Mamie's 2013 Madness (Page 22)

Reindeer with an attitude.

Currently Listening to:


December Reads (9 books):
145. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (4 stars) - thanks, Ellen!!
146. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (4 stars)
147. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (4.5 stars)
148. The Cairo Affair by Olen Syeinhauer (4.5 stars)
149. Aimless Love by Billy Collins
150. River Marked by Patricia Briggs (4 stars)
151. A Savage Place by Robert B. Parker (yuk)
152. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - reread
153. Longbourn by Jo Baker (5 stars)
154. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson (3 stars)

December Possibilities:

Aimless Love by Billy Collins - TIOLI #3 - library hardback - poetry - COMPLETED

River Marked by Patricia Briggs - TIOLI #6 - 2013 acquired ebook - COMPLETED

A Savage Place by Robert B. Parker - TIOLI #7/shared read - 2013 acquired ebook - reading these with Roberta and Donna! - COMPLETED

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - TIOLI #7/shared read - ROOT hardback - we read this every year together - COMPLETED

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - TIOLI #9/shared read - 2013 acquired ebook

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan - TIOLI #12 - paperback sent by Ellen - thanks, Ellen! - COMPLETED

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny - 2013 acquired ebook - COMPLETED

The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing - TIOLI #13 - 2013 acquired ebook - COMPLETED

Longbourn by Jo Baker - 2013 acquired hardback - recommended by Joe - COMPLETED

World War Z by Max Brooks - TIOLI #18 - Santa gift from Stasia last year - thank you, Stasia!

Christmas Bliss by Mary K. Andrews - TIOLI #19 - 2013 acquired ebook

Betwixt and Between by Jessica Stilling - 2013 acquired paperback - recommended by Kerri

The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer - TIOLI #10 - November ER book - just came today (12/7)!! - COMPLETED

*

January (17 books)
1. Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie (4.25 stars) - ebook - ROOT
2. Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson (4 stars) - paperback, library book
3. Alice in the Country of Hearts by QuinRose - paperback - ROOT
4. A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori - hardback, Abby's book
5. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (4 stars) - ebook - ROOT
6. Maus I by Art Spiegelman (4.5 stars) - paperback - ROOT
7. Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken (4 stars) - ebook - ROOT
8. In the Woods by Tana French (4.5 stars) - paperback, library book
9. Volt by Alan Heathcock (4 stars) - paperback, library book
10. Emma by Karou Mori (3 stars) - hardback, library book
11. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (4.5 stars) - paperback - ROOT
12. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (4 stars) - audiobook - ROOT
13. The Beggar's Opera by Peggy Blair (3.75 stars) - paperback, Early Reviewer book
14. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (4.5 stars) - paperback - ROOT
15. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (4 stars) - hardback - ROOT
16. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (5 stars) - ebook - ROOT
17. The One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (5 stars) - this was a reread, I am leaving the previous rating that I assigned it in place - hardback - ROOT

February (10 books)
18. Before Midnight by Rex Stout (4 stars), paperback, library book
19. 420 Characters by Lou Beach (4 stars), hardback, library book
20. The Iron Duke by Maljean Brook (3 stars), paperback, library book
21. Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors (4.25 stars), paperback, ER book
22. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (4.25 stars), hardback purchased hot off the presses
23. A Literary Guide to Flannery O'Connor's Georgia by Sarah Gordon (4 stars), paperback, library book
24. Soulless by Gail Carringer (3.5 stars), library ebook
25. The Pale Criminal by Phillip Kerr (3.5 stars) ebook, ROOT
26. Blue Bloods: The Graphic Novel by Melissa de la Cruz (3.5 stars), hardback purchased in 2013
27. Pyongyang by Guy Delisle (3 stars), paperback, library book

March (12 books)
28. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (3.75 stars), paperback - ROOT
29. Twilight by Stephenie Meyers - reread (I know what you're thinking, but I like it)
30. Killing Floor by Lee Child (3.5 stars) - ebook - ROOT
31. Hamlet by William Shakespeare - reread (4.5 stars) - hardback - ROOT
32. The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes by Tess Uriza Holthe (4 stars) - hardback - library book
33. The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly (4 stars) - ebook - 2013 acquired
34. Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson (4.25 stars) - ebook - ROOT
35. The Chardonnay Charade by Ellen Crosby (3.5 stars) - ebook - ROOT
36. The Bordeaux Betrayal by Ellen Crosby (3.5 stars) - ebook - 2013 acquired
37. Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb (4 stars for sheer entertainment value) - ebook - 2013 acquired
38. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming (3 stars) - ebook - ROOT
39. The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend by Glenn Frankel (5 stars)- hardback - 2013 acquired

April (13 books)
40. Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman (4.5 stars) - Thanks for the shove, Morphy!
41. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (4.25 stars)
42. Round Mountain by Castle Freeman, Jr. (3.75 stars)
43. The Searchers by Alan LeMay (4.25 stars)
44. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (4.5 stars)
45. A Man Without Breath by Phillip Kerr (4.3 stars)
46. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold (3.75 stars)
47. Ashfall by Mike Mullin (4 stars)
48. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (4 stars)
49. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (4 stars)
50. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx (5 stars)
51. Howards End by E. M. Forster (4.5 stars)
52. Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World by Sabina Berman

May (15 books)
53. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris - reread
54. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker (3.4 stars)
55. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (4.5 stars)
56. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris - reread
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx (5 stars)
57. Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver (5 stars)
58. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris - reread
59. Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C Gwynne (4.5 stars)
60. The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh (3.5 stars)
61. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris - reread
62. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris - reread
63. The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler (4.75 stars)
64. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (4.5 stars)
65. The Making of the African Queen by Katharine Hepburn (5 stars)
66. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris - reread
67. The Ghosts of Nagasaki by Daniel Clausen (4.5 stars)

June (18 books)
68. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris - reread
69. A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris (3 stars)
70. The Radleys by Matt Haig (4 stars)
71. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (5 stars)
72. The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri (4 stars)
73. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris - reread
74. Austenland by Shannon Hale (4 stars)
75. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - reread (4.25 stars)
76. God Save the Child by Robert B. Parker (3 stars)
77. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris - reread
78. The African Queen by C. S. Forrester (4 stars)
79. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris (3.75 stars)
80. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (4 stars)
81. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (4.25 stars)
82. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (4.75 stars)
83. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - reread
84. Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout (3.75 stars)
85. Blood Kin by Henry Chappell (4 stars)

July (11 books)
86. American Born Chinese by Gene Yang (4 stars)
87. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (4 stars)
88. gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson (3.5 stars)
89. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (4.5 stars)
90. The Bat by Jo Nesbo (3 stars)
91. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen - reread
92. The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (4.25 stars)
93. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (3.75 stars)
94. A Bride's Story, Vol. 2 by Kaoru Mori (4 stars)
95. Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker (3.25 stars)
96. Pride and Prejudice adapted graphic novel by Nancy Butler (4 stars)

August: (12 books)
97. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (4 stars)
98. Cop Hater by Ed McBain (3.5 stars)
99. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (4.25 stars)
100. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (4 stars)
101. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (4 stars)
102. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (3.75 stars)
103. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff (3.75 stars)
104. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (4.25 stars)
105. Promised Land by Robert B. Parker (3 stars)
106. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (3.75 stars)
107. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (5 stars - It's always a 5 star read!)
108. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs (3.75 stars)

September: (13 books)
109. Light in August by William Faulkner (4.25 stars)
110. Raylan by Elmore Leonard (3.3 stars)
111. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs (4 stars)
112. The Judas Goat by Robert B. Parker (3 stars)
113. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman (3.5 stars)
114. The Road Home by Rose Tremain (4 stars)
115. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - reread (always 5 stars for me!)
116. The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett (4 stars)
117. Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (3.75 stars)
118. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (3.75 stars)
119. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling -reread
120. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling - reread
121. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling - reread

October: (14 books)
122. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (4 stars)
123. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (A New Verse translation) by Simon Armitage (4 stars)
124. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney (4 stars)
125. The Witch's Grave by Phillip DePoy (3.4 stars)
126. Night by Elie Wiesel
127. Till We Have Faces by C. S Lewis (4.5 stars)
128. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (3.3 stars)
129. The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer (4.6 stars)
130. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (4 stars)
131. Looking for Rachel Wallace by Robert B. Parker (3.5 stars)
132. Being There by Jerzy Kosinski (4.25 stars)
133. Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch (4 stars)
134. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (5 stars)
135. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith (3.5 stars)

November Reads: (9 books)
136. Divergent by Veronica Roth - reread - audiobook
137. My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland (3 stars)
138. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (4.2 stars)
139. Montana, 1948 by Larry Watson (5 stars)
140. Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker (4 stars)
141. Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood (3.8 stars)
142. Tilt-A-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein (3.5 stars)
143. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (4 stars)
144. Mr. Muo's Traveling Couch by Dai Sijie (4 stars)

December Reads (10 books):
145. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (4 stars) - thanks, Ellen!!
146. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (4 stars)
147. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (4.5 stars)
148. The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer (4.5 stars)
149. Aimless Love by Billy Collins (4 stars)
150. River Marked by Patricia Briggs (4 stars)
151. A Savage Place by Robert B. Parker (yuk)
152. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - reread
153. Longbourn by Jo Baker (5 stars)
154. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson (3 stars)

Books Purchased in 2013:

January
1. Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
2. Dog Stars by Peter Heller
3. Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus
4. The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson
5. Nightbirds on Nantucketby Joan Aiken
6. In the Woods by Tana French - read it this year, but I loved it so much that I wanted my own copy
7. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
8. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie - collecting these covers
9. Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie - collecting these covers
10. The Clocks by Agatha Christie - collecting these covers
11. Third Girl by Agatha Christie - collecting these covers
12. The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch
13. The Likeness by Tana French - the book store had the hardcopy edition on sale for $6, how can I resist that?
14. Raylan by Elmore Leonard - Craig and I will both read this READ
15. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - I read this on Kindle last year, but wanted a physical copy of it
16. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory - book store had this on sale for $3, recommended by Chéli
17. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough - I read this forever ago and loved it, today I found a lovely edition with deckled edge pages, enough said!
18. Old Filth by Jane Gardam - my very first Europa edition!
19. The New Moon With the Old by Dodie Smith
20. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
21. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin - I read this on Kindle, but wanted a physical copy of it for my shelves
22. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
23. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
24. A Feast of Crows by George R. R. Martin
25. A Dance of Dragons by George R. R. Martin

February
26. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer READ
27. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
28. Vampire Empire by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
29. Faithful Place by Tana French
30. Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers (Kindle Daily Deal)
31. The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill - the latest Dr. Siri!
32. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - deckled edge pages!
33. The Cider House Rules by John Irving - Kindle Daily Deal
34. The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend by Glenn Frankel READ
35. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
36. Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer
37. Still Life With Murder by P. B Ryan (Kindle Daily Deal)
38. Blue Bloods: The Graphic Novel by Melissa de la Cruz READ
39. The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly (Kindle Daily Deal) READ

March
40. West With the Night by Beryl Markham (Kindle Daily Deal)
41. Made in the USA by Billie Letts - bookstore had this hardback on sale for $6
42. Die Trying by Lee Child
43. The Searchers by Alan Le May READ
44. The Witches of Wenshar by Barbara Hambly
45. Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly (Kindle Daily Deal)
46. The Poet by Michael Connelly
47. Blood Work by Michael Connelly
48. The Bordeaux Betrayal by Ellen Crosby READ
49. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
50. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
51. Ashfallby Mike Mullin - because Judy and Dejah assure me it is good! READ
52. Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb - who can resist this title? And Dejah says it's good! READ

April
53. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - READ
54. The Radleys by Matt Haig READ
55. Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard
56. Bandits by Elmore Leonard
57. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold READ
58. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
59. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
60. The Green Mile by Stephen King
61. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - because of Roberta's lovely review and because it comes in a Penguin deluxe classic edition with deckled edge pages
62. Valdez is Coming by Elmore Leonard
63. Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard
64. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker - this is Joe's fault READ
65. Blood Kin by Henry Chappell- because Richard begged so prettily and used puppy dog eyes READ
66. Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson
67. The Watchman by Robert Crais - Kindle Daily Deal
68. Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara - Penguin Deluxe Classic Edition

May
69. The Map of the Sky by Félix J. Palma - Kindle Daily Deal
70. The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann - recommended by Richard and Roberta
71. God Save the Child by Robert B. Parker - also Joe's fault! READ
72. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving - Kindle Daily Deal
73. Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood - free on Kindle, recommended by Dejah READ
74. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
75. The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri READ
76. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
77. The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré
78. The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen
79. Call for the Dead by John le Carré
80. A Murder of Quality by John le Carré
81. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré
82. The Looking Glass War by John le Carré
83. Smiley's People by John le Carré
84. The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carré
85. The Naíve and Sentimental Lover by John le Carré
86. A Perfect Spy by John le Carré
87. Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré
88. Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver - bought the ebook and added the professional narration for a few bucks more READ
89. Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne - bought the ebook and added the professional narration for a few bucks more READ
90. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown - bought the ebook and added the professional narration for a few bucks more
91. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward - hardcover with deckled edge pages on sale for $3
92. City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte - ABANDONED
93. Lord of the Flies by William Golding - replacing my sad mass market paperback with a trade paperback with deckled edge pages
94. Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist by Tim Federle
95. Close Range by Annie Proulx
96. The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
97. Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey - Kindle Deal ($1.99)
98. Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey - Kindle Daily Deal ($.99)
99. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - read it this month, but wanted my own copy, added the audiobook for $3.49
100. Heaven's Prisoners by James Lee Burke - Kindle Daily Deal ($.99)
101. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Kindle Daily Deal (1.99)
102. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton - Kindle Daily Deal (1.99)
103. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - Kindle Daily Deal (1.99)
104. The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway - Kindle Daily Deal (1.99)
105. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - Kindle Daily Deal ($1.99) READ

