest in it started to flag just a little bit at the end. However, over all it was a good one and I will go on to the next in the series.

I did like her The Bone Doll’s Twin and its two sequels better, but that was a short series and this one, which she began writing prior to TBDT is still going on today, so I am supposing that she didn’t trot out everything in her armory right away.

No Pets in this one

Past Reads - Book Number 67

2007 – Zulu Dawn by Cy Endfield – Probably my all time favorite old movie is Zulu with Michael Caine. I know that the early 60’s is not really that old by movie standards, but I pretty much detest the really old stuff – the corny music scores, the overly dramatic acting, the costumes, the writing – they are not for me. (Am probably the only person alive who thinks that Gone With the Wind should be re-done.) But Zulu is fascinating for me. And this book filled in the history that took place before the actual battle at Rourke’s Drift very well for me. Enjoyed it and gave it 3.5 stars. That said, my knowledge of African history is pretty sparse, so if I ever get around to increasing my reading in that area, this rating could go down. But for now – it stands.

2008 – Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams – a nice cat fantasy book that I enjoyed a lot. Gave it 4 stars. It is unfortunately the only Tad Williams book that I’ve been able to read – have not found his straight fantasy stuff awfully interesting.

2009 – Waiting for the Galactic Bus by Parke Godwin – a hard to describe book that I did like a lot. Gave it 4 stars at the time, but would want to read it again to see if that was overly-generous. It was an odd book, I thought, especially for Godwin (who died last year, I believe) for it is so different from his other stuff that I’ve read – Historical Fiction about the Norman Conquest and Robin Hood.

2010 – Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood – Atwood, I find – for me , is either really good or a total waste of time. This one was really good. Enjoyed it a lot. Gave it 4 stars. Would like to re-read.

2011 – American Eve by Paula Uruburu – the true story of Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White. Really enjoyed the actual story, for I’d long wanted to read something more about this famous early 20th century scandal after seeing a PBS program about these two. On the down side, Uruburu’s writing was little uneven and she did not include an index – a HEINOUS CRIME in my book. Non-fiction books need indices. And bibliographies. Shame on her publisher for letting her get away with not including them in this book. Giant half-star penalty for this lack. Which is why she only got 3.25 stars from me.

2012 – The Queen of Air and Darkness by T.H. White – The second portion of The Once and Future King that I read in 2012. Really did not like it. Haven’t picked up this book since in order to carry on. Going to have to force myself. Gave it a scuzzy 2 stars

A a grey sort of day all day, so far. And teeny itty-bitty flakes of snow have begun to fall. If the weather know-it-alls are correct, my little corner of New England may just escape the snowstorm they are predicting for the rest of the Northeast. It is a very good thing, some of the time, to be nudged up against the ass-end of Cape Cod and the Atlantic Ocean, I must say. We will see what the next 15 or so hours bring my way.

Cold is no worse. (Might this be the turning point???) Eye goop was a little better this AM - not as cement-y. A long texting conversation with my friend and fellow sufferer reveals that she has almost every symptom that I do, but she is a couple of days behind me. She made the giant mistake of going into work yesterday. She shouldn't have done so - especially since she was given the same opportunity that I was. Her husband has decided to take himself to the doctor (I expect this means the walk-in) - a waste of time, I think as it's a cold for Pete's Sake! But if he wants to swan around in 20 degree cold weather, so be it. Their son - the original owner of this nasty bug - is, just about two weeks after infection, at work, but is not yet 100% healthy. Have not inquired about his sister's health and am hoping that she is well as she has a tendency to develop pneumonia at the drop of a hat.

Chickened out on the cough syrup. Just can't get past those warning labels. And besides - none of them seem to really fit my affliction. So I bought more cough drops, am gargling with warm water and salt and .... that's about it.

Book No. 68 – The Secret History by Donna Tartt – an Audible book that I started on August 1st and did not finish until November 30th. HATED this book. Full of pretentious and generally insufferable students – not my favorite kinds of people - who kill one of their own circle (this is not a spoiler – DT lets that bit of info out right at the beginning of her book). The lead up to the murder is tedious and long and once you get there it’s a long, long road to the end as well.

