drneutron's 2014 Reading - Sixth Time Around

New Thread! Here's the summary to number 75:

Five Equations that Changed the World: The Power and Poetry of Mathematics
The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World
Hellboy, Vol. 2: Wake the Devil
Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America
The Twelve
Death Comes for the Archbishop
The Hunters' Haunt
The Shadow of the Soul
Big Machine: A Novel
Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
New Earth
The Final Descent
Maze
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Netherworld
The Perfect Theory: A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity
Hellboy, Vol. 4: The Right Hand of Doom
The Necromancer's House
1491
Trapped Under The Sea
Hellboy, Vol 3
Fiddlehead
Divine Fury
Black Light
Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life
All the Pretty Horses
The Aleppo Codex
The Resurrectionist
The Sorceress
The Third Gate
A Dance of Cloaks
A Wanted Man
A History of Ancient Egypt
Just One Damn Thing After Another Spies, Patriots and Traitors The Necromancer Locke&Key: Alpha and Omega White Nights My Life Among the Serial Killers The Bedlam Detective The Martian Red Bones A Natural History of Dragons Prayer Blue Lightning Dark Eden The Crossword Century Raising Stoney Mayhall Broken Homes Bonhoeffer Crusoe
Dead Water
The Mist in the Mirror
City of Dark Magic
A Symphony of Echoes
City of Lost Dreams
Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Enemies: A History of the FBI
Something More Than Night
Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America
A Fair Maiden
Shadows in the Vineyard
The Warlock
The Sixth Gun, vol 5
Fetch the Devil: The Sierra Diablo Murders and Nazi Espionage in America
House of the Hunted
Chew, vol 8
Lovecraft’s Monsters
The Rock Hole
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
The Sixth Gun, vol 6
Through the Woods
The Sixth Extinction
Sex with Kings
Malice

Some stats:
Total Books - 75

Author Gender
Male - 53 (69%)
Female - 24 (31%)

Living/Dead
Living - 75 (97%)
Dead - 2 (3%)

Medium
Hardback - 25 (33%)
Paperback - 26 (35%)
eBook - 24 (32%)

Category
Fiction - 54 (72%)
Nonfiction - 21 (28%)

Source
Public Library - 60 (80%)
My Library - 15 (20%)

Misc
ARCs - 8
Rereads - 4
Series - 37

Publication Year
2014 23
2013 17
2012 8
2011 6
2010 3
2009 5
2007 1
2006 1
2005 1
2004 3
2003 1
1999 1
1996 1
1995 1
1992 2
1927 1

Hi Jim, nice new thread my friend.

Happy New Thread, Jim.

I haven't the faintest idea what it is, but it came up when I googled "gift basket books" and it's weirdly fascinating.

Happy new thread!

Checcddddking in.... congrats on your 75!

^^^^ that is what happens when a cat helps you type

Happy New Thread Jim! Sorry I lost track of the last one. I'll try to do better with this one. And congrats on 75!

Thanks everyone, and Richard, that's odd, but oddly beautiful!

>4 richardderus: Oooh, it's a mini-Milky Way Sundae! Yum.

Happy New Thread, Jim!

Happy new thread and 75! :-)

Interesting stats - I like the 'date published' one especially. Shows a definite bias for shiny new!

I might have to investigate that and see where I land. all over the place I expect!

Thanks, everyone! Glad you stopped by.

>11 sibylline: I tend to get books from the new books shelf at my library, so definitely weighted to the new and shiny. :)

Happy new thread, Jim! I like that year of publication stat too. I'd borrow the idea but I'd never be organized enough to keep it up.

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread!

Jim, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Hey Jim! Congrats on 75 and a spanking new thread!

Thanks, everyone!

76. The Solitary House by Lynn Shepherd

Charles Maddox is a washed-up former detective in Victorian London, now taking cases as a private investigator. On finding a man threatening a wealthy and powerful banker, Maddox discovers that he's been completely fooled - those he thought were in the right may not be such good people, and there may be a high price to pay for meddling in the affairs of those more powerful.

Shepherd mashes up elements of Bleak House and The Woman in White with her own plot to make a pretty good gumbo of a book. Having read Dickens and Collins adds to the experience, but even without that it's a cracking good book.

Jim! I missed the end of your last thread until now and missed congratulating you on the big 75! Belated kudos!

Hi Jim! Congrats on making it to 75 well ahead of schedule.

Congrats on 75, a new thread and for hitting me with a book bullet for The Solitary House!

Happy New Thread!! Congrats on 75!! And nice review on 76. : )

Not sure how The Solitary House had ended up on my wishlist, and I usually keep notes on such things, but it just mysteriously was there already. I've now added you as a recommender. Have you read her first novel in the series, Murder at Mansfield Park?

>25 Smiler69: I haven't, but it's on my queue. I found Solitary House on Overdrive, but the first and third aren't there. Which means a trip to the library to grab paper copies. First world problem, I suppose! :)

Which means a trip to the library to grab paper copies. First world problem, I suppose!

I know what you mean! :-)

77. Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill

Cargill starts with the classic fairy changeling story, builds an intricate and fascinating world and characters, then tells a horrific and heartbreaking story. The title's apropos - there's a dreamlike quality to the writing that really makes it for me. Every now and then, Cargill touches on maudlin, but while that knocks off a star in my rating, it doesn't spoil the experience.

