Familyhistorian ROOTs again

This is my second year of ROOTing and I am hoping to clear some space on the shelves for all of those new books that seem to multiply by themselves!




But then there's that other activity that keeps on filling the shelves.

Welcome back and good luck!

Hello again! I'm looking forward to seeing what books you list here -- sometimes they end up on MY shelves as well ;)

best of luck!

Hi, Meg! Glad to see you again!

Thanks Tess. Best of luck reading those challenging large books and anthologies.

Welcome back and Good Luck in 2015!

Good luck and happy reading!

Thanks for dropping your wishes by on my thread Birgit, rabbitprincess, Jean, Tess, avanders and Connie. I look forward to keeping up with you all in 2015!

Hi Meg, just stopping by to say hey! I am in a frozen winterland today, no school. How about you?

Hi Tess, it would be nice to have time off but that doesn't happen very often here. I live close to Vancouver and the grass is green still. I seem to remember that we got snow in November which stuck around for a few days - hopefully that is the extent of it.

Still no ROOTs read this month but I must have about 5 on the go in various stages. I added a ticker for books acquired again this year. I am not sure if keeping track of books bought last year cut back on what I brought in but maybe it did.

Want some of our cold weather? Current temperature minus 24 Celsius, windchill of minus 37! :D

>13 rabbitprincess: I feel for you. I don't like the cold which is one of the reasons I live here, I guess. I grew up close to Montreal so I think I gave it a good try. The winter in Calgary was right up there as well. I am perfectly content to be a weather wimp!

>13 rabbitprincess: >14 Familyhistorian: No school on Thursday due to the -25 F temps. A new found day of reading and cooking!

>14 Familyhistorian: Oh yeah, Montreal winters can be brutal as well! Especially when you get lots of cold and lots of snow. My mum's family is from Montreal so we are treated to stories about all the snowstorms they dealt with.

I have to keep reminding myself that, as much as I complain about the cold, I hate humid summers more.

>15 Tess_W: I don't think they cancelled schools here, but the kids might have been kept indoors for recess/lunchtime. Enjoy your day of reading and cooking tomorrow!

>15 Tess_W: Yeah, it would take some pretty extreme weather for us to get to stay home from work and school here. I am surprised that they close things down at -25 F. I remember when I lived in Calgary I found out that -40 is the same in both Celsius and Fahrenheit because we were out walking around in it and things didn't get cancelled because of the cold there.

>16 rabbitprincess: Yeah, Montreal winters go on forever. I can remember coming back from Florida in April getting on the plane in shorts and needing snow boots and a winter coat getting back home to Montreal.

I think part of the problem of the canceling due to cold weather is that below zero the diesel buses can't be started. Since we live in a rural area and some students ride the bus 1 hour to school, if the buses don't run then there is no school. Also, in this litigious society in which we live, if a child waits at the bus stop in frigid conditions and gets frost bite, it's the school's liability.

>15 Tess_W: sounds lovely!! Man... do I miss snow/cold days!!
(moved to the American Southwest from the Midwest, and these winters just don't get that cold, in my humble opinion :))

>19 Tess_W: Really, they can't start the buses. I guess they are not set up like places which see longer stretches of cold weather like the Prairie Provinces or Alaska.

>20 avanders: I know what you mean. I could use a snow day right about now.

>no Meg, we really only get less than 5 days off of school per year due to weather, and therefore I don't think much emphasis is put on winter-proofing buses. The buses are mostly diesel so I know that they are plugged in overnight to keep them from freezing, but if the connection goes out.... Some winters, we don't even get below zero, here. And...if 2 buses don't start, it's difficult to hold school because of them 80% mandatory attendance rate for it to be counted as a school day. Districts around here are so "poor" anymore that there are no extra buses.

>23 Tess_W: There seems to be a lot of poor school districts around these days. With the emphasis on the bottom line and costs I think that a lot is being lost that we used to take for granted - like education being important.

Still no ROOTs read. I am reading but I am trying to finish a library book before I take it back on Sunday. It is a book about the American Revolution in New York State that I got out of the library when I found out that I have a many times great grandfather who found on the American side in the revolution. He fought in New York State.

You have to understand that a revolutionary soldier is kind of a strange thing for me to find in my family tree. I live in Canada, was born in England and my father was a Cockney so I had no clue that my America ties went that deep.

>24 Familyhistorian: I agree!
>25 Familyhistorian:, Oh gosh, Meg, we could be related! My ancestors on my father's side came from England and ended up in New York! After the Revolutionary War they moved to Ohio.

>26 Tess_W: You never know maybe there is a connection. Whereabouts in New York were they living and when did they come over from England?

I really shouldn't say that no ROOTs have been read in 2015. I just haven't actually finished a book but I have a few ROOTs on the go. Like,
Written in Bones by Paul Bahn
Cursed in the Act by Raymond Buckland
The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart
The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller and Bill Prozini
The Alice Behind Wonderland by Simon Winchester
Frozen in Time by Owen Beattie
The Tribes of Britain by David Miles
London by Edward Rutherford
Saxons, Vikings and Celts by Bryan Sykes
and Younger Next Year for Women by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge

Which one will be the first ROOT that I finish? Your guess is as good as mine from that list or it could be something completely different.

That many ROOT's on the go? I would be completely confused!

Now I'm curious too. Which one will you finish first? Did you finish one by now?

Go get them!

On the weather thing: I live in the Netherlands and we have a very mild winter. It's normally about 1 degree Celcius in the daytime and 5 below zero at night. We had one freezing night this winter. Day temperature is about 10 degrees Celcius. And it is very, very stormy! It's a struggle to keep my bike upright when I go to work.
Weather is really doing strange things lately.

Hi Connie, our weather is better than it was. We had really cold weather for the week between Christmas and New Years - about minus 6 Celsius. It wouldn't be so bad except that my car is always parked outside and the door latches freeze - I couldn't get into it for a week.

I am not sure which ROOT I will finish first. I don't know when I will be able to really get in to any of them. My classes started last Saturday and the homework was to read The Sense of Style - that is a book of just over 300 pages in one week and it isn't fiction!

>28 Familyhistorian: that's a lot of ROOTs on the go! I used to read several books at once...
The problem wasn't losing the trail... I always seemed to get right back into whichever story I picked back up. But I stopped reading multiples at once (most of the time, anyway :)) because the thrill of picking a new book while having no other pending books was too great to keep putting off ;)

>31 avanders: I just like the thrill of starting new books. It doesn't matter if there are a whole bunch pending - I guess that list kind of shows that!

