fuzzi's Reading Register 2015

As I did this year, I'm going for both the 75 and 100 books read challenges in 2015:




75 Book Challenge thread:
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/185093)

100 Book Challenge thread:
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/184975#)

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And also, I will be reading those old/unread tomes (ROOTs), so I can get them off my shelves...

...in 2014 I read 40, so I am upping my challenge 10%, to 44 in 2015:

ROOT Ticker

Goal met 9/30/15!!!

(http://www.librarything.com/topic/184825#4959474)

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A ticker for books culled, removed from my library...read or unread...




(http://www.librarything.com/topic/185014)

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Here's my favorite thread on LT: http://www.librarything.com/topic/35356#3828649

All my reviews can be accessed here: http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=fuzzi

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Jump to February's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960290

Jump to March's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960292

Jump to April's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960293

Jump to May's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960294

Jump to June's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960296

Jump to July's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960297

Jump to August's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960298

Jump to September's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960299

Jump to October's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960300

Jump to November's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960301

Jump to December's Reads: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184858#4960302

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/184605#4953261)
Challenge for January is the letters J and T (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Six Ponies by Josephine Pullein-Thompson - Did not read


Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - (ROOT) - Did not read


Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Don't Give Up, Don't Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/184661)
January challenge is "Olympus Has Fallen: book must have a character that shares a first or last name with a character from the movie Olympus Has Fallen"

Don't Give Up, Don't Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini (there was a friend named Bill in the book, actor in the movie is Bill Stinchcomb) - Read and reviewed

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*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 2

Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


He is There and He is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

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*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/185086#)
Challenge #4: Read a book you were supposed to read in 2014, but didn't

The Last Plantagenets by Thomas Costain - (ROOT) - Did not read


I Will Fight No More Forever: Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War by Merrill Beal - (ROOT) - Did not read


The Quicksilver Horse by Anne Digby - Did not read


Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson - (ROOT) - Did not read


Zara by Joyce Stranger - Did not read


The Heart of a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune - (ROOT) - Did not read


Black Wings, the Unbeatable Crow by Joseph Wharton Lippincott - (ROOT) - Did not read


The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann - (ROOT) - Did not read


He is There and He is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Elsie: Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916 by Barbara Anne Waite - (ROOT) - Did not read


Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God by David McCasland - (ROOT) - Did not read


Just a Dog by Helen Griffiths - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper - (ROOT) - Did not read


Peter Pan by James Barrie - (ROOT) - Did not read


Dracula by Bram Stoker - (ROOT) - Did not read

Challenge #6: Read a book by an author who died in 2014

Six Ponies by Josephine Pullein-Thompson - Did not read

Challenge #13: Read a book originally published in multiple volumes/parts

Persuasion by Jane Austen - (ROOT) - Did not read

Challenge #14: Read a book that has a "beginning" word in the title

Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith - (ROOT) - Did not read

Challenge #15: Read a book you acquired in 2014

Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King - (An Early Reviewer book) - Did not read


Memoirs of a Twentieth-Century Circuit Riding Preacher by Peter S. Ruckman - Read and reviewed

Challenge #16: Read a book whose title begins with the letter "T"

Two's Company by Joyce Stranger - Did not read

Challenge #17: Read a book by an author who you've tried before but whose writing did not impress

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe - Read and reviewed

Challenge#18: Read a book that includes a word or phrase in title or name that puts you in mind of the season

Bullet for a Star by Stuart M. Kaminsky - Did not read

Challenge #21: Read a book for discussion or review

Old Bones the Wonder Horse by Mildred Mastin Pace - Read and reviewed

Challenge #22: Read a book in which one of the author's names has 6 or more letters

Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Friday by Robert Heinlein - Read and reviewed


Brian's Return by Gary Paulsen - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #23: Read a book in which the author's first and last name start with the same letter

The Autobiography of Foudini M. Cat by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer - (ROOT) - Did not read

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*Early Reviewer Challenge For Myself*
Read at least one but preferably two or more yet unread ER books won:

Horses and Mules in the Civil War by Gene Armistead - (ROOT) (October 2013 ER Book)

Wonder of Wonders by Alisa Solomon (August 2013 batch) (ROOT)

Heavyweight Boxing in the 1970s by Joe Ryan (April 2013 batch) (ROOT)

Jersey Joe Walcott by James Curl (June 2012 batch) (ROOT)

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Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Memoirs of a Twentieth-Century Circuit Riding Preacher
2. Old Bones the Wonder Horse
3. Don't Give Up, Don't Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life
4. Moominpapa at Sea (ROOT)
5. He Is There, and He Is Not Silent (ROOT)
6. Friday
7. The Right Stuff (ROOT)
8. Just a Dog (ROOT)
9. Brian's Return (ROOT)

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Books culled this month:
1. Old Bones the Wonder Horse
2. Moominpapa at Sea
3. Silas Marner (duplicate)
4. Moonrise (Warriors: The New Prophecy, Book 2)
5. Dawn (Warriors: The New Prophecy, Book 3)
6. Going Clear
7. ? (forgot title)
8. ? (forgot title)
9.

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Male authors read this month: 7 to date
Female authors read this month: 2 to date

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Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 8
Books read and reviewed: 9
ROOTs completed to date: 5
Weight loss this month: 0

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/186511#)
Challenge for February is the letters I and B (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Day of Infamy by Walter Lord - Did not read, moved to next month


Beowulf by Anonymous - Read and reviewed


Winter Horse by Glenn Balch - Read and reviewed


Horse in Danger by Glenn Balch - Read and reviewed

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*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/186573#5008666)
February challenge is "Let's Go To The Movies!" - read a book that has been adapted for the movies or television

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - (ROOT) - Did not read, moved to next month

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 5 Read

Escape From Reason by Francis Schaeffer


Persuasion by Jane Austen


Winter Horse by Glenn Balch


Horse in Danger by Glenn Balch


Sitka by Louis L'Amour

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*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/187099)

Challenge#1: Read a book with a "cold" word in the title

Winter Horse by Glenn Balch - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #2. Read a book that you wanted to get as soon as it was released

War Dogs by Rebecca Frankel - (An Early Reviewer book for Dec 2014) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #4: Read a book with a French connection

Sitka by Louis L'Amour (both main character and author have French names)- (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #5 Read a book with a number in the first sentence

Horse in Danger by Glenn Balch ("three") - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #6: Read a book that can be found on openculture.com

Persuasion by Jane Austen - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #8: Read a book with something you could love in the title

A Christmas Sonata by Gary Paulsen (either Christmas or a Sonata!) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #12: Read A Book With a Three Word Title but the first word cannot be "The"

Escape From Reason by Francis Schaeffer - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Lost and Found by Shaun Tan - Read and reviewed

Challenge #13: Read a book which title starts with the letters H, A, R, or T

The Arrival by Shaun Tan - Read and reviewed

Challenge #20: Read a book in the horror genre (or that has a monster in the title)

Beowulf - Read and reviewed

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Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Escape From Reason
2. Beowulf
3. A Christmas Sonata
4. The Arrival
5. Lost and Found
6. War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love
7. Persuasion
8. Winter Horse
9. Horse in Danger
10. Sitka

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Books culled this month: 0

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Male authors read this month: 8 to date
Female authors read this month: 2 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 0
Books read and reviewed: 10
ROOTs completed to date: 5 in February, 10 total for 2015
Weight loss this month: 0

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/187909)
Challenge for March is the letters H and Q (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Frederica by Georgette Heyer - Read and reviewed

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*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/187927)
March challenge is "All the Cool Kids are Doing It: read that book or author that everybody else has read but for some reason you haven't gotten to yet.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan- (ROOT) - Did not finish

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*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 6 Read/removed from TBR

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan Did not finish, culled


Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie


Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery


Sire Unknown by Marjorie Reynolds


Yondering by Louis L'Amour


Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/188331#)
Challenge #3: Read the third book in a series

Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen - Read and reviewed

Challenge #4: Read a book with a 2015 copyright

Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age by Greg King and Penny Wilson - Read and reviewed

Challenge#6: Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his or her first name

The Dogs Who Found Me by Ken Foster - Read and reviewed

Challenge#10: Read a Book Where the Author's Last Name Could also be a First Name

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (think Montgomery Clift, the actor) (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #11: Read a book with something you should beware of in the title

Day of Infamy by Walter Lord ("infamy") - Did not read

Challenge #12: Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables (not counting the subtitle)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #13: Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist

Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport by Jim Gorant - Read and reviewed

Challenge #14: Read a book in which one of the characters is a working woman

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Sophie works in a hat shop) - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge#15: Read a book of which at least three books in the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section are featured in your collections

The Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett - Read and reviewed


The Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King - (An Early Reviewer book for Oct 2014) - Read and reviewed


Sire Unknown by Marjorie Reynolds (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge#16: Read a book with at least one Irish character

Luck of the Irish by Ruth Adams Knight - (ROOT) - Did not read


Yondering by Louis L'Amour "Jerry" (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #19: Read a historical novel written by a woman

Frederica by Georgette Heyer - Read and reviewed

Challenge #20: Read a book where one of author's names starts with an "A", "J", or "E"

Find Momo Coast to Coast by '''A'''ndrew Knapp - Read and reviewed

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Books read and reviewed this month:
1. The Lilies of the Field
2. The Bones of Paris
3. Emily of New Moon
4. Sire Unknown
5. Murder on the Orient Express
6. Yondering
7. Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport
8. Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age
9. Howl's Moving Castle
10. The Dogs Who Found Me:
11. Find Momo Coast to Coast
12. Frederica
13. The Lightning Thief (did not finish, but reviewed)
14. Brian's Winter

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Books culled this month:
1. Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age
2. Emily of New Moon
3. A Christmas Sonata
4. The Dollmaker
5. Lilies of the Field
6. The Bronze Bow
7. Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman
8. The Bones of Paris
9. Just a Dog
10. James Herriot's Dog Stories (hardcover)
11. The Lightning Thief

---

Male authors read this month: 8 to date
Female authors read this month: 7 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 11 more, total of 19 in 2015
Books read and reviewed: 13 read/14 reviewed
ROOTs completed to date: 6 in March
Weight loss this month: 0

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/188946)
Challenge for April is the letters E and F (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Prufrock and Other Observations by TS Eliot - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


The Waste Land by TS Eliot - Did not read, yet


A Dog of Flanders by Ouida - Did not read, yet


The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(https://www.librarything.com/topic/188967)
April challenge is to pick a book where the main character undergoes a huge life altering change. It may be for only one season or permanent. The change can -be positive or negative.

