bell7's (Mary's) Fourth (Final?) Thread of 2014

I usually wait until I hit 200 posts, but I figured with a new month and only 3 left to go in the year, it was a good time for a new thread to potentially ride out 2014.

For any who might not know me, hello and welcome! I'm a librarian in a small town in western Massachusetts. I love to read adult and young adult books, especially fantasy, but I'm an eclectic reader and will include mysteries, historical fiction, nonfiction, contemporary and literary fiction as well. About the only genre I will not touch is horror, and I'm ever-so-picky about romances.

One of the fun things included in my job is facilitating a book discussion at the library, so I'll often make comments on the books and the discussions here as well. Here's what we're reading this year:

January - The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
February - The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Orsuka
March - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
April - Plainsong by Kent Haruf
May - Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
June - The Round House by Louise Erdrich
July - Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
August - Home Town by Tracy Kidder
September - The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant
October - My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
November - Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
December - Midnight in Peking by Paul French

Outside of reading, I love sports - especially NY Giants football - and knitting. I'll include some photos below of my latest projects.

Annnnd here come the book lists:

January
1. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe - mine and a reread
2. S. by Doug Dorst
3. Everlost by Neal Shusterman
4. Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
5. Breathe by Sarah Crossan
6. Everwild by Neal Shusterman

February
7. Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
8. Resist (Breathe) by Sarah Crossan
9. How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster - mine
10. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
11. Inhuman by Kat Falls
12. A Boy's Will by Robert Frost - mine
13. Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon - mine (since donated to the library book sale)
14. North of Boston by Robert Frost - mine

March
15. Longbourn by Jo Baker
16. Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
17. Mountain Interval by Robert Frost - mine
18. Hounded by Kevin Hearne
19. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
20. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
21. The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
22. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
23. The Odyssey by Homer - mine
24. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
25. All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry

April
26. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
27. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
28. Plainsong by Kent Haruf - mine (since given away)
29. Partials by Dan Wells
30. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
31. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
32. Legend by Marie Lu - audio and reread

May
33. Fragments by Dan Wells
34. New Hampshire by Robert Frost - mine
35. The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe
36. Ruins by Dan Wells
37. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Thomas - mine and e-book
38. The Selection by Kiera Cass
39. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
40. The Elite by Kiera Cass
41. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
42. Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
43. The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde
44. The One by Kiera Cass
45. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
46. Tesla's Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman
47. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
48. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

June
49. Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis
50. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
51. Thief's War by Hilari Bell
52. West-Running Brook by Robert Frost - mine
53. Prodigy by Marie Lu
54. The Round House by Louise Erdrich
55. Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
56. Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani
57. The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula Jones
58. Angelfall by Susan Ee
59. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
60. Sold Into Egypt by Madeleine L'Engle

July
61. Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
62. The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan - mine and e-book ARC
63. Scotland in the Time of Shakespeare by T.I. Rae
64. The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry - mine and e-book ARC
65. The Edge of the Precipice: Why Read Literature in the Digital Age? edited by Paul Socken
66. Masterminds and Wingmen by Rosalind Wiseman - e-book
67. Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin - mine and e-book ARC
68. Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith, read by Hugh Laurie - audio
69. Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
70. Kings of the North by Elizabeth Moon
71. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
72. The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney
73. The Jewel by Amy Ewing - mine and e-book ARC
74. Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrows
75. The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
76. A Further Range by Robert Frost
77. Divergent Thinking edited by Leah Wilson - e-book
78. Dark Eden by Patrick Carman
79. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
80. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

August
81. Champion by Marie Lu
82. As You Wish by Cary Elwes with Joy Layden - mine and e-ARC
83. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell - mine (since given away)
84. Pure by Julianna Baggott - mine (since given away)
85. The Trouble Ball by Martin Espada - mine
86. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks - mine (since given away)
87. Home Town by Tracy Kidder - mine
88. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - mine and e-book
89. Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth
90. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
91. Rash by Pete Hautman
92. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

September
93. Fuse by Julianna Baggott
94. Dark Eden: Eve of Destruction by Patrick Carman - e-book
95. The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant
96. Switched by Amanda Hocking
97. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
98. Torn by Amanda Hocking

October
99. The World Split Open by various authors - e-book ARC and mine
100. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater - audio
101. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
102. Doc by Mary Doria Russell - mine
103. Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes - e-book
104. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara - mine
105. Ascend by Amanda Hocking
106. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis - mine

November
107. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach - audio
108. UnDivided by Neal Shusterman
109. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - reread
110. Lila by Marilynne Robinson
111. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
112. Moneyball by Michael Lewis - borrowed
113. Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
114. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

December
115. In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken
116. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
117. A Witness Tree by Robert Frost - mine
118. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - reread
119. Coach Wooden by Pat Williams - borrowed
120. Midnight in Peking by Paul French
121. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - mine and a re-read
122. Clariel by Garth Nix
123. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
124. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
125. Control by Lydia Kang
126. A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett - mine and e-book ARC

Graphic Novels & Manga:
1. Boxers by Gene Luen Yang
2. Saints by Gene Luen Yang
3. Fairy Tail Volume 1 by Hiro Mashima
4. Fairy Tail Volume 2 by Hiro Mashima
5. Fairy Tail Volume 3 by Hiro Mashima
6. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
7. The Initiates: A Comic Artist and a Wine Artisan Exchange Jobs by Etienne Davodeau
8. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore et al.

Original book publication dates read year-to-date (through November):

2014 - 25
2013 - 24
2012 - 16
2011 - 13
2010 - 3
2009 - 4
2008 - 3
2006 - 3
2004 - 1
2003 - 2
2002 - 1
2001 - 1

1999 - 2
1997 - 1
1996 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1974 - 1
1965 - 1
1958 - 1
1938 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

8th century BC - 1

A book with more than 500 pages: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott
A forgotten classic:
A book that became a movie: Plainsong by Kent Haruf
A book published this year: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A book with a number in the title: Coach Wooden: the 7 principles that shaped his life and will change yours by Pat Williams
A book written by someone under 30:
A book with non-human characters: Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
A funny book: Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Thomas
A book by a female author: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
A book with a mystery: The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
A book with a one-word title: Longbourn by Jo Baker
A book of short stories:
A book set on a different continent: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
A book of non-fiction: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
A first book by a favorite author: Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis
A book you heard about online: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
A best-selling book: Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
A book based on a true story: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
A book at the bottom of your to be read pile: Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
A book your friend loves: S. by Doug Dorst
A book that scares you: The Odyssey by Homer
A book that is more than 10 years old: Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
The second book in a series: Kings of the North by Elizabeth Moon
A book with a blue cover: The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness



A book with a female heroine: Inhuman by Kat Falls
A book set in a high school: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
The last book in a trilogy: The One by Kiera Cass
A book with a color in the title: Red Madness by Gail Jarrows
The first book in a series: Breathe by Sarah Crossan
A book set in the future: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
A book with a break up: The Selection by Kiera Kass
A book without a love triangle: Resist by Sarah Crossan
A book that became a movie: If I Stay by Gayle Forman
A book set in Paris:
A book set in the past: All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry
A book with magic: Thief's War by Hilari Bell
A book set in the summer: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
A book with a dragon: Clariel by Garth Nix (sort of)
A book that made you cry: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
A graphic novel: Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
A book based on a myth:
A "classic" YA book:
A book with a lion, a witch or a wardrobe:
A book with an incredible fight scene: Prodigy by Marie Lu
A book you heard about online: Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
A book set in another world: Everlost by Neal Shusterman
A book with an epic love story: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
A book with music: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I mentioned late in my last thread that it was about time I posted some of the knitting projects I've been working on while watching Supernatural on DVD.

Here's the scarf I knit for the Rays of Hope breast cancer walk later this month:


It's a "potato chip" scarf, really easy to do because it's all knitting and just using short rows to make the swirl happen. I added stripes at random, and was fairly pleased with how it turned out.

I've also become quite adept at making these simple fingerless gloves:


My hands are small, so when I make myself a pair I'm going to have to adjust a bit, but that will fit an average woman's hand. I've modified the pattern to make gloves for guys, too, and I like it quite a bit. It's knit flat and then you sew up a seam, leaving a space for the thumb.

Hi there, Mary! :)

Good morning, Stephen! :)

Happy new thread!

>11 foggidawn: Thanks, Misti!

>8 bell7: You are tres talented! I love the fingerless gloves. I wish I lived in a place where I could wear that kind of thing all the time.

>13 RosyLibrarian: Aw, thanks Marie! I was thinking they'd make great driving gloves over the winter. I made two pairs for a friend of mine last Christmas, and folks at work saw one (to make a long story short, a co-worker was helping me get the fit right because I couldn't match the size on my friend's hand) and I got a couple of comments... I've now made a pair for one of my co-workers and the husband of one of our volunteers. I'm thinking I might ask someone to show me how to make a cable and incorporate that in a pair I make for myself. :D

99. The World Split Open: Great Writers on How and Why We Write - a Literary Arts Reader

*I requested this book from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline as a free e-book ARC. I receive nothing but the book, and was not in any way compensated for reviewing it.* The book comes out November 11.

Celebrating 30 years of Literary Arts, this Portland, Oregon based organization collects ten lectures by authors from the lecture series that the group presents every year. Chimamanda Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, E.L. Doctorow, Edward P. Jones, Ursula K. Le Guin, Marilynne Robinson, Wallace Stegner, Robert Stone, and Jeannette Winterson. Each writer brings a unique focus to their writing and thoughts on reading and life in these lectures.

I love books about books, reading and writing, so when I first saw this collection of lectures from writers such as Margaret Atwood, Wallace Stegner, and Ursula K. Le Guin, I jumped at the chance to read it. Though the subtitle indicates that it's about "how and why we write," this isn't a how-to book. Instead, the subjects range all over the place from "Should art have morality?" to whether or not one has to research before writing historical fiction. Over the course of the lectures, each writer's process or thoughts on reading and storytelling is often illuminated, but generally not the main focus. Thought-provoking and essential reading for anyone who aspires to be a writer and for readers who like to get into an author's head. 5 stars.

