inge87's 14-in-14 Challenge, Chapter 4: Advent Edition

O Sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse, O Clavis David, O Oriens, O Rex Gentium, O Emmanuel

It's Advent time, whether or not everyone is singing Christmas songs. Only one month to go before the New Year. So let's make it count!


Landscape with St. John the Baptist preaching by Pieter Pieter Brueghel the Younger

Categories
1. Sally in our Alley: Classic Fiction (pre-1920)
2. Sumer is icumen in: Ecology/Environmental Science
3. The Lay of Nimrodel: Fantasy
4. John Barleycorn Must Die: Food/Gardening
5. The Skye Boat Song: History
6. Roads to Moscow: Historical Fiction
7. Lady Franklin's Dream: Mysteries
8. Fear a' Bhàta: Other Non-Fiction
9. Who Knows Where the Time Goes?: Recent Fiction (1970 onward)
10. Dives and Lazarus: Religion
11. Turn! Turn! Turn!: Retro Fiction (1920-1969)
12. Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen: Travel
13. Tam Lin: YA Fantasy
14. Barbara Allen: YA Non-Fantasy

Symbol Key
* = re-read
+ = owned and unread since before 2013 (Mt. TBR)
^ = foreign language book

1. Sally in our Alley: Classic Fiction (pre-1920) – COMPLETED 10/4

Of all the girls that are so smart
There's none like pretty Sally;
She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley.
_________________________________________________________________

1. The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope* - 1894 (3)
2. So Bright and Delicate: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne by John Keats+ - c.1818-1821 (3)
3. The Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes) by Alain-Fournier - 1913 (2)
4. The Cardinal's Snuff-Box by Henry Harland* - 1900 (3)
5. Wanted—A Match-Maker by Paul Leicester Ford* - 1901 (3)
6. The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen by Elizabeth von Arnim - 1904 (3)
7. The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke by Rupert Brooke - 1915 (3)
8. English Poetry, 1550-1660 by Fred Inglis (ed.) - 1550-1660 (3)
9. The Doctor's Sweetheart and Other Stories by L. M. Montgomery* - 1899-1934 (3)
10. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster* - 1908 (3)
11. Love Insurance by Earl Derr Biggers - 1914 (3)
12. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen+ - 1817 (3)

2. Sumer is icumen in: Ecology/Environmental Science – COMPLETED 12/24

Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wode nu,
Sing cuccu!

Summer has come in,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow blooms
And the wood springs anew,
Sing, Cuckoo!

________________________________________________________________

1. The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea by Callum Roberts (4)
2. All Natural*: A Skeptic's Quest for Health and Happiness in an Age of Ecological Anxiety by Nathanael Johnson (3)
3. Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Douglas W. Tallamy (3)
4. Tambora: The Eruption that Changed the World by Gillen D'Arcy Wood (4)
5. The Kingdom of Rarities by Eric Dinerstein (4)
6. Roadside Geology of Texas by Robert A. Sheldon+ (3)
7. Narwhals: Arctic Whales in a Melting World by Todd McLeish (3)
8. The Sea around Us by Rachel Carson (3)
9. Hummingbirds of Texas, with their New Mexico and Arizona Ranges by Clifford E. Shackelford (3)
10. The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet by Kristin Ohlson (4)
11. Prairie Time: A Blackland Portrait by Matt White (3)
12. Counting Sheep: A Celebration of the Pastoral Heritage of Britain by Philip Walling (3)

3. The Lay of Nimrodel: Fantasy – COMPLETED 8/16

Her hair was long, her limbs were white,
And fair she was and free;
And in the wind she went as light
As leaf of linden-tree.

Beside the falls of Nimrodel,
By water clear and cool,
Her voice as falling silver fell
Into the shining pool.

Where now she wanders none can tell,
In sunlight or in shade;
For lost of yore was Nimrodel
And in the mountains strayed.
_______________________________________________________________

1. The Death of King Arthur: A New Verse Translation by Simon Armitage (3)
2. A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson+ (3)
3. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison* (4)
4. The Paradise War by Stephen R. Lawhead (3)
5. Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer (3)
6. The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley (4)
7. Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou, vol. 1 by Tomu Ohmi (3)
8. Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou, vol. 2 by Tomu Ohmi (4)
9. Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou, vol. 3 by Tomu Ohmi (3)
10. Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou, vol. 4 by Tomu Ohmi (3)
11. Spell of Desire, Vol. 1 by Tomu Ohmi (4)
12. The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney (5)
13. The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (5)
14. The Seat of Magic by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)
15. Written in Red by Anne Bishop (4)
16. The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness (4)
17. The Frangipani Hotel by Violet Kupersmith (3)
18. Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop (3)
19. Landline by Rainbow Rowell (4)
20. The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter (4)
21. Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James (3)
22. Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley (4)
23. Iron Shoes by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)

4. John Barleycorn Must Die: Food/Cooking – COMPLETED 12/30

They've hired men with the crab-tree sticks
To cut him skin from bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones

And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl
And he's brandy in the glass
And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl
Proved the strongest man at last
______________________________________________________________

1. Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen (3)
2. The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart (3)
3. Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley (4)
4. Desert Terroir: Exploring the Unique Flavors and Sundry Places of the Borderlands by Gary Paul Nabhan (2)
5. The Land of the Five Flavors: A Cultural History of Chinese Cuisine by Thomas O. Höllmann (5)
6. Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop (3)
7. The Sugar Season: A Year in the Life of Maple Syrup, and One Family’s Quest for the Sweetest Harvest by Douglas Whynott (2)
8. Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon by Cindy Ott (4)
9. Carl Warner's Food Landscapes by Carl Warner (2)
10. The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz (4)
11. Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr (3)
12. The Asian Grocery Store Demystified by Linda Bladholm (3)

5. The Skye Boat Song: History - COMPLETED - 3/30

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
_____________________________________________________________

1. Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth by John Garth (5)
2. The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin (3)
3. A Subaltern's War by Charles Edmonds (Charles Edmond Carrington) (4)
4. The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox (4)
5. The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria by John Kiser (2)
6. Erzähl es niemandem!: Die Liebesgeschichte meiner Eltern by Randi Crott & Lillian Crott Berthung^ (4)
7. Converting Bohemia: Force and Persuasion in the Catholic Reformation by Howard Louthan (3)
8. The Last Man in Russia: The Struggle to Save a Dying Nation by Oliver Bullough (5)
9. How the Reformation Happened by Hilaire Belloc+ (3)
10. The Extinction of the Ancient Hierarchy: An Account of the Death in Prison of the Eleven Bishops Honoured at Rome Amongst the Martyrs of the Elizabethan Persecution; Archbishop Heath of York, Bishops Tunstall, Bonner and Companions by G. E. Phillips (3)
11. The Long Shadow: The Great War and the Twentieth Century by David Reynolds (4)
12. Barbarians to Angels: The Dark Ages Reconsidered by Peter S. Wells (3)
13. Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56 by Anne Applebaum (4)
14. Edmund Campion by Evelyn Waugh (3)
15. Let Our Fame Be Great: Journeys Among the Defiant People of the Caucasus by Oliver Bullough (4)
16. Passion and Resurrection: The Greek Catholic Church in Soviet Ukraine, 1939-1989 by Serge Keleher+ (4)
17. Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe by Simon Winder (4)
18. The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans, and the Battle for Europe by Andrew Wheatcroft (4)
19. Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World by Roger Crowley (5)
20. Warsaw 1920: Lenin's Failed Conquest of Europe by Adam Zamoyski (3)
21. The Oaken Heart by Margery Allingham (3)
22. Daphne Du Maurier and Her Sisters: The Hidden Lives of Piffy, Bird and Bing by Jane Dunn (3)
23. Historical Short Stories of Navarro County by Alva Taylor (ed.) (2)
24. Mexico: A Revolution in Art, 1910-1940 by Adrian Locke (3)
25. White Elephants on Campus: The Decline of the University Chapel in America, 1920-1960 by Margaret M. Grubiak (3)
26. The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970 by Andrew Demshuk (4)
27. Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, a Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World by Abby Sallenger (3)
28. The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century by William Rosen (3)
29. The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam by G. W. Bowersock (3)
30. Vanished: The Sixty-Year Search for the Missing Men of World War II by Wil S. Hylton (3)
31. 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline (3)
32. Cunegonde's Kidnapping: A Story of Religious Conflict in the Age of Enlightenment by Benjamin J. Kaplan (4)
33. The King's Revenge: Charles II and the Greatest Manhunt in British History by Don Jordan & Michael Walsh (3)

6. Roads to Moscow: Historical Fiction – COMPLETED 6/29

Two broken Tigers on fire in the night flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home it will almost be spring
The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin

Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever was able to see
The eyes of the city are opening now it's the end of the dream

_______________________________________________________

1. My Father's Glory by Marcel Pagnol (3)
2. My Mother's Castle by Marcel Pagnol (3)
3. Magnus by George Mackay Brown (3)
4. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer* (4)
5. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (2)
6. Die letzte Begegnung+^ by Gertrud von le Fort (4)
7. Venetia by Georgette Heyer* (5)
8. Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown (2)
9. The Wild Geese by Bridget Boland+ (3)
10. Atemschaukel by Herta Müller^ (3)
11. The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth (4)
12. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier+ (3)
13. The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer* (4)
14. These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer* (4)
15. Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer* (3)
16. Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks (3)
17. Why Dukes Say I Do by Manda Collins (3)
18. The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer (4)
19. Beyond Sing the Woods by Trygve Gulbranssen (3)
20. The Duchess Hunt by Jennifer Haymore (3)
21. The Rogue's Proposal by Jennifer Haymore (3)
22. Why Lords Lose Their Hearts by Manda Collins (3)
23. A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare (3)
24. Once upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare (3)
25. Madeleine's Christmas Wish by Ella Quinn (4)
26. How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare (4)

7. Lady Franklin's Lament: Mysteries - COMPLETED 5/6

In Baffin's Bay where the whale fish blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
Lord Franklin alone with his sailors do dwell

And now my burden it gives me pain
For my long-lost Franklin I would cross the main
Ten thousand pounds I would freely give
To know on earth, that my Franklin do live.

_______________________________________________________

1. The Ludwig Conspiracy by Oliver Pötzsch (4)
2. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (3)
3. The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis (2)
4. The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer* (4)
5. A Not So Perfect Crime by Teresa Solana (3)
6. The Endless Knot by Wiliam L. Biersach (3)
7. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers (4)
8. The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer* (4)
9. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (5)
10. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers (4)
11. The Land of Dreams by Vidar Sundstøl (4)
12. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (3)
13. Cover Her Face by P. D. James (3)
14. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (3)
15. Deadline by Sandra Brown (4)
16. Scandal in Skibbereen by Sheila Connolly (3)
17. Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown (3)
18. State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy (4)
19. Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh (3)
20. The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home (4)
21. Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham (2)
22. The Woman who Walked into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home (3)
23. A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh (2)
24. Wicked Autumn by G. M. Malliet (4)
25. A Question of Honor by Charles Todd (4)
26. An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd (3)
27. Why Earls Fall in Love by Manda Collins (3)
28. Strangled in Paris by Claude Izner (4)
29. The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal (3)
30. Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner (3)
31. Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown (3)
32. Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass (3)

8. Fear a' Bhàta: Other Non-Fiction – COMPLETED 6/29

Fear a' bhàta, na hóro eile
Fear a' bhàta, na hóro eile
Fear a' bhàta, na hóro eile
Mo shoraidh slàn leat 's gach àit' an déid thu

'S tric mi sealltainn on chnoc as àirde
Dh'fheuch am faic mi fear a' bhàta
An tig thu 'n-diugh na 'n tig thu màireach
'S mar tig thu idir gur truagh a tha mi