Lol that makes sense :). I can certainly understand that!

Oops! I just realized I responded to a post on your 75ers thread, which I'd starred as well as following your ROOT thread.

>33 avanders: The stack is getting very high - it is as high as my bedside lamp right now. I think I better finish something soon. We are almost at the middle of January and I haven't completed a ROOT yet.

>34 rabbitprincess: I like visitors no matter which thread they are on. Thanks for both visits.

>35 Familyhistorian: hee hee you'll get there ;)

Go get a book finished! You can do it! You look like to me right now

>37 avanders: Thanks for the encouragement. I hope it will be soon.

>38 connie53: I almost have a book finished, Connie, but it isn't a ROOT. I hope that my homework book will be read by Saturday and I can start on something in the stack.

>40 Familyhistorian: Good idea!

1. The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer

Finally, a ROOT for 2015! No, this isn’t one of the ROOTs that I had started already but it was a perfect foil to the book on writing that I had to read in one week for my class. I love Georgette Heyer’s historical novels and The Quiet Gentleman combines romance with mystery. If you haven’t read this Heyer before I recommend that you check it out.

2. The Alice Behind Wonderland by Simon Winchester

I can remember being interested in the creation of the Alice in Wonderland story quite early on. The Alice Behind Wonderland didn’t really satisfy my need to know about the creation of the story but put some new facts at my disposal. I am not really sure what I think of this very short book.

Woot! Congrats on your pulled ROOTs!
>43 Familyhistorian: looks interesting.... if unsatisfying :)

>44 avanders: It was interesting but not what I expected. If I was looking for a book about Dodgson or early photography it would have filled the bill.

3. Riding Shotgun by Rita Mae Brown

Riding Shotgun has been sitting on my shelves for a long time; maybe fifteen years. I don’t know why I didn’t read it before and only picked it this time because I thought I would work my way down one shelf to clear it out so I would have somewhere to put the incoming books. It was a captivating read in which the heroine travels back in time from her horse ranch in Virginia to the same place in 1699 where she meets up with her ancestors. Through this journey and the people she meets along the way she defines what is important to her and works her way through the problems she had left behind in her own time. It was a griping read and didn’t deserve to languish on the shelf for so long.

Hi Meg! just stopping bye. Looks like you are enjoying some great reads!

Hi Tess, at least I finally got some ROOTs read. Keeping up with the threads is a hard slog though!

4. The Firebrand by Susan Wiggs

The Firebrand was a well written romance with interesting characters. The action is put into motion as a consequence of the Chicago fire of 1871. A child is rescued by our heroine, Lucy, but the parents are unable to come forward because of how they were affected by the aftermath of the fire. When Lucy finds out who the parents are five years later it has become complicated as she loves the child and being a mother. But then there is the attraction she feels for the child’s father. This was an interesting story which also served up a lesson in history.

Sounds like a lovely read!

>48 Familyhistorian: indeed..... :)
>49 Familyhistorian: Congrats! 10% done!

>50 Tess_W: Hi Tess, I do enjoy a good historical romance and have actually learned a lot about history that way. It was an interesting story.

>51 avanders: At one point I was caught up but then RL caught up with me! It sounds like I am keeping up with my goal when you put it in terms of percentages - and I felt that I was so far behind.

>53 Familyhistorian: not even a little bit! You're ahead!
(I often think of books in terms of percentages.. it's just automatically what happens in my brain. I tend to note when I'm 5%, 10%, 20%, 25% (a quarter), 33% (a third), 50% (halfway) ... and then I stop keeping track, usually ;) Unless, of course, the book is just riveting, in which case, I note the 5 and maybe the 10 and then don't note it again until I'm at the end! :))

>54 avanders: I'm not sure how that happened. I didn't finish a ROOT until over half way through the month. Thinking in percentages must come in handy. I generally just eyeball what I have read and what is left of a book and get an idea of where I am - too far from the finish if the book is a slog and too close to the end if it is riveting!

>55 Familyhistorian: lol yeah, handy.... maybe a little ocd... ;) Your way is certainly less tedious! ;)

5. Cursed in the Act by Raymond Buckland

One more ROOT read before the end of the month. I am not far off my regular pace even though I got a late start. Cursed in the Act is billed as a Bram Stoker mystery. It revolves around the rivalry between theatres, one of which is the Lyceum of which Bram Stoker was really the manager. Nefarious doings are afoot and Stoker gets his stage manager, Harry Rivers, to investigate as it appears that someone is out to close the theatre down. The action starts out slowly but it picks up pace toward the end of the novel. Cursed in the Act is a good start to an historic mystery series.

>57 Familyhistorian: Sounds like a great read, Meg!

Hi Tess, it was a good read and the first in a series. I will have to track the other ones down. I think there is one other at this point. I looked up Buckland after I read the book - now that is one interesting character!

I thought that I might try buying less books in January but there was a book sale at the National Archives Bookshop and then I wandered into a second hand bookstore and a few other bookstores as well. This is the haul for the month:

Family Matters: A History of Genealogy by Micheal Sharpe
Sporting Ancestors: Tracing your Family's Athletic Past by Keith Gregson
Putting Your Ancestors in their Place: A Guide to One Place Studies by Janet Few
Dorset Manorial Documents by Mark Forrest
NextGen Genealogy: The DNA Connection by David R. Dowell
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Fay
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House by Stephanie Lam
Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole
The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace
The Earl's Mistress by Liz Carlyle
Maus II by Art Spiegelman
Only Enchanting by Mary Balogh
Penhallow by Georgette Heyer
Why Shoot a Butler by Georgette Heyer
Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer
Fool's Puzzle by Earlene Fowler
A Shock to the System by Simon Brett

>60 Familyhistorian: Ooh looks like lots of fun!

Should be lots of fun but I need to slow down, I am running out of places to put them and time to read them!

>62 Familyhistorian: lol yeah.... I know the pain ;)

And then there are the library books! My ROOTs reading has slowed down because I really should get to my library books before I can't renew them anymore!

So much pressure! ;)

Hmm, yes but maybe if I just learned to finish the ROOTs that I start I would make better progress.

6. Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead edited by Paul Bahn

Archeology fascinates me. It is so intriguing how careful study of the remains that previous people left behind can reveal how they lived. Written in Bones looks at discoveries all over the world and how past burials can tell us about the civilization that the people were from.