June
106. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith - Kindle Deal ($2.99) READ
107. The African Queen by C. S. Forester - gift READ
108. Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson - gift READ
109. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman - gift READ
110. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene - gift
111. The World According to Garp by John Irving - gift
112. The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly - Kindle Daily Deal (2.99)
113. The Reversal by Michael Connelly - Kindle Daily Deal (2.99)
114. The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly - Kindle Daily Deal (2.99)
115. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
116. The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler - recommended by Megan READ
117. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - discussion on Megan's thread
118. Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula K. Le Guin - because I liked The Dispossessed, which was recommended by Kerri. This book contains three more in the Hainish Cycle: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, and City of Illusions
119. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - recommended by Joe READ
120. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
121. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
122. Saving Cee-Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman - bargain book $2, set in Georgia
123. The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley - recommended by Karen and Kathleen - deckled edge pages!!
124. The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank
125. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler READ

July
126. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald - free on Kindle
127. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff - Kindle Daily Deal $1.99 - recommended by Valerie last year READ
128. The Bat by Jo Nesbo - I had preordered this, the first book in the Harry Hole series - FINALLY! READ
129. The Bone People by Keri Hulme - deckled edge pages!
130. Light in August by William Faulkner READ
131. Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Milford - $2.99 on Kindle
132. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch - ebook with audio added READ

August
133. Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch READ
134. Storm Front by Jim Butcher - audiobook $4 READ
135. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher - audiobook $4 READ
136. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher - audiobook $4 READ
137. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher - audiobook $4
138. The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas - recommended by Cee
139. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain - Kindle Daily Deal ($1.99) - recommended by Bonnie
140. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs READ
141. Crown of Embers by Rae Carson - Kindle deal $1.99
142. Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein - Kindle deal $.99 - Richard said to buy this! READ
143. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs READ
144. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs READ
145. Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos
146. Stick by Elmore Leonard
147. The Switch by Elmore Leonard
148. The Bounty Hunters by Elmore Leonard
149. Montana, 1948 by Larry Watson - recommended by Richard and Mark READ

September
150. Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry - Kindle deal $1.99
151. Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard - Kindle deal $2.99
152. Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs READ
153. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs READ
154. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
155. High Sierra by W. R. Burnett
156. Little Caesar by W. R. Burnett
157. Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout
158. The Mystery of Grace by Charles de Lint - author recommended by Kathleen
159. Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser
160. The Tourist by Olen Steinhauser READ
161. Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote
162. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
163. The Storycatcher by Ann Hite
164. All Quiet on the Western Front by Enrich Maria Remarque
165. River Marked by Patricia Briggs READ
166. Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

October
167. Zealot by Reza Asian
168. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny READ
169. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill - $2.99 on Kindle
170. The Shining by Stephen King - $3.99 on Kindle
171. Christmas Bliss by Mary Kay Andrews
172. Mad Mouse by Chris Grabenstein - Kindle Daily Deal
173. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick - Kindle Daily Deal (I think)
174. Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson - free on Kindle - recommended by Julia
175. Whack A Mole by Chris Grabenstein - $.99 Kindle Deal
176. Free Fall by Chris Grabenstein - $1.99 Kindle Deal
177. Face in the Frost by John Bellairs - $4.99 0n Kindle, recommended by Roni
178. Jurassic Park by Michael Chrichton - $1.99 Kindle Daily Deal
179. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings - $1.99 Kindle Daily Deal
180. Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson - $1.99 Kindle Deal
181. Longbourn by Jo Baker - hardback with deckled edge pages! - recommended by Joe READ
182. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury - hardback
183. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - author recommended by Katie READ
184. Now, Voyager by Olive Higgins Prouty - paperback
185. Laura by Vera Caspary - paperback

November
186. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
187. Coming Up For Air by George Orwell
188. Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope
189. Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football by Rich Cohen
190. Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carringer
191. Betwixt and Between by Jessica Stilling
192. A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz - $1.99 Kindle Daily Deal
193. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
194. The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
195. Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
196. A Collection of Essays by George Orwell
197. Anecdotes of Destiny and Ehrengard by Isak Dinesen
198. Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold - recommended by Heather and Judy
199. The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg - Kindle daily deal - $1.99
200. The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg - Kindle daily deal - $1.99
201. The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane

December
202. American Boy by Larry Watson - Kindle Deal $1.99
203. Kindred by Octavia Butler - Kindle Deal $2.99
204. The Zona by Nathan L. Yocum - Kindle Deal $.99 - recommended by Richard
205. The Dark Hand of Magic by Barbara Hambly - Kindle Deal $1.99 - series recommended by Dejah
206. Death of a Dissident by Stuart M. Kaminsky - Kindle deal $1.99 - series recommended by fuzzi
207. Red Chameleon by Stuart M. Kaminsky - Kindle deal $1.99
208. Black Knight in Red Square by Stuart M. Kaminsky - Kindle deal $1.99
209. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - recommended for health reasons by Roberta
210. Burglars Can't be Choosers by Lawrence Block - Kindle deal $1.99 - recommended by Julia
211. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent - Kindle deal $2.99 - recommended by Ilana
212. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - Kindle deal $2.99
213. The Unforgiven by Alan Le May - Kindle Deal $1.99
214. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing READ
215. Saratoga Trunk by Edna Ferber - Kindle deal $1.99 - thanks to Richard for pointing it out
216. Giant by Edna Ferber - Kindle deal $1.99
217. So Big by Edna Ferber - Kindle deal $1.99
218. The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty - Kindle deal $1.99 - purchased for the AAC
219. Live By Night by Dennis Lehane - Kindle deal $1.99
220. The Given Day by Dennis Lehane - Kindle deal $1.99
221. Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane - Kindle $1.99
222. Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff - Kindle deal $1.99
223. Immortal in Death by J. D. Robb - Kindle deal $1.99
224. Holiday in Death by J. D. Robb - Kindle deal $1.99
225. Rapture in Death by J. D. Robb - Kindle deal $1.99
226. Ceremony in Death by J. D. Robb - Kindle deal $1.99
227. Conspiracy in Death by J. D. Robb - Kindle deal $1.99
228. Vengeance in Death by J. D. Robb - Kindle deal $1.99
229. Different Seasons by Stephen King - recommended by Roberta
230. Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem - Kindle daily deal $1.99

An idea stolen from Heather (souloftherose), who borrowed it from Liz (lyzard): ongoing series that I am actively reading. This doesn't include series where I have the first book in my TBR pile (i.e. series I haven't started reading yet aren't included). An asterisk (*) indicates a series where I already have a copy of the next book. A pointing finger (☛) indicates a series where I am waiting for the next book to be released.

1. African Trilogy by Chinua Achebe: Next Up: Arrow of God (3/3)

2. *Charley Davidson by Darynda Jones: Next Up: Third Grave Dead Ahead (3/4)

3. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache by Louise Penny: Next Up: A Rule Against Murder (4/8)

4. *Commissario Montalbano by Andrea Camilleri: Next Up: The Snack Thief (3/15)

5. * Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: Next Up: Days of Blood and Starlight (2/3)

6. *Divergent by Veronica Roth: Next Up: Insurgent (2/3)

7. *Dr. Siri Paiboun by Colin Cotterill: Next up: Slash and Burn (8/9) - Richard's fault!

8. *Dublin Murder Squad by Tana French: Next Up: The Likeness (2/4) - Dee's fault!

9. *Duncan Kincaid/ Gemma James by Deborah Crombie:Next Up: Kissed a Sad Goodbye (6/15)

10. * Dust Lands by Moira Young: Next Up: Rebel Heart (2/3) - Mark and Chelle's fault!

11. *Fever Devilin by Phillip DePoy: Next Up: The Minister's Ghost (3/8) - Terri and Kathleen's fault!

12. *Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly: Next Up: The Narrows (10/18)

13. *Harry Hole by Jo Nesbo: Next Up: The Snowman (7/9)

14. ☛ The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh: Next Up: ? (3/3) - Judy's fault!

15. *In Death by J. D. Robb: Next Up: Glory in Death (2/44) - Joe's fault!

16. *Inspector Sejer by Karin Fossum: Next Up: He Who Fears the Wolf (2/9)

17. Jack Taylor by Ken Bruen: Next Up: The Dramatist (4/10) - also Mark's fault!

18. *James Bond by Ian Fleming: Next Up: Live and Let Die (2/14)

19. *Jackson Brodie by Kate Atkinson: Next Up: One Good Turn (2/4) - Stasia's fault!

20. *John Ceepak by Chris Grabenstein: Next Up: Mad Mouse (2/8)

21. *Kenzie and Gennaro by Dennis Lehane: Next Up: Sacred (3/6)

22. *Lady Julia Gray by Deanna Raybourn: Next Up: The Dark Enquiry (5/5)

23. ☛ Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: Next Up: Cress (3/4)

24. MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood: Next Up: The Year of the Flood (2/3) - Mark's fault!

25. *Matched by Ally Condie: Next Up: Crossed (2/3)

26. *Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs: Next Up: Frost Burned (7/8) - Heidi's fault!

27. *Millenium Trilogy by Steig Larrson: Next Up: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest (3/3)

28. *Philip Marlowe by Raymond Chandler: Next Up: Playback (7/8)

29. *Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch: Next Up: Broken Homes (4/5)

30. *Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris: Next Up: Dead Reckoning (10/13)

31. *Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin: Next Up: A Clash of Kings (2/5)

32. *Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker: Next Up: A Savage Place (8/39) - this is Joe's fault!

33. *Temperance Brennan by Kathy Reichs: Next Up: Grave Secrets (5/16)

34. Vish Puri by Tarquin Hall: Next Up: The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing (2/3)

35. *Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold: Next Up: Warrior's Apprentice: (3/16) - also Joe's fault! Also Richard's fault!

36. *Walt Longmire by Craig Johnson: Up Next: Another Man's Moccasins (4/10) - blaming this on Mark!

37. Wine Country Mysteries by Ellen Crosby: Next Up: The Riesling Retribution (4/6)

38. ☛Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantel: Next up: ? (3/3)

Series that I am reading out of order:

39. Bernie Gunther by Phillip Kerr (3/9)
40. Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout (3/47) - Julia's fault!

Hey there, Miss Mamie! Love those matching sweaters on the reindeer. Poor Dan looks miffed not to be part of the herd. :-) Hope your weekend is proceeding well.

Happy new thread, Mamie!

Julia - You are the

And Katie! Now that you two are here, let the shenanigans begin!

So, remember how I was saying that November had been my worst reading month and because of that I was going to have to read 11 books in December to reach 150 total? Well, I can't count. I only need six books completed to make my goal. I have no idea where I got eleven from. Guess I was having a mental moment...

Well if you're going to make a math mistake, at least you made it in the right direction, so you need to read fewer books than you thought. Six books? Pfft, that's nothing. :-)

True. SO true. I have no idea where I got the eleven from!

Mamie, looks like you're very close to you goal. I want to reach 150 too, but not sure I'll make it since I do need to read some 11 more books. I'm hesitating between reading whatever I'm tempted to in the moment and risk not getting there, or deliberately choosing shorter works to reach the 'magic' number...

Happy New Thread! :-)

Mamie your goal is right within reach! Go! Go! Go!

Love the attitudinous reindeer!

You're going to make it to your goal of 150 and I'm going to make it to my goal of 100.
Champagne all around!

You can do it, Mamie!!

I love the opening photo Mamie.....Birdy is completely incapable of looking reindeer menacing like her older sisters but the pose is comical still.

Congratulations on another thread and I hope the weekend finds you in good form.

Morning Mamie! You get an extra big hug, this A.M. and you know why! Thank you.

Congrats on the new thread. I love the photo of the kids. Priceless. I wish I could join you on the Luminaries but I will have to postpone that one until early Spring. Sniffles a little...

Have a great Sunday!

Go Mamie, go Mamie, go Mamie! Ack!! what are you doing here reading this!? anyway, since you're here happy new thread, happy Sunday!
Now back to business young lady, go Mamie, go Mamie...

It's Football Day! SO hooray for that! Go Broncos! Go Colts!

Ilana - Hello there, darling! I would love to reach 150 books, as I have never read that many in one year before. I am laughing about your choosing between just reading what you want or consciously picking shorter books in order to reach that magic number! I think we can all understand that dilemma!! My original goal was just to top last year's total, which was 108, but then I kept getting closer and closer to being able to double the 75, so I started aiming for that. I am feeling pretty confident that I can make it even with the Christmas season upon us as long as I don't choose doorstopper books - just five more to go! Wishing you every bit of luck in reaching your goal - whether that is to finish out the year with books that you love or to go for the 150. Hugs to you, dear!

Roberta - Oh, a cheering section!! How lovely!! Thanks so much!

Ellen - Glad you love the reindeer! And yes! Champagne! Let's just go ahead and toast to our success, shall we? A practice run, as they say?!

Stasia!! - SO lovely to see you here! How ARE you? Thanks for those good wishes for my success! I am hoping to close out the year with the last of the books that you sent me at CHristmas last year - World War Z! I absolutely loved your first two choices, and I am convinced that this will be another home run. Thanks again for taking the time to choose the books for me and to send them with a lovely letter. I think of you every time that I see them sitting proudly on my shelves, where they will always have a home.