Oh my boatman, na hóro eile
Oh my boatman, na hóro eile
Oh my boatman, na hóro eile
My farewell to you wherever you go

I often look from the highest hill
that I might see, oh boatman
Will you come tonight, or will you come tomorrow
Oh sorry will I be if you do not come at all

______________________________________________________________

1. The Silence of St. Thomas: Three Essays by Josef Pieper (4)
2. Imperfect: An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott & Tim Brown (3)
3. Light on a Dark Horse: An Autobiography, 1901-1935 by Roy Campbell (3)
4. Kleine deutsche Versschule by Wolfgang Kayser^+ (3)
5. A Defense of Dignity: Creating Life, Destroying Life, and Protecting the Rights of Conscience by Christopher Kaczor (3)
6. The Hooligan's Return: A Memoir by Norman Manea (2)
7. The Wry Romance of the Literary Rectory by Deborah Alun-Jones (4)
8. The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry (3)
9. Raising Henry: A Memoir of Motherhood, Disability, and Discovery by Rachel Adams (3)
10. The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease by Daniel Lieberman (4)
11. Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell (3)
12. Mittelalterliche Elfenbeinarbeiten: ausgewählte Werke aus den Beständen des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums by Renate Eikelmann (ed.)^+ (3)
13. There and Back Again: J.R.R. Tolkien and the Origins of The Hobbit by Mark Atherton (3)
14. The Art Detective: Fakes, Frauds, and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasures by Philip Mould (3)
15. Library Research Models: A Guide to Classification, Cataloging, and Computers by Thomas Mann (4)
16. Everything is Wonderful: Memories of a Collective Farm in Estonia by Sigrid Rausing (3)
17. The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor: The Life of Christ Illuminated by Thomas A. Mathews (3)
18. Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (4)

9. Who Knows Where the Time Goes?: Recent Fiction (1970 to Present) – COMPLETED 8/10

And I am not alone while my love is near me
I know it will be so until it's time to go
So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again
I do not fear the time

For who knows how my love grows?
And who knows where the time goes?
______________________________________________________________

1. The Birds of the Air by Alice Thomas Ellis - 1980 (2)
2. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy* - 1984 (5)
3. Greenvoe by George Mackay Brown - 1972 (3)
4. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino - 1979 (4)
5. The Etruscan Smile by Velda Johnston - 1977 (3)
6. The History of the Siege of Lisbon by José Saramago - 1989 (4)
7. Cosmas, or the Love of God by Pierre de Calan+ - 1977 (4)
8. We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler - 2013 (3)
9. The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris - 2013 (4)
10. Ceremony of Innocence by Dorothy Cummings McLean - 2013 (4)
11. Kate's Progress by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles* - 2013 (4)
12. Ein unmoralisches Sonderangebot by Kerstin Gier^ - 2004 (3)
13. Lügen, die von Herzen kommen by Kerstin Gier^ - 2002 (3)
14. Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips - 2014 (4)
15. Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan - 2013 (4)
16. Mean Streak by Sandra Brown - 2014 (4)
17. The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya - 2011 (2)
18. Persuasion, Captain Wentworth, and Cracklin' Cornbread by Mary Jane Hathaway - 2014 (5)

10. Dives and Lazarus: Religion – COMPLETED 5/14

As it fell out upon a day,
Rich Dives he made a feast,
And he invited all his friends
And gentry of the best.

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
And down at Dives’ door;
‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,
Bestow upon the poor!’—

‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my door;
No meat nor drink will I give thee,
Nor bestow upon the poor.’
_____________________________________________________________

1. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H. R. Ellis Davidson+ (4)
2. Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo (2)
3. The Belief of Catholics by Ronald Knox+ (3)
4. The Most Holy Eucharist: Our Passover and Our Living Bread by Fr. Thomas J. McGovern (3)
5. How to Make a Good Confession: A Pocket Guide to Reconciliation with God by John A. Kane (4)
6. Cranmer's Godly Order by Michael Davies (4)
7. A Bitter Trial: Evelyn Waugh and John Cardinal Heenan on the Liturgical Changes by Evelyn Waugh (4)
8. Meditations for Lent by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (3)
9. Excommunication and the Catholic Church by Edward Peters (3)
10. The Modern Rite: Collected Essays on the Reform of the Liturgy by Klaus Gamber+ (3)
11. Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs by Paul Koudounaris (5)
12. Sisters in Crisis Revisited: From Unraveling to Reform and Renewal by Ann Carey (3)
13. Der Sonntag: gestern, heute und immer by Romano Guardini+^ (3)
14. "Male and Female He Created Them": Essays On Marriage and the Family by Jorge Cardinal Medina Estévez (3)
15. I Believe: The Nicene Creed by Pauline Baynes (ill.) (4)
16. Rose Among Thorns: Simple Advice for Renewing Your Spiritual Journey by St. Francis de Sales (3)
17. The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis (3)
18. Letter to My Sister by St. Aelred of Rievaulx+ (3)
19. La hermosa Señora: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe by Pat Mora^ (3)
20. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven—But Never Dreamed of Asking by Peter Kreeft+ (3)
21. Heaven and Earth in Little Space: The Re-enchantment of Liturgy by Andrew Burnham (4)
22. The Hope of the Family by Gerhard Cardinal Müller & Carlos Granados (3)
23. In the Image of Saint Dominic: Nine Portraits of Dominican Life by Guy Bedouelle (4)

11. Turn! Turn! Turn!: Retro Fiction (1920-1969) – COMPLETED 12/31

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late
_____________________________________________________________

1. A Pedlar's Pack and Other Stories by Elizabeth Goudge - 1937 (3)
2. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart* - 1958 (4)
3. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven - 1967 (3)
4. Dreamtigers by Jorge Luis Borges - 1960 (4)
5. Song at the Year's Turning: Poems 1942–1954 by R. S. Thomas - 1955 (3)
6. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell - 1934 (3)
7. Dayspring by Harry Sylvester - 1945 (4)
8. The Rosemary Tree by Elizabeth Goudge - 1956 (3)
9. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes+ - 1946 (5)
10. Huntingtower by John Buchan+ - 1922 (3)
11. At the Still Point by Mary Benson* - 1968 (5)
12. The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp - 1940 (4)

12. Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen: Travel – COMPLETED 12/18

Innsbruck, ich muß dich lassen,
ich fahr dahin mein Straßen,
in fremde Land dahin.
Mein Freud ist mir genommen,
die ich nit weiß bekommen,
wo ich Elend bin.