Last Man Off by Matt Lewis - Read and reviewed

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*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(https://www.librarything.com/topic/189541#)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 4 Read

Jane of Lantern Hill by LM Montgomery


The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter


The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts


Prufrock and Other Observations by TS Eliot

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/189370#)
Challenge#1: Read a book with at least one title word in the English version of the book that rhymes with "rain"

Jane of Lantern Hill by LM Montgomery (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #2: Read a book where the cover, the author's name, or the title has something to do with 'green'

The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #6: Read a book in which a government (or agency) plays a major role

No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald - Did not read, yet


HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean - Read and reviewed

Challenge#10: Read a book that you share with a legacy library where you share 20 or fewer books overall

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (Lewis Carroll's library) - Did not read, yet

Challenge#11: Read a book with a four-letter word in the title

The Waste Land by TS Eliot - Did not read, yet


Last Man Off by Matt Lewis - Read and reviewed

Challenge #16: Read a book that has the name of an island in the title or author's name

Prufrock and Other Observations by TS Eliot - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Epitaph: A Novel of the OK Corral by Mary Dora Russell - Read and reviewed

Challenge #19: Read a book which has an 'and' in the middle of the title

Dogs I Have Met: and the People They Found by Ken Foster - Read and reviewed

Challenge #20: Read a book (fiction or non-fiction) in which a person has been or is widowed

Favorite Fairy Tales: 27 Stories by the Brothers Grimm, Andersen, Perrault and Others - Did not read, yet

Challenge #21: Read a Space Opera

Merchanter's Luck by CJ Cherryh - Read

Challenge #22: In honor of Arbor Day read a book with a tree name embedded in the Title, Subtitle or Author's name

The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #23: Read a book whose title has a subtitle

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik - Read and reviewed

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*SFFCAT Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/188953)The topic for this month's CAT is books that are based on fairy tales, myths, legends, and folklore.

Favorite Fairy Tales: 27 Stories by the Brothers Grimm, Andersen, Perrault and Others - Did not read, yet

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Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Jane of Lantern Hill (ROOT)
2. The Sea of Grass (ROOT)
3. Merchanter's Luck (reread)
4. Last Man Off Early Reviewer book
5. The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation (ROOT)
6. Dogs I Have Met and the People They Found
7. Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
8. Epitaph: A Novel of the OK Corral
9. HMS Ulysses
10. Prufrock and Other Observations (ROOT)

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Books culled this month:
1. Last Man Off
2. The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation
3. Brian's Winter

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Male authors read this month: 6 to date
Female authors read this month: 4 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 3
Books read and reviewed: 10
ROOTs completed to date: 4 in April
Weight loss this month: 0

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/190032#)
Challenge for May is the letters R and L (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach - Read and reviewed


The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


May There Be a Road by Louis L'Amour (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/190031)
May challenge is "Read A Book With a Place Name in Title"

A Dog of Flanders by Ouida (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/190560)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 5 Read

Miss Buncle Married


A Dog of Flanders


The Road to Yesterday


The Waste Land


May There Be a Road by Louis L'Amour

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/190560)
Challenge #2: Read the next book in a series

Miss Buncle Married by DE Stevenson - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Chanur's Venture by C.J. Cherryh - Re-read and reviewed

Challenge #4: Read a book set in a city, region or country that you haven't visited yet but would like to

The Road to Yesterday - L.M. Montgomery (Prince Edward Island) - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #13: Read a book written by an author from a country you've never been to

Sink the Bismarck! by C.S. Forester (born in Egypt) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #15: Read a book that involves 'aliens'

The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh - Re-read and reviewed


The Kif Strike Back by C.J. Cherryh - Re-read and reviewed

Challenge #16: Read a book with the word "us" in the title, subtitle, or author's name

The Marvelous Mongolian by James Aldridge - (ROOT) - Did not read

Challenge #18: Read a book by an author whose first name starts with a J, or whose surname starts with a D

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan - (ROOT) - Did not finish, moved to June

Challenge #20: Read a book which has the word May in the title or author's name

May There Be a Road by Louis L'Amour - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*2015 Category Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/190043)
May SFFFCAT Challenge: Girl Power...Read a Book by a Female Author, or About a Strong Female Character

Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh (Strong female is Pyanfar, author is also female) - Re-read and reviewed


Chanur's Venture by C.J. Cherryh - Re-read and reviewed


The Kif Strike Back by C.J. Cherryh - Re-read and reviewed

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Run Silent, Run Deep
2. Miss Buncle Married (ROOT)
3. A Dog of Flanders (ROOT)
4. The Road to Yesterday (ROOT)
5. Baby
6. Sink the Bismarck!
7. The Waste Land (ROOT)
8. May There Be a Road (ROOT)
9. Pride of Chanur (reread)
10. Chanur's Venture (reread)
11. The Kif Strike Back (reread)

---

Books culled this month:
1. Out of the Silent Planet
2. Perelandra
3. That Hideous Strength
4. The Road to Yesterday
5. Baby
6. Sink the Bismarck!
etcetera

---

Male authors read this month: 4 to date
Female authors read this month: 7 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 7
Books read and reviewed: 11
ROOTs completed to date: 5
Weight loss this month: 0

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/191089#5157469)
Challenge for June is the letters D and Y (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress by Oliver Hunkin - Read and reviewed


Day of Infamy by Walter Lord


Dust on the Sea by Edward L. Beach - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/191124)
June challenge is to read a book about being "On the Water"

Day of Infamy by Walter Lord


Dust on the Sea by Edward L. Beach - Read and reviewed


Cold is the Sea by Edward L. Beach


When Eight Bells Toll by Alistair MacLean

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 0 Read

Books to be added

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/191489#5172526

Challenge #1: Read a book which has a set of double letters in the first title word and a set of double letters in the author’s last name

Cyteen: The Betrayal by C.J. Cherryh (ROOT)

Challenge #10: Read a book by an author who shares a name with your father or grandfather "George"

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (ROOT)

Challenge #14: Read a book featuring a teacher or instructor

Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman


Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton

Challenge #17: Read a book that was published by Oxford World's Classics

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan - (ROOT) - Currently reading

Challenge #23: Read a book with a Possessive in Its Title

Chanur's Homecoming by CJ Cherryh - Re-read, ENJOYED, and reviewed

---

*2015 Category Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/191177)
SFFFCat Challenge: Read a book about time travel or alternate History

Challenges to be added

---

My Personal Challenge: read at least 4 books that I meant to read in 2015, but haven't done so, yet!

Six Ponies by Josephine Pullein-Thompson


The Last Plantagenets by Thomas Costain - (ROOT)


I Will Fight No More Forever: Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War by Merrill Beal - (ROOT)


The Quicksilver Horse by Anne Digby


Zara by Joyce Stranger


The Heart of a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune - (ROOT)


Black Wings, the Unbeatable Crow by Joseph Wharton Lippincott - (ROOT)


The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann - (ROOT)


Elsie: Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916 by Barbara Anne Waite - (ROOT)


Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God by David McCasland - (ROOT)


The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper - (ROOT)


Peter Pan by James Barrie - (ROOT)


Dracula by Bram Stoker - (ROOT)


Day of Infamy by Walter Lord


Luck of the Irish by Ruth Adams Knight - (ROOT)


The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan - (ROOT)


Favorite Fairy Tales: 27 Stories by the Brothers Grimm, Andersen, Perrault and Others

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Chanur's Homecoming
2. Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress
3. Dust on the Sea
etcetera

---

Books culled this month:
1.
2.
etcetera

---

Male authors read this month: 2 to date
Female authors read this month: 1 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 0
Books read and reviewed: 3
ROOTs completed to date: 0
Weight loss this month: 0

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/191987)
Challenge for July is the letters W and K (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


A Weed by Any Other Name by Nancy Gift - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/192174)
July challenge is "Let There Be Light"

Did not read a book this month that fit the challenge...oh well.