>66 Familyhistorian: lol sure, that would probably help ;)

>67 Familyhistorian: sounds very interesting!

It is interesting but not for the squeamish - there are lots of photos and some of the remains aren't that pretty!

>69 Familyhistorian: oh I bet.... :)

7. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

Maus is the story of a man who survived the Holocaust. The story is told through the survivor’s son who interviews his father on numerous occasions to find out what happened. Through the medium of a graphic novel the reader gets to see what happened in the past as well as what is happening between the survivor and his son. It is a very interesting way to tell this story.

Hi Meg.

>48 Familyhistorian: I know! That's why I'm late to your Thread.

>67 Familyhistorian: That must be a great book to read!

Hi Connie, it is still a struggle to keep up. I think I am making some head way but then can't get back to the threads for 3 or 4 days and they have exploded again! Yes, Written in Bones was good. I find books about archeology fascinating.

8. Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie & John Geiger

This is another book in the archeological vein. Frozen in Time explores the history of the Franklin Expedition and the many searches that were undertaken to find the survivors or evidence of what happened to them. The research is brought forward to the present day as one of the authors, Beattie, led his own expeditions to the Arctic to obtain forensic evidence. His conclusions as to what happened to the expedition are based on the methods available to current anthropologists.

>73 Familyhistorian:. I know! Yesterday I visited all my starred threads and this morning there was a whole new list of posts. Exploded is a very good description!

I don't remember it being this busy last year at this time, Connie. Maybe I am following more people, maybe people are posting more, or maybe I just have more stuff to do outside of LT. I am hoping it will slow down a bit.

>76 Familyhistorian: I do too. I can keep up now, because I have the next week off. But after that period it will be busy with RL for me too.

I don't think even a week off would do it. I have had a few long weekends in the last month and a half and I don't think there was a point that I was ever caught up. Enjoy your vacation.

>74 Familyhistorian:, Hi,Meg! And that looks like a wonderful book! I'm so far behind now after being sick that I'm not even adding things to my TBR list!

I hope you are feeling better now, Tess. I think that a lot of us are feeling that we are far behind and we haven't even been sick.

Much better, yes. Tonsillitis in older adults is a bad thing! Took 2 types of anti-biotics to clear it up.

It seems like most of what we think of as childhood illness hit adults worse than children. Good to hear that you are doing better.

>71 Familyhistorian: wow. that sounds really interesting! (Maus I) Placed it on hold at the library ;)

>74 Familyhistorian: fascinating... was it good??

>75 connie53: >76 Familyhistorian: etc., I cannot imagine if I were trying to keep up with posts outside of the ROOTs group.... So much time!

Hi Ava, yup I am trying to keep up with the ROOTs group and the 75ers and so is Connie. I know that I am failing miserably but then I am busy trying to juggle too many things even without LT. There is Maus I and also Maus II. I have the second book in my stacks but know that there is a book that combines both I and II. Frozen in Time was good, at least I thought so, but then it combined history, archaeology and genealogy which are some of my main interests.

>84 Familyhistorian: sounds like quite a lot to manage! We'll forgive you when you lag ;)

Frozen in time does sound interesting.. I'll have to keep an eye out for it!

>83 avanders: I'm kind of on track with both the groups threads. I've starred every ROOT-member but not every 75-er. That is really to much to handle on an ordinary workday. Now I'm off work for the week (three more days to go) it's fairly easy, once I start work again it is something else.

But I'm trying very hard and still adding some 75-er now and again if they happen to stumble upon my thread.

I'm spending so much time on LT that I'm even starting to post in English on my Dutch forum.

Waves and says that I had to read Maus I and Maus II for a German history class that I took.

>85 avanders: Hi Ava, if you are looking for Frozen in Time make sure that Beattie is one of the authors. It took me a while to find the right book because there is another book by the same name that came out recently.

>86 connie53: Do you dream in English too, Connie? If you do that is probably something to worry about, I think. I used to sort mail at the Post Office and I sometimes dreamed about postal codes - I didn't last there much longer after that happened a few times!

>87 Tess_W: Hi Tess, your studies sound a lot more interesting than the classes that I take. I would love to be able to read a Graphic Novel as part of the required reading for a course. (Well, as long as the class didn't analyze it to death.)

>86 connie53: WOW! That's a lot of stars!!! I completely agree.. that's a lot to handle!
oh that's funny that you're starting to post English on your Dutch forum ;)
I actually unstarr'd most of the ROOT posts and just go into the ROOT group when I have the time and try to tackle 'em all at once ;) (not always successful...)

>87 Tess_W: did you like it??

>88 Familyhistorian: ooh, good note, thanks!

>89 Familyhistorian: lol! They also say that's how you know you are really comfortable w/ a language -- when you start dreaming in it. That's never happened to me, but I did dream, the other night, that I was reading a book about a very vivid scene that I was picturing, then I realized I was just reading it in this book that I loved.... I wonder what that means... ;)

I star my own threads as a handy visual cue to let me know that people have come by to visit, and a few threads outside the ROOT and Category Challenge group that I follow. Most days I'm able to read all the new posts but sometimes forget to comment!

Re Frozen in Time, I read the other recent book by that title, the one by Mitchell Zuckoff about the WW2 planes stranded in Iceland. It was somewhat interesting but I wasn't in the right mood for it at the time, so it went back to the library unfinished.

>87 Tess_W: >91 avanders: Maus I and Maus II....they were "ok." I've read so many books about the Holocaust that they have to be really good to impress me!

>89 Familyhistorian:, I really don't know if I dream in English. I do not remember dreams often.

>91 avanders: >92 rabbitprincess: I only star my own thread on the ROOTs group so I check it more often. I try and keep up with all the posts on the ROOTs group. I had few problems keeping up with everyone last year but this year I am failing abysmally.

>93 Tess_W: I think I was mostly impressed with the Maus books because they told the story on two levels, the present and the past. The history in the books seemed more accessible because it was in the form of a graphic novel and the characters were readily identifiable because of their animal shapes.

>94 connie53: Hi Connie, it was actually a strange question. I don't remember many of my dreams either but I don't think there is any dialogue in them, just my own thoughts which are more visual than verbal. It is probably the interpretation where language comes in. I would use English to label the items that show up in my dreams.

>97 Familyhistorian: That is a good description. Labelling the items. I guess that's what I do too. I'm not aware in what language I label though.