But the worst bit was that Tartt chose to read this book herself. Bad choice. I kept having the impression that she was wandering away from the task at hand – maybe for a bathroom break and some refreshments – because the way she was reading was very uneven. Also, I did not like her voice. Can’t say why exactly – just didn’t. There were two of her characters – Henry and Francis – that I often could not tell apart; they kept getting mixed up in my head. I’m still not sure which one was which. I persisted to the end with this one because it was an audio book – I’ve not abandoned one of these yet, no matter whether I’m enjoying it or not. If it had been a real book, I’m pretty sure I would have.

There were a few named pets in this one, but I can’t remember what they were or what their names were.

2.75 stars for this one. Won’t be seeing the movie either.

Past Reads - Book Number 68

2007 – The Scapegoat by Daphne duMaurier – a re-read – probably about number 9. My next favorite duMaurier after Rebecca. I’ve got it rated at 4 stars, but thinking about how consistently I’m rating it over the years – and here’s a first – I think I should up that rating to about a 4.75. This book was also the last one I read in this year so 2007 will now disappear from the radar.

2008 – Here’s a chuckle – Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It was crap, but quick-reading crap, that I had a awful time getting rid of. Someone finally took it off my hands – my friend’s daughter’s then boyfriend who was a security guard in a local prison. Gave it 1 and a half stars – and a lot of that was for the cover art. I still like that cover – the black background, the two arms and the hands cupping that beautiful red apple. Very pleasing.

2009 – The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie – which I gave 3 stars to even though it seemed like more of an international spy thriller than a mystery to me. Think now that 3 might be a little high.

2010 – Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 by James Boswell which, when I buckled down to reading it, I really enjoyed. Gave it 5 stars. Bought another of his journals at the time, but have somehow lost track of it. It’s right around here somewhere….

2011 – Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire – a book that really annoyed me – resulting in a mere 2.75 star rating from me. I promised, when writing about it in that year’s second thread, that I would “jettison it as soon as possible”. Apparently “as soon as possible” has very nearly arrived, as I gathered it and 23 other books together on Tuesday, dusted them, anti-cataloged them (that’s when you make a list for entering in your LT catalog making note of the cruel fate that has overtaken said books) and loaded them into a giant shopping bag for carting out to the car. Think I am shoving this book (and the others) into one of those big metal bins that sit in the empty corners of parking lots. I bet those things are full of bad books.

2012 – Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead was a 4 star book and one that I wished that I’d written myself. I can still remember the awful man in the dress whose skin “rippled with lice”. Ick.

71. I have a go-to cough syrup whenever I've got a serious cough. It's the standard one doctors prescribe when you go see them and they deem you bad enough that you need an actual prescription. I only take it at bedtime as it's REALLY potent (morphine) and will make you drowsy. Works wonders, though.

Hive of activity here Charlotte. Managed to get myself 27 posts behind.

Your view of Twilight is as succinct as it is accurate.

Have a lovely weekend.

I can well imagine, Cousin Paws the attraction of being mostly unconscious for the duration of a cold. I feel so wiped out when I am laid low by one. Am slowly dragging myself out of the deep well of wretchedness that I've been lodged in for the better part of two weeks.

Hey Paul. Yeah, Twilight was a dreadful book. Could not understand the great love for it that so many had.

Sunny day, but definitely a cold one today. Took Willie to get his nails trimmed first thing, which necessitated getting outside at a ridiculous hour in order to scrape all the nasty ice off of my car. Actually it was only a little before 8 AM, but ice scraping is not one of the things that I enjoy doing - at that hour or at any other.

Made Lemon Squares for the Christmas Pot Luck at work tomorrow. I always make a dessert; for some reason I find the prospect of cooking an entree for other people impossible to do. Have no confidence in my abilities there, even though I know that most of the time I like my own cooking pretty well.

Book No. 69 – The Black House by Peter May – a detective from Edinburgh is sent back to his home island of Lewis in the Hebrides in order to investigate a murder that seems to have a lot in common with a murder that he is currently investigating back in the big city. This is not a straight up mystery though, for Fin also has to confront a lot of old ghosts from his first 18 years on Lewis. Enjoyed, particularly, May’s description of the gannet hunt on a tiny rocky outcropping in the middle of the sea. (This is a real hunt that has taken place for centuries.) Wouldn’t catch me doing that, but I am in awe of the men doing it – difficult and scary!