Paul - Thank you! SO true about Birdy - she was just too young to convey proper menace. I don't think that she could do it properly now, either, as she is quite a happy soul - always cheerful, our Birdy, unless she is sick.

Mark - Morning! Thanks for that hug - I never say no to those! And you are so very welcome, my friend. Thanks for those good wishes, and I am so thrilled that you like the thread topper. Funny you should mention The Luminaries because I might have to set it aside myself - it requires concentration, and with the holiday upon us, our house is anything but quiet! It's buzzing with energy and craziness - and I don't want to miss a moment of it, so The Luminaries might have to wait until the New Year. If I do that, I will have to start it over again, so I'm still thinking about it...

Lynda - LOL! Since I am here, I will say thanks for cheering me on and thanks for those good wishes. Happy Sunday to you, too! Okay, now back to the business of reading!

Hi Mamie! Happy new thread and great photo at the top! I'm very pro-matching outfits, be it siblings, bands, whatever.

The picture at the top made me laugh out loud.

Looks like Rae (that is Rae on the left?) has the best attitude face.

Hi Mamie! I'm very behind on my starred threads so was very happy to see you starting a new one that's still short. I love the picture of the kids. You should use some of these as Christmas cards.

Hope it's a good football day for you.

Hi, Mamie! Happy New Thread! I think the opening photo is absolutely priceless!

I've been enjoying Football Day this afternoon, too, switching back and forth between games. It's been very entertaining due to the snowy weather, even though only one team I rooted for won.

Ha! I'm glad to be at fault for some good books and series, Mamie. Can't wait to hear what you think of Longbourn.

Watching the hard-fought Seattle-SF game right now.

Hope you're having a relaxing Sunday. Great pic up top!

>12 Crazymamie: "Winner winner chicken dinner".
That is my saying now. I am saying that as often as I can get away with. Which will be often.

Champagne? Yes please! 'Tis the season to be a attitudinal reindeer after all.

>27 phebj: Im with you there- vintage family photos on current Christmas cards- what a great idea

Throwing my big tasseled cushion on the floor in the corner where I can see all the good things.... and the good times...

Great picture, Mamie, but I will say the reindeer do not look very happy with their headgear!

Love those reindeer with attitude Mamie. And I'm glad your math turned out to be the fuzzy variety, although we'd love you all the same if you never reached that goal ;-)

Hi Mamie, I too had a wonderful weekend just doing simple family things. We had the grandkids while their parents went to Seattle for the weekend. We decorated the tree, watched some Christmas shows on TV, drank hot chocolate and just enjoyed being together. The house seems so quiet now that they have been returned to their parents.

Happy Monday greetings from rainy Hawaii, Mamie. I know you don't like Mondays and this one, here, is proving you right. Isn't it fun to be right?

We will be shopping for a bathing suit for the youngest of my Niece's and going to the National Botanical Gardens for a tour today. It is a magical place and I hope I'll be able to post some lovely picture for you, later.

Oh yeah, I'm always up for a "practice run" on sharing a glass of champagne. :-)

Let's see.... how did your Broncos and Colts do? My Seahawks fell to the evil Harbaugh empire but if we can win two more games this season, we secure home field advantage. For the Seahawks, this would be huge.

Happy Monday to you, my sister!

can someone help me answer some Huck Finn questions?

Cute pictures Mamie!

Yeah... cute thread topper. I used to do that, too. Find a sweater, tee shirt etc, and buy one for the whole lot of them... the boys, anyway.. it made me LOL to see it.

Good morning, dear, coffee's ready, and it is NOT loser coffee.

Oh, Mamie, may I join you for morning coffee. It just looks lovely. That Richard is so considerate.

I am up too early to prepare for our last full day here on Kaua'i, time having slipped out of our hands like the sands on the beach. I am now so looking forward to closing the house deal, moving out of the Lake Stevens house, and moving back to my old neighborhood. By February I should be well settled down into reading mode again!

I hope your preps for the holiday are smooth, and sweet. Your family is on the cusp of the ducklings venturing out on their own, so these holidays must be very precious to you.

Good morning, Mamie!

Mmmm coffee and macaroons for breakfast. Looks divine. Hugs to you Mamie.

Good morning, Mamie - and to your other residents of the Pecan Paradisio. Hope you have a good Hump Day.

Sometimes if I take too long blinking, people have turned over a new thread! I love the photo at the top.

You are yet another person finding The Luminaries hard work.... interesting. The question will be, is it worth the effort? I'm watching and waiting.

I'm reading Life After Life and it isn't the perfect, busy December sort of book..... or maybe it is..... because I have so much I ought to be doing!

Knock, knock!! Can Mamie, come out to play! We miss her.

Looks like Mamie's AWOL. Me thinks she's reading to make 150!

Having been in Mamie's enviable position of having to create Christmas magic for 4 kids.. I am betting she's busy lately :) Mountains of cookie, and gifts to wrap, Sis?

Just stopping by to say hello :)

Thanks, everyone for keeping my thread warm. I wish I could say that I have been very busy doing all kinds of amazing things, but the truth is that I have had the flu. Feeling a bit better today, so I am hoping to start slowly catching up on the threads.

Flu?!? How DARE that damned virus attack our Mamie! Fie on flu!! Feel better, sweetiedarling.

Ugh, flu! Feel better!

Hope you keep feeling better, Mamie. Hot toddies can help make it more bearable sometimes.

Oh no! That's no fun. :( *hugs* Hope you get to feeling better!

Awwwwww, super cute Dalmatians! Mamie will surely feel better when she gets a look at those darlings.

Yuck! Kick that virus right to the curb, Mamie. Feel better soon.

flu? oh blech! sending cossetting thoughts.

The Flu?! Oh no! Hope you are winning the germ battle. Best wishes. Miss you. : )

Sorry to hear that you've been poorly, Mamie. But those Dalmatian puppies should cheer you up if anything does!

Soup! Garlic! Gingerale! Rest!

*throws extra blanket your direction whilst being careful not to get too close to The Germs*

Yikes, I hope you are feeling better asap!
(that is an order, Ms Mamie)

oh, dear! I thought I saw Faith's blanket blowing by yesterday! So. I wasn't hallucinating after all ;- )
It should be there by now, Mamie! It was flying high...

Hope you are feeling much better and that all your lovely family are taking special care of you.
Comforting hugs to you!

No gifs or graphics from me Mamie but heartfelt wishes nonetheless that you are very soon fully recovered. XX

Oh dear.. I hope it's only the weekend keeping you, not still the flu...

Awe! Mamie! Always a bummer to feel yucky but this time if year only makes it worse. Hope you're soon feeling better.

Mamie sending you virtual hugs and a nice warm blanket and hot toddy. And big fluffy pillow and soft slippers.

Oh Mamie, I hope you feel better soon!

oooh, I hope the rest of the family has avoided the fluishness so that they can mother you.

Okay, I'm back. Of course, now I am hopelessly behind on my Christmas errands, and I have not started wrapping...Well, not hopelessly - I like to think that when all else has abandoned me, I still cling to hope. It should be the last thing to go, right?

Thanks so much to all of you who kept my thread warm, sending me such good wishes and positive mojo. It worked because no one else got sick - so hooray for small miracles!

Now, to catch up...OH, DEAR!

Way back up to post #25...

Kerri - Thank you - glad you like the thread topper! We bought those matching sweaters for the photo they took for our church directory - right off the clearance rack at Gapkids. I bet we paid less then $5 a piece for them, and BOY, did we get our money's worth! The girls thought it was funny to match, so they kept putting them back on! They feature in many photos!!

Morphy - Always happy to be responsible for giving someone a good laugh. That is actually Abby who is all the way on the left. Rae is my only brunette.

Pat - SO lovely to see you here! I share your love of short new threads!! I think we did include those reindeer photos in the cards we sent out that year. I know that I at least put them in my sisters' cards. Yesterday is not the football day that you were referring to, but it was a good one - Colts won!

Terri - Thank you! Glad you liked the photo! I am a bit jealous of your snowy weather, although I am happy to have clear roads and not need my coat in order to finish up my Christmas shopping! Going to 61 here today, so definitely not cold.

Joe - You are responsible for some of my favorite reads! And Craig thanks you, too, as he has just finished reading the entire Vorkosigan series, which he loved. The great thing is that now we have all the books, so I'm all set for the year long group read next year! And I am greatly looking forward to Longbourn - still hoping to squeeze it in this month. Can't wait!

Megan - I love that phrase, too! Let's get you that champagne. And I think Pat's idea of using old photos on current cards is a great one - so doing that next year when I will hopefully have more time.

Kathleen - It's not home 'til you're here! Welcome, Sis!

Roni - Well, that was the idea! We also took "nice photos" with that headgear.



Bonnie - Glad you liked those reindeer with attitude! And thanks for that lovely compliment! I am going to reach that goal - my next finished book will make 150 for me!! So at least I got something accomplished while I was sick.

Judy - That sounds like a perfect holiday memory - how fun! We had a very quiet house the this past weekend even thought the kids were all here - so strange! Birdy decided to host a Christmas movie marathon in Dan's room. SHe had Dan take her out to get snacks, which she bought with her own money, picked out a stack of DVDs, and invited her siblings to join her. Movies start at midnight, but the fun starts after dinner, she said. It was a big hit. SO what did Craig and I do? Hung out in the living room - he played on XBOX, and I read my latest ER book - The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer. Very good - I think you would like this one. I still need to write up my review, but I am giving it 4.5 stars.

Karen - I am guessing that you must be home by now. Hope that your vacation was all that you hoped it would be. Certainly sounds like you soaked it up. And yes, it is always fun to be right!

Sounds like you're starting to feel better. Still.......

Ellen - Oh, good! My Broncos and Colts are doing very well this season - as are your Seahawks!! Rae is not happy with your Seahawks as they just completely pulverized her Giants. Oh, well. Not a good year for those Giants - Rae has begun talking about next year...

Happy Monday to you, my sister!

Emma - Am I sensing a book report due? If so, then I am probably too late. And although I have read Huck Finn multiple times, it has been several years since I read it last, so I am not the best one to look to...Hoping that you got your questions answered.

Tamara - Well, hello there! Glad you liked the photo!

Kathleen - If you see the kids in matching sweaters, then you know it was a year for the church directory photo!! They did sometimes have matching dresses at Easter...

Richard - YES! That looks so very lovely! Craig has gone back to making loser coffee after a not great visit to the doctor's office. So, I need all the help I can get with the coffee! LOL!

Karen - You are always welcome to join me for coffee. Totally agree that Richard is incredibly thoughtful. Hoping that you are back home safe and sound gearing up for the holidays. You are so right about my ducklings being on the cusp of heading out for their own adventures. I try to make the most of this precious time that we have left to live all of us together under the same roof, while letting them know that I cannot wait to see what they will do. They are truly amazing kids - I fell blessed to have been along for the ride.

Ellen - Good Morning!

Snowy, cold Monday morning in Iowa ... what could possibly make the day seem brighter? Seeing Mamie is back in tip-top shape, of course! Have a lovely day, my friend. It's so nice to have you back.

Roberta - It does look divine, doesn't it? Pull up a chair. HUgs back to you now that I am no longer germfull.

Joe - Good Morning from all of us! It is no longer Wednesday, but we can wish for you a Monday filled with fabulous!

Lucy - I know just what you mean - things move quickly around here! And I am so happy that you liked the thread topper! I need to get back to The Luminaries! What makes it work is that there are a lot of characters and a lot of plot points to keep organized in one's head. The writing is lovely and intricate. It is not a book that lends itself to picking it up and putting it down often - better I think to read it in long pieces at a time and focus on it. I will probably start over from the beginning since I have let it rest for so long.

I have Life After Life on the shelves (if you're talking about the one by Atkinson), and I am hoping to get to it next year, so I will be interested to see what you think of it.

Mark - Thanks for missing me!! I can come out to play now, thank goodness. I do not make a good sick bed person. Makes me grumpy. Grumpy and Mamie do NOT go together well.

Lynda - Yep. AWOL. I would rather have been here. LOL! I did manage to get some reading done, and now I only need one more book to make my goal. SO YIPPY SKIPPY for that, at least!

Kathleen - I LOVE your vision of me! SO much nicer than being sick and grumpy. I will now be busy with making Christmas magic. Hugs to you, dear sis!

Julia - Jumping down to you right now! Thanks so much for that - it is so very lovely to be back! Wishing for you a Monday filled with fabulous!

"I only need one more book to make my goal."
Excellent! Go, sister!!!

Starting with post 50...

Richard - Your outrage on my behalf made me smile. Thanks for that, BigDaddy, and for those good wishes. *smooch*

Katie - Agreed. UGH. Thanks for your good wishes - they worked!

Thank you, Joe. Hot toddies are indeed a good thing, guaranteed to make one feel better.

Tamara - SO cute! Thank you, dear!

Julia - You were right - those puppies made me feel better when I saw them. How did she know that The One Hundred and One Dalmatians was a favorite of mine?!

Judy - The virus has been kicked to the curb. I'm just so thankful that no one else got sick.

Ellie - I LOVE that! SO sweet! Thank you so much.

Kim - Oh, dear. You were here, and I missed you. Here's hoping that things slow down for you in the New Year so that we can see much more of you. Hope you know how much you are missed!

Rhian - Thanks for that. Those dalmatians did make me smile!

Faith - Such excellent advice!! I did all of that - and it worked!!

Megan - Ma'am. Yes, Ma'am! I am feeling much better as ordered. LOL!

Richard - I love my "Thinking of you Tray" almost as much as I love that you were thinking of me. Thanks, dear.