Innsbruck, I have to leave you,
to travel down my own paths
into strange lands.
My joy is taken from me,
which I cannot receive,
where I am unhappy.
_______________________________________________________________

1. Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon+ (3)
2. The Lawless Roads by Graham Greene (4)
3. Reports from a Parisian Paradise: Essays from France, 1925–1939 by Joseph Roth (2)
4. Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński+ (3)
5. Die Besteigung von Mont Ventoux by Petrarch+^ (3)
6. Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art by Carl Hoffman (3)
7. French Milk by Lucy Knisley (3)
8. In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the U.S.S. Jeannette by Hampton Sides (3)
9. A Dragon Apparent: Travels in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam by Norman Lewis (3)
10. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by Matsuo Bashō (4)
11. Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo by Tim Parks (3)
12. The Tomb in Seville by Norman Lewis (2)

13. Tam Lin: YA Fantasy – COMPLETED 7/30

Well, up then spoke her father dear and he spoke meek and mild
"Oh, and alas, Janet," he said, "I think you go with child".

"Well, if that be so," Janet said, "myself shall bear the blame
There's not a knight in all your hall shall get the baby's name.

For if my love were an earthly knight as he is an elfin grey
I'd not change my own true love for any knight you have.”

_____________________________________________________________

1. The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea* (4)
2. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (3)
3. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (3)
4. Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson* (5)
5. Hero by Alethea Kontis (1)
6. Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll (3)
7. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (2)
8. A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (3)
9. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (3)
10. Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier (4)
11. Legend by Marie Lu (2)
12. The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt (5)
13. The Hanukkah Ghosts by Malka Penn (4)
14. Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier (3)
15. Courtship & Curses by Marissa Doyle (3)
16. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1 by Naoko Takeuchi (3)

14. Barbara Allen: YA Non-Fantasy – COMPLETED 10/6

She had not walked and reached the town
She heard the death bells ringing
And as they rolled they seemed to say,
"Hard-hearted Barbara Allen."

"Oh Mother, oh mother go make my bed
Make it both long and narrow
Sweet William died for me today
I'll die for him tomorrow."

___________________________________________________________

1. The Lark on the Wing by Elfrida Vipont (4)
2. She is not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick (3)
3. Who Comes with Cannons? by Patricia Beatty* (4)
4. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (3)
5. Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty* (3)
6. Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster (3)
7. The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith (2)
8. A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee (3)
9. The Body at the Tower by Y. S. Lee (3)
10. And Both Were Young by Madeline L'Engle* (5)
11. The Tamarack Tree by Patricia Clapp (3)
12. The Traitor and the Tunnel by Y. S. Lee (3)
13. The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson (4)

Currently Reading:
A Play of Shadow
Only the Dead

Total books read so far: 263

Top of the TBR Stack:
In My End is My Beginning+
Das Leben des heiligen Martin+^
A Garden of Marvels
A Haven from Hitler
Pied Piper
Walking Home
War of the Whales

* = re-read
+ = owned and unread since before 2013 (Mt. TBR)
^ = foreign language book

Okay, we're good to go!

Happy new thread! I hope you enjoy your last few weeks of reading!

>19 christina_reads: My last grad school assignment of the semester is due Wednesday, so after that I have no excuse not to read!

November Round-Up!

Books Read: 15 (5 less than last year)

Category Challenge

161 of 168 read - 95.83% done (true total 234 books)

10 of 14 categories completed - 71.43% done

Individual Categories
1. Sally in our Alley: Classic Fiction (pre-1920) - 12 - 100% done
2. Sumer is icumen in: Ecology/Environmental Science - 11 - 91.67% done
3. The Lay of Nimrodel: Fantasy - 22 - 100% done
4. John Barleycorn: Food/Gardening - 10 - 88.33% done
5. The Skye Boat Song: History - 32 - 100% done
6. Roads to Moscow: Historical Fiction - 25 - 100% done
7. Lady Franklin's Dream: Mysteries - 30 - 100% done
8. Fear a Bhata: Other Non-Fiction - 18 - 100% done
9. Who Knows Where the Time Goes?: Recent Fiction (1970 onward) - 18 - 100% done
10. Dives and Lazarus: Religion - 21 - 100% done
11. Turn! Turn! Turn!: Retro Fiction (1920-1969) - 10 - 83.33% done
12. Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen: Travel - 10 - 88.33% done
13. Tam Lin: YA Fantasy - 16 - 100% done
14. Barbara Allen: YA Non-Fantasy - 13 - 100% done

Challenges
MysteryCAT- 1

Genre
Fiction - 8 - 53.33%
Non-Fiction - 7 - 46.67%

Sources
Me (Acquired this month) - 5 - 33.33%
Austin PL (E-Book) - 4 - 26.67%
ILL - 4 - 26.67%
Corsicana PL - 1 - 6.67%
Me (Other) - 1 - 6.67%

Authors
Female - 8 - 57.14%
Male - 5 - 35.72%
Two Women/One Pseudonym - 1 - 7.14%
Both - 0 - 0%

Edition Language
English - 15 - 100%

Original Language
English - 13 - 86.67%
French - 1 - 6.67%
Japanese - 1 - 6.67%

Series
Stand-Alone Books - 8 - 53.33%
Series Books - 7 - 46.67%

Ratings Distribution
1 star - 0 - 0%
2 stars - 1 - 6.67%
3 stars - 4 - 26.67%
4 stars - 9 - 60%
5 stars - 1 - 6.67%

Average Rating
3.67

Best of the Month



Fiction: Persuasion, Captain Wentworth, and Cracklin' Cornbread by Mary Jane Hathaway

Non-Fiction (Three-Way Tie): Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz
Cunegonde's Kidnapping: A Story of Religious Conflict in the Age of Enlightenment by Benjamin J. Kaplan

Happy new thread!