I found myself using the highlighting feature on my Kindle for the first time ever, and am going to add the book to my Christmas list.

For those who are interested, here's the Literary Arts website, which includes information about their upcoming author series. I'm officially jealous of anyone who lives in the Portland area.

Lovely knitting, Mary! I hadn't been knitting at all for awhile, but last night I realized that it's just my current project that is boring me. I started knitting something new and got half a glove knitted in just a couple hours! (It's the easy half, of course, but still!)

For learning new knitting techniques, I usually use YouTube videos. Some of them are more helpful than others, but I usually do a search for the technique I want to learn and then watch the most popular 2 or 3 until I feel like I know what I'm doing.

>16 norabelle414: Thanks, Nora! I usually have a couple of ongoing projects, and had stalled and restarted the fingerless gloves after getting bored with them too.

I love using videos for knitting techniques, but when I can I ask someone to show me because sometimes I can "see" it better in-person (case in point - I had to ask my grandmother how to do a purl stitch because for the life of me when I watched the videos it never clarified that to switch from knit to purl I had to bring the yarn to the front...). There's a monthly drop-in knitting group I got started at the library that meets on Saturday, and someone who came last month promised to show me how to cable. I just have to make sure to have all my "ducks in a row" with the pattern and everything ready to go.

Happy New Thread, Mary! Love the knitting!

>18 scaifea: Thanks on both counts, Amber!

>17 bell7: Everyone who has ever tried to teach me a knitting technique in person has been a terrible teacher, just by coincidence ;-) (or maybe I'm a terrible student??). It's funny how even the easiest knitting techniques are impossible to understand and then all of a sudden you just GET IT and then it's so easy. (or you don't ever get it and you have to look it up every single time. I'm like that with M1R and M1L. I can't ever remember which one is which, even though I learned them years ago.)

>20 norabelle414: I only know one increase stitch and couldn't tell you if it was R or L. I always have to remind myself how/where in the ONE blanket I'm working on that you work up from the corners. And yeah, the teacher definitely makes a difference. I learn best by doing, so watching my grandmother knit/purl a stitch and then doing it myself was generally a good method. Once I do it enough I can "see" the pattern, and that at least helps me see where I've gone wrong, if not exactly how to correct it.

Happy New Thread, Mary! I love the fingerless gloves you made. My knitting skills are very elementary to say the least. I can knit and purl scarfs but anything that requires form or shape to it, forget it. ;-)

>22 lkernagh: Hi, Lori! I generally stick to scarves and baby blankets. The fingerless gloves are great because the ribbing is just k2 p2, and the body is stockinette. It's all knit flat and just sewn up. My sewing skills are rather lacking, but fortunately I can fudge it for just that couple of inches!

Nice!

I love the cancer scarf! Oh, and hiya!

>25 AuntieClio: Thanks, Stephanie! Hi back :)

>23 bell7: Can you knit in the round? I learned in-the-round knitting solely because I hate sewing, and it changed my life! Especially for something simple like fingerless mittens, it is amazing.

>27 norabelle414: I can, but I've only made two hats so far, so I'm not extremely confident about it. If I don't have a new baby blanket project to start on soon, however, I think I will start experimenting with more hats and maybe mittens. I'm planning on making myself a pair of the fingerless ones (which means scaling the pattern down to my child-sized hands) and adding a cable to it next.

100. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Mr. Popper is a house painter about to hit his quiet season of winter who dreams of travel, especially in polar regions, when a gift of a penguin unexpectedly arrives from Admiral Drake's antarctic expedition.

This Newbery Honor award-winning story shows its age from the language (Mr. and Mrs. Popper call each other "Mama" and "Papa" among other wording choices) to the simplistic explanations ("Yes, Papa, I know seals can balance balls on their noses"). A few plot developments were logically sketchy at best. It was sometimes amusing, but mostly I was bored and underwhelmed. Perhaps young children who enjoy penguins would be interested, though most I know would get impatient with the rather slow development of the story. 2 stars.

It was probably more groundbreaking for its time than what credit I'm giving it. There were only a few moments when there was a "lesson" to be had, and that probably wouldn't have bothered me so much as a kid. The beginning seemed very familiar, to the point where I'm reasonably sure I started it once as a younger kid and got bored. Still, I listened to the audio in a day on my way to and from a work meeting, so I can't really complain.

Sick with a cold earlier this week, I spent two days straight watching season 6 of Supernatural and knitting. I haven't taken pictures of what I've been making with that fancy yarn that makes curly, swirly scarves, but here's a pair of fingerless gloves and my first cable:



The picture is a little fuzzy but you should be able to see the pattern okay. They came out too small for me so I'm going to experiment a bit more to get the fit right - but these will do just fine on the library's mitten tree this winter. I'm working on a hat now in a pattern I've used before.

Yay cabling!

How are you feeling about Supernatural? I started watching the whole series a couple years ago but I got tired of it halfway through season 6 and haven't picked it up again since.

>31 norabelle414: I'm still enjoying it and getting emotionally involved enough that I find myself getting attached to and annoyed with characters. Part of the draw is a friend goading me to watch it all so I have a reason to and can both complain and cheer with someone. Plus he gives me not-quite-spoilers that leave me incredibly curious to know what's going to happen next. I just finished season and started season 7 (which will go slower now that I'm getting over that cold) - where did you stop?

And thanks, the cabling turned out to be super simple (other than, you know, making sure the stitches weren't so tight I couldn't knit) so I'm pretty confident I can pick up a new hat pattern with cabling and follow it on my own.

>32 bell7: I stopped at s6e11. Not that there was anything wrong with that episode, I just found other things to watch that I was more interested in.

>33 norabelle414: Fair enough. I watched to the end of Season 1 of Once Upon a Time and found I had other things I was interested in myself (though to be quite honest I wasn't paying attention to the season finale and I kind of want to go back and rewatch it just to see if I get more interested). :)

>34 bell7: But.....but.... that means you haven't met Hook yet and Hook is THE BEST!

TBH the first season of OUAT was super exciting at the time but in hindsight it is pretty uneven.

>35 norabelle414: I think too that sometimes the feeling for a show is different when you're watching it on DVD/Netflix instead of watching it as it's coming out. I daresay there are episodes of Lost that I would be less enthused about if I were to go back and rewatch...

I am going to try watching the season finale again and see what I think of the beginning of season 2, it's just a matter of finding the time.

Congrats on the cables! I love knitting them.

Mary, I love that potato chip scarf. I tried knitting once and found it very therapeutic but gave it up because it was hard to knit and turn the pages! Now that I've "discovered" audiobooks, I might get back to mindless knitting again. I don't want to do anything fancy, but that swirly scarf intrigues me. Btw, how are you liking Doc? I am eagerly awaiting the release of Epitaph.

>37 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! It was painless enough that I may try a hat for myself with a cable pattern :)

>38 Donna828: Thanks, Donna! Listening while I knit is one of the only ways I get audiobooks in now that my commute to work is so short. The potato chip scarf is pretty simple, and if you do a Google search for it you can find a few variations in number of stitches and all, depending on how you want it to turn out. Doc is really good, and its focus is on a part of American history with which I'm not very familiar. It's a little slow going just by virtue of being historical fiction, but the truth is if I hadn't had to read another book for book club I probably would've finished it by now. I'm hoping to make progress in both books today.

101. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor reflects on her life, from her young days growing up in a Hispanic community in New York, to Princeton and Yale Law School, to becoming a federal judge.

My feelings are mixed about this book, which I admittedly would not have picked up if it hadn't been my book club's choice. I was most interested in the parts of the memoir that described a life experience very different from my own, growing up in a tight knit Puerto Rican family living in New York, her relationships with family members, and dealing with childhood diabetes at a time when the prognosis and expected lifespan was not good. I grew less interested about halfway in when she left for college. Her conversational style sometimes grated on me, especially with the tendency to talk about several memories in terms of a "lesson that has stayed with me" or describing her personality: I want your stories to speak for themselves, not beat me over the head. Still, if you enjoy inspiring memoirs of coming from poverty to fulfill your dreams, it's not a bad choice. It just never surprised or wowed me enough to get past my original reluctance to read it. 3 stars.

I don't usually do this, but I'm not going put this review on the book page. There was nothing wrong with the book on its own merits, it's just one that didn't appeal to me and couldn't get over that "Ugh, I have to read this for book club!" feeling.

This past weekend I went to a fall festival where, besides the maple cream fried dough, the main attraction is the library book sale. I was fairly good and only came away with a few new books:

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean - I'd read and really enjoyed his book on genetics (The Violinist's Thumb) a couple years back
The Common Reader: First Series by Virginia Woolf
Telling Stories by Joyce Carol Oates - complete with comment card for the professor who got a freebie, inviting said professor to send back a response with how it was used in class

maple cream fried dough

I am intrigued..... Sounds like your priorities were in order: Books and food. My kind of priorities, and I am not saying which comes first! ;-)

>41 bell7: Oooh, maple cream fried dough! *sigh*
I really liked The Disappearing Spoon when I listened to it a couple of years ago, and I just finished the Bryson a couple of weeks ago and liked it, too, although not as much as some of his other stuff.

I have no idea what maple cream fried dough is, but I'll take 3 of them please. :P

>42 lkernagh: Depends on the day for me ;)

>43 scaifea: Yeah, it's yummy! Good to know they're both decent reads. One Summer: American 1927 sounds kind of different from his other books and I liked At Home a lot even though it was a departure, so I'm hoping I enjoy this too.

>44 Ape: Stephen, it's basically just fried dough with maple cream (think halfway in between maple syrup and sugar, spreadable) on top. Totally worth the $5.

102. Doc by Mary Doria Russell

Do you think you know the infamous Doc Holliday who was in a gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona with the Earp brothers? Mary Doria Russell's literary historical fiction explores the earlier life of John Henry Holliday, from his early days growing up in Georgia with his cousins to his fight with tuberculosis and eventual move to Dodge City, Kansas, where he forged his friendship with Morgan Earp and his brother, Wyatt.

