Clue 2014 75 Challenge

This is my first year in this group. My overall goal for the year is 80. Wow, there is a lot going on in this group and my little head is spinning! As my nephew's little one says "I can't figger it", but I'll nose around some more eventually get it "figgered" out.

January:

1. A Trick of Light by Louise Penny
2. Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
3. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
4. Longbourn by Jo Baker 4 stars
5. When Gods Die by C.S. Harris
6. Death of a Dustman by M.C. Beaton
7. By A Slow River by Philippe Claudel 4.5 stars
8. The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles by Katherine Pancol
9. Dead Cert by Dick Francis
10. Henrietta Sees It Through by Joyce Dennys

February:

11. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
12. A Play of Issac by Margaret Frazer
13. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley 4 stars
14. The All Girl Filling Station by Fanny Flagg
15. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt 4.5 stars

March:

16. Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark by Bill Dedmon 4 stars
17. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
18. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
19. The Good American by Alex George
20. A Story Lately Told by Anjelica Huston
21. Death of a Cad by M.C. Beaton
22. Shadows At the Fair by Lea Wait

April:

23. Still Life With Breadcrumbs by Anna Quindlen
24. Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo 4.0
25. State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy
26. Poets Corner by John Lithgow 4.0
27. The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas
28. Death of a Perfect Wife by M.C. Beaton

May:

29. The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
30. Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico
31. Mrs. 'Arris Goes to New York by Paul Gallico
32. Chapter and Hearse by Lorna Barrett
33. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
34. Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy
35. Masquerade In Venice by Velda Johnston
36. Death of a Hussy by M.C. Beaton

June:

37. The Foundling - Georgette Heyer
38. The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy
39. Mrs. Lincoln's Rival by Jennifer Chiaverini
40. What Makes Olga Run by Bruce Grierson
41. Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
42. Margarita Wednesdays by Deborah Rodriguez

July:

43. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
44. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayer
45. Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton
46. Kabul Beauty School by Laura Rodriguez
47. Margarita Wednesdays by Laura Rodriguez

August:

48. An Auctioneer's Lot by Philip Serrell
49. Death of a Prankster by M. C. Beaton
50. Double Booked For Death by Ali Brandon
51. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
52. The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborn, Jr
52. Her Own Place by Dori Sanders

September:

53. Wild: From Lost To Found On The Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
54. A Venetian Reckoning by Donna Leon
55. A Novel Way To Die by Ali Brandon
56. Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
57. Lucky Us by Amy Bloom
58. The Partner by John Grisham

October:

59. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
60. Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy
61. The Promise by Ann Weisgarber
62. Civil War Hospital Sketches by Louisa Mae Alcott
63. Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry

November:

64. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
65. China Dolls by Lisa See
66. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
67. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

December:

68. Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
69. Silks by Dick Francis and Felix Francis
70. Wheat Belly by William Davis
71. A Redbird Christmas by Fanny Flagg
72. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
73. The Christmas Tree by Julie Salamon
74. Maeve's Times by Maeve Binchy
75. A Highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton

Welcome to the group, Luanna!

Welcome! Enjoy the group!

Hi Luanna! Welcome, I'm a newbie too. Happy reading. 😃

Welcome! It can be a little overwhelming a first, but things will settle down a bit by the end of January. Two suggestions to help integrate:
- Join a group read or a monthly themed read and talk about your reading.
- Jump in on folks' threads where your interests connect

Have fun this year!

Hey, I found and starred you!

Hi Connie, I'll find you too! I don't think I'm going to list January reading until the end of the month. I'm leaving town Thursday to go to a book festival in Texas and adding a few days to the trip to visit friends in the area.

Ten completed in January. Favorites of the month:

Longbourn by Jo Baker 4 stars
By A Slow River by Philippe Claudel 4.5 stars

Checking in to see what you've been reading!

The Claudel looks very good. You got me with that one!

Five completed in February with 4 others almost done, I've jumped around from book to book the last couple of weeks. I don't usually do that but after finishing The Goldfinch I've been unsettled. Still thinking about it!

Favorites of the month:

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley 4 stars
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 4.5 stars

>23 clue: Clue hope to see you back posting again soon. One of the problems when we read an affecting chunkster is that it does tend to flavour our reading for a while to come.