Yay, new thread! :)

>22 -Eva-: & >23 rabbitprincess: Thanks!

Oh, nice new digs for Advent!

>25 MissWatson: And thanks again!

The King's Revenge: Charles II and the Greatest Manhunt in British History by Don Jordan & Michael Walsh

Categories: The Skye Boat Song

Keywords: non-fiction, history, English history, English Civil War, The Protectorate, Restoration, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Charles II, revenge, flight, spies, treachery, exile, the Angel of Hadley

The King's Revenge is the story of the execution of King Charles I of England and his son's thirst for revenge once he regained the throne a decade later. It covers his capture, trial and execution as well as the end of the Protectorate and the return of the monarchy in a highly readable fashion. The bulk of the book is dedicated to how the various regicides (king-killers) were tracked down across Europe and brought to justice by Charles II's agents. The story of the "Angel of Hadley" was new to me and quiet interesting, considering that I went to college in South Hadley and never heard a thing about it. The last chapter makes it clear that the authors' sympathies are with the hunted, not the hunter, but until then they do a good job of creating an unbiased account of a complicated and dangerous time.

First Line: The middle-aged man who climbed the hill to the church above the little town on the shores of Lake Geneva had a heft and strut that marked him out as an old soldier.

Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo by Tim Parks

Categories: Innsbruck ich muss dich lassen

Keywords: non-fiction, travel, Italy, expatriate life, Milan, Verona, trains, train travel, commuting

Italian Ways is the author's memoir of his numerous rail journeys through Italy, mostly between Verona (where he lives) and Milan (where he works). It's an excellent snapshot of everyday Italian commuting life, although it does make for rather banal reading at times. The last section, where the author travels to Sicily and the Italian south to experience rail culture (or lack there of) in a less developed part of the country, is different from the rest of the book, but entertaining in its own way. Being mostly familiar with Deutsche Bahn, the idiosyncrasies of Trenitalia are rather amusing. Germans would never put up with it, but Italians seem to survive.

For those interested in modern Italian life, expatriate memoirs, or trains.

First Line: Italians commute.

Iron Shoes by J. Kathleen Cheney

Categories: Lay of Nimrodel

Series: Tales from Hawk’s Folly Farm (1/3)

Keywords: fiction, American fiction, fantasy, historical fantasy, Saratoga Springs, horses, magic, puca, ebook, free ebook

Iron Shoes is a charming fantasy novella set in late nineteenth century Saratoga Springs, New York. Here horses are everything, with a great deal of money and pride on the line at every race. In fact, the coming race is the only thing standing between Imogen and losing everything, since her next-door neighbor has his eyes on both her and her farm. But she's not going down without a fight, and a fay-turned horse may be just the man she needs once she releases him from his bounds. But they are hardly the only ones in town with magic and it will take all their determination to see things through.

A winner from the author of one of my favorite books of 2014, The Golden City. It's apparently the first in a series of three, but the only one available for free.

First Line: Imogen Hawkes noticed the minute hand of the clock on Hammersly's desk.

Today is my 8th Thingaversary! I'm feeling quite old, so I decided to celebrate with books. Knowing the 10th was a workday, I went ahead and bought them in advance. :)

From Half-Price books on Northwest Hwy in Dallas:


1. War of the Whales: A True Story by Joshua Horwitz
2. Miss Marjoribanks by Mrs. Oliphant with an amazing retrotastic cover
3. The Curé d'Ars Today: Saint John Vianney by George William Rutler
4. In the Image of Saint Dominic: Nine Portraits of Dominican Life by Guy Bedouelle
5. The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod by Henry Beston

From the Biblio.com Black Friday sale:


6. A Haven from Hitler by Heini Gruffudd
7. Only the Dead by Vidar Sundstøl

From the Barnes & Noble.com Cyber Monday sale:


8. My Battle against Hitler: Faith, Truth, and Defiance in the Shadow of the Third Reich by Dietrich von Hildebrand

From AbeBooks:


And one to grow on . . . Imperium by Ryszard Kapuściński, randomly the Canadian edition

Happy Thingaversary! I celebrated my 8th this year too.

Happy Thingaversary! Celebrating (anything and everything) with books is the right way to go! :)

Happy Thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary! I do love that cover for Miss Marjoribanks.

Happy Thingaversary!

A belated Happy Thingaversary!

>31 christina_reads: >32 -Eva-: >33 lkernagh: >34 DeltaQueen50: >35 MissWatson: >36 cbl_tn: Thanks everyone. It was a lovely day for a thingaversary, made even more so by today's neverending drizzle.

On the exciting news front, look what was on Amazon this morning: the cover for the next Golden City novel!



Now if only I didn't have to wait till July for the book to come out . . .

How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare

Categories: Roads to Moscow

Keywords: fiction, American fiction, historical fiction, Regency Era, romance, Napoleonic Wars, veterans, secrets, legends, haunted woods

How to Catch a Wild Viscount is a short novella about a small country houseparty that is forever changed due to hearing the local legend of woods haunted by a "werestag", a man cursed to forever wander the area in the form of man or deer after making a deal with the local fae. More relevant to the plot, Cecily is hoping to finally corner Luke who has returned from fighting the Napoleonic Wars a changed man from the one who kissed her four years earlier. She thought things would be simple, but they're proving anything but. And then she has a close encounter with a wild boar and may have been saved by the werestag. Perhaps, Luke isn't the man she needs after all.

Note, this is a straightforward historical romance, there are no shapeshifters except in the story they tell to pass the time.