I've now read two books by this author, and am convinced that she could write about nearly any theme in any genre with aplomb. I enjoyed sitting down with this book for long stretches and falling into her descriptions of life in the American West and the backstories of various characters. The narrative voice sometimes comes out and talks to the reader, who is expected to know a little more than I did about future events, but this only slightly diminished my enjoyment of a truly superb book. 4.5 stars.

Annnd now I want to go through the author's note and read all the titles she mentions, too...

>38 Donna828: A belated comment, Donna, that I saw a bit about Epitaph just today and am really excited to see the story continue!

Just needed to write out the list so I could organize my reading (ha!) a little bit:

Currently reading:
The Killer Angels by Jeff Shaara - need to finish by Oct. 28 for genre study
Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes - need to finish by Oct. 28 because the library e-book will expire

On deck:
A bunch of graphic novels for a work-related article I'm writing, to turn in Oct. 30
A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett - e-book ARC (came out Sep. 23)
Lila by Marilynne Robinson - library book
Ascend by Amanda Hocking - library book; 3rd in trilogy
Control by Lydia Kang - library book
Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown - library book; potential return to read later
The Young Elites by Marie Lu - library book
Search by Stefan Weitz - e-book ARC (comes out Nov 2014)
The Unhappening of Genesis Lee by Shallee McArthur - e-book ARC (comes out Nov 2014)
The Washington Dissensus by Rubens Barbosa - e-book ARC (comes out Dec 2015)
Mind Change by Susan Greenfield - e-book ARC (comes out Jan 2015)
Loving Learning by Tom Little - e-book ARC (comes out March 2015)
The Arsonist by Sue Miller - ARC I got at MLA
My Promised Land by Ari Shavit - really late LTER
Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman - really late LTER

103. Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes

Anika is the third most popular girl in high school, a position she doesn't hold lightly being the strangely-named daughter of a Romanian professor. When two boys compete for her affections, she has to decide how much she cares about the opinions of everyone else, particularly her "friend" Becky, the girl whom everyone hates but whose opinion matters when it comes to who's popular and who's a reject.

This book was the e-book and audiobook chosen for the "Big Library Read," a two-week period in which Overdrive copies are available for any library user to check out simultaneously. It bills itself as a cross between Mean Girls and The Perks of Being the Wallflower, and that seems to me a fairly apt description. Anika realistically struggles with her fears of what would happen if she chooses Logan, the former social pariah who now has a moped and creatively reaches out to Anika; and Jared, the popular guy whose reputation is as a player, but Anika isn't so sure. In addition, she has a complicated family life and an after-school job with a nutty boss. She also doesn't have a great opinion of herself, saying everyone thinks she's nice but inside she's "spider soup." I could see this appealing to the same crowd that likes Perks, though it's not particularly my cup of tea. 3.5 stars.

If anyone's read this, I'd be very interested in your take on the ending.

Graphic novels/manga #6: The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger

A woman has a chance encounter with a bookmobile on the streets of Chicago, which just so happens to contain every book - scratch that, every thing - that she's read, reread, started to read... She continues her life as a reader, wishing for nothing more than to work in this bookmobile. The color illustrations are a little uneven, especially when focusing on different angles of character's faces. I found the ending rather unsettling at best, and very annoying. Where do you draw the line between being an avid reader and a hermit? Is a librarian automatically a loner who's cut everyone out just to be able to read to her heart's content? Who finally just offs herself because she wants nothing more than to work for the Night Bookmobile? I don't think so. I feel like this could have been much more fully explored in a longer story, which in fact this was originally intended to be, and if it is continued in the future, I probably will read the next volume, though I found the first somewhat dissatisfying.

Well, a local library no longer needed its Oxford English Dictionary, so a check to the Friends group later and I'm now the proud owner of a 13-volume dictionary that... I have no idea where I'm going to put it. I will make room somehow.

And I'm ridiculously geeking out about it :D

Ooh, congratulations on the OED! I have the compact version, but I'd love to have one that didn't require a magnifying glass.

>52 _Zoe_: Thanks! I saw the compact version at a used bookstore and passed it up, but it's on my Christmas list. Does it still have all the quotations, or is it somewhat shorter in addition to being tiny print?

It claims to be not an abridgement, just a complete reproduction in miniature. I think each page contains four pages of the original, so that gives you an idea of how tiny the font is.

>54 _Zoe_: You should read the whole thing to figure out if it's complete or an abridgement. I'll wait here ;-)

Hehe :D

Awesome! ...and...good luck finding room. As someone who owns 300+ books and doesn't own a single bookshelf, I know how it feels to have a new batch of books and no place to put them. I usually find a place called "on top of other books." It works like a charm! ...until they start hitting the ceiling.

>51 bell7: - Awesome find! My supervisor would be super jealous. I was chatting with him about books and home libraries recently and he admitted that one thing he would love to see on his book shelves is the OED in print in a lovely volume collection just like your wonderful acquisition. He loves words..... ;-)

*waving* at Mary

>51 bell7: Oh, whoa. Trying so hard right now not to turn completely green with envy... Nope, can't help it, I super hate you right now. (Kidding!)

>54 _Zoe_: Yeah, many of the copies I've seen online sell with a magnifying glass...

>55 norabelle414: and 56 Ha! Tell me how that goes ;)

>57 Ape: Thanks, Stephen! I'm fortunate enough that there's a library in the house where I rent an apartment and the folks I live with have basically given me a portion of those shelves... plus a set of bookshelves in my room. So I think it's just going to take some shifting, reorganizing just a tad, and potentially weeding some never-to-be-read items.

>58 lkernagh: Thanks! They're library discards that have been rebound, so they have all sorts of markings and such. But there's also a bit of history in that they have bookplates identifying them as from the library of one of the former (long former, as in before my time) directors of the library, so I kind of feel like I own a piece of library history to boot!

>59 alcottacre: *wave* back - hope you're enjoying your week off, Stasia!

>60 scaifea: ;) I think I can call myself a full-fledged dictionary collector... I have Webster's Third Unabridged, and a couple of books about the making of both that and the OED... I am a complete nerd, it's true. :)

104. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Gettysburg. A three day fight in the middle of the American Civil War that was in many ways a pivotal moment that brought eventual northern victory. The Killer Angels focuses on each day of the battle from multiple perspectives: Joshua Chamberlain, the leader of a Maine division whose brother is with him; General Longstreet, a Virginian who argues with General Lee but does his duty as a soldier; General Lee, commander of the southern army who seeks God's will and fought for man and soil over country; and many others.

This is the book on which the movie Gettysburg was based. Just as when I was watching the movie, there was so much going on and so many people that I sometimes lost track of who I was following. The maps were really helpful in understanding strategy, which gave a good amount of detail without getting overwhelmingly technical. Shaara's style was often staccato bursts of sentence fragments and not the prettiest-sounding prose, but his descriptions of warfare were heartbreaking and vivid. 4 stars.

A hard one to rate. The American Civil War happened long enough ago that my great-great-grandfathers were fighting in it, but the book brought it home to me so much that I just mourned for these young men fighting each other. I don't think I could read it again, but I will recommend it to historical fiction readers, and maybe my father (though he tends to choose nonfiction when he reads at all).

Well, I got some packages/mail ready to send (though sadly not to the post office, because I was done after it closed), laundry washed and folded, some cooking in, and my book finished for the workshop on Tuesday. I call that a day well done! I'm off to a friend's to watch Doctor Who tonight, and am looking forward to having the rest of the weekend for church & family.

Monday will be mostly relaxing (maybe a little more cooking), followed by working in the afternoon/evening with a program at the library - a theatrical presentation of "Gothic Victorian Tales" - should be a blast!

#62: I still remember my immediate reaction when I completed The Killer Angels: "I wish I could write like that." It was one of those books that was a seminal book for me.

#63: "Gothic Victorian Tales" sounds like it will be terrific. I hope it turns out to be!

>64 alcottacre: It was a pretty powerful book, Stasia. The only reason I didn't rate it higher was that I don't think I could read it again. It wasn't too bloody or anything it just made me think about how heartbreakingly awful war can be. So I think I'll be taking a break from historical fiction for a bit.

I've had the performer for gothic Victorian tales before for a completely different program, and she was really excellent and great to work with. I hope we get a good turnout... I'll report back on how it goes :)

105. Ascend by Amanda Hocking

With Elora declining fast, changeling Wendy knows it's only a matter of time before she becomes Queen of the Trylle and her father the King of an opposing faction of trolls called the Vittra, will attack her people. Then Loki - one of the Vittra that Wendy met when she was imprisoned - suddenly shows up looking for amnesty. Can she trust him? And can she defeat her father with the help of her friends?

The third book in the Trylle trilogy comes together for a satisfying conclusion in this fast-paced read. Nothing was truly surprising, but it's a solid read for fans of YA fantasy and paranormal romance. Wendy narrates her story, and we follow everything through her eyes and she starts to see Elora and Loki more clearly, and as she struggles to do what's right for the kingdom or for herself, personally. 4 stars.

Amanda Hocking is one of the authors kind of known for making good on the e-book market: I believe all three of the books in this trilogy were first e-books, and were reprinted as paperbacks with a short story added at the end of each of them. I wouldn't reread the books - they were fun but predictable - but I will add her to my mental list of authors to follow. A new series starts with Frostfire, due to come out in January.

106. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

Lawrence Taylor, linebacker of the New York Giants, revolutionized the game of football.

What? You thought this book was about Michael Oher? Well, it is. But it's also about why this kid - tall and wide at 350 pounds, but light on his feet - could play only fifteen high school games for a tiny little Christian school in Memphis and be courted by college coaches who could see his potential at left tackle.

See, LT had this thing about sacking quarterbacks. In fact, it's because of him that the sack is even a stat in football. And it's also because of him that the position that blocked him, protecting the quarterback's blind side - you guessed it, the left tackle - became such an important part of the game.