>98 connie53: The dreams I remember are more visuals than verbal. The labels are thoughts but not really words so I am not sure that language actually enters into it.

I think nobody really knows how a dream works. And how our mind works when dreaming.

Probably not, Connie. But it doesn't stop people from writing about dreams, how they work and how to interpret them. I have a few books like that on my shelves.

>92 rabbitprincess: yeah, that happens ;) (read, but forget to comment)

>93 Tess_W: I have Maus I next to me, right now, checked out from the library :)

>95 Familyhistorian: lol it happens! Seems busier this year?

>97 Familyhistorian: >98 connie53: >99 Familyhistorian: >100 connie53: interesting! My dreams are almost always like... like being in real life, but it's a dream. I'm rarely observing from some third person perspective.. I'm almost always someone in the dream... and I'm experiencing whatever is happening. E.g., I've had dreams where there's a huge war and I'm one of the leaders training people .. And I'm definitely really there. I kind of always assumed everyone dreamed like that, but apparently not!!

>102 avanders: I think LT seems busier this year and RL seems busier this year too, at least for me.

Dreams are interesting and probably different for different people. Some people are more visual, some more into auditory sensation. Because I believe that they are different I am not sure about the books that claim to give the meaning of common symbols in dreams - don't symbols mean different things to different people depending on their culture and background?

>103 Familyhistorian: yes, I think that's quite right about being able to pin meaning to dreams... If I remember right, in India, if you dream about a baby, they believe there will be a death, and if you dream about a death, there will be a wedding (or some variation of those 3 :))... Here, in N. America, I don't think that quite plays out the same :)

>104 avanders: I looked up death in Dream Therapy and, according to this book, death signifies a new beginning. The book doesn't give an interpretation for dreaming about a baby and the one internet site I looked at had multiple meanings depending on what the baby was doing or what was being done to it. I'm sure that if I looked at a different book or website there would be an alternate interpretation - I think that different symbols mean different things to different people. It is all very fascinating.

>105 Familyhistorian: that makes sense! Yeah, I agree that it definitely depends on the person and all of their experiences, etc. :)

>106 avanders: I have a lot of books about dreams and dreaming on my shelves - maybe I should actually read some of them. I know they would qualify as ROOTs.

Fun! I find sleep and dream science very interesting :)
And bonus that they are also ROOTs!

>108 avanders: I'm afraid the fun will have to wait. Homework is piling up as are the household chores - I need more hours in the day!

9. Murder in Chelsea by Victoria Thompson

One more ROOT read for February. Murder in Chelsea was a surprise because I didn’t read the blurb on the back of the book. To me Chelsea is part of London; to the author it is part of Manhattan. Once I got over the surprise I enjoyed the mystery and the glimpse of New York in gaslight.

10. Instrument of Slaughter by Edward Marston

I snuck in another ROOT to end February. Instrument of Slaughter is billed as one of the Home Front Detective Series as it is set during WW1. The action, of course, happens on the home front which is London in this case. It was convoluted enough to suit my taste in mysteries and the bonus was the WW1 angle – love that history.

The WW1 background in that series was pretty interesting. I read Five Dead Canaries, which was about the women who worked in the munitions factories.

Wow, 2 BB's at once! Not good for my TBR list!

You do read some interesting books!!! This is my biggest problem with reading other people's threads because I'm now looking to get that Wiggs book (do I need to read the others first?), and the book about the bones of the dead looks quite fascinating.

>112 rabbitprincess: I really like the WW1 background especially the London setting as that is where family was living at the time. I like to get a sense of the atmosphere. Did you read the first book in the series A Bespoke Murder?

>113 Tess_W: Ah Tess, I sense you are a pushover for historical mysteries. So am I, so you will probably pick up a few BBs hanging around my thread.

>114 melawen: The Firebrand is the only Wiggs book that I have read. It is one of three based on the Chicago fire but it can stand alone. That's the way I read it. I am constantly getting BBs from other people's threads. Finding about what other people are reading is hard on the TBR list but then again it can steer you clear of books that you wouldn't like.

>115 Familyhistorian: No, I just jumped right in with Five Dead Canaries, since that was the one that caught my attention.

>116 Familyhistorian: Well since I do teach history, most history/historical fiction intrigues me!

>118 rabbitprincess: Five Dead Canaries does sound interesting but I am going to hunt down the first in the series to start at the beginning to see how the main characters are introduced. Marston wrote 10 books in his railway series. Maybe he will write as many for his newest series.

>119 Tess_W: It is a good thing that you are interested in the subject you teach, Tess. Sometimes teachers are forced out of their comfort zones in order to get a job. History is my thing as well, but I prefer to write about it rather than teach it.

>109 Familyhistorian: Agreed! I'd love a few more hours...

And Congrats on 2 more ROOTs down for Feb!

>122 avanders: Thanks, Ava. More hours are definitely needed especially as they are going to take one away on Sunday - I hate spring back for daylight savings! Its much better when we end up with an extra hour of sleep in the fall.

Yeah, it's nice to get that extra hour in the fall ;)
'Course these days, I'm not sure why we do it at all anymore.... Let's just split the difference (lose a half hour just this one last time), and never go through it again? ;P

>123 Familyhistorian: Me too! I need the sunlight in the morning to kick me out of bed!!

>124 avanders: There are some places (like Sasketchewan, I think) that don't change their clocks. Every year there is talk about doing away with the time change here because there is a cost in increased accidents. It really doesn't make much sense because I think it was set up when most of us were farmers.

>125 rabbitprincess: I wish I could wait for sunlight to get me up. In the winter I am up and on the road way before the dawn because I start work at 7:30 am. (That's better than starting at 6:45 am which I did for years.)

I just read where daytime savings, originally started for the farmer's benefit, now is used to fight consumer use of electricity....with an hour longer of daytime after people get home from work, they use less energy...or so the article claims. (But then, wouldn't they use more in the morning?....except I don't turn lights on in the morning...only my closet light!)

Ah, but it is not turning on the light that sucks up the energy. As soon as I get home after work the TV and computer come in to play and I need light to see them properly so that comes on as well. Extra daylight doesn't change the amount of energy I consume. I also turn on many lights in the morning as I am getting ready.

11. The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly

The Last Kashmiri Rose is set in India just after the First World War. It is a time when British rule is waning and Joe Sandilands must be careful who he finds guilty in the death of a young English woman. His investigation makes connections between the most recent death and the deaths of many more young English military wives in the small town of Panikhat. It is a captivating mystery and good start to a series.