First Line: When they'd entered Swinford Woods, laughing and making merry, passing around a flask of spirits “for warmth”, Denny had offered a forfeit to the first hunter to spot the beast.

>39 inge87: Too bad...I was excited about the werestag!

>40 christina_reads: From the author's note in the ebook version:

"The story was originally published in May 2009 under the title The Legend of the Werestag. I know, I know. It’s the weirdest title ever! At the time, I was a new author and hoped to catch attention through the sheer strangeness of it. But this is not, and never has been, a paranormal romance—just a light-hearted, sexy Regency romance with a few twists on gothic novels. The new title, How to Catch a Wild Viscount, better captures that spirit."

But yes, an actual werestag would certainly have made things interesting. Maybe in a full-length novel version . . .

Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown

Categories: Lady Franklin's Lament, MysteryCAT

Series: Consignment Shop Mysteries (3/?)

Keywords: fiction, American fiction, mystery, cozy mystery, Savannah, local politics, murder, family

Pearls and Poison finds Reagan's mother running for alderman in Savannah and being accused of the murder of her rival candidate. Naturally this means that Reagan and good old Aunt KiKi need to get into all kinds of trouble in order to clear her good name (not that they've ever needed much excuse for that). As this is a cozy mystery, there's never really much chance that anything bad will happen, although Reagan's eyebrows do get singed off at one point. But the bad guys get their just deserts and that's all that matters. That and it looks like things between Reagan and everyone's favorite hot, sketchy lawyer are finally coming to a head.

A fun cozy mystery. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, and am still wondering what Boone told Reagan's ex, but presumably all of this will be resolved in the next book.

First Line: "People are going to hate me if I do this," I said to Auntie KiKi.

The Hope of the Family by Gerhard Cardinal Müller & Carlos Granados

Categories: Dives and Lazarus

Keywords: non-fiction, interview, religion, Christianity, Catholicism, theology of the family, family, church and society, marriage, divorce, communion, children

The Hope of the Family (La esperanza de la familia: Diálogo con el Cardenal Gerhard-Ludwig Müller) is a short book consisting of an interview between Gerhard Cardinal Müller and Carlos Granados, editor-in-chief at BAC (Biblioteca des Autores Cristianos) a Spanish publishing house. Think Peter Sewald and Cardinal Ratzinger, only much much shorter and focused on only one issue: the family. Over the course of just under 100 pages, their conversation provides an excellent overview of basic Catholic teachings on the family and covers most of the controversial subjects that came up at the synod. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but then again there isn't supposed to be. For those interested in the subject or who enjoy dialogue non-fiction.

First Line: "The hope of the family". The possessive case gives rise to various interpretations: a hope for the family, a hope that is based on the family, or even a hope that is the family itself.

In the Image of Saint Dominic: Nine Portraits of Dominican Life by Guy Bedouelle

Categories: Dives and Lazarus

Keywords: non-fiction, French non-fiction, religion, Christianity, Catholicism, biography, Order of Preachers, Dominicans

In the Image of Saint Dominic is an excellent collection of 10 short biographies (nine of Dominicans and one of St. Dominic himself), which showcase the various ways the Christian life interacts with the world. If I understand the afterword correctly, they were originally used in a retreat setting and then edited for this volume. Each chapter contains a brief overview of the life of the Dominican sister or brother and then an excerpt from the reading of his feast, the Feast of All Dominican Saints, or a reading from another holyday which is an excerpt from the subject's writing. All in all it's an excellent volume for anyone interested in the Order of Preachers or Catholic saints lives. Such a shame that it's out of print.

First Line: The most sublime ideas need to be enfleshed.

The Tomb in Seville by Norman Lewis

Categories: Innsbruck ich muss dich lassen

Keywords: non-fiction, travel, Spain, 1930s, violence, martial law, in laws, Communists, Seville, Madrid, Portugal, extreme mediocrity

The Tomb in Seville is Lewis' account of travelling through Spain and Portugal with his brother-in-law, Eugene, just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Although the war had not begun, there is plenty of violence and martial law frequently prevents him from doing things the simple way. What should have been a straight-forward train trip from France to Seville via Madrid turns into an epic journey by foot, car, and rail that takes him far beyond the usual sights. Plus, Eugene turns out to be a Communist, a situation that leads to all sorts of interesting encounters. But overall, the book left me wanting. It made what was undoubtedly an interesting journey seem rather boring. There are much more interesting books about this period, so skip this one and pick up Homage to Catalonia, Uncommon Faith: The Early Years of Opus Dei, 1928-1943, or anything else that catches your eye. This one's just not worth it.

First Line: My father-in-law, Ernesto Corvaja, although Sicilian by birth, was obsessively concerned with all matters pertaining to Spain.

I have enjoyed reading your wonderful reviews over the year. Stopping by to wish you a Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2015!

>46 lkernagh: Thanks, and a Merry Christmas to you as well!

I didn't get back from Midnight Mass until 3 am, so it's taken me a while to get going, but I hope everyone has had a very merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a merry second day of Christmas, here's my Christmas book haul for a bit of literary cheer (from top to bottom):

Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass
A Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp
The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
Brother Petroc's Return by S. M. C.
Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis by Peter Kwasniewski
Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind by Sarah Wildman
God's Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England by Jessie Childs
Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia by Fiona Ritchie & Doug Orr

Excellent book-haul! Hope your holiday was spectacular as well.

>50 -Eva-: Thanks, it was!

Counting Sheep: A Celebration of the Pastoral Heritage of Britain by Philip Walling

Categories:Sumer is icumen in

Keywords: non-fiction, animal husbandry, history, sheep, sheep dogs, sheep raising, Great Britain, England, Scotland, Wales, foot and mouth disease, UK edition

Counting Sheep is a interesting book about British sheep, their history, and their future. Focusing on a few breeds, the author describes the lives of sheep in various regions of Britain, how some breeds came to be, and how things have changed over time. From the Romans to the EU and from the Outer Hebrides to Kent, he manages to cover quite a bit in only a little space. There are also very compelling chapters about sheep dogs and about foot and mouth. For anyone with an interest in sheep or the British countryside.