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 3 Read

The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey


The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 5


Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/192627)
Challenge#1: Read a book whose title is at least two words long with the first letter of the title words being in alphabetical order

Caliban's Hour by Tad Williams - Did not finish


Come on Seabiscuit by Ralph Moody - Read and reviewed

Challenge #12: Read A Book That Was Originally Published Before the Year 2000

Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery (1929) - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Fuzzy Sapiens by H. Beam Piper (1964) - Read and reviewed


Cranes in My Corral by Dayton O. Hyde (1971) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #14: Read a book whose author has something to do with California

The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 5 - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #15: Read a Book with a W in the title

The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


A Weed by Any Other Name by Nancy Gift - Read and reviewed

---

*2015 Category Challenge*
SFFFCat Challenge: Critters and Creatures: Read a book about non-Humans from aliens to dragons
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/192159#)

Fuzzy Sapiens by H. Beam Piper - Read and reviewed

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. The Ship Who Sang (ROOT)
2. A Weed by Any Other Name: The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant
3. Come on Seabiscuit
4. Cranes in My Corral
5. The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 5 - (ROOT)
6. Fuzzy Sapiens
7. Magic for Marigold

---

Books culled this month:
1. The Ship Who Sang
2. Nerilka's Story (hardcover, an extra copy)
3. The Haymeadow
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
5. Prince Caspian
6. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
7. The Silver Chair
8. The Horse and His Boy
9. The Magician's Nephew
10. The Magician's Nephew (extra copy)
11. The Last Battle
12. The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
13. Jane of Lantern Hill
14. The Road to Yesterday
15. The Dragon and the George
16. Dragon's Blood
17. A Sending of Dragons
18. Prince Caspian (extra copy)
19. 20. 21. 22. Four books I'd never cataloged.
23. Caliban's Hour
24. Cranes in My Corral
25. Favorite Fairy Tales: 27 Stories by the Brothers Grimm, Andersen, Perrault and Others

---

Male authors read this month: 4 to date
Female authors read this month: 3 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 25 this month, 53 total for 2015 through July
Books read and reviewed: 7
ROOTs completed to date: 3 for July, 28 total for 2015 through July

Recent acquisitions, to put on my August "to read" list:


Gateway to Yellowstone: The Raucous Town of Cinnabar on the Montana Frontier by Lee Whittlesey (Early Reviewer book)


The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson




The Monument and Woodsong by Gary Paulsen


I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith


Cold is the Sea by Edward L. Beach

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/193510)
Challenge for August is the letters V and M (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Gateway to Yellowstone: The Raucous Town of Cinnabar on the Montana Frontier by Lee Whittlesey (Early Reviewer book) - Did not finish, moved to September


The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson - Did not read, yet


The Monument by Gary Paulsen - Did not read, yet


Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Cyteen: The Vindication by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Read and Reviewed


Viking Dog by Glenn Balch - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(www.librarything.com/topic/193340#)
August challenge is The Dog Days of Summer: read a book with the word "dog", "day", or "summer" in the title.

The Heart of a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Boots, the Story of a Working Sheep Dog by S.P. Meek - (ROOT) - Did not read, yet


A Dog About Town by J.F. Englert - (ROOT) - Did not read, yet


Viking Dog by Glenn Balch - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


A Prince among Dogs: And Other Stories of the Dogs We Love by Callie Smith Grant - Read and reviewed


Barry, the Story of a Wolf Dog by Thomas C. Hinkle - (ROOT) - Did not read, yet


The Fireside Book of Dog Stories by Jack Goodman - Did not read, yet


After Many Days by L.M. Montgomery - Did not read, yet

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 9 Read

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen


Number the Stars by Lois Lowry


The Heart of a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune


Cyteen: the Betrayal by C.J. Cherryh


Cyteen: The Rebirth by C.J. Cherryh


Cyteen: The Vindication by C.J. Cherryh


Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry


Viking Dog by Glenn Balch


The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/193791)

Challenge #2: Read a book with a title which contains a word that makes you think of marriage

The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson - Did not read, yet

Challenge #6: Read a book which fits a category of the Seattle Public Library's Summer Book Bingo

"Been meaning to read"

The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

"Checked out from the library"

Lady Susan by Jane Austen - Read and reviewed

"Owned but not read"

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #9: Read a book about stars, has the word "star" in the title or author's name, or has a star on the cover

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #11: Read a non-fiction travel/adventure book written by a woman

Lighthearted Journey by Anne Bosworth Greene - (ROOT) - Did not read, yet

Challenge #12: Read a book published prior to April 1972

Viking Dog by Glenn Balch (1949 First edition) - (ROOT) - Read and Reviewed

Challenge #19: Read a book whose author's first and last names begin with the same letter

Cyteen: the Betrayal by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Read and Reviewed


Cyteen: The Rebirth by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Cyteen: The Vindication by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Read and Reviewed

Challenge #20: Read a book whose title contains at least one word which is a synonym for ghost

Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*SFFFCAT Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/193511)
Read about "Other Worlds"

Cyteen: the Betrayal by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Read and Reviewed


Cyteen: The Rebirth by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Read and Reviewed


Cyteen: The Vindication by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Read and Reviewed

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Northanger Abbey (ROOT)
2. Number the Stars (ROOT)
3. The Heart of a Dog (ROOT)
4. Lady Susan
5. A Prince Among Dogs
6. Cyteen: the Betrayal (ROOT)
7. Arrow Book of Funny Poems
8. Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West (ROOT)
9. Cyteen: The Rebirth (ROOT)
10. Cyteen: the Vindication by C.J. Cherryh (ROOT)
11. Viking Dog - (ROOT)
12. The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter - (ROOT)

---

Books culled this month:
1. Charles Kuralt's America
2. Magic for Marigold
3. Number the Stars
4. Akin to Anne
5. The Golden Road (duplicate copy)
6. Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West

---

Male authors read this month: 3 to date
Female authors read this month: 9 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 6
Books read and reviewed: 12
ROOTs completed to date: 9 in August, total of 37 in 2015...so far!

---

Did not find a place, yet...maybe in September?


They Looked for a City by Lydia Buksbazen - Did not read, yet


I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - Did not read, yet


Cold is the Sea by Edward L. Beach - Did not read, yet

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/194575)
Challenge for September is the letters A and O (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


The Autobiography of Foudini M.Cat by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Daybreak 2250 A.D. by Andre Norton - Read and reviewed


Night Over the Solomons by Louis L'Amour - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 7 Read, and my 2015 goal has been reached!!

Night Over the Solomons


The Animals of Farthing Wood


The Story Girl


The Autobiography of Foudini M.Cat


Vicki and the Black Horse by Sam Savitt


Crofton Meadows by Joan Houston


Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/195011#)
Challenge #1: Read a book with a one-word title containing one set of duplicate letters

Dracula by Bram Stoker - (ROOT)


Devotion by Adam Makos - Did not finish, moved to next month


Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #3. Read a book with a title which includes two items that are different but often paired

Up the Down Staircase BY Bel Kaufman - Did not finish, moved to next month

Challenge#5: Read a book whose title includes something you might find on a map

Cold is the Sea by Edward L. Beach - Did not finish, moved to next month


Crofton Meadows by Joan Houston - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #6: Read a book by an author whose two initials form an two-letter acronym for a well-known phrase or name

The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann "CD" - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom "UN" - Read and reviewed


The Autobiography of Foudini M.Cat by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer "SS" - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #11. Read a book by an author you have not read in 5 years or more

Daybreak 2250 A.D. by Andre Norton - Read and reviewed

Challenge #15: Read a book that blurbs the author on the cover

Night Over the Solomons by Louis L'Amour - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #19: Read a book that has the word "story" in the title

Boots: the Story of a Working Sheep Dog by S.P. Meek - (ROOT) - Did not finish, moved to next month

Challenge #20: Read a book in a series

The Story Girl (The Story Girl 1) by LM Montgomery - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #22: Read a book you previously added to a TIOLI challenge, but never read

The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson - Did not finish, moved to next month

Two's Company by Joyce Stranger - Did not finish, moved to next month


Six Ponies by Josephine Pullein-Thompson - Did not finish, moved to next month


Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith - (ROOT) - Did not finish, moved to next month

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Night Over the Solomons - (ROOT)
2. Daybreak 2250 A.D.
3. The Animals of Farthing Wood - (ROOT)
4. The Story Girl - (ROOT)
5. The Secret Language - Reread
6. The Autobiography of Foudini M.Cat - (ROOT)
7. Vicki and the Black Horse - (ROOT)
8. Crofton Meadows - (ROOT)
9. Frankenstein - (ROOT)

---

Books culled this month:
1. Touchstone by Laurie King
2. Enquiry by Dick Francis

---

Male authors read this month: 3 to date
Female authors read this month: 6 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 2
Books read and reviewed: 9
ROOTs completed to date: 7 in September, total of 44 in 2015!

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2014 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/195779)
Challenge for October is the letters P and U (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Born to Race by Blanche Chenery Perrin ("P") - Read and reviewed


The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare ("P") - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Lad of Sunnybank by Albert Payson Terhune ("P") - (ROOT) - Did not read, moved to next month


Upstairs Downstairs by John Hawkesworth ("U") - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 7 "Off the TBR stack"

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare


Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad


Judy's Journey by Lois Lenski


High Courage by C.W. Anderson


Upstairs Downstairs by John Hawkesworth


Wildflowers of Terezin by Robert Elmer - Did not finish, but it's been culled, and is off the ROOT stack!


The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris - Did not finish, culled, and off the ROOT stack...

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/196235)

Challenge #1: Read a book whose author's last name contains a three-letter combination which is an English word if spelled backward

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed ("Era" in "Speare")


Upstairs Downstairs by John Hawkesworth - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed ("row")

Challenge #2: Read a work written/first published, set during or about the years of Queen Victoria of GB, etc.’s reign – 1837 to 1901

The Trees by Conrad Richter (early 1800s) - Read and reviewed


The Fields by Conrad Richter (early 1800s) - Read and reviewed


The Town by Conrad Richter (mid 1800s) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #6: Read a book where a word in the title starts with any of the six central letters of the English alphabet K,L,M,N,O, or P

Simon's Cat: Off to the Vet by Simon Tofield - Read and reviewed


Cop Shows: A Critical History of Police Dramas on Television by Roger Sabin - Read and reviewed

Challenge #7: Read a book where the main character is a child

Spotted Horse by Glenn Balch - Read and reviewed


Born to Race by Blanche Chenery Perrin - Read and reviewed

Challenge #8: Read a book with a coloured object in the title

Gateway to Yellowstone: The Raucous Town of Cinnabar on the Montana Frontier by Lee Whittlesey (Early Reviewer book) - Did not read, moved to next month

Challenge #9: Read a non fiction book about a topic that, while it may affect both men and women, is generally considered to be a woman's issue

Scent of the Missing by Susannah Charleson (missing/abducted women) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #12: Read a book where every title word, minimum 2, begins with the same letter

Judy's Journey by Lois Lenski - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #15: Read a book with a "scary word" in the title or author's name

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #17: Read a book where one (and only one) of the title words has 4 letters

High Courage by C.W. Anderson - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge#19: Read a book which mentions a Scandinavian capital, in rolling order

Wildflowers of Terezin by Robert Elmer (Copenhagen) - (ROOT) - Did not finish due to it being banal tripe, and a second-string romance.