So while this tells the story of Michael Oher and the amazing way he went from having nothing to achieving everything, it's also the story of how the strategy of football developed to make a lowly lineman one of the most important pieces of a football offense. Lewis's interviews with Michael; with the Tuohys, the family who took him in and adopted him; Bill Parcells; Lawrence Taylor; Bill Walsh; and many more give you a well-rounded understanding of the man and the game. Recommended for both biography and football fans. 4.5 stars.

Well, my library book club list was just finalized, the points tallied, and here's what we'll be reading next year (I can't share with my book group for another couple of weeks, so I'm helping diffuse some of my excitement so I don't spill the beans early!):

January - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
February - Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
March - Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely
April - Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
May - The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
June - Falconer by John Cheever
July - Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch
August - Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara
September - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
October - The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan (special pick for a local author who will join us for the discussion)
November - River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
December - The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

I've only read the "bookends," and I'm looking forward to a reread of the former rather than the latter... I didn't love The Art Forger, but I'm thinking I might give it a quick reread and add a nonfiction account such as The Gardner Heist for myself.

It's interesting to see how this year's reading is impacting next year's. Appointment in Samarra is one of the books mentioned by The End of Your Life Book Club. The Night Swimmer had a lot of quotes from John Cheever, and many people voted to read Falconer, after the suggestion from one member that we read one of his works. We all really liked The Round House, so I'm not at all surprised that we voted for Shadow Tag, though many of us I think had to decide between that or The Master Butchers Singing Club from the larger list of selections. Once again, we've chosen a healthy number of nonfiction, and we do seen to keep a bit of an interest in World War 2 books (we've read Unbroken, Lost in Shangri-La and The Book Thief in years past).

Mary, I love that you now have an OED for yourself. That's pretty cool.

>68 bell7: - What a great line-up of books! I haven't read any of them so I am looking forward to learning next year what you -and the book group - think of them!

Oooh, I'm getting ready to start Appointment in Samarra!

>68 bell7:: That is a terrific lineup for next year, Mary. Our library book group only plans three months ahead. I would like to have a year's lineup so I could locate a good used copy at a reasonable price if I want to own the book. Shadow Tag is my least favorite Erdrich book. She took a more modern approach in this story about a marriage gone bad. I'm glad I don't have to wait too long to find out how you and your book group like it.

That is some wonderful news about the OED. I had access online when I was taking a class a semester at MSU. I miss it!

>69 AuntieClio: Thanks, Stephanie!

>70 lkernagh: I think it should make for an interesting and varied bunch of reads, Lori.

>71 scaifea: Amber, I'll look forward to seeing what you think of it. It sounded a little sad for me, but sometimes the books I don't all-out love make the best discussions, so...

>72 Donna828: Ooohhh, yeah it's been a few years since I've had online access, which is in the process of being updated too and pretty incredible. I may not like Shadow Tag as much as I liked The Round House from your description, but it sounds like a meaty discussion book for sure! A year seems to work well for us the way we choose our reads... I think 3 months ahead would be too quick of a turnaround for me to try to get recommendations for the next bunch of reads.

October in review -

99. The World Split Open by various authors - e-book ARC and mine
100. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater - audio
101. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
102. Doc by Mary Doria Russell - mine
103. Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes - e-book
104. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara - mine
105. Ascend by Amanda Hocking
106. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis - mine

Books read: 7
Audiobooks listened to: 1
Graphic novels/Manga: 2
Picture books: 0
Adult/Teen/Children's: 5/2/1
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 5/2/0/0
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 4/4/0

Standouts: The World Split Open and Doc were probably my favorite of the bunch with The Blind Side and The Killer Angels not far behind.

Thoughts: It felt like a bit of a slow reading month, but it really wasn't bad. Three of eight books were "have to" reads, and the graphic novels were a bit of that too, as I wanted to familiarize myself with some of the new purchases for an article I wrote for work (it ended up mostly mentioning graphic novels I'd read over the years rather than the newest ones, but it was a good introduction to the library's collection if I do say so myself). If quantity suffered, quality didn't as the only real clunker was the kids audio that I listened to in a day of traveling.

Original book publication dates read year-to-date:

2014 - 20
2013 - 23
2012 - 16
2011 - 13
2010 - 3
2009 - 4
2008 - 3
2006 - 3
2004 - 1
2003 - 1
2002 - 1
2001 - 1

1999 - 2
1997 - 1
1996 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1974 - 1
1965 - 1
1938 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

8th century BC - 1

107. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach - audio

The author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers takes on another offbeat - and some might think "gross" - topic of the digestive system, working her way down much like our food from smell and taste to output.

When I think about who I see as the audience for this book, the first thing that comes to mind is a conversation my brother and I had about the difference between senses of humor that enjoy "smart stupid" (think The Princess Bride or Monty Python) versus "stupid stupid" ("Dumb and Dumber" or "Anchorman"). This would appeal to the former - perhaps the latter too, but that not being my sense of humor, I really couldn't say. Roach gives readers a glimpse into the science of digestion and all sorts of scientific inquiry into, say, stomach acid or the bacteria in the colon. She found crazy case studies like the guy who had a hole into which his doctor could see his stomach digesting food, and isn't above a fart joke here and there. But it also doesn't go over the line into including things just for the "ick factor" (though you may find yourself not particularly wanting to read while you eat). The audio is superbly read by Emily Woo Zeller whose tone made all the footnotes clear and perfect pauses brought out the humor in Roach's writing. 4.5 stars.

I like to think of Mary Roach's sense of humor as cleverly lowbrow. :)

>76 Ape: Ha! That's a much more descriptive phrase than "smart stupid." I like it.

>75 bell7: Nice review. I love a good Mary Roach book, but I haven't got to that one just yet.

>78 RosyLibrarian: Thanks, Marie! That was my first... I tried Stiff twice and was just too grossed out, but for some reason digestion and poop just doesn't bother me (at least not to the same extent). I want to try Packing for Mars too.

108. UnDivided by Neal Shusterman

The premise of this series is haunting: what if really screwed up teenagers were “unwound” to provide organ and other transplants? What if abortion didn't exist, but you could leave an unwanted baby at a doorstep as long as you weren't caught (a practice known as “storking”), with the expectation that the owners of the house would take the child? The concluding book in the series that begins with Unwind finds Connor, Risa, Lev and others at a crossroads. Can they put an end to the practice of unwinding, or will political forces in the election give the Juvenile Authority expanded authority to unwind troubled teens without parental consent? Working together or alone, several forces will have to come together in just the right way...

Though definitely not a standalone book, UnDivided is a compelling read with a scary premise is made all the more plausible by the inclusion of real-life articles about harvesting organs or 3D printing technology. This was a heartbreaking, thrilling read that kept me on tenterhooks to the very last page (and yes, there was a marathon reading night of the last 90 pages or so before I could finally go to sleep). The ending was satisfying to me though somewhat implausible. I had a hard time believe that everything would come together just so - but I guess there's historical precedent for that, isn't there? I was glad that the main characters didn't die, but I also didn't feel like that would have been the "real" outcome of their actions. I highly recommend this thought-provoking series. 4.5 stars.

109. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Okonkwo is a man of fiery spirit who wants nothing more than to become a respected man in his Ibo clan and overcome the shame of a father who was "womanly" and would not work. Whether the work of fate or his own pride, however, he cannot seem to overcome the challenges before him in a world on the razor's edge of great change from the traditional tribes to the takeover by the white men.

Achebe wrote this as a response to Heart of Darkness, wanting to write the African perspective rather than the story of the victors. I first read this story in college, and it was really interesting to revisit it as a book club choice. I didn't remember a lot of the details, and was surprised by what I did remember being not as central to the story as I had recalled. Like any complex story, it's hard to summarize in just a few words, but I can say I'm glad to have read it in college and gladder still to have reread it when not for a school assignment. 4 stars.

Yeah, it just reached that difficult spot of "I enjoyed it, but I'm struggling to say why." Okonkwo irritates me, actually, so it was interesting and compelling reading knowing that everything was going to unravel. (Though maybe that's not a spoiler if it's pretty much the title?) Anyway, book club is next week and hopefully it'll make for a good discussion.

>81 bell7: Mary, I think I had the same reaction as you to Things Fall Apart, "I enjoyed it, but I'm struggling to say why." Achebe goes on my list of authors to continue pursuing.

>82 AuntieClio: Stephanie, I look forward to seeing what you think of other works by Achebe. I haven't read any of his others, but I'm thinking of continuing the African Trilogy when I'm in the right mood.

110. Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Lila returns readers to the town of Gilead, Iowa and characters from earlier titles Gilead and Home, this time focusing on the story of Lila, the woman who arrives in town and strikes up an unexpected friendship with local reverend, John Ames.

Marilynne Robinson's books are all hard to summarize in merely a few words, but perhaps this one is hardest than most being at once the third book that sheds light on these characters and also covers events that happened before either of them. Given that, and that it's not exactly a series but truly accessible standing on its own, I hesitate to say too much and give things away. Lila is somewhat in the background of the other books, and here her story is front and center. The writing is contemplative, almost poetry, and I felt like I would have to reread the book to fully take in everything, even though on the surface not much happens except in Lila's own heart and mind. Beautiful and heartbreaking. 4.5 stars.

I read an equally glowing review of Lila over on Donna's thread. I can't go wrong if both of you loved this one!

>85 lkernagh: Oh, I hope you enjoy it, Lori! I really love that series though they can be hard to follow when my life is busy, somehow even when the characters' lives are hard they just feel to me like coming to a warm and loving home.

Well, so much for November being a little less busy than October. I've only managed four books so far.