I am late posting my acquisitions for February. It is getting close to the end of the semester and the work is piling on. It is hard to find the time to read - well, read good books instead of textbooks.

The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus
A Spider in the Cup by Barbara Cleverly
Longbourn by Jo Baker
The Social Media Guide for Ancestral Research By Claire V. Brisson-Banks
Mrs. Jeffries and the One Who Got Away by Emily Brightwell
I am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown
What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund
The Ties that Bound by Barbara A Hanawalt
A Girl Can Dream by Anne Bennett
Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill
A Beginner's Guide to Online Genealogy by Michael Dunn

>126 Familyhistorian: I think that's true :) I will say, the daylight "savings" has been rough in the mornings this week so far... :p

>128 Tess_W: Huh, that actually kind of makes sense! I think a lot of people use lights in the morning, regardless of outside's lighting... but in the evenings, they may spend more time outside before coming in, or wait to turn on lights if there is still light coming in from outside because they don't realize lights aren't on until outside stops bringing it in ... In our house, it is definitely true!

>131 Familyhistorian: looks like a fun list of acquisitions! Too bad you're losing time to read good books... I know the feeling!

>132 avanders: Yes, the end of the semester can't come fast enough - I want to dive into more fiction. Now if I read I feel guilty because I have so much work to do. Not that it stops me from reading fiction but I love to read when I have that feeling of having lots of time to myself.

12. The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters

I have heard of the Brother Cadfael mysteries and I think that I might have even seen a TV adaptation at one point. That is probably how The Hermit of Eyton Forest ended up on my bookshelf. I have no idea when it showed up there but I am glad that I finally read it. I will search out more Cadfael mysteries.

13. The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick

I enjoy books by Amanda Quick. They have a great combination of mystery and romance in an historical setting.

14. The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys

The Frozen Thames is a short history of the years in which the Thames froze. Humphreys tells stories based on the happenings of the freezing years beginning in 1142 and working forward. It is an interesting and pretty book.

15. To the Grave by Steve Robinson

The Jefferson Tate genealogical mysteries, while not as probable as some genealogical mysteries, are a fun read. To the Grave was a great second book in the series and I enjoyed it more than the first.

>136 Familyhistorian: That one looks interesting. As a former London resident I can't imagine the great river frozen!

>138 Jackie_K: The Thames froze many, many times - the book covers centuries. It all had to do with the design of the London Bridge at the time. That was the London Bridge with houses on it.

>139 Familyhistorian: Wow, really? I can't work out how that would affect it - I think I'm going to have to add that book to my wishlist!

The old London Bridge had so many arches that it slowed the flow of the Thames which allowed the water to freeze.

I did not know that! But it makes sense!

The Thames at that time was not the river we think of today. I has been dredged as well so the channel is deeper. A shallower river is also more prone to freezing.

16. Tulle Death Do Us Part By Annette Blair

I have some longer ROOTs on the go but they are taking a while to read. I picked up and finished Tulle Death Do Us Part just so I would feel that I had finished something. It was a cozy mystery based on a sleuth with psychic abilities who owns a vintage clothing store. The characters were interesting and the plot was convoluted enough to hold my interest. It probably would have been better to start this series with the first book rather that the sixth book so I could have seen the characters grow over time.

>133 Familyhistorian: oh yes, I definitely agree! It's "hard" reading, even if you're going to do it anyway, when there are all those obligations just hovering over your head! Glad it's not holding you back though! Congrats on your continued ROOT success!

17. Petty Theft by Pascal Girard

The story for this GN sounded interesting. Pascal has just broken up with his long term girlfriend so is living with friends. His muse has deserted him so he goes out and gets a construction job instead of drawing and writing. Even his running high deserts him when his back goes out. Nothing much is going his way. Then one day he is at the bookstore and sees a girl shoplift his book. He decides to do some detective work and find out more about this girl.

Despite its promise the story left me flat. Maybe I was just the wrong gender to identify with Pascal and his attempts to get closer to the girl. I liked his drawings; the graphics are in black and white but well done

>145 avanders: Actually, it is hard to drag myself away from reading to do everything else I should be doing at this point. I am so done with school and volunteering, just need some time to relax.

Hi Meg! Just stopping by!

Good to see you, Tess.

March was a long, long month and there were far too many things I should have been doing so I took refuge in bookstores. My acquisitions show it. These are the books that made it into my home in March:

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Home: A Time Traveller's Tales from Britain's Prehistory by Francis Pryor
Pro Hair Care by Alexandra Friend and Sheridan Ward
Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel
Dead Wake by Erik Larson
Can't we Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
Build Your Author Platform by Carole Jelen and Michael McCallister
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
His Wicked Reputation by Madeline Hunter
Festive in Death by J.D. Robb
Brother Cadfael's Penance by Ellis Peters
An Early Wake by Sheila Connolly
Any Place I Hang my Hat by Susan Isaacs
The White Magic Five and Dime by Steve Hockensmith
Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com by Nancy Hendrickson

A great stash! I have about 5 of these on my TBR pile!

Nice! I am reading A Morbid Taste for Bones this month so will be interested to hear about your Ellis Peters pick.

>151 Tess_W: Sounds like we enjoy the same kind of books.

>152 rabbitprincess: I just read my first Brother Cadfael book this year. I am looking forward to finding and reading more.

18. The Proposal by Mary Balogh

I am just getting to the end of the semester for my course so the assignments are piling up. Time to escape into an historical romance, this time it was The Proposal by Mary Balogh. Balogh is one of my go-to authors for the genre.

19. City of Scoundrels by Gary Krist

I am now a Krist fan after reading his book City of Scoundrels. This is one of the best historical nonfiction accounts that I have read in a long time.

>147 Familyhistorian: ah yes... well that's the most difficult of all ;) Hope you're finding some good relaxation time!

>150 Familyhistorian: quite a haul for 1 month! Fun :)

>156 Familyhistorian: hmm, sounds intriguing.. Always nice to hear about well-written histories!

Hi Ava, well the semester is done so I have until the beginning of May to relax - not really, it is time to catch up with all the things that have been piling up. I offered to host my women's group this Wednesday, what was I thinking. Do you know how much housework hasn't been done while I was concentrating on assignments. Oh well, at least I will get the major housework out of the way before I have to tackle other stuff.