Star of Danger by Jane Whitbread Levin - Read and reviewed

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Heart of Darkness - (ROOT)
2. Judy's Journey - (ROOT)
3. Spotted Horse
4. High Courage - (ROOT)
5. The Trees
6. Simon's Cat: Off to the Vet
7. The Fields
8. The Town
9. Upstairs, Downstairs - (ROOT)
10. Born to Race
11. Scent of the Missing
12. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - (ROOT)
13. Cop Shows: A Critical History of Police Dramas on Television by Roger Sabin
14. Star of Danger

---

Books culled this month:
1. Frankenstein
2. Judy's Journey
3. Be Loyal by Warren W. Wiersbe
4. Be Free " "
5. Be Joyful " "
6. Be Faithful " "
7. Be Right " "
8. Be Wise " "
9. Born to Race
10. Wildflowers of Terezin by Robert Elmer - (ROOT)
11. The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris - (ROOT)
12. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - (ROOT)
13. Cop Shows: A Critical History of Police Dramas on Television
14. Star of Danger

---

Male authors read this month: 9 to date
Female authors read this month: 5 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 14, total of 75 through 10/31/15!
Books read and reviewed: 14
ROOTs completed to date: 7 in October

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/198443)
Challenge for November is the letters N and C (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

C:

Barry: the Story of a Wolf Dog by Thomas C. Hinkle - (ROOT) - Did not read


Shag by Thomas C. Hinkle - (ROOT) - Did not read


Black Storm by Thomas C. Hinkle - (ROOT) - Did not read


Brother Cadfael's Penance by Ellis Peters - (ROOT) - Did not read


Boots, The Story of a Working Sheep Dog by Colonel S. P. Meek - (ROOT) - Did not read


Wildlife in Color by Roger Tory Peterson - (ROOT) - Did not read


In My Father's House by Corrie Ten Boom - (ROOT) - Did not read


When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman - (ROOT) - Did not read

N:

No Little People by Francis Schaeffer - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/198399)
November challenge is "Books and the Big City"
Read a book with the name of a city in the title.

Lad of Sunnybank by Albert Payson Terhune (Sunnybank, Queensland) - (ROOT)

The Man Called Noon - Louis L'Amour - Read and reviewed

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(https://www.librarything.com/topic/202399#)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 2 Read

No Little People by Francis Schaeffer


Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/202002)

Challenge #2: Read a book in which one of the characters is a military veteran or is currently serving

The Beast Master by Andre Norton - Read and reviewed

Challenge #3: Read a book that is the 11th (or later) book in a series

Brother Cadfael's Penance by Ellis Peters (#20) - (ROOT) - Did not read

Challenge #9: Read a book whose title completes the phrase "I am thankful for"

Little Boxes of Bewilderment by Jack Ritchie - Did not finish (DNF) - moved to December

Challenge #12: Read a book that has to do with wilderness or frontier pioneers

We Were There At The Oklahoma Land Run by Jim Kjelgaard - (ROOT) - Did not read


The Lost Wagon by Jim Kjelgaard - (ROOT) - DNF

Challenge #20: Read a book about a family with a name in the title

Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*November SFFCAT Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/198263)
"Off on a Quest -- Heroes, Superheroes, Puzzles and Epic Journeys"

Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh - (ROOT) - Did not read

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Beast Master
2. No Little People (ROOT)
3. Harris and Me (ROOT)
4. The Man Called Noon (reread)

---

Books culled this month:
1. Harris and Me (ROOT)
2. Heart of Darkness

---

Male authors read this month: 3 to date
Female authors read this month: 1 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 2, for a total of 77 in 2015 (so far)
Books read and reviewed: 4
ROOTs completed to date: 2 in November, total of 53 in 2015!

*75 Book Challenge* and
*100 Books in 2015 Challenge*
See combined ticker above for progress!

---

*AlphaCATKIT Challenge* (unofficial)
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/205399#)
Challenge for December is the letters G and S (yearlong challenge letters are X and Z)

Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card - (ROOT) - DNF, but reviewed


Fury, Stallion of Broken Wheel Ranch by Albert G. Miller - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


Woodsong by Gary Paulsen - Read and reviewed


Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - Read and reviewed

---

*RandomCat Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/205398)
December challenge is "Home for the Holidays": read a book with "house" or "home" in the title

In My Father's House by Corrie ten Boom - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

---

*ROOT aka Read Our Own Tomes*
(http://www.librarything.com/groups/2015rootchallengerea)
See ticker above for progress
ROOT Total This Month: 7 read (or mostly read)

Fury, Stallion of Broken Wheel Ranch by Albert G. Miller

In My Father's House by Corrie ten Boom

Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card

The Uncommon Wisdom of Ronald Reagan by Bill Adler

The Lost Wagon by Jim Kjelgaard

The Marvelous Mongolian by James Aldridge

---

*My TIOLI Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/205996)

Challenge #1: Read a book with the word “adventure” somewhere on the outside of the book

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold - Read and reviewed

Challenge #2: Read a book that was on your list at the beginning the year as "to read in 2015"

The Marvelous Mongolian by James Aldridge - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #3: Read a book that that has no red or green whatsoever on the front cover

In My Father's House by Corrie ten Boom - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #9: Read a book with the color blue on the cover or the word blue somewhere in the title

Long Ride Home by Louis L'Amour - Read and reviewed

Challenge #10: Read a book with a title starting with the next letter in Santa Claus

The Uncommon Wisdom of Ronald Reagan by Bill Adler ("u") - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed


The Lost Wagon by Jim Kjelgaard ("L") - (ROOT) - Read and reviewed

Challenge #11: Read a "campus novel" or non-fiction book about academia

Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton - Read and reviewed

Challenge #13: Read a book by an author who has published at least 12 books

Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery - DNF in 2015, moved to January 2016


Flint by Louis L'Amour - Read and reviewed


The Little Fellow by Marguerite Henry - Read and reviewed


Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold - Read and reviewed


The White Throne Judgment by Peter S. Ruckman - Read and reviewed


11830522::Segregation or Integration - What Saith the Scriptures? by Peter S. Ruckman - Read and reviewed

Challenge #14: Read a book you started before December 1, 2015

Little Boxes of Bewilderment by Jack Ritchie - Read and reviewed

Challenge #15: Read a book that completes the phrase "All is want for Christmas is __________"

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - Read and reviewed

Challenge #16: Read a book of nonfiction

Woodsong by Gary Paulsen - Read and reviewed

Challenge #18: Read a book written by a famous/prolific author, one whose books you've never tried reading before

Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold - Read and reviewed

Challenge #20: Read a work in which a party or celebration takes place or has such a word in the title

The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz - Read and reviewed

---

*SFFFCAT Challenge*
(http://www.librarything.com/topic/205141)
"Under the Influence: choose from a list of award-winning SciFi and Fantasy books"

Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card (1988 World Fantasy Awards Runner-up) - (ROOT) - DNF, but reviewed


Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold - Read and reviewed


Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold - Read and reviewed

---

Books read and reviewed this month:
1. Falling Free
2. Little Boxes of Bewilderment
3. The Cabin Faced West
4. Long Ride Home
5. The Warrior's Apprentice
6. Fury, Stallion of Broken Wheel Ranch (ROOT)
7. In My Father's House (ROOT)
8. Flint by Louis L'Amour
9. Woodsong
10. Shards of Honor
11. The Little Fellow
12. Barrayar
13. The White Throne Judgment
14. Goodbye, Mr. Chips
15. Seventh Son (ROOT) - DNF, read most, reviewed
16. The Uncommon Wisdom of Ronald Reagan (ROOT)
17. 11830522::Segregation or Integration - What Saith the Scriptures?
18. The Lost Wagon (ROOT)
19. The Marvelous Mongolian (ROOT)

---

Books culled this month:
1. The Cabin Faced West
2. The Warrior's Apprentice
3. In My Father's House (ROOT)
4. The Vor Game
5. In My Father's House (duplicate)
6. Woodsong
7. A Grief Observed (ROOT)
8. The Joyful Christian (ROOT)
9. The Great Divorce (ROOT)
10. Sense and Sensibility
11. The New Testament (Billy Graham Edition) (ROOT)
12. He Leadeth Me (ROOT)
13. Mere Christianity
14. The Greatest Story Ever Told (ROOT)
15. The Little Fellow
16. Devotion:
17. Wonder of Wonders: (ROOT) - DNF from earlier in 2015, reviewed in December
18. Cop Shows
19. Goodbye, Mr. Chips
20. The Good Earth
21. Sons
22. Tex
23. Seventh Son (ROOT)

---

Male authors read this month: 12 to date
Female authors read this month: 7 to date

---

Cumulative Stats
Books culled from my library: 23
Books read and reviewed: 19
ROOTs completed to date: 8 in December + 6 culled = 14

My goal is to read at least 100 books, but I will probably read a few more as I did in the last three years.

However, my 2015 ROOT challenge ("Read Our Own Tomes") is 44...so that means I need to read 3-4 ROOT books per month.

I guess I'd better read one soon...

I'm ROOTing for you!

Goodness; I came by to wish you for 2015, but you seem to have gone through the whole year already! ;0)

Happy New Year, fuzzi!