Belated congrats on reaching 75, Jim!

Dreams and Shadows sounds really interesting to me! Onto ye ol' wish list. :)

So, because I'm a weirdo, I looked for images under "new thread." Yes, I know it's no longer a new thread. But it's new for me because I'm so far behind...

Cool! And you're my kind of weirdo. :)

Belated congratulations, Jim!

>30 Morphidae: >31 drneutron: I dunno, doc; I'd be careful ...

78. Thomas Quick: The Making of a Serial Killer by Hannes Rastam

Back in 1995, a patient held in a Swedish forensic psychiatric facility after being found guilty of sexual abuse and other crimes began a new therapy. Over the next several years, what came out of these sessions was a series of confessions to some of the more mysterious unsolved murders in Sweden and Norway at the time. For various reasons, technical evidence linking Thomas Quick - a name adopted by the patient/prisoner - to the murders was skimpy, but Thomas knew details of the murders that only someone who had been there would know and was able to lead investigators through accurate recreations of scenes. Based on his confessions and these details, he was found guilty of eight murders and sentenced to be held for life in the facility.

But the new therapy was based around recovering repressed memories. And there were problems with the stories Thomas told. Initially, he'd get lots of details wrong and as questioning by detectives went along, he was able to recover more and more accurate details. Using the reasoning that the memories were painful for Thomas and that in recovering the memories he unintentionally changed things to make them less painful, police excused his performance - and didn't tell the courts about these early interviews that were so wrong. Plus, Thomas was heavily medicated, and by heavily medicated, I mean hammered with high doses of benzodiazepine, to the point of incoherence for extended periods of time. Eventually two camps squared off around Thomas; either he was lying about the murders for any of a number of reasons, or he was a prolific and horrific world-class killer.

Hannes Rastam, an investigative journalist, came to the story to late in the game. In the early 2000s, he contacted Thomas and became convinced that Thomas was not guilty, but was instead manipulated by folks who stood to gain by the story - police investigators, psychiatrists, therapists, defense attorney, all who made their careers over Thomas' story. At the end of the day, Rastam's work got all the convictions against Thomas overturned. His book is a pretty fascinating look at the Swedish criminal justice system - but also a fascinating look at the issue of repressed memories and what to do with them. During this same time frame, the US system also dealt with cases of repressed memory recovery shown later to be false, and this is a well-written, solid example of just how tricky it can be depend on memory for justice.

Please, join Diana (Wilkiec)'s thread. She needs our support. Thanks a lot.

>34 drneutron: I am not normally a fan of true crime, but this one sounds terrific.

I"m trying to catch up after being away on vacation for two weeks--a short new thread is just the way to do it!

For those who haven't seen it, the Halloween thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/181003#

Jim, I wish you a lovely Sunday.

And a couple more by the end of September...

79. Queen of the Dark Things by C. Robert Cargill

Sequel to Cargill's Dreams and Shadows, a pretty good urban fantasy set in Austin, Texas, that draws from European and Australian cultures to flesh out an interesting world. This one's better than the first, at least for me, but both are good. Any plot summary would give away way too much of the first book, so just trust me on this one, ok? :)

80. The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield: A Tragedy of the Gilded Age by H. W. Brands

I quite liked H. W. Brands' Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times, so when I saw his book on the Jubilee Jim Fisk on Overdrive, I thought I'd check it out. Fisk was one of those Gilded Age railroad barons that personified Gilded Age greed and excess. Along with Jay Gould, he used the Erie railroad as a personal bank, and cheated and dirty-dealt his way to a fortune by his early 30s. Along the way, he picked up a mistress - Josie Mansfield - who eventually fell in love (or lust) with a younger man associated with Fisk's financial dealings. Now, either she and Stokes plotted to first blackmail, then murder Fisk or Stokes shot Fisk after being hounded, then ruined by him financially. It took three trials, but eventually Stokes' fate was determined - but I won't spoil the ending for those who might want to read the story.

Brands is a decent writer of history, but this book is part of the "American Portraits" series, so eventually just feels a bit perfunctory. It's short - less than 200 pages - and could have been expanded into a more detailed, more deep look at Fisk and his times. Still, if you're not so familiar with Gilded Age New York, this isn't a bad way to start.

>34 drneutron: That sounds like a fascinating read. And I don't like true crime either!

Okay, book bullet! I've wish listed Dreams and Shadows on your say-so.

I also read the Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times last year and thought it good. Not a period of history I know overly much about Jim so I'll probably go and look it up. Have a great week dear chap.

Jim, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

Thank you!

Many (belated) congratulations on reaching 75! Bravo you!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

81. The Empire of Sin by Gary Krist

Back in the early 90's, I was in New Orleans and spent an evening on a restaurant balcony overlooking Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. There were strip joints and live music venues all around, and watching the goings-on was absolutely fascinating. We saw at least two drug deals, a couple making a deal for sex, and a near fist fight between the barkers for a live sex show featuring women and a place with female impersonators. I couldn't help but think that Storyville in the late 1890s and early 1900s must have been just like this.