>150 Familyhistorian: Unfortunately that is about par for a month for me. Sometimes I just look at all the full shelves and wonder where I am ever going to find the time to read all those books!

Yes, the Krist book is really well written. It starts off with the crash of a blimp that was flying over the business section of Chicago and it just drew me in from there.

20. The Blood-Dimmed Tide by Rennie Airth

The John Madden mysteries are well written, suspenseful hunts for killers through the English countryside in the time between the two world wars. The Blood-Dimmed Tide was as good or maybe even a touch better than the first book in the series.

21. The Common Stream: Two Thousand Years of the English Village by Rowland Parker

The Common Stream was written in 1975 but my copy was published in 1994. It has been on my shelves for several decades so it definitely qualifies as a ROOT. I got it to read due to my interest in English history and for my research on my English family roots. It fit the bill.

22. Mrs. Jeffries Defends her Own by Emily Brightwell

Mrs. Jeffries Defends her Own is the 30th book in the series and I have read most, if not all of them, up to this point. I enjoy these murder mysteries set in Victorian London.

>158 Familyhistorian: no! what *were* you thinking!? But really, I do the same thing ;) "Sure I can host!"....... Hope it was worth it!

& Congrats on more books read!

>162 avanders: Yes it all worked out well and now I have a week off from work. I am trying to get caught up on all the other things I let slide while working and going to school. It took me about a day and a half but I got my taxes done; now there are oodles of other things to get done as well as trying to fit in some reading.

>163 Familyhistorian: wonderful! I know, getting caught up.... seems like that's always happening! Do we ever actually "catch up"??
Congrats on finishing your taxes though! That's huge!

>164 avanders: I do remember a time when I felt that I had it all under control - maybe that was just an illusion.

>165 Familyhistorian: hee hee well as long as you felt it, that's all that really matters, right? Sounds like there's hope, then ;)

>166 avanders: There is always hope, Ava. Someday it will happen. I will be all caught up with nothing to do and it will last maybe 2 seconds!

23. Where Serpents Sleep by C.S. Harris

I am not sure why the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery Where Serpents Sleep languished on the shelf so long that it became a ROOT. It is probably because I started reading the series out of order and this is one of the catch up volumes. So I think I am all caught up now and will move on to the next book in the series if I can figure out where I was.

>167 Familyhistorian: haha I look forward to that day myself.. ;)

>167 Familyhistorian: >166 avanders: I agree! I just skipped all the unread posts everywhere. There was no way/time/ to read them all.

>169 avanders: >170 connie53: The only way that I got half caught up was by being on vacation and checking the threads every day. Vacation is over and classes start next week so I will be behind again, sigh.

>171 Familyhistorian: That's what I fear will happen to me too, Meg. I have to start work again on May 11. But I'm trying very hard to keep up.

>172 connie53: I only had a week off and it sounds like you have longer, Connie. Hopefully it will give you a good head start so you can keep up for a while.

I hope so too!

>170 connie53:>171 I hate to confess, but I just read the last 1-2 posts of most because I don't have time to scroll through everything!

>175 Tess_W: So glad I'm not the only one who does that ;-))

>170 connie53: - >176 connie53: oh good. Now I don't have to carry around so much guilt ;)

No wonder it takes me so long to catch up. I read through the whole thread but I must admit, quite often my eyes kind of glaze over.

>177 avanders: LOL!

>178 Familyhistorian: I try that sometimes too (or, not the whole thread per se, but everything I haven't read since the last time I visited it!).... Agreed: It takes so long!
>179 Tess_W: ;)

>180 avanders: Of course, just the new parts of the threads but sometimes there are just so many new posts!

>181 Familyhistorian: so true!!

Not sure how this happens. I didn't think I acquired that many books in April but the stack looks pretty tall. This was the month's accumulation:

Missing Steps by Paul Cavanagh - this is my brother's second novel which just came out in April
Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright
Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self by Jennifer Ouellette
The Surfacing by Cormac James - this is an ER book
Strong Female Protagonist by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag
Louis Riel: a comic-strip biography by Chester Brown
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
How to Start Personal Histories & Genealogy Journalism Businesses by Anne Hart
The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh
How to Hang a Picture by Jay Sacher and Suzanne LaGasa
A Case of Doubtful Death by Linda Stratmann
Every Trick in the Book by Lucy Arlington
Why Kings Confess by C.S. Harris

Oh wow! Lol!

>184 Tess_W: I know, looks like I am buying faster than I am reading!

But, it's so fun!

Fun but hard to find shelf space!

24. A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch

The fifth book in the Charles Lennox murder mystery series is a change of pace. As the title indicates, most of the action in A Burial at Sea happens aboard a ship. In this case, it is a British navy ship and the murderees are its officers. The mystery is intriguing as are the details of life aboard a navy ship in 1873 and the glimpses of life in the Suez at the time of the opening of the Suez Canal.

Ooh, a historical mystery on board a ship! That sounds most interesting. I will probably end up reading out of order ;)

>189 rabbitprincess: It is good and probably would be good as a standalone but I appreciate having read the previous books in the series for the background on the characters.

>171 Familyhistorian: et al: I must confess that I don't have time to keep up with everyone's threads, so I have given up trying. Instead, I star every thread by someone who has taken the trouble to comment on mine, and make sure that I keep up with them over the year. I also star the monthly total threads so I can find them easily! If I have time then I will look at a few others, and comment on those if I have something to contribute (as I know how much I appreciate comments on my thread), not with any expectation of a comment in return (although that is always nice!). But as the group is so active I think that keeping up with everyone is just too much, you just have to do what you can :)

>191 Jackie_K: I tend to keep up with all the ROOTs threads but don't comment unless something catches my eye. On the 75 book challenge I only star some of the threads and even then it is a struggle to keep up - some of the threads on there grow so fast it amazes me!

>183 Familyhistorian: lol! Looks like lots of fun! :)

>187 Familyhistorian: I am concerned about the lack of shelf-space myself... the library clearance sale is this weekend....

>191 Jackie_K: and >192 Familyhistorian: Yes, as the year progresses and time is harder to come by (January, it seems, always has more "down time" ;)), I agree!

>193 avanders: Oh oh, library clearance sale - better clear some shelf space 'cause you know you are going to need it!

I find time hard to come by all year round and it seems to get worse every year. I am not sure how that happens but I seem to remember having more time to breath before.