@fuzzi, You are mega-organised for 2015. I hope you have fantastic year's reading.

Happy New Year! I hope that 2015 is a great year of reading for you.

>16 humouress: >17 pgmcc: >18 Sakerfalcon: thank you for coming by!

I like to get "all my ducks in a row", so to speak, and just add the books to each month as I read them. :)

In the OP I have added a ticker for my "culls" this year. So far in 2015 I have removed eight books from my house...

>20 fuzzi: Good idea to have the 'cull' ticker as well - although as I'm trying to cull so many I'd be worried that it might frighten me off such concerted efforts... I just keep promising myself the floorboards are sighing with relief every time I send one off to a new home.

Following you!

>22 GeorgiaDawn: yippee!

Not as good as I'd like, but not a bad start to 2015:

January
Books read and reviewed: 9

ROOTs completed to date: 5

Oops, forgot to post the February stats:

February
Books read and reviewed: 10

ROOTs completed to date: 5

Keeping up the pace, woo!

>25 fuzzi:, great stamina!

March
Books read and reviewed: 13/14 (read 13, couldn't finish 1, but reviewed them all)

ROOTs completed to date: 6 in March, total 16 for 2015

First Quarter Reading Stats

Where I should be in my 75 book challenge: 19 books read
Where I should be in my 100 book challenge: 25 books read
Number of books actually read: 32 (the same as last year at this time, woo!)

Where I should be in my 44 book ROOT challenge: 11
Number of ROOT books read: 16

I am well ahead of my challenge goals...but can I keep up the pace?

Best Reads of January-March 2015

He Is There, and He Is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

And a bunch of reads as well...

Interested to see your best reads. I had a very satisfying first quarter and just posted mine.

Hi fuzzi. Looks like your reading is going really well.

>30 Jim53: thank you. I have about a dozen reads, so I only posted the 4 1/2 ones. I'll check out your "best of" post, where is it?

Addendum: since you asked...here are my reads for the first quarter of 2015:

Memoirs of a Twentieth Century Circuit Riding Preacher by Peter S. Ruckman

Don't Give Up, Don't Give In by Louis Zamperini

Escape From Reason by Francis Schaeffer

Beowulf

A Christmas Sonata by Gary Paulsen

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Lost and Found by Shaun Tan

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Find Momo Coast to Coast by Andrew Knapp

Hey @MDGentlereader, @drneutron, look what my dog Tirzah has...

>32 fuzzi: Thanks for your list. Some familiar, some I'll check out. Mine is here in my
2015 reading journal.

Note: as of tomorrow, April 23rd, I will be out of town for a family gathering.

If I get a chance, I'll stop by with my iPad.

See you all next week. :)

Have a great time, fuzzi.

Safe travels, and have a good time at the family gathering!

We're back, and had a wonderful time! I'm working on editing the 500+ (!!!) pictures I took, and will post a couple few with comments. I only bought three books, all from a thrift store, though we did visit a very nice coffee/bookstore in Buffalo, MN.

More coming soon...

Welcome back! Not too many changes since you left, just a pink elephant blundering around, but it gets smaller every time you indulge in a PGGB.

>39 MrsLee: I'll bite...what is a PGGB?

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

>41 suitable1: aha! I never made it more than a chapter into The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is described by the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the best drink in existence. It was invented by Zaphod Beeblebrox, and is said that the effect is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick.

What put you off Hitchhiker's Guide, fuzzi?

>43 Storeetllr: I don't recall, it was many years ago.

It starts out pretty weird. And then continues being weird, but if you can get past/into the first chapter you've bought into it. However, I can certainly see someone not being able to manage that first bump. And Arthur Dent is a not-so-loveable loser in the first chapter - it took me a good half the book, the first time, before he got interesting.

>45 jjmcgaffey: I feel better, thanks. I dislike not liking books everyone else seems to love. I tried and gave up on The Lightning Thief, but was relieved that I was not the only one who ditched it...

>45 jjmcgaffey: Yeah, Arthur Dent is a real idiot, but Ford Prefect!

>44 fuzzi: >46 fuzzi: No reason everyone must love the same books. I was just curious. I know some folks have disliked it because it was a bit slapsticky, but for some reason it worked for me.

I don't know The Lightning Thief. Oh, Percy Jackson. I read the first in that series, but it just didn't work for me enough to go on with the series.

That - The Lightning Thief - is the first in the series. I have it - should try it, so I can dump it and the rest of the series if it also doesn't work for me.

>48 jjmcgaffey: read my review, I don't do spoilers:

Predictable, unengaging, flat, disappointing. I only made it through 100 pages, and only that far because it was a Christmas gift from my son.

http://www.librarything.com/work/173670/reviews/101491695

At 20, I loved Hitchhiker's Guide. At 45, couldn't stir up enough interest to go past the first chapter. I did enjoy listening to the radio play recently, though.

>50 SylviaC: so, maybe it's a "read that before" reaction?

I can no longer read some of the SF/F I loved in my teens and twenties.

>48 jjmcgaffey: Okay, weird. I must have read one of the other Percy Jackson's, but apparently it didn't make much of impression as I don't remember which one.

>50 SylviaC: I'm like that with a lot of books ~ loved them when I first read (and sometimes reread) them back years ago but not able to enjoy them as much (or at all) now. Dune comes to mind, and The Fellowship of the Ring also.

I used to love Rick Brant and Tom Swift - two series about maker boys (scientist/engineers). Now I can read the first series of Tom Swift, set in the 1920s or so (well, when I can ignore the racism - sometimes), but the second series a generation later and Rick Brant are incredibly stupid. I have nearly all of Rick Brant and most of Tom Swift Jr. (missing quite a few still though), and I don't want to get rid of them...but I don't want to read them either. I should sell them to someone who really wants them.

>49 fuzzi: Yeah, I'll probably react pretty much the same...but I simply can't give up a book I have without at least trying it. I've specifically given myself permission to quit books this year with "not worth finishing" - but it hasn't happened yet. Partly because I've been reading a lot of good books! And even the ones I don't like have had interesting information in them (non-fiction).

>53 jjmcgaffey: I was really unhappy to give up on The Lightning Thief, as it was a gift from my (adult) son. :sigh:

I've learned to not waste time continuing to read, if the book is really not worth it.

Hi fuzzi; just dropping by to say Hello.

Nothing much to add; I've not read HHGttG, and can't remember much of the Percy Jackson (which was for my young son - then about 8, I'd guess).

::waving at @humouress::

Thanks for stopping by. I'm currently reading a sequel to the delightful Miss Buncle's Book, called Miss Buncle Married, and it's also delightful, and a hoot!

Whew. It's the eighth of the month, and I've not gotten ONE book totally read. Instead of reading at night like I usually do, I've been doing online research about riding lawn mowers. Our mower died over a week ago, and finding a reliable replacement has not been easy.

We bought one yesterday, so NOW I can get back to my reading!!!!

>57 fuzzi: I am sure that would be fine on the flat but how is it on the hurdles?

>58 pgmcc: LOLOL...

I have not been reading the last ten days, as we've had a death in the family. It's been a tough time here, and prayers would be appreciated.

Sorry to hear it, fuzzi. We had one too, and I've had a difficult time sticking with any books. Holding you in the light and wishing you peace.

I'm sorry to hear it, too, fuzzi. Sending positive thoughts your way.

fuzzi, my condolences to you and your family.

So sorry for your loss, fuzzi. Sending thoughts and prayers to you and your family.

>60 fuzzi: My sympathy, fuzzi. Coping with loss takes so much out of us. I hope you can find strength in the loving support of friends.

My condolences on your loss, my thoughts are with you and your family.

Loads of sympathy, @fuzzi

Very sorry for your loss, fuzzi. Hugs.

Sorry for your loss.

Thank you, all. My father-in-law passed away. I'm supporting my dh emotionally, as much as possible.

Now that we're home, I am hoping to get back to reading.

Best NEW Reads of April to June:

Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach

Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress by Oliver Hunkin

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan

Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik

The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter

Second Quarter Reading Stats

Where I should be in my 75 book challenge: 38 books read
Where I should be in my 100 book challenge: 50 books read
Number of books actually read: 56

Where I should be in my 44 book ROOT challenge: 22
Number of ROOT books read: 25

I've slowed the pace, some, but hope to get back to full speed.

>70 fuzzi: I don't know if MrFuzzi remembers me, but give him a hug from me, will you? My Dad passed away December, 2013. Dad's are one of those forever people in your life. Disorienting to not have their physical presence in your life any more in addition to all the usual feelings from grief.

{{{fuzzi}}}

>72 MDGentleReader: True that.

Love from me as well. I still miss my dad, he died two years ago. Man in the waiting room at work yesterday made me tear up. He had on his cowboy hat and reminded me so much of my dad.

>73 MrsLee: My father died in 1983, six months before my older son was born. My son resembles him in so many ways that sometimes just a look or a movement will choke me up. I still miss him after 32 years.

>72 MDGentleReader: >73 MrsLee: >74 Meredy: thank you ALL for your kind words.

>72 MDGentleReader: he said he does remember you. :)

The first book of July has been finished, and it was not very good imo, but I completed a ROOT.

The Ship Who Sang used to be a favourite of mine, but I haven't reread it in a couple of decades. It is one of those that I'm reluctant to revisit because there is a high chance that the suck fairy will have stopped by.

>77 SylviaC: I reread it relatively recently (within the last five years or so) and as I recall it wasn't as wonderful as I remembered but it wasn't bad either. Didn't review it, but I gave it 3.5 stars, which should mean "worth rereading". I have read and reread Mercedes Lackey's contribution to that universe, The Ship Who Searched - love it. Also like PartnerShip by Margaret Ball. The others in that universe I disliked to various extents - unfortunately, I seem to be reversed from everyone else because the latter two got sequels and none for the two I liked. Hmmph.