Cee - That blanket was a big help! And thanks for those hugs and those good wishes. All of it did the trick!

Paul - YOur heartfelt wishes are more than enough. Thanks for those, dear.

Sis - I was feeling better by the weekend, but still very tired. Today I feel like me again - finally!

Lynda - I know, right?! SO much to do - I remain hopeful that I will manage to get the important stuff taken care of. Thanks for checking on me! And yes, the family avoided it - so happy about that!

Roberta - Wonderful! Just what I needed!! I took all of that into the living room, along with a good book, curled up on the sofa and concentrated on just relaxing. Now I am feeling so much better!

Heather - Thank you, dear.

Ellen - You snuck in there even before Julia, and I somehow missed you!! SO sorry about that. And that hot toddy looks wonderful! I will be careful not to do too much too soon. Promise.

Ellen - I am 75% of the way through book #150!!! SO excited!

^ LIKE

Hey Mamie, glad to see you're able to come out to play!

Good to see you back hale and hearty, Mamie!

So glad to hear Craig loved the Vorkosigan books. He sounds like me - if I find a series, or author, I like enough, I'll put everything else aside and just keep on reading them.

Can't wait to hear what you think of Longbourn. I was really impressed, as you probably could tell. :-)

Great to see you back, Mamie. If you are giving The Cairo Affair 4.5 stars, then it is immediately being added to my wishlist!

Hi Mamie, sorry to hear you were down with the flu, and very glad that you've made it through to the other side! I made quite a dent in the number of books left to reach 150, as I've only got 4 to go now, two of which I'm halfway through. We all know numbers don't matter, so why is there so much satisfaction to be gained in that?

I see Joe mentioning Longbourn. I've had it on the tbr for a few months, or ever since it came out anyway, but I want to reread P&P first so it's fresh in my mind when I tackle the former. I'll be reading your pick for me in January, and Liz has generously offered to tutor me on it, which should make it at least twice as fun.

Hi Mamie! I had to come over here to your thread to personally thank you for your lovely gifts. The personal letter was the cherry on top of the hot fudge sundae! The FOUR wrapped books are under the tree awaiting Christmas morning. I can hardly wait to see what they are . I am glad that you and your daughter are enjoying the Mercy Thompson series and since we share that love, I know the books you have picked out for me will be perfect. I really lucked out to get you as my Secret Santa. Thank you!

Awww, Mamie... so sorry to hear you've had the flu! :(

I'm glad you're feeling better now! This is such a hard time of the year to be sick! Just caught up from your last thread. The post (I think it was 210) where you were describing what the girls were doing with decorating and cooking in such gorgeous detail literally made me misty eyed. Thank you for such a beautiful description!

Ellen - *grin* I finished it!

Lynda - Thank you! Me, too!

Joe - Thanks! Craig has also powered through all of the Jack Reacher books that we have and all of the Walt Longmire. He is a VERY fast reader - I don't know how he does it! I am excited to get to Longbourn - I am thinking after I finish this month's Spenser. Abby is wanting to read Longbourn, too!

Judy - Oh, yea! I will write up a review of it either today or tomorrow because it was an ER book - set to be released in March. And it's a stand alone!!

Ilana! - Lovely to see you, dear! I am thrilled to be feeling better at last. I am not good with sick. Only four more to go for you to reach 150? WahHOO for you - you can do it!! I would not have been crushed if I hadn't made it to my goal of 150, still it was fun to get there.

I am so excited that you will be reading Pride and Prejudice in January!! And a tutored read is just the thing - I'd love to pop in on that because I am sure to learn something. You always ask such great questions, and Liz is a font of information.

Heidi! Welcome to my thread! I had so much fun picking out the books for you, so you are very welcome. It felt so fitting since you introduced us to the Mercy Thompson books - I am on the very last one right now, and am so excited that there is a new one coming out in March of next year!! Abby is just one book behind me, and Craig, my husband, has already read all of them, so you have definitely shared the love here. Here's hoping that you love the books that I picked!

Tina - HELLO! How ARE you? How incredibly sweet that you took the time to catch up with my last thread! I am so behind on the threads that I am wondering if there is any way that I can get caught up before Christmas...I'm guessing no. Still, I shall give it a go once I have things under control on the home front. And glad that you liked my perfect moment post - I was happy to share what will be for me a favorite memory. Please give my love to Lisa, and take some for yourself. Hugs!

Comfort food, dear?

Richard - YES, please! YUM!

>87 Crazymamie: Craig sounds like my kind of reader, Mamie. Vorkosigan, Reacher, Longmire. Check, check, check.

Abby should eat Longbourn up. Is she a P & P fan?

Tutored P & P read? I'd like to drop in on that, too.

Joe - Craig used to read mostly fantasy and westerns, but he has been steadily branching out. Since I joined LT, I have been passing along recommendations of books that that all of you have suggested to me and that I liked and think he would like. He reads much faster than I do, however, so he speeds right by me every time.

Abby adores P & P. We are also both completely addicted to the BBC adaptation of it with Colin Firth. She wants to do a reread of P & P first and then move into Longbourn. I am guessing that Abby will also follow along on Ilana's tutored read - fun, fun, fun!!

*hugs* Glad you are feeling better!

Tamara - Thank you! Hugs back to you, dear!

Reading Update:

145. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (4 stars) - thanks, Ellen!!
146. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (4 stars)
147. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (4.25 stars)
148. The Cairo Affair by Olen Syeinhauer (4.5 stars)
149. Aimless Love by Billy Collins
150. River Marked by Patricia Briggs (4 stars)
151. A Savage Place by Robert B. Parker (yuk)

Book #145: Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan

Those of you who follow Ellen's thread might remember that Ellen picked this book up while shopping with our own Katie (katiekrug) when they had their recent meet-up. She reviewed it on her thread and then very graciously sent it to me to read, so thank you Ellen for a delightful read. This book is set in a very narrow frame of time - the last night of a Red Lobster restaurant's existence. The restaurant is being closed down, so the staff will no longer be working together, although some of them are being sent to another restaurant owned by the same chain. It is just a few days before Christmas and there is a winter storm brewing. Does it really matter if the Lobster opens one last time? Told from the perspective of Manny DeLeon, the manager, this simple story is a glimpse into the world of food service that rings true for anyone who has ever worked behind the scenes. It is also a study of how what is comfortable and familiar is hard to let go of. We don't always get what we want. And we don't always say the right thing just because the moment is ripe for eloquence. I really liked this "little gem of a novel" as Ellen referred to it and think it is one that I will return to. Highly recommended.

Book #146: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (4 stars)

This is the third installment in Penny's Three Pines series. Once again, the creepy Hadley House is prominently featured. Once again the method of murder is improbable. Still, the murder is not the point, really; it is more of a device for drawing all of these lovely and complex characters together. And Three Pines...*sigh*...what's not to love about Three Pines? Penny's writing is what makes these books work - her delightful literary references and her way of weaving an entertaining tale that keeps you turning the pages despite its not so stellar mystery are pure magic. I think that I liked the second book just slightly more than this one, but this is still a solid entry in the series. For those of you who are considering this series, I would caution you that the first book is weak, but the second book more than makes up for that. So why start at the beginning? Because there is a very interesting backstory that continues through these books and also because character development plays a crucial role. So dig in, but start at the very beginning if you want to be able to follow all of the action.

Oh, the Lobster book looks interesting! I have seen that title bandied about here on LT but hadn't managed to actually read a review, I guess. I love "behind the scenes" type books about people's jobs.

Book #147: The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (4.25 stars)

I have Kerri to thank for this read because she posted the Challenge to read something by Lessing in this month's TIOLI. I had not read Lessing before, and I was hesitant because I have seen mixed reviews for a lot of her stuff, but this novel is lovely. It pulls you in right from the start and will not let go of you. Set in colonial Africa in Rhodesia (what today would be referred to as Zimbabwe), it's the story of how small moments of what seems like clarity can be deceptive and in fact, lead to our demise. Mary Turner makes a lot of mistakes, and she will end up dead. Murdered. We know this from the very beginning of the book. But how did she get there? Her first mistake was in marrying Richard Turner, thinking that she needed to settle down just because that's what others around her valued. She gives up her independence and her financial certainty when she marries Richard and goes to live with him on his farm, which has only the most basic of amenities. Still, they could make it work if only Richard could stop investing in pipe dreams. If only Mary weren't carrying so much baggage from her youth that Richard knows nothing about. If only either one of them understood the other. And add to that the brutality of colonial Africa where Mary is surrounded by people that she thinks are beneath her. As she struggles with depression, she sinks into ugly and unforgivable behavior. This book is about racism. About how hatred eclipses our humanity. Lessing does a beautiful job of letting the tension slowly unfold, drawing us in so that even when we know what is going to happen, what surely must happen, we cannot look away. Very highly recommended.

You got me with the Lessing book Mamie.

Julia - It's good. I loved how Manny was going about the day to day business of opening the restaurant and preparing for and then managing the patrons while letting us in on his thoughts. He struggles to clear the snow from the walk, worries about the plow not showing up to clear the lot, and thinks about his life and how it will change after that day. We get backstory and heartache mixed in with management decisions. I really enjoyed it.

Roberta - The Lessing book is VERY good. I keep thinking maybe I should bump it up to 4.5 stars. And Spenser sucks - I finished our December entry in that series last night, and I am completely put out with him. (trying to be polite - you know what I mean).

Hi Mamie - Glad you're feeling better!

#98 - Great review - I'm glad you liked it. I'm a bit stressed out about fitting in a Lessing this month, as I've been terribly busy, especially over the weekends, with holiday stuff. Anyway, I was going to try The Golden Notebook, but since it's over 600 pages long, I may squeeze in Martha Quest instead. It's seems silly to create a TIOLI challenge and then not participate in it, so I'd better get going!

Kerri - Thank you. I'm feeling much better. And glad you liked the review! I would not stress about reading Lessing this month - December is always a bit crazy, so why make yourself stressed. I love that you created the challenge even if you don't participate because it got me to read Lessing. I would never have picked up the book at this time without the nudge from you. So see - you did good!

I read Last Night at the Lobster several years ago. I enjoyed it when I read it. The Grass is Singing is tempting me. Our library doesn't have it so it will have to wait for awhile, but I'm putting it on my TBR list.

Hi Mamie - glad you are feeling better! And I'm glad you liked the O'Nan book. I read it two years ago and then listened to it on audio the next year. It was great in that format too.

I agree with your assessment of The Grass is Singing. I finished it last night and gave it 4.5 stars. I thought Mary's decline into whatever that was (depression, nervous breakdown, insanity?) was masterfully done.

The next Three Pines book - A Rule Against Murder - is very good. It took the fourth one to get me really and truly hooked...

And Spenser sucks - I finished our December entry in that series last night, and I am completely put out with him. (trying to be polite - you know what I mean).

I know EXACTLY what you mean. In our universe, Spenser has four ladies really peeved at him right now, Susan, you, me and Donna! I don't feel sorry for him.

I thought a pretty mocha pot would make winter mornings with loser coffee a little easier to face.

Book #148: The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer (4.5 stars)

Sophie and Emmett Kohl were dining in a French restaurant in Budapest when it happened. A man walked up to their table, shot her husband dead, and then quietly disappeared in the chaos that ensued. Sophie is left with many unanswered questions and surrounded by players who will tell her only partial truths. She knows this. She understands this. After all, her husband was an American diplomat, and they had been married for more than twenty years. What is truly disturbing is that their last words to each other were strained ones - Emmett had found out about her affair in Cairo. Now there would be no chance to explain, no opportunity to make him understand. The most she can do for him now is to find the answers that will lead to his killer.

I really loved this book. I received it from the November ER batch, and dipped into it as soon as it arrived on my doorstep. I have only read one other book by this author - The Tourist, which I also really enjoyed. This latest offering from Steinhauer, however, is not a continuation of that series - it is that very rare species today in the world of thrillers and espionage, a stand alone book. And it is very, very good. The characters are well drawn, the plot lines are intelligent and complex, and the story flows at a fast pace. It is told from alternating points of view, which I usually find disruptive, but here it works flawlessly. Each additional voice adds layers to the story and tension as the reader is left wondering if every narrator is reliable. I loved how the more that I learned, the more I realized that I didn't know.

Some very enjoyable reviews, Mamie dearest! I am no Lessing-lover, though I did like her Canopus in Argos: Archives series. The Grass is Singing sounds very atmospheric and I like evocative books. I'll have to give it a try. Olen Steinhauer's books are like cocktail peanuts to me, polish one off and move to the next because it's so savory.

Sending hugs!

Lori - I loved that Last Night at the Lobster is just one day of his life, but you feel like you really know Manny when you finish. It's a simple story but delicious in detail. And so glad that you are putting The Grass is Singing on your list. I think you will like it.

Katie - Thank you. And I bet Last Night would be great on audio - the story totally lends itself to that format. I will keep that in mind as I know I will revisit it.

I am thinking that I will bump my rating up to 4.5 stars for The Grass is Singing - I let it sit for a few days after finishing it to let my thoughts marinate, but the rating is bothering me. I think it is better than 4.25 stars. "I thought Mary's decline into whatever that was (depression, nervous breakdown, insanity?) was masterfully done. " Yes. Masterfully done - and all three, I think, and in that order! Hard to believe this was Lessing's first book. Have you read anything else by her?

Good to know that the next Three Pines book is good - the writing is what has sold me. I love how Penny writes and those lovely literary references. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Roberta - Exactly. What a loser.

Richard - Such a lovely thought! No matter how you dress it up, loser coffee is still missing that key coffee ingredient. Integrity. That is what the caffeine provides, I believe. But a pretty pot and pretty cups can't hurt...