Gave this one 4 stars and looking forward to the next book in the series.

No Pets in this one.

Past Reads - Book Number 69

2007 – xxx

2008 – Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton – apparently I thought that I liked this one to the tune of 4 stars. Over-generous.

2009 – The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley – a Louis XIV-era Historical Fiction that I gave 4 and a half stars to. Most likely if it were an HF book by anybody else I might entertain the notion that I might have given it too high a rating, but not a JMR book. I’m sure it deserved every bit of that 4.5 star rating and maybe more.

2010 – The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams – a book that I found to be mostly slow and very sad. It livened up toward the end, but overall I did not care for the author’s style of writing. Only gave it 3 stars

2011 – Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman – a Mystical Realism book. Ack!!! Yak!!! P-tooey!!! It was only kind of meh for me. Am just not a Mystical Realism kind of girl, I guess. Gave it three stars

2012 – Angelfall by Susan Ee – a dystopian novel involving some pretty bad-ass angels. It really moved along and held my interest – so much so that that last year I pre-ordered the sequel that came out last month. I want to read that one a lot, but am trying to keep myself from rushing into it. Anyway I’m sure it is not great literature, but I liked it. Gave it 3.5 stars.

The Black House sounds good. When I occationally pick up a crime novel I like ones set in more unusual places or at least places where the geography has a lot of room in the book. This sounds like it fits the bill.

Lost you for a while, Charlotte but I've found you again...

Hope your cough syrup is making a difference!

I've never read Little Women; pretty sure I wouldn't have caught that error. Good eye!

Charlotte, I hope you're de-gooped by now and feeling better. Angelfall is in the Kindle sale here - maybe I should get it.

How did the lemon squares go for the potluck?

I thought I had the first three Twilight books, but looking at the bookshelf where they used to live, I see they're not there any more. That either means I moved them into the hall cupboard or took them to the book exchange at work, to go with the five million other copies. I see three Liza Picard books up there, though, which I should make an effort to read.

Best wishes for tomorrow.

Charlotte, it has been a joy going back over several years of your reading with you this year. One of my favourite threads as always and never can understand why you don't have 20 threads a year.

Happy Christmas. xx

Delurking to wish you a very merry Christmas, Charlotte!

Merry Christmas, Charlotte!!! I hope it is wonderful!

Delurking to wish you a Merry Christmas, Charlotte!

#78 - Hey, Cousin Paws! Nice to see you. Hope you like The Blackhouse. I found the series over on Mean Deer's thread.

#79 & 83 - Hi Tina - actually I chickened out on the cough syrup. I still get these dry coughing sessions once or twice a day, but I feel about 6,000 % better. I think this may have been the worst cold I've ever had and believe you me, I've had a whole bunch of them over the years. As for Little Women and the big error that got me so revved up - I wonder sometimes if I am not being overly picky, but I almost can't help it - stuff like that just makes me nuts.

#80 - Hi Susan. I have to tell you that I read the book that comes after Angelfall and I did not like it quite so well (some words about that book to come this weekend), but I mean to keep on with the series. Yes, the lemon squares were very well received. I think that there is just something about lemon in a dessert that is so awfully good. Better than chocolate in my opinion. And yes, my Christmas was not too awfully bad. Went to see my aunt, her son and his girlfriend for a kind of last minute dinner. Aunt just got out of the hospital after an 8-day stay. She looked much better than I expected.

#81 - Thank you for your kind words, Paul. I wish I were more prolific, too. I really must start trying to incorporate pictures in these threads - it might perk them up a bit. Maybe I'll get me a tutor to help me make it happen...

#82 - What a lovely thingy that is, Caro! What is it anyway?

#84 - Hi Katie. Nice to see your de-lurked self here. De-lurk anytime you like. My threads are not usually very crowded.

Hi Charlotte, thanks for the lovely message, we are doing ok considering things but it's a struggle and we're just taking things day by day.

I hope you're having a Happy Holidays, Charlotte!

Thanks Kathy - yes, they are going pretty well. Took Boxing Day off as a vacation day and got a big chunk of reading done.