I dropped off a huge box of books at our only used book store in town, and brought my 2015 total of books culled to 50!

I did bring home several books, but all but two are for my father, and the two I have will probably be culled after reading.

Onward...

>79 fuzzi: brought my 2015 total of books culled to 50

Wow, I'm impressed. Congratulations. I haven't been able to make very many go out. So far my best shot has been to keep too many from coming in. But considering how triumphantly virtuous I feel when I eliminate just three or four, I think you must be sporting one very shiny halo.

Not a halo, but I feel better!

One of my goals this year was to either read and cull, or just cull books that have been on my shelves waaay too long. I'm halfway to my goal of 100!

>79 fuzzi: Does @pgmcc know? How does this affect your obligatory Thingaversary purchase?

>82 hfglen: I ordered The Two Mrs. Abbotts, doesn't that qualify as my purchase?

Um, shh...don't tell @pgmcc, k?

>82 hfglen: I see everything. No one can escape. This new-fangled Interweb thing has possibilities.

>83 fuzzi: You can run, but you cannot hide.

>84 pgmcc:

This new-fangled Interweb thing has possibilities.

It also makes it way too easy to obtain more books. I saw a note about Washington Goes to War and decided to add it to my wish list. Then I thought I would see the used price in the interwebs. Next thing I knew, a copy was on its way to my house.

>85 suitable1: Ah! The Impulse Buy! The lifeblood of all retailers.

:-)

>84 pgmcc: ::activating cloaking device::

>85 suitable1: I am not a fan of ebooks, so the $1.99 specials don't tempt me, much...but bookfinder and abebooks are dangerous. The Two Mrs. Abbotts was an ebay purchase, new!

>87 fuzzi:

Psst! Your shoes are showing!

Washington Goes to War was $4.00 hardback.

Not a bad price. The new copy of The Two Mrs. Abbotts was $7.95 including s/h, which was as cheap as I've seen it.

::puts on invisibility shoes::

Where did she go?

I'm glad you found The Two Mrs. Abbotts, and at an excellent price!

>90 pgmcc: ::waves::

>91 SylviaC: well, I couldn't read The Four Graces until I read the previous book in the series, could I? And ILL has yet to fill my request, so...

>92 fuzzi: You've gotta do what you've gotta do!

I liked The Two Miss Abbotts, fuzzi, and I've got The Four Graces on my TBR.

>94 jnwelch: great to see you, Joe!

I want to finish my current read, A Weed by Any Other Name, before I pick up The Two Mrs. Abbotts. Maybe by tomorrow...I'm reading at a much slower pace in the last couple months.

fuzzi, can you tell us anything about Stuff Matters? I saw it reviewed and was intrigued, but something has been holding me back.

>96 Jim53: I really liked it. It had chapters on different science topics, not exactly "dumbed-down", but definitely easier to grasp, and very interesting.

My review: "An intriging and stimulating book, full of scientific discoveries and concepts. It is written in a style that never condescends, but encourages the less science-minded to delve deeper into material science secrets. This book is for the casually interested, or hardcore science geek, and everyone else in between. And for chocolate lovers, too! Recommended."

Thanks, fuzzi! Onto Mt. Tooby it goes, if I can reach that high.

Just an FYI: we've decided to go visit some friends this weekend. I will probably not have access to Wifi, but I will have a couple books with me...just in case...

>99 fuzzi: Enjoy your wifi-less weekend.

books with me...just in case.

I see what you did there.

Hehehe... :D

I am finally reading Cyteen, and that should keep me busy during "down" times!

Update:

I have met my 75 book challenge, and am heading now for the 100 books read goal!

I have read 37 of my 44 ROOTs goal.

And I'm doing fairly well with my culls: I'm up to 59 culls for the year, heading for my 100 book goal.

>102 fuzzi: What a great report! Congratulations. You are an inspiration.

>102 fuzzi: Well done!

>104 jillmwo: >103 Meredy: aw, shucks...thank you, both.

what is this "cull" you speak of?

>106 suitable1: it is a shame to speak much of it...suffice it to say that this "cull" is a necessary evil that some employ, to prevent an untimely collapse of household floors...

>106 suitable1: It is an action to be resorted to when the number of elephants exceeds the available food supply, and it causes great and noisy distress among bunny-huggers. The application of the term to books is unclear. These, like cats, tend to re-house themselves when the hoomin slaves prove insufficiently attentive.

I am looking for like minded people to help found the ISPCTB: The International Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Books!

Posters will be provided.

"DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING!"
"STOP THE CULL!"
"SAVE THE BOOK!"
"GIVE A RESCUED BOOK A FOREVER HOME!"

>108 hfglen: lol.

>109 pgmcc: come here and give the excess a new home, or help me have support beams reinforced under my house...

>109 pgmcc:
I'm in!

Site I found today:

http://newinbooks.com/top-10-fiction-books-you-pretended-to-read-in-high-school-...

The Great Gatsby
1984
The Fountainhead
Lord of the Flies
Frankenstein
Jane Eyre
Hamlet
Of Mice and Men
Slaughterhouse Five
Heart of Darkness

What do you think? Have you read any/some/all of the books on this list?

Are they worth a second try?

I've read seven of them, quit reading one of them after the first chapter. None of them while I was in high school though. They didn't assign books for us to read when I was in high school. That may have been a favor.

I've read five, three of which were assigned in school.

Our high school was "modern", and had elective English classes, like one that was for SciFi/fantasy. I didn't take that one, but I recall one book on the reading list was a Conan story.

Which one did you quit?

>112 fuzzi: I've read all but the Ayn Rand. The one that jumps out at me is Jane Eyre. Our daughter and I both loved it.

I used to teach Of Mice and Men in Junior English. I like it a lot. There are a lot of layers for such a short book. The characters endure.

Two, though we did have a Joseph Conrad other than Heart of Darkness. Any way up, sufficient to put me off him for life. Remembering that I'm talking about South Africa in the ultra-narrow-minded sixties, there are at least four on that list we would not have been allowed to read.

>114 fuzzi: & >117 hfglen: Heart of Darkness is the one I quit. I've read other Ayn Rand books, but not The Fountainhead. Liked her at first, but after I thought about what I read, I decided not.

All those books are pretty much downers, aren't they? Well written, but depressing.

>118 MrsLee: I don't see Jane Eyre as a depressing book. I thought Wuthering Heights was awful, but I did read it as a young adult.

I'm going to try Heart of Darkness, but if I don't finish it, I will still count it as a ROOT, removed from my shelves.

>112 fuzzi: The only one I haven't read is The Fountainhead.

And I think the only one I've read twice, aside from Hamlet, which I've seen performed numerous times, is The Great Gatsby. I certainly got a lot more out of it just a few years ago than I did decades ago in high school.

If I were to reread any, they would probably be Lord of the Flies and Frankenstein because I regard them both as instances of modern mythology. In general, though, I seldom reread books just because there are so many I've never yet read at all.

>112 fuzzi: , I have read all of them except for the Steinbeck Of Mice and Men. I've read the others, but not necessarily in high school. I read The Fountainhead, Heart of Darkness, and Frankenstein as an adult whereas I read Hamlet for the first time much earlier than that. I have re-read Frankenstein several times and I read Jane Eyre almost annually.

Two read long ago (though I'm not sure it was high school) - Hamlet and 1984. I actually like 1984 - well, no. I admire 1984. It's not a likeable book, but it's got some strong messages. And Hamlet is good of course but it's got such baggage (I've seen it performed many times) that I can't think of it as a book. I read a Conrad probably in high school - no idea if it was Heart of Darkness or something else - and don't intend to read any others. I've never read Jane Eyre, but want to. I'm not sure if I've ever read Frankenstein - given I read Dracula for the first time last year, I suspect not; what I know of it is pop culture and everything _based_ on the original book. Another one I would like to read. And _possibly_ Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegut is weird, but often his stuff is worth reading. No interest in reading The Great Gatsby, The Fountainhead, or Of Mice and Men (I've seen the movie, though - I know the book would be richer, but I hated the story of the movie so don't want to get any deeper). I own and am trying to convince myself to read Lord of the Flies - I expect to hate it, but there are _so_ many references to it elsewhere...

The one I read in high school that I HATED and will never reread is Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Time has mercifully softened most of my memories, but - nope, nope, nope.

>122 jjmcgaffey: I've not read any Thomas Hardy, but have no interest in doing so.

I have both Dracula and Frankenstein on my short TBR list, especially the latter.

I finally read Gatsby. I didn't like one character, they were all despicable. Nuff said.

1984 is good, I just think one reading should be enough.

Skip Lord of the Flies, it's a waste of time, read Jane Eyre instead!

I read and loved Jane Eyre, although I haven't reread it in a long time. I had to read Hamlet twice in school, and appreciate it, but prefer comedies to tragedies. Read The Great Gatsby in highschool, and didn't enjoy it, but got plenty of essay fodder. I know I read the beginning of Of Mice and Men, but can't recall whether I finished it. Of the others, I would be most likely to read Slaughterhouse Five, and, at a stretch, Frankenstein.

I read all but Of Mice and Men, although a couple in college rather than HS. I really hated Lord of the Flies and found the ideas in The Fountainhead totally wrongheaded. My faves on this list are Jane Eyre and Slaughterhouse Five.

>112 fuzzi:

The ones I have read:

1984
Lord of the Flies (gave up on it)
Frankenstein (Loved it)
Jane Eyre (Homework set by @jillmwo - Enjoyed it very much.)
Slaughterhouse Five (Loved it)

I read all of these later than my secondary (high) school years.