First Line: There is a parallel world at work in Britain which most people, even those who live close to it, hardly ever notice and, even when they do, know little or nothing about.

At the Still Point by Mary Benson

Categories:Turn! Turn! Turn!, GeoCAT

Keywords: fiction, south african, politics, justice, apartheid, journalism, courts, love, self-discovery, collaboration, resistance, homecoming, vmc, virago

At the Still Point is the story of a woman, Anne Dawson, who returns to South Africa after many years of exile and finds purpose through reporting of court cases and the injustices non-Whites face in the legal system. Finding her life in New York City with her boyfriend Roger (who has such classic 60s lines as "You're a scream, Anne baby, I just love you!") to be too constraining, Anne runs off to her home country of South Africa to think things through. She quickly falls back in with her old Liberal/reformist friends, many of whom have since spent time in prison for their beliefs. Unable to stomach her collaborationist cousins, Patrick and Sally, Anne seeks peace elsewhere and, based on the recommendation of a friend, begins to work with the reformist lawyer, Matthew Marais, who is defending a Black woman, Beatrice Qaba, accused of selling a van to raise money for illegal Black separatist groups. Through her relationship with Marais, Anne begins to dedicate herself to the idea of a new, happier future for South Africa.

Mary Benson was admittedly influenced by Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and it shows in her work. At the Still Point could very well be about the children of Arthur Jarvis' friends from his social reform activities. The same kind of soul-searching and love for South Africa that is apparent in Paton's work is also in Benson's. It was very easy to identify with Anne, who displays an amazing amount of personal strength. She is not afraid to fight for what she believes in, which makes for a hilarious scene when her cousins seat her next to a well-thought-of nationalist and expect her to behave. You know that she is going to say something "embarrassing" the moment Sally says Anne is to sit next to Coetzee, because that is the kind of person Anne has become. Another memorable scene brings a whole new meaning to the term "show trial", when the defense attorney in a Port Elizabeth trial, who is a wiling part of the system, begins singing "Que Sera Sera" after the tea break and is joined in by the prosecutor. Why bother having this trial, this seems to say: "whatever will be, will be", and we all know how this is going to end. It is this system that Matthew, Anne, and their friends fight against, even when the 90 day automatic imprisonment becomes 180 and habeas corpus is thrown out the window.

Benson is such a good writer that the reader is drawn up in it too, hoping and wishing for the same dreams as Anne and Matthew. I particularly enjoyed the afterward, in which Benson describes how the story would probably have played out after the novel ended, which gives a further commentary on the course of South African history. While not as great a novel as Paton's masterpiece, At the Still Point is an important book for its showcase of the kinds of resistance that was given to the apartheid regime and the injustices imparted by the system. South Africa comes alive through Benson's prose, as does the heroine. I highly recommend the book not only to someone who has an interest in South Africa or enjoys Alan Paton, but to anyone who likes novels that make you think, because At the Still Point will leaving you thinking long after the last page has been turned.

First Line: The plane lurched under my stockinged feet.

Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr

Categories:John Barleycorn Must Die

Keywords: non-fiction, food, cooking, American cuisine, 1970s, culture change, France, Provence, friendship, beginnings and ends

Provence, 1970 is the tale of one year and how it marked a major turning point in American cuisine. The author is M.F.K. Fisher's great-nephew and you can feel his affection for her in the text. In 1970, Fisher and her younger sister, the author's grandmother, made one last grand hurrah visit to France to relive their younger days there. But over the course of the meeting some old friends, Fisher increasingly began to become frustrated with the perceived superiority of the French way of cooking and turned instead towards quality American food. Julia Child and James Beard, both of whom met with Fisher on her French trip, also came to similar decisions at around the same time. Much of the current focus on quality, local produce and well-crafted food can be traced to their change of mind. It's an interesting book, and perfect for the foodie in your life.

First Line: On a cool August morning in 2009, I drove up a sloping, narrow drveway in Glen Ellen, California, on my way to visit the past.

Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass

Series: Bookmobile Cat Mysteries (1/?)

Categories: Lady Franklin's Dream, MysteryCAT

Keywords: fiction, American fiction, mystery, cozy mystery, librarians, cats, Michigan, murder, family, secrets

Lending a Paw is the first of the Bookmobile Cat series of cozy mysteries. Set in a Michigan resort town, the protagonist is a librarian at a county library system. The system has cut branches because ebooks supposedly make them obsolete, but Minnie (short for Minerva) has managed to get a local benefactor to finance a mobile library, or bookmobile, which she drives around the county to serve those who cannot make it to the main branch. On the maiden voyage, Eddie, her recently rescued cat, stows away, which is bad enough because Minnie's boss will kill her when he finds out, but then he also discovers a dead body at one of her stops—the library's benefactor's body. Quickly deciding that the local police are incapable of solving the crime, she takes it upon herself to find justice for her friend and clear a coworker of blame. Little does she realize that she's bit off far more then she can chew, but she's made a promise and it's one she intends to keep.

A new cozy series, it has both cats and librarians. Who can argue with that?

First Line: When I was a little girl, I dreamed of growing up to be the president.

The Asian Grocery Store Demystified by Linda Bladholm

Categories: John Barleycorn Must Die

Keywords: non-fiction, food, groceries, ethnic food, Asian cuisine, shopping guide

Have you ever wonder what all those items at the local Asian market or foreign food aisle are, or just what that Chinese cookbook wants you to buy to make that recipe? The Asian Grocery Store Demystified may just be able to help. Organized by category (rice, noodles, starches/flours, oils, vegetables, etc.) the book covers pretty much every item you could ever ask about. Essentially a book-length glossary with recipes in the back, there are also pen and ink drawings accompanying many of the entries. Perfect for the exotic foodie in your life, it is slightly dated in that some foods such as dragon fruit that were extremely rare in 1999 are no longer so and I imagine some of the brand recommendations are no longer current either. Also, I was disappointed that her mentions (there are several) of shark and shark fin products did not mention the major ethical issues involved. But for a basic pan-Asian food stuff guide, it's a good pick up.