>194 Familyhistorian: so true! ;)

Hmm... are there actual differences in your schedule, or do you think it's more a part of the phenomenon of time going faster as we get older? I had been feeling that way for years... that there was less and less time each year... then last year I made some major changes and have started to feel more in control again :) Of course, changing a job is not always a possibility (it was for me last year, phew!), but the way I was approaching social "obligations" needed revisiting... i.e., not only did I need to maybe not say yes to everything, but I also needed to stop planning everything! But sometimes, it's just the way of life... Seems like at some point it breaks, though, right? I.e., at some point, we start getting less busy again? Maybe after we stop working? I don't know... something to aspire to I guess... ;)

>195 avanders: The problem is that there are no differences in my schedule throughout the year. I work full time and take at least one college course per semester and volunteer on top of that. The volunteering gobbles up much more of my time than I can afford. I am trying to cut back on that so that I will have more time to write. I am starting to write freelance as I will need a bit more income when I quit working. I hope to be able to do that soon and then everything might slow down a bit - at least I hope so.

25. Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

In Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, Lucy Knisley has used her skill as a graphic artist and storyteller to fuse together a tale that is both memoir and recipe book. It is an interesting combination – this one is a keeper.

>196 Familyhistorian: ah yeah, that is rough! Sounds like you have a lot on your plate!! Quitting will be a nice reprieve :)

>197 Familyhistorian: sounds nice :)

>198 avanders: Well, it is not all bad. There is an end in sight. I hope to soon retire and have more time to do the things that I really want to do.

>199 Familyhistorian: What a wonderful end-in-sight!

>200 avanders: Thanks, Ava. I am looking forward to it. It helps to have that light at the end of the tunnel when dealing with all the busyness but when I talk to retired people it doesn't seem that their lives slow down at all once they are retired!

Now in my mid-40s, I am still trying to figure out what I want to do/be when I grow up, but the only thing I can think of to say when asked is 'retired'! So I just need to figure out what to do between now and then...

>202 Jackie_K: Ah but Jackie, retired just means you move on to doing the things that you really want to do so you still have to discover what they are. I started taking a professional writing program five years ago to help me with my writing career once I am "retired".

26. The Last Queen of England> by Steve Robinson

The Last Queen of England is a fast moving murder mystery. In this book, the third in the series, the genealogical detective, Jefferson Tayte, pursues the killers of his mentor, Marcus Brown. As much as he wants to find out why Marcus was killed, he also wants to solve the riddle to save himself and his fellow female sleuth, Jean. It is a good rapid moving adventure based on history and genealogy.

27. The Tribes of Britain: Who Are We? And Where Do We Come From?

The Tribes of Britain has been sitting on my shelves for probably 10 years now. It is good overall history of the British Isles written from the point of view of the many migrations that have created the modern day British character and culture.

>201 Familyhistorian: I also hear that, but I get the sense that it's more of everything YOU want to do at that point... hopefully ;)

>202 Jackie_K: ha, well I think you've got the right start ;)

>203 Familyhistorian: yes! Agreed :)

>204 Familyhistorian: and >205 Familyhistorian: looks like a couple more good books! The cover of the murder mystery doesn't look particularly... compelling (as a murder mystery) to me. But your description does!

>206 avanders: That's what I'm hoping for too, Ava. I have read a few good mysteries lately and The Last Queen of England was a fun, fast read. Right now I am reading a lot faster than I am posting so there will be more coming up.

>207 Familyhistorian: awesome! that's the goal, right? ;)

>208 avanders: Yep, that's the goal for as long as your health lets you - which I hope is a long, long time.

28. Famous Players: The Mysterious Death of William Desmond Taylor by Rick Geary

Geary’s graphic novels bring many old murder mysteries to light. The Famous Players mystery is particularly interesting as it brings the Hollywood of the 1920s to life.

29. Concealed in Death by J.D. Robb

I am always one or two books from the latest installment in the In Death series. Concealed in Death once again delivers an intriguing mystery as well as a chance to catch up with Eve Dallas and the regular (or irregular) cast of characters.

30. The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini

The Bughouse Affair has been sitting on the shelf since 2014. I picked it up because it I like mysteries set in history, in this case 1890s San Francisco. It starts so slowly that I almost gave up on it but it picks up toward the end making it a decent mystery.

31. The Thomsons of Durham: Tom Thomson's Family Heritage by Angie Littlefield

The Thomsons of Durham: Tom Thomson’s Family Heritage is part of my collection about the Canadian artist, Tom Thomson. Over the years his art has grown on me but I must admit that my interest in him is because of his family connection. This book is not just a rehash of the things that have already been written about Thomson and in it Littlefield has looked more closely at Thomson’s family background, a boon to the family historian.

>210 Familyhistorian: ooh, sounds interesting & fun!

>214 avanders: You should check out Rick Geary's graphic novels, Ava. They a good way to find out about historic true life mysteries.

>215 Familyhistorian: will do, thanks!

>201 Familyhistorian: I'm just 3 years and 7 months away from retiring. That's 25 December 2018! I just checked it on the internet. I'm looking forward to it too.

>217 connie53: It's good to have the end in sight, Connie. It makes the last few years seem much more doable. I don't have a definite time frame there are a few variables like paying of my mortgage and supporting my son until he has a job. I just hope it is soon because my job keeps getting worse.

>217 connie53:>218 I only know a range....at least 5 years before I can get my retirement, but perhaps working 6 to 7 more years...not sure, many variables! Although, I don't know if I'm really looking forward to it.........not sure how I feel about it!

>219 Tess_W: It is hard to wrap your head around. When I think about it I have been going to work every day for the best part of 42 years at this point. I am programmed to get up every day to go somewhere and to get a pay cheque every two weeks. This will be a very big change and something that needs some planning, I think.

>220 Familyhistorian:, yes, I think the prospect of retiring scares me. Firstly, is the money issue. Now I can afford to travel, buy books, etc. Upon retirement I will have to plan and save oh so carefully and I'm spoiled...while not wealthy by any means, I can buy books whenever I want and we take a 2 week vacation most years.....twon't be so after retirement.

>221 Tess_W: It doesn't seem right does it? When you retire you have time to read and travel but you can't afford to pay for books or trips. Maybe that is why so many retirees get part time jobs.

I am behind in posting about the books that I read at the end of May. The posting may be behind but the number of ROOTs is up. I have finished a total of 11 for May!