Yesterday was a nice sunny day, but it's grey and rainy this afternoon. Have taken the tiny Christmas tree down. During my childhood my mother had this thing where she insisted that all of the gifts be displayed beneath the tree until January 6th. I always thought that this was not a really great idea. For one thing we always had multiple cats and many of the presents were clothes of some sort, so the furry little devils were always lolling around on the brand new clothing - either sleeping or washing their furry little butts. Also we often had real trees so said clothes usually got a lot of dead pine needles on them and even when we didn't have a real tree we had a little village scene set up in close proximity with lots and lots of fake snow as a part of said scene. Naturally a lot of that fake snow got all over everything. And then of course there was the dust factor; for some reason this house has always spawned a LOT of dust. Those gifts of clothes weren't looking so great by the time Twelfth Night rolled around.

Ergo - under my watch, trees come down at the earliest opportunity.

Book No. 70 – Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Shiguro – For a while it was difficult for me to tell what this was about -though I did have some notion from the movie (which I still have not seen) that there was some futuristic element to it. There was an English school, students, teachers and lots of descriptions of everyday life at the school. Only gradually it is revealed what the real deal is. Don’t wish to say more about it – just in case there is anyone else who still has not read this one – but I will say that this is a deep novel – a thinking novel. Will definitely go back to this one again.

4.25 stars for this one.

No pets in this book.

Past Reads - Book Number 70

2007 – xxx

2008 – Bleak House by Charles Dickens – took me three decades to read. Not a continual 30 years, mind you, but I first started it in the late 70’s, stalled out, started it again in the 90’s, stalled out and finally read it in 2008 as part of a group read on LT. Found Esther Summerson’s goodness and Mr. Tulkinghorn’s badness trying. Gave it 3 stars. Don’t know if I’ve got it in me to re-read it. I could watch the Gillian Anderson ‘Bleak House’ again though.

2009 – Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen – an Early Reviewer book about two Vietnamese sisters and their inventor father who is driving them pretty much nuts. Gave it three and a half stars, but am thinking I overdid the rating a little bit.

2010 – The Master of All Desires by Judith Merkle Riley – another really good HF book about 16th century France and a young girl who is plagued by her possession of a disembodied head that likes to torture the people who possess him by granting them wishes that deliberately never pan out. I especially liked the way Riley managed to get a lot of humor in her historical fiction. Gave this one 4 stars and I definitely want to read it again. I really wish this writer were still around.

2011 – The House at Riverton by Kate Morton did not achieve the ‘breathtaking ending’ that the back cover promised. It was ok. Gave it 3 stars

2012 – Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King – the true story of some 19th century American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa and their awful ordeal after they were captured and enslaved. If you like disaster/survival books this is a good one. I gave it 3.9 stars.

Book No. 71 – Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson – a straight Science Fiction book about the initial colonization of Mars in the first quarter of the 21st century and the 30 years or so that follow.

Robinson's descriptions were so good that I could believe for a split second that he had actually seen these things for himself.

Unfortunately, as one might expect, Humans very shortly get busy exploiting Mars, taking advantage of its abundant resources, flooding the planet with large numbers of human colonists of all kinds and before long there is serious fighting.

I am looking forward to the next book.

4 stars for this one.

There are no pets in this book, but animals are brought to Mars. I’d be interested in knowing how pets might have dealt with the non-Earth gravity situation. Can’t you just see rambunctious kittens and puppies just bouncing all over the place like crazy things?

Past Reads - Number 71

2007 – xxx

2008 – The Tower of Ravens – by Kate Forsyth – an interesting fantasy story that I really liked to the tune of 4 stars. It was the first of a series of books and I was, back in 2008, looking forward to the second book. Unfortunately I did not pick that book up until this year. I did not finish the second book; it languishes now on a small pile of books that I started, have not finished, but have not quite given up on. Don’t know whether the magic is gone for me or there never was any in the first place.

2009 – The Oracle’s Queen by Lynn Flewelling – the 3rd book of the Bone Doll’s Twin trilogy that I mentioned back-aways. Thought it was a fitting end to the series. Gave it 4.5 stars

2010 – Mary Anne by Daphne duMaurier – Historical Fiction about the life of the mistress of George III’s son Frederick Augustus. It is one of duMaurier’s lesser books. Could not give it more than 3 stars.