The ones I have not read:

The Great Gatsby (I feel no urge to read this whatsoever)
The Fountainhead (Similar feelings as for The Great Gatsby)
Hamlet (I have seen the play. May read it but do not want to dash over to the bookcase and read it right now.)(
Of Mice and Men (May read. Again, no burning desire.)
Heart of Darkness (I believe I picked this up having been hit by a book bullet on LT. I have not read it yet but I seem to recollect a thread in which this book was mentioned and I was intrigued by the comments.)

Lord of the Flies is an allegory of lost innocence that really struck home with my generation in the early- to mid-sixties, when we were busy losing our innocence. I can't even guess how it would read to younger folk who were born into a different world.

>126 pgmcc: one of my best friends loves Gatsby, and was disappointed I didn't.

Aside from this list, any others from HS you care to mention? Would try again?

We were assigned to read Greek plays in my senior year English class (same class where I discovered I also despised The Turn of the Screw), but they left me totally cold.

I've tried reading William Faulkner, but couldn't finish The Hamlet. After seeing the movie, To Have and Have Not, I read the book. I discovered I wasn't keen on Ernest Hemingway, either.

But after seeing Bill Murray in the movie version of The Razor's Edge, I did read the book. It was okay, just not a favorite.

I also taught My Antonia by Willa Cather every year. Not sure everybody liked it, but I did my best to spotlight some of the luminous language she was so famous for.

Great Expectations came up twice for me, and I wasn't able to finish it either time. I hated hated HATED Catcher in the Rye. Twelfth Night was fun, but I didn't care as much for The Taming of the Shrew. Some stories in The Martian Chronicles were pretty good, others weren't memorable. I enjoyed Arms and the Man and The Importance of Being Earnest. We also had to read a lot of really depressing Canadian fiction.

>130 SylviaC: I read Great Expectations on my own, as an adult, and liked it, but not as much as David Copperfield. I've never reread Pip's story.

I also have read Oliver Twist, but not in a long while. While I generally enjoy Dickens, I just have not been able to get very far into A Tale of Two Cities.

I loved A Catcher in the Rye as a youth, but despise it now. It, too, was a school assignment. I also recall reading Brave New World in school, and finding it interesting, but it failed miserably as a reread.

I had to read A Tale of Two Cities in tenth grade and probably missed much of what was going on. I've never been motivated to try again. OTOH, I enjoyed Great Expectations and Bleak House.

A Tale of Two Cities is my all time favorite Dickens and on the top of my classics to read list. I must admit that it is slow building, but near the end it moves the soul.

I'm a fan of A Tale of Two Cities but my son who had it assigned in high school loathed that particular tale. He complained that Dickens was paid by the word and it showed. Like >132 Jim53: , he preferred Great Expectations. My husband's favorite is A Christmas Carol. There have been one or two novels by Dickens that I have read with interest and gotten something from, but I can't really claim him as a favorite.

>134 jillmwo: I also enjoyed A Christmas Carol, and the 1951 Alistair Sim movie version, which is quite similar, and often quotes the book word-for-word.

Uh oh, the FOL (Friends of the Library) had one of their semi-annual used book sales this morning...

SciFi/Fantasy
Android at Arms by Andre Norton
Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Xenocide by Orson Scott Card (duplicate, but keeping it as it's in much better shape than my current copy)

Children/Youth Books
Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack (1930)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
Little Black Sambo (from 1961, a Whitman Tip Top book)
Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery (the only Anne book I didn't have a paper/real copy of)
The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom (I used to snitch/read my sister's copy)
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Zia by Scott O'Dell (oh, wow! A sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins!)

Others
Davita's Harp by Chaim Potok
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Heart of Darkness/Almayer's Folly/The Lagoon by Joseph Conrad
QB VII by Leon Uris (a paperback copy to replace my hardcover copy)
Traveller by Richard Adams

Der Kleine Prinz - I had this one in school, and could read it, but it was almost 40 years ago...

...and to help me remember:
Langenscheidt's German-English English-German Dictionary

I found a Spanish/English book for my son, who has just started learning Spanish: Con Mi Hermano

And a Gideon's New Testament in large print soft cover!

If any of these were duplicates, or if I decide not to keep them, our used book store in town will give me fifty cents' credit...what I paid for each, so it's all good!

The ISPCB is proud of you.

How are the new support beams holding up?

>137 pgmcc: ROFL!!!!!

I was smart, and bought mainly paperbacks.

No creaks so far...

Sometimes I wish I had a smartphone, so I could check LT...I bought FOUR duplicates.

They're already on the "David's Used Books" stack, by the back door. :)

Yeah - I had my LT database on my Palm PDA, and only decided to get a smartphone (Android) when the database program was ported to that. Now I use seabear's Offline Library Browser, or go to LT directly when I have a good enough connection (not always). But my smartphone is a very important part of my life these days - between looking up answers to random questions and keeping my client database on it. They (smartphones) sneak in around the edges of your life until they're a major part of it, that's for sure!

>140 jjmcgaffey: yes, they can come in very handy...but I know ME, and know that I'd be messing with that phone on and off all day long. I don't want to do that, so I stick with a flip phone.

Good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8

I'm still working my way through Frankenstein, but RL has been keeping me away from it and from LT.

I'd appreciate any of you lifting up my brother Bill in prayer: he had an outpatient surgery that turned into a hospital stay of almost a week...and he's still there.

I'll be back...

>142 fuzzi: Sorry to hear about your brother's problem. I will be thinking of him.

>143 pgmcc: thank you. He came home this afternoon, still with a drain/port and a collection bottle attached to his hip/side. He is feeling better, and for that I am thankful.

I hope his recovery continues without incident.

What @SylviaC said in #145. Thinking of you.

I'll third Sylvia and Jill

My brother continues to improve, thank you, all, for your kindness!

Tonight I completed Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and reached my goal of 44 ROOTs read in 2015.

I have sixteen books to read in order to reach my 100 books read goal. :)

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll have no problem reaching your goal!

And I'm glad to hear that your brother is continuing to do well.

>148 fuzzi: Glad to hear that your brother is on the mend. Hoping he gets back to full health soon.

Weird. I didn't have any or reads this quarter. The best were only reads.

Maybe not so weird: I have been actively reading ROOT books, those that have been on my shelves, unread, for over a year. Maybe there was no compelling desire to read them immediately?

Anyway, in no particular order, here's the best of my reads from July to September:

The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

Arrow Book of Funny Poems

The Heart of a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour Volume 5: Frontier Stories

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

If I had to pick the best of this bunch, it would probably be The Education of Little Tree or Frankenstein, or even Number the Stars. But they all deserved .

>150 AHS-Wolfy: >149 Sakerfalcon: thank you, both, very much. :)

>151 fuzzi: More and more I find that the only books I award five stars to are those which are rereads. I don't know whether I am getting pickier, or, same as you, I'm reading books from my shelves that I am interested in, but not compelled by.

My star system is based on my emotions though, whether I want to read it again, whether it offered me spiritual enlightenment, solace, etc. So it isn't really a rating on the quality of writing. For me to award four stars means that I enjoyed the read very much and would recommend it to others.

>153 MrsLee: for the most part, I agree. If a story has some flaws, but I would reread it, I give it 3 or more stars. A well-written book that leaves me cold will be culled.

Of all my "best" selections in post #151, the most likely to be reread are Arrow Book of Funny Poems, the Louis L'Amour collection, and The Education of Little Tree. I love C.J. Cherryh's works, but probably will not reread Cyteen. I would recommend it, though.

Books that I loved that were NOT rereads...all 4 1/2 or 5 star reads:

From 2011:
Hooking Up by Tom Wolfe

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Falls the Shadow: A Novel by Sharon Kay Penman


From 2012:
One More Night with the Frogs by Hugh F. Pyle

A Christian Manifesto by Francis A. Schaeffer

Shane by Jack Schaefer

Love Saves the Day: A Novel (ER) by Gwen Cooper

Follow the River by James Alexander Thom

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh

Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

The Virginian by Owen Wister

From 2013:
Bella Poldark, A Novel of Cornwall: 1818-1820 by Winston Graham

Gray Dawn by Albert Payson Terhune

For His Pleasure by Samuel C. Gipp

The War within These Walls (ER) by Aline Sax

On the Road with Charles Kuralt by Charles Kuralt

Exodus by Leon Uris

Doc: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter

The Faded Sun: Kesrith, The Faded Sun: Shon'jir, The Faded Sun: Kutath by C. J. Cherryh

From 2014:
My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

Those Who Love: A Biographical Novel of Abigail and John Adams by Irving Stone

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The Promise by Chaim Potok

QB VII by Leon Uris

Cuckoo's Egg by C.J. Cherryh

Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by William Potter

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

Brothers of Earth by C.J. Cherryh

Note: (ER) designates an Early Reviewer book

Best NEW Reads of 2015, So Far:
(all are 4 1/2 star reads)

Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach

Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress by Oliver Hunkin

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan

Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik

The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter

He Is There, and He Is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

**********

Third Quarter Reading Stats

Where I should be in my 75 book challenge: 57 books read-I have read more than 75
COMPLETED!

Where I should be in my 100 book challenge: 75 books read
Number of books actually read: 84

Where I should be in my 44 book ROOT challenge: 33 books read-I have read 44
COMPLETED!

Congrats on two of three completed already! I've read more than enough books overall, but I'm way behind on my ROOTs (BOMBS) - I think I've read 15 of the 50 I said I'd try for. I am reading older books (not all brand new) but they keep being from within the past year and I don't count those. I need to dig out some books from earlier - I have plenty!

>157 jjmcgaffey: thanks! This year I have made a concerted effort to read the ROOTs, first. Many of them I did not care for, and am glad they are now gone.

I have two Early Review books languishing on the shelf, but since I started them, and they didn't "grab" me within the first 50 pages, they can wait a little longer.