I liked that Cruelest Month review, Mamie. You're right, her mysteries throughout tend to be on the improbable side, but the rest of what she does so makes up for it. And that explanation of why you read the first one is right on target.

Richard - Thank you, my dear. This was my first voyage into Lessing, and I was very leery, but it turned out to be a very good start. I will file away your recommendation should I decide to explore her further. And yes, Steinhauer is delicious. I'll send The Cairo Affair on to you, shall I? Hugs back to you, BigDaddy.

You review of The Grass is Singing tipped me over the fence and had me adding this to my obese wish list. I had read some mixed reviews about it, and wasn't sure if I wanted to read it, but now I do.

Have you read The Bridge of Sighs, Mamie? Also by Steinhauer, it's a wonderful read. That was the first I read by the author and I enjoyed it so much I added The Cairo Affair and The Nearest Exit to my TBR Tower.

Thanks, Joe! I had my doubts after the first one, but you guys were so right - they just get better from there.

Caro - This place is hopping today!! So great to see so many visitors! And hooray for you adding The Grass is Singing to your list!!

I have not read Bridge of Sighs, but now I am already envisioning it in my Amazon shopping cart. I definitely want to read more by him - The Nearest Exit was one I had on my Santa Swap list, so perhaps it is sitting under my tree at this exact moment!

Book #149: Aimless Love by Billy Collins (I have no idea how to rate poetry)

I picked this collection of poetry up when I saw it sitting on the new additions shelf at the local library because I remembered CitizenJoyce sharing some of these poems on the TIOLI thread last month, and they were lovely. I had not read Billy Collins before, but I am thinking that I would like to track down Ballistics because two of my favorites poems in this new collection came from that earlier book.

Aimless Love is a collection of old and new poems, and though I have not read Collins before, I am guessing it is a good representation of his work. There is truth here, and charm - witty and insightful observations of life. I read just a few at a time with my morning coffee, stretching this out over the month, and it was a very nice indulgence. Nothing like starting the day with a bit of humor.

Here is one of my favorites, and it gives you a good feel for this book:

Divorce

"Once, two spoons in bed,
now tined forks

across a granite table
and the knives they have hired."

OOO OOO OOO I would *love* to have The Cairo Affair! Thank you, sweetiedarling.

Book #150: River Marked by Patricia Briggs

This is the sixth book in Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. For those of you unfamiliar with this delightful series, Mercy Thompson is a walker - she can shift at will between her human form and coyote. Her day job is mechanic at the garage that she owns and operates. Mercy's world is filled with werewolves and vampires and fae, making these books a wonderful escape from every day reality. The characters are fully three dimensional and the writing is very good. And thank goodness that Mercy keeps getting herself into trouble because I have fallen in love with this series. To avoid spoilers for the earlier books, I'll just say that in this one Mercy gets to learn more about her Native American heritage, and the way that the Native American folklore is incorporated into this storyline makes for a very interesting and highly entertaining book.

Richard - You're welcome, BigDaddy. I'll send it your way as soon as Craig finishes it. He's a very fast reader, so you'll probably have it before Christmas.

Book #151: A Savage Place by Robert B. Parker (2 stars)

This is the eight book in Parker's Spenser series. In this one, Spenser is an unmitigated ass.

*edited to add the word "unmitigated"

Oh yay!! I did not realize there were more Mercy Thompson books out! I love that series. Thanks for the tip.

No rush, dear, no rush. I'm not runnin' out of reading material. *smooch*

Hey, Kim! It's a fun series, isn't it? There is one more book that is already out after River Marked - it is Frost Burned. And there is a new one coming in March!!

Richard - Okey dokey. *smooch back*

I'll be reading The Grass is Singing right after I finish my current read (which, by the way, is excellent!).

And I'm really glad you enjoyed Last Night at the Lobster. Katie scored with that one!

>120 Crazymamie: Excellent review of A Savage Place, Mamie!

>116 Crazymamie: I'm a Billy Collins fan, and I'll be picking this one up, even though I'll have read the selected ones before. Aimless Love actually made the NY Times bestseller list! Can't remember a poetry book doing that in my lifetime. He's very entertaining in person, too - my wife and I saw him and Kay Ryan paired for a reading at a Humanities Festival, and they were charming and funny. (Qualities that also are not all that common for poets!)

Ellen - LOVE that!! Thank you! I think you will really like The Grass is Singing - not upbeat, but just so very well written. I need to come see what you are currently reading if it is excellent. And thanks again for sending me Last Night at the Lobster - I think of you and Katie every time that I see it peering at me from my bedroom bookcase. (The bedroom bookcase is reserved for my personal favorites and the ones that I am really wanting to get to, so it has company the likes of The Shipping News, Montana, 1948 and Chocolat). And yes, hooray for Katie!

Joe - LOL! Thank you! Aimless Love was a very nice introduction to Collins' work because it featured poems from four different previous books and then some new stuff. The title poem was actually one of my very favorites. Very exciting that it made it onto the NYT bestseller list. I had to renew it so that Abby could read it - she loves poetry. How wonderful that you got to hear him read his own stuff in person - how fun!

O'Nan has been hit and miss for me. I want to like him more because of the PA connection.. but..

This thread has been very busy today!

Yes, hooray for Katie!

Oh, wait...

Kathleen - This was the first thing that I have read by him. What have you liked by him? And yes, this thread has been very busy today!

Katie - Nope. You were right! Hooray for Katie!!

Congrats on hitting 150! I am checking out the Louise Penny series, great reviews!

Big Congrats, Mamie, on reaching your 150 goal! Very impressive. I'm glad you are feeling better in time for the countdown to Christmas. I think I wrapped my last gift tonight...and only two more cards to send out. These require letters to my two favorite aunts. Tomorrow.

I think you, Roberta, and I are all 'gunning' for Spenser. I hope he gets his comeuppance from Susan. What a jerk!

Tamara - Thank you! Just remember with the Penny that the first book is not nearly as good as the ones that follow.

Donna - Thanks! I'm glad that I am feeling better in time for the Christmas countdown, too!! And I am so jealous that you are done wrapping - I have not started yet. YIKES! I do this every year, so I am not surprised, but I am still hoping to get every thing done before Christmas Eve. I never quite manage that.

I am hoping that the next Spenser is better - this one was not good, and not just because of his behavior and his attitude. Candy was not so bright for an investigative reporter, and the plot was like Swiss cheese. And yes - what a jerk Spenser was!!

Congrats on 150!

I don't read poetry. But I have Aimless Love on Mount TBR. I think it was Paul who first recommended it? Glad you liked it.

When you run out of Briggs, give Ilona Andrews a try.

For Lessing, I'm going to read Prisons We Choose to Live Inside. It's 80 pages. Ha!

Morning, Morphy! Thank you! Aimless Love is the only poetry that I have read all year, but I enjoyed it. I used to read a lot of poetry back in high school and college, but haven't read much since except what I have read with the kids. I quite like it in small doses. And the Collins' ones were charming. Hope you like it when you get to it.

We do have several Ilona Andrews books, as Craig has read her before. I did purchase the first in that series that you recommended to Kathleen a while back because they had it as a Kindle daily deal - Abby is actually reading that right now. Magic Bites - right?

I love that you chose a Lessing with less than 100 pages - good thinking!! I have seen The Golden Notebook at the library, and it scares me. I wasn't expecting to like The Grass is Singing so much, so I totally lucked out in my pick. LOL!

Morning Mamie! By all the activity over here, it looks like you are healthy & fit. This makes me happy. I've had Last Night at the Lobster on my WL forever. I really like O'Nan. I hope to read Lessing one of these days.

Morning, Mark! Finally all better, thank goodness. I'm not so sure about fit. LOL! And I am so glad to be able to contribute to our happiness!! You would really like Last Night at the Lobster, I am thinking. What else of his have you read?

And Lessing - you would like The Grass is Singing.

I've read a few O'Nan's. The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy is head and shoulders my favorite and it is nonfiction. It is a haunting, unsettling read. I also loved Emily, Alone and A Prayer for the Dying & the Odds were also very good.

Oh, thanks for that, Mark!

O'Nan has written a lot. To add to Mark's recs, I liked Snow Angels and a book of short stories called In the Walled City. I have several others of his on the TBR shelves. He is consistently good, IMO.

Katie - Thank you for those - adding them to my list right now while I am thinking about it.

So Craig and I are off to finish up the Christmas shopping. He is off until Christmas Day, when he is on call, so we plan to make the most of it. Hope all of you are having a day full of fabulous!

I saw the film version of Snow Angels, which was excellent but have not read the book. I would love to try that story collection.

Mark, Santa told me to tell you to keep an eye on your mailbox/doorstep on Monday...

Aren't these fabOO? They sell them at Anthropologie and since there's one near here, I'm tempted to go buy one. I can look at it! Just can't use it, fingers'd never work with the handle.

Have fun shopping!

Catching up -- glad you're feeling better Mamie.

Count me a Billy Collins fan too. Love the tableware one you cited :-)

Katie- Ooh-La-La!

We're back, and I am exhausted. BUT, we are finished with all the shopping!!! And we had a lovely time.

Mark and Katie - Way to share the LT love!!

Richard - That is VERY cool. Like a work of art that you can drink from. I think you should get one.

Reba - Thank you! I will definitely be reading more of Collins - I am wanting to hunt down his Ballistics and Nine Horses for sure. Sending you good mojo for your surgery tomorrow and keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

Congrats on 150+, Mamie!

I have the Lessing book on my WL. And I love the poetry of Billy Collins (so accessible).

I'm excited your shopping is done - and it was a fun time too! I can barely imagine the joy in your house around Christmas time :-) So glad you are feeling better!

Cee - Thank you! The Lessing book was so much better than I was anticipating - I think you will like it when you get to it. And Billy Collins - yes, accessible is such a great way to describe his stuff. Also a lot of humor there, which I loved.

I'm excited that the shopping is all done, too. Now I have to get busy wrapping everything so that I don't end up with my usual Christmas Eve mad scramble to get it all done. Our house is indeed full of joy this time of year - and very rowdy teenagers! I'm glad to be feeling better, too - the better to enjoy it all. Hugs to you, dear!

Hi Mamie, glad to hear your Christmas shopping is all done. I am just about done with the wrapping and should finish tomorrow. Luckily I have no plans to go out tomorrow as we have snow in our forecast, and since we get it so rarely when it does comes it really messes up the traffic. I am staying home and away from the madness!

Judy - So jealous that you are almost finished with the wrapping - way to go! Let's see our forecast is...sunny and 68F! Going to 80F by Saturday! What is wrong with this picture? I am a Yankee girl at heart, so Christmas means snow and very cold. However, as I have a hair appointment tomorrow, I'll take the predicted forecast and be thankful. Just so very, very strange for me. Good for you for avoiding the madness - I am a homegirl at heart, so I am there with you.

In simple grateful amazement at the kindness and fun that flow effortlessly from you, my dearest Mamie:



Celebrate the return of the light with feasts, merriment, and gratitude for all the wonders of this wide green earth.

RMD

My dearest Richard, You made me cry. Thank you so much for those incredibly lovely words. All my love to you, BigDaddy

Mamie, given the sorts of things you like, I recommend Falling to Earth by Kate Southwood. I posted a review on my thread and it's right up there with some of my other favorites like The Shipping News. Wait - is The Shipping News on that shelf because it's a favorite or because you are wanting to get to it soon?

Ellen - I will come check out that review! Adding it to my WL now because you are recommending it to me. And The Shipping News is on that shelf because it is one of my favorites. Absolutely LOVED that one!

Just stopping by to say hi, Mamie. Hope all is well in the Pecan Paradisio. I loved The Shipping News, too, way back when.

Hi, Joe! I was just thinking about you, as I had just picked up Longbourn - starting it in just a moment!! Very excited about this one! All is indeed well at the Pecan Paradisio - just getting ready to indulge in a bit of down time. Shipping News was a gift from Paul last year, and I read it earlier this year and just loved it. Definitely one I will reread.

Wow! 150...... I'm almost there at 148! (In fact, I don't know what I'm doing, fooling around here on LT!!!)

Another great review of The Grass is Singing. (Katie has one too). The Cairo Affair looks like it is worth keeping an eye out for. My S.U. (spousal unit) loves Patricia Briggs, so we have heaps of them around. Obviously I have to get started!

Mamie- I am off camping for a week, so I am rushing aboutmadly now doing the rounds. I shall see you nearer the New Year! Happy Holidays- take care, and I hope you have a wonderful time this Christmas.

I haven't read The Shipping News since it was newly out, but at that time I absolutely loved it. I still think of it as one of my all-time favorite reads. Perhaps 2014 will be, in part, the year of some re-reads. I used to never re-read books because I felt like I had so little time and am such a slow reader. Well, now I have even less time (in both senses of that sentiment) but I'm a somewhat more efficient reader (yay, LT!) and I see the value in revisiting a really special work. The Shipping News is one worth revisiting.

Happy weekend to you, Mamie! I hope your teams win.

Lucy - You mean you went to Katie's thread first?! I thought I was your favorite! (Just kidding!!) Thank you for the kind words and for the congrats. Sounds like you are quickly closing in on 150 yourself, so WahHOO for you!! I am actually quite shocked that I have fit that many in this year - a new record for me.

The Cairo Affair is definitely worth looking out for - supposed to be released in March. ANd yes, Patricia Briggs writes a very entertaining story - we are completely hooked.

Megan - Thank you for those great wishes. Wishing you safe travels and a holiday filled with fabulous! Take care and have loads of fun. I was loving the comments that you were sharing with Cee on her thread about Wilbur's answers to life's tough questions - so funny!