2011 – One Summer by David Baldacci – a book lent to me by a friend. What a snooze fest. Predictable! Waste of paper! Two stars at the time, but I wonder if that was not overgenerous. Would rather eat big toe on right foot than re-read in order to find out.

2012 – In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor – a book where nothing seemed to happen, but at the end of it I was glad that I read it. Gave it 3.5 stars

Pretty damn cold today, but we were let out of work early so that was good. NOT looking forward to the snow we are supposed to be getting over the next couple of days. Wonder how my tiny car will do or if I will even be able to find it if there a lot of drifting snow.

Book Number 72 – World After by Susan Ee – her second book in her Angels Gone Bad, dystopian series that I started last year.

This, as was true with the first book, is not literature, but I am still interested in continuing the series. There is a lot of concentration upon some newly created harpies with scorpion tails that one of the nastier angels has caused to be created to further his career and many Ewwww! moments in this book concerning the truly dreadful things that are being done to humanity by some very, very bad angels whose motives I am still not quite clear on. Heroine Penryn and Raffe (the angel, Raphael) are separated through so much of this book and I did not care for that awfully well. Also, the bad angels are mostly seeming like thugs, sleazy politicians or general sickos and so only gave it 3.25 stars for being a little bit disappointing to me. Am expecting (hoping) that it gets back on track in the next installment.

No named pets in this one.

Past Reads - Book Number 72

2007 – xxx

2008 – Battle Flag by Bernard Cornwell – Book 3 of his likely forever unfinished American Civil War series. I must have liked it a lot because I gave it 5 stars, but then again Cornwell pretty much always garners a lot of stars from me. Only those books where he was writing as woman were failures.

2009 – Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman – a really bad Scottish time-travel, romance-inspired-by-Outlander piece of tripe. Seems that I gave it two stars, for some reason. (Can’t believe that my rating is the only 2 star rating that this waste of paper has earned.) It was August – must have been suffering from the heat or something.

2010 – Arthur & George by Julian Barnes – Historical Fiction revolving around Arthur Conan Doyle and a fictional London barrister that I liked pretty well – gave it 3.75 stars. I think I would re-read this one some day.

2011 – Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian – another 3.75 star bit of fiction that I mostly liked. It is, to date, the only thing of Bohjalian’s that I’ve read, though I think there is another in the TBR piles somewhere.

2012 – The Princeling by Cynthia Harrod Eagles – book 3 of the Morland Dynasty series that I liked a lot – gave it 3.9 stars. I really must get back to this series this winter; think I am recovered from my horrid audio book experience with book 4 earlier this year. Reading what I wrote about this one makes me anxious to carry on with it. Mustn’t let a bad narrator ruin things for me.

Book Number 73 – Tully by Paullina Simons – was a 685 page monster – not the size book you want to be reading as you are desperately trying to reach your reading goal – and truly about 200 pages too long. Let’s see – it was about Kansas. Poor girl from wrong side of tracks and her two best friends. Child abuse. Horrible mother. Missing father and brother. Suicide. Dueling boyfriends. Childbirth. Marriage. More about horrible mother. Roses, roses, roses. Love affairs. Near death. To divorce or not to divorce. California. And above all – Drama! Drama! Drama!

Simons has that odd way of phrasing things that I noticed previously in The Bronze Horseman and Tatiana and Alexander. “She trod to Sunset Court…” Trod? Sounds very peculiar to me. Also, her heroine, Tully, is really just a depressed version of Tatiana from TBH and TaA and I wonder if Simons is able to write about any other kind of woman.

Gave it 3 stars

There are no named pets in this book and it is just as well. I think any animal forced to live in close proximity to Tully might very well slide into a bottomless depression

Past Reads - Book Number 73

2007 – xxx

2008 – The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry – was not memorable (3 stars) and I came away from it not believing that lace reading was even a real thing. Also, not a fan of the battered woman type of book. Loaned to me by a friend, so that was good – no actual outlay of cash – and I finished it pretty quickly. Wouldn’t let it back into the house though.