Congrats on your progress on your challenges! Especially impressive in light of the challenging year.

>159 Jim53: thank you! Sometimes it is when we are challenged that we achieve more...like when it's the day before vacation, and there are some work projects that need to be completed before you leave at 5...

Congratulations on your 75! I'm a bit late, so I hope your brother has recovered by now.

>109 pgmcc: Count me in, too. I think I'm almost a founder member; I've started a shelf of books that I could move on to another home (duplicates and books that I really didn't like) but I haven't managed to convince myself to find the other home.

>161 humouress: I am entering your name in the roll of honour as we speak.

Welcome aboard! We sail at dawn.

>161 humouress: he is healing nicely, thank you. However, now he needs to have a (hope and pray it is benign!) tumor removed. This will be scheduled for mid-November, and involve several days' stay in the hospital, again.

October Update...

Books read and reviewed: 14, total of 98 in 2015

ROOTs completed to date: 7 in October (5 read fully, 2 were DNFs, but still count as "off the shelves"), total of 51 this year, woo!

Culled 14 more, total of 75 books OFF THE SHELVES in 2015...so far!

Somehow I need to cull 25 more books by the end of the year...but how...?

>164 fuzzi: Nice going.

>165 fuzzi: Put 25 of them in a box, carry them out to the garage, wait a month, and see if you regret parting with any of them? And if not, let them go?

This sort of trick doesn't work for me because I always want to repossess them in the joy of rediscovery.

Methods of disposal that have worked best for me:
• Take to writers' club meetings for the free books table
• Donate at the library
• Put out at the curb with a sign "FREE"

What hasn't worked:
• Sell on Amazon
• Put out in yard sale
• Lose via BookCrossing

Occasional success:
• Send to a friend who's on hard times
• Offer by the boxfull to anyone who comes to the house
• Donate to a retirement community

Join the ISPCTB?

It's choosing them that's hard!

That's why I wish the trick worked of putting them aside and then ditching them later if I didn't miss them. It's sort of a trial separation with a chance to rectify errors. Some people can do this successfully, just put the lot out and not look at them again.

I completed my discards goal by deciding that one particular author wasn't worth my time or shelf space any more - 40 of her books went out in one grand swoop. And while I've felt the urge to reclaim them (they're in a box, waiting to go to the library - ah, tomorrow's Monday, isn't it?), I just remind myself of the two books of hers I read and hated. One was new to me, one was an old favorite, and I couldn't bear either one - so not worth trying any others! (the author is Catherine Coulter.)

This is the first year I've come anywhere near my discards goal, though. I know exactly what you mean.

>169 Meredy: I'd have to pick them, first...

>170 jjmcgaffey: that's an idea, except I'm not sure I have a lot of anyone's books. I might ditch books I've read and liked, many years ago, bought for a reread, but that I can find at the library...like The Good Earth. ::thinking::

I find that the best way for me to move books out is by bringing in a whole lot of new (to me) books, so that I have to make room for them. Unfortunately, this doesn't help the overall numbers at all, and I still end up with more than I started with. And at this point I have pretty much whittled down the core set of books that I want to keep forever, so it it's mostly a matter of redistributing the TBR piles.

>172 SylviaC: hahaha!

I read one ROOT book Upstairs, Downstairs, and liked it so much, I found and bought the five (5!!!) remaining books in the series. Argh.

>172 SylviaC: No, no, that's exactly where my problem is. I bring in new books faster than I can get rid of old ones...

>174 jjmcgaffey: it doesn't help when you "discover" a new author that you love...recently for me it's been Conrad Richter, but I've also gone nuts on Leon Uris and Alistair MacLean.

Book #100 is probably going to be my current read, and it is a very special one, No Little People by Francis Schaeffer. It's a wonderful, uplifting, and interesting read. Oh, and it's been on my shelves for many years, unread until now.

Still working on my current read, but here's a closeup photo you might find of interest:


Some sort of grasshopper...look at the patterns on its body!

But she's lookin' right back ...

Amazing photo!

Fantastic photo.

>176 fuzzi: Wow!

Thank you! It's courtesy of my little Ricoh CX5.

From the courtyard at work today, my (probably) last butterfly viewing of 2015:


Cloudless Sulfur (Phoebis sennae)

We're expecting frost this weekend, about three weeks later than usual.

Beautiful!

>183 SylviaC: thanks! He did not cooperate, and kept moving. This was the best I could do.

I don't see many sulfurs, mainly Sleepy Oranges around my yard. I need to plant more butterfly-friendly gardens next year.

>182 fuzzi: That is a lovely sight on a very grey dull day! Thank you for sharing.

>185 Sakerfalcon: you are so very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed the photo.

Both beautiful photos. And a nice contrast with the bougainvillaea.

*sigh* I'm not jealous at all. Still haven't worked out how to compose a good photo.

>187 humouress: thanks. BTW, it's Azaleas the butterfly is visiting, although they look similar.

The ease of editing with digital images helps with composition: I often crop a picture so it looks better.

>188 fuzzi: So they are, now I look again at the flower he's actually sitting on.

As of last night, I have met my goal of 100 books to read in 2015.

And I have upped my total of ROOT books (unread for at least a year) to 52.

If in the next few weeks you don't see much of me here, rest assured: I will still be reading. However, real life and other priorities are in greater need of my time.

Happy Thanksgiving, all! :)

Happy Thanksgiving to you too, fuzzi, and congrats on hitting three digits!

Happy Thanksgiving,@fuzzi! You've gotten through a good deal of reading in 2015!!

Happy Thanksgiving! And congrats on reaching your 100!

>191 Jim53: >192 jillmwo: >193 Sakerfalcon: thank you, all. :)

November Update...

Due to real life imposing on my reading time, I hardly read at all in November, but I did manage to read four books.

Books read and reviewed: 4, total of 103 in 2015

ROOTs completed to date: 2 in November, total of 53!

Culled 2 more, for a total of 77 books OFF THE SHELVES in 2015...with one month to go...

I've met two out of three goals for 2015.

I managed to "rehome" ten more books, and am only nine books short of my 2015 goal of 100!

>196 fuzzi: Good for you! I wasn't keeping count. I found new homes (nephews and nieces who have their own children now) for about half of my children's books. Still have a nice large shelf of my favorites for future grandkids or visitors though. Also still housing my children's books which were inscribed to them by grandparents and a great-grandmother.

I was looking at my shelf of sailing adventures today with the thought in mind that I could re-home them, but nope. Not gonna happen yet. I luff them. I luff them all! So, now to rethink my shelving.

>197 MrsLee: We won't gybe at you for that.

>198 hfglen: I didn't realize that was a sailing pun until I had written the sentence. :)

>197 MrsLee: I have to rehome them: I don't have room for more: the shelves are piled high!

Four more arrived in the mail today, thanks to a sweet LT'er.

My 2016 thread is open, here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/207892#5375449

I am only FIVE books short of my rehoming goal....

>202 fuzzi: I have been pondering your use of the term, "rehoming". What procedures are used to select "new homes"? Do you employ the services of a book adoption advisor? Is there a home visit involved? What criteria are used to ensure a good match between a book and its new home owner?

>203 pgmcc:

And how do we know there is appropriate shelf space?

I have a wonderful intermediator, David, who lovingly houses my books until someone, who cares enough about tomes, walks into his shop.

I DID IT, WOO!

I met my third and final challenge, rehoming one hundred books this year!!!!

:dancing:

>206 fuzzi: well done!

Cool!

>206 fuzzi: Congratulations!

>207 Jim53: >208 drneutron: >209 MDGentleReader: thank you, all!

I really doubted I could let that many "go"...but I had to try. :)

@fuzzi, I hope you have a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas, @fuzzi!

I am remembering the light show we saw on that very cold day at National Harbor.

>211 pgmcc: you too.

>212 MDGentleReader: I recall that as well. This morning I took one of my cheesecloth bags, purchased at that "kitchen"store in National Harbor, and added peppercorns before immersing it in the giblet water simmering on the stove.

Boy, was that a cold night, but with the warmth of friendship. :)

Merry Christmas, all.

My best reads of 2015 can be found here:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/fuzzi

One week to go...

Three more books have been added to my library...two as Christmas presents, and one as an ER win:

Sham: Great Was Second Best: by Phil Dandrea

The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel

The Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels

Happy Holidays, fuzzi!

Hope you've been having a good holiday break. Way to go on the re-homing of books.

>216 jnwelch: thanks! Hope you are having a relaxing, restful, yet fun holiday season, too!

Well done with the rehoming!

I'm still gathering my courage for my first one. Although I did manage to give away a spare Narnia boxed set a couple of years ago, but that was easier, being a set, and a well-known series. Far harder to find a good home for individual books within beloved series, because not many people I know read avidly, and no-one reads SF/F.

Wishing you and your family a belated merry Christmas, and the very best for 2016!

>218 humouress: thank you!

Most of my tomes get rehomed to a local used bookstore, whose owner gives me credit for the purchase of more books. He takes good care of the books he receives, so I feel my books are safe with him.

I read three fewer books in 2015 than in 2014, but I am satisfied.

I read 22 more ROOT books in 2015 than the year before, an increase of 150%!

Best NEW reads of 2015, all reads:

Little Boxes of Bewilderment by Jack Ritchie

The Trees by Conrad Richter
The Fields by Conrad Richter
The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter

Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan

Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik

He Is There, and He Is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer
No Little People by Francis Schaeffer

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton

The White Throne Judgment by Peter S. Ruckman

Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress by Oliver Hunkin

My favorite NEW author for the year is Conrad Richter. I've loved his Light in the Forest and A Country of Strangers for years, but never realized how many more books he wrote. What a treasure trove I found!

Final stats for 2015
122 books read
66 ROOTs off the shelves
100 books rehomed