Ellen - You snuck in there while I was posting. Rereading books is one of my very favorite things. I know for certain that I will again return to The Shipping News - just absolutely loved that story. Definitely worth the time to dip into it again.

Thanks for those weekend wishes - wishing for you a weekend filled with fabulous. And thanks for those good thoughts for my teams -we always root for your Seahawks, unless of course they are playing our Broncos or our Colts!

The Cairo Affair is now in the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation of that one, Mamie. It looks right up my alley!

I hope you are completely well by now!

Great reading catch-up Mamie and congratulations for passing 150 (at pretty much the same time I did, half a world away).

Hope the Paradisio is almost ready for Christmas. Have a lovely weekend.

Ooh, adding Longbourn as well to the tbr pile. Interested to hear your thoughts, Mamie!

So weird. When I went to post this, it took forever, and then it posted twice, but the first post just said..."deleted by author". What?!

I guess I'll use this space to say that after seeing that link to the list of people's favorite reads for 2013 on the home page, I looked through my reading so far this year and came up with the following list of my favorites (so far):

1.The Shipping News
2. Montana, 1948
3. Their Eyes Were Watching God
4. Song of Achilles
5. Game of Thrones

Other contenders, that deserve a mention were (in no particular order):

Empire of the Summer Moon
The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend
Brokeback Mountain
Liesl & Po
Till We Have Faces
The Grass is Singing
The Tourist

Stasia - Hello there! SO glad that you are adding The Cairo Affair to your BlackHole! So good! I now have Bridge of Sighs in my hot little hands, and I can't wait to dip into it.

And yes - completely well, thank goodness. Now if I could just get those presents all wrapped and under the tree!

Paul - Thank you! I did notice that we are neck in neck this year - so fun! The Paradisio is almost ready for Christmas. Just have that pesky wrapping to finish up. But I am thankful that the shopping is all done. At least the wrapping can be done from the comfort of home! Wishing you a lovely weekend as well, dear!

Tam - Oh, good! I did not get it started yesterday as planned because I took a nap instead! But today for sure. I saved it for December because I am thinking I will really love this one.

WOW at reaching 150!!! Congratulations!!

I just had to smile at your review of River Marked... I just LOVE Mercy!!!! Frost Burned was excellent too and now you say we have another coming in March ~~ whoop whoop!!

I've read four of your top five for 2013 and liked them as much as you did! That last one, though. What a titanic slog I found it to be. But the show is amazing.

Wrapping. *sympathetic sigh*

Tina - Thank you! I love Mercy, too!! Such a great discovery for me this year. Good to know that Frost Burned is also excellent - I have just barely stated that one. And yes! Whoop whoop to a new one coming out in March.

Richard - Not a fan of the book Game of Thrones, huh? I actually loved it when I read it earlier this year. Till We Have Faces almost claimed that fifth spot - it was a close call. Obviously the writing is much better than Game of Thrones...oh dear, now you are making me rethink that fifth place entry. It's hard to chose just five...

Oh, and get this - Craig is doing ALL the wrapping this year as long as I will do the bows and ribbons!!!

Hi Mamie- (missed Morning Mamie) I love your best of the year list. I've read all 5 and agree all five deserve 5 stars, although I have to check "Their Eyes", which if not would be pretty close.
I've read 3 off the second list. "Empire" was my top read last year.

I was looking over my books, from the year and it's going to be very difficult making choices. I'll have to at least do 5 fiction, 5 NF.

I have the Colts on in the background. Looks like they are playing well. I think the Broncos were winning too!

Hi Mamie, it's Sunday so does that mean lots of football at the Pecan Paradiso? If so, hope your teams do well.

Loved your list of top reads, of which I have read none! I have a couple on my TBR so, one of these days ...

Now I have to hurry back to my thread and pick my top reads of 2013!

Mark - I stuck with fiction books that were new to me this year. Because the list said "favorite" and I do not enjoy reading non-fiction nearly as much as fiction, so while I gave "Empire" 4.5 stars and agree wholeheartedly that it is a fabulous read, it does not make my top five favorite reads - it would easily make my top ten best reads, if that makes any sense.

Yes Colts and Broncos both playing well today - I wish we could get one of those games. We are watching the Saints/Panthers game. Crazy weather there. And Brees has been sacked five times already!

We will be watching your Bears play tonight. Go Bears!

Judy - You snuck in while I was posting to Mark! Lots of football for sure here at the Pecan Paradisio, but we cannot get the games we would really like to see. I like to watch no matter who is playing, though, so I still tune in.

I'm shocked that you have read none of those top reads for me! I think on the LT listing I only had company in choosing Song of Achilles - none of the books I chose are recent, so I guess not shocking.

I'll stop by to see what you chose as your favorites!

We have made it through almost an entire year of Mondays together! Just one more after today, and then we get to start all over again. Oh, dear!

With Christmas just a few days away, I am happy to report that almost all of the wrapping has been finished here at the Pecan Paradisio. We just have a few gifts left, but we have run out of paper, so first we'll have to brave the store to get some more - YIKES! Craig has today and tomorrow off still, but he is on call for Christmas Day, which is usually not too bad since people don't call unless they have to. It has been nice having him around for the Christmas prep. With everything pretty much done, I am thinking we might try to sneak in a movie or two before the holiday.

On the reading front, I am about one third of the way into Longbourn, and I have to say that it is every bit as lovely as Joe said it was. Very well written, and I love that it doesn't try to address the main action of the Pride and Prejudice story - what we are getting here is the backstory, the behind the scenes stuff with an intriguing story line of its own. The original story is just a frame of reference. And it's very well done. I usually try to avoid any book that is a spin off of the original tale because Austen's Pride and Prejudice is perhaps my all time favorite book, but this one I could definitely recommend. SO far, at least. SO thank you, Joe, for a very enjoyable holiday read.

I just want to see a Christmas picture with the ENTIRE Pecan Paradisio clan.

Good luck braving the store for wrapping paper! It's at about this point that I would be searching around for "creative" wrapping paper, like the Sunday color comics, or leftover wallpaper, or store-label paper shopping bags that could be decorated to look Christmas-y... no stores, noooo!!! (Except the grocery store... that's my task ahead today, and I'm still not looking forward to that!)

So can I ask about holiday stockings? I am wondering how many of you do stockings and what types of things you put into them. Growing up, we always had stockings, and the wonderful thing about them was that we could get into them as soon as we were up on Christmas morning - no waiting around for others to dip into the holiday magic. They have always been one of my favorite parts of Christmas - better than the bigger gifts these small trinkets and favorite candies. Some of them were wrapped and some of them were just stuffed in there naked, but all of them were delightful surprises.

With my own children, I continued the stocking tradition, but I had to give up the best part - the you can open it as soon as you get up part. Creating a family means blending traditions or creating new ones - don't you just hate compromise?! Craig's family had a different stocking tradition - they opened their stockings all together. Takes some of the fun out of it, I think. I have such fond memories of being one of the first ones up and quietly investigating the contents of that sock. As a child, it was one of the few parts of Christmas that I had complete control over. And it was a quiet moment of wonder - no cameras, no staged smiles, no murmurs of gratitude, no expectations.

And Craig thinks that you're supposed to put fruit and nuts in there. And small practical items. Poor, poor baby that didn't get to grow up knowing that the stocking is all about whimsy and decadence. We both have parents that grew up during the Depression, so it is interesting that our Moms had completely different ideas about what to put into the Christmas stocking. Mine put all the things that she had dreamed about in there - candy and trinkets and goofy things like 3D glasses or silly putty. Craig's mom put in nuts and oranges and practical everyday stuff like Chapstick and pencils and socks.

So here is my question - do you have a stocking tradition, and if so, what do you put in them and when and how do you open them?

Morphy - That could be tricky - we'll see if we can do that for you, dear!

Faith - We have to go to the grocery, too! We don't take the paper, or I would totally do that! I am hoping to send Craig and Dan out for the paper. I did suggest using the leftover paper from Craig's birthday, but Craig did not want to do that, so I figure he can be the one to brave the store. I also have to hit the post office - YIKES! I went on Saturday, but believe it or not the local branch was closed - on the Saturday before Christmas!! They have one of those self serve machines there in the lobby, but the line for that was UNBELIEVABLE. And no one knew why that branch was closed.

We did stockings until the kids were grown. as they grew it went from crayons and flashlights and candy and tiny toys, to razors and lotion and nail polish and practical things .. and candy. Hershey kisses... and flashlights. I'm kinda OCD about giving flashlights.

Oh, I adore flashlights! Morning, Sis! The kids are doing each other's stocking this year - they wanted to try that, and they drew names. I am anxious to see what they chose to put in there! To be honest, I missed doing them - the little things that go in there are my favorite things to pick out. I usually just pick things up throughout the year as I see them or think of them. SO you stopped the stockings when they moved out?

I'm with you, Mamie. Stockings are my favorite part of Christmas. When we were kids, my sister and I would get up before our parents and open our stockings together. Little did she know that I had already been up and traded stuff out of my stocking for stuff in hers (nothing big but things like different candies or whatever.) most of our stocking was practical stuff - toothbrush, Chapstick, pencils, etc, but my Granny always made sure we had wrapped things in there too like toys or pretty jewelry as we got older. And there was ALWAYS an orange in the toe of the stocking.

Now that I'm married, I mostly do pure awesomeness and less practicality for the hubs stocking. Gift cards and DVDS and favorite candy, random little things I find, etc. unfortunately, he is not quite of the same mind and once put a family size shampoo and conditioner in my stocking. Needless to say there was little room for anything else. But I keep hoping my example and not so subtle hints will eventually lead him to creating an awesome stocking for me one day :-) as for when we open them, we spend Christmas at my MIL's and there is no set schedule (last year we didn't open stockings or gifts until about 4pm - WTH?!?!) but we do all open them together which I kind of hate.

Sorry you asked now? ;-)

>179 Crazymamie: Yay! Glad you're enjoying Longbourn, Mamie. If you've liked it so far, you're going to like it (and then some, I suspect) through the end. A top 5 book for me this year for sure.

We do stockings, too. Long story short, one nephew has his birthday on Christmas, so to keep some separation, we open presents with the clan (gathered at my dad's place) on Christmas Eve. Then we Chicagoans open 2-3 stocking presents on Christmas. They have to be small, of course. Maybe a paperback, and for my MBH, something like a cool necklace.

We have continued preparation at night for Santa's arrival, with cookies and milk, although most of the attendees have now reached ages where they express some skepticism. Too bad for them, as my MBH would say.

I am very bad at remembering gifts, either given or received. I was admiring a cocktail shaker I found in the bar last night, and was reminded I'd given it as a gift 20 years ago!

What I remember about stockings is that opening them was utterly devoid of adult supervision. Snacks were set on a table by the tree, for Santa of course, and the "leftovers" were fair game. SOMEhow our fireplace was always lit when I came racing downstairs to open my goodies. My much-older sisters professed surprise and amazement along with me. Then the carnage began. Not so much as a *finger* on the tree-side gifts, though! There was always something to keep me busy while the adults ate breakfast (one of my mother's feasts, those breakfasts). Once they'd had their fortification, on to the tree gifts!

What an orgy. Bliss and magic and the onerous duty of manners all in one intense morning. Lots of people, lots of food, and a long nap in the afternoon before The Dinner.

But it all began with the kid time, our only moment of kid time, before the adults made the rules again. Heavenly.

I always did stockings for my kids, and it was always what you describe, Mamie: fun little toys, candies, whatever silly little things I thought they might like. When I married my husband and we had our first Christmas with his family, his mother was surprised that I had expected we would all have stockings (I brought ones for my kids, and asked my husband where his was). His mother had stopped doing them for her kids when they got to be teenagers, I guess. She put together stockings to humor me, though ... and they were toothbrushes and chapstick and such. I was a little baffled.

Stockings were always the one thing that could be touched/opened on your own, without waiting for anyone. It's like being able to turn on the Saturday morning cartoons before your parents get up, you know?

We opened our stockings together and they were a mix of practical and magical. You'd get socks AND silly putty! You'd get pens and pencils but they would be fun ones like Barbie pencils or those "water globe" type pens. There would be candy but no nuts or fruit.

As I've said before, MrMorphy is a grinch, so no stockings now. :(

I had a very unchristmasy type of stocking as a child: it was a sort of huge sock that my grandfather had worn when he was in the navy in the First World War. It was a Christmas ritual to collect it from my grandparents each year. But as it was knitted it was quite stretchy so the things that went in it didn't have to be tiny, but there was always an orange and a couple of walnuts at the bottom. J has a sort of Christmas sack at the bottom of the bed. Stocking presents are always opened straight away - everything else has to wait.

rd.. I'm with you. I give a gift and it's out of myhead. I don't keep a tally of what was given and what was received. The fun part is giving.
then done.

Mamie, you have been the group's leading lady in terms of posts on your thread this year and it is not by accident. The Pecan Paradisio is a required and delightful stop-over for me and many others. You and your delightful family have added something special to the ambiance of the 75ers and it is great that your daughter is coming into the fold in 2014.
Have a wonderful Christmas dear lady. xx

Mamie, for only the silliest will do
Best wishes to you and yours for a very merry Christmas!

Morphy's description of opening stockings above is exactly how our family did it... and still does it, despite the fact that we're all adults! My parents have always put together stockings for each other too, and I always loved seeing them laugh and joke about what they put in each other's stocking.

My husband and I also do stockings for each other now as well, but he didn't grow up with the tradition, so he has a harder time putting one together for me. I can't get away from the "practical & magical" bit, and love to stuff his to the brim, but sometimes he just puts a few higher priced items in for me and calls it a day. And of course, I want to be grateful, but then I'm thinking "where's the silly putty?" Haha.