32. The Second Woman by Kenneth Cameron

I was drawn to this mystery because it is set in London in 1903. I didn’t realize that it is the third book in a series featuring Denton as the detective. The Second Woman was an interesting read and a mystery that had me guessing.

>217 connie53: >219 Tess_W: Exciting! As for me, heh heh... I'm ~23 years away. ;-o
(And then, assuming I'm at the same job, the plan is to retire from that, but get another part-time something or open something or ... ya know, something. ;))

>218 Familyhistorian: Fingers crossed for your son to get a job soon! (and for your job to start improving!!)

>223 Familyhistorian: Woot!! Congrats!

>224 Familyhistorian: looks interesting.. would you go back and read the first 2?

>225 avanders: 23 years goes more quickly than you think, Ava. The problem is they seem to be moving the goal posts to later and later so by that time people might be working until they are 75. Yes, all my fingers and toes are crossed that he will get a job.

I am not sure that I will follow up with the Denton series. The book was good but I didn't have the desire to know much more about the characters.

33. Two Sinful Secrets by Laurel McKee

Two Sinful Secrets tells the story of the romance between the disgraced Lady Sophia Huntingdon and the actor, Dominic St Claire. There is history between their families and Dominic toys with the idea of getting revenge through Lady Sophia but in the end love saves the day.

34. Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland by Bryan Sykes

I am slowly working my way through Sykes' books about genetic roots. I am not sure why this has been on my shelf for so long without being read as the Saxons, Vikings and Celts are my people

>226 Familyhistorian: I can believe that! Yeah, it's true they push those goal posts later, though we seem to stay healthier & vibrant quite a bit longer! :)

>229 avanders: The majority of us seem to stay healthier & vibrant but there are those we loose along the way. Making the date of retirement later doesn't help them.

The boss that I had until the last month or so was just holding on until the end of the year when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Right now it is a matter of days so it is making those of us close to her age think twice about staying at work. She just turned 63.

Yes, my retirement age is 66 and 2 months for full social security.

>230 Familyhistorian: very true :( That's hard, sorry about your boss :(

>231 Tess_W: You don't get full social security at 65 - that's tough, Tess.

>232 avanders: Thanks, Ava.

I was going to post my May acquisitions at the end of last month but, as usual, time got away with me. Here they are now, maybe fewer than usual - at least the stack looks shorter.

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk
The Making of Home by Judith Flanders
Creative, Inc.:The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco & Joy Deangdeelert Cho
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
My Life in Black and White by Kim Izzo
Emily and the Dark Angel by Jo Beverley
Broken Harbour by Tana French
Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick
Played by the Book by Lucy Arlington
The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn

>235 Familyhistorian: Fun haul! I've heard lots of good things about Louise Penny - I think I have Still Life at home to check her out one of these days...
"maybe fewer than usual" -- not necessarily a bad thing ;)

>236 avanders: I have a few of Louise Penny's books on the shelf but have only read one which was somewhere in the middle of the series. After I read that one book I attended a talk that she gave. She is a brilliant speaker. I currently have the first book in the series in my pile of books to be started so should get to it soon.

>237 Familyhistorian: Sounds like a pretty strong endorsement! :)

>238 avanders: She is an impressive speaker but then she has had lots of practice as she was on CBC radio as a host for many years.

oh I didn't know that :)

>240 avanders: She mentioned it in her talk or else I wouldn't have known that either. But it explains why she was so comfortable talking to a crowd of people. I am always appreciative of presenters who look like it comes naturally to them - I wish I could be the same!

Ah yes, helpful when they provide that kind of info :) I wonder if speaking "with no face" made it eventually easier to speak "with a face" (in front of a crowd), or if she'd always just been comfortable w public speaking...

Speaking with no face and a large audience would be good for working up to speaking in front of an audience, I think, but maybe she is just one of those people who was drawn to that kind of work because she was comfortable speaking in front of people.

>243 Familyhistorian: probably... I suppose you don't necessarily go into public speaking if it's not really one of your fortes ;)

>244 avanders: Unfortunately, public speaking seems to be a required part of marketing books these days so if I ever get ambitious enough to write a book I might have to bone up on those skills.

>245 Familyhistorian: hmmm.... what about authors who wish to remain anonymous? write under pen names? But generally, I think you're right! I have no fear of public speaking (thanks to my dad :)), but I know it is crippling to those who have it!

>246 avanders: How did your Dad help you to not fear public speaking?

>247 Familyhistorian: my dad's jobs involved public speaking/presentations, so I grew up around it in general... I think it was more a passed-on attitude and comfort with that sort of thing than anything else. Although of my 2 sisters and I, I've done the most "public speaking" on a bigger scale, all 3 of us are certainly comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people, so I assume it's learning through osmosis and attitude that he passed on. :)

>248 avanders: That is probably true. I took a course in public speaking which got down to the nitty gritty of where to look when you are speaking, how to get rid of nervous tics etc. etc. That course to away a layer of anxiety but those details would be something that you picked up through osmosis.

35. Read it and Weep by Jenn McKinlay

June has not been a good month for ROOTs for me. I finally finished another one. Read it and Weep is a cozy mystery, one of the middle books in the Library Lover’s Mysteries. The cast of characters is trying to put on a Shakespearian play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their main draw is a famous actor who is playing Puck. Puck has eyes for the book's main character, librarian Lindsay. But accidents keep happening to Puck – is someone trying to take out one of the leading characters? It is up to Lindsay to try and solve this mystery.

>250 Familyhistorian: Love that title!

>251 Tess_W: It is a good title. Is is a quote from something?

>252 Familyhistorian: No, just used in conversation when you present something to someone to prove you are right and they are wrong!

>253 Tess_W: Said with appropriate attitude, no doubt!

36. The Soldier by Grace Burrowes

The Soldier is the second of Burrowes’ books about the Windham sons. It chronicles the story of the rocky courtship that results in the marriage of the oldest and illegitimate son of the Duke Moreland. It was a fun and fast read.

37. The Agency: The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee

Another series started in the middle. This is only book two of the YA mystery/adventures of Mary Quinn. It was an interesting story full of action and conflict. Now I have to track down book one and find out how it all started.

>250 Familyhistorian: Sounds fun! a cozy mystery in a series called the Library Lover's Mysteries? sign me up! ;)

You're so close to your goal!!

>257 avanders: You think they know a few things about what book lovers like to read about? Yes, goal in sight. Now if only I could finish those ROOTs I have already started.

>258 Familyhistorian: ha, apparently! ;)