It's been a really hectic month, with work, a funeral - and we haven't even reached Thanksgiving yet! When I'm stressed I'm much more prone to watch TV (hello, catching up with season 9 of Supernatural!), knit, or clean my place. In fact, I've been organizing quite a bit lately. Over the Veteran's Day holiday besides reading Things Fall Apart for book club, I also created an expense report for July to the present with receipts I'd been saving with the plan of working on my budget. This morning before work was a great reorganization of my pile of a year's worth of filing, pulling out bank statements and pay stubs that I've been saving far to long so I can go through them and input my "income" portion (that will probably not happen 'til the weekend, but I've stacked them and have them ready). The second half of the year will be approximate; my goal is to figure out how to do it and get in the habit so that next year I have it down. The trouble is, I'm good with money but I haven't been paying attention to where it goes and it's only going to get more complicated from here on out.

But enough about that. I wanted to at least report on a couple of books I've been working on, which both happen to be nonfiction and also accounts for the low "finished" numbers. Here's what I'm reading now:

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is Karen Abbott's fascinating nonfiction account of four women - two for the Confederacy and two for the Union - who had some type of undercover work in the jobs you see listed in the title. It runs essentially chronologically going back and forth among them all, and I'd only heard of one (Elizabeth Van Lew) before, so it's been an interesting read. I only wish their were a listed Bibliography in addition to the endnotes.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis is completely different but equally as fascinating, talking about statistics in baseball and how Billy Beane managed the Oakland A's and drafted players that no one in the big leagues was looking for. This allowed him to buy quality players at a lower price, and the friend who lent it to me tells me that other teams have followed suit since. My friend and I had a short conversation about it today, and I can already see it's going to be food for future discussion and book recommendations, so this should be interesting.

And that's about it... I have a couple of books on my nightstand I'm really looking forward to getting to, but at this point I'm waiting 'til Friday at least because when I get to Mortal Heart I want to be able to read a good chunk before falling asleep!

hi :=) got me with liar, temptress, soldier, spy

The Abbott book definitely sounds interesting--onto the wish list it goes!

>88 AuntieClio: and >89 ronincats: Oh wow, two book bullets and I haven't even finished it yet! Hope you both enjoy it :)

I finished a book (novella, really) yesterday:

111. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

This novella, set in the same world as the Kvothe series, tells Auri's story as she goes about her business in the Underthing.

First of all, this book is really really really not a standalone even though it's not, strictly speaking, part of the trilogy that begins with The Name of the Wind. You definitely need to read the two books already out for it to make sense, and even then it has an otherworldly sense as we follow Auri around her beloved Underthing. She has a unique point of view about how the world works, which makes inanimate objects have as much personality as some human characters. It's hard to describe, different and whimsical. 4 stars.

>91 bell7: I really need to read the second book in this series, but I keep waiting for a pub date on the third book before I begin. My husband on the other hand devoured both of these books and really loved this novella too.

>92 RosyLibrarian: I read the second one right when it came out, and I know I'm going to have to reread them to remember what on earth is going on so I don't blame you for that at all :)

Reading update:

I'm still making my way through Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy and Moneyball. I worked this weekend and had a lot of errands on Monday, so didn't read as much as I would've liked. Even so, I gave myself the treat today of starting Mortal Heart - the last book in the Robin LaFevers "His Fair Assassin" trilogy - today before work. I expect I will finish at least one of these books over Thanksgiving weekend, as I will 1. have time off from work and 2. be dogsitting. In fact, when I get home from work tonight I've got to pack and decide which library books to take with me (who am I kidding, I'm going to pile them all in the car because I can't pick).

>94 bell7: Ha! Charlie and I are leaving this afternoon for Indiana and we'll only be there 2.5 days, but I packed 6 books (and I'm considering packing a 7th, just in case), because, well, what if I suddenly because a speed-reader?

>95 scaifea: I understand completely! Because I might just speed read, and - even more likely - what if I don't like a book I brought? Hope you have a safe trip and don't run out of reading material ;)

I ended up packing in a hurry (forgot to bring any casual clothes, but I brought work clothes...) and dumped six books in my bag, plus what I already had in my work bag. So I have:

-Moneyball
-Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy
-The complete poetry & prose of Robert Frost (good intentions... I haven't picked it up in months)
-A book about Coach Wooden that the same friend who lent me Moneyball would like back by the end of the year
-Mortal Heart
-Boneshaker - a reread but I'm reading it for work by December 16
-City of Fallen Angels

Not to mention the first season of Arrested Development on DVD, and I promised a friend we could have a Lord of the Rings marathon (not sure how many we'll actually get to) while she's visiting her parents over Thanksgiving weekend. Think I'll be covered?

Arrested Development!! Love.

>97 scaifea: my brother has been recommending it for awhile and I'm finally getting around to it now :)

Happy thanksgiving everyone! I am rather busy visiting family for the weekend but wanted to at least pop in here to say that and... just heard the news that I'll be an aunt next year! :D

>99 bell7: Yay!!! Congratulations to you and your family.

Congrats! :)

What a lovely way to celebrate Thanksgiving - in the knowledge of Aunty-dom. Have a great holiday, Mary.

>100 norabelle414: thanks, Nora! It was funny my sister was totally low key about it I thought I heard wrong and my parents weren't surprised at all haha.

>101 Ape: thanks, Stephen! :) I was ridiculously excited

>102 PaulCranswick: it added quite a bit too the festivities, Paul, and I think it will make the first holidays after my grandmother's passing easier for all of us. I've already started thinking about making a Christmas stocking from my great-grandma's patterns

112. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

Baseball is a game of inequalities, teams that have a great players and huge salaries, and others that just get by. Amateur draft day is, unlike the protracted celebration of pro football's, essentially carried out behind closed doors and not all that interesting. Players - athletes - are found by scouts in high school. At least, that's what conventional wisdom says. But Billy Beane and the Oakland A's may just be the wrench in the system that everyone thinks they know.

Statistics and baseball are two things that go together like peanut butter and jelly. But what if the stats we're looking at to determine the best ball players aren't the right stats? What if most GM's are valuing the wrong things, and it's costing them games? Michael Lewis argues that this is behind the A's success: their GM, Billy Beane, doesn't value the same things that most people in Major League Baseball value, and it's going mostly unnoticed. Though the book is over a decade old, much of the information still reads fresh and I was left wondering why more hadn't changed about the game in the intervening years. Some aspects are very technical, but Lewis treats them with a light touch and makes it accessible whether you're a math major or not, leaving you with a fascinating story of one team's "making it big" with one of the lowest team salaries in the game. 4.5 stars.

I had my dad read The Blind Side, and he pointed out some errors (such as saying a team went 14-2 on a strike year that didn't go 16 games). So my enjoyment of this one was deterred just a tad by wondering if the author got some details wrong here, too. Even so, it was a very entertaining read and the friend of mine who lent it to me was super-excited to talk about it afterwards.

113. Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

The third book in the His Fair Assassins trilogy focuses on Annith, one of Death's handmaidens that has been left behind at the convent while Ismae and Sybella and other, less well-prepared girls, are sent out on assignment. Why does the Reverend Mother want Annith to become seeress and stay behind, when it's the last thing that Annith wants when she's prepared all her life to be an assassin? She must escape the confines of the cloister to find her true life's purpose.

Annith's story starts a little slowly, telling us her perspective on events that we've seen through Ismae and Sybella's eyes already, but once Annith leaves the convent things pick up tremendously. Though the unfolding of some events didn't truly surprise me, I really enjoy the world-building of a 1489 Brittany divided between the new church and the Nine saints (Death included) that had once taken eminence in their religion. Each book carries a different flavor that suits the main character, and this one is in some ways softer than Dark Triumph, though still dealing with topics such as war and redemption. All the previous story lines, such as the politics between duchess Anne and the French, must come to a head in this heart-pounding conclusion to the series. 4.5 stars.

Oooh congrats, Auntie-to-be!!

>106 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! :D

114. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

This fascinating account tells the tales of four women: Belle Boyd, Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Emma Edmonds and Elizabeth Van Lew. Two were spies for the Confederacy and two for the Union, but all four had passionate ideals, high intelligence, and strong convictions.

Belle Boyd, sassy and determined to make a name for herself, shot a Yankee soldier (at least apparently in self defense) early in the war. Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a widow, used her skills to become friendly with high ranked officials and send the info to Confederate higher ups. Emma Edmonds of Michigan had been masquerading as a man a couple of years before the war, and joined up as "Frank," keeping her secret from the men with which she served. And Elizabeth Van Lew defied her Richmond neighbors and society with her outspoken support for abolition and helping Union soldiers captured during the war. Their stories intertwine in this account, roughly in chronological order. Actually, I could have done with a more clear timeline because I often became confused just when things were occurring, except for a few days that I knew off the top of my head. Still, this is a fascinating account of four women who had a huge impact on the American Civil War in a time when women didn't yet have the right to vote. The writing is accessible and clearly well-researched; I just wish there were a bibliography with a list of books to read next. 4 stars.

November in review -
107. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach - audio
108. UnDivided by Neal Shusterman
109. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
110. Lila by Marilynne Robinson
111. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
112. Moneyball by Michael Lewis - borrowed
113. Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
114. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

Books read: 7
Audiobooks listened to: 1
Graphic novels/Manga: 0
Picture books: 0
Adult/Teen/Children's: 6/2/0
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 5/3/0/0
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 7/0/1

Standouts: Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Thoughts: The month started off slow and picked up quickly in the last week or so for a total of eight books, three of which I finished in this last week of November while I've been dogsitting (I always knew being at home and getting stuff done was cutting into my reading time!). Most of them were good-to-great with no real clunkers in the bunch. I read one classic for book club, but managed to read enough books published this year to put 2014 over 2013, I believe for the first time all year. I've already surpassed the number of books I read last year but won't touch my highest since keeping track (166).