Hi Mamie,

A merry day to you and your family, Mamie.

The Cairo Affair is now placed solidly on my wish list. Perpaps in 2014.

Stockings: yes, we did have stockings. Right after WWII, when we were returning to the USA from three years in Occupied German, we had a Christmas somewhere in Kansas. I remember, vaguely, sleeping in bunk beds with my bro, in what seems like an unheated bedroom. Really, really, really cold. And the stockings were hung on our bed posts. Other years, we had stockings hanging on fireplace mantels, or wherever. There were oranges, nuts, and candies (candy canes, and hard candies) as well as maybe a small toy or two. We had red stockings with a white top and our names on them. I still have mine somewhere in amongst the few Christmas decorations I still have. This year: in storage.

I like Christmas traditions but am not finding many in my family who are willing to support the repetition so I'm letting go of them, largely. A little bit sad.

I am trying mightily to catch up with everyone before Christmas and wishing all a great holiday season!

Have a great Christmas & New year Mamie!

Happy Holidays to you and your family, Mamie! What a delightful thing it's been to keep up with you this year!

Oh, the sweet torment of waiting...

Thanks so much everyone for sharing your stocking stories! So glad to find that I was not alone in thinking that getting to investigate them without any adult supervision was a magical thing. That is the tradition that I miss the most from my childhood.

Katie - Your post had me laughing out loud, so, of course, the kids came to investigate - I read it aloud to them and they were delighted with you! They especially liked the part about the old switcheroo that you pulled - clever, clever girl!

Craig is still in the learning process, too. We have been married for 23 years, but he still does not quite get the magic of the stocking. I, too, have suffered through the year of the shampoo and conditioner! He tends to lean toward items that are too big for a stocking, so then he just leans the empty stocking beside the wrapped gifts. No, I say, that's cheating - the trick is to think of something that is good AND fits into the actual stocking. You have to be clever - you have to put thought into it. He rolls his eyes at me, but he keeps trying.

I am crossing my fingers that you get to open your gifts and your stockings before 4pm this year!

Joe - I am thinking that Longbourn is shaping up to break into my top 5 for this year. I cannot thank you enough because I never would have picked this up on my own.

Two of my sisters have December birthdays, and they always hated if they got birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas paper, but the worse was the dreaded double gift - this gift is for both birthday and Christmas. I was always thankful to have a June birthday that sits all by itself!

Growing up, my sister Julie would always give me a gift to open on Christmas Eve, which was usually delightful, but I distinctly remember that one year it was a slip - oh, the horror! I am guessing that I must have needed a new one, but still...

I have to agree with your MBH about the Santa skepticism - too bad for them.

Mamie, Happy Christmas to you and everyone at Pecan Paradisio. I hope Santa is good to you, and that you have a great reading year in 2014.

Richard - Love the story of the cocktail shaker! My memory is not what it used to me, but I can remember the gifts that for some reason stood out from the others - like the year of the slip!

Thanks for sharing those Christmas memories - that's how I remember it, too. Those magic early morning moments that were mine to control. The rest of the day was all about adult stuff - we had to pile in and out of the car to go visit everyone, and I always hated that because I just wanted to stay home and play with my new loot. I can remember one year that they were playing a tv marathon of A Christmas Carol - just running the same version of it over and over again. We kept tuning into it in the spare moments, and somehow it was always the very same part. SO surreal.

Ursula!! - So interesting how things we take for granted are nonexistent in other's lives. My MIL still did stocking for all of her grown kids and for the grandkids and for the inlaws for the first few years of our marriage, and they were painful. Pretty much just junk that she wanted to get rid of and fruit and nuts - no personal thought about the person receiving the stocking, and I didn't understand why she bothered. Thankfully, she phased these out just a few years after we were married, so we didn't have to suffer for long, but it gave me great insight as to why Craig didn't get the whole whimsy of the stocking.

Love the reference to turning on the Saturday morning cartoons - yes, exactly that kind of freedom and magic!

Morphy - Yep! Practical and magic! Pure delight! And I am so sad that you don't get a stocking now - MrMorphy won't do stockings?! Poor, poor baby. I'll have to keep my ears open for ideas throughout next year so that we can send you a stocking. 2014 is the Year of the Stocking, Morphy, so get ready!! And don't worry - I won't forget.

Rhian - I love that your stocking was your grandfather's navy sock!And that you had to collect it each year! What a great memory!! We have these hand-knit stockings that a good friend made for us, and I know just what you mean about the stretchy part. They are somehow never filled to capacity - like Mary Poppins' bag! We don't use them every year because they make me crazy getting things in and out of them, but the kids love those stockings the best. So thrilled that J gets to open the stocking presents straight away! Lucky boy!

Kathleen - Agreed. The fun part is the giving.

Paul - What a lovely message! Thank you so much for those sweet words and thoughts. I am thrilled to be a part of this group and am looking forward to another year of shenanigans and statistics with some reading thrown in! I can hardly wait!

Lynda - I LOVE that! Thank you!! Wishing you and your family a Christmas that is full of wonder and a New Year filled with fabulous!

Faith - Yep. That's how Craig's family did it, too. All together. My parents never did stockings for each other, and now I am wondering if my Dad had stockings when he was growing up and how they handled them. Oh, how I wish I could ask him. Why did I never think to ask him that? And your husband grew up with no stockings? Oh, the horror! Poor boy! And I so endorse your thoughts on the silly putty! There has to be something silly in there. It's required - you can look it up in Stockings, 101.

Diana - How ARE you?! Thanks for stopping by with those lovely wishes! Hoping that your holidays are magical!

Lucy - That is delightful!! It made me laugh out loud! A sleigh pulled by Corgis! (And one Corgi wannabe!) A Merry day to you and yours, too!

Karen - Hooray for The Cairo Affair! SO very good!

Sounds like you have some interesting stories to tell! I cannot imagine living in occupied Germany during WWII. I am sorry to hear that your stocking is in storage. So no takers on the stocking tradition in your family? That would be one tradition that it would make me sad to let go of. I try hard not to hang onto things or get too caught up in a particular way of doing things because I really want my own kids to feel free to embrace and continue the traditions that they love and let go of others. I want them to make their own traditions that reflect their own lifestyles and their tastes. Life is like that, I think, a constant reshaping...

Thanks so much for coming by to catch up and to share a bit of yourself. Always delighted to see you here! Happy holidays to you, dear, may they be filled with fabulous!

Rhian - Thank you! Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you, too!

Keri - Happy Holidays! And thank you for those kind words. I have been delighted by following your thread, too. Greatly looking forward to doing it all over again in the New Year!

Susan - Happy Christmas! I hope Santa is good to me, too! Wishing for you a Christmas that is full of wonder and a New Year filled with fabulous! Please eat one of those Pret's Christmas sandwiches for me - I cannot stop thinking about them!!

Best wishes to you, Mamie!


glitter-graphics.com

Terri - Oh, thanks for that! How lovely!

Merry Christmas Sweet Mamie!

May the Pecan Paradiso be truly a Christmas Paradise for all the family.

Thank you for the laughter, kindness, book bullets, and friendship. Thank you for our shared journey with Donna in the Spenser universe. It has been really fun. I look forward to our new adventures in 2014.

It is appropriate that I follow Roberta with my Christmas greetings. I have been enjoying the Spenser books so much…well, most of them! It helps reading with the two of you. Mamie, I hope you and your family have a blessed Christmas. My husband and I still fill each other's stockings, a tradition we started when we came up with an empty nest. When the kids were at home, it seemed like we would never be alone, and then, when we were, we had to come up with some new traditions. And then there were grandkids. Yay!


Ha! I got one of the names right! ;-)

Stockings are my favorite part of Christmas. Well, other than the lights.
Our stockings were always over-stuffed, mostly with chocolate and other delights. I have influenced P's family to take up the tradition.

Merry Christmas, dear Mamie!

Popping in to wish you and your family a simple marvelous Christmas, Mamie!

Dearest Mamie... I hope you and your family have an amazing Christmas tomorrow! Please send all my love to the entire gang! I love you!

Roberta - Thank you for those kind words! It has been so wonderful getting to know you better this year, and sharing those Spenser books with you and Donna has been so much fun. I cannot wait to see what our journey brings us next year. Merry Christmas to you and your lovely mother. Hoping that tomorrow brings wonderful surprises.

Donna - So true! Very fitting that you and Roberta should leave back to back posts. It has been great fun reading the Spenser books together, and while the bad ones were a struggle to get through, reading the rants that each of us posted more than made up for the trauma. I did learn my lesson with the audiobooks though. I love that you and your husband started the stocking tradition with each other to counter the empty nest - such a great idea to embrace a new tradition. I will have to remember the new tradition thing when Craig and I are left on our own. Wishing for you and your family a blessed Christmas also. May your holidays be filled with fabulous!

Ellen - Merry Christmas, my Sister! That cat is too funny!! I had a cat when I was younger, and one year she climbed the Christmas tree and knocked the entire thing over. And my mother, who never cussed, stood there looking at it and saying, "Well, shit," over and over again. That memory still makes me laugh!

Good for you for influencing P's family to take up the stocking tradition. Stocking are SO much fun!

Caro - LOVE that book tree! And thanks for those Christmas wishes. Hoping that yours is filled with fabulous!

Tam - Merry Christmas, dear! It has been fun seeing you on the threads this year. I am looking forward to getting to know you better in the new year.

Tina - I hope we are having an amazing Christmas tomorrow, too!! SO far no patients in the hospital for Craig to round on, so cross your fingers that it stays that way. That would be so very lovely. I promise to deliver your love to the entire gang here. Please give Lisa our love and take some for yourself. Getting to know you this year has been been an absolute delight. I look forward to sharing our reading journeys and our lives in the coming year. Merry Christmas, dear!

Merry Christmas, Mamie!

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!

Sending much Christmas love to the entire Crazymamie family!
Wishing a beautiful and joyous day to you!

Morning Mamie! I hope you are having a wonderful A.M. with the family, surrounded with love, gifts & merriment. I know that's our plan. Big Hugs!

Merry Christmas, Mamie!! (It's 11:40am here and no sign of any gifts or stockings being opened any time soon - sigh!)

I've been blessed this year in that, even though we didn't put up decorations, we still have them. How, you ask? Well, my mom sent us a two-foot balsam tree from Land's End - lights and decorations included. Then yesterday our neighbor came over. She had won a poinsettia but couldn't have it because of her cats. So she gave it to us! So now it looks all Christmas-y.

Have yourself a merry little book-filled Christmas!

Stockings are, indeed, so much fun. The only other big-time tradition in our family was that everyone should get at least one book for Christmas. One year, about a decade ago, I failed to ensure that my sister got a book (or, more likely several books) under the tree. She tried to be brave but it was so sad to see her moping about on Christmas Day, trying to only vaguely hint that her day wasn't as bright because she didn't have a new book into which to dig. I have never let this happen again. :-)

Mamie me lurve, where oh where is thy 2014 thread?

So, yesterday was pretty much perfect - a day spent exchanging gifts, eating fabulous food, and just hanging out reading or playing games with my very favorite people on the planet. What could be better? Life has been very, very good to me, and I spent yesterday soaking in it.

Book wise, I completely lucked out. Craig gifted me with lovely editions of Romeo and Juliet (my least favorite Shakespeare, but don't tell Craig) and Macbeth (I absolutely adore this one - it and Hamlet are my favorites). From the Santa Swap that was organized by Caro this year (thank you, Caro!) I received The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman, Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia Beach, Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson, and The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the last book has deckled edge pages!!! A huge thank you to Benita who was my Secret Santa this year! From Abby and Rae, I received gift certificates from Amazon - purchased on their own with their own money, which any mother of teenagers knows means "I love you".

Roni - Merry Christmas! I stopped by your thread yesterday, but you missed me. *sob* I think we cross posted.

Chelle! Happy holidays! My Christmas was indeed wonderful - thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Cee - Such a fun image! You got your wish - the day was full of beautiful and joyous! Thank you, dear.

Mark - The girls were up by 8am, but we had to wake up Daniel! He probably could have slept until noon. Oh, to be a teenage boy! We stretched out the opening of gifts - breaking for breakfast and for any calls that Craig had to take (he was on call). It was a lovely slow-paced Christmas Day. Hugs back to you, my friend!

Katie - Thanks for that! You poor baby - what time did you finally get to open gifts and stockings?

Morphy - That sounds so perfect! And what a lovely and thoughtful gift from your mom! Thanks for those wishes - I did receive a lovely bundle of books. Ah, bliss!

Ellen - Books were not part of our tradition growing up because the rest of my family were not big readers - oh, the horror! Books are definitely a big part of the festivities now, and I am happy to report that all of us are readers in earnest here. Birdy got a graphic novel and was reading it in between opening gifts! Abby got a slew of art books and was in heaven. I would be so very sad not to receive any books for Christmas, and like your sister, I would mope. Good for you for making sure it didn't happen again.

Richard - Brace yourself. I don't have a 2014 thread yet. Soon, dear. Very soon.

Mamie!! What madness is this?! The forum is rapidly filling and so many threads are up and you, delicate sensitive little fleur with a retiring, nay reserved, nature...

...

...waitaminnit...oh yeah...

Nevermind.

LOL! YOu crack me up, BigDaddy! Craig has the call schedule from Hell, so he had Christmas Day, then he has Fri/Sat/Sun, then New Year's Eve. I am guessing you will see my new thread appear in that weekend time slot.

>219 katiekrug: That is sooo cute! I may have to do that some year!