First Line: Asian cuisine is an evocative mingling of many ingredients and contrasting flavors, uniting robust, spicy elements and delicate subtle nuances.

Okay, that's 167 books and 13 categories down. Just one book, one category, and one day left! Will I finish The Stone of Chastity before the clock strikes midnight tomorrow? Stay tuned and find out!

You can do it!

You read 167 books!!!!!

Only one more to go! I'm on the edge of my seat!

>58 lkernagh: Thanks! I'm now 1/4 done with The Stone of Charity and it isn't even noon my time yet! So far, so good, I'm highly optimistic. It helps that the book is a bit of a lark about a London professor who arrives at a small backwater village to locate a stone that supposedly can tell if a woman is chaste or not—and finds it in the floor of a local farmhouse scullery.

>59 christina_reads: Technically this will be number 263 of the year, but it is 168 of the 168 books needed to complete the category challenge I set for myself this year.

>60 paruline: I really put it off to the last minute, didn't I?

Whenever I read your thread I see an interesting sounding book that I would never have thought of looking for!

Have a happy 2015.

>62 hailelib: Thanks, and a happy new year to you as well!

The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp

Categories: Turn! Turn! Turn!

Keywords: fiction, British fiction, humour, light novel, oblivious professors, local folklore, chastity, village life, hapless youth, rumor, superstition, Women's Institute

The Stone of Chastity is a rather silly novel of a kind rarely produced these days. Professor Pounce has brought his widowed sister-in-law, somewhat hapless nephew, and a bombshell young woman supposedly in his employ with him to a small village near Ipswich in search of the truth behind an obscure local legend about a river stone that can test a woman's chastity. He goes about his quest in such a way as to insult nearly every woman in the village and convince all the local girls that the government has taken an interest in their amorous activities. Naturally he never takes notice of this at all, much to his nephew's dismay. Even after a local housewife charges him 10 shillings to removed the supposed stone of chastity from her scullery floor, there's still the matter of testing. Because no woman would submit herself to that kind of scrutiny in this day and age, right?

A fun, lark of a novel. For those who enjoy mid-century literary styles or those who want a book that will make them laugh.

First Line: Nothing could have been simpler, nothing more forthright, than the pattern made by the red roof of the Old Manor against the blue summer sky.

That's it—14 of 14, 168 of 168—I'm done with just under eight hours to go! So now I can do a bit of reading for fun in my last few minutes of 2014.

WOO HOO! You did it! :D Congratulations!

>66 rabbitprincess: Thanks! There was a point a few days ago that I thought I wouldn't make it! I'm glad I proved myself wrong. :)

Congratulations! :)

You did it! Take a bow!

>68 christina_reads: & >69 paruline: Thanks! Happy New Year everyone!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I also wish all my fellow Catholics a very happy Feast of Mary, Mother of God.



Now let the 2015 reading begin!

December Round-Up!

Books Read: 14 (1 less than last year)

Category Challenge

168 of 168 read - 100% done (true total 263 books)

14 of 14 categories completed - 100% done

Individual Categories
1. Sally in our Alley: Classic Fiction (pre-1920) - 12 - 100% done
2. Sumer is icumen in: Ecology/Environmental Science - 12 - 100% done
3. The Lay of Nimrodel: Fantasy - 23 - 100% done
4. John Barleycorn: Food/Gardening - 12 - 100% done
5. The Skye Boat Song: History - 33 - 100% done
6. Roads to Moscow: Historical Fiction - 26 - 100% done
7. Lady Franklin's Dream: Mysteries - 32 - 100% done
8. Fear a Bhata: Other Non-Fiction - 18 - 100% done
9. Who Knows Where the Time Goes?: Recent Fiction (1970 onward) - 18 - 100% done
10. Dives and Lazarus: Religion - 23 - 100% done
11. Turn! Turn! Turn!: Retro Fiction (1920-1969) - 12 - 100% done
12. Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen: Travel - 12 - 100% done
13. Tam Lin: YA Fantasy - 16 - 100% done
14. Barbara Allen: YA Non-Fantasy - 13 - 100% done

Challenges
MysteryCAT - 2
GeoCAT - 1

Genre
Non-Fiction - 8 - 46.67%
Fiction - 6 - 53.33%

Sources
Me (Acquired this month) - 4 - 28.57%
Work - 4 - 28.57%
Me (Other) - 2 - 14.29%
Austin PL (E-Book) - 1 - 26.67%
Free Online Ebook - 1 - 7.14%
Irving PL - 1 - 7.14%
Me (Re-Read) - 1 - 7.14%

Authors
Male - 9 - 56.25%
Female - 7 - 43.75%
Both - 0 - 0%

Edition Language
English - 15 - 100%

Original Language
English - 12 - 85.72%
French - 1 - 7.14%
Spanish - 1 - 7.14%

Series
Stand-Alone Books - 11 - 78.57%
Series Books - 3 - 21.43%

Ratings Distribution
1 star - 0 - 0%
2 stars - 1 - 7.14%
3 stars - 7 - 67.15%
4 stars - 4 - 28.57%
5 stars - 1 - 7.14%

Average Rating
3.14

Best of the Month



Fiction: The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp

Non-Fiction: In the Image of Saint Dominic: Nine Portraits of Dominican Life by Guy Bedouelle

I'm snug at home watching Baylor take on Michigan State at the Cotton Bowl. But this thread's time is done. Come and join me at my 2015 thread: Life on the Big Screen.

Congratulations on completing your challenge and lovely wrap-up!

>74 lkernagh: Thanks!

Congratulations!!! And thanks for the BB in >54 inge87:!

Congrats on completing your challenge!

>76 -Eva-: & >77 AHS-Wolfy: Thanks! (and you're welcome!)