Original book publication dates read year-to-date:

2014 - 25
2013 - 24
2012 - 16
2011 - 13
2010 - 3
2009 - 4
2008 - 3
2006 - 3
2004 - 1
2003 - 2
2002 - 1
2001 - 1

1999 - 2
1997 - 1
1996 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1974 - 1
1965 - 1
1958 - 1
1938 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

8th century BC - 1

115. In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

Ruby is still reeling from the attack on the Children's League at the end of Never Fade, when she, Cole, Liam, and friends travel to a safe house to start planning a final offensive. Despite her guild over Jude's death and debilitating stress and headaches leaving her drained, Ruby is determined to take out Thurmond - the camp where she was taken after a childhood "disease" left her with the ability to manipulate others' minds - and expose what the camps are doing to children in the U.S. Meanwhile, her friends are also working on learning about the cure for the disease that either killed or changed all children once they hit puberty. Is the cure what they really need, or is Clancy - the other "Orange" who can manipulate minds - right that it's just another form of control?

To my mind, the end makes the story in many ways. The last book, the final chapter, the ending words need to leave me with just the right feeling or I feel somehow bereft no matter how good the story was up to that moment. In this case, the end delivers. It makes up for the deficiencies, such as the slow starting plot and the frustration I felt with Ruby and Cole that they just couldn't see some obvious problems until... well. I don't want to give anything away. But if you enjoyed The Darkest Minds, this is about a perfect ending to the trilogy and the last 100 pages make up for a lot. It's an adrenaline ride and while I may have been annoyed with Ruby at times, I really love the characters and enjoyed seeing how their stories were completed. 4 stars.

Alright, folks, at the end of the month I need to write an article for our library in our local newspaper. I'm thinking of having the topic "Reading Resolutions," and talk about some of my plans for reading next year.

The trouble is I don't have any. Or at least, nothing coherent and pithy.

Want to help me gather my thoughts? Here are my sort of random, rambly ideas on what I might want to read next year:

Out of 115 books read so far this year, only 26 were my own. I'd like to increase that number and/or percentage. I haven't decided how to make it a goal, because I don't want a large number like "40" to freak out when halfway through the year I'm nowhere close. Maybe something like "at least 3 books per month"? Another thought I had was to limit my library checkouts to books written in the last two years (or five?) or (if older) recommended by a friend - but the truth is, this essentially reflects my reading as it stands now and probably won't limit me any.

"Read more classics" is a thought but too general. I could approach it one of two ways: focusing on changing the publishing dates so it's not weighted quite so heavily "modern" (78 books out of 115 were published between 2011-2014), or listing specific titles that I own and haven't read yet, such as Great Expectations, Middlemarch, War and Peace, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I could even make it "two out of the five titles" or some such thing to keep from feeling hedged in. And I'd like to represent, say, the 19th century in my reading next year.

Other thoughts: reading more translated/international fiction, reading outside of my "box" (a genre or topic I usually stay away from), reading from an awards list (Newbery has been a long term goal of mine), reading more of the authors whose complete works I would like to read (Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis).

I want to stay away from a number goal. I always read over a hundred books a year, and I'll probably talk more percentages more than numbers because I want to sound more like "talk to me about the books you're going to read" and less "I read like a crazy lady bow to my superior knowledge". I don't want to make book lists. I have "have to" read books for book club and a librarian genre study group that gets together once every two months, and that adds up to about 18 titles I know I have to read (plus my choice in six genres). By the time I get to that book I'm dragging my feet just 'cause I have to read it now instead of delighting in the serendipity of reading a book I feel like in that moment. So I want to leave some flexibility.

Anyone have thoughts on my resolutions/goals/ramblings? Writing it out has helped me organize myself somewhat, but I'd love to hear what you think of the idea. Is it too odd for an article, or would you enjoy a local librarian talking about goals and inviting discussion of 2015 book plans?

From a readers point of view, it would be fun to read about how a librarian has similar issues to the rest of the reading population, but has the added distraction of many many books passing through their hands! Perhaps writing about ideas to read one book a month that is pre-millennium, one from your own TBR pile (talking too much about reading from home could be giving the wrong message from a library? I know ours struggle to get people borrowing instead of buying, so more people wanting to borrow would be better?), one that passed through your hands unexpectedly (a work that looks interesting but hadn't been checked out in forever).

Perhaps have a look at your reading plans in a similar way to the bingo cards that have been going round this year, or the TIOLI challenges - share the sense of fun that could be had by making your reads squeeze and wiggle into the challenges you've set yourself.

I don't know how highbrow you're wanting the article to be, but I'd think people would also like to hear about goals set and missed due to other temptations - it makes us feel better about our own failings after all!

Just some ideas off the top of my head - nothing coherent but maybe there is something there you can expand on.

>112 lunacat: You're right, it does sound odd to have the librarian talking about "reading more of my own" books. I might stick more with themes - classics, reading globally, "lists" - and save that one for LT. :)

I had the same thought. Writing an article about NOT using the library might be a bad choice. Maybe write an article about how reading books with library stickers is better for your health than books without library stickers, then list a bunch of vague and shady statistics that have no foundation in reality. :D

>114 Ape: Hahahaha Nah, maybe how reading books with reading level stickers is lame and unnecessary READ WHAT YOU WANT PEOPLE! (Sorry, it's been a long day and I'm almost ready for bed, have I mentioned that?)

Okay, so here are the four resolutions (and specific goals) I went with:

Read more classics.
Last year, more than half of what I read was published since 2010. While I want to keep up with current books and bestsellers, I will try to read one book from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, including at least two of the following titles: “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens, “Middlemarch” by George Eliot, “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas, “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy, and “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer.
Read from my “lists.”
I have awards lists and authors whose complete works I am working on reading as lifetime goals. I will read five Newbery Medal or Honor winners, three books by C. S. Lewis, and two of Shakespeare's plays.
Read globally. I hope to read books sets in 12 countries and 25 states to broaden my reading geographically. Hopefully I will get to some books in translation that I've been meaning to read for awhile.
Read picture books. In keeping with the library's long range plan's highest service response priority of early literacy, I will read at least two picture books a month to increase my familiarity with our collection.

My personal goal will include reading 3 or more of my own books per month, but that didn't make the article (and anyway, I only had 250-300 words to work with...).

ETA: Sometimes the act of writing it out helps me give something dimension, so I actually wrote up the article this evening after posting my random thoughts.

Nicely done, Mary!

I am a little shy about doing this, but I truly need help. I need wrist surgery but don't have the funds to pay for it. Please help if you can. Thanks! https://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-stephanie-pay-for-wrist-surger...

Sounds like an inspiring article, Mary!

>117 AuntieClio: Thanks, Stephanie, and so sorry to hear about your wrist :(

>118 ronincats: Aw, thanks, Roni!

116. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

It's been a long time since I read the first three books in the Mortal Instruments series and the first in the clockwork trilogy. A friend of mine convinced me to pick them up again, and I just started with this one. Will be back for a proper review on the computer instead of my tablet :)

After defeating Valentine and returning the Mortal Instruments to their rightful place (oh yeah, and discovering they're not actually related), you'd think Jace and Clary could catch a break. But Jace is avoiding Clary because he's having dreams of harming her, and someone's trying to kill Clary's best friend Simon - as if being a teenage vampire with the Mark of Cain wasn't already hard enough.

I tried reading this book once before and had a hard time getting into it, mainly because having a major plot point rest on the fact that nobody will talk to each other annoys the crap out of me. Can we please stop being angsty and have a simple conversation? Anyway... knowing that this time around helped me have more patience, and I discovered that things got much more interesting just after the place I had stopped reading (of course). Jace is as smart-mouthed as ever (my favorite quote was "He's my neophyte Downworlder to mock and boss around, not yours."), though at times the dialog is stilted or the description flowery. Quick, fun reading for fans of teen urban fantasy. 4 stars.

It was really interesting to read this now that I've watched nine seasons of Supernatural too - I can see a lot of overlap with fans who like the take on (almost) every urban legend being, in some fashion, true.

117. A Witness Tree by Robert Frost

Not my favorite of the Frost collections I've read this year. I started this one in the summer and just picked it up for the first time in months a few days ago so I know it suffers a bit from the lack of continuity in my head. I do like "I could give it all to time" from which Crossing to Safety gets its name. The final stanza reads:

I could give all to Time except-except
What I myself have held. But why declare
The things forbidden that while the Customs slept
I have crossed to Safety with? For I am There,
And what I would not part with I have kept.

Updated my review of City of Fallen Angels, which I had to be coaxed into reading after I'd abandoned it a couple of years ago. It worked a lot better for me this time around.

I'm currently reading Boneshaker by Cherie Priest for a librarian's genre study on steampunk and Midnight in Peking for this month's book discussion. I have to read a second steampunk title for the meeting on the 16th, and while I have Cold Magic by Kate Elliot out from the library, it's also a very looooonnng book so I'm thinking of possibly checking out a YA title such as Behemoth (to finish the series finally) or Clockwork Angel (I wanted to reread this title and read the rest of the series anyways) to have something a little quicker. Oh, and All the Light We Cannot See is due back on the 16th.

So. Four books in 9 days. I can do this, right?

I'm also reading a book I've been borrowing from a friend for over a year, but it's very quick reading and I'm spacing it out reading a chapter a day at most, so it'll probably be the book I finish next.

Pfffft, you could do 9 books in 4 days!!! ;)

>123 Ape: Ha, I wish! Not since grade school, I'm afraid ;)

I've come to the conclusion that I need to bring All the Light We Cannot See back unread, and will substitute a shorter steampunk e-book (that's actually half a book, oddly, but the full novel wasn't available) for Cold Magic. I am making good enough progress that I think I'll squeak all three of them in. Just barely - because you know, life. Choir practice, Christmas party, birthday party, Christmas shopping, post office... yeah, just thinking about it all is making me tired.

Picture book:
Librarian's Night Before Christmas by David Davis, illustrated by Jim Harris

A pretty cute reimagining of The Night Before Christmas from the perspective of a beleaguered librarian whose funding has been chopped. Entertaining in jokes for librarians, but one of those picture books actually written for adults (I don't think the kiddies will get it... unless maybe a parent is a librarian).

Update on the reading front:

I have count 'em 50 pages left in my (re)read of Boneshaker for Tuesday's steampunk genre study. I am somewhere around halfway through Midnight in Peking for Wednesday (though ideally I would like to finish it by, say, Monday).