See, New Orleans has always been a pretty loose place, vice-wise. And about 1890, the city leaders - the morality crowd, anyway - decided that something needed to be done to clean up the city, if nothing else than to make it easier to get Northern investment money. Of course, there were people profiting pretty well from the vice going on all over town, and they weren't going to let the gravy train just stop. So a section of the city was set aside where prostitution, drinking and gambling were legal, or at least tolerated. Gary Krist's The Empire of Sin gives the history of Storyville's rise and fall, and the decades long fight between the forces of morality and those who ran the "dens of iniquity". Along the way we get to touch on organized crime through the Italian Black Hand kidnapping rings and the beginnings of the Mafia in the city, the birth of jazz in the bordellos and dance halls, and even an axe murderer serial killer (or maybe not)!

It's an interesting time, and sounds a whole like some of the culture wars today. Krist is pretty good at tying all the various strings together into a coherent history. Makes me want to go back for a visit!

Sounds like a good read. I haven't ever been to New Orleans. I'm more the type who has to see a place first to get wildly interested in it.

I also spent my honeymoon at a B&B on Bourbon Street many years ago. Having spent some time in Louisiana got me interested in the city and the region!

Happy memories, I'm sure! That would certainly make one fond of a place.

Hey DrNeu, is there a Halloween thread this year? (too lazy to look)

Yup. http://www.librarything.com/topic/181003

82. Children of the Night by Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons' take on Dracula. As with most of his books, this one's pretty well written, with a nicely driving plot. His vampire concept is well worked out. I was a bit lost in some of the technical aspects of the plot, but even with this minor difficulty, Children of the Night is very fun.

Hello drneutron :) I saw on top of your thread that you read The Twelve this year what were your thoughts on this second installment?

>53 drneutron: Has been sitting alongside a couple of his other books forever on my TBR. Maybe this month for the Halloween thread :)

Thanks for the Halloween link, I have several books by Dan Simmons he's a fav.

>54 drachenbraut23: Yep, I read it earlier this year and really liked it. The story took some interesting turns and I'm looking forward to the next!

>55 beeg: no problem! The list is pretty good this year.

So very late to your "new" thread. YIKES! Anyway, I'm here. And I added The Solitary House to my WL, so thanks for that! Happy Thursday to you!

Nice review of Empire of Sin, Jim. Your comments remind me of the first time I visited the French Quarter in 1978, just after my parents drove me to New Orleans for my freshman year at Tulane. I'll never forget being fascinated and shocked by the gaudiness of the Quarter, especially the clubs on Bourbon Street. I'll definitely add this book to my wish list.

>52 drneutron: I didn't know there WAS a Halloween thread, but it sounds like fun and I am off to check it out. Your book review made me me miss New Orleans. Well, actually I have been thinking about it anyhow because I am reading Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital about the aftermath of Hurricana Katrina. Hope you have a great weekend. ; )

Jim, I wish you a lovely autumn weekend.

Guess I need to check out this Halloween thread . . .

83. The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan

Continuation of Lady Trent's fictional memoir of her life as a naturalist studying dragons in a fictional Victorian near-Earth. As with the first, the world is well-thought out, and I really like both the characters Lady Trent - the older one "writing" the memoir and the younger she's writing about. This volume is less about societal restrictions and Isabelle's growing up, and more about her coming into her own as a scientist and explorer. Highly recommended, but start with the first!

>62 drneutron: Lady Trent's Memoirs sounds like a fun series, I'm adding them to my wishlist.

Hi Jim! Glad to see you enjoyed The Empire of Sin. I recently listened to City of Scoundrels, which was also very good. He is a solid NF writer.

BTW- I loved Station Eleven. It might be your cuppa. Did you find a copy of the latest Murakami? I am blowing through it quickly. It's fast and enjoyable.

>63 DeltaQueen50: excellent!

>64 msf59: Yep, more of his stuff is definitely on my list. Station Eleven does sound good - gotta track it down. Haven't picked up the Murakami yet, but I will!

Jim, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

Thanks!

84. Baltimore,: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden

Henry Baltimore, an English Lord and captain stationed in the trenches of the Great War, leads his men on a suicidal charge to gain a few inches of territory from the Hessians. All his men are killed, and a plague of vampires is awakened. Years later, three men who have been involved in significant events in Henry's life are each summoned to meet in a gray, downtrodden inn to wait for Henry to arrive; they pass the time by telling their stories.

Creepy, dark and filled with atmosphere, Mignola and Golden have created a collection of stories and woven them into an arc that builds to a very good finish. The feel mixes Hellboy - especially the artwork accompanying the story - with more traditional horror to really good effect. A fine choice for Halloween!

Great review of Empire of Sin, Jim. Like everyone else, this brought back quite a few memories of my own times in the French Quarter. Seems it's a place few forget, eh? Great review.

Nice scary Halloween read with >68 drneutron:!!!

Hoe all's well here with you.

>68 drneutron: - Creepy, dark and filled with atmosphere sounds fantastic but .... vampires? Well, at least it isn't zombies so I probably still consider adding that one to my future reading list! ;-)

85. Beowulf by J. R. R. Tolkien

Frankly, I like the Heaney translation better, and that's the one I'll go back to for re-reads. Buuut, and this is a BIG but, I really enjoyed Tolkien's commentary on the first 2/3 or so of the work. Christopher reduced a large set of JRR's lecture notes to some very interesting discussion of various issues around the poet, culture, relation between pagan and Christian aspects, interpretation, etc. that are technical, but fascinating for me. If you're familiar with the poem, these are quite worth the time. Plus, there's JRR's attempt at giving us what the original story might have been like.

86. A History of the World in 12 Maps by Jerry Brotton

I love maps. When I was a kid traveling with the parents across country on car trips, I was the one with the road atlas finding the way and studying all the places we passed by and places we could go. I've got a few reproductions of old maps on my walls at home. So Brotton's book caught my attention right away.

Starting with the Babylonians, Brotton makes his way through map making from the ancients all the way to Google Earth, and along the way shows how maps are so much more than just representations of the world. Each map he uses as an example was infused with the beliefs and culture of the maker - in ways that fundamentally drove how the map was created, how it represented the world, and how it was used. It's a pretty good history, although it did drag at the end for me.

Oooh - I love maps!! This sounds interesting.

Oohh! Another book for me (the maps book). I love books that concentrate on the things that people and cultures left behind, and pull meaning from them.

Karen O.

>71 drneutron: Hmmm... the map book sounds intriguing. I would try Beowulf because, well, Tolkien, but quite honestly I still have some anxiety when I think of my undergrad English course when I forgot Beowulf was due and read the Heaney translation in one day, staying up til 3 a.m. to get it done for class that day. Needless to say, it wasn't the best reading experience and I was further annoyed to get a "C" on the test... So maybe in a few years when I can get past that memory ;)

*waving* at Jim

>81 michigantrumpet: Thanks for recommending this book. It is now on the TBR pile. I loved hearing your description of what you saw during your NO visit. I take students to New Orleans yearly for a publication conference. Post Katrina was a very interesting experience. I always tell the students to be careful and to NEVER go out alone.

I was saddened that the city was in need of so much assistance, and that they really needed tourists to return. Yet, it seemed that there was a lot of danger and preying on the very source needed for revitalization. We were locked inside a cab and were told that if we wanted to get out, it would cost $20 for the next block destination. I discovered that while the vehicle looked like a cab, in fact it was not. One student hooked into a conversation with what a appeared to be a very friendly man. I quickly got in the middle of them when I saw how close the student was to having his wallet stolen. When I saw what was about to happen, I snapped a very quick photo to show the student later.

Fortunately, the French Quarter was on higher ground and therefore escaped much of the decimation that St. Bernard's Parish and The Ninth Ward experienced. It is indeed a very interesting city, but there appears to be a very thin veneer of excitement with the underbelly of crime.

Congratulations on reading 85 books thus far this year.

Jim, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

A History of the World in 12 Maps sounds interesting; thanks for the great review, Jim!

>74 bell7: Yeah, that could be off-putting for anyone. I had a similar experience in freshman English with a different book - forget which now - but got through it with beer. Read a section, have a beer, rinse, repeat! I think I got a B on that test. :)

75> Hi Stasia!

76> yeah, I'm not sure I'd want to cart kids around the French Quarter, or at least the Bourbon Street area... You're a brave soul!

77> thanks!

>78 kidzdoc: you're welcome!

>71 drneutron: You might also be interested in The Map Thief which, along with the story of the map thief himself, has themes of map history, map libraries, map collections.

>80 qebo: I agree aboutThe Map Thief. If you ever make it to Boston, the Boston Public Library has a wonderful Map Room and The Norman Levanthal Map Center.

Here's a link where you can actually checkout the collection online:

http://maps.bpl.org/

>81 michigantrumpet: It happens that I'm planning to be in Boston (well, Cambridge) for several days in January. The Map Room might make a nice diversion!

Great! I'm glad I mentioned it! My office is two blocks away, so if you want company ... (Or a partner for bookstores -- I'm always happy to help out there!)

Well, I'm hoping to connect up with you and other friends in the area... :)

I'm all for that! Let us know when and we'll get working on that.

Jim, I wish you a lovely weekend.

87. Countdown to Zero Day by Kim Zetter

A few years back, a new computer virus showed up. It didn't seem to have any bad effects, but showed some rather curious delivery patterns and odd curiosities. Most computer security folks didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but a few individuals persisted in poking into it to try to find out where it came from and what it was supposed to do. It took a while, but eventually this work uncovered a very complex, very sophisticated weapon designed to target Iranian nuclear weapons development. And provided evidence of what is probably the first use of cyber warfare by one nation against another targeting real hardware instead of other computer systems.

Zetter's "Countdown to Zero Day" is a pretty good, but not spectacular example of narrative nonfiction telling the story of the investigation into the Stuxnet virus while also giving a history of the unnerving story of Iranian nuclear weapons development and uranium enrichment through the 2000s to nearly today. The technical details are at a level appropriate for nonexperts, although those familiar with computer security may find the depth unfulfilling. Zetter's better at the discussions around the politics, diplomacy and interventions around the Iranian situation, and those parts of the book are both fascinating and a little scary.

All in all, a good book about an interesting topic. Fair warning, the first few chapters drag a bit, but those

88. Napoleon's Pyramids by William Dietrich

An average adventure story set during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in which American adventurer Ethan Gage comes across a mysterious amulet and joins the French savants accompanying Napoleon to figure out what secrets it protects. If you've seen National Treasure or read a Sigma Force book, you've got the idea, although this one's not as good as some in the genre. This is the start of a series, so I'm hoping as I read next I'll start liking Gage more.

I read Napoleon's Pyramids a number of years ago and came away with the same feelings you did. I love the National Treasure and Mummy movies and was hoping the Ethan Gage books would have that wonderful adventure pace and excitement to them. I haven't read any other books in the series so I will be curious to find out if the series gets better.

89. Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of A.D. 800 by Jeff Sypeck

Hmmm. Not a bad little book, but not what I expected. I had hoped for more - more about Karolus Magnus and how he grew into the legendary Charlemagne, more about the politics that put him on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. What I got was a short set of vignettes of Karl, Irene (Empress of the Eastern Empire), and various leaders of Islamic kingdoms - and a bit about some few of the go-betweens. While this was interesting, Sypeck never connected these pieces into a coherent whole. Plus, he started driving me a bit crazy towards the end with his speculating about how people felt or what they might have said!

90. The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

Like a lot of folks, I thought this one would be a lot lie House of Leaves - freaky, nonlinear, intensely creative in the telling - but it turned out to be very different. In fact, it was more Foucault's Pendulum than anything else. The style and storytelling was definitely creative, with letters, video transcripts and the like. But I thought the plot was a bit weak for the material and the end result was more light than freak.

Still, I enjoyed it and want to read more from Cantero.

Jim. I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

91. History Decoded: the 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time by Brad Meltzer

Yeah, no. There's no actual decoding, just a set of History Channel style summaries of well-known conspiracy theories. And it's a pretty safe bet there are more interesting conspiracies than those picked here. Plus, there wasn't even much of a bibliography to send me off for further reading. Other than that, it was fine!

Found it! Great thread- although I think my TBR list just exploded. :P

Oh, trust me. This group will not help with your TBR problem... :)

>93 drneutron: No truer words than that, my friend!

>93 drneutron: exactly!!! Go ahead and just create a tag for 75er Recommendation - you'll need it.

When I wish-list a book I add a tag that blame's that person: DrNeutron's Fault. : )

So I hear on the news that we have another space-landing (or three) by the Philae probe, from the Rosetta mothership, on a rubber-duck shaped comet it's been chasing for 10 years. Not one of yours, I suspect, since it was from the European Space Agency.

But it's good news, coming after two disasters. Singapore lost a (sandwich- sized) payload in one, so that made headlines here.

>97 humouress: humouress I love all the sciencey/space stuff like Rosetta etc it fills the imagination, and is proof of how clever we mere humans can be when we want to. They also serve as a counter to all the nastiness that is usually in the news about how awful we humans can be when we want to.

No, I didn't have anything to do with Rosetta. But it's a small industry, and it's nice to celebrate success!

Thought of you when I read this interview with Peter Turchi, who wrote a book about the writer as cartographer. Have a great weekend!

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers/2014-11-14/peter_turchi:_puzzling_out_wri...

>100 michigantrumpet: Great piece. Thanks.

Jim, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>100 michigantrumpet: nice article!

>102 Ameise1: that's a beautiful view!

>96 Berly: Hah! I do something very similar.

92. Thunderhead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Typical - and typically good - adventure/suspense story from Preston and Child. In this one, an archaeologist receives a letter from her father who disappeared years ago while searching for a lost Anasazi city of gold. Well plotted, although the characters were more stereotypical than I hoped. Recommended as brain candy for stress relief.

92 Books read! 100 is well within sight! Happy Monday.

93. Sleeping Late on Judgment Day by Tad Williams

Third in Williams' Bobby Dollar urban fantasy/noir series. Bobby's an angel advocate helping the recently dead through the judgment process when he stumbles onto a plot to create a Third Way - not Heaven or Hell, but an alternate eternal destination. Which leads to all sorts of trouble...

I wasn't so impressed with the second, but Williams managed to pull out a pretty good ending to the trilogy (well, except that he's left a door to continue the story).

hi :=) got me with bobby dollar

Jim, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>108 AuntieClio: excellent!

>109 Ameise1: oh, that's beautiful!

I misread your review in >87 drneutron: and was left confused as to how one poked a computer virus. I had images of it caged in a corner and being gently prodded by (ashamedly stereotyped) geeky men in glasses.

*snerk*

>112 drneutron:

Of course I felt sorry for the virus as I have a terminally faulty gene in my body that causes me to feel all my emotion for anything other than humans, and very little for my own species ;)

94. Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage by Hugh Brewster

Interesting, but not particularly deep, look at the lives of first class passengers on the Titanic during the fatal trip across the Atlantic. It was the Gilded Age, and the world of the wealthy and near-wealthy was a relatively small one. So there were many connections among the passengers, which lends the stories that came out of the sinking that much more human.

95. The Poet and the Vampyre by Andrew McConnell Stott

Another book centered around the telling of scary stories by Byron and the Shelleys that eventually led to the writing of Frankenstein and The Vampyre. Stott includes more about John Polidori, one of the lesser known characters of the drama, than is usual.

This one serves as a good entry point for those not familiar with Byron or the Shelleys, but those who are won't find much new.

Just stopping by to catch up and wave hello

Hello!

I hope you've had a great Thanksgiving, Jim!

Jim, it is now traditional for me to take this opportunity as a non-American to add my own little thank yous to you for bringing us all together in this wonderful group. Long may it continue. Have a lovely holiday, mate.

>117 tymfos: Yep, we did! The son joined us from Clemson, so we had a table full of family!

>118 PaulCranswick: thanks, Paul! It's been fun watching our little corner of the internet grow.

Jim, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Thanks! That's beautiful.

96. The Secrets of Life and Death by Rebecca Alexander

Rebecca Alexander's The Secrets of Life and Death is a fun intermingling of John Dee and Elizabeth Bathory with a modern-day conspiracy/suspense story. The modern-day story is rather run-of-the-mill, although the supernatural and fantasy aspects are creative.

What really shines here for me is the historical plot. Alexander captured an interesting and very English John Dee and Edward Kelley plopped down in an alien, Eastern European world. And that collision of world added the spice the story needed.

hullo Jim!

Hey!

Playing catch-up....Empire of Sin sounds like a volume I need to add to my New Orleans library.

Oh-oh! Book bullet with The Secrets of Life and Death, Jim.

Excellent! Two in one day... :)

97. The Enchantress by Michael Scott

Finished the series! Even though I thought several of the middle books were more scattered than I thought they had to be, the ending of the series really made up for it. I won't give anything away, but yeah, really satisfying.

I definitely recommend the series!

I have this entire series sitting on my TBR mountain. Sounds promising. I just need to finish some other ongoing series before I start a new one. :)

Hi Jim - just passing through and waving as I do some catching up on thread reading.

I really enjoyed the Michael Scott series. And I agree with you about the middle section; I wonder if it might have been better to read them all with no gaps. Hmm. I would definitely consider the series for a re-read!

Karen O.

Have you heard of this Jim??
http://www.mars-one.com/
Totally reminds me of The Martian. Seriously wonder if this would ever happen....

Enjoying catching up - have to investigate Lady Trent and also the Michael Scott series....

Hi Jim, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

>132 jolerie: Totally could happen, but we'll see if that can make it happen on their schedule. :)

>133 sibylline: yeah, you should. They're great!

>134 Ameise1: beautiful moon!

Hi Jim,

I would like to ask your help in spreading the word. I hove no health insurance and need surgery for my broken wrist.

My surgery support fund raiser is here: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-stephanie-pay-for-wrist-surgery.... if you can't help financially, thoughts, prayers and messages of encouragement are also welcome.

I'll definitely help spread the word - and I've already been praying that your situation gets sorted out so you can have the surgery and get healing!

Hey Jim, I thought of you when Orion launched. Yeah, you're really the only science guy I know. It seems like everything old is new again in that Orion is, at the least, physically similar to Apollo. Although I'm sure much was gained from them, I'm thinking the shuttle missions were a waste of time and money and perhaps we should have stayed on the rocket path. I know I'm probably wrong but what's your take on it.

The Shuttle was a good concept and overall design to meet the requirements of a low Earth orbiting station. It turned out to be more complex to control and maintain than expected. But the Shuttle fleet served us well for many years, and even thought we lost two, it had a solid track record.

Since Orion is designed to do a different job, I wouldn't expect it to look like a Shuttle. Orion does owe a lot to Apollo and previous programs, but is bigger and modern, so is a significant upgrade in capability. It's a solid design that incorporates lots of lessons learned from Shuttle about how to keep things simple and safe. As with any big program like this (and Shuttle suffered from this to some degree), there's always a push to keep adding requirements and capability. That's what winds up driving cost growth and risk. From what I'm seeing, the Orion folks are trying to keep control of the requirements creep.

I'm less impressed with the ISS. While we've learned a lot from it and with it, I've always felt there was a loss of momentum when NASA moved away from exploration a la Apollo to low Earth orbit human operations. But I don't know if the state of technology back in the 1970s and 1980s could have supported establishing a lunar base or sending people to Mars. We know more and can do more today. So maybe the next generation can pick up the ball and move us forward.

So maybe the next generation can pick up the ball and move us forward. Yes! all of a sudden the future appears bright again for young explorers.

>140 Carmenere: Yep!!

Well said Jim

98. The Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King

Very good noir detective story set in late 1920s Paris among the art and American expatriate communities. King's detective has just the right note of bitterness and cynicism, plus a heart for the search for a missing American girl in the midst of the group of Surrealists and modern artists pushing the boundaries into some very weird areas.

Recommended - I read the second without reading the first just fine, but I suspect most would like to start with the first.

99. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Wow. What a creepy, fun, different sort of book. I liked the story. I loved the story with the pictures. I can't wait to get on with the next!

100. The Amazons by Adrienne Mayor

Picked this one up at the National Book Fest in September after hearing Mayor speak. She was a mediocre speaker, but her book on the warrior women of Greek myth and in history was really interesting. The mix of myth and archaeology brought to life the Scythian culture from the Black Sea and Central Asia where women lived more equally with men as nomads so differently from the make-oriented Greek culture. My only "complaint": Mayor offers a dabbling of statistics analyzing archaeological finds (such as male to female warrior ratios in burial grounds), but a more thorough analysis would have been so much better!

Jim, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Hey Jim, I really enjoyed Miss Peregine too and just the other day purchased the sequel for my kindle for 1.99!

Happy 100 BTW!!

Thanks!

Congratulations on reaching 100 - that was a pretty quick run from 75 to 100 since mid September!

Congratulations Jim on reaching one hundred books read for the year.

Thanks! I'm hoping for at least a few more by the end of the year - not a stellar year in numbers, but not bad either.

I'm interested to know exactly what the point of the ISS is? I mean, going to the moon, landing on a comet, planning to go to Mars - they all have a clear goal, but the space station seems a bit aimless. I'm sure I'm wrong, but that's how it comes across to a vaguely interested layperson.

Well, you're not totally wrong. The station was intended to build experience with long term human exposure to space. Yeah, there were scientific goals to be accomplished too, but really the point was to understand how to keep humans healthy in space and how to conduct ongoing operations there. For instance, long periods of time in microgravity affect human bone and muscle, and station astronauts have been used to evaluate treatment options like exercise or drugs. Plus, it's not trivial to build up structures in space - on planets, at least, there's gravity, but working in spacesuits is a problem nonetheless.

It's hard to express this to lay persons with the same kind of excitement and enthusiasm that a moon landing can bring. But if we do want to move to the next stage, we have to answer these questions. NASA's proceeding logically, but slowly, and budget pressures just make it harder. I'm a "go big or go home" kind of guy, though, so am eagerly awaiting the next steps out into the Solar System!

Yay, 100! Congratulations!

Congrats on reaching 100! I keep meaning to borrow Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children from the library so thanks for the reminder Jim! :)

Hi Jim! I am glad you enjoyed Miss Peregrine. I am a fan too. I just snagged an ebook of Hollow City, from Ammy, for a couple of bucks. I don't know if it is still available.

I am enjoying all the "space" talk. I am endlessly fascinated by it all...

Hooray, for #100!! Good job!

Congrats on hitting the 100 book mark, Jim!!

Congrats on reaching 100!!!

Lets have a 100 party congratz.

Congrats, well done!!!

Congratulations on hitting 100!

Thanks everyone, and thanks for the YouTube link. That was awesome!

I'm planning to start up the new group sometime in the next week...just in case folks are wondering!

>154 AuntieClio: Fun!
>163 drneutron: Didn't expect you to forget. :-) I vote for later rather than sooner...

101. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

I finally got to this one - after hearing about it on LT forever... I liked it, really thought I got a good insight into this particular part of the criminal justice system without Kerman wandering into attempts at sensationalism or shock. Although, I was hoping for an afterword with an update on some of Kerman's fellow prisoners.

Highly recommended!

>165 drneutron: Me too.

I was very skeptical about the prospect of a television series based on the book. I thought the book was insightful and well-written, but a series? Nah.

I've now finally gotten around to watching the series on Netflix. I'm about halfway through the second season and think it's brilliant. Very different from the book, and brilliant.

>163 drneutron: - I was totally wondering about the new group. Thank you, Jim. Can't wait to get started. Another year in the 75 Book Group is better than Christmas any time!

...and congrats on 100 books!

WooHoo for 100!!

And WooHoo for another upcoming year with the 75ers! So exciting!!

Big +1 for that sentiment, Amber!

>170 mahsdad: *awkward high five with Jeff!* (Awkward because I'm no good at high fives...)

Congrats on reaching 100 and thanks for the update on next year's group!

Annnnnnnd we're back home from South Carolina where we went to my son's graduation from Clemson. He's now officially an alum!

I couldn't be prouder - he's going to be working on experimental algorithms for big clusters of computers over the Spring/summer with a prof there while waiting to hear from graduate schools (to study computational science!) and perhaps taking a class or two. He's hoping for Georgia Tech, so cross all crossable appendages that he gets in!

Congratulations on reaching 100 and on your son's graduation. His future looks exciting.

Sounds like a chip off the old block. ;)

Yeah, didn't fall far from the tree!

Congrats to the newly-minted alumnus!!

>173 drneutron: Sounds way cool! Congrats!

Congrats on your son's success. I wish you a lovely weekend and Merry Christmas.

That is great news about your son, Jim. You both must be very proud. High Fives, all around.

Oh to be young and brilliant ... um, *again*, I mean. Yeah. Congratulations, and good luck to your son on grad school!

Congratulations to your son, Jim!

Congrats on your son graduating, Jim! One of life's great moments.

He's studying the right stuff - lots of jobs out there for someone with those skills.

Yes, well done to your son, Jim. Rightly proud of him.

Have a great weekend,

When are we thinking about dipping a toe into 2015?

I'll be watching for the 2015 group - but will wait until closer to the first to start my thread.

Thanks for everything you do for this group. I was nervous about diving in this year but I have had so much fun and met (both in person and online) some great new friends. I'm looking forward to 2015.

Orange is the New Black is another one that is on my ereader but still unread. Definitely one I want to read. Just need to actually read it.

Congrats to your son!

Thanks, everyone!

On the 2015 group front: I'm working Monday and Tuesday, then off for a few days. Perhaps, somewhere in there I can find time to get everything together... ;)

Jim, THANK YOU for your support for the 75ers group. I can't express my gratitude too strongly.

> #173 Congratulations on your 100 and your son's accomplishments. I think watching my kid thrive is the best feeling ever. He is a couple of ears behind yours- but also doing well - and following the family trade.

Congratulations on your son's achievement and hope he gets the graduate school placement he wants.

whoo hoo and congrats to you, Mrs Neutron and your son! Way to go, Clemson alum!

Wonderful news about your son, Jim. What an exciting time for all. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

102. Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Sequel to Relic and second in the Pendergast series. Frankly, I thought the first ended with a poor explanation of events, but this one clears the whole thing up. It's reasonably well written brain candy perfect for a long trip back from South Carolina. :)

>192 drneutron: Jim, I just left this comment on Caro's thread, the Pendergast series tends to be uneven, although I really love Pendergast. I don't recommend Relic and Reliquary, although there's some character background. Pendergast doesn't really appear until Cabinet of Curiosities. Two Graves with Pendergast as Jack Bauer was bad. The rest are pretty fun.

You're right about the brain candy.

Congratulations, Son of Neutron!

Congrats on your son's graduation, Jim. And thank you for being the core of this group. It's Chrismas Eve's eve, and so I am starting the rounds of wishing my 75er friends the merriest of Christmases or whatever the solstice celebration of their choice is.

Hi Jim, thank you for being the core of this fabulous group, wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and have a fabulous day from John and Karen.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Jim!

thanks, everyone, for the good wishes!

>197 Carmenere: I wonder if it's on Netflix!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Christmas to you and yours, Jim!

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours!

Wishing you and yours a great Christmas, Jim.

Have a great Christmas Jim!

Jim, I'm so happy to have made your acquaintance this year. You are the rock that our group depends on. Thank you for your time and effort in keeping the 75ers humming along. I'm so grateful to have you in my life.

And once again, my friend, thanks for all you do around here. This is quite the magical place.

Stopping by to wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday season and all the best in 2015!

Merry Christmas, Jim!

Happy Holidays, Jim!

Happy Christmas, Jim, and all the best for 2015. Thanks for all you do for this wonderful group of readers!

Merry Christmas, Jim! And thanks for your continued great work in hosting this fabulous group.

Merry Christmas Jim. Thanks for all you do for the 75ers.

Dear Jim,
I wish you a wonderful Christmas and I am looking forward to another year in the 75 :)

Thanks, everyone! Merry Christmas to all.

And thanks to Karen (maggie), my secret Santa, for the great copy of The Innovators!

Merry merry Christmas Jim!

Merry Christmas, Jim! And congratulations on your son's graduation.

Dear Jim, best wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas! Thank you for everything you do to make this such a wonderful place to be!

Congrats on the 100!

On your son's graduation!

And Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
On the eve: Do I smell turkey?
During: Worn out:

Merry Christmas, Jim! Looking forward to 2015 with this group; it just gets better and better. Thanks for all you do.

Congratulations to your son Jim!

I hope your Christmas day was wonderful. Enjoy your long weekend.

And I got to some books!

103. Dirigible Dreams by C. Michael Hiam

Between balloons and modern aviation, there was a time when airships were the up and coming thing. See, balloons were easy and reliable, but hostage to the wind - you went where Nature wanted you to go. Aircraft were small, persnickety, and downright dangerous. Airships, though, could carry passengers across an ocean in days instead of weeks, and represented luxury in the air the way ocean liners did on the water.

Well, except they had a pretty storied history. The first efforts failed pretty miserably; a big bag of hydrogen attached to a frame requiring motors that did run very well, if at all, was recipe for explosions. Still, the military and exploration uses of controlled flight were so tempting, governments and companies kept sinking huge amounts of money into development - until a disaster would turn off interest in further work. Eventually, only the Germans were left producing Zeppelins - and everybody knows what happened to the Hindenburg, right?

Hiam's history is a good one. It's well written, and lends interesting insight into the people and times. For instance, I had no idea that several attempts were made to reach the North Pole with airships, including one venture that killed Roald Amundson. Dirigible Dreams is a nice introduction to this unique field.

104. The Amber Room by Catherine Scott-Clark

Wow, what a great example of how not to write narrative nonfiction! Instead of being about the mystery of what happened to the Tsar's Amber Room after the Nazi invasion, it was really about how hard it is to do research in Russia. Bleah. Don't bother.

I arrived home moments ago and refreshed the Newest Groups page...

Second year in a row. You were scond last year, I think!

Let the madness begin!>
http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin2015

Jim, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Jim. Adding my thanks for all you do for the group :-)

222> #103 goes into the swamp! Early last year I read & loved Richard Holmes's Falling Upwards about the early history of ballooning; that one sounds like a good complement.

Also: "Me too" on all the thanks for your work on this group and the holiday wishes. See you next year!

Happy Holidays, Jim! Thanks for all you do for the 75ers.

Thanks for setting up the new year's thread, Jim. But I'm holding off on participating in the madness of next year till the madness of this year is behind me.

Jim - Hope you had a lovely Christmas

Happy New Year!

Say, Jim - what's going on with the Group picture? What happened to the frogs????

Dear Jim

Thanks again for your excellent moderation of this incredible group! I appreciate your efforts.

>232 Fourpawz2: Spammer. It happens way less frequently that I thought it would. I can change the group setting so only I can change the pic if it becomes more of an issue.

That's ok. Just found it odd. How people get enjoyment out doing such things I cannot fathom.

Finished the last of the year, so it's time to put a bow on 2014...

105. The Quick by Lauren Owens

Took me forever to get it from Overdrive - but boy, I'm glad I did. A great story, but also a great bit of storytelling. I loved the way Owen set out the threads for the various characters, had them intersect every so often, then brought everything together at the end. Couldn't ask for a more satisfying end to my 2014 reading!

Great book to end your 2014 reading with!

Hi Jim, just a quick post to wish you and your family a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year for 2015.

Hey, Jim, just making my final sweep through the 2014 threads. I look forward to seeing you on the other side!