2009 – Blindspot by Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore was a historical fiction book that I really, really liked. Gave it 4 stars and have looked at it several times this year, wondering if it was time for a re-read. At the time that I read it I was hoping that Jane and Jill would be teaming up in the future, but I don’t think that will happen.

2010 – A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak – a science fiction book that had possibilities, but in the end it disappointed. Only gave it 2.9 stars. Am not willing to jettison it from the house yet. Might – just might – try reading it again to see if I was overly harsh.

2011 – Death of a Scriptwriter by M.C. Beaton – Cozy mystery. Enjoyable. Forgettable as these books are, but not in an awful way. Can see myself, one day reading them all again. Gave it 3.25 stars

2012 – Therese Raquin – by Emile Zola – Probably my favorite book from last year – 5 stars – an audiobook narrated by Kate Winslet. Very dark and depressing and really, really good.

Book Number 74 – Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton – the first book in the Hamish MacBeth mystery series that I thought I had already read. This was fortunate as it was just the size book that I needed what with there being just a couple of days left to 2013. A gossip gets murdered on holiday in Loch Dubh at a Fishing School and as usual, the guilty party was never on my radar. Got 3.25 stars – I think most of them do.

There was one named pet – Hamish’s dog, Towser.

Past Reads - Book Number 74

2007 – xxx

2008 – Grey Granite the third part of A Scots Quair by Lewis Grassic Gibbon that I liked a lot – just as much as I did the first two parts. Another 5 star book that I need to re-read.

2009 – Death on the River by John Wilson an Early Reviewer book meant for early teens that was about a teenaged prisoner of war who has been sent to Andersonvile during the American Civil War. Because of its target audience it naturally had to gloss over the horrors of the place a bit, but it was still pretty accurate. Still, I found it a little tame. Only gave it 3 stars and I suspect that I won’t be holding onto it forever.

2010 – The Way West by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. – a very good follow-up book to The Big Sky that I gave 4 stars to. Another book I would read again.

2011 – This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust – one of the best books on the American Civil War I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot of them, believe you me). Gave it 4.5 stars and it is yet another candidate for re-reading. Very much recommended.

2012 – Death of a Prankster by M.C. Beaton – What can I say – very much like the other Hamish MacBeth books, but this one only got 3 stars from me.

Book Number 75 – OK – I know this is cheating a little bit, but I am out of time and I’ve never – NEVER – failed to reach 75 in the years since I became a 75-er. So, book number 75 is – Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor – a book for little bitty children. I bought it for the illustrations which are lovely. The story was sweet (a little girl and a runaway pumpkin) and it took me about ten minutes to read it – making sure, naturally, to take my time staring at the illustrations.

Giving it 3.5 stars – mostly for the pictures

There was one named pet in this one – a dog called Wiggy.

There! I made it – barely.

Phew!

Past Reads - Book Number 75

2007 – xxx

2008 – Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz – a definite 5 star book that I loved. Would re-read it and recommend it.

2009 – The Queen’s Bastard by Robin Maxwell a ‘what if’ Historical Fiction about Queen Elizabeth I and the possibility that she and Robert Dudley might have had a natural son. It was definitely intriguing – even though I don’t particularly care for the Tudors - and I gave it 3.5 stars.

2010 – Only Call Us Faithful by Marie Jakober – a strange kind of historical fiction revolving around Union spy, Elizabeth VanLew. Gave it 3 stars and can’t imagine ever giving it more.

2011 – The Siege by Helen Dunmore – good, but not great – it is about the Levin family during the siege of Leningrad during WWII. Gave it 3.5 stars, but I still like The Bronze Horseman better.

2012 – The House of Stairs by Barbara Vine – a mystery that I found on a dusty shelf last year and decided to read as I had owned it for years and not read it. It was an ok book – a 3 star book – that I stuck with and finished – mostly because I was finally cured of my years old mystery book aversion.

Am sorry that the year is over and that I cannot continue to look back at the books I’ve read in the past. I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Wish I could think of something else to include in my threads of 2014, but so far I haven’t been able to think of anything in particular.

Congrats!

Haha, congrats on hitting that 75 mark, Charlotte!

Way to go, Charlotte!