Have a lovely weekend.

March: completed 7 with the book below the favorite.

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedmon

Huguette Clark died at 105 in 2009 with an estate of over $300 million. She was very eccentric and had been a recluse for much of her adult life. After being admitted to Doctors Hospital in NYC for treatment of cancer on her face, she refused to leave and lived in the hospital for her last 20 years, paying about $20K a month for "rent". She had outlived most of two generations in her family, and at the time of her death had only minimal contact with a few family members. The family found fault with her will, and with the fact that she had given large sums of money throughout her life to friends, employees and their family members. Her nurse for the last 20 years had been given over $30 million during those decades with additional gifts being given to the nurse's husband and children. Know of any nurses driving a Bentley to work? When the book was published in 2013 the estate had not been fully settled. In addition to the issues of money there were also several mansions in the estate and most of them Huguette had not visited in decades if she had visited them at all. The question is of course, where does eccentricity stop and incompetence begin and where on the scale did Huguette fall?

I can't believe I hadn't been reminded of this until now. Shortly before I joined our public library board the library was the beneficiary of $1 million from an estate. No one involved in the library leadership knew the woman whose estate it was or even knew she existed. She had lived in our city as a child but had not lived here in 40 or so years. Some of us did remember her brother, an eccentric if ever there was one. He owned a lot of commercial property in town but lived in the same city she did. He was well remembered for fighting against the library at one time because he didn't want it receiving funds for a new roof although rain was coming in. He was also known for his attire, always denim overalls. When he was in town overnight he would park his old pickup outside a hotel on the main street and roll his spare tire into the hotel for safekeeping. The woman did not have children but did have a couple of nephews. They had not been left any money but her dogs had. She left $1 million for their care. The will was contested of course. The library director and board took the high road and did not participate in the resolution in any way. After about 4 years the estate was settled and the judge ruled the woman was in sound mind and the will would stand as written. I was on the board by the time the check came, you can only imagine the jubilation!

>26 clue: - Sounds like the brother and sister were good examples of the eccentric rich!

Wow, that's really great! What a story!

>26 clue: The lady was undoubtedly of sound mind if she was donating to libraries!

Trust that your weekend has been a great one complete with a fabulous Mother's Day.

Wow, over a month since I've posted! I've had family responsibilities the last few months that have kept me very busy and I have not read or posted as much as usual. My sister stayed at my house for 10 weeks as she recovered from knee surgery, my brother and sil visited from out of state for 2 weeks, I planned and hosted a 100th birthday celebration with over 100 invitations issued (the second 100th birthday in our family for the year!) and when the tornado hit central Arkansas a dear friend was injured and I made several trips to LR (3.5 hours away) to sit with her while she was in the hospital (she's doing well now). What a Spring!

I did manage some reading though most was light. The favorites in April were:

Poets' Corner by John Lithgow
Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

Busy month for you Clue! I'm glad your friend and your sister are doing better.

And that birthday, WOW, a 100 years old.

Well, I've done little posting this year but have read 75 books. I retired in Sept 2013 and thought I would have endless hours to read. Nope, not even close. Even when I was working 50+ hour weeks I found time for volunteer work. Now that I'm retired I've devoted as much time as possible to various agencies that serve low income people, but have decided after a year that I should cut back a bit. I have resigned from teaching (as a volunteer) ESL classes because they take so much time both in the classroom and out and my term ended on 2 boards. I will continue being a docent at the Fort Smith National Historic Site (a National Park that includes a museum), with filing taxes for low income families at no cost to them (Feb through April), and for the same agency, assist anyone on Medicare in choosing a Part D insurance plan (for pharmaceutical needs, Oct and Nov. ). I'm an officer in the local League of Women Voters and in Altrusa, a service organization with a focus on literacy (our annual fundraiser made $26,000 for adult literacy programs this year). So I'll do those things and see how this year goes, I have plenty of personal projects to fill any gaps in time!. I'll rejoin the challenge for 2015 and make an effort to post more!

Oh, and my favorites this year were Longbourn and The Goldfinch. I should also include The Name of the Rose I suppose although it was a reread.