I returned All the Light We Cannot See unread :( I'll have to put myself back on the holds list and read it a couple of months from now.

I have decided to read the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as my second steampunk read instead of a full-length book in the interest of time.

I won't quite know what to do with myself after finishing the books I've been rushing through. Maybe it'll be time for a reread of A Christmas Carol just to have something completely different.

>111 bell7: I'm sorry I'm late in reading about your library article, but I'm glad you worked it out. (Did your library post it online? Can I read?) I really like your goals, especially the children's book one. I don't have children, but as a librarian I try to keep up with them too. Plus, they are so fun!

I've been trying to formulate some goals too for next year. I usually never even try, but I'm feeling ambitious. You may have inspired me to actually write them down. :)

>128 RosyLibrarian: The article isn't due for another 2 weeks, so I haven't sent it in to the paper yet. I'll try to post a copy here if I can when it comes out - should be early next year, which is why I was thinking "resolutions"! :)

I have two goals that didn't "make the cut" (the article can 300 words, max) - read 3 of my own books per month and catch up on series I started but never finished. Of course, I can overlap as much as I want between said goals (and for my own sanity, I will try to!). But I suppose it's good to write them down here, as everyone will want updates and it will help me keep accountable!

118. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - re-read

My original review from reading it in 2010:

In this alternate history set in 19th century Seattle, Leviticus Blue created a massive machine called the Boneshaker, which dug below the city banks and released a cloud of gas that turned those who breathed it into "rotters." Fifteen years after the incident, Levi's wife Briar and her son, Ezekiel, deal with the censure of their neighbors for being related to Levi and to Maynard Wilkes, Briar's father who infamously let inmates free to get them away from the gas. When Ezekiel sneaks into the now walled-off Seattle, filled with the poisonous gas and the rotters, determined to clear his grandfather's and father's names, an earthquake leaves him stranded on the inside. Briar is determined to find him and enters the city after him.

After years of reading fantasy, I've gotten pretty good at suspending disbelief, which you really need to do to get into this steampunk/zombie story. If you can, it's a fun premise and I enjoyed the re-imagining of Seattle and American history. The world-building was well done and the writing moves along quickly. I wanted a little more to happen in terms of the story as some revelations were not all that surprising, but overall it was a fun ride and I'd be willing to read more by this author.

The level of violence with the zombies is basically the only thing that keeps this from a more-than-4-star book for me. I reread it because my bi-monthly genre study librarians group required it for our discussion on Steampunk, and it had been long enough ago that I needed to remind myself what happened. As I mentioned in >127 bell7:, I've decided that the "my choice" 2nd title will be the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1.

119. Coach Wooden: the 7 principles that shaped his life and will change yours by Pat Williams with Jim Denny - borrowed

Motivational speaker and Orlando Magic senior vice president Pat Williams writes of the "seven-point creed" that UCLA Coach John Wooden's father gave him as a boy, and how following these principles can shape ones life.

These points are:
1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

While I truly agree with the creed, I had a tough time with the book. Though it was fairly short, I felt that it was overly long, drawing out what could have been a very powerful article with repetitive stories from people Williams interviewed and Coach Wooden's own books. In fact, so much of what I read was quotes from other books and people that I found myself rather frustrated and just wanting to read the original instead. Williams also has a habit of calling Coach Wooden's father by his full name - Joshua Hugh Wooden - and after awhile it irritated me. Perhaps considering his motivational speaker background it would work better as an audiobook? 3 stars.

The same friend who lent me Moneyball also lent me this book. We'll probably have a pretty good discussion about it even though I had mixed feelings.

Graphic Novel/Manga #8:

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore

I have not seen the movie, so I rather enjoyed my introduction to the band of misfits that are working together in London for the mysterious "M" and was often delightfully surprised when learning their identities. Most if not all of the characters are well-known to those versed in the classics, but they each have their own unique twist and there's no clear black-and-white (at least not yet) in this world. It's fun to see the characters and inventions of other tales "come to life" so to speak in this dark and sometimes comic tale. 4 stars.

I probably wouldn't continue on just for the level of violence (I'm really wimpy about it, actually... my brother has to vet PG-13 movies for me and tell me when to close my eyes).

Is the movie worth watching?

For anyone keeping track of my ongoing saga of reading three books for today and tomorrow, I finished the graphic novel this morning right before I left. I think December was a really tough month for the genre study group, as we ended up being a smaller group and many of us had trouble finishing a second title.

I have less than 40 pages left in Midnight in Peking so I will be finishing that tonight and picking up something completely different starting tomorrow. I haven't a clue what it will be yet.

120. Midnight in Peking by Paul French

January, 1937. Peking was on the verge of invasion by the Japanese; China was on the verge of a Communist revolution; the world was on the verge of war. One 19-year-old Englishwoman was found dead not far from her home, her corpse mutilated, and the joint investigation of Chinese police and a representative of the British legation began. The murder was never solved, but author Paul French brings forward little-known archives to point the way towards the killers.

This is my first foray into true crime, a genre I do not have a natural bent towards as I am completely wimpy when it comes to violence. And while most of this book focuses on the investigation and events after the murder, what happened to Pamela Werner was truly horrible, the description of her body after death pulls no punches. There is, however, quite a lot of food for thought - foreigners living in China, the sordid underbelly of a city that no one wanted to talk about, Chinese and British working together (or not) to solve a murder - which makes it an interesting nonfiction choice for a book group. 3 stars.

Mostly just not my thing. I would say recommended to true crime fans, but having not read anything else in the nonfiction genre I don't really know how it fits or doesn't with the conventions of that genre...

Book discussion report:

Other than one woman who reads true crime and said she enjoyed the book, many of us had differing levels of difficulty with Midnight in Peking. For a few, the description of violence was brutally difficult. BUT there was a lot to discuss, from what we thought of different people, if we wanted to know more, if we found the evidence against the suspects - whom the author lays out as guilty - was compelling. I think I approached it very differently than most folks; instead of looking at it from a historical perspective of what was likely what happened, I was wondering to myself if I were on a jury and this were the evidence, would I convict? There were definitely some unanswered questions, which made for a good discussion because we each had different ideas of what might have happened. The website had some really useful information, and I printed out and passed out the author's recommendations for further reading. I also found an article from the NY Times in May that discussed Beijing and Pamela's Peking from a different perspective. At least one of the participants was really thrilled with those handouts, so it made the work of putting it together all worthwhile.

Since I freaked out here about joining a fantasy football league and having no idea what I was doing, I feel I should also report that I finished the season 8 and 5, made the playoffs, and am now in the finals in a matchup against Team Hotness, the team which is made up of players at least partially based on their level of cuteness. I am definitely competitive enough to want to win, but it's rather satisfying to know that worst case scenario, I come in 2nd, beating my brothers, my brother-in-law and his brothers. :)

Haha, go you! Fantasy football sounds interesting but it sounds it all sounds so intimidating to me. I'm glad your first time has been a success! :)

>137 Ape: Haha, thanks! I was pretty intimidated at first, but it's actually pretty easy to move around players and really it just comes down to pure luck, and a guy having a lot of carries or catches on any given week. I complain about my opponent's draft techniques, but the truth is one of my best players this year has been a running back I put on my team because he shared my last name (and was predicted to do well, but yes, that was the deciding factor).

121. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

My annual reread, which I've been doing since at least 2006 when I started keeping track of all my reading. This makes it impossible for me to review, really, other than to say it's so much fun for me to dip into this classic Christmas story every year.

In the past, I've read an edition that had the facsimile of the manuscript on every opposing page. That copy was getting old and smelly, so I passed it on and recently purchased a nice used copy with illustrations by Scott McKowen. I just updated the LT info on my book and left it at that when I got it. Apparently someone had decided that the manuscript editions should be their own "work," so silly me I was staring at it for the longest time yesterday trying to figure out how there were only 77 copies and 3 reviews. Fortunately I figured out what had been done and spent some time separating and recombining my book into the bigger one (which is still a mess with various graphic novels and adaptations combined in there) without pissing off the original separator. Oh the woes of the perfectionist cataloger...

122. Clariel by Garth Nix

All Clariel wants is to become a Borderer, living on her own in the Great Forest and protecting the realm with her hunting prowess. But everyone around her has some other plan for her: going to school, marrying, becoming a goldsmith like her parents... why can't she just be left alone to do as she pleases? And why does she have to live in the city of Belisaere, where she practically chokes over the political machinations that no one wants to talk about?

This book is set in the same world as Sabriel and the rest of the Abhorsen books, but several hundred years before those events took place. Clariel is likable enough, but her overarching desire to be Away made for sometimes boring reading, as the main character always felt like more of a pawn than a player. But Nix's writing and ability to imagine and convey a fully-realized other world is pretty amazing, and carried me along when the plot lagged. I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point, but it's a solid recommendation for fans of Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. 4 stars.

I have to agree that I got irritated with Clariel's obsession during the story. I thought that Bel was a much more sympathetic character. But Nix said Clariel's was the story he felt called upon to tell.

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.

Happy Christmas, Mary!

Happy Holidays!

Mary, I'm so happy to have made your acquaintance this year. I'm so grateful to have you in my life.

<132 - I can say I am one who enjoys the movie and has never read the book. ;-)

Congratulations on your Fantasy football results!

I have enjoyed following your reading and pretty much everything else posted here in 2014. Stopping by now to wish you a happy holiday season and all the best in 2015!

Dear Mary, best wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas!

Thank you Roni, Amber, Marie, Katherine, Stephanie, Lori and Anne, and Merry Christmas to all of you as well!

I've had a busy but nice couple of days. Christmas Eve was a big bash at my uncle's followed by the late service at church, where the responsive reading was made difficult by the powerpoint freezing, then going back on and no one being able to read "men," "women," or "leader" due to the colored highlights behind the words. After one of the leaders read, "And the angel said..." they realized what was happening and the other jumped in with, "Just click the mouse at the bottom."