#225 - :-D

Yay! Sounds like you had a wonderfully Merry Christmas, indeed!!!

Tam - I know, right?!

Ellen - Richard is da Bomb, isn't he?!

Faith - It was! It was!

SO, I have finished Book #152: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This story never fails to delight me. Usually we read it together, but this year we missed out. I listened to it on audio. In the past, I have listened to Jim Dale reading it, and he does a fabulous job. This time, however, thanks to Citizenjoyce over at the TIOLI challenges, I listened to Neil Gaiman reading it. And it is WONDERful - and you can listen to it for free. Here is the link.

Egads! The Horror! Gaiman reading Chuckles the Dick...the only thing necessary to make it into my nightmare from hell is the background music is cats meowing. *convulsive shudder*

#230: I did not read A Christmas Carol this year, for the first time in I cannot remember how long. The girls and I used to listen to it together on audio or read it together every year. I will try and fit it in before the year is out - or my Christmas vacation from school is over, whichever comes first.

Happy Holidays, Mamie!

Hi! Happy New Book Reading Year! I am maybe going to have finished 33 books this last year. I am pretty sure I should be able to surpass that awesome number next year. What do you think? I might spend a little time on Saturday or Sunday at a local B&N and buy a couple of pretty kids books to read so I can have an "even" 36 books finished. #34 will be The Good Earth which I am finishing for the RL book group meeting in January. So a couple of pretty kids books would be just right. Not cheating, at all. Nope. It would be fair and square.

Your holidays sound as if they are progressing very well. Yay for that!

>230 Crazymamie:: I haven't read A Christmas Carol in ages, but if I can listen to it read by Gaiman, that will change immediately!

224 - What do you think caused you to become such a reader???

Oh, dear. Look, Richard, pecan pancakes! And they are for you!



Stasia - Yep. Us, too. Every year except this one we read it together or listened to it. I'm glad that I still squeezed it in on my own, and it works so well in audio format. Hoping that you are able to get to it!

Karen - Well, you did have a few things going on this year. Eye surgery and selling a home! SO, I say, HOORAY for 33 books read amidst all of that! There are some awesome kids' books out there, so go for it - I always love the beautiful illustrations. And I have The Good Earth in my stacks - you are reminding me that I need to get to it.

The holidays have treated me very nicely this year - New Years will just be quiet and at home as Craig is on call. I'm all for quiet and at home!

Faith - It was truly fabulous! Be sure to check it out. And free! You can't beat that!

Lucy - I had an incredible fifth grade teacher who loved to read and made it completely contagious. He had his own huge library in our classroom and a knack for matching kids with the perfect book. One of the first books that he handed me was Mary Poppins, and after that I was off and running. The Secret Garden, The One Hundred and One Dalmatians, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - it was all magic, and those books remain favorites of mine today.

Ooo pecan pancakes YUUUUMMMMMMM *gobblegobbleslurp*

And SOMEone's card made me sniffle a little when it arrived today. I name no names. *sniff*

Yummy!!! Pecan pancakes!!!

I'm catching up, Mamie. Sounds like you've been having a wonderful holiday. I liked the tale of your 5th grade teacher, too - those are most excellent ones he matched you up with. No doubt that contributed to the love of reading that you have to this day.

The ones you got for Christmas all intrigue me. At various times I've thought of reading The Teleportation Accident, Shakespeare and Company, and Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and I know nothing about The Glass Palace, but you've got me wondering about that one, too.

So glad you're having such a good time with Longbourn. It's an amazing piece of work, isn't it?

Oh Mamie, I must confess that I just skipped over all of the 239 messages above in order to add my very belated Happy Christmas wishes to you and your family. After this year I know that I have to pay close, close attention to you and Paul in order to have a prayer of being anywhere near caught up with the two of you. Your threads just seem to explode within 15 minutes of inception and they quickly get completely away from me.

>231 richardderus: ... while drinking tea...

Richard - See? Pancakes can fix almost anything! And SOMEone must love you very much to make you sniffle. *hands BigDaddy a hankie*

Tam - That's exactly how I feel about them. Exactly.

Charlotte - Lovely to see you here! And thanks for those holiday wishes! Skipping is perfectly fine - you do not have to keep up. The threads get away from me all the time. That's why the beginning of a new year is so magical - there is the hope of keeping up!!

Morphy - *snerk*

Joe - I just realized that I skipped you when answering posts. So very sorry! We did have a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying a break from studies, although poor Craig is working just as usual - he did have several days off before Christmas, so that was fabulous.

My fifth grade teacher, Mr. Costa, was indeed fabulous. That is when my reading really took off. Just goes to show you that it only takes one person and the magic of the right book. For me, Mary Poppins started it all.

I was delighted with my Christmas books - Benita did a great job! The Teleportation Accident was on my WL doe to Richard's fabulous review of it, Shakespeare and Company made it because I am fascinated by that moment in time that was occupied by The Lost Generation, Behind the Scenes at the Museum because of Lucy and others here - and I loved Case Histories by that same author when I read it earlier this year, and The Glass Palace because I really enjoyed Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke by that author.

And Longbourn...*sigh*...I am closing in on the end and dragging it out because I don't want it to be over. This is going to break into my top five of the year for sure. I can't thank you enough for recommending it! What a gem!

>241 Morphidae: *corpsetwitch*

#243: That is when my reading really took off. Just goes to show you that it only takes one person and the magic of the right book. For me, Mary Poppins started it all.

For me, it was Charlotte's Web when I was 8. I still have my copy of the book - the first I ever bought for myself.

Charlotte's Web was the first book that ever tore my heart out, stomped on it, and lit the bloody gobbets on fire in front of my face.

Such an excellent book.

#246: Yes, it is. To this day, I still love it.

Richard - I love how you talk!

- Oh...*sigh*...Charlotte's Web! I LOVE that book. What a great memory, Stasia, and even better that you still have that same copy. Most of my books were borrowed, so I have purchased them as an adult, but they are not those magic volumes that inspired a lifetime love of reading.

Richard - Yep. Excellent book. "Some pig".

Stasia - Me, too. Some books are just completely transcendent like that. You are never too young or too old for them.

The book is pretty much just taped together now (it is, after all 43 years old!), but I would not part with it for worlds. Amazing how such a small thing as a book can transform, isn't it?

Yes. Because words are powerful things. And sometimes books speak to you when no one else does. The only book that I have from my childhood is The Wednesday Witch - a precious order from Scholastic. Like you, I would not willingly part with it. Funny how small things always seem to make the biggest impact.

Morning Mamie! Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you have a R & R weekend planned. I plan on getting your "books" out early next week. You should be pleased...

Charlotte's Web is one of the few children's books that I've re-read as an adult that the suck fairy didn't get to.

Morning Mark - Christmas was very good here at the Pecan Paradisio. The weekend should be relaxing for everyone except Craig, who is on call, poor baby. Looking forward to the books - I promise to be pleased!

Morphy - It does stand up to a reread. I know just what you mean because it is so disappointing to reread something that you loved when you first read it, only to discover that the magic is gone when you try it again.

Oh my goodness! Will you lookee here. A quaint, old-fashioned 2013 thread still putt-putting along despite the fact that all the *serious* people have 2014 threads already up and running.

My, my.

HA!!

I love the old timey car! Putt putt putting along.

Don't give in to Richard's peer pressure, Mamie! Some of us are happy to be still hanging out here in 2013.

Richard - I knew you would like it!

Karen - I love old photos like that!

Julia - LOL! My 2014 thread will probably go up some time this weekend because that is when I have time to do it. I'm not ready yet, though.

Mamie I am not putting up my new thread until tomorrow. I have one more book to reach 100 and I'm halfway through it. Then, and only then, will I move forward.

Mamie, I love your comments about your fifth grade teacher. What a gift he gave you!
I was raised in a reading family (well, mostly -- my father was an English professor so that's that; my mom didn't read much now that I think about it -- but in any case, I was raised with books all around and very much encouraged to read). I do wish I had been encouraged somehow, by someone, to expand my reading horizons earlier in my life. My dad encouraged me but not very effectively. My sister, bless her heart, introduced me to mystery novels when I was in high school and that passion took off immediately. Whew.

I caved in and put up my new thread today. But I'll track whatever last bit of reading I do this year on this year's thread.

>253 Crazymamie: The suck fairy got to Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I ADORED that book as a child but, dear lord, it's an awful book. Sanctimonious bull-puckey with lots! of! exclamation! points!

Roberta - My 2014 thread will go up today. Soonish. But I am still reading for 2013.

Ellen - Before fifth grade, I mostly read books when I needed to - you know, to learn things, so non-fiction. My fifth grade teacher opened up a whole new world for me by showing me that reading can be fun. And the key for me was that it could also take you places that you could never go on your own. Magic. Pure magic. And hooray for the sister with the mysteries - I discovered those in middle school, and I have never stopped loving those kinds of books. Give me a good mystery, or better yet a thriller, and I am set.

Still not quite ready for the new thread - almost.

Morphy - For me, it was All of a Kind Family - YIKES! I loved it as a child, but it was just awful when I tried rereading it several years ago. And Abby read it and said, "Are there more books like that? Because I want to avoid them!"

Morning Mamie- You picture in #255, really cracked me up. I started my 2014 thread, because I had the time, although I still have at least one more 2013 read in me.
What a great year, right? And to share it with my best book pals? Priceless!
We are planning on seeing Catching Fire before the Bears/Packers game starts.

MOrning, Mark! We liked Catching Fire - I thought they did a good job with it for having to trim the story down to that time frame. And yes - an excellent year this has been.

I am trying not to think about the mountains of books, I want to read next year. It is like climbing Everest. I want to hyperventilate. I am so fortunate I have my audios, to supplement my reading, otherwise I would be sunk.

*hands Mark a paperbag* I know that feeling!! So many possibilities with an entire new year ahead of us, and yet there won't actually be any more hours than we had this year. LOL! I rearranged the bedroom book case to accomadate my plans for this year - see how hopeful I am?

I proudly read 170 books but my TBR shelves hardly budged. I think the main contributing factor is, is reading so many new books, more than any past year and I still have a decent number I did not get to. I am not complaining though. This was a banner year for book releases. No question.

Mark - You think you have problems choosing - look at my TBR list for heaven's sake!

I have organised my reading for the first month of next year but I am loathe to list it down as yet because it will probably change the minute I buy something else.

Trust that you are having a lovely weekend, my dear.

Mark - I have read 153 books so far, but I purchased over 200, so... Totally agree that this was a banner year for book releases.

Paul - Right. Just when I was starting to panic, here comes the man who purchased more than 1100! See? I feel better now.

I like to organize my reading for the month, list it, and then totally ignore the list and go with what I feel like! That's my strategy, and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks for those weekend wishes! So far, so good! Hope yours is going well.

" look at my TBR list for heaven's sake!"

Okay, Paul, that brought me back to reality! Thank you!

Mamie- 200, huh? That is a hefty number. I must be a sneaky at book acquiring. I don't think I bought more than a couple of dozen, if that.

I probably read 70-80% of the books I plan to read, any given month, which still leaves me wiggle room for a few surprises.

Yes, Mark, yes, 200 is a hefty number. Actually 230 (at the moment - the year is NOT over). My goal is to work on reading a lot of those in the coming year.

I think I'm fairly done for 2013. I was hoping to get in Watchmen but it is still in transit and I have two busy shifts ahead of me Monday and Tuesday. If I get to it I'll post it in 2013 but I am probably going to put up my 2014 thread late today.

You did read some really amazing books this year Mamie.

It's been a great reading year for many of us. I read more books this year than last (by a few), but will probably never feel I've read enough. So very many I wish to get to - so many I have not heard of yet that will tempt me sorely next year. I love knowing the stuff of my addiction will never run out :-)

Roberta - I am still hoping to finish up one or two more. We'll see - depends on how much reading time I can snag. My 2014 thread is up - I'll post the link in a moment. And yes - it was an excellent year of reading for me. So many truly great books.

Cee! You're back!! SO lovely to see you! We can never read as many books as we want to, right?! It sure is fun trying, though. I am completely thrilled with my 153 books read for the year - it's my most ever. "I love knowing the stuff of my addiction will never run out." Me, too!!

Okay, my 2014 thread is up - Mamie's 2014 Madness

I love reading through your thread...such lively conversations and laughter.

Congratulations of reading so many wonderful books in 2013.. Looks like you purchased many. I confess that I went a little crazy in book buying this year. Now that I'm home for a few months recovering from surgery, I admit that I realize books have taken over the house. Will is patient, but my goal in 2014 is really to read more and buy less.

I hope to visit your thread more often in 2014. In the meantime, know that you are a blessed delight for the group and I'm so glad you found us.

Linda - Thank you so much for that lovely message! I promise to visit your thread more in 2014 - you have my word. And I know what you mean about the book buying - I have my purchases listed on my 2014 thread, and one of my goals for the new year is to read as many of them as possible. Some of them I did buy specifically to read in the New Year - like the George Orwell books and the Michael Connolley books. Others I bought because I knew I would eventually read them and the price was good. I hope to read more and purchase less, but I am not making any promises in that area - I know myself too well!

Well! I had a great year, too. And I read 36 books, averaging 3 per month. Even when I had weeks and weeks where I did not get to do any reading. Weird. Next year should be more relaxed. I'll only have one house to take care of, and only a few hours a day with kids. Much more free time. I hope.

Happy New Year, Mamie, to you and yours!

Hey, Karen! SO glad that your year was excellent. I think you did great especially with everything that you had going on this year - talk about busy! Hoping that you get that extra free time that you are wanting. And a very Happy New Year to you, dear!

Thank you!

You're welcome!