Christmas day itself was fairly relaxed at my parents. My married sister didn't make it up, but we used Facetime and Skype to share in opening gifts. We spent the afternoon half asleep in front of the TV watching a DVD of a New York Giants' playoff game from a few years back, and after dinner I went over to a friend's house to watching the Doctor Who Christmas special.

Today I'm back to work and still exhausted, but I have tomorrow off and I'm planning a fairly low key day full of gift book cataloging, reading, and just a little bit of cooking to get me through the weekend.

Have a wonderful festive season, Mary.

>136 bell7: Congrats on your fantasy football standings! I took 2nd in my league. I would have taken 1st but I had to scramble because several of my players got hurt. It also didn't help that Brees had a pretty lackluster game. Oh well, there is always next year. I hope you win!

>149 PaulCranswick: Why, thank you, Paul and the same to you and your family. I love that image!

>150 rosylibrarian: Thanks, Marie, we finish up this week but it looks likely that I will come in second as well. I'm a little over 20 points behind and truth be told her players are generally more reliable than mine. We'll see what happens of course... If Le'Veon Bell gets another 41-point game we may have a come-from-behind win. Congrats on getting second!

123. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Sutter Keely is the life of the party at his high school: he never really gets into any big trouble, and he's not one to think to hard about consequences before jumping in and loving life. Yeah, maybe he carries a flask of whisky, but he's not an actual drunk. When he and his girlfriend Cassidy break up, his life takes a spin and he suddenly meets Aimee Finecky, who is so not his type.

The book dates itself with references to email and MySpace, but it captures the feeling of high school perfectly which makes it perfect and maddening at the same time. Much like its main character. Though Sutter most assuredly has his problems and is not the most reliable of narrators, I really liked him and rooted for him all the way. 3 stars.

I can't really explain my rating without giving away the ending.
Believe it or not, I prefer the movie.

124. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

A bridge in Peru collapses, sending five people plummeting to their deaths. Brother Juniper is determined to show that this is no random chance, and sets out to write the definitive book proving that this is all part of a plan. The unnamed narrator of this book lays out the facts as well, giving us interlocking stories of the people who were on the bridge that fateful day.

Was it fate or was it chance? Who were these five people on the bridge, and what brought them to that place on that day in 1714 when the bridge collapsed? Though it's a short book, it manages to pack in quite a lot about these characters and their connections, and leave you with much food for thought. I was much more familiar with Thornton Wilder as a playwright and author of Our Town, but one of my co-workers happened to be reading this for her book club this month. I was in the mood for something a little more challenging that what I'd been reading lately, so I picked it up. I'm glad I did. 4 stars.

I saw the third Hobbit movie in theaters over the weekend. I was a little leery of a movie that was based on only a few chapters of a book I loved, but it was really well done and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Picture book:
Take Away the A by Michael Escoffier, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
In this entertaining take on the alphabet book, we learn what words become when they're missing a letter - from A to Z. The illustrations are delightful and complement the story well adding to the humor of what happens when, say, the Beast becomes the Best and are large enough that it could work equally well for a class read or one-on-one.

>152 bell7: The movie was def more happy than the book, but I really enjoyed both. I thought it was kind of a realistic high school love story against all the instalove that happens in YA. It was also kind of refreshing to read from a male perspective.

>154 bell7: I can't wait to see the third one! Oh, Richard Armitage...

>156 rosylibrarian: Yes, I liked it for both those reasons too. I just didn't like having the feeling that absolutely nothing had changed for him after all and it looks like he's going to be like his dad unless something changes for him in the future. I like Sutter. I don't want him to stay stuck. It probably didn't help in this case that I'd actually seen the movie first, so I expected a totally different ending and all of a sudden there was only a page left.

I hope you enjoy the Hobbit movie when you see it!

>157 bell7: It's true, you root for Sutter only to have him turn out to be the guy you had hoped he wouldn't become. I liked the movie for that reason too. It at least gave you hope.

Speaking of his dad, didn't that character break your heart both in the book and movie?

>158 rosylibrarian: Yeah, and I think a lot of teenage guys find themselves in that place when transitioning into adulthood and growing up. I felt like a lot of his partying and goofing off was a front for a more serious guy that was afraid of being hurt so I hated to see him continue on that path. And yeah, the movie gave a lot more hope, I thought, for him and for their relationship (though I'm kind of okay with them not being together in the end). The character of his dad was definitely sad, and it was heartbreaking to see his son's dreams of who his dad was shatter too.

On the plus side, it's making me go back and rewatch Early Edition...

Christmas book haul (I just finished cataloging them):

Simple Knits with a twist
Paris Review Interviews II and Paris Review Interviews III
One of Our Thursdays is Missing
The Fault in Our Stars
The World Split Open
Reading the OED

I haven't read the Paris Review Interviews books, but I really enjoyed the first collection (which I don't own) and the 4th (which I do), so I've had them on my wishlist. The knitting book looks like an eclectic bunch of patterns and possibly a little difficult for me, but fun nonetheless. I've read the others and just wanted to own them :)

125. Control by Lydia Kang

When Zelia's father dies in a tragic accident, she and her sister Dylia are brought to an orphanage and genetically tested. Dyl is abruptly taken away from her, and Zel is taken in by Marka and a band of misfit teens that all have some kind of genetic anomaly - four arms, a second brain, and green skin to name a few. Marka is in charge of a safe house, and says that another group, Aureus, has taken Dyl because of some trait introduced in her genes. Each of the kids at the safe house also have a trait, and have been working in labs to isolate it and see if it can be useful and marketable in the real world, even though they themselves are pretty much outlawed. Zel knows she isn't anything special, but she's determined to rescue her sister no matter what's going on.

My thoughts went back and forth while reading this book. I enjoyed the blend of science and science fiction: Zel has a real medical condition known as "Ondine's curse" which means that her body doesn't breathe automatically, especially when asleep. I became a little frustrated with Zel herself, as she spends much of the time having no idea what's going on and dithering about it instead of finding out. She's not sure who to trust, but she'll take huge risks just in case someone's telling her the truth. The plot takes a little while to get going, but once it does everything moves along fast and it was intriguing enough to make me want to read the conclusion when it comes out next year. 3.5 stars.

I am still holding out that I might finish one more book before the end of tomorrow, but even so I'm fairly confident I can give my "favorites of the year" list - this is basically culled from my standouts from each month if you've been following along all year. In no particular order:

The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
Doc by Mary Doria Russell
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang (2 graphic novels tell one story)
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The World Split Open by various authors
The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney

Honorable mention goes to:
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

>162 bell7: Nice list! I still need to read Quiet and Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Hope you have a wonderful New Years!

Happy new year to you, too, Marie! I hope you enjoy both when you get to them; they were both for my book discussionthis year (as was The Round House) and were memorable reads for quite different reasons.

126. A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett

Those who have enjoyed the humor and deep thinking of the author of Nation, Discworld novels, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents or (with Neil Gaiman) Good Omens would do well to dip into this collection of essays from one of the - in my opinion - funniest people writing today.

The essays - sometimes talks, sometimes introductions to books, on a few occasions journalistic pieces - are grouped into three sections. The first deals mainly with books and reading, and got the most laughs from me. The second bunch covered diverse topics and was somewhat autobiographical, in which I learned that Sir Terry had a background in journalism and once worked as a nuclear press officer. The third - just like those Discworld books that have you laughing one moment and thinking about something serious the next - deals with his diagnosis of a rare form of Alzheimer's and his subsequent campaign to legalize assisted dying. Because they're organized topically and cover quite a few years, there are a few thoughts and phrases that repeat, but that's to be expected in a collection of pieces not originally written to be a part of a collection. Recommended reading for any fan of Terry Pratchett. 4 stars.

Neil Gaiman's introduction was thoroughly entertaining and appropriate to the collection. I do wish I'd understood better (and maybe this is just because it's the e-book) when an introduction was written by an editor and when by Pratchett himself (as some clearly were).

Free e-book ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss/Above the Treeline. No money or goods were exchanged, and all views are my own. The book came out September 23 (oops).

December in review -
115. In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken
116. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
117. A Witness Tree by Robert Frost - mine
118. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - reread
119. Coach Wooden by Pat Williams - borrowed
120. Midnight in Peking by Paul French
121. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - mine and a re-read
122. Clariel by Garth Nix
123. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
124. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
125. Control by Lydia Kang
126. A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett - mine and e-book ARC

Books read: 12
Audiobooks listened to: 0
Graphic novels/Manga: 0
Picture books: 1
Adult/Teen/Children's: 7/5/0
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 8/3/1/0
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 8/3/1

Standouts: In this case, the last was the best - A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett

Thoughts: Not too shabby of a total, and plenty of books I'd recommend, even if they didn't quite get that satisfying 4.5 or 5 stars for reread potential (excepting, of course, A Christmas Carol, but I read that every year). I read 19 more books this calendar year than last. I read primarily current fiction, and if it were not for working my way through Robert Frost's collected works, my list of classics would be even shabbier than it is (see updated publication year listing below). All in all, I really enjoyed my reading this year and am looking forward to 2015.

Original book publication dates read 2014

2014 - 28
2013 - 25
2012 - 16
2011 - 16
2010 - 3
2009 - 5
2008 - 4
2006 - 3
2004 - 1
2003 - 2
2002 - 1
2001 - 1

1999 - 2
1997 - 1
1996 - 1
1991 - 1
1989 - 1
1974 - 1
1965 - 1
1958 - 1
1942 - 1
1938 - 1
1937 - 1
1928 - 1
1927 - 1
1923 - 1
1919 - 1
1916 - 1
1914 - 1
1913 - 1

1843 - 1

8th century BC - 1

And with that, my 2014 reading officially wraps up. If you haven't already done so, please feel free to follow me to my 2015 thread. Happy new year!

Good to know that A Slip of the Keyboard is good--I'll be getting that. This is my final swing through the 2014 threads--I'll see you on the other side!

>168 ronincats: I hope you enjoy it, Roni! Happy new year and see you